November 11, 2024 at 5:30 PM - Committee As A Whole

Discussion:  Marv Zoucha took the Oath of Office for the CPS School Board.

Discussion: 

Cross Country State Qualifiers, Erick Alarcon and Melissa Gomez-Vazquez along with their families, were welcomed.  The athletes and coach were given their certificates and congratulated by the board and Dr. Chip Kay, Superintendent.

Discussion: 

Amy Haynes, CMS Principal, shared information regarding the World Classrooms Washington DC. This is a company that works outside of the school district to take students and teachers on a field trip. Mrs. Haynes said there are several teachers interested in chaperoning a trip and all the time would be outside working hours. The company provides a contract that states this is not part of Columbus Public School District. The presentation shared that the company plans all the transportation, destination lodging, meals and events/tours. Money is all handled through the company. 

Discussion: 

Jason Schapmann, Director of Human Resources and Fiscal Support, talked about the financial reports for the month of October. He said the Bond Fund balance will go down. The first bond payment is due in Dec. There will be some movement in the Nutrition Fund. Revenue detail shows property tax coming into the account.  Mr. Schapmann said we will start seeing special education receipts in December. Payments mentioned were to Commonwealth Electric for some work at CHS and CMS. 

Discussion: 

Mr. Schapman shared information from the staff memos. Certified hires consisted of the hiring Ethan McKenna for Ron Haefner. He will retire in December. This was a great hire, Mr. McKenna is the only one with the certifications needed for this position. The classified memo shows more hires than resignations, Mr. Harris, Director of Special Education, said he is hiring special education paras. 

Discussion: 

Mr. Schapmann shared the Travel Report which included the Safety Summit where CMS received an award. The highlighted items are listings for personal professional time taken by staff. 

Discussion: 

Nicole Anderson, Director of Communications/Foundation, said information shown on the Foundation Report for the month of October. The total for the year to date is $487,854.11; and for the month is $66,810.81.

Discussion:  Teresa Hausmann, Director of Teaching and Learning, shared Amplify, reading curriculum information. The mClass is being rolled out. This is a tool in the curriculum used for support. This is the first year CPS has been using this curriculum.

Mrs. Hausmann said the Mechatronics and Robotics pathways have been updated.

Teacher support and/or contacts were 310 for October.

Discussion: 

Jason Harris, said he spent last week working on the final reimbursement IDA grant, along with the ESSA funding, which includes Title 1 Reading, Title 2A Professional Development (public and non-public), Title 3 Immigration, Title 4A Safety, Security and Well Rounded Schools. Mr. Harris reminded the group that some of the money goes to the parochial schools.  At this time, there are 925 special education students, that is 19%. The number keeps getting higher. Birth thru 21 are receiving services. 

Mr. Harris said he is recruiting staff. There have been three hires, potentially a 4th interview scheduled for next week.

Discussion: 

Sara Colford, Assistant Director of Student Services talked about the After School Program.  She shared that there are 15 high school students working at the program. Mrs. Colford said they are excited to work with the students and they bring great energy. She also shared that this program has been recognized through the 21st Century Grant Program and the School Bell Grant. Mrs. Colford said our program is a model for other districts, and many come to visit to see how the operation is facilitated. 

Discussion: 

Jason S.Mr. Schapmann talked about the UpBeat Survey results. He explained that any rating above 70% is good. UpBeat will assist in setting up an action plan, and supply a toolkit for help in the areas that need work. This is the first time that classified staff has done the survey. Mr. Schapmann said he will schedule meetings to go over the results. 

He said the lunch meeting with LSI students and staff had positive feedback.

Discussion: 

Leonard Kwapnioski shared information on the CMS issues audio in the auditorium. He said they worked with Jeff Peabody, CHS Band Director, to get it working temporarily. Mr. Kwapnioski explained the sound system will have to be revamped. He said the main component is that everyone that is working with it doesn’t really know enough to be successful, there are too many hands in it. The solution will be to have 2 carts, each cart will need to be plugged into the system and nothing else will be available to change on the cart. Community organizations that rent the facility will be able to just plug in, they will bring their own equipment.

Mr. Kwapnioski said there is a problem with the siding curling at the CASSETTE House, it will need to be replaced. He offered a tour of the old  CASSETTE House for anyone interested. 

Discussion: 

Chip Kay, Superintendent, talked about changes that will be made to next year’s calendar, such as more student contact days and removal of some random planning time. Dr. Kay said the first 2 days of the school year will have modified schedules for orientation. Day 3 will be a full day for all students across the district. The preschool will have its own calendar. He will ask the board to approve the calendars in December for the next two years. Dr. Kay said our goal is not to just meet the required hours but to meet the academic needs of our students. 

Superintendent evaluations will be distributed to board members in December. There will also be a two-question survey sent out to staff.

Winter weather protocol will come out next week. School will be called off by 10pm or not until 6am the next morning.

Dr. Kay talked about the community meeting. He said video clips will be sent out via social media to get the information out to more people.

He also shared some information regarding the growth the community is going to be seeing. We will host a panel which will include people that can answer the questions about the new residential building that is happening, along with representation from Scotus and Lakeview. Dr. Kay said this will impact all the schools in the area. CPS will have to make some decisions about boundaries. 

Discussion: 

Dave Hiebner, CHS Principal, talked about the quotes for the plasma table. He said they have tried everything to fix it. Feedback from people that are using this equipment says it works very well. This is the one they want. This would be much like what community companies are using. 

Discussion: 

Dr. Kay shared all the rules, statutes etc. He said we will get the process started, we have no time table. Working on getting the MLS number. If we use a realtor, we will take bids.

Discussion:  Mrs. Anderson said the Discoverers or Distinction Event will be April 10, 2025 at Dusters.  She is asking the board to approve the people to be inducted.

Discussion: 

Mrs. Hausmann talked about the Nebraska Science Standards, she said there are minimal changes. She will receive training in February, and then start work on making the changes district wide in Science.

Discussion: 

Dr. Kay shared the formal proposal for the Rule 17 Program. He said there would be limited placement opportunities. The timeline will be very aggressive. He would like to have it up and running in three weeks. We will start advertising to hire staff. Dr. Kay said we will be saving money based on what we have been paying for student placements. He feels lucky we have a space.

Discussion: 

The board was happy to see the Waffleman fundraiser.

Discussion:  Mr. Kwapnioski shared some Kramer bids, he said there was an incorrect dollar amount listed. The correct information will be on the next meeting agenda. Mr. Kwapnioski said the flooring bid came in too high. He talked about using local contractors as much as possible.

Discussion:  Board Sharing will be next week.

Discussion:  The board did not go into Executive Session.

Discussion:  The meeting was adjourned at 8:38pm.