February 12, 2018 at 5:30 PM - Committee As A Whole
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I. Committee As A Whole
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I.A. Call to Order
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I.B. Roll Call of Board
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I.C. Pledge of Allegiance
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I.D. Notice of Open Meeting Posted
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I.D.1. President insures all can hear proceedings
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I.E. Presentations
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I.E.1. CPS Counselor Presentation
Discussion:
The CPS school counselors used the game of Jeoparody to test the board members’ knowledge of the jobs and duties of the school counselors. The board asked if the social workers have helped with the load. Executive Director of Student Services and Special Education Jason Harris said the social workers help with direct services to the families, but the school counselors are still doing most of the work within the buildings.
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I.F. Board Special Functions
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I.F.1. Administer Oath of Office to Theresa Seipel, Board President and Candy Becher, Board Vice President
Discussion:
Theresa Seipel was administered the oath of President of the School Board and Candace Becher was administered the oath as Vice President of the School Board.
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I.F.2. Option Enrollment Resolution, 2018-2019 / Student-Within-Transfers, 2018-2019
Discussion:
Superintendent Dr. Troy Loeffelholz said every year the board must review enrollment numbers. Each year the district projects 275 kindergartener's. The smallest class within the district is second grade with 235 students. Dr. Loeffelholz said he anticipates by the time school starts next year, the seniors and freshmen class size will be larger. He said the administration sets a maximum enrollment to protect the district from having more students than teachers. Based on this year’s figures the first, third, fifth, ninth, tenth and eleventh grades next year will be closed for option enrollment. Dr. Loeffelholz said there are usually a few who will option before the May 1 deadline, so they will be eligible to play sports. In the past, if a student has gone to CPS for two years and moves out of district, they can stay at CPS. Dr. Loeffelholz said all special service programs are maxed out and no students are being accepted. He said it has been challenging to find enough room for the special education students moving into the district. Dr. Loeffelholz said CPS will also take students if they had older brothers or sisters attend CPS. He said the in-district transfer is more of a guideline to make sure there is room for students moving into an attendance area.
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I.F.3. DLR Amendment to Professional Services Agreement
Discussion:
Dr. Loeffelholz said the district has been holding the final bill for extended services from DLR since last March. He said there were many reason why this was done including that the high school was supposed to be finished by January 2017, and it was not. The total extended contract final bill was originally $44,791, but do to some compensation adjustments, the total owed is $27,946. Dr. Loeffelholz said the majority of this final bill is to cover RVW's cost. He said there is still the retainer on Hausmann Construction. Dr. Loeffelholz said he is comfortable with the final payment amount. He said the year end warranty walk through and other services will be handled by RVW because an agreement has been reach with RVW and DLR.
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I.F.4. CPS Calendars 2018-2019
Draft - 2019-2020
Discussion:
When the calendars were first presented, there were four calendars that were put out to staff, parents and community. Dr. Loeffelholz said although people did not want to go back to the earlier start time, the staff and community did not vote for a later start date. He said the summer break will be about three weeks shorter this summer because students will be in school until June and students will be going back earlier. There were 291 community members who responded to the first survey and 329 for the second survey. There were 80 percent of the community and 77 percent of the staff in favor of calendar 4. Dr. Loeffelholz said option 2 had a long Christmas break and option 4 had a week-long spring break and shorter Christmas break.
Students will go back to school on August 15 and 16 and staff will come back August 9. Dr. Loeffelholz said there will be an early dismissal every week except for during the week of parent/teacher conferences, and the semester will end before Christmas. The new semester will begin January 7. The last day for students will be May 23 unless there are snow days, and if this happens, students will have to come back after Memorial Day. Dr. Loeffelholz said the board will also be asked to tentatively approve the 2019-20 "draft" calendar at next Monday’s meeting. The tentative calendar is similar to the one next year. CMS Principal and Calendar Committee Member Amy Haynes said the parents appreciated being able to give feedback on the calendar. There were three parents and representatives from each of the buildings on the committee. She said the calendar committee also appreciated the breaks being spread out throughout the year. Haynes said finishing the semester before Christmas was also a big push.
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I.F.5. First Reading of Policy 504.13 Hazing, Initiation, Secret Societies or Gang Activities
Discussion:
Dr. Loeffelholz said hazing and initiation was added to the policy. He said the policy is very specific, and he thinks this is better. Dr. Loeffelholz said these policies are hot topics, so they need to be thought through. Executive Director of Technology and Business Operations Leonard Kwapnioski requested that something be added regarding using digital technology to this policy.
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I.F.6. First Reading of Policy 504.19 Bullying Prevention
Discussion:
Dr. Loeffelholz said not a lot has changed in the bullying prevention policy. The policy is very general, and the specifics are addressed in the student handbook. The board felt that the policy needed to include something about using school devices for bullying even if it wasn’t during the school day. Dr. Loeffelholz and Kwapnioski will also cross reference this policy with the one on computer use to make sure nothing is missing. Dr. Loeffelholz said the issue in the courts is when does after and before school end and begin. He cautioned the board that the policy should not be too tight, so it creates problems. Theresa Seipel said the computers belong to the district and are monitored by the district, so it should not matter if it is during the school day or not. Dr. Loeffelholz said he will also look at the handbooks to see the language. He said students don't understand that if they are at any school activity the policy still applies because it is a school sponsored event.
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I.F.7. First Reading of Policy 509.02 Student Memorials and Gifts to School District
Discussion:
Dr. Loeffelholz said this policy was just revamped in 2016. He said the difference between the current policy and the other one is one is a loose and the other is a tight interpretation. The other policy allows for memorials to be put up inside school. Dr. Loeffelholz said the question becomes how do you accommodate the different types of grief and still be consistent. Dr. Loeffelholz said he would recommend staying with the existing policy or adding some of the items from the other policy into the current policy. Candy Becher said she would like to add the major school ceremonies such as graduation, awards and scholarships events are not appropriate for significant memorial activities. Dr. Loeffelholz said he would like to add that gifts should run through the foundation.
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I.G. Consent Agenda
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I.G.1. Approval of Minutes
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I.G.2. Financial Reports M2, M3, M4a
Discussion:
Executive Director of Business Operations and Human Relations Dave Melick said the district just received a little over $2 million in property taxes. B-D Construction will be paid $72,433, which is the next to the last payment on the middle school project. Commonwealth Communications was paid $11,968.20 for security cameras in the STEM area.
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I.G.3. Financial Report M4b
Discussion:
Seipel Repair will be paid $1,282.63.
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I.G.4. Financial Report M5
Discussion:
Melick said Service Master by Shevlin is doing the evening custodial work in all the elementary schools, administration building and pathways building. Kwapnioski said the agreement works well and other school districts have asked him about the process. He said it takes a while to work through the kinks but it is working well now.
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I.G.5. Certified Personnel
Discussion:
Melick said there are four on the list for early retirement as of right now. He said there will be a few more by next Monday. He said upon receiving an early retirement application, he holds it for seven days because a person can change his or her mind up to that point. After the seven days, the job can be advertised. Mr. Bartels’ job is posted and applications are being accepted until Feb. 23.
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I.G.6. Classified Personnel
Discussion:
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I.G.7. Professional Travel
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I.H. Acceptance of Gifts/Donations
Discussion:
The total contributions for January is $12,960.05 and the total contributions for the fiscal year are $402,799.51. Dr. Loeffelholz said when the STEM dollars are removed from last year, the foundation has taken in more money than in the past. He said some purchases were made for STEM on the Go, and teachers have been working on the curriculum for a while, and it should be up and running by the fall.
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I.I. Business Operations and Human Relations
Discussion:
Melick said he is in the process of looking at the increases in cost from this year as compared to next year. He said there have been three positions filled so far. Melick said the principal opening has had 22 applications and 10 are completed. He said there are currently nine teacher openings, a school psychologist and a speech language pathologist. He said these positions are being advertise in the World Herald along with a couple of places online.
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I.I.1. Policies
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I.I.2. Administrative Functions
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I.I.3. Updates
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I.J. Buildings & Sites/Technology
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I.J.1. Policies
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I.J.2. Administrative Functions
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I.J.2.1. Lamp, Rynearson & Associates Bid
Discussion:
The contract covers the design services for phase I of the CPS Sports Complex. CPS and the Columbus Baseball Association will each pay half of the $19,900 cost. With a conceptual drawing, the Baseball Association and other groups can start fundraising. Kwapnioski said the district will pay their portion with funds raised from the rental space of Viaero Wireless. He said the district is in a four-year lease with Viaero to rent space on the middle school, but there is an option to lengthen the lease agreement. Kwapnioski said this is a fund that was set aside for special projects. He said there is $26,000 in the account, and this is a good project for all kids.
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I.J.2.2. Grasshopper 900D Mower
Discussion:
Insurance has paid the district $14,500 for a mower with a blown engine. Kwapnioski said the Grasshopper 900D Mower will cost $26,100. There will also be a broom with it to remove snow. Dr. Loeffelholz said money from recycling metal was used to purchase the mower. He said so far with the money from recycling, Kwapnioski was able to purchase the mower and a trailer.
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I.J.3. Updates
Discussion:
Mike Grutsch is still out. John Harger is filling in for Grutsch while he is gone. Kwapnioski said he owes a big thank you to the maintenance crew for the job they did on removing the snow. He said there was a lot of ground to cover especially at the high school. Kwapnioski said Gehring has allowed CPS to rent one of their loaders to push the big piles snow. He said this is the first time the district has had to hire someone to help remove snow. The date for the CMS garage sale was initially the first part of March, but they lost time because of snow. Kwapnioski said they are now looking at April and are trying to get things organized so other schools can come and look. He said the entire building is clean except for the two gyms and cafeteria.
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I.K. Curriculum and Instruction
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I.K.1. Policies
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I.K.2. Administrative Functions
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I.K.2.1. CHS 2018-2019 Course Descriptions
Discussion:
CHS Principal Steve Woodside said one of the challenges with the new building is using a different schedule to meet the students’ needs. He said switching to a seven-period day and LEAD time on Wednesdays has worked out well. Woodside said as a result, the graduation requirements need to be adjusted and grade scale needed to be moved to a 10-point scale to align better with community colleges. He said the required courses would stay the same. Next year’s seniors will need 250 credits to graduation and next year’s freshmen, sophomores and juniors will need 240. Woodside said proportionally this is the best approach. This way all three of the Columbus schools will be at 240 for graduation requirements.
Woodside said this year a list of dual credit courses was added to the description book. He said a lot of teachers changed or modified their subject’s curriculum and now they are leaving. Financial planning will not be offered next year. Newspaper is switching to more online, so events can be put up in a timely matter. Woodside said to help students understand what it takes to be in a dual credit class, there now is a minimum ACT or Accuplacer Math score needed to enroll in the class. Consumer autos is being discontinued. AP US Government and Pop Culture will not be offered next year. Work Place Experience has been added as a way to get students interested in careers. Dr. Loeffelholz said he wants more information about the percentage of credits available as compared to the amount of credits needed. He said the freshmen class is different than the other classes. Dr. Loeffelholz said there is not much flexibility if a student doesn’t pass a class. He said freshmen will have 20 less credits available than the juniors. Dr. Loeffelholz said 230 might be more reasonable and give the students more opportunities to succeed. He said the reality is that freshmen could be in graduation trouble if they don’t pass one or more of their classes the first year. Dr. Loeffelholz said the goal is for all kids to pass and there needs to be a target set so they will pass. Woodside said adjustments can be made to the graduation requirements. Dr. Loeffelholz said if the graduation requirements stay at 240 for freshmen, a credit recovery program would need to be improved because there may be more struggling to maintain their graduation status.
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I.K.2.2. Nebraska Science Standards
Discussion:
There are now three disciplines in the science standards: science and engineering practices; disciplinary core ideas; and crosscutting concept. Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction Amy Romshek said there will also be more emphasis on earth and space science in the new curriculum. Romshek said the practices will be the same through all levels, but the difficulty will vary based on the grade level.
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I.K.2.3. Approval of Physical & Earth Science
Discussion:
Romshek said at the meeting Monday, the board will need to approve the new physical and earth science class for next year, so the curriculum will align with the new standards. Romshek said the district has three years to get something in place before students are tested on the new science standards. She said earth science needs to start next year, so students will be prepared for the ACT. She said the new standards will expect more from teachers and students. Next month Dr. Loeffelholz and Romshek will talk about the district’s accreditation.
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I.K.3. Updates
Discussion:
No update was given.
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I.L. Student Services
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I.L.1. Policies
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I.L.2. Administrative Functions
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I.L.2.1. Special Education 2018-2019 Projections
Discussion:
CPS currently serves 664 students from birth to 21 in special education. Harris said there are some contracted students, some new students moving in for special education. He said the nonpublic students in special education have also increased.
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I.L.2.2. Central Nebraska Rehabilitation Services Contract
Discussion:
Harris said he doesn’t hire his own occupational therapist or physical therapist. The district contracts with Central Nebraska Rehabilitation Services. PT services are from someone who is out of area and OT services is from someone local. Harris said they are paid $48 an hour plus mileage. He said the cost is below the approved state rate. Harris said he has been very pleased with their service. He said a couple of years ago he looked at other options at the request of the board, but there is no one in the community to do this service.
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I.L.3. Updates
Discussion:
Harris said there will be a survey coming out from Community for Kids, and it will have about 10 questions. He said this group is just looking for feedback for what the community thinks is need in childcare. People can access the survey through a link.
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I.M. Superintendent's Report
Discussion:
Dr. Loeffelholz said there are three bills in the legislature that impact student funding. He said the one he and other education groups support is LB 1084. He said many people favor term limits, but it does hurt education because the new senators don’t understand TEEOSA or why things are done the way they are.
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I.N. Board Sharing
Discussion:
The board decided to do sharing at next Monday’s meeting.
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I.O. Motion to enter Executive Session to discuss collective bargaining issues and to protect the public interest.
Discussion:
Motion by Doug Molczyk second by Candy Becher to go into executive session at 8:43 p.m. to discuss teacher negotiations. Motion carries.
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I.P. Adjourn
Discussion:
Motion by Doug Willoughby and seconded by Tim Pospisil to come out of Executive Session at 9:37 p.m.
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