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

Rationale:  It is 6:30 PM and I now call to order the Grand Island Public Schools Board of Education Meeting.  This is the March 12, 2012 meeting.  Notice of this meeting has been advertised in the Grand Island Independent, which is the District's designated method of giving notice of these meetings.

We want those in attendance to know that copies of the Open Meetings Act are available at the entrance to the Board Room.  If anyone in attendance is interested in addressing our Board, you are welcome to do so.  We simply request that you complete the appropriate form and turn it in to us now so that you may be recognized during the Public Forum part of our meeting.  These forms are also located by the entry doors of this room.

Mrs. Wagner, will you please call the roll?

Rationale:  Roll Call.

Rationale: 

The Mission  

Every Student, Every Day, a Success
Within the Grand Island Public Schools,
- every student will be taught to read, write, and communicate effectively; solve problems; acquire and apply knowledge; and demonstrate mastery through performance to the best of the student's abilities;  
- every student will be treated with fairness and dignity;
- every student will experience a sense of belonging, contribution, and success; and
- every student will develop responsibility and show respect for others as well as oneself.  
In educating students, we teach hearts as well as minds.

Rationale:  The first item on the agenda tonight is the Consent Agenda.  The Consent Agenda to be approved is as follows:

(items read.)

This is the Consent Agenda as published.  Would anyone like to remove any items or add any items to the Consent Agenda? 

Rationale: 

The Grand Island Senior High 2011-2012 Wrestling Team is being recognized in honor of winning their 4th straight Class A State Championship.  Members of the team include Dante Rodriguez, John Mottle, Matt Bolan, Trey Trujillo, Andrew Rojas, Andrew Riedy, Austin Leech, Carlos Rodriguez, Billy Thompson, Chase Ries, Harris Talundzic, Jose Ceballos, Ben Najera, and Dorin Hall.

Rationale:  Mrs. Traci Skalberg, Director of the Grand Island Education Foundation, will give the annual report to the Board of Education.

Rationale:  As an internal planning and budgeting tool Grand Island Public Schools maintains a deferred maintenance project list with an accompanying historical record of projects funded by building site.  Mr Petsch meets annually with building administrators to seek their input and update the list to account for changing conditions.  The list of possible projects is reviewed and ranked by central office administration and presented to the facilities and finance committee for their review.  This information item is intended to present the recommended project list from the facilities and finance committee to the entire Board of Education.  In past years the Board has conducted this review in a Board workshop.  However, this year we are presenting the same information in open public setting to try and achieve a higher degree of transparency.

Rationale:  In concert with the Project List,  the District maintains a “Long-Term Building Spending Plan” to plan and budget for construction projects in progress or within a ten year window.  Additionally, past projects less than ten years from completion are listed to give the plan a twenty year spread of information regarding the major building project spending.  Additionally, projects in-progress are outlined with a project specific timeline and funding plan. 

Rationale:  This calendar is for the four schools designated to follow the Continuous School Calendar for 2012-13 - which are Howard, Jefferson, Starr and West Lawn.  The calendar was developed by the 2012-13 CSC Committee and was based around the traditional calendar as approved by the Board on Jan. 12, 2012.

Rationale:  In order to move from doing business via credit cards to procurement or purchasing cards (P-Cards) the district needs do the following;

1.  Enter into a agreement with the Nebraska Liquid Asset Fund (NLAF) "The Association" sponsored by the Nebraska School Boards Association.
2.  Enter into an Membership Agreement between the sponsoring bank (Bank of Montreal) via a Corporate MasterCard Program, PFM Financial Services, LLC (NLAF), and the district.
3.  Pass a resolution authorizing the issuance of individual procurement cards.

After executing these documents the district will establish necessary business office procedures, best practices, and implement the P-Cards on a limited test basis initially.  A long term goal will be to replace all current Corporate VISA credit cards, petty cash, and the purchase of any prepaid VISA cards.  The P-Card process integrates directly with our financial software package iVisions and should have several benefits such as streamlining the procurement process, reducing transaction time and expenses, and allow the business office to provide better support to district employees who need to purchase goods and\or services on the district's behalf.

Rationale:  The Nebraska Joint Utilities Management Program (NJUMP) is an interlocal agreement sponsored by the Nebraska Association of School Boards (NASB), which has been very successful in providing participating districts a lower cost bulk natural gas supply.  In order to continue our participation in the program we are required to periodically update the terms and conditions of our interlocal agreement.  The attached document is the new interlocal agreement, effective July 1, 2012, we will be participating in the NJUMP via.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration in the Facility and Finance Committee.  From this committee, there is also a possibility of a presentation and recommendation for action on any item which might have recently arisen requiring a short turn around time frame.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration in the Teaching and Learning Committee.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration in the Personnel Committee.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration in the Policy Committee.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration by the Grand Island Education Foundation.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration in the Legislative Committee.

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration in the Public Relations Committee.