September 14, 2020 at 5:30 PM - Committee As A Whole

Discussion:  Paula Lawrence presented information from West Park Elementary. She shared student and staff demographic statistics. Mrs. Lawrence also talked about the Continuous Improvement Goals for Reading and Math. The 2019-2020 radar chart has data from the 1st semester instead of 2nd semester because of the pandemic and there was no spring testing, so it looks different than in previous years. She said the staff at West Park is working on keeping kids safe and in school, utilizing dots for social distancing during the morning pledge and spreading out at lunch. Mrs. Lawrence said the teachers are continually preparing students for remote learning by incorporating the use of their devices in lessons, and by helping students to become comfortable using SeeSaw.

Discussion:  The CPS 20-21 Budget Hearing was held prior to the meeting. The budget was approved.

Discussion:  The CPS 20-21 Tax Request Hearing was held prior to the meeting. The tax request was approved.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz, Superintendent said we had discussed the handbook a couple of meetings prior but had inadvertently left if off the agenda and the board still needed to approve it. 

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said this policy was discussed at the last meeting, the policy was prepared for the second and final reading.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said the Foundation Board has to be approved each year by the Board of Education. There is some question about one board members term expiration, that will be addressed this week. 

Discussion: 

Chip Kay, Director of Business Operations gave a brief description of the financial reports. He noted an increase in cash reserves, this gives us enough for 3 months of payroll.  The Bond Fund has a good balance, there will be a payment in December.

The September tax revenue is from the tax request in 2019, grant revenue from 18-19 shows in this budget. There were no transfers into the general fund. 

Larger expenditures in August were to Gene Steffey for the maintenance pick-up, Lamp Rynearson for work on the Kramer building, Bergman Incentives, Inc. for the gaiters and face masks/PPE for students and Twig Education for the new science curriculum. 

The M4 Financial Report shows $189,004.28 in district depreciation to close everything out in the 19-20 budget.

Discussion:  Mr. Kay said we still have a few openings but the gap is closing.

Discussion:  Total contributions for the month of August, $30,356.96. 

Discussion:  Chip Kay talked about the applications, he said most of these are events done every year.  Dr. Loeffelholz said fundraising is a bit more challenging because we do not want students going door to door. 

Discussion:  Mr. Kay said the items being requested for surplus are not salvageable and will be disposed of accordingly.

Discussion:  Mr. Kay said he and Jay Spearman have been meeting daily as we move forward with the bond refinancing. The district received the Moody’s Rating AA2 and will go into the market on Tuesday, the bond should be refinanced by the end-of-day Thursday, September 17, 2020. This will be a savings 4.6 million. We will pay off the bond that we are refinancing. Keep payments level for a year. This will be a 10 year callable bond, in the end we will save more money.  We will see a $2 million increase in the savings than earlier talked about. $360,000 in savings per year after year 1. Trying to get lease purchase funds done in September, the money will be invested in 90 day increments. 
 

Discussion:  Leonard Kwapnioski, Director of Building and Sites/Technology said the rezoning of the Kramer Center was at the request of the City of Columbus to move forward with the Kramer Early Childhood Center. The hearing is to rezone from R3C to R3. It needs to be zoned differently for the daycare. He also shared that the bid package for footings would take place on October 2, for Phase 1. He is waiting on soil reports at this time.

 

Discussion:  Jason Harris, Director of Student Services and SPED and Dr. Amy Romshek, Director of Curriculum gave some information to clarify the differences in homeschool/exempt school and remote learning. Mr. Harris explained that for a student to be in the homeschool program, they must complete an application that is approved by the Nebraska Department of Education. There are 67 families\223 students from CPS enrolled in the  homeschool program. CPS does not have an educational obligation to those students unless they are verified Special Education. Mr. Harris said his staff is reaching out to those verified new SPED students to gain information on how they would like to proceed. Many of the SPED students who are on homeschool status come into our buildings for some lessons. We have 40 students who are utilizing our remote learning option plan.  This is only for those families who have a health condition that dictates this is needed. Those students are on 504 plans to document why they need a remote learning plan. These plans will be re-evaluated at semester.

Dr. Romshek shared that she had researched some accredited homeschool programs and they can be quite expensive, she did find a few affordable options. Dr. Loeffelholz said he reminded families on the Facebook live event that especially high school aged students needed to be sure of a program's accreditation to keep them on track for graduation.   
Dr. Romshek talked about the remote learners program, there are 2 teachers, and 3 administrators monitoring and assisting to keep these students on track. She said students are required to check in each day. They are assigned core courses, they have assignments that are required and also some that are extra.  Accellus is the name fo the remote learning platform.  If a student needs more instruction, there is online video assistance or they can get personal assistance from the teachers. If a student is not progressing, they are contacted to stay on top of what the student may need to continue and be successful. 

For students that are home ill or in quarantine, the regular classroom teacher is providing work, and can be contacted through Google Classroom for assistance. The STEM Coordinator is the liaison between teachers and families if needed. 

Discussion: 

Dr. Loeffelholz shared that the new DHM’s started today, which increases outdoor events to 100% capacity and indoor to 75% capacity.  However, what CPS is doing is working, we won’t be changing our protocols at this time. There is research showing a significant difference in schools requiring masks and those that are not. We are protected by our masks. Lunch is the biggest concern, with students removing masks to eat. Dr. Loeffelholz reminded the group that students can stay in school until the student with symptoms test and the test comes back positive. 

He also talked about the Kramer Education Center funding plan, there is a meeting with Sherwood and Kiewit to introduce the early childhood center.  The goal is $2 million to defer some costs on preschool, to extend funding to work on the daycare center. The hope is to have footings in the ground by December. Dr. Loeffelholz said the start of school has gone pretty smoothly, starting later helped. CPS has had 8 students with positive tests in the district, 4 staff members tested positive.

He shared that a policy review is necessary, this will be done by section. There is a 21-22 draft calendar being created for 21-22 recruiting materials, dates can be moved, it was sent out to the calendar committee. 

Discussion: 

Dr. Loeffelholz talked about State Convention, He shared information regarding the in person plan. He is willing to go if any board members are interested. They only allowing 500 people in person, it is at the CHI Event Center. 

Discussion: 

The board shared that they were happy at how things are going for the beginning of the school year. Very happy that Dr. Loeffelholz is holding to our protocols in place at this time because they are working. The board is very thankful and grateful to CPS staff for all the work that is being done to keep our students safe and in school. Candy Becher and Theresa Seipel thanked Mrs. Lawrence for the time they were able to spend at West Park with the staff. They talked about what a neat family community there is at West Park. Mr. Molczyk said the new band uniforms are really nice. Ms. Becher commended all and said keep doing what you are doing.