October 9, 2023 at 5:30 PM - Committee As A Whole

Discussion: 

Jessy Hill, CPS LMHP, and Bethany Seehusen, CHS Counselor presented some statistics and information regarding how the increasing needs of students with negative thoughts and suicidal ideation is being met. They also shared information about future plans and programs. Some of those programs are more education for students and parents through community groups and CPS. Ms. Hill and Ms. Seehusen talked about grade level Anchor Time lessons taught by school counselors to teach preventative skills and coping strategies. There will be a program in collaboration with the media specialists to teach internet safety, social media use, and cyberbullying. 

Discussion: 

Paula Lawrence, West Park Elementary Principal, presented the events in her building. She talked about the new faces at West Park. She also shared all the information regarding High Reliability Schools and how they are meeting the goals and standards with students and staff. The use of common language in the classroom and throughout the district, by teaching expectations, the use of Well Managed Classrooms posters for reference.  Staff used the first three days to teach procedures throughout the building. West Park does Expectation Stations at the beginning of each semester to teach those skills for common areas in the building.  Mrs. Lawrence talked about BIST and Well-Managed Classroom working well together for Tier 1. West Park uses golden tickets for student recognition for being safe, respectful and responsible. There is a drawing at the end of each week for treasures. Student assemblies are for celebrating recognition. Parents are invited to assemblies.

MTSS meetings help teachers with collaborative cultures. Reviewing the data, they identify students that are struggling academically and/or behaviorally. The staff worked together to create a behavior flow chart. 

The Student Council works hard on many projects/events for teachers, along with community clean-up, food drives, and donations at holiday time.  West Park PTO is very supportive, they provide money for field trips, they buy every student a WP t-shirt that they can wear on spirit days.

Mrs. Lawrence said staff uses PLC questions and information from Data Into Action. They meet to look at data for instructional and learning gaps. WIN Planning meetings are covered by rotating subs, so grade level teams can meet. Build a plan by tracking all test scores, meeting with students to set a goal, and setting goals as a class. After testing in January, they will compare the scores and see how well they met the goals that were set and show the growth. Teachers work with students on a proficiency scale. 

Discussion: 

Dave Hiebner, CHS Principal, discussed the Student Health and Risk Prevention Survey. The survey was conducted by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Division of Behavioral Health. It is administered by the Bureau of Sociological Research at UNL. The survey will be conducted online for sophomores and seniors. Mr. Hiebner said CHS has done something similar in the past, and he feels it is good data.

Discussion: 

Troy Loeffelholz, Superintendent, said we are looking at this resolution because the new legislation requires the resolution for the 2024-2025 school year to be approved by October 15. 

Discussion: 

Dr. Loeffelholz said the discussion next Monday night will be in greater detail.

He will make a recommendation and give explanations. Discussion will be on the pros and cons of each organization. A decision will need to be made and what we are looking to get out of it. There will be difficult questions to answer. We will include community leaders, teachers, parents, to find out what CPS is doing well, what we need to do better and what we are capable of doing.

Discussion: 

Chip Kay, Director of Finance and Human Resources shared a report on each of the financial statements. He said the end of month balances are spot on for September. The nutrition fund is a little low due to the transfer of funds to depreciation. Some invoices were paid out of the Building Fund. The revenue report shows state aid. Dr. Kay said we will see SPED funds in January. 

 

Discussion: 

Dr. Kay said there is a new contracted substitute. 

Discussion: 

Dr. Kay said classified hires have slowed down, there are 4-6 positions to fill right now. 

Discussion: 

Dr. Kay shared the new report. He said as they put in their leave, it gives specific information, it will show a month after. The new system gathers information more for the report.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz reviewed the contributions. The total for the month is $65,845.66, and for the year it is $837,917.88. He said the majority are coming and going to the childcare center.

Discussion: 

Dr. Kay shared a proposal with Benefit Broker. He said CPS does provide more benefits to our staff than we are required to offer. At this time, Tania Stahl, Payroll Associate, gets 100% of the questions. Dr. Kay said we are looking for ways to better serve our employees. In hiring a broker, we would take ourselves out as the middle man, all employees would manage their needs with a dashboard. The broker would handle open enrollment and present all the options, including answering questions. The company is Alliant. They have a nationwide resource to find the best products. They would also train staff on how to use the dashboard. There is no cost to the district for this service.

Discussion:  Leonard Kwapnioski, Director of Building/Sites and Technology, gave an update on building/sites projects. He said lumber is being  delivered at the CASSETTE House project.

Discussion:  Dr. Loeffelholz talked about attending the Centro Hispano Gala on November 10th. He said we will add a couple of items for the next meeting, a fundraising application and a couple of surplus forms.

Discussion:  Board Sharing will be next week.