February 13, 2023 at 6:00 PM - Committee As A Whole

Angie Luebbe, Emerson Elementary Principal gave a presentation on students, staff and events in her building. Mrs. Luebbe shared the new staff that was welcomed this year. They have all been great additions to the staff at Emerson. She shared the High Reliability Schools focus that Emerson is using, which always includes Level 1-Safe, Supportive and Collaborative Culture. Staff at Emerson have been using non-negotiables that were created by staff and the use of Expectation Stations. Mrs. Luebbe said that they have added more teaching times this year to be sure students are very clear on behavioral expectations, especially after breaks. She also talked about the safe seat and how they use that at Emerson. This is a seat that is a place to be safe. Emerson staff uses Crusader Cash to support students that demonstrate being safe, respectful and responsible. There are weekly visits to classrooms with the Crusader Cart where students can purchase items from earned Crusader Cash. Emerson has monthly assemblies to award Student of the Month and the Golden Award among others. CPS activities are also highlighted at the assemblies. Emerson PTO continues to be very supportive, often supporting teachers outside of the school day. Mrs. Luebbe is a firm believer in the trust accelerators that were created by staff. Collaboration is using "Data Into Action" with the 4 PLC Questions for guidance. As they look at the data some cycles showed growth and some areas need growth. Mrs. Luebbe said she feels like the staff is getting better at using the data. She touched on information about the teacher survey data, and the Marzano Focused Teacher Evaluation Model. This helps guide staff to effective teaching in every classroom. 

Amy Haynes, CMS Principal reported on the CMS Course Description Catalog. She said there will be some changes made in the Family and Consumer Science section. Specific projects will not be listed to give teachers and students some flexibility. Other changes included science and social studies classes to keep up with changing standards. Language Arts classes had some name changes to match high school names to make the transition easier when enrolling in classes at CHS. 

Dr. Loeffelholz said each year the board is required to approve the foundation board members. He said this will change once the foundation is managing the daycare center, as it will need to be separated.

Dr. Loeffelholz, said this policy should be reviewed, the process is a year out, some of the information requested is not available that far out.  This was originally created for groups to get permission to fundraise for an out of state field trip.

Jacob Ritter, CHS Music Teacher presented the information regarding the vocal jazz festival that they are asking to attend.  It is in Creston Iowa, he said there will be schools from several states. Mr. Ritter said it is a noncompetitive festival. The groups will have the opportunity to create mastered recordings at this event. All fees for registration, lodging and food will be paid for by fundraising done by booster club events. Mr. Ritter said this event provides a quality experience for students. Dr. Loeffelholz added that rosters have been turned in for all students and sponsors along with an itinerary of the trip. 

Jaime Stodola also presented in regard to the art club trip to Kansas City.  This will be a one-day trip.

Dave Hiebner asked the CHS English Department to put a list together of all novels being used. The list also shares the rationale of each novel. The books will be displayed and available for the community to review for thirty days. Mr. Hiebner thanked the English Department for putting the list together. 

Dr. Chip Kay, Director of Finance and Human Resources said we are expecting reimbursements that have not come through because they are waiting for the auditor's report to release the funds. The M3 is showing we are behind in receiving revenue. We have received about one third of what we usually see at this time of year. Reimbursements should be released by March 10, 2023. Nothing unusual is shown in the M4 report.

Dr. Kay said there are two new hires and 12 resignations listed. Most of the resignations are from teachers moving home. 

Classified list looks like normal month, Dr. Kay said he is seeing the pool has increased quite a bit. That has not slowed down the departures. 

Teresa Hausmann, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment talked about the Cognia visit. She shared the Standard Areas of Excellence. Mrs. Hausmann talked about the Board of Education interviews. Four have already agreed to participate. Along with the board, interviews will be conducted with principals, teachers, and parents.

Dr. Loeffelholz talked about the list of needs for new staff for next year. The early childhood center at the top of the list. Dean of students at Centennial. SPED Behavior Interventionist. He also said building budgets will be frozen. We would like to meet some needs in each building, none of the suggestions are bad, if we had the funding. Dr. Loeffelholz said once state aid numbers are released, the list will need to be reviewed by the negotiating committee for approval. Best case scenario would be to be able to add 4 FTE positions, at the minimum we will get Kramer staffed. 

Dr. Kay added that he recently attended a job fair at UNL, he said the playing field is changing. UNL is only graduating 15 math teachers this year, a more typical amount would be 150. We will need to get creative about hiring teachers in the near future. 

Dr. Kay updated on moving investments from FNB to a local bank, he said there will be a formal action once legal paperwork is done.  He talked about the teacher fairs and looking at attending to gather data. Dr. Kay also commented on the Community Meetings. He said there are lots of questions, and it creates more conversation.  The slide deck is very good, it tells a great story about the district. Dr. Kay also spoke on Project Lifesaver. He said letters were sent out to families that would be eligible. He said he appreciates the police department and Columbus Community Hospital in partnering this program.  One student has signed up, waiting for a few more. 

Leonard Kwapnioski, Director of Buildings/Sites and Technology talked about the updates to the Standard Response Protocol. He said the biggest change is the language. Lock-Out has been changed to Secure.  All signs are being printed, and the teachers will be brought up to speed for next school year. Parents will need to be informed and trained. This program is used in every school district in Nebraska. Posters are in three languages English, Spanish and French.

Mr. Kwapnioski said we received one bid, two other companies pulled out at the eleventh hour. The budget was set at $600,000.00, the bid came in well above. The plan is to use ESSER III Funds, which makes the process different than other funding. He is requesting that the bid be rejected. This project is 100% needed. 

Jason Harris, Director of Student Services and Special Education said starting this week through March 31, there will be a parent survey sent out through NDE. This survey helps to know if our policies and procedures are being followed. The survey is sent through a link, some families can complete the survey at parent teacher conferences. Mr. Harris also talked about Indicator 13. We had been selected to pilot the plan. They are doing an inventory of preschool classrooms. Kindergarten registration is March 20-24 at the Student Center.  Preschool registration started in February. 

Dr. Loeffelholz shared the next community meetings schedule. He talked about the phone surveys. Currently, there have been 226 responses, hoping for 400. Dr. Loeffelholz said the majority have picked 4 cents to complete projects. The options have been narrowed down; the next step is putting dollar amounts on projects. He shared information regarding a special meeting for March 9 for a vote on projects and to ratify state aid.