January 9, 2012 at 5:00 PM - Work Session and Regular Meeting of the Board of Education

Discussion:  Columbus High School Principal Steve Woodside said this is the third year of testing all freshmen students on the Explore test. The Plan has been given to sophomores for a few more years. The junior class is the first group to take the Explore, Plan and ACT tests. All juniors will be taking the ACT on March 20. CHS Assistant Principal Angela Leifeld said advisement this year focuses on a target. Focus stands for fidelity, ownership, commitment, understanding and success is self-sacrifice. CHS 101 was started four years ago by Carol Dostal and Jean Kamrath to set freshmen up with other high school students for mentors.

Discussion:  TeamMates Co-coordinator Bob Arp said after he retired from Lakeview he wanted to be a mentor, and over the last year and half, he has been helping with the program. TeamMates was founded by Tom and Nancy Osborne, and was inspired by a 60 Minutes feature story about mentoring. The program was started at CMS with 6 mentor/mentee pairs in 1999, and today there are currently over 100 mentor/mentee pairs.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said he would be recommending the district purchase four portables. LPS is willing to sell them for $6,750. He said he has met with the person who moves buildings, and it will cost $11,000 for each building. Dr. Loeffelholz said even with the footings, he still expects the cost to come in around $45,000 per building.

Discussion:  Motion by Alan Dostal second by Ken Curry to nominated Francis Kuehler as president.

Discussion:  Motion by Barb Lehr second by Mike Goos to nominated Alan Dostal as vice president.

Discussion:  John Krogstrand, Activities Coordinator at CHS, has been recognized by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association as a Certified Athletic Administrator. CHS Principal Steve Woodside said Krogstrand has done an excellent job at the high school.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said he would serve as secretary, signatory for the district for the federal fund and signatory for the lunch account until the executive director of finance and human relations is hired.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said CPS does not want the Legislature to change the way state aid is figured. He said he is working with GNS to make sure this happens.Bob Waite said this won’t happen until April and state aid is supposed to be certified March 1.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said the NSEA has requested that the local bargaining agent be recognized in January for the 2013-14 School Year.

Discussion:  Energy Education started in July 2009. In 25 months, the district has saved $308,000.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said the new job descriptions are part of a realignment of the central office where the technology director now includes maintenance and operations and business operations to include human relations.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said this had to be changed because of the new state statue saying a student must be five years old by July 31 in order to be eligible for kindergarten. However if a child turns five between August 1 and Oct. 15, parents can apply to have their students assessed to determine if he or she is ready for kindergarten. The assessment will consider more than academic readiness and will also include social skills and other things. To take this assessment, parents must apply with the district by April 15.

Discussion:  The board directed Dr. Loeffelholz to collect more information on the portables available in Schuyler, and the cost to move them to Columbus and get a better idea of the cost of the footings.

Discussion:  February 15 is the deadline for incumbents to file for re-election and March 1 for the non-incumbents. Barb Lehr, Alan Dostal and Mike Goos are up for re-election and Theresa Seipel must either file to fill Ron Rathbone’s two-year term or one of the four-year positions. The CFAC will meet with the consultant on January 23.

Discussion:  Ken Curry said he was very impressed with high school presentation especially the CHS 101 group that helps mentoring kids. He said he also enjoyed the listening session he had with CHS staff. Alan Dostal said the Omaha World Herald did a story that identified student achievement and parental participation and attendance at parent teacher conference. He said every opportunity a parent has to be engaged in child's education is a good thing. Dr. Loeffelholz said on Feb. 22 there would be another NSBA leadership workshop in Norfolk.