April 13, 2020 at 8:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

1.  Review monthly bills using the EMeetings Software.

2.  Review all credit card transactions for the month.

3.  Finance Committee Members Sign-off on review of monthly bills, credit card transactions, and district fund balances.

4.  Approve superintendent's expenses (credit card transactions, mileage, cell phone reimbursement).-Cell phone reimbursement in the amount of $45.68 (attached)

5.  Lunch Fund Monthly Review

• Lunch Fund Worksheet-Attached as "Lunch Fund Transfer Needed-April"-$4600 transfer required
• Breakfast & Lunch Meals Goals-Attached as "Lunch Participation Goal Setting"-Due to the closure, the lunch numbers are down and the breakfast numbers are up, as we are providing lunch and breakfast on a daily basis to over 200 students. 
• Due to the interruption in service caused by the COVID-19 Virus, we are really in uncharted territory as far as the lunch fund.  We required a transfer this month, in order to cover operating costs.  Due to the reduced number of meals we are serving as a result of the school closure and continued personnel costs, we are likely to have to make additional transfers and continue to subsidize the account for the remainder of the fiscal year.  We MAY be able to get some of this money back through claiming the program expenses through FEMA as related to the pandemic.  The school is tracking these expenditures and will resubmit them, but we will have to expend the funds in order to sustain the program for our students through the end of the school year.

 

 

 

Rationale:  New track uniforms were ordered this year, in conjunction with our activity uniform rotation schedule.  Mr. Schirmer is requesting that the old ones be discarded.

Rationale: 

Members of the Public, 

This is the portion of the board meeting when we invite anyone in attendance to address the board of education. If you would like to speak to the board regarding any of the items on tonight's agenda or a public concern, now is your opportunity to do so.  Please review the orange sheet (found on the visitors' chairs) of paper that contains the guidelines for public participation.  If you wish to speak to the board at this time, please let me know.  "Would anyone like to address the board at this time?"

 

AFTER THE PERSON(S) INDICATE(S) THEY WISH TO SPEAK

1.  Please stand and state your name?

2.  What topic will you be speaking on?

3.  Are there others in the room who wish to speak to the same topic? (If so, ask that they be recognized so that 30 minutes of time for public comment can be apportioned as per the policy-5 minutes per person).

4.  Optional-"Please understand that public comment is your opportunity to speak to the board and present your concerns, thoughts, feelings, ideas, and observations.  Members of the board are happy to hear from members of the public, but the board will not engage in conversation or dialogue with you during public comment."

4.  "You'll have approximately 5 minutes to address the board, as we allow 5 minutes per person and a total of 30 minutes for public comment.  You may begin when you are ready?"

 

 

 

Rationale:  The kitchen staff continues to do a great job during the school closure.  Their recent health inspection report is attached for review.  The health inspector was very, very complimentary and literally said, "I wish all of the school kitchens I visit were this clean and well managed."

The kitchen continues to provide 200+ meals and breakfasts a day to students during the school closure, with the assistance of the paras, drivers & office staff.  They have stepped up to the plate and done a great job of supporting our students and families during the closure.

Rationale:  Congratulations to this month's ABC Bluejay Staff Member of the Month, the kitchen staff, paras, drivers, and office staff who are serving school meals during the closure.  They have done an excellent job to coordinate the delivery of meals to 225 students on a daily basis.  They have done a great job of serving our students and parents in this time of need.
 

Rationale:  The following guidance has been given from NASB regarding a board motion to allow the superintendent to pursue waivers and exemptions for the 2019-20 school year in conjunction with the pandemic.  This advice mirrors the advice given by the school district's attorney.

FROM NASB

For our NASB members about your graduating class,
 
This week, the Nebraska Department of Education released a guidance document containing additional latitude for local districts regarding Nebraska graduation requirements. We suggest keeping your original graduation requirements policy in place, and amending it with this language to modify it for this year. You may have several items in your local graduation requirements that go beyond the minimum specified by state regulations, so your original is still important.  As you know, like previous recent waivers issued by NDE, these waivers have the effect of law. Where the waivers conflict with district policy for this temporary period while the waivers are in effect, they will overide that conflicting policy language. We also recommend that your board pass a resolution with language along the lines of "All temporary waivers of NDE regulations shall also apply to respective district policies for the 2019-2020 school year."
 
As you will see in the text of the guidance document, this waiver also addresses the requirements of your Citizenship policy. It was revised last year to meet changes in state statute but the district has the option of postponing full implementation until next year.
 
Jim Luebbe
 

Rationale:  Guidance from NDE on graduation requirements and considerations is attached to this agenda item.

The following advice has been given by Cory Epler at NDE Regarding 2020 Seniors:Students Generally Fall Into 4 Classifications: Review the status of each senior.  Help students complete these requirements, course grades and promotion are determined by local school board policies, districts have latitude in determining what grades to award, if any, for coursework and which coursework is required for credit.

(1) Students who meets state but not local requirements;

(2) Students who have not met the minimum state required graduation credits but were on track to meet those requirements through current coursework prior to entering an alternate learning environment;

(3) Students who are further behind in meeting graduation requirements and would not have been able to meet the state graduation requirements with the normal coursework currently taken.

(4) Student who meets local and state requirements.

Rationale:  Karen Haase's legal opinion regarding grading during the 4th quarter is, "You can do whatever you want.  The Commissioner is going to give you a waiver."

Karen summarized the most common grading options being used in the state and outside of the state:

1) Grades are frozen, as of the 3rd quarter.

2) Students can only increase their grade, through work completed during the 4th quarter.

3) 4th quarter grades are "pass/fail".  Some states have adopted this statewide.

4) "You won't fail, unless you don't try."

5)  Count all grades as a 70% for 4th quarter.  If you do the work, you get a 70%.

6)  Full expectations, full credit.  Business as usual regarding grading.

The recommendation from the administrative team is to provide all teachers with the autonomy to assign grades for the 4th quarter.  This is our recommendation for the following reasons:  (1)  Teachers have the best understanding of the students' participation and engagement in the remote learning provided; (2)  Teachers understand the extraordinary situation everyone has been put into, and that will be reflected in student grading; (3)  The playing field is equal for all students, as all students have been given the same conditions for learning during the school closure;  (4) Simply allowing teachers to post grades as normal at the conclusion of the 4th quarter will work best with Infinite Campus.  Deviating from the typical grading scheme will create additional issues to resolve;  (5) Teachers assign grades, not administrators.  Employing a grading "scheme" that usurps their autonomy to do so devalues their professional judgment.

 

Rationale:  The board and superintendent have contemplate adjusting office staff members' duties and absorbing Pat Shrader's duties upon her retirement from the school district in May.  Attached are the work agreement, which have been reviewed by the school district's legal counsel, that would allow this transition to occur and two spreadsheets showing the projected costs savings of such a transition.

The superintendent's recommendation is to approve the revised work agreements and job descriptions to allow this transition to occur.

Rationale:  Bids were advertised for the window improvement project in the Grand Island and Kearney newspapers.  Prospective bidders were provided with a copy of the "Interior & Exterior Punch Lists" to understand the scope of the work.  ALICAP was contacted to ensure there would be no future problems pursuing a "pollution" claim in the event we incur such issues in the future, if we proceeded with the work as proposed.  Two bidders inquired about the project.  One bid was offered by State Glass of Grand Island, NE.

The recommendation of the superintendent is to award the bid to State Glass of Grand Island in the amount of $27,500.

Rationale:  Annually, the board considers the superintendent's compensation package for the upcoming year and the superintendent's contract.  The information attached to this agenda item is being offered for that purpose.

Rationale:  The retirement gifts for those leaving the school system have been secured.  The superintendent would recommend putting the end of the year celebration on hold, pending further guidance from the health department.

Rationale:  1.  Track Runway Resurfacing Update-ProTrack & Tennis has completed the resurfacing project.  Looks great!  The entire cost was covered by the NDEQ Grant.

2.  Track Retaining Wall Update-Just the dirt work is left.  Shilo will complete that with Todd's assistance so that grass can get planted.

3.  Families First Coronavirus Response Act-A copy of the questions and answers offered by our school district's attorney is attached (FFCRA Guidance).  Official forms and documents related to the act will be forthcoming.  They were NOT available the first day the act went into effect on April 1st.  If we have a large number of employees utilize this leave, it could have a budgetary and staffing impact.

4.  Strategic Planning with Scott-Do we want to modify and retake the survey and plan for later this summer/fall?  To date, only 3 respondents of 8 (6 board members and 2 principals) have taken the survey.

5.  Office staff and office hours as we continue through he pandemic.  Two Rivers is indicating that April 23rd is going to be the peak period of the virus.

6.  Meal delivery program continues to operate, with periodic adjustments.  Will continue through the end of the school year.  Hilary and I are watching a webinar on Wednesday (4/15) to explore possibilities of continuing to provide support with food security for our families.  We will continue to help as much as we can and may have to evaluate and assess next steps forward in the coming weeks, as we move through the peak of the pandemic in our area.  This week on 4/16, we will transition to home delivery for ALL meals, by asking parents to place a cooler outside of their doors.  Now that meal counts and families are stabilized, we can disband with the in-town delivery pick up points and deliver directly to the families' homes.  This will increase delivery staff safety and remove the need for controlling social distancing at in town delivery sites.

7.  Graduation ceremony and prom scheduling in light of recent information.

8.  Activities Director-Mr. Tony Schirmer has accepted the appointment to the activites director position.  He will replace the current activities director, Mr. Dom Reicks, upon his retirement from the school district at the end of the school year.

9.  CARES Act Funding through ESSA (Estimate Attached)-$50,054



Monthly Superintendent Goals Update:

Academic Achievement


Vision
-Working with Edmentum to generate a viable on-line platform solution and corresponding budgetary impact, if we should need to start the school year engaged in "remote learning".  I've also contact the University of Nebraska High School to explore such options.


Community Relations
-Attended REDC Monthly Meeting, as a board member
-Continue to serve at Community Representative for Chamber of Commerce
-Coordinated email solicitation for babysitting with REDC & Chamber to provide for childcare options during the pandemic
-Coordinated with REDC & Chamber to survey RPS parents on child care needs during the pandemic









 

Rationale:  Our school is truly impactful to our community and to our children.  I look forward to the time when things are back to normal for our students and for our community.  -Misti Fiddelke

I appreciate everybody (paras, kitchen staff, office staff, drivers, parents, administrators, teachers, kids, everybody) making this situation work.  -Ryan Osten

Dave Hurtya has done a fantastic job of deploying and maintaining devices during the closure.  He has stepped up to the plate and done a fantastic job!  -Paul Anderson