September 14, 2020 at 6:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 
I.     Call Hearing to Order

II.   The purpose of the Hearing is to review, discuss, consider, and receive input, and or support, opposition, criticism, suggestions or observations of taxpayers relating to the 2020-21 proposed budget.

III.  Adjourn Budget Hearing
 

Rationale: 
I.     Call Hearing to Order

II.    The purpose of the Hearing is to review, discuss, consider, receive input, and hear support,opposition, criticism, suggestions or observations of taxpayers relating to the 2020-21 proposed property tax levy.

III.   Adjourn Levy Setting Hearing
 

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

Rationale: 
We held our budget workshop on August 31st and advertised the budget for all funds as directed at our final meeting.  Attached is the advertised budget notice for adoption.
 

Rationale:  2020/2021 TAX REQUEST RESOLUTION FOR SCHUYLER COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT 19-0123

            WHEREAS, public notice was given at least five days in advance of a Special Public Hearing called for the purpose of discussing and approving or modifying the District’s Tax Requests for the 2020/ 2021 school fiscal year for the General Fund, Bond Fund, and Qualified Capital Purpose Undertaking Fund of Schuyler Community School District 19-0123; and,

            WHEREAS, such Special Public Hearing was held before the Board of Education (hereinafter "the Board") of Schuyler Community School District 19-0123 (hereinafter "the District") at the time, date, and place announced in the notice published in a newspaper of general circulation, a copy of which notice and proof of publication of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A, all as required by law; and,

            WHEREAS, the Board provided an opportunity to receive comment, information and evidence from persons in attendance at such Special Hearing; and,

WHEREAS, the total assessed value of the property differs from last year’s total assessed value by .0047%; the tax rate which would levy the same amount of property taxes as last year, when multiplied by the new total assessed value of property would be $1.118505 per $100 of assessed value; the Schuyler Community Schools proposes to adopt a property tax requests that will cause its tax rate to be $1.153197 per $100 of assessed value.

WHEREAS, based on the proposed property tax request and changes in other revenue, the total operating budget of Schuyler Community Schools will exceed last year’s by -23% percent.

            WHEREAS, the Board, after having reviewed the District’s Tax Requests for each said fund, and after public consideration of the matter, has determined that the Final Tax Requests as listed below are necessary in order to carry out the functions of the District, as determined by the Board for the 2020-2021 school fiscal year. 

            NOW BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that (1) the Tax Request for the General Fund should be, and hereby is set at $14,474,727; (2) the Tax Request for the Bond Fund should be, and hereby is set at $1,119,004; (3) the Tax Request for the Qualified Capital Purpose Undertaking Fund should be, and hereby is set at 505,051. 

            It is so moved by (__________________________) and seconded by (­­­­­­­_____________________________) this 14^th day of September, 2020. 

Roll Call vote as follows: 

Rich Brabec                             YES                 NO
Mynor Hernandez                    YES                 NO
Alejandrina Lanuza                  YES                 NO
Chuck Misek                            YES                 NO
Virginia Semerad                     YES                 NO
Brian Vavricek                         YES                 NO
           
            The undersigned herewith certifies, as Secretary of the Board of Education of Schuyler Community School District 19-01213, that the above Resolution was duly adopted by a majority of said Board at a duly constituted public meeting of said Board.                                     

                                         ____________________, Secretary
                                        Virginia Semerad
 

Rationale:  Attached is the Resolution and necessary proceedings for our meeting Monday night.  The Resolution is pretty straight forward.  Our Bond Counsel (DA Davidson) hopes to have final interest rates locked in by the end of the week so we can report exact Savings to the Board. 

Rationale: 
The Schuyler Education Association (SEA) submitted a letter requesting recognition as the exclusive bargaining agent for the district's non-supervisory certificated staff for the 2022-2023 contract year.  This is a formality that the NSEA recommends our local association get approval now for next year's negotiations process.  See attached letter. 

Rationale: 
The State of Nebraska requires that the board of education must annually approve the use of "local substitutes" to teach in absence of the regular teacher.  Local substitutes are limited to 90 days per year in the school district on an intermittent basis.  We have been using local substitutes in the past, but the Department of Education requires board minutes validating local substitute certificates.

Wayne State College has continued our agreement for placement of substitute teachers from the Northeast Nebraska Teacher's Academy (NENTA) for the 2020-21 school year.  These students have completed the necessary gateway requirements and hold a valid Nebraska Teacher's Certificate. 
 

Rationale: 
1.  Sonia Coria:  Para Educator:  SES
 

Rationale: 
1.  Jennie Mendez:  Para Edicatpr - Richlaznd Diua; Language Program

Rationale:  This committee is responsible for recommending the annual district calendar, strategic planning process, technology, and promoting positive public relations and communications program.

Rationale:  Due to COVID-19 and professional development needs, we are recommending amending the 2020-21 school calendar in October to meet our needs:

October 13th:  Full day of classes rather than a half day.  Parent Teacher Conferences will remain from 5:00 to 8:00 on Tuesday, Conferences from 8:00 to 4:00 on Wednesday and fall break on Thursday and Friday.

October 20-22:  No School:  Due to the lack of substitute teachers in the district we are combining these professional development days.  See attached schedule for PD.

Rationale: 
PreSchool and 3-5 Principal's Report:  Mr. Comley
Program/Staff Spotlight:  This month I would like to highlight Ingrid Rodriguez and Meridith Riha. During the start of school there were a lot of small items and little details that they both helped with. They stepped in with no questions and helped SES run smoothly. They continue to go above and beyond. Thank you Ms Rodriguez and Mrs Riha!
 

SES K-2 Principal's Report: Mrs. Neesen
Staff Member Spotlight:  This month I would like to highlight the teacher’s who volunteered to be in our first Discovery Education Innovator program.The volunteer Innovators are Sarah Gahan (Kindergarten), Megan Reinert (First), and Abby Krueger (Second), Tonia Heard (Third), Adam Robinson (Fourth), and Nadia Morales (Fifth). These teachers have shown the drive to better SES and student learning. Thank you for your dedication in progressing our students!

Fisher’s & Richland Principal's Report:  Ms. Bebout
Staff Member Spotlight:  I would like to highlight my staff at Fisher’s & Richland.  This year has been an interesting year to say the least.  Fortunately, I have very dedicated teachers and paraprofessionals.  Due to the dedication of my staff the students have had a great start to the school year.  We have already had STAR 360 testing at both schools and teachers are using the data to start interventions with students who have achievement gaps.  Being short staffed and having students gone for extended periods of time causes its own unique set of problems, but my staff have been problem solvers and have all stepped in and helped out.  I am proud to be the principal of these two schools!!!

SMS Assistant Principal's Report:  Mr. Banahan
Staff Member Spotlight: For my staff spotlight, I would like to recognize Mrs. Amanda Richards. Mrs. Richards did a great job of using an anticipatory set to get students into the right mindset for her class. Students read the excerpt "Escape for Afghanistan" from the book  "The Other Side of the Sky" by Farah Amedi. In this chapter, the character in the book had to try to escape from Afghanistan, and she was faced with various challenges and unfair advantages to gain access to a nearby country. To set this up Mrs. Richards, had talked to her "R-Time" students ahead of time and told them they would be considered the "Chosen Ones", and when she said that to her students who were lining up outside of class, they were allowed access to the classroom. Then the others, who were not chosen, had to pass through obstacles to be granted access to the classroom. Once in the classroom, the students completed a bell ringer that was "to journal about their experience of entering the classroom". This allowed them to describe how they were feeling in that time and situation. Students were able to reflect on this throughout the week as they went back and read the excerpt and compared it to how they felt and could base it on personal experience. They did this through the week to see if their experience changed their perspective as they read the memoir by Farah Amedi.

SMS Principal's Report:  Mr. Zavadil
Program Spotlight:  School is underway and it is definitely different and very challenging, but the staff at Schuyler Middle School is doing a great job adjusting every day and doing great.   I would especially like to highlight the work of our office staff.  Carol Reha has been working hard to help with new COVID-19 protocols.  Our new STEM LC program is off the ground and running.  We had a kick-off event with community earlier in the Month and our Kickoff event with our teachers on Friday.  We have four teachers assigned as leaders for the building and are excited to get started.  The four teacher leaders that are on STEM LC are:

6th Science— Kasey Nolan
7th Math— Odalys Cruz8th
8th English/Language Arts— Samantha Ladwid
Newcomers— Evelyn Recinos

Staff Member Spotlight:  I would like to also Highlight the work of Mrs. Maxwell in the special education department.  This is her second year at SMS and she is really hitting her stride with the students.  She is very organized and builds fantastic relationships with her students and her commitment to our students is outstanding.  I am very glad to be working with her.
Upcoming Events:  The Middle School will be finishing our MAP tests and STAR assessments this week and will be starting our academic enrichment time Friday.  This is a time where teachers create small groups of students in order to bring them up to speed on particular standards that we are working to ensure as a building.  This requires extra work out of our teachers, but with the leadership of our school improvement team our building is very excited to put in this extra time with our students.  We also will start using Accelerated reader later this month and will be receiving professional development for that already.
 

SCHS Assistant Principal's Report:  Mr. Kasik
Program Spotlight:  I would like to spotlight our Business Department.  They are led by a strong group of veterans in Lyn Beebe, Tom Nelson and Robbi McKenney.  This is a steady group that provides a very well rounded Business Program for out school.
Staff Member Spotlight:  For person spotlight I want to recognize Kim Powell.  Mrs. Powell is our go-to person with data and infinite campus.  She is a worker and a problem solver.  Her work with our district is invaluable.
Upcoming Events:  We continue to complete a number of construction projects and everyone brings us closer to a more efficient school.  The upgrades are really exciting.  I did get to do two High School tours over Labor Day.  The classes of "80" and "85" were very impressed with our recent changes.

SCHS Principal's Report:  Mr. Grammer
Program Spotlight:  Our high school has for the past few years been under construction and our custodial crew and food service crews have worked hard to develop a solid, strong, departments.  This year has been a very challenging start to the school year. With the school not completely finished at the stat of school, both of these crews had to be flexible and adapt to the challenges presented to them. On the opening week of the high school both food service and custodial crews were ready to serve 600 high school students their breakfast and lunch.  They ere also ready to keep our new cafeteria clean and presentable.  That is the best possible scenario for the beginning of school year.  Thank you to our Custodial and Food Service crews for a job well done.
Staff Member Spotlight:  The staff members to be recognized for their diligent work in the high school this month are Jamie Rameriz, Joy Jenkins, Juan Melendrez and Matt Wachal. These four staff members have worked hare to develop a strong and viable food and custodial programs at the high school. They have done such a great job at building strong programs a the high school that they have strong crews at the middle school and elementary school. They have shown tremendous improvement over the past few years.  They come to school every day with energy and enthusiasm.  They always come to school with a positive attitude and strong work ethic.  Congratulations to Jamie, Joy, Juan, and Matt for developing and implementing sustainable programs.  Keep up the good work and continue to build successful programs at SCS.
Event Highlight:  On Friday, September 18^th at SCHS, we will be presenting the Homecoming game followed by the introduction of the Homecoming royalty, finished by the Homecoming dance.
 

Rationale: 

SES K-6 Youth Sports Director's Report:  Mrs. Neesen
Due to COVID-19 concerns, Youth Sports has been put on hold until after Labor Day. We will be visiting different options for our Junior Warriors athletes.

Warrior Academy - After-School Program Director's Report:  Ms. Bebout
Spotlight Program:  Warrior Academy began on August 24th.  This year with the restrictions we limited sign-up making sure we could have small groups and limited whole group interactions.  Luckily we have not had to turn anyone away.  We have enough staff at this time to enroll all students who have signed up.  Many changes had to be made with the new restrictions, but they are working.  Kimmi, Guadalupe, and Kathy have done an excellent job with the help of the administrators to make sure the students are still enjoying their clubs, but are also being safe.

SMS Activities Director's Report:  Mr. Banahan
Spotlight Program: SMS Athletics have started up for the fall sports season! We have three sports up and running, with football, volleyball, and cross country. Currently we have 40 runners for Cross Country, 19 boys (10 -  8th  graders and 9 - 7th graders) and 21 girls (6 - 8th graders and 15 - 7th graders).  For football we have 40 athletes playing this fall (18 - 7th graders and 22 - 8th graders). For volleyball we have 44 girls out this season with 21 being 8th graders, and 23 being 7th graders. 
Spotlight Upcoming Events:  We recently had our first home football games, against Crete in which our 7th Grade fought hard the whole game, but came up short 20-8. In the 8th grade game, we battled the whole game, and then edged out an 8-0 victory in overtime!  We had a successful home Cross Country meet as well with our middle school girls winning the invite, and our warrior boys finishing runner-up in the invite. We had our first volleyball game against Raymond Central, the seventh grade defeated the Mustangs in 3 sets, and our 8th grade fought hard the entire game against a very good Raymond Central team.   The next events for us here at the Middle School include volleyball @ Clarkson-Leigh, 8th grade football @ David City , and for Cross Country we will be heading to Wahoo, which all take place on September 10th.

SCHS Activities Director's Report:  Mr. Kasik
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  I would like to spotlight our Marching Band and Flags program.  While most of their competitions have been cancelled or modified due to Covid 19, they have been working extremely hard and sounding really well.  This group is led by Paul Niedbalski, Morgan Semerad and Ryan Baldwin.
Staff Member Spotlight:  The person spotlight I want to recognize Cortland Cassidy.  Mr. Cassidy is a 2^nd year Head Cross Country Coach leading a girl’s team that won their first invitational at Logan View this year and finished 2^nd at our Schuyler Invite.  This team is doing great things under his leadership.
Upcoming Events:  We are well underway with our fall events and have hosted 11 home events in every sport.  We are working through our protocols and things have run pretty smoothly up to this point.  The week prior to Labor Day we saw our Boys CC team finish 1^st, our Girls CC team finish 2^nd, our Varsity VB team beat Cornerstone Christian and our V. Football team beat DC West on Friday night, it was a great week!

Student Services Director's Report:  Dr. Lefdal
Program Spotlight:  I would like to highlight our newcomers program that was started this year.  Joel Carrillo and Brandi Zavadil are leading the program.  Joel is the lead teacher and is supported by Mickaela Vazquez, Mary Du Planti, and Janett Diaz.  The year is off to a great start!  The program was developed to increase English language learning at a faster rate so our Newcomers can be more competitive in the regular classroom.  It has been exciting to see all of the work that the team is accomplishing.
Notable Topics:  It is exciting to see how great our building looks.  The additions and changes that have taken place at the high school are nothing short of amazing.  I cannot wait to see the completion of all of our projects.   
Looking ahead:   I am excited to continue work on our priority plan and what we can do to continue improving attendance in our high school during the pandemic. 

Instruction, Curriculum, and Assessment, Director's Report:  Dr. Gibbons
Program Spotlight: I would like to spotlight our use of fall benchmark assessments of our students.  While standardized testing gets a bad rap sometimes, it is all in how you use the information that you get.  Students have completed the Star Reading and Star Math assessments and will be completing the fall MAP assessments in Reading, Math and Science soon.  The leadership team in each building will use this information to set school improvement goals.  Individual grade levels and teachers will use this information to adjust their scope and sequence or make adjustments to their teaching and learning activities in order to help students be more successful in their classes.  At the K-3 level, the MAP Reading assessment is also used to fulfill the requirements of the Nebraska Reading Act.

Spotlight Upcoming Events:  Since state testing did not happen last year, the state has made special arrangements with ACT to provide this year’s seniors an opportunity to take the ACT for free in their school.  We will give seniors the ACT on Sept. 22.  This will not be used for accountability purposes, but will allow us to see how students are doing and will give students who may not have taken it on their own a free chance to take it.  We will also give this year’s juniors the Pre-ACT and use the data from that assessment to guide their instruction between now and next April when they take the ACT state test.

 

Rationale: 
1.  Census Reports:  Attached are the census reports for 2018, 2019, and 2020.
2.  Food Service:  The federal government is extending the free summer breakfast and lunch program through December 31st or as long as the money lasts.  We are working on completing our application and implementing this program as of September 1st. 

Rationale: 
1.   Foundation Meeting Report
2.  NASB Area Membership Meeting:  Virtual (See attachment)