October 21, 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:  Principal Jackie Herink reported that Centennial is in the second year of their needs improvement status; however,the school does have positive things happening. Centennial has exceeded the district goal for the last five years in the quality indicators of attendance student discipline, parent satisfaction and student satisfaction. In looking at all students, Centennial has made benchmark on the NeSA testing. Presentations were given by grade-level teachers and specialists describing some of the things they do with students in the classroom including Music Therapy, Book tasting collaboration, Pre-school Handwriting Without Tears, Kindergarten-spelling, first grade - using seven syllable types, and second grade pretest based on second grade standards whereby working together to meet the needs of each individual student. PLC Conference Objectives: Third Grade teacher post expectations for each lesson each day; Fourth Grade teachers are making reading objectives in kid-friendly format, ELL Fifth Grade teacher is collaborating with the teachers in reading vocabulary, and comprehension.

Discussion:  NeSA is a state test that stands for Nebraska Student Accountability. It is a summative test and is given at the end of the year in April. The test covers reading, math, science and writing. The number of items varies depending on level. Every students who takes the test receives a raw score, which is the number of items correct based on the total number items. The scale score is the transformed version of the number of items answered correctly. Proficiency is the percent of CPS students with scale scores of at 85 or more within a range of 0 to 200 points. CPS students had a 79 percent proficiency rate in reading for all students at all levels. The scale scores in reading for all students is an average of 113.76, which is close to the state average of 114.54. Math is 107.37, which is a little higher than the state average of 106.09. The science average is 99.88, which is below the state average of 102.35. Writing is 42.66, slightly lower than the state average of 44.66. Ken Curry requested the demographic information for the state to see how CPS compares. Romshek said she will email this information to him. There have been changes in the curricular expectations to include an updated K-5 writing curriculum; adoption of a new K-5 writing materials; an additional training in scoring using the NeSA writing rubric; and a greater emphasis on writing across the curriculum. Betsy Rall said the eighth grade has improved in 2012-2013, and hopefully some improvement will be seen with the changes in 11th grade as well. Rall said the district is doing things to improve writing. She said in the past, a lot of emphasis was placed on reading and now it needs to be on math as well. Mike Goos said with the poverty rate increasing, CPS could face more challenges. Rall said the district is trying to improve all content areas. Dr. Loeffelholz said he has the demographics of all Class B schools. He said free and reduced lunch in the district is now at 56 percent and last year the district was at 48 percent. He said this is also the last year of the pilot ACT program, and the administration is going to recommend continuing it. He said all students on free and reduced can take two tests one as junior and one as senior at no cost. Dr Loeffelholz said it is a good measurement test for college and career readiness.

Discussion:  The Board came out of Executive Session and recessed.

Discussion:  Francis Kuehler read the Mission Statement.

Discussion:  No one spoke at the public forum.

Discussion:  There were no recognitions.

Discussion:  No certified staff were hired or resigned. There were three classified staff who resigned and four were hired. Dr. Loeffelholz told the Board in October there are a lot more professional development opportunities.

Discussion:  There were no items removed from the Consent Agenda.

Discussion:  Executive Director of Business Operations Dave Melick said the Qualified Cap Purpose Undertaking Fund and Unemployment Fund are being taken away because these two accounts are no longer needed. The district is receiving an almost $100,000 a month increase in state aid over last year. He said the district spent $22,117 fighting the Discoverer Addition lawsuit.

Discussion:  Students have until March 15 to apply for option enrollment and the district must let them know if it is approved or denied by April 1. Dr. Loeffelholz said the district also no longer needs to notify NDE, just the resident district and parents.

Discussion:  Parents no longer have to have a signed notarized release discontinuing enrollment of their child. Executive Director of Student Services/Special Education Jason Harris said last year, there were 16 students who tested for early admittance into kindergarten and only one was admitted.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said the new policy states when the standards were adapted in the curriculum. He said anyone interested in seeing this information can contact Romshek.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said this is just updating the current policy on file. He said this will allow the district to go into a contract with a construction manager.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said over the last two years, there have been 32 students who have gone on the trip and 20 will be going this spring. He said the money will help reduce the cost of the trip for students with special attention given to those on free or reduce lunch. If the students receive a scholarship, they must also participate in the fundraising. Dr. Loeffelholz said this is also authorizing students to go out and fundraise for the trip.

Discussion:  There was $11,095.43 given back to the school.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said fundraisers can be added to this list if something arises that the students would want to help with.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz said this group wants to collect data from schools on wellness and fitness. He said they are asking all districts across the state to be a part of it, and it will not cost the District any money.

Discussion:  Dostal said he wants to reject the bid and re-negotiate. He said the cost seems low. Melick said he has checked with Farm Service and the amount received is in the range from price per acre. He said it falls into the range because it is not irrigated and the property is small. Melick said if the bid is not accepted, Yrkoski is going to want a multi-year contract. This will be brought back to the board at a special meeting on Oct. 28.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz thanked the Centennial staff for their presentation and NP for last months. He said it is nice to hear teachers are using things suggested by Mike Mattos and the PLC objectives. He said it shows they are trying to do the best for our students. Dr. Loeffelholz said one board member could attend the PLC meeting from June 11-13. He told the board to let him know if they are interested. The NSBA state conference is Nov. 20-22, and all the board members are registered for Nov. 21. Theresa Seipel said she will not be able to attend. Dr. Loeffelholz said the ACT testing pilot is in the third and final year. He said the key to scoring well on the ACT starts with a good early childhood program. He said he talked to a superintendent who saw a big jump in scores when the students who were in an early childhood program reached high school. Dr. Loeffelholz said businesses need to realize the importance of an early childhood program especially with the free and reduced numbers jumping 8 percent in a year. Dr. Loeffelholz shared the survey data that 42 people answered at the community meeting on Oct. 8 and 58 attended at the meeting on Oct. 15. He also presented the data from the 454 surveys completed by the staff. Dr. Loeffelholz said as the district moves forward, more specific information about the questions will be found out.

Discussion:  Seipel said she and Dostal were at the listening session at Centennial. She said even though she hasn’t worked there for a long time, it is still a family. The students are the most important part. Seipel said all teachers need to remember the students are the most important. Becher also thanked the Centennial staff for the presentation. Kuehler said he has taken some classes at the membership meeting and learned a few things. Curry said a few weeks ago he attended the middle school talent show, and it was very good. He said at the end, the teachers did a performance with the students and a person could see the energy and passion of the teachers. Mike Goos said the presentations at both North Park and Centennial were very good, and it shows that the students are getting a quality education. He also congratulated Dr. Loeffelholz for helping people to understand the bond issue. Dostal said the Centennial staff is doing some good things. He said the district has asked for a commitment to success and this shows it is real. Dostal said the children who attend public schools are blessed. The Board also watched the CMS talent show YouTube video with the teaches and students.