October 12, 2020 at 5:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale:  October 5, 2020

Rationale:  The Norfolk Public School District's board of education meeting is called to order.  

Rationale:  If any board member is absent, there will need to be a  motion to excuse the absence.

Rationale:  This is a legal meeting of the board of education, as advertised by the means specified in board policy. A complete copy of the Open Meetings Act is posted in the board room for your review. A copy of the agenda is available at the desk of the recording secretary.
 

Rationale:  Please stand and join us in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Rationale: 

This is the time during the meeting when the public may request to address the Board. If you wish to comment, we ask that you identify yourself and the topic that you wish to address. Each individual's comments will be limited to five minutes.

 Please note that  the Board cannot discuss or act upon matters that are not listed on the agenda. Therefore, Board  members will not respond to your comments or questions.  If you wish to request that an item be placed on a future Board agenda, you may contact the Superintendent or her assistant during normal business hours.

Also note that concerns related to school personnel need to be addressed to the Superintendent using the approved district protocol.

Rationale: 

Total amount of claims to be approved in the consent agenda for the month of October, 2020 by specific fund are listed below:

General Fund = $445,070.24

Nutrition Services Fund =$255,637.91

Cooperative Fund = $2,938.45

Depreciation Fund = $9,599.31

QCPUF = $25,518.97

Employee Benefit Fund = $609.88

Student Fee Fund = $16,826.50

The total amount of claims for the month of September, 2020 in the Activities Fund is listed below:
Activity Fund =$90,913.68

All of these claims were reviewed earlier today by the Finance and Facility Committee.  The 2019-2020 audit of district financials is near completion.  A complete audit report will be presented to the board at the October 22nd, Board of Education meeting.

Rationale:  Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment

• Fall testing windows are complete.  We had almost half of all seniors take advantage of the Fall ACT testing opportunity that was provided since the spring session was cancelled. Kudos to the senior high staff for their organization of this at an awkward time.
• Curriculum work has been limited due to the shortage of substitute teachers. The Teaching and Learning Team will continue to press forward when and where possible but also have come to terms that we may not get as far as planned in the curriculum cycles.
• Although curriculum work is limited, there are still important things occurring that affect curriculum. This is the first year of implementation of the Science Elevate program 3^rd-8th grade. K-2 is piloting the TWIG Science program, as well as in-depth studies of senior high science materials is also occurring. We are not left with nothing to do.  
• NDE has reported assessment expectations for the school year. NDE is partnering with NWEA to create a combined through year testing system where both state standards and national percentiles can be obtained in one test. This is a phase 1 pilot year. Because of piloting and irregularity of school sessions, NDE has requested that the AQuESTT accountability classifications be waived for the 2020-2021 school year. This will likely be approved. The AQuESTT classifications from 2018-2019 will remain the same through 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.

Rationale: 

Nurses- Our school nurses have been working with the ELVPHD in setting up the flu shots for staff in our district.  Shots will be available to staff at each building.  The schedule has been shared with our staff to sign up.

 ELL Teachers- During weekly PLC time, ELL staff is reviewing intervention programs results to assist in progress monitoring.  

Mental Health Providers- Memorandums of Understanding have been completed with our local providers of our mental health services. This team will be a part of our professional development day on October 19th. 

Special Education- The Special Education leadership team met on September 30th to discuss professional development sessions that will be held on October 19th. The TIP goal data will be reported to the state prior to November 1, 2020.  

Rationale: 

Tomorrow will be the official last day of the 1st quarter. Teachers will be finalizing grades the rest of this week and then next week we will be conducting our 1st semester parent teacher conferences. Conferences this year will look a little differently then they have in the past.  Teachers are posting short video introductions and then scheduling zoom times or conference calls with parents who would like to discuss things specific to their student. We are still following our Parent Teacher conference schedule listed below. Students will not have school on Friday the 23rd or Monday the 26th.

• Oct 19th K-8 Conferences 4pm-7pm
• Oct 20th K-4, 9-12 Conferences 4pm-7pm
• Oct 21st 5-12 Conferences 4pm-7pm
• Oct 22nd K-12 Conferences 1pm-4pm

Another update from the safety side of things. Last week we completed our yearly external safety audit. Lang Consulting was here on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday visiting our schools and will be providing the safety team with a report that I will share with you at our November meeting.

 

Rationale: 

HR Update:

Full Time Substitute Teacher:  I am pleased to share that we have hired an additional full-time sub, Ashley Meuret.  This additional position was approved by the board several months ago and is desperately needed.  Because this is a temporary one-year agreement, rather than a teaching contract, it does not require formal board approval. However, I would like to thank you for taking this step to assist us with our current substitute shortage.  Mrs. Meuret will begin on October 19, 2020.

Substitute Teacher and Para Needs:  The district continues to need additional applicants for both teacher and paraprofessional substitute positions.  Partly due to increased advertising, a total of nine new paraprofessional substitute applications have come through HR in the last two weeks.  

Job Postings Update:
Certified Positions: 

• Secondary Math Teacher 
• Full-Time Substitute Teacher
• Substitute Teacher

Classified Openings: 

• High Needs Para - Senior High
• Achievement Center Para (Part-Time) - Senior High
• School Bus Activity Drivers 
• Classroom Para (Part-time)- Washington Elementary
• ELL Para (Part-time) - Washington Elementary
• Aftershock - Club Facilitators (Part-time)
• Aftershock - Partnership Specialist (Contracted/Part-time)
• Evening Elementary Custodians (Part-time)
• Substitute:  Paraprofessional, Health Tech, Secretary & Nurse
• Substitute Custodians

Coaching Opportunities:

• Assistant Theater (2nd Semester)
• ???????HS Head Boys Golf Coach

Rationale:  The committee met at 12:00 today.  The claims for the month of October and Activity claims for September were reviewed.  The committee was presented a draft audit from our auditors and had an opportunity to ask questions pertaining to the annual audit.  Other items that were discussed:

• Next steps for Lincoln and Grant facility projects
• Negotiations for 21-22
• Request by ODD Fellows

The next meeting will be November 9th at 12:00 noon. 

Rationale: 

The Policy Committee met electronically to review Board Policies 6000-6282 related to instruction and is recommending that the first reading of these policies is approved tonight, with the following revisions:

Policy 6110 (School Instructional Hours) has been revised to include the minimum hours of instruction for preschool, in addition to the minimum number of hours for elementary and secondary schools.

Policy 6113 (Limitations on Minimum Class Size) and Policy 6200 (Objectives of the Instructional Program) have been revised to improve their wording and grammar. No substantive changes were made.

6210 (Curriculum-Development and Adoption) has been revised so that its wording is consistent with current board committee titles -- Committee on Curriculum and Committee on American Civics.

Policy 6212 (Assessments-Academic Content Standards) has been revised to include the new adoption date for the State Social Studies Standards.

The committee also noted that Policy 8153 (Standing Committee on American Civics) did not receive a second and final reading.  It received first round approval on July 13, 2020, but was accidentally left off the list for approval on August 10, 2020.  The committee has not made any new changes to this policy; they are simply recommending that it receive its second and final approval tonight. 

Board Policies 5001 (Admission Requirements) and 1211 (Title IX- Procedure for Complaints of Sexual Harassment) are also ready for second and final approval. No changes have been made to these policies since their first reading last month.

Rationale: 

The Activities Committee met on October 5, 2020.

Mr. Ries praised the work of our coaches and sponsors to keep students safe and healthy.  He indicated that the NSAA is still in the process of finalizing protocols for district and state competitions. Fall activities are wrapping up with just a few events left, and Winter coaches and sponsors are beginning to work on safety protocols.  We are also working on tentative protocols for musical and theatre productions, including State One Act, as we are scheduled to host again this year. 

Mr. Viergutz indicated that fall Junior High Intramural sports went well, but they were not the same as interscholastic competition.  He would like to provide interscholastic competitions for winter activities and is working on protocols to allow this to happen.  He is also working on protocols for musical productions/performances. 

The next Activities Committee is scheduled for Monday, December 21, 2020 at noon at Central Office. Please note that this date has been changed from 12/14.

Rationale:  The Committee on Curriculum met today at 4:30 pm. Due to the short turn around time, the committee report will be provided at the November board meeting. 

Rationale:  The Committee on American Civics met today at 4:00 pm. Due to the short turn around time, the committee report will be provided at the November board meeting.

Rationale:  Minutes of the October 6, 2020 Nurses' Meeting are attached.

Rationale:  Minutes of the 9-14-2020 board meeting are attached.

Rationale:  None at this time.

Rationale:  None at this time.

Rationale:  Attached are the claims for the month of September, 2020.  These claims were reviewed earlier today by our Finance and Facility Committee.  There are no conflict statements for this month.

Rationale:  I would like to join Mrs. Baumann in thanking you for allowing us to hire an additional full-time teacher substitute.  Our substitute shortage continues to be one of the highest concerns listed by staff at Listening Sessions and at NCEA meetings. 

We have informally discussed the hiring of additional full-time substitutes, but have not made it an official Board action, which is what I am proposing now.  We have had unfilled teacher and para-educator positions nearly every day this year.  Hiring full-time substitutes could help alleviate that -- which would reduce the number of times that teachers are asked to give up their plan periods to sub, as well as, the number of times that other services (such as Title I) are canceled, and it would  provide a better educational experience for our students.

Rationale:  The first reading of Policy 8153 was approved at the July 10, 2020 meeting. There have been no changes made to this policy.

Rationale:  No changes have been made to these policies since their first reading last month. 

Rationale:  6000: General Policy Statement
6010: Scope of Instructional Program
6020: the Program of Instruction
6021: Copyright Piracy
6110: School Instructional Hours
6111: Classroom Environment
6112: School Day for Students
6113: Limitations on Minimum Class Size
6114: Emergencies
6115: Fire Drills, Emergency Plans
6116: Emergency Dismissal or Cancellation
6117: Ceremonies, Observances, and the Pledge of Allegiance
6118: Attendance Area boundary Line Review
6119: Attendance Districts
6120: Safe schools Policy
6200: Objectives of the Instructional Program
6210: Curriculum- Development and Adoption
6211: Curriculum - Assessments
6212- Assessments - Academic Content Standards
6213: Reading Instruction and Improvement
6220: Experimental/Innovative Program
6230: Curriculum guides
6240: Homework
6250: Grades
6260: Guidance
6270: Field Trips
6271: School Activity Trip Drivers
6280: Activities
6281: Activities Fund Management
6282: School Colors 

Rationale:  The 2nd monthly meeting of the Board of Education will be held at noon on Thursday, October 22, 2020. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss and approve our annual audit.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Monday, November 9, 2020. The Business Meeting will begin at 5:30. All components of the meeting will be held at the NPS Central Administration Offices and will be open to the public unless an Executive Session is needed in order to protect the interest of the district or the reputation of an individual.

 

Rationale: