January 16, 2023 at 5:30 PM - Regular Meeting

Dr. Loeffelholz said the Construction Manager at Risk selection was made with good firms vying for the opportunity. They all had good benefits to bring to the table. The committee had the opportunity to view it for the community. He noted there were three community members assisting with making the decision.  The attorney was able to guide them through the process. Community members are Toby Goc, Quilben Izaguirre, and Eric Hudnall. 

Emily Bannick from Boyd Jones came out to this meeting.  She thanked the Board for the opportunity and said Boyd Jones is excited about the project. Dr. Loeffelholz said there is a meeting tomorrow morning that will include the Site Superintendent and the Lead Estimator. 

Dr. Loeffelholz shared some information which included the total of kindergarten options accepted for the previous three school years and provided some more background. 

Dr. Kay spoke about the information in the M5 Financial report. He said these are non-payroll payments that are being made. He said there are enough funds to make payroll on Friday. Dr. Kay reminded the Board that we knew it would be a tight year. He also said the preliminary state aid data should come out this month.  

Dr. Loeffelholz said this is the end of the year number for the Foundation. Their fiscal year was changed to Jan-Dec. Nicole Anderson said to mention that scholarship applications are coming in soon.  Dr. Loeffelholz said the recent tour of Kramer brought some discussion on minor changes for the daycare side. 

Teresa Hausmann, Directory of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment shared some data that was discussed last week. She said the best way to read it is to follow a class.  She said CPS does have a highly mobile population, we need to get systems in place to meet the needs. Mrs. Hausmann also noted that the information came from AQuESTT, the 21-22 school year will not come out until the spring of the following year. 

Chronic absenteeism is tied to accreditation, Dr. Loeffelholz said there are 168 student days on our calendar, which means 17 days absent constitutes chronic absenteeism.  There was some research done on other districts and percentages are much higher than CPS.

Discussion regarding approval of fundraisers. Possibility of all paperwork being done in August.

Dr. Kay presented information on his evaluation of the First National Bank investments. He asked for bids on 2 closed accounts where the money is invested.  Banks were competitive.

Dr. Kay asked the Negotiations Committee members to plan for January 30 and February 6 for meetings with CEA. He said he is creating a plan to show teachers their importance at CPS. 

Leonard Kwapnioski, Director of Building/Sites and Technology, said this is necessary for wetland delineation of how the site could be best utilized. The Board asked about justifying this survey if the property is not used. Mr. Kwapnioski said the information is needed if CPS decides to sell the property.

Dr. Loeffelholz mentioned the press release and article in the Columbus Telegram that had been published a few days ago. He said enrollment numbers were shared with the newspaper. He said CPS has grown by 408 students since 2016. Dr. Loeffelholz said it is important to remember it's not only about the enrollment, it is also about program spaces. The next presentations for the community will be January 24 and February 2. The goal is for as many to hear the message and give feedback as possible. Included in the discussion was the special programming space in the elementary buildings, the attendance boundaries. Data that can be pulled from Synergy for CPS students proximity in neighborhoods. 

All board members said get ready to roll on the facility projects. They have received a lot of information and there is a lot of work to do. It is an exciting and nerve-wracking time. They were encouraging each other to be sure and attend as many of the community meetings as possible. They all feel it is really important to get a positive perspective out and help the community to understand the needs of our school district. Also mentioned was the Project LifeSaver Program that is new to Platte County.