February 13, 2012 at 5:00 PM - Work Session and Regular Meeting of the Board of Education

Discussion:  Presentation was given by Principal Sara Colford and staff regarding student testing, PBiS, technology, B.R.A.S.S., Crusader Coupons, and AR results. Dr. Loeffelholz informed the board of the initial State-Aid formula run by the Department of Education using $837 million. The district is supporting LB 947 to increase State-Aid allotment to $880 million.

Discussion:  Mike Goos read the Mission Statement.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz discussed classified hires and professional development in the areas of school improvement and grading practices.

Discussion:  Bob Waite, Interim Director of Business Operations said there is a little more money in the general fund as compared to last year. He said this money could be used to help address the state aid shortage for next year. Waite said he will be bringing some amendments for the budget to the board in a few months.

Discussion:  Executive Director of Technology Leonard Kwapnioski said this is the cheapest way for the district to receive natural gas utilities.

Discussion:  Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction Amy Romshek said there are several changes in the new calendar. One of the changes is the start date is a little earlier then anticipated. She said this was because there needed to be two days off on Sept. 11-12 for professional development. Another change is there will not be a day off of school before Thanksgiving. She said this was done to try to keep the numbers of days for a quarter the same. There will also no longer be two days of semester testing at CHS. Instead there will be a half day at end of each quarter at CHS for academic intervention.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said when looking at option enrollment students, they can’t be denied unless the program is full. The numbers set for next year are 275 students in grades K-5 with a 19 to 1 ratio in grades K-2 and a 23 to 1 ratio in grades 3-12. He said the same numbers will be used with in-district transfers; and once the 19 to 1 ratio is reached, students will not be allowed to transfer.

Discussion:  Those taking early retirement include: Candace Becher, Betty Brackhan, Karen Iwansky, Ramona Kluth, Doug Terry and Gale Vopalensky.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said he wanted to give the board a history of where this project started and where it is at today. CHS Activities Coordinator John Krogstrand said the city approached the district in the spring 2010 to finance and refurbish the football and track facilities at Pawnee Park, and at that time, the district and city entered into a verbal partnership. Dr. Loeffelholz said the one time cost is not paid until the project is completed. Work will begin after the CMS track meet on April 15. Krogstrand said the CHS football team will be the first ones to play at home on the new field.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said the van is out of commission as of today. He said the district looked at purchasing a used van, but the price was $15,000-$16,000 and the vehicles had 50,000+ miles. The state has a contract with Chevy and one with Ford and in order to get the pricing, the district had to get the vehicle from Anderson Auto Group.

Discussion:  Waite said Ameritas brought a new proposal to refinance high school bonds. He said the bonds can’t be refinanced until 2013, but the bonds can be sold and held in an escrow account with payments coming from there. The district will save $1.775 million dollars over the length of the bonds.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said Melick comes to the district with a lot of experience. He was in Madison as superintendent for seven years and was principal at Schuyler High School for 15 years. His wife, Sheri, is a teacher in Schuyler.

Discussion:  There will be two located at CMS and one at Centennial.

Discussion:  Kwapnioski said with the current state contract the district is paying $3,199 dollars per month for 40 MB of bandwidth. With this new agreement, the district will be getting 150 MB of bandwidth for $1,900.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said the district is going to need to have a conversation about a timeline for the sprinkler project in the 1988-89 addition at CMS. He asked the board if they had any additional questions on the state aid numbers and no one did. Dr. Loeffelholz said the preliminary plat for Discoverer Addition is done with the area to the north being for commercial development and covering 24 acres and one additional area of 13 acres. He said Gilmore and Associates and Clark Grant are working on the subdivision agreement. He said the city is requiring a lot of the details. Dr. Loeffelholz said the US Environmental Protection Agency came to do testing of the ground water plum under Emerson and CMS because of a Drycleaner in the downtown area. There was nothing found at Emerson. CMS indoor samples were fine but the sub slab samples were a little high. The EPA wants to come back and do additional testing on the site.

Discussion:  The board returned to open session at 9:40 p.m. Motion was made by Ken Curry and a second by Theresa Seipel.

Discussion:  The meeting adjourned at 9:41 p,m.