January 12, 2026 at 6:00 PM - Regular Board of Education Meeting

Discussion:  The meeting was called to order by superintendent, Dr. Nicole Regan, at 6:00 pm.

Discussion:  Greg Trautman had 4 votes (unanimous) to continue as School Board President.

Discussion:  Tracy Wiese had 4 votes (unanimous) to continue as School Board Vice President.

Discussion:  Dr. Regan presented to the Board of Education, followed by each building principal. In recognition of their service, each school dedicated a book in their library to a Board member, with the book’s theme reflecting a personal quality or interest of that Board member. A simple, yet meaningful way to recognize the time and volunteer efforts our Board contributes on behalf of students. 

Discussion:  Northfield Elementary presented to the board.

• Micheal Macias, EL coordinator for the district, spoke on behalf of his new position. He services over 40 students, Kinder-11th grade, and helps with language and literacy. He has seen significant growth over the first semester with literacy placement and oral vocabulary. He uses the programs Language & Literacy, Ellie, and Language Tree to assist in his teachings. 
• Tony Simonsen, the school counselor, touched on what Northfield has been doing to help with Family Engagement Nights. They have a family move night at the Midwest Theater and started a "Deck the Halls" night in December. They had over 300 in attendance and it was a huge success. They are discussing having future events and trying to meet parents where they are! 
• Wendee Powell, building principal, shared with the board. Her main focus was providing a positive space for kids. They have implemented emotional check-ins for kids and have created an Emotional Regulation room. They have a calming/sensory space for kids who just need to take a minute in the quiet before heading into class. The kids always have 1 on 1 support and everything is being monitored. Sometimes the kids play a quick game, read, color, or even work on a class assignment. This has significantly helped with office referrals and behavior issues in the classrooms. 

Discussion:  Conrad Bostron and Trinity Burgner presented to the Board of Education. Conrad spoke about the outstanding partnership Gering and the YMCA have created over the last 8 years and the great success of our childcare partnership and Seacats swing team. He presented statistics about the reach and impact of the partnership and YMCA and asked the board to consider an investment in their annual campaign to continue the growth and reach of that impact.

Discussion:  Molly Quinn presented to the Board. She went over the annual audit that is conducted yearly. Their responsibility is to give reasonable assurance and check internal controls. We received a clean opinion, which is the highest rating we can receive. The audit was also completed on time. 

Discussion:  John presented the committee report and gave an update on the current vacancy status. He outlined that the committee did a deep dive into the evaluation process and tools, and that the feedback is key. He complimented building principals on the philosophy of using evaluations to build trust and communication in their schools.  The committee also heard an update on the progress being made with English Learners and talked about the priority and work around secondary chronic absenteeism.  

Discussion:  Bryann Barrett presented to the board. He discussed our cash flow and that we are in our lean months from what revenue comes from the State. He gave an auditorium update. Air handlers should be here in March and the sound booth and other things are being updated to make it ADA accessible. He also gave an update on the track and hoping for a design soon! They are also hoping that this track will be able to host completions! He then went on to discuss more issues at the middle school. There is a crack in the building that needs major repair as well as a leaking roof that Twin City Roofing is looking at too. We will also need to update our IT server hardware at the end of April, and we are exploring details on paying off the high school bond early. Lastly, he gave an update on our busing, and we are working on reliability in the district. 

Discussion: 

Dr. Regan outlined the exceptional, voluntary contributions of time and talents that our School Board members share with our school district.  She outlined how President Trautman had been in committee meetings 3 of 5 days last week as an example. She outlined how much of the work remains unseen by the general public, but the leadership is so important to the health and progress of our district. She again thanked them on behalf of the students, staff and community. 

Restated the progress with facilities including the auditorium, Northfield roof and track and the infrastructure investment in IT security. The Gering Middle School continues to crop new issues and additional foundation settlement and roofing issues, the need remains.

Discussion:  Robert Rahmig addressed the board to provide an update on the activities of Gering FFA.

Discussion:  Greg Trautman - Thanks to Northfield and to admin and staff for all you do!
Bryan Barrett - Thanks to Tony and Wendee for the family engagement nights! Loving the SEL happening over at Northfield. Big shout out to the YMCA and our swim team. 
Tracy Wiese - Thanks to Wendee! Thanks to Micheal for taking care of our EL kids! Love partnering with YMCA. Thanks to Robert for your comments regarding FFA. Hoping to move forward with the middle school so we have a better faculty for our kids!
John Maser - Thanks to all admin and teachers, there is so much work that goes into everything you do! Thanks to Northfield for their presentation. Thanks to all these other board members for their commitment to GPS. 

Discussion:  The meeting was adjourned at 7:24 p.m.