July 12, 2021 at 5:30 PM - Regular Meeting

Jan Hoegh presented information to the Board regarding Standards Based Learning. She shared a recap of the work that CPS staff has done and answered questions regarding the process to move forward. She also talked about the support and leadership component moving forward. Ms. Hoegh said the district has made great strides in developing scales to get the clarity for assessing students. There was discussion and questions from the board regarding grading processes and on the type of information on report cards at different grade levels.  This discussion also comprised of separating academic performance and work habits. 

A statement to NDE regarding the proposed health standards was read by Board President, Doug Molczyk.
Several Community members addressed the Board regarding the content of the NDE health standards and the districts position on Critical Race Theory.

Jason Schapmann, CHS Assistant Principal presented the changes that are being made to the CHS Student Handbook.  Changes were made in the handbook to reflect the clarification set up by the Suspension Committee on the Short-Term and Long-Term Suspensions and Emergency Exclusion procedures. Mr. Schapmann said "injury to him/herself" was added to the Reckless Endangerment section. The Parking Section was edited with some additional information and deletion of outdated information. Clarification was made in tardiness and technology and in the Use of Tobacco/Inhalant Products Section. The Work Habits Scoring Chart was added to help in the grading transition. All COVID-19 statements were changed to pandemic.  

Tim Kwapnioski, CHS Activities Director shared information regarding the CHS Activity Handbook, he said there was a lot of cleanup done on the handbook last year. This year the most significant change was  replacing COVID-19 to pandemic. 

Mr. Kwapnioski said the change made last year for the "C" Stamp price really helped because of the lack of spectators, concessions, etc. He also mentioned that the NSAA is looking at the online ticket sales situation and for those folks that can't navigate those sales. He said that the Heartland Activity Conference is also looking at options for ticket sales. 

Amy Haynes, CMS Principal, shared changes to the student handbook. Smart watches were added to be included in the Contraband, Electronic Devices and Cell Phone Policy. She said the level of offenses on cell phone use was updated. Rules regarding clear water bottles and contents were changed along with book bags being allowed in classrooms. COVID-19 was changed to pandemic as in the other handbooks. 

Paula Lawrence, West Park Principal, discussed the few changes that were made to the Elementary Student Handbook. Changes included attendance and tardy updates, implementing an 8 period day, and some wording. Discussion regarding the lunch accounts, dress code and rules for cell phone/device use throughout the school day. Discussion regarding negative lunch account balances, parents are now being notified by email and text by a district based employee, that is not done by building lunch staff any longer.  This process has had very positive results in receiving those funds. 

Dr. Troy Loeffelholz, Superintendent, said we need to review this policy and clarify our practices for public participation. Also, discussion regarding time limits on public speaking, and an additional motion to end public speaking by a vote, if necessary. 

Dr. Loeffelholz shared information regarding the land purchase of 79.22 acres. Tom Fehringer, attorney, is working on the land purchase agreement. Dr. Loeffelholz said CPS will put 10% down at this time.  Mr. Kwapnioski said a land survey was done, the existing buildings and pivot will belong to CPS in the purchase. The access road is not on the property. Mr. Kwapnioski said there is a two- story house, a 2-car garage, an old pick-up, and a barn. 

Mr. Kay reviewed the balances of district accounts on the M2 financial report. He said there are no concerns on financial report M3. He noted the motor vehicle tax, and shared some information about payment schedules. Mr. Kay highlighted a few of the listed expenditures including Central Nebraska Rehab Services for OT/PT, Commonwealth Communications for materials purchased up front for Kramer, which was a savings of at least $10,000.00. A payment was made to Eakes for CMS furniture. Platte Valley Precast was paid the first payment for the North Park Elementary parking lot.

Noted on the M5 financial report were payments to TCI for social sciences curriculum, MARC for cleaning supplies and Home Depot Pro for maintenance and custodial supplies for the upcoming school year. 

Mr. Kay talked about the two new hires that were made Ashlyn Wildman was hired for the 7th grade Science position. Mrs. Haynes said she had four interviews in 3 days for the Assistant Principal position, Erika Hiemstra was hired.

Mr. Kay gave kudos to Mr. Kwapnioski for hiring a plumber, a bus driver and a mechanic, not easy to find people to hire right now. He said there are still some openings, one math teacher, 1 special education teacher and 12-15 classified, such as paras and custodians. 

Dr. Loeffelholz briefly shared last month’s travel.  He also said Administrator Days is coming up in Kearney and Transformational Leadership training will be in Lincoln next week.

Dr. Loeffelholz said there is still quite a bit of activity with the contributions totaling $35,535.30 from the CPS Foundation. He said Nicole Anderson, Foundation Director, has been heavily engaged in fundraising. Total for the year is $581,316.69.

Mr. Kay gave everyone a copy of the fundraising policy with highlighted changes. The changes were in regard to money handling at the buildings and being kept overnight. He referred to the two board policies to be consistent.  Also, disbursements must be documented with a receipt including a name. Also highlighted information regarding fundraiser may be subject to the annual district audit. Additions were made regarding the timing of fundraisers, must be conducted outside of the regular school day for non-school organizations. The Board of Education will review this policy annually. 

Mr. Kay shared the district mileage stipends, the new CMS assistant principal will be added accordingly. 

The Exit Survey was sent to all certified staff that left by the end of May.

 Mr. Kay went over the results with the board with explanations on information gained from the survey and data points to look at for strengths and weaknesses.

Mr. Kwapnioski said the ServiceMaster contract shows a large increase from last year.  He explained we are requesting more of their services for this school year. The request is being made because of the difficulty in filling custodial positions. Currently, there are 7 unfilled positions. This does save us money in total employee costs.  ServiceMaster does provide their own cleaning supplies as well. 

Mr Kwapnioski updated the board on the preliminary HVAC report.  He said he will set up a meeting with the Buildings and Sites Committee to go over the data. The North Park Parking Lot is 95% complete, the sprinkler pipe needs to be pulled, they have cleaned up trees to place the sign. The neighbors continue to be very happy about this project. He talked about the Kramer building, he said the entire exterior footing and first block on the new side is done. The steel trusses have been ordered and hopefully will arrive soon. He is meeting with Midland and Commonwealth Wednesday to discuss the underground work.  Mr. Kwapnioski said getting supplies is a big challenge, they have been waiting for insulation for several weeks now. He also spoke on the new transportation contract, originally CPS was leasing Ford products but it will be predominately Chevrolet products, as Ford is lacking microchips for their vehicles. The new mechanic has a lot of great experience, Mr. Kwapnioski is very excited to have hired him. 

Amy Romshek, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, said the new literature for CHS "The House on Mango Street" was made available for community to check out. This book will be used for 10th grade Honors English. 

Dr. Romshek updated the Board on the idea of honors courses using the APA format. She has been discussing this with Mr. Hiebner, CHS Principal, he is open to the idea and will discuss it with the honors teachers and report back.

Jason Harris, Director of Student Services and Special Education, talked about the BIST Training for 60 staff members recently. Title IV funds are being used for this training. There is also MANDT training, this training is to teach staff safe techniques for restraining students. Mr. Harris said the Early Childhood Grant will be submitted this week.

Dr. Loeffelholz reported on summer school and STEM Camp.  He said that STEM created a video, there is some really great extended learning happening this summer. Ron Haefner received the Association of Career and Technical Teacher of the Year Award and the Trade and Industrial Education Teacher of the Year Award. Dr. Loeffelholz shared some capital campaign information, a third of the goal has been met and three more meetings are being set up. Red White and KaBoom went really well.  CHS students, Justin Gaston and Blake Ramaekers, took 2nd in the National Mechatronics Competition.