October 14, 2024 at 5:30 PM - Committee As A Whole

Discussion:  Eric Hall from Bank of the Valley presented a check to CPS.

Discussion:  The CPS Board Members were recognized at the NASB Area Meeting for points earned for their participation and engagement.

Discussion: 

Andy Luebbe, Centennial Elementary Principal shared information about his building. He said enrollment is at 351 students. The breakdown is EL-33% Special Education-21% and Free/Reduced-68%. Centennial has 32 teachers, 4 certified non-teacher staff and 28 classified staff. Mr. Luebbe shared AQUESTT Data, and test scores, along with building goals. He shared how the staff is providing academic support for all students. Mr. Luebbe said they are encouraging staff engagement, family engagement and student engagement with their activities and celebrations. 

Discussion: 

Jason Schapmann, Director of Human Resources and Fiscal Support, shared information about the financial reports for the month. Financial Report M2 shows that the tax receipts were quite substantial, the cash balance is high. Report M3 shows a state aid payment was received. Report M4a details payments, some noted were to Presence Learning for speech, Remind, which is used to get information to families. There is a yearly payment that was made to Edupoint, mileage was paid for transportation of our special education students.

Discussion: 

Mr. Schapmann reported that the Certified Staffing report lists two resignations. The Classified Staffing report shows more hires than resignations, we are getting jobs filled. 

Discussion: 

Chip Kay, Superintendent, talked about the MTSS Conference. He said it allowed all key players in the same place at the same time and time to debrief. Consulted with Kearney and Hastings about utilizing Synergy for tracking Special Education information for students. 

Discussion: 

Nicole Anderson, Director of Marketing and Foundation, shared the September report. She said it was a very busy month with 3 large events. Mrs. Anderson said we have a donor who has pledged 35,000.00 for paras geared towards special education.
Contributions: $25,642.62 for the month and $$421,043.30 year to date.

Discussion: 

Teresa Hausmann, Director of Teaching and Learning, said the reading teachers have been working hard to get materials ready for the Amplify Curriculum M Class. This is very exciting for students. She has been working with Mr. Whitmore, STEM Teacher, to create standards for electronics. There have been 401 staff connections for the month. 

Discussion:  Mrs. Hausmann shared the Computer Science and Technology Computer and Tech standards. NDE has finally come up with 6 standards.

Discussion: 

Jason Harris, Director of Special Education, said October is when final financials need to be submitted for reimbursements. He has been working to get all documents prepared and submitted. 

Discussion: 

Sara Colford, Assistant Director of Student Service gave a follow-up on the McKinney-Vento shopping event served 275 students. Mrs. Colford shared information on the After-School Program surveys and grant funds.

Discussion: 

Mr. Schapmann, said the annual UpBeat surveys are 82% completed. The survey shows really good feedback. Each building principal will have a meeting with results from their staff. Mr. Schapmann will be meeting to obtain the district data. There will be a report next month. Mr. Schapmann said there is a new LSI employee, Mitch Novak. He is the Innovation Chef. He will be trying some new recipes at CPS. The LSI Advisory meeting will be on October 30. This meeting is to obtain data from students about their lunch experiences.

Discussion: 

Leonard Kwapnioski, Director of Operations, said that the Tech Department has a lot of projects. There is a Safety and Security Grant that will fund new routers to be used within the district. Switches and wireless gear need to be replaced. Working on a phone system upgrade, we have had this phone system for 11 years. We are currently using the system with upgraded hand sets.

Discussion: 

Dr. Kay was invited to speak about staffing and teacher retention in New Orleans for Smart Social. He said by participating, CPS will be offered the use of their resources for student, staff and parents for support when using social media. This piggybacks on Jay Martin, NDE Safety Director coming to speak to middle and high school students and parents. Everyone needs to be educated and taught about social media use.
There were 3 bids for bond services. Piper Sandler was chosen. CPS will be using Clark Enerson along with RVW for the design of the vestibules. The initial plan is to have the administration offices finished by June 1, 2025 and start on the non-traditional learning center. Dr. Kay said we will be managing these projects.

Discussion about the recent information from Boys Town only taking special education students at this time. There will be more discussion on student placements in mandatory reassignment situations.

Discussion: 

Dr. Kay talked about the bid from AAIS. There will an analysis of the space and how we can support our students in a non-traditional learning center. 

Discussion: 

Mr. Kwapnioski shared the bids and added that the Commonwealth bid had just come in and would be added to the document for next week’s meeting. He said HVAC and electrical are the big ones for this project. 

Discussion: 

Mr. Schapmann said the best interest rates came from Columbus Bank and Trust. We will need two accounts one to write checks, and one to process payments.

Discussion: 

Dr. Kay said this is an approval of the mission statement, and the vision for each priority. A report will be created every 6 months regarding priorities. He said there is a broad range to plug in new priorities under each vision. We would have the opportunity to repopulate priorities every 5 years. Dr. Kay said that staff has seen the draft. He also said he will start attaching goals to agenda items each month. 

Discussion:  There will be a meeting with Marv Zoucha regarding joining the board beginning in November. Mr. Zoucha will be joining  the board in January after the election and this seems like a better solution. Less disruptive than trying to appoint someone at this time. 

Discussion: 

All applications are within policy criteria, it was noted that two locations are selling popcorn at the same time. Dave Hiebner, CHS Principal, said he would check with sponsors.

Discussion: 

Surplus include some filing cabinets and old technology.

Discussion: 

Dr. Kay explained that New statute 79-238 says we have until October 15 open or close Option Enrollment for the next school year 2025-2026. Special Education will be closed for the 25-26 school year. He also shared that this statute begins to eliminate our local control over decisions about option enrollment. 

Discussion:  Board Sharing will be next week.

Discussion:  The board did go into Executive Session.