April 14, 2025 at 7:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

Mission Statement:

Gothenburg Public Schools is the cornerstone of a proud, passionate, and progressive community where students and staff thrive in a positive and innovative environment.  We ensure the growth of all individuals by inspiring them to own and maximize their potential.

A copy of the open meetings law is posted on the wall of the Board Room and is available to the public.

Rationale: 

The Board reserves the right to rearrange the order of items as needed.

Rationale:  Academic Highlight:
Circle of Friends

Activities Highlights:
Taylor Burge:  NSAA Believers and Achievers Award

State Speech Champions:
Carson Reiman - Extemp
Jack Aden and Logan Feather - Duet Acting

Rationale: 

Board Policy 2009 - Opportunity for Public Expression.  
(A copy of the policy is linked here.)

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO WISH TO SPEAK: This is the portion of the meeting when members of the public may speak to the board about matters of public concern.  

• Getting Started: Before the meeting begins, anyone wishing to address the board must sign in with their name, address, and any organizations they are representing. When recognized, please stand and state your name. 

• Time Limit:  The board will generally allow a total of 30 minutes for the presentation of all public comments.  Individuals may speak only one time, and must limit comments to 5 minutes.  If there are more than 6 individuals who wish to address the board, the 30 minutes will be divided equally between the number of speakers.   These time limits may be changed by a majority vote of the board members in attendance to extend the time for a specific item or speaker. 

• Personnel or Student Topic:  If you are planning to speak about a personnel or a student matter involving an individual, please understand that the district has a complaint policy and/or procedures to resolve such complaints and concerns.  The Board requests that you follow the policy and procedures before addressing these matters with the Board.  Board members will generally not respond to any questions you ask or comments about individual staff members or students.  

• General Rules: This is a public meeting for the conduct of business.  Comments from the audience while others are speaking will not be tolerated.  Lewd, obscene, profane, slanderous, threatening and hostile conduct or statements and fighting words (words whose mere utterance entails a call to violence) will not be tolerated. 

• No Action by the Board:  The board will not act on any matter unless it is on the published agenda. 

Rationale: 

1. Approval of Previous Minutes

2. Approval of the Treasurer's Report

3. Approval of the Warrants / Bills

  a.  Petty Cash

  b.  Student Activity

  c.  Hot Lunch

  d.  Bank Statement

  e.  Summary of Accounts and Receipts

  f.  Monthly Expenditure Report

  g. Check Journal

4. Excuse Absent Board Members

 

Rationale: 

• Kara Libich 

Rationale: 

• Mrs. Keri Waddle - Mrs. Waddle joins us from Gibbon Public Schools, where she has served as a school counselor for the past 8 years. She has a total of 14 years of experience as a school counselor and has worked with all grade levels at various times. She is a strong relationship builder with valuable insights and experience, particularly in supporting middle school students.  Her husband and their daughter are excited to begin their journey as Swedes!

Rationale:  Policy 6004 outlines that when instructional materials meet the purchase threshold, a 30-day review period for the materials will be provided for patrons.

The 30-day review period has now passed. However, we do want parents to know they always have access to instructional materials - all they need to do is reach out to their child's classroom teacher or in this case, Mrs. Richeson.

The Math Materials committee consisted of a wide variety of teachers from every grade level.  They reviewed multiple high-quality instructional materials and ultimately selected enVision from Savvas because it focused on all the committee's non-negotiables. The total purchase price for the seven-year package is $158,016.12 which includes professional development and all materials.

For more information about the process, patrons can review it in detail here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xj58YrbEoyD1R5-hZvS7mHZhd0NeOb8c-p5tz3lsJwQ/edit#slide=id.p 
 

Rationale:  Halls Electric has completed their work in Area B including fire alarms. This payment of $42,143.31 is within-budget and will be the final payment to Halls Electric for this project.

This expenditure has been approved by Bond Council for use of QCPUF funds for this purpose as they are addressing air quality and life safety issues within the building. 

Board Action is utilized for QCPUF expenditures to ensure transparency regarding the use of funds.

Rationale:  Gothenburg Public Schools has several students who receive Occupational Therapy services through an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).  Family Physical Therapy and Sport Center provided this service to several schools in our area, including our own this past year and the process worked very well. 

You will note this contract covers Occupational Therapy but also includes Speech Language Pathologist and Physical Therapy services.  Although we are not engaging in Physical Therapy services currently, this contract would allow us to do so if that need arises as it did last year with SLP services without interruption to our students who receive services.  Other instances where this would be beneficial include if our current provider is on vacation, maternity leave, medical leave, etc.

We are grateful for this partnership and are confident we can continue to work together to improve outcomes for kids.

Rationale:  We currently have a Jeep that has reached the end of its service life and is no longer meeting the district's operational needs. As we work to maintain a reliable and efficient fleet, this vehicle has been removed from regular use. We are seeking a motion to declare the Jeep as surplus and authorize the Superintendent to accept sealed bids for its sale.

Rationale:  The junior high track sweats reached the end of their practical use for our athletic program a few years ago. Over time, these items have experienced normal wear and tear, resulting in fading, fabric breakdown, and reduced durability. A couple years ago, we replaced this gear with updated sweats.

Surplusing the older track sweats will allow us to declutter storage space and provide an opportunity to repurpose or dispose of them in a responsible manner. 

Rationale: 

This year’s school calendar included five extra days for the purpose of weather or activities.  We have cancelled five days, but one was a teacher work day.

Wednesday, November 6th - State Volleyball
Wednesday, February 12th - Teacher Work Day (snow/ice)
Tuesday, February 18th - Cold Day
Wednesday, March 5th - State Girls Basketball
Friday, March 7th - State Girls Basketball
Wednesday, March 19th - "Blizzard" Warning

With these schedule changes, our last scheduled student day will remain consistent with what is published online: 12:30PM Dismissal on Wednesday, May 21st. Our total hours in session will be ~1,100 (1,080 required); 167 student contact days (one less than 23/24); and 185 teacher contract days (required by contract). 

The last scheduled teacher day will be Thursday, May 22nd.

As an informational item, no action is required.

Rationale: 

Committee Reports (Chair in bold)

1.  Personnel Committee (Mr. Fornoff, Mrs. Terrell, Mrs. Brass)
2. Transportation and Facilities (Mr. Wyatt, Mr. Dalrymple, Mrs. Jobman)
3. Finance (Mrs. Jobman, Mr. Wyatt, Mrs. Brass)
4. Committee on American Civics (Mrs. Terrell, Mr. Fornoff, Mr. Dalrymple)
5. Policy Review (Mrs. Terrell, Mr. Dalrymple, Mrs. Jobman)

 

Rationale: 

Rationale:  Monday, May 12th

Swede Activities:
Spring Sports Program @ 6:30PM