March 20, 2017 at 12:00 PM - Regular Meeting

Discussion:  Candy Becher called the meeting to order at 12:03 p.m.

Discussion:  Candy Becher read the mission statement.

Discussion:  No one spoke to the board.

Discussion: 

The total salary and benefit package for administrators, is 3.17 percent.

Discussion: 

There were no recognitions.

Discussion: 

A thank you was received for the last basketball game celebration in the old high school gym, and another thank you from Loup Public Power.

Discussion: 

Discussion:  There were no items removed from the consent agenda.

Discussion:  There are nine certified resignations, and 11 hires. All of the new hires are for grades fourth through eighth grade except for one high school ELL teacher. There were 11 classified staff resignations, and these include secretaries, para educators, custodians and food service. There was one new food service person hired. Middle school staff recently went on a PLC trip.

Discussion: 

The total amount of contributions for February is $186,507.07. Dr. Loeffelholz said out of the STEM donations about $1,124,000 have been distributed. He said there is still $500,000 left, and this money will be used for purchases next year. There have been five links sold, 12 benches and 160 bricks. Work is also being done on the second phase of the anchor project. The traveling anchor has gone to several businesses and groups in town. Theresa Seipel said Kim Kwapnioski is doing an outstanding job with the Foundation.

Discussion: 

Executive Director of Business and Human Relations Dave Melick said the balances are all in decent shape. He said the district is using Service Master to fill in when there are no custodians available. The district is currently in between contracts for copiers, so Eakes is being paid per copy right now.

Discussion: 

Seipel Repair was paid $647.50 for regular inspections and service work.

Discussion: 

Melick said these are the bills that because of the billing cycles need to be paid prior to the board meeting to avoid extra charges. He said the payments to St. Anthony and St. Bonaventure are for the seven students that attend preschool there because the CPS programs are full.

Discussion: 

Temporary Early Retirement Incentive Program is offered for a limited period of time. There were 21 eligible, 12 received information about the incentive and six applied. The deadline to apply was March 15. Those taking early retirement will be paid $27,000 over three years.

Discussion: 

Melick said these are items that did not move to the new high school building. They are outdated and not being used.

Discussion: 

Melick said the classified staff’s raises are modeled after the teachers. He said this percentage is on the base salary, and the increase is based on the number of years working in the district. Melick said the raise will amount to a little over 40 cents. He said the ELL and high needs para educators are still trying to catch up on the pay scale.

Discussion: 

It was found that CPS in 2007 and 2009 did not provide significant information to those buying bonds, so the district as well as the underwriters were charged a fee. Melick said it was determined that no other action was going to be enforced against CPS. He said the district will continue to provide the proper information. Melick said the problem occurred in early 2000's, and the district is playing catch up.

Discussion: 

StoneBrook Roofing of Lincoln was awarded the bid for the replacement of the north gym roof at the high school. The bid was for $111,151. The money is coming out of the Building and Sites fund and was budgeted as part of the Strategic plan. Melick said there were four bids ranging from $105,000 to $149,000. The low bidder just recently started doing these types of roofs and didn’t have enough experience to get the job. One concern by the administration was scheduling because the company is doing several other projects, and the work must be done by June 1. Representatives from the company said this should not be a problem, and there should be some workers on-site by mid-April. He said the project will take 10 to 15 days to complete. The crew will consist of eight people coming from Lincoln.

Discussion: 

Maintenance and custodial staff did a lot of moving in a short period of time. Also had garage sale and sold all the items.

Discussion: 

Each year the percussion ensemble travels to Minneapolis to a regional competition. This request is so they can start raising funds for the trip. In order to go to regionals, the ensemble must place in the top two in the state, and Dr. Loeffelholz said this year’s group is good so that shouldn’t be a problem. This year at the regional competition, they made the finals and finished in sixth place.

Discussion: 

Today is the first day of NeSA testing, and it will be going on for the next six weeks. There will be numerous other testing going on as well such as the ACT and Dibels.

Discussion: 

Executive Director of Student Services and Special Education Jason Harris said the district contracts with ESU 7 for only a few services such as vision and orientation and mobility because these positions are difficult to find. There is also a para position for braille, and there is some ESU 7 staff used for the transition contract. He said all the Speech and Language Pathologists positions are filled.

Discussion: 

Melick said there have not been many people who pay tuition for regular education since the early 1980s. He said he sees no need to raise the rate much from last year. Next year the regular education tuition rate for elementary and middle school will be $10,150, which is up slightly from the $9,900 last year, and for high school $12,550, which is also up a little from the $12,000 last year.

Harris said the special education tuition rate comes into effect when a school wants to contract with CPS for special education services. These are people whose needs can’t be meet in their district. Last year CPS received $110,000 for contracted students. Harris said he has not taken on any additional contracted students since Oct. 1. Harris said when the district takes on these students, this does not include hiring any additional staff.

He said the Project Search program’s goal is to get students employment at hospital or in the community. The tuition cost for high needs, autism plus support and autism communication life skills is $280 per day for 174 days. The cost for the resource program is $180 per day for 174 days, non public resource program $61 per day for 174 days and project search $61 per day for 174 days. 

Discussion:  There was no update

Discussion: 

Dr. Loeffelholz said the maintenance staff has done an excellence job. He also thanked Leonard Kwapnioski for all the work he has done. On April 18, the Columbus Area Chamber celebration dinner will be at the new high school in the cafeteria and auditorium. Dr. Loeffelholz said he will be meeting with Principal Amy Haynes to talk about the CMS transition plan. He said as soon as teachers pack things from the existing middle school, they will be moved to the new middle school.

B-D Construction has a lot of demolition going on at the new middle school. Guidance has been gutted, and the lights are out of the south gym. Dr. Loeffelholz said they will be starting on the north gym soon. He said items will also start to be pulled out of the east end. He said the risers at the high school will be moved out for performances and used at graduation. Dr. Loeffelholz said there were more than 600 staff and families who came through the high school last night for a tour. He said those attending tonight’s open house will be tracked as well. Dr. Loeffelholz said the students who spoke at the ribbon cutting did an excellent job. He said the whole event turned out well.

Discussion: 

Mike Goos said it has been a very proud day, and he is glad to be a part of it. He said the new high school speaks highly of Columbus. Doug Willoughby said he has heard many positive things about Leonard Kwapnioski, and the work he has done, and he wanted to thank Kwapnioski for all his efforts. Doug Molczyk said when he was leaving the high school, he saw a line of high school students taking a picture by the anchor. He said the students are generally excited about the new high school, and it was a proud moment for him. Molczyk said he drove by the high school many times at various hours and Kwapnioski’s truck was always there. He said he is grateful that he was keeping an eye on what was going on and making sure the workers were doing their jobs. Molczyk said the work of Kwapnioski and his crew was amazing.  Tim Pospisil said he was glad the governor saw the STEM section, and wishes he could have talked to the governor to see what he thought. Pospisil said he agreed with all the comments made earlier and is excited to see the opportunities that lay ahead. He said the kids will come up with ideas that never occurred to any of the adults.  Pospisil said he loved the facility and can’t wait to see what homey things will be added to the building. Candy Becher agreed. She said it is a proud moment to stand back and see all the work that was done. She also thanked Kwapnioski. Theresa Seipel said it was a lot of work, but she is so excited that the district has made it to this point.  She thanked Kwapnioski, Dr. Loeffelholz, Steve Woodside and Mike Grutsch for all their hard work. She said she is excited about the open house tonight.

Discussion:  There was no executive session.

Discussion:  The board adjourned at 1:07 p.m.