October 9, 2017 at 5:30 PM - Committee As A Whole

The meeting was called to order at 5:37 p.m. Candy Becher was excused from the meeting.

The purpose of this policy is to set grade level maximum numbers and in-district transfers limits. Dr. Loeffelholz said the enrollment at the HS has not been over 1,200 students for at least the past 12 years. The total district enrollment is 3,910 approximately 150 kids more than the district had two years ago. If maximum numbers are not set, no student can be denied an option enrollment. We have more option kids coming in than leaving, which is different from the past. Option enrollment applications will start coming in soon, so they can be in before the March 1 deadline.

States that the administration has 5-7 business days to respond to a complaint. The response is limited because it is a personnel issue. Step one of the complaint process is to have a conference with the building principal. Step two is to conference with a district administrator. If it is still not resolved, it goes to the superintendent and finally to the board. He said community complaints follow the same procedure as an employee complaint. Complaints must be in writing and signed for verification. If a complaint is about an administrator it goes straight to the superintendent. Theresa Seipel asked that the words executive director of finance be removed and just human resources be left in the policy. Dr. Loeffelholz said all staff will get this policy once it is approved by the board next Monday.

New staff members at North Park include: Laurel Newman - Title I reading; Trina Gentile - school counselor; Megan Connelly - first grade teacher; Amy Moore - fourth grade teacher; Jennifer Mulder - fourth grade teacher; and Zaidya Hirschman - music. This year there are 315 students, and three sections at every grade. There were 30 new kids who moved in over the summer, and 20 kids left North Park over the summer. North Park Principal Bob Hausmann said he doesn’t have any extra room in his building even though the fifth grade moved out. He said he did get his computer and music rooms back and a few more extra spaces. The goal this year is to create the conditions that enable others to be successful. Some of the goals include: 1. Safe, supportive and collaborative culture 2. Effective teaching in every classroom 3. Guaranteed and viable curriculum. Hausmann said the first goal needs to be met before a person can accomplish the other two. He said the entire staff and not just teachers need to feel North Park is a safe, supportive, positive and collaborative place to learn and work.

One of the challenges is having three generations in the workplace: Baby Boomers - ages 52-72 with 14 staff members in this category; Generation X ages 35-51 with14 staff members; and Millennial ages 17-34 with 17 staff members. Hausmann said people don't think of the different norms of the generations. He said the differences need to be pointed out. He asked his staff several questions that helped to show the different ways the generations answer the questions. Hausmann said the whole point of the exercise is to show the differences, and not assume people know the norms of other generations. Hausmann said the collaborative and supportive culture is helping people see the different ways the generations think.

He said this year the entire staff came up with the positive behavior theme: "Only 1 You." No two people are exactly alike, but we all are beautiful in our own way. The goal is to get the rock, which students receives for doing something positive. Every rock is different just like all of the students are different. Hausmann said the students are also painting their own rocks that will be displayed outside. He said this year each staff member has a secret explorer who does random acts of kindness for a person. Hausmann said the para educators have also pointed out some things that needed to be changed with the increase in students, such as kids standing in line 20 minutes for lunch, so they had no time to eat. This created a lot of discipline problems, and too many kids outside to supervise. Some of the changes that were made based on the concerns staggered lunches for every grade level; each grade has a section of the lunchroom to sit and one para to watch that section. The lines are now shorter and there are less discipline problems. 

Executive Director of Business Operations and Human Relations Dave Melick said the cash balances are pretty good right now. He said there is $300,000 in retainage from Hausmann Construction. There was about $3 million paid out of cash reserves for the work at the middle school. In the Pinnacle Bank construction bank account there is only $85.42 left. Melick said the district is once again receiving property taxes and state aid payments. He said there is one payment left to be paid to B-D Construction for the work on the middle school. Gehring Construction and Ready Mix was paid $20,082.50 for the work on the new driveway at middle school.

All the administrators went to the High Reliability Schools training in Milford.

The Foundation and the umbrella groups contributed $57,786.07 to the district. The Foundation’s fiscal year just started.

Need wellness policy updated. Reviewed sample policy received from state department and one from school board association. All not very satisfactory. We will propose one for first reading from the attorney knowing there is committee work that needs to happen. Administration, teachers, students, community members, and board members will all work on it. First reading will be done Monday then the committee will meet as group and recommend changes. If accepted second reading in November.

Melick said the fundraising applications include: food drives, Center for Survivors, United Way and other groups that are not directly connected to what is being taught in the classrooms. He said he will recommend all of these for approval at the meeting Monday night.

There was a big windstorm at the high school that ruined the pole vault pits. These will need to be replaced and can be recycled. Melick said the insurance money will cover the cost of the replacement. Other surplus items include books at West Park and televisions from Lost Creek.

Melick said the auditors were in the district two weeks ago. He said he anticipates receiving a clean report. He said there was nothing that was overspent in any of the areas. Melick said the district is also being audited for their state retirement contributions. He said a few are selected to be audited to make sure the correct amounts are being paid to the employees. He said the district should not have to be audited again for a few years. Melick said he has given 13 presentations to various building staffs on the new professional performance model, and there has not been too many questions.

Executive Director of Technology and Building Operations Leonard Kwapnioski said the district used to have two separate contracts and now there is one combined contract. The CMI contract is for $40,790, which is an increase of $1,900 from last year. He said if the district doesn’t use all of the service hours, they will be reimbursed. The district still uses Trane and Siemen for a wide variety of things due to their equipment being in the district. Kwapnioski said the biggest challenge is the software from all three. He said now all HAVC is open source, so if the district goes to another company no additional new equipment will be needed. North Park will be part of CMI and will leave Siemen. Kwapnioski said the district is now down to three and half buildings that are not CMI. He said Lost Creek is half because it is part Trane and Siemen. He said the other buildings will be addressed little by little as the budget allows. Kwapnioski said the district will eventually be down to just one company. CMI current handles CHS, CMS, Administration Building, Maintenance, Student Center and North Park.

There were three bids for garbage and recycling services. Kwapnioski said they will make a decision on the one that best fits the district’s needs and hopefully save a little money. Tomorrow, Dr. Loeffelholz, Kim Kwapnioski and he will be meeting to discuss the CPS sports complex on the 23 acres that has been set aside for this purpose. Kwapnioski said the Foundation is working with the Columbus Baseball Association to come up with design for the complex. He said there will be multiple firms that will come in and help with design. The Foundation will cover the expense. Kwapnioski said this needs to be done in order for the Columbus Baseball Association to apply for grant funding.

He said there have been numerous problems with traffic flow at the middle school. Originally they were going to wait until next summer, but the safety concerns moved it up in priority. Kwapnioski said there was a sign that said right turn only, but that has been taken down several times. He said a new cut will be made out of the parking lot that will force people to turn right. The entrance to the lot will also be narrowed to one way. He said this should help improve traffic patterns. Dr. Loeffelholz said the reason for no left turn is because there is a crosswalk near, and the children cannot be seen by the drivers if someone turns left. He said these safety concerns are why it was made more of a priority. There is also no parking on the north side of 26th street. Kwapnioski said the city has been very helpful in making the area around the middle school safer.  Kwapnioski said a person can no longer drive from the south lot to the north lot, which has helped with traffic flow.

Kwapnioski said recently in Johnson, Iowa a group was picking out students and sending emails that threatened violence and harm to the students. He said this group was able to get students cell phone numbers and other information to make the threats. Kwapnioski said this is a cyber crime. He said some of the Johnson kids are fighting back, and this is the first time something like that has happened. Kwapnioski said the district tries to keep students safe by not tying anything to the student's name and instead to use the district issued number. He said people must be educated. In the past, schools were almost immune from a lot of these things, but not any more. He said this is very similar to bullying. Next month Kwapnioski said he will be bringing a list of surplus property from the middle school. He said he has two people that are interested in purchasing some items, and there is also a lot of scrap metal that can be recycled. He said all of these items are being stored in the old middle school. He said due to the volume of the items, the list will be very general. Theresa Seipel asked if any of the middle school teachers would want any of the items. Dr. Loeffelholz said some of the desks are being kept in case replacements are needed. Kwapnioski said B-D Construction reused all the items possible. He said many of the items were not allowed to be moved because of the age or condition.

At the board retreat, the members wanted to see the connection of what was written in the strategic plan and what was being done. Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction Amy Romshek said this year the district is working on the Art and Science of Teaching (ASOT) instructional model that was adopted. She said when a new model is used, there is a lot of training involved. There are four instructional coaches that were trained and will work with new teachers to help them learn the basics of the model. The Administrative Team went to High Reliability Schools Training on Sept. 7. This training is also related to Marzano training. Romshek said the district will be doing a lot of Marzano and ASOT work this year. The Administrative Team will also go to High Reliability Schools Training two more times and see how ASOT ties into it.

Principals are be using the Iobservation tool, which allows them to share the results with teachers. She said if needed additional training may be offered. Another focus includes the seven elements every teacher needs to have and practice in the classroom to be effective. The learning goals and proficiency scales need to be written for each course in the district. There has been one to two teachers per collaboration team that went for additional training on how to write learning goals and proficiency scales. She said on Oct. 12 there are no students and all collaboration work will be in groups to write goals and scales. Romshek said the plan is to have goals and scales for every course in CPS. Proficiency scales and goals must come before anything can be done on Grading for Learning.

The AdvancED evaluation will take place in November. For the past month, Teresa Hausmann and Romshek have been working with every building to complete the school quality factor report. There are seven major categories in the report. These will be submitted to the AdvancED team in a week. These items are all related to the mission, vision, and strategic plan. Some other items being worked on include kindergarten teachers revising the priority plan with the purpose of fast tracking above grade level students to provide more challenges; 5/6 ELA teachers are developing assessments that closely aligned to state standards; K-12 media specialists revising the media curriculum to meet the needs of students in literacy, research skills and media skills; 5-8 physical education and health revisions of curriculum to reflect more fitness. Romshek said these things are being developed by teachers with the guidance of directors.

Executive Director of Student Services and Special Education Jason Harris said his department is busy right now working on state reports. He said he is finishing up the final financials for transportation, birth through five and five through 21; preschool program; and state reporting for special education. Harris said he is also in the process of writing the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), Every Student Can Succeed Act (ESSA), and Accountability grants. He said the district should receive about $1 million from IDEA. Harris said there are still three buildings that are in needs improvement for No Child Left Behind. Even though that rule is no longer around the government is still allocating money for schools that aren’t meeting the standard. He said they are just waiting for guidance about what to do.

Harris said Strategic Plan Number 2 deals with the social and emotional support. He said the steps being taken are about fostering social and emotional support by doing: well-managed classroom training; well-managed classroom focus; BIST Consultant; mental health vouchers; hiring an attendance monitor; and East Central District Health partnership. Harris said the district hired an elementary attendance monitor and there is already one person on the secondary level. He said work is also being done on the partnership with ECDH to get a licensed mental health therapist to be at the high school for four to five days, but due to the change of leadership, this has not happened yet.

Harris said he is also doing work on guidance for grading, which is not standard based grading. He said this looks at what should and shouldn't be graded. Harris said it also addresses what happens when a student doesn't meet the requirement. With his work in Communities for Kids, he said the Columbus community was approached by the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation to fund an early childhood program. The goal is for the Communities for Kids Committee to put together a plan for childhood education. He said some of the ideas that were brainstormed were to tie in the old middle school building for the preschool school program. Harris said he will keep the board updated on what is going on and what the grant funders need. There are currently a 159 preschoolers with four in the district and one through a partnership with Head Start. There is also a waiting list for three olds because the enrollment was focused on four year olds. Harris said another issue being looked into is providing childcare so teen moms can have daycare for their children, so they can go back to school because many don’t graduate.

Doug Willoughby said Peace Lutheran will be hosting a salad luncheon on Thursday. He said Oktoberfest at St. John this Sunday. Tim Pospisil thanked Bob Hausmann for his presentation on North Park. He said he found the information on the three different generations in the building interesting and especially how they see things and think different. Pospisil apologized to the board for not being able to make next Monday’s meeting. Doug Molczyk said he enjoyed Hausmann’s presentation as well and had a good visit with the North Park staff. Theresa Seipel said she also liked the generation presentation. She said she was surprised how evenly the generations were divided at North Park.