March 12, 2012 at 6:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Discussion:  Meeting called to order at 6:38 PM by Vice President Brabec. Others present at the meeting were Principals Pavlik, Grammer, Comley, and Vrba; Assistant Principals Cunningham and Cline, Activity Administrator Egr; Curriculum Administrator Gibbons; Superintendent Stevens, Director of Failities Mundil, and Student Representative Cesar Gonzalez.

Discussion:  All present participated in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Discussion:  Vice President Brabec declared that the meeting had been previously posted and the meeting was open to all.

Discussion:  Members of the cast of the upcoming SCHS play, "Cinderella", and music instructor, Chrissi Bywater were present to entertain the school board with a sample of the acting the audience will see at the presentation on April 1 and 2.

Discussion:  Mark Mumford, Ameritas representative, explained the process that will be taken in the redemption and refunding of the Series 2007 bonds. By this refinancing of these bonds, a 1.776 million dollar savings will be realized by the taxpayers.

Discussion:  The student representative's report included current events at SCHS: District FFA, Cheerleader and Dance Team tryouts, the Science Fair, T.E.A.M.S. first place win at competition at Wayne State College, spring sports and spirit week, and the speech team competition.

Discussion:  A letter was received from Colfax County Attorney, Denise Kracl regarding an issue of personal property tax with Cargill Meat Solutions. The Nebraska Department of Revenue has denied Cargill's 2011 request for a personal property exemption. As a result that tax money will be disseminated to the school district. Cargill is appealing the denial by filing a petition for re-determination. The matter can also be appealed to TERC (Tax Equalization and Review Commission.) If the personal property taxes are lowered, the school district will be required to pay back any overpyment of revenue to Colfax County.

Discussion:  Superintendent Stevens presented a tentative plan to prepare a budget for the upcoming year involving sustained reduction in spending and sustained increased revenue. Suggestions included: not replacing staff who retire, transfer of 1 cent of the levy from the special building fund to the general fund, reduction in personnel from the food service, enrollment/materials fees, activity pass and textbook fees and continuing with expense reductions implemented last year. None of these suggestions have been decided on by the school board. A question was raised by a board member to investigate contracting out janitorial and food services.

Discussion:  Larry Wennekamp, representing the Department of Utilities reported on the progress of the water treatment at Fishers #24 School. The treatment units were installed on February 16. He explained how unwanted minerals and nitrates are removed from all water by the system and that the timing of recharging will be important. Water samples were taken on 2/22 and 2/29 which revealed that the selenium rate was .005. A compliance sample was taken on 3/1 resulting in a .0475 rate. Any rate over .005 is out of compliance. Periodic tests will be taken but his recommendation would be to use bottled drinking water for at least thirty more days.

Discussion:  In January 2012, post-mitigation radon testing was conducted at #504R School by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Overall radon levels decreased but two rooms still had levels at or above the EPA action level of 4.0 pCi/L. It was recommended that additional work be performed by a licensed radon mitigation service to achieve further radon reduction. Another reading will be taken on 3/15/12.

Discussion:  NeighborWorks has been contacted to see if they would be interested in purchasing any modular classrooms to be used as housing units. No reply has been received.

Discussion:  Progress at the SES addition is on schedule. Currently painting and texturing are being done.

Discussion:  EMC Insurance and the building and grounds committee met with members of the maintenance department and food service workers to create safety recommendations for the district. Recommendations will be prioritized and put into practice.

Discussion:  Prior to the school board meeting, administrators and staff met to discuss the 2012-2013 school calendar. Staff will begin the school year on August 9; students will return to classes August 14. An effort to incorporate regular professional development will be pursued to enable further development of assessments and curriculum. A complete calendar will be presented at the April board meeting.

Discussion:  Principal Comley and Assistant Principal Cline gave a presentation on the "Save the Children Program" which is sponsored by the Buffet Foundaton. The program seeks areas where education-based child care is needed. The program seeks a commitment and investment from the district of time and in-kind payment. They are asking for $25,000 of in-kind investment from SCS and they will provide $55,000 of services and a five-year commitment to the district.

Discussion:  Brian Vavricek reported on the most recent meeting of the Schuyler Community Schools Foundation. Officers were elected and committees were formed to make plans for Labor Day, teacher recognition and four $1000 scholarships to be awarded to graduating seniors.

Discussion:  A visit from an accreditation organization, AdvancEd will take place in September. To prepare for this the visit a school must prepare to meet five standards for accreditation purposes. Standard 2 deals with Governance and Leadership and Gibbons asked the board to read the standard and reply to how our board of education helps to meet the standard. With a focus on standard 1, Purpose and Direction, a new mission statement - Strive, Commit, Succeed- has been created. The new vision statement reads "Schuyler Community Schools in partnership with parents, students, and the community is committed to educate students to become skilled, knowledegable and responsible citizens in a global society."

Discussion:  Activity Administrator Egr reported that there are 64 boys and 46 girls out for soccer, 45 boys and girls out for track and field and 6 boys out for golf. She will begin a new web-based sports scheduler program on March 15. After many requests, she will bring back the "sports-schedule card" in 2012-2013 that lists all sports competitions for the entire school year.

Discussion:  Superintendent Stevens, Activity Administrator Egr and Assistant Principal Cline attended the monthly NSAA meeting in February. They learned that until the attorney general makes a ruling on Rule 10, the NSAA cannot make a determination about junior high students participating in activities outside of their home district. At this point, there is no regulation in place to prevent that from happening.

Discussion:  A light pole at SES was broken off in the a wind storm the first week in March. Fifteen of the original twenty poles have already been repaired under warranty and three of the remaining four are showing cracks. The supplier will be contacted to check if the remaining poles could be covered under warranty.

Discussion:  A new K-5 physical education teacher has been hired for the 2012-2013 school year. There are 85 students presently attending the preschool. April 2 packets for new kindergarten students will be distributed.

Discussion:  The Science Fair, sponsored by the SCHS Science and Math Club was held on March 9 at SMS. There were over 200 entries in the gold, silver and bronze divisions. This competition was open to 6th-8th graders in the SCS district. There are 98 SMS students out for track.

Discussion:  There will be a Parent Involvement / Student Involvement meeting on Thursday March 15th. This meeting will be to discuss ways that parent and student involvement can improve student success, explain School-wide Title I and review the Parent / Student / Teacher Compact, and the Nebraska State Assessment results and procedures.

Discussion:  A survey was sent to all families of rural SCS schools asking if their students will be attending SCS again in 2012-2013. This survey will help teachers and administrators prepare for the upcoming school year.

Discussion:  Three board of education incumbents have filed for reelection along with an additional candidate from Rogers.

Discussion:  The NRCSA State Conference in March is open to any board of education member that wishes to attend.

Discussion:  The board of education will meet in a retreat session on Tuesday, March 20. Agenda items are being accepted. This meeting is open to the public.

Discussion:  A request from Tori Oehlrich for 3.75 days from the Emergency Medical Leave Bank was presented.

Discussion:  Meeting adjourned at 9:18 PM.