November 14, 2011 at 5:00 PM - Work Session and Regular Meeting of the Board of Education

Discussion:  Principal Paula Lawrence presented data regarding students at West Park. The staff also presented on how they track data. The West Park Student Council was then introduced. The student council consists of four fourth graders and four fifth graders. They are elected at the beginning of the year and serve for one semester then another group of 8 is selected. Teacher Barb Leu works with enrichment/intervention time. These things are built into the schedule. The enrichment activities are for fourth and fifth graders and one of the projects they did was create a slide show.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said in order to figure out class size for next year, he rolled all the enrollment numbers forward. He said the projections are based on 275 kindergarteners coming into each classroom, which would amount to class sizes of 19-20 students. With the bond issue not going through, the district has to decide how to handle the growth at the elementary level. Dr. Loeffelholz projected four portables to cost $400,000. He said if portables are used, it must meet all the fire safety issues. Dr. Loeffelholz will provide the board with some hard facts in December.

Discussion:  GNSA was originally created to lobby for the state aid formula. He said the makeup of the group has changed over the last 15 years, a lot of smaller districts are now involved, and the state aid formula is not as important to them. The group has changed to more of a legislative relations network. Dr. Loeffelholz said the district has joined other non-equalized districts to do more lobbying about state aid. He did suggest CPS still stay a member of GNSA because the dues are small, and the board and superintendent can participate.

Discussion:  Waite said he modified some of language of the early retirement because of misunderstandings last year. He said he wanted to make it a little smoother to operate. One of the confusing points was the 25 years of service. He changed it to be equal to the number of years of credited service as used in the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement System in the calculation of retirement benefits. He said he is not sure how much longer the district can keep up with early retirement. There are currently four people in their second year and nine who are eligible to early retire this year.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said CHS Activities Coordinator John Krogstrand resigned and will be taking a job in South Dakota, and he informed the board Krogstrand’s wife, who is a guidance counselor at CHS, will also be resigning. Peg Ziola was hired as the CHS bookkeeper. Amy Blaser was also being appointed to the CPS Foundation Board to replace Ron Callan.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said this is a matching scholarship between the foundation and Superintendent’s Incentive grant. Each group will put up $4,000 for a total of $8,000, so scholarships can be offered to juniors and seniors for a trip to Washington DC.

Discussion:  Mr. Waite said the policy was tweaked to reflect what was actually going on. Next month the board will approve the amount for early retirement.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said Hill was brought to CPS to evaluate the district in regards to why the bond issue failed. He said when a planner was brought in before, it was only to look at the surface issues; and this one will go a lot deeper. Some of the things looked at will include: economic and demographic development, facility adequacies and capacity. Hill will look at the district as a whole. He will show the growth and the shifting of where people are living and moving in the community. He will also look at population trends and other information to get a range for a forecast of growth.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz read a letter written by Ron Rathbone. In the letter, Rathbone said it has been an honor and privilege to serve with each and every one of the board members. He said they each have always had the best interests of the students and staff in mind when making decisions. Dr. Loeffelholz said he is comfortable with the 275 cut off for option enrollment. He said the numbers aren't getting any smaller. He said the district is going to need to make some difficult decisions in the next few months. There are 14 teachers who went to Chicago as guests of Apple. There were two from each of the elementary levels, two from CMS and two from Student Services. They will be learning about the challenge-based learning component.

Discussion:  Alan Dostal welcomed Theresa Seipel. Theresa Seipel said she is very appreciative of this opportunity to serve on the Board.