October 10, 2011 at 6:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Discussion:  Also present at the meeting were Principals Pavlik, Vrba, Grammer, and Comley; Assistant principals Cunningham and Cline; Activity Administrator Egr; Director of Facilities Mundil; Superintendent Stevens; Curriculum Administrator Gibbons, and Student Council representative Cesar Gonzalez. All present participated in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Discussion:  President Jedlicka declared the meeting was preceded by advance notice and declared to be an open session.

Discussion:  Mitchell Heavican and Amanda Hartman, members of the Ag Education class, were present to promote FFA and its programs. Most recently, they sponsored "Tools for Africa", a program that collects volunteer time, money, and used tools to send to students in Africa for construction of school desks.

Discussion:  Members of the FFA invited all present to the east gym to a short presentation portraying the pros and cons of the Trans-Canada Pipeline. This presentation will be performed at the National FFA Convention

Discussion:  Kem Cavanah, representing the Schuyler Development Company, passed out packets to those present detailing facts and successes the Schuyler Economic Development Plan has achieved. He also invited everyone to the ribbon-cutting at the Kehrli 2nd Subdivision on Wednesday, October 12.

Discussion:  Student Council representative Gonzalez shared that term one will end on October 14. Student Council will sponsor a Halloween Dance at SMS on October 22.

Discussion:  Two bids were received for an exhaust system and one bid received for Verilon strip doors (welding curtains) for the welding booth in the Ag shop. The Board agreed that the low bid be accepted and that the welding curtains be purchased and installed as soon as possible.

Discussion:  $185,000 will be placed in an EHA health insurance CD. This CD will become part of the employee benefit fund. The principal and interest of this CD will be used to pay for the EHA health insurance increases starting in the 2012-2013 school year and continue until all of the stated funds have been used for the EHA health insurance increases. The current BC/BS program ($350 deductible) or its equivalent will continue to be used until all the stated funds are spent. Health insurance premiums will again become part of the negotiations process once the stated funds are spent

Discussion:  Some changes in the policy to evaluate certified staff were due to changes in Rule 10 and a template for policy change was provided to School Boards by the NDE. Included in the changes were replacing the word "teacher" with the words "certificated employee" and formally evaluating tenured staff every other year instead of every third year; however, this does not mean that a tenured staff member is exempt from being evaluated every year.

Discussion:  For clarification, the motion passed at the August Board meeting was to finance those employees who may use the ERIP policy during the 2011-2012 school year. It does not provide for an extension of the policy. Teachers have from January 1 to March 31 to apply for ERIP; up to four eligible teachers can participate in the program per year and of the four, one applicant can be an administrator. The policy will be discussed in-depth at the November School Board retreat work-session.

Discussion:  The Operating Council in at Richland School needs an additional member and the website for District 504R has been updated. Updates for the Fishers #24 website have been provided.

Discussion:  Principal Pavlik reported that the names of Jordan Brabec and Shelby Svehla were nominated for the "Believers and Achievers" competition. Jordan Brabec was selected to be one of the forty-eight finalists. Mr. Pavlik would like to boost attendance at parent-teacher conferences and has asked for ideas from staff members.

Discussion:  Assistant Principal Cunningham reported that there was a 53% student-body voter turnout for this years Homecoming election. Voting takes place through the use of the student information system, Infinite Campus.

Discussion:  Curriculum Administrator Gibbons reported that over the next few weeks, SCS will have students in grades 2-8 take the Terra Nova test. Students in 9th grade will take the Explore Test and students in 10th grade will take the PLAN test. Scores from the Terra Nova and the PLAN test are reported to the state. 11th graders will be taking the PSAT and Nebraska Online Assessments.

Discussion:  Activity Administrator Egr provided some history on revenue from the sale of activity passes from 07-08 to the present. Revenue declined in 09-10 but has increased during the 11-12 school year.

Discussion:  Director of Facilities Mundil reported that one of the school vans that was taken out of service was sold to CMI. The construction class is starting to install trusses on the roof of the storage building at SES; the maintenance staff installed the west wall, window, and door. The roofing project at SMS is complete; the partial roof repair at SCHS began the week of October 3.

Discussion:  Principal Vrba cited results of a 98% parent attendance rate at the last parent-teacher conferences. She attributed part of the success to the involvement of parents and the help of translators from SCHS.

Discussion:  Principal Comley shared that Christina Abney has been hired to teach an additional morning preschool class. The preschool now has a new sign located on 16th and Colfax. The office at the preschool is now located in the northwest modular; the move was needed for the new classroom. The enrollment at the preschool currently is at 83 children.

Discussion:  Principal Grammer reported that the Schuyler Community Resource Center has continued to grow and develop over the past month with two to three new people accessing and using the Center each day. In September, Cargill had an informational fair at their plant; the Community Resource Center was allowed to attend and hand out brochures. Students at SMS competed in the statewide Hispanic Heritage Essay competition. SMS students placed first, second, and third for the second consecutive year out of 270 essays submitted.

Discussion:  Assistant Principal Cline reported that Schuyler Middle School fall sports came to an end on Tuesday October 11, 2011. Girls basketball and wrestling will have first practices on October 24.

Discussion:  Superintendent Stevens pointed out that in 2007 the increasing enrollment of SCS was addressed with a bond election. However, he asked the Board to keep in mind that as enrollment increases at SCHS in the years to come there will be continuing facility needs.

Discussion:  A draft copy of a memorandum of understanding between the City of Schuyler and SCS regarding channel 99 will be completed by November 11, 2011.

Discussion:  School board members that plan to attend the NASB Convention need to notify the Superintendent of the dates they will be in attendance.

Discussion:  A residency report detailing administrators, certified staff and support staff who live in the SCS district was shared. This report included the years from 2007-2008 to 2011-2012.

Discussion:  Four staff members have requested curriculum development/program improvement funds. They are: Judy Zelenda, Rachel Wood, Tracy Kracl,and Lisa Terrel.

Discussion:  A bid was received for the amount of $500 to purchase the modular classroom at the District 504R site.