December 10, 2018 at 6:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

STRIVE  -  COMMIT  -  SUCCEED  -  District Mission Statement

Schuyler Community Schools in partnership with parents, students, and the community is committed to educate students to become skilled, knowledgeable and responsible citizens in a global society - District Vision Statement

Notice of this meeting was given in advance according to State Law 84-1411, by giving notice of the meeting to the public.  Notice of this meeting was also given in advance to all members of the Board of Education

Rationale: 

This meeting has been preceded by advance notice and is hereby declared to be in open session.  A copy of the Open Meetings Act is posted in the back of the meeting room.

Nebraska Open Meetings Act:  http://nitc.nebraska.gov/documents/statutes/NebraskaOpenMeetingsAct_current.pdf

Rationale:  Discuss, Consider and Take Action on the consent agenda

Rationale: 

1. Student Council Totes for Families

2. Library fines paid between Thanksgiving and Christmas are donated The Comfort Closet

3. Junior class is selling candy cane grams as a class fundraiser

4. Project S soup dinner is planned for Dec 14, 6-8p at SCHS with a RAFFLE. Raising money for the toy drive.

Rationale:  This committee is responsible for annual review of board policies, handbooks, and crisis/safety plans.  This committee is also responsible for the support and development of support programs(nursing, food service) in the district.

Rationale: 
This is the third year of the Washington DC Trip request.   Mrs. Shanda Hall is the staff member requesting your approval.  This trip is really not a school function, but because it involves our employees.  Holly Hild forwarded information to our insurance company (EMC) last year asking for approval for this event.  EMC's representative confirmed that there’s liability coverage for all employees of the school going.  They would also have work comp if they were doing something in the scope of their duties and got injured.  She didn’t see there to be any issue with the trip. Our board policy outlining overnight trip requests is included below.

CERTIFICATED EMPLOYEE TRAINING, WORKSHOPS OR CONFERENCES                      Policy 409.02
Requests for attendance or participation in a development program, other than those development programs sponsored by the school district, shall be made to the superintendent.  Approval of the superintendent or his designee with the principal’s input must be obtained prior to attendance by a certificated employee in a professional development program when the attendance would result in the certificated employee being excused from their duties or when the school district pays the expenses for the program.
Employees authorized by the superintendent or his designee to represent the school system at training, workshops and conferences will be allowed salary and expenses in conformance with regulations on expense reimbursement. Requests that involve unusual expenses or overnight travel must also be approved by the board.
The superintendent or his designee with input from the principal shall have sole discretion to allow or disallow certificated employees to attend or participate in the requested event.  When making this determination, the superintendent will consider the value of the program for the certificated employee and the school district, alignment with the school improvement process, the effect of the certificated employee's absence on the education program and school district operations and the school district's financial situation as well as other factors deemed relevant in the judgment of the superintendent or his designee. 
The requirements stated in the Negotiated Contract between employees in that certified collective bargaining unit and the board regarding professional development of such employees shall be followed.
Cross Reference:
402.08  Employee Travel Compensation
402.11  Credit Cards

Rationale:  The attached policy is in response to changes in reference to state statutes and statutory changes to the construction delivery method of Construction Manager at Risk.  This adoption has an emergency clause so that the new board policy is immediately in force.  See attached policy, rationale and motion.

Rationale:  This committee is responsible for recommending approval of building/grounds and transportation programs, vehicle replacement schedule, building and maintenance and upgrade schedule.

Rationale:  The building committee of the board and the superintendent reviewed applications and selected four (4) finalist architect firms to interview.  Following the interviews, the superintendent is recommending the board selected Clark Enersen Partners, Inc. as the project architect.

Attached is the legal motion and contract under consideration.  I broke the contract into two sections.  The first section is labeled additions and deletions.  This section reflects the negotiations that took place in finalizing the contract.  The second section is labeled "AIA" Standard Form Agreement.  While both sections are necessary it may be confusing when presented as one document.

See attached motion and contract under consideration.
 

Rationale:  Attached is the legal rationale and motion needed to select Construction Manager at Risk as a delivery method for construction.  See Attached Document

Rationale:  The board of education must appoint a selection committee to evaluate proposals received from firms in response to the request for proposals for the position of Construction Manager at Risk.  This selection must be done in an open meeting, so may include all board members wanting to be involved.  This committee must have a minimum of 5 members.  This motion requires a super majority of the board (minimum of 4 votes) See suggested list below:

1.  Board Members:  _________ ________ ________ _______ ______
2.  Superintendent:  Dr. Dan Hoesing
3.  Architect:  Mr. Tim Ripp or representative
4.  Contractor/Construction:  Don Glodowski
5.  Resident of District:  Richard Seckman

Rationale:  This item requires the board of education to approve the selection criteria and weight given to each criteria.  See recommendation provided in the attachment below.

Rationale:  This committee is responsible for budget, finance, and contract negotiations with administration, certificated staff, and support staff.

Rationale: 
Lourdes Pena`:  SMS Para-Educator
Jill Hoesing:  1st Semester FCS Teacher:  Replaced by Rachel Folda
Liz Mallory:  Head Start Teacher (Retirement)
 

Rationale:  Holly Hild has submitted her resignation to the board of education effective December 31, 2018.

Rationale: 
Aimee Sigler:  Rural School specials teacher (replacing Kelly McClintic)

Rationale:  See attached report.

Rationale:  Board members completed the annual superintendent evaluation following the regular November board meeting.  The results of the evaluation have been compiled and are generally shared at the December board meeting. The board budget and finance committee will meet before the January board meeting to set expectations and review 2019 contract recommendations.
 

Rationale: 

Preschool and 3-5 Principal’s Report:  Mr. Comley Staff/Program Spotlight:   Mrs. Kris Svehla is everything that SCS wants in a teacher. She does a great job with students, she puts countless hours into preparation and it shows. Mrs. Svehla has been asked at times to take on different roles that will benefit the students and she is always willing to help. Its for all the reasons above and many more that Mrs. Svehla is my spotlight this week.

K-2 Principal's Report:  Mr. Kovar
Staff/Program Spotlight:  I would like to highlight the work being done by Alicia Keairnes, 2nd grade teacher at Schuyler Elementary. Mrs. Keairnes is entering her 2nd year of teaching at Schuyler. She is a member of the School improvement team, and also coaches high school track.
          Mrs. Keairnes goes above and beyond for her students. She is a very caring person who works to give all kids in her class  a great opportunity to be successful. She puts in a great deal of time to try new things in her classroom, and embraces new thoughts and ideas that the school is focusing on. She is using learning targets and scales to help her students be successful, and focus on where they are in the own learning journey. We are very lucky to have her and her family in our district.

Dual Language, Fisher’s, & Richland Principal: Ms. Bebout
Staff/Program Spotlight:  Jenny Hamernik 4th & 5th grade students at Fisher’s have guest speakers they have invited to come into the classroom.  They have had military, taxidermy, veterinarians, pilots, bankers, bakers, musicians, magicians, museum people, construction workers, medical professionals, Husker Football players, Cargil workers, QC, farmers and machinery (baler), Tri-county and drones to view fields, to grandma's sewing, baking and crafts!!!  This is a wonderful opportunity for EACH student to show off someone! This month a helicopter landed at Richland and all the students of both schools were able to enjoy the experience.
     Jenny Hamernik is the 4th & 5th grade teacher at Fisher’s school. She grew up in Stanton.  She attended Doane University for her teaching degree.  She is married to Mike and has two children; her son Corbin who is 29 and her daughter Abbey who is 23 and is teaching at SES!  Jenny has taught in the Schuyler School District for 29 years and we are lucky to have her!
Upcoming Events:
Fisher’s & Richland:  December 18th - Christmas Program 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

SMS Assistant Principal’s Report:  Mr. Zavadil
Program Spotlight:  This month I want to recognize the work our leadership team has done with implementing and working through the logistics of teaching our staff about the new STAR 360 formative assessment and intervention system.  The team has put in a lot of time and effort to get the system off the ground and running
Staff Member Spotlight:  A staff member that I would like to recognize this month is Mrs. Beebe.  Her focus on detail and ability to build relationship with her students is easy to notice in our building.  She has been and continues to be one of the most conscientious and reflective teachers that I work with.  Students enjoy working in her classroom as she teaches financial literacy, and computer literacy.  She fosters a very efficient and warm environment and is doing a good job as the Middle School’s specials team leader.

Middle School Principal's Report:  Mrs. Burton
Program Spotlight:  This month, I would like to highlight our SMS Special Education Department.  The department is made up of strong, veteran teachers that have a strong commitment to our students, our district, and our community.  They are true Warriors!  You can find them in working together and training our paraprofessional staff to be highly trained, as well as supporting students and parents to address the needs of the whole child.  Our building is better, because of Lori Benesch, Pat Knutson, and Brenda Klein!
Notable Events:  Mr. Zavadil and I also had the opportunity to present to administrators across the state at the Nebraska State Principal’s Conference this past week.  We enjoyed telling the Schuyler Middle School story, and sharing the good news of the life of being a Schuyler Warrior!
Upcoming Events:
Monday, December 10th 6th Grade Holiday Concert at 6:30 p.m.
Monday, December 17th 7th/8th Holiday Concert at 6:30 p.m.

High School Assistant Principal’s Report:  Mr. Kasik
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  Mandy Yosten is in her 8^th year here at Schuyler High School.  She taught one year at Cross County before joining us here.  She is a 2006 Clarkson graduate and is our School improvement chair-person and our National Honor Society sponsor.  She is married to Brandon Yosten and they have a son Caiden and a new daughter Avery.  Brandon farms and owns B&B Welding and Repair.  Mrs. Yosten is a great teacher, she is very organized and holds kids to high expectations.  She says she loves Schuyler because everyone is so kind and welcoming, it doesn’t matter who the other person is, a smile and kind eyes translate to any language. 
Notable Topics:  We recently hosted a NDE visit for our first reVISION meeting.  We will follow this up with a Thought-exchange survey to gather input from our community and parents.  We continue to visit classrooms and provide teachers with observation feedback for their classes, (Over 170 classroom observations at this time).  We also are working on other parts of our priority plan and collecting artifacts as documentation.

High School Principal’s Report:  Mr. Grammer
Program Spotlight:  Our high school has for the past few years has worked hard to have a solid, strong, viable Family Consumer Science program at the high school.  Our FCS teacher found a job in early February in Omaha and that left us with an opening early in the year.  We tried to fill the position although the summer but, could not find a FCS teacher and we were lucky to find a teacher in house to fill that position.  In years past we struggled to fill up the classes in our FCS schedule.  This year we have had to turn students away because the classes were filled. The classes are varied and popular classes that are hands on.  The teacher has done a great job of growing this program and it has become a successful program.
Staff Member Spotlight:  The staff member to be recognized for their work in the high school this month is Mr. Jared Severson. Mr. Severson has been a Business/Teacher, Dual Credit Instructor, and a registrar in our district for the past ten years and specifically at the high school.  He now is our FCS teacher and still teaches some of dual credit courses. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Peru State College, in Business Management and his Master’s degree in Counseling from Wayne State College.  Mr. Severson has taken on the Family Consumer Science program, as mentioned above, with energy and enthusiasm.  He has helped to grow this program and bring fun to the FCS classrooms in SCHS
Notable Topics:   On Monday, November 12^th in the west gym we had the Veterans Day program.  The local veterans group posted the flags and retired the colors at the end of the program.  The SCHS Band/Vocal played patriotic songs and the speaker for the program was Corporal Garcia of the Nebraska National Guard.  Our students were respectful to all performers and was a great program planned by Mr. Paesl and Mr. Friesen of our Social Studies department.

Rationale: 
K-6 Youth Sports Director’s Report:  Mr. Kovar
Staff Member Spotlight:  This month I would like to highlight Andy Yost. Andy is one of our youth volunteer coaches. Andy has coached 3rd and 4th grade tackle and flag football, and also coaches youth basketball. Andy has a great passion for sports, and trying to help improve youth sports in Schuyler. He goes above and beyond to help, and has put countless hours in volunteering. He is always willing to help, and always willing to lend a hand. He is a great example of a parent volunteer in our community, and we are lucky to have him. Thank you for all you do!

Warrior Academy After-School Program Director’s Report:  Ms. Bebout
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  Jared Severson has run clubs for the after-school program since it began 5 years ago.  He is a great addition to our staff and the students at the middle school love to attend his clubs.  Ms. Severson’s clubs usually have the theme of teamwork, teaching responsibility, and problem solving.  His most popular club is called Duct Tape Club. This semester he has been teaching an entrepreneurship club.  The middle school students came up with a business idea, they received a $50 loan, bought supplies, and made a product.  They are in the process of selling their products. When they are done selling they will pay back the loan and will be able to keep their profits.  What an amazing life lesson this has been for our middle school ASP students.
       Jared Severson is the Business and FCS teacher at the high school.  He was born in Nebraska, raised in Kentucky, and came back to Nebraska after high school.  He got his teaching certificate from the University of Nebraska-Kearney and a M.Ed. PK-12 School Counseling degree from Wayne State College.  He also has 3 others degrees/certificate from other schools.  He is the proud son of Donna Severson. Mr. Severson has worked in our district for 10 years!  I would like to thank him for his hard work and dedication in our district.

Schuyler Middle School Activities Director’s Report:  Mr. Zavadil
Middle School Girls basketball has been going well.  We are now in our final week with one last game against Clarkson tomorrow.  Our teams have gotten more wins this year than last year with the 8^th grade B team having won 4 games already this year. 
Staff Member/Program Spotlight:  I would like to recognize the work that our wrestling coaches have put in, they have over 60 athletes competing each week and organizing and giving those students the opportunity to get better and compete is no small task.  Mr. Gutierrez has been working very hard with the program in particular.  He has been a true team player for us at the middle school and is willing to do everything that you ask of him.

High School Activities Director’s Report:  Mr. Kasik
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  Jeremy Hlavac is in his 9^th year as a teacher and 11^th year as a coach here at Schuyler.  He taught one year at O’Neil.  He is an Assistant FB and Head Wrestling Coach.  He graduated from East Butler High School and Midland College where he played FB. He is married to Danielle who is a 3^rd grade teacher in Bellwood and a VB coach for David City.  Coach Hlavac makes great connections with kids, his programs always have a lot of participants and are successful.  He says that he loves Schuyler  because this place is challenging yet rewarding.  I feel like I make a difference here and kids see me as a role model, father figure, coach, teacher and friend.
Notable Topics:  Our girls BB team opened the season with a win over Madison and our Wrestlers are currently 5-1, with a second place finish at the York Invite behind class "A" highly rated Burke.  Our Play Production had a successful year closing their season at districts held at LSE.  We have also had over 5000 hits on the YouTube video "Competition and Kindness can co-exist" that was shot at Schuyler High School.  We are geared up and excited for winter sports and speech season!

Student Services Director's Report:  Mr. Lefdal
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  I would like to spotlight Mr. Hlavac and the 60+ students in his wrestling program.  Mr. Hlavac’s ability to engage kids and teach them more than just a sport, but the life skill of working together, team, and believing in themselves is nothing more than remarkable.  He is a wonderful asset to the Schuyler team. 
Notable Topics:  The PBL team has been doing an amazing job of programming for our students.  Their ideas are exciting and will help create a "family" type of environment in our school.
Looking ahead:  I am excited to see the process for our community meetings and strategic planning.  The school board along with the guidance of Dr. Hoesing have done a phenomenal job so far!

Special Education Director’s Report: Mrs. Vrba
Program Spotlight:  I would like to share the fact that Stacey Martin, renowned national Intensive Verbal Behavior specialist, spent a morning with our special education students and teachers who are implementing the program. Stacey works through the Summit Behavioral Health Association in Kansas City and will be presenting at the National Autism Conference in early spring of 2019.
Staff Member Spotlight:  At the beginning of the 2018 school year, Elyse Muhle (Belina) was busy building safe environments for our medically fragile students. (Yes, I said, "environments".) Along with their regular classroom, Elyse's kids have a special room that is filled with stations for instruction that are appropriate for each child's learning style and a sensory room that immensely helps her kids. (Sensory rooms are designed to "both calm and stimulate the senses" in children with special needs. Many experts would say that sensory rooms have three main purposes: to provide relaxation and enjoyment by eliminating distraction, and to increase creative sensory input.)
        Along with coaching volleyball and becoming Mrs. Belina this fall, Elyse is our first teacher who with the expertise of Bernice and Amy that has totally implemented the Intensive Verbal Behavior Program. The growth of our students' communication skills is absolutely astonishing...truly, watching Elyse working with her kids will leave you speechless and a little teary-eyed!!
        Elyse's most valued attributes are: her positive outlook on aspects of her position, her dedication to her kids, her unending work ethic and being a relentless advocate for her kids! I really cherish the moments when she celebrates with her students. Her kids might have only made tiny steps toward reaching their goals each day but she makes them feel as special as the shining star on top of your beloved family's Christmas tree!!

Curriculum and Assessment Director’s Report: Dr. Gibbons
Spotlight - We could not do everything that needs to be done without teams of teachers and administrators that work hard to ensure the extra things are taken care of.  My spotlight this month is on our District Steering Committee, including Meghan Reinert, Darin Kovar, Guillermo Gutierrez, Michelle Burton, Mandy Yosten, Seth Paesl, Stephen Grammer, Catherine Luce, Kristi Benck and Heather Bebout.  This team is responsible for our AdvancED Accreditation activities and they work with me to make decisions on assessments, instruction and all school improvement processes.
2017 - 2018 State Assessments - We did finally receive the data from statewide assessments recently. We are building data displays and will be engaging the staff in data discussion protocols during their Collaboration times.  According to state department website, the information will be made public December 21, 2018. Past results for the state assessments for every school in the state can be viewed at http://nep.education.ne.gov/
Schuyler Assessment System - Schuyler Community Schools has made the purchase of the Renaissance suite of assessments.  This assessment suite will help us better monitor and track the progress of all of our students to ensure that they are learning what we expect them to learn.
Professional Development -

• The APL Workshops that were scheduled for December 4th and 5th were postponed to December 12th and 13th.  
• On November 2, middle school science teachers attended the ESU 7 workshop ESU 7 Lesson Design with the New Science standards 6-12.
• Math Techbook Coaching during the month of November have been postponed due to various reasons.  The next one is scheduled for Monday, December 10.
• Discovery Education’s Dacia Jones was on campus for PD and coaching with our Project Based Learning team November 26 - 30.
• A group of teachers from across the district attended a webinar to learn to administer the STAR 360 Assessments.

Rationale: 
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  Jeff Droge and Technology Department (Jeff Duranski, Dan Rinkol, Kady Arps, Kim Powell) have done an great job with technology in the district.  Every summer they upgrade present hardware and software programs and install new systems on all new devices.  The tech team is also responsible for upgrades to the networks within and between buildings to accommodate the increasing online demand.  Each building also has a part-time technology assistant (Janelle Rocha, Vanessa Stanek, Yelitza Cuevas) to manage signs, flat screen TV's, and communication systems in each building.  This spring, they will also support our internal and external Thoughtexchange programs in support of our strategic planning process.

1.  NASB State Convention:  Thank you to the board members who attended the NASB State Convention.
2.  Bond Election Restrictions:  I attached information from our legal counsel as a guideline for school districts considering bond referendums.  See attached information.
3. Holiday Season:  Thanks for all your work and support as board members throughout the year.  Wishing you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous and Happy New Year. 
 

Rationale:  1.  Foundation:   Agenda, minutes, treasurer's report, etc... can be found on the Foundation Webpage.