March 16, 2020 at 5:30 PM - Regular Meeting

Discussion:  Board President, Candy Becher read the mission statement.

Discussion: 

Angie Luebbe, Emerson Elementary Principal shared information regarding this year at Emerson, Home of the Crusaders. Mrs. Luebbe mentioned the Radar Chart and said it shows where they have been and where they need to go.  She also talked about the Continuous Improvement Goals in Reading and Math, and mentioned some of the ways they continue to practice such as Math Talk, pre-testing and post-test to monitor growth and assistance from CPS curriculum coaches. Mrs. Luebbe shared how great she feels her staff is doing. She mentioned the new faces and new positions at Emerson this year.  Emerson has a Student of the Month Program, teachers nominate students based on the Be Safe, Be Responsible, Be Respectful Campaign. They have invited folks from CHS representing sports, band, robotics, and cheerleaders to talk to the elementary students regarding the activities to look forward to as they move through middle school and high school. BIST at Emerson was explained to the group, the Vision Team meets once a month to help teachers with behaviors by showing them resources, sharing charts for each behavior and sharing blog PLC’s. The data showing the decrease in behaviors and the use of the Recovery Room by using BIST is very telling. Mrs. Luebbe talked about Emerson’s PTO and the passion they have for the staff and students.  They had a Valentines Family Night, and a Movie Night.

Discussion: 

The Board voted to appoint Ken Curry to fill the seat vacated by Mike Goos.  Board Member, Mike Jeffryes shared that there was one other application for the position.

Discussion: 

Dave Melick, Director of Business and Human Resources, talked about Policy 413.01 Support Staff Compensation. The school attorneys were consulted, they said CPS should have board authorization to pay people that are not designated staff in any emergency situation. Classified staff are not protected like certified staff. Conversation regarding paying half of their regular hourly pay as the district is unable to offer work to them during a shutdown.  The concern is  CPS will lose paras and other classified staff members with only half pay. They won’t be able to meet their needs. CPS is using this as a good faith effort to retain those people. We will have difficulty rehiring staff if they leave. 

Mr. Melick says the Department of Labor says they can apply for unemployment with no verification of looking for employment, they would not have to wait a week to get unemployment checks if CPS is unable to authorize paying classified staff through the closure. He reached out to ALICAP, our unemployment insurance holder, they pay 50%. Board Member, Doug Molczyk, would like wording to put them at full wage for a certain amount of time. Dr. Loeffelholz said CPS is waiting for confirmed word regarding the makeup of student hours. If we don’t have to make up time, we can pay back lost wages in the future. They will need to be on call during this time. We will need them to prepare for the return of students to school. 

Board Member, Theresa Seipel would like to see CPS help people with daycare by offering paras or teachers that are interested. Dr. Loeffelholz is recommending full pay for the first two weeks. Mr. Melick will make some changes to the policy and share it with Board President, Candy Becher, to finalize. Treat them as well as we can to get them back. Not less than half pay will be added to policy, once the information is finalized, the information will be sent out.

Discussion: 

Dave Hiebner, CHS Principal, reported on the 2020-21 CHS Course Handbook.  He said it is a month later than in other years, he wanted to be sure all changes and additions were well thought out. He feels overall it is a pretty good product. Mr. Hiebner shared the major changes, the logo on the cover will be changed. Freshman Seminar has been added, he believes this is a great addition for our 9th graders as they need to be set up for success.  Some course name changes were noted along with a Photography Fee change. Musical/Instrumental added 9th Grade Marching Band and 10th Grade Cadet Marching. A sequence change for Geometry and Algebra. The accu-placer has been removed from some courses. SDS Solidworks has been added as a Pilot Program.

Discussion: 

Dr. Loeffelholz said this policy would be used for an emergency closing, it gives the superintendent more authorization to make a decision. 

Discussion: 

Dr. Loeffelholz explained this resolution would be used only if there was no quorum to approve payments and payroll.

 

Discussion:  There were no items to be removed from the Consent Agenda.

Discussion: 

Mr. Melick gave a brief explanation of the financial reports; general fund revenues, state apportionment-value of land education use, the district gets a portion based on student numbers. Report includes two bills from Global Tele-therapy for speech language services, these are not duplicates, different bills. 

Discussion: 

Certified Personnel-12 hires. Dr. Loeffelholz mentioned hiring will be a bit more difficult with the COVID-19 closure. 

Discussion: 

Classified Personnel includes 7 hires and 5 resignations, there is a slow down with the current situations.  Trying to keep paras on staff.

Discussion: 

Travel is very light as business travel has been suspended during the COVID-19 shutdown. The report shows some trips for counselors, legislative conference, and girls basketball coaches. 

Discussion: 

Contributions for February $42,940.92, 2019-2020 contributions $233,194.04. CPS Foundation will continue to be a financial vehicle for  the Community & Family Partnership through September 30, 2020.

Discussion: 

High school students rate is higher. Recommendation staying at $11,500.00, increasing $14,000.00 for high school students. SPED Tuition is for non-residential students contracted to CPS. increase 3.4% for the higher needs students.  Cost per day is $300.00, $200.00 for resource students. Non-public and Project Search Program students are $61.00/day. CPS has 1 resource and 1-non public at this time.

Project Search students work at the hospital to gain skills to get a job. CPS has a community partnership with the hospital. Columbus Community Hospital is given the opportunity to hire these students at the end of the training. Jason Harris, Director of Students Services and SPED, says that the job rotations are amazing, there are students working in OR prep, sterilization, shipping and receiving, lots of opportunities at the hospital. Goal is to have the student prepared to be employable. 

Discussion: 

CEA and the Board Committee will meet for negotiations on Tuesday night.  Shut down meal program will start on Thursday.  Bag lunches with a breakfast offering and lunch each day. This will be distributed from each building, 10:00 - 1:00. It will be much like our summer lunch program, reimbursable from the state food program.  We will supplement staff with paras as needed for distributing lunches. Food is a big concern while we are closed. They will be using foods that have a longer shelf life. 

Discussion: 

Mr. Kwapnioski talked about the Kramer Education Center Kick-off with BCDM Architects.  They were given the scope and the lay-out of classrooms. They will go back and work out what the space will look like.  Mr. Kwapnioski took them on a tour of the building to obtain information about the sprinkler system. The budget has been set at $5 million. He will be setting up a ZOOM meeting for input from all groups to share and gain information. Dates were changed to allow more time for adjustments.  The final completion date has been left open. Also, setting up a date for a site visit to dig into mechanical, etc. There are some building code issues to work out. Loup Power District has contacted Mr. Kwapnioski to change out the transformer at Kramer, we do not need as much power for the new needs of the building, however, there is a lot we do not know yet so CPS will not give the transformer up until we know what is needed.  

Meetings have been held to inform custodial staff with plans for the cleaning of buildings. ServiceMaster has also been involved in conversations about the sanitation of CPS buildings and how duties will be split up between each. They will be starting with bathrooms, and then hallway walls. Once there is a confirmed case in our area, the clean becomes very extensive. 

Discussion:  Dr. Amy Romshek, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, is seeking adoption of new social studies standards by the board. State social studies laws and state board policy statements are included.  An American Civics Committee has been established at CPS and will meet to examine and ensure the district’s curriculum is aligned with state standards. Dr. Romshek says the standards are more focused, specific instructional attention, grade level specific, and intentional integration. She has shared a color coded document to help review the standards. At CPS Civics is intertwined into American Government Course. The new standards have more changes in the instructional piece not the content. 

Discussion: 

Dr. Romshek introduced the new TWIG Science curriculum. Twenty seven of the CPS K-4 teachers were involved in choosing the new program. They examined three different resources, there is 100% consensus. Dr. Romshek said the teachers liked TWIG because it gives very specific lesson activities to hit state standards. The teachers found it easy to manage, and nicely organized because it was created by teachers. The curriculum is very interactive. It contains a curriculum map, it is specific about which units to teach at each grade level.  Follows the same map across the US.  Purchase materials that work well for our teachers is included, student books, online platform, teachers editions, kits, leveled readers related to each topic. The consumable items for each grade level are replenished each year, these workbooks included in the original price. 

 

Discussion: 

Mr. Harris spoke about the contract CPS has with ESU 7. The biggest service CPS utilizes is for our vision and impaired students. They are contracted to teach braille, navigate textbooks, and offer options for learning.  They teach orientation and mobility by showing students how to navigate their environment, should they use a cane, options for how to get around inside. Also, when the student is prepared they show them techniques to get from school buildings to outside, navigate cross-walks and even college campuses. Services for brailing are offered. Paras are working behind the scenes preparing for the student to use textbooks.  Also offered is transition support, this supports families as the student moves from the 9-12 services and into adult life. Resource coaches are utilized for non-public and public students. Resource coaches are used for K-8, high needs, and the autism program. We also use ESU 7 for consulting. Projected costs have decreased a small amount. CPS has 10 students in the visually impaired program, some legally blind, some impaired. 

Discussion: 

Mr. Harris shared that the SPED Team has drafted a letter regarding IEP and evaluations. These meetings still have to be done regardless of the closure. It is allowed to use ZOOM at this time to practice social distancing. Evaluations may need to be done face-to-face.  IEP paperwork can be mailed. CPS Staff are brainstorming ways to provide services for SPED students while we are closed, Mr. Harris is sorting through the ideas, a plan will be in place by next week. 

Discussion: 

Dr. Loeffelholz brought the Board up to date on closures. He said information would indicate schools will be closed across the state by Friday and will remain closed for the next 2 weeks. Some districts are closing until April 24th. CPS has planned to close through April 3rd and re-evaluate. State to review every two weeks, the metro schools closing down, OPS is closed indefinitely. There was conversation regarding staff needing more correspondence with new information. There will be no expectations of staff the first two weeks.  Buildings will be closed to the community starting tomorrow. Board Member, Doug Molczyk, asked about reassigning SROs during this closure. Dr. Loeffelholz said school counselors want to stay in touch with some students. Secondary administrators meet tomorrow morning, elementary administrators meet tomorrow afternoon. All district buildings will be closed to the public after Friday. There is a community press conference with the City and County Tuesday morning regarding the process in Columbus. There are cancellations of prom and graduation, we may try to do something later when the ban lifts. Grades at the end of 3rd quarter may be the last grades for the year. There will be correspondence sent out regarding the three week closure. Many schools in session will have their last day tomorrow. 

Discussion: 

Theresa Seipel says we are all in this together, try to keep stability and routine. She is worried about the emotional effect on families, the prolonged summer, people needing daycare, and the financial struggles. Doug Molczyk reminded everyone to stay safe out there. Doug Willoughby expressed his thankfulness for all the efforts. He noticed JP’s new haircut he received for the kids benefit with their Pennies for Patients, Lost Creek students surpassed their goal by $500.00. Mike Jeffryes said do everything you can to flatten the curve. He says there are 46 beds left at CCH, staff at the hospital are trying to make more room for beds in conference rooms, surgery rooms, etc. Candy Becher also thanked everyone for all the work and asked administrators to tell staff thank you.