April 15, 2013 at 5:00 PM - Work Session and Regular Meeting of the Board of Education

Discussion:  Begins at 4:30 p.m. and is intended for building staff and appointed board members.

Discussion:  Presentation was given by Mr. Tom Wunderlich, Mr. Mike Grutsch, and Mr. Guy Loop regarding projects worked on in the district over the past year. These include, concrete at maintenance building, remodeling district administration building, redesigning the warehouse, working with water well field at several sites, cassette house, high school kitchen freezer, and storage building north of the High School.

Discussion:  The board toured the old maintenance facility located west of West Park Elementary School.

Discussion:  The Board concluded executive Session at 6:30 p.m. and recessed.

Discussion:  Ken Curry read the "Mission Statement".

Discussion:  No one spoke at the meeting.

Discussion:  The CMS Destination Imagination Team qualified for Global Finals on May 22-25 in Knoxville, TN. The group worked on a problem called Twist-O-Rama where they had to build a weight bearing structure and only use four materials from the list. The group used mostly bamboo, cooper wire, cardboard and a little duct tape and glue. Their object held 468 pounds of dead weight. Coach Jim Hanna said the goal before the finals is to improve by reducing the weight of their object. Team members include: Cole Mitchell, Brendan Colford, Lydia Johnson, Aeriel Frey, Paige Jeffryes and Jayden Boesch. Team managers are Jim Hanna and Jo Tonini.

Discussion:  This group competed in the Real to Reel event. For this competition, teams had to use collaborative problem solving to identify and select at least one real community need; design and carry out a project to address the need; create a movie that documents the project; evaluate the project and prepare a thorough project review; and prepare for a live press conference.

Discussion:  Presentation of the nominees for educator of the year was given by Mrs. Jessica Kuehler. The Educator of the Year will receive a $1,000 prize and the runner up a $500 prize, sponsored by the Columbus United Federal Credit Union. The runner up and recipient will be announced at the 2013 CPS Employee Recognition Banquet. The 31 teachers listed below received one or more nominations. Those nominated include: Marc Baue (CHS), Crystal Bell (Centennial), Jennifer Betz (Centennial), Susan Bopp-Esch (CMS), Celeste Ditter (CMS), Kim Ek (CHS), LeAnne Emerson (Centennial), Cheryl Ferguson (Lost Creek), Kelly Frenzen (North Park), Ron Haefner (CHS), Lindsay Hollman (CMS), Tom Keiser (North Park), Cathy Kwapnioski (CHS), Angie Luebbe (North Park), Tonja Lusche (CMS), Tamara Lyon (Emerson), Amy Mancini-Marshall (CMS), Jenny Meyer (North Park), Elizabeth Millard (Lost Creek), Linda Mohr (CHS), Amy Moore (CMS), Cristine Niles (Centennial), Jeff Peabody (CHS), Kim Shevlin (CMS), Stacy Smith (CHS), Annie Sokol (CMS), Sherry Thompson (Lost Creek), Brian Townsend (CHS), Ed Travers (CMS), Robyn Wilcox (Emerson) and Terry Wulf (CMS). The finalists are Susan Bopp-Esch, Celeste Ditter, Cheryl Ferguson, Ron Haefner, Angie Luebbe, and Jenny Meyer. The Board congratulated the honorees and said they appreciated all that they do.

Discussion:  Mrs. Jessica Kuehler recognized all of the candidates for Operations Employee of the Year. The Operations Employee of the Year will receive $500 cash, sponsored by Bob Markham (CHS Class of 1976) and wife, Chris. The runner up and recipient will be announced at the 2013 CPS Employee Recognition Banquet. The 18 persons listed below received one or more nominations. The following were nominated: Nancy Baker (CMS), Jana Coble (Centennial), Kyle Coulter (CHS), Rochelle DeWispelare (Emerson), Amber Furby (Lost Creek), Jose Garcia (Centennial), Mariam Henggeler (CHS), Jean Kamrath (CHS), Sandy Krings (Admin), Dianne Mapes (Admin), Kris Miller (Admin), Kathy Morris (CHS), Julie Neil (Centennial), Mike Olson (Maintenance), Raymond Rinkol (CHS), Adam Schaer (Pathways), Tom Sliva (Lost Creek), and Ronda Vanderslice (North Park). The finalists are Nancy Baker, Shelly DeWispelare, Jean Kamrath, and Mike Olson. The Board and Administration thanked the classified staff for all they do.

Discussion:  The group of 22 students presented to the Board a Powerpoint presentation that included pictures of the trip and also told what they did while they were in Washington DC. They used Facebook to keep connected with parents and friends.

Discussion:  There are 12 new hires. There are a tentative 260 plus students that should graduate.

Discussion:  Theresa Seipel abstained because it was paying a bill to Seipel Repair Inc.

Discussion:  Mrs. Amy Haynes said Anderson comes highly recommended and will bring a lot of experience. She said he will be a very good fit.

Discussion:  Executive Director of Personnel/Business Operations Dave Melick said he looked at a number of schools as well as local employers to see how CPS compared in salaries. He said maintenance and custodial were comparable. However, the para educators, food service and some secretaries were not comparable. He said the increase will be based on if the position is comparable to other similar jobs. He said para educators are the farthest behind, so they will receive a higher increase.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said the policy now goes along with what is currently being done in the district. He said if changes need to be made, the policy will not be amended and the exhibit will be adjusted.

Discussion:  Executive Director of Student Services/Special Education Jason Harris said some of the changes had to do with keeping up with the requirements from the Department of Education.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said these groups have donated more than $7,262 in the last month.

Discussion:  Assistant Principal Amy Haynes said there were only minor changes made. Most of the changes were to make sure things were consistent from one grade to the next. Haynes said the new Dean of Students, Adriana Carnes will be a good addition to the middle school. She started out as a para, went on to be an ELL teacher and now has obtained her masters in administration.

Discussion:  Mark Brown said the athlete to coach ratio merits the hiring of an assistant. He said the coaching is understaffed with three programs, reserve, junior varsity and varsity, and there are only three coaches and often times all are playing at once. Brown said at times the student manager had to be used to coach bases. He said there are great facilities and the kids have an interest, but there are not adequate coaches.

Discussion:  Motion by Mike Goos second Theresa Seipel to table the elimination of the reserve baseball program until receiving parental input. Brown said he was approached about this in December by the baseball coaching staff but wanted to wait for the season to make a decision.

Discussion:  Mr. Melick met with representatives from hospital board, City, and YMCA regarding a competitive pool and if the city needs two. Dr. Loeffelholz said some numbers are being put together to see if CPS is interested in helping to fund the new pool or helping to fix the bulkhead at the Aquatic Center. The district has been notified they have full accreditation from Advanced Ed. Dr. Loeffelholz said after 18 months, the district must submit a report on how it is implementing the recommendations. The accreditation is good for five years. Dr. Loeffelholz told the Board next month they will be approving an agreement between CPS maintenance staff and ESU7 for work. The purchase agreement with the hospital is finalized. Dr. Loeffelholz said Harris and he visited Educare facilities in both Lincoln and Omaha. He said the hospital is looking for someone to provide education at the preschool facility.

Discussion:  Strategic plan report - College and career readiness – Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction Amy Romshek said the group is making progress. She said they plan to involve more community members. Harris said the emotional and social committee met on March 28. They talked about beginning to train staff to recognize signs of students’ emotional problems. Melick said the committee looked at objectives and how to categorized them better. He said the meeting that is coming up will have community members in attendance.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz asked the board to let Gail Placek know if they plan on attending the Employee Banquet on April 26.

Discussion:  Ken Curry said the tremendous staff at CPS is evident by all those being nominated for teacher or operations person of the year. Candy Becher said she was glad to see so many students at the board meeting. Alan Dostal said it was great to see Ron Haefner featured in the Omaha World Herald. Ken Curry said he also heard the talent show was tremendous.

Discussion:  Meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.