February 12, 2013 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

Notice of the time and place of the Lincoln Board of Education meeting was e-mailed to an extensive list of local and regional news media.  A mailing list is maintained at the Lincoln Public Schools District Office.  A public notice was published in the LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR.

The Lincoln Board of Education is empowered to act on any item listed on the Agenda at any time during the meeting, irrespective of the time or order listed. Pages listed, or further detail, are available upon request. The Open Meetings Act requires and the intention of the Board is that agenda items be sufficiently descriptive to give the public reasonable notice of the matters to be considered at the meeting. The Lincoln Board of Education releases its agenda well in advance of most meetings and desires that all interested persons are fully informed. Any interested person who has a question or needs clarification about the sufficiency of a descriptive item should contact the Office of the Superintendent of Schools.

Rationale:  The attached minutes are intended to accurately reflect the action of the Board at its previous meetings.

Explanation
The minutes have been prepared for Board approval.

Rationale: 

Trisha Lind, a social studies teacher at Irving Middle School, has been named the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) State Citizen Education Teacher of the year.

Explanation
Trisha Lind is being honored as the VFW State Citizen Education Teacher of the Year by the Nebraska Veterans of Foreign Wars.  Lind has been a teacher at Irving for seven years.

In her time at Irving, she has developed the school’s annual Veterans’ Assembly and has made the event and its impact a part of the school culture.

Lind’s strategy of engagement comes from her own experiences as a student. As a sophomore, Lind attended the Freedom Foundation Valley Forge Conference in Pennsylvania and then visited Washington, D.C., to explore the city.  In light of those early experiences, she says the Veterans’ Assembly and other community-centric opportunities help the students build and strengthen relationships, which is a key part of her teaching style.

• “My teaching revolves around my students and their needs as individuals. Building relationships is my top priority.”

Irving Principal Hugh McDermott said Lind’s teaching strategy works well for engaging students in their class work.

• “Ms. Lind has taken the initiative to extend thinking and writing skills of her students.  She encourages students and is successful in getting them excited and interested in writing essays for several American History contests.”

Discussions in her classroom include current affairs and their impact on students and their families.  As a result, she says she has witnessed her students reach a better understanding of social studies issues, particularly when the story affects access to education for teens around the world.

• “I have observed my students embrace these stories with empathy for those around them and it has allowed them to see things from a global perspective. They are gaining an understanding for how lucky they are to have the freedoms and rights they have living in America.”

Proposal
That the Lincoln Board of Education adopt the following resolution:

WHEREAS, Trisha Lind has been named Teacher of the Year by the Nebraska Veterans of Foreign Wars, and

WHEREAS, Lind works with young people to develop a global understanding of issues that impact students, their families, and their community, and

WHEREAS, Lind has developed a Veterans’ Assembly at Irving Middle School that has impacted both students and veterans as they share their experiences in an educational setting, and

WHEREAS, Lind reflects on her own engagement as a secondary student and strives to similarly engage her students in her social studies classroom.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Lincoln Board of Education does hereby congratulate Trisha Lind as the VFW State Citizen Education Teacher of the Year.

Rationale:  In keeping with Policy 8420, a time limit of five minutes will be allotted for any speaker. At the discretion of the Chair, the speaker may be allotted additional time.

Rationale: 

Rationale: 

Rationale:  Explanation
At each meeting, the Board of Education is asked to approve certain items of routine business of the school district.The items included in routine business for this meeting are:

a.    REGULAR CLAIMS – Claims for the periods ending February 12, 2013, were previously provided.

       Federal Tax ACH Deposit of $4,864,553.48.

       State Income Tax ACH Deposit of $4.84.

       State Diesel Tax ACH Deposit of $15,034.00.

       Procurement Card ACH Transfer of $61,309.11.

       Office Depot ACH Transfer of $12,462.23.

       Vendor ACH Transfer of $30,641.81.

b.    PAYROLL FOR RATIFICATION – Payroll for the periods ending February 5, 2013, in the amount of $12,748,424.52.

c.    GIFTS – Approval for the gifts listed on the attached gift report.

d.    BIDS/CONTRACTS/OTHER ROUTINE BUSINESS – Bids/contracts/other routine business will be presented for approval for five replacement cargo vans; office furniture installation for new district office building; workstation components for new district office building; an agreement with 1 to 1 Tutoring, LLC for supplemental education services; an agreement with Munroe-Meyer Institute (University of Nebraska Medical Center) for providing special education services; and any other bids/contracts/routine business as presented.

Proposal
That the Lincoln Board of Education approve the following items of routine business:*

a.    The regular claims for periods ending February 12, 2013.

b.    Payroll for the periods ending February 5, 2013.

c.    Gifts for Belmont, Culler, Kahoa, Kloefkorn, Lincoln High, Mickle, Northeast, Pound, Sheridan, and the district.

d.    Bids/contracts/other routine business for five replacement cargo vans; office furniture installation for new district office building; workstation components for new district office building; an agreement with 1 to 1 Tutoring, LLC for supplemental education services; an agreement with Munroe-Meyer Institute (University of Nebraska Medical Center) for providing special education services; and any other bids/contracts/routine business as presented.

*That the Board is approving routine business and the listed bids and contracts with the information and in the form as presented, and except as to amount bid or total contract price, in such other form as may be approved by the Associate Superintendent for Business Affairs, or his designee, and that the Board hereby authorizes the Associate Superintendent for Business Affairs, or his designee, to sign, execute, and deliver necessary documents or contracts, and to take or cause to be taken any and all other action as may be necessary to complete the transaction as contemplated, for and on behalf of this school district.

Rationale:  On January 24, 2012, the Board adopted a resolution to accept option students for the 2012-13 school year.  Applications have been received from students requesting that they be accepted as option students for the 2012-13 school year.  Staff recommends that the students referred to in this agenda item be accepted for enrollment as they are in compliance with the Board resolution of January 24, 2012.

Explanation
Staff has examined the application of the student included in this proposal.  The student meets the criteria (currently attending) set forth by the Board in its resolution of January 24, 2012.  Staff recommends approval of this application.

Proposal
That the Board adopt the following resolution:

WHEREAS the student who has been assigned student number 202444 (for purposes of confidentiality, an assigned number is being used) meets one of the criteria (currently attending) of the Board resolution of January 24, 2012, with regard to such option students;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the aforementioned student be accepted as an option student on the condition and with the express understanding that all programs, all classes and all buildings of assignment, except as otherwise required by law, shall at all times and from time to time during attendance at Lincoln Public Schools be determined solely by Lincoln Public Schools.

Rationale:  March 15, 2012,  was the deadline for enrollment option applications to be completed for students wishing to attend school in a district other than the one in which they reside for the 2012-13 school year.  The Lincoln Public Schools Board of Education has authority to waive the deadline for late enrollment option requests (NDE Rule 7, Section 004.05).

Explanation
Requests from students who reside in the Lincoln Public Schools District and wish to attend school outside of the Lincoln Public Schools District have been received after the March 15, 2012, deadline.  The Lincoln Public Schools Board of Education may deny or approve these requests.  If these requests are approved by the Board of Education, they will be forwarded to the option school district for their approval.

                              Student Number                                  Option District

Proposal
That the Board approve these requests for option out for the 2012-13 school year. 

Rationale:  *The Lincoln Board of Education is empowered to act on any item listed on the Agenda at any time during the meeting, irrespective of the time or order listed. Pages listed, or further detail, are available upon request. The Open Meetings Act requires and the intention of the Board is that agenda items be sufficiently descriptive to give the public reasonable notice of the matters to be considered at the meeting. The Lincoln Board of Education  Board releases its agenda well in advance of most meetings and desires that all interested persons are fully informed. Any interested person who has a question or needs clarification about the sufficiency of a descriptive item should contact the Office of the Superintendent of Schools.

Rationale:  The Board of Education assigns school attendance areas to property newly annexed to the City of Lincoln or newly platted.  This action establishes school attendance areas prior to the sale of residential lots, allowing purchasers to know what schools their children will attend.

Explanation
The City of Lincoln recently annexed one parcel of land, which automatically brings this property into the Lincoln Public Schools District.  This property needs to be assigned attendance centers so that potential purchasers of homes in this area will know which schools they will be attending.

92nd and Havelock, Annexation #19813, for 2012-13 school year:  Norwood Park Elementary School, Dawes Middle School, and Northeast High School

Proposal
That the Board discuss the proposed attendance area assignments of the newly annexed property.

Rationale:  Nebraska students may attend a school other than the one in the district in which they reside under the option enrollment statutes.

Explanation
The attached resolution would admit as option students any K-12 student who meets the statutory and legal conditions and whose application is received by August 9, 2013. 

The resolution specifies the circumstances under which late-filed applications would be accepted.

Proposal
That the Board discuss the proposed option resolution for the 2013-14 school year.

Rationale:  The Nebraska Department of Education is again offering funds to Early Childhood Programs in local communities. The Early Childhood Education Grant Program is intended to support the development of children in the birth-to-kindergarten-age range through the provision of comprehensive center-based programs. In most cases, the projects expand and/or combine existing pre-kindergarten programs funded through district, federal, or parent fees. Each project receives funding for up to one-half of the total operating budget of the project per year on a continuing basis, subject to availability of the funds. A public school or an educational service unit is the fiscal agent. Funded projects are required to operate in compliance with NDE Rule 11 Regulations for Early Childhood Education Grant Program. Rule 11 reflects research-based elements of quality early childhood education programs intended to produce strong outcomes for children.

Explanation
Lincoln Public Schools will provide high quality services to 54 children, and the Educare of Lincoln partnership will serve 50 additional children in six part-day, center-based programs. This program will ensure that the child enters a formal school setting with the same learning advantages as other children. Early childhood staff and partners will seek opportunities to promote the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and language development of very young children and their families during these crucial early years.

These funds will serve children ages three and four years who qualify for participation in an inclusive environment. These services will be provided through a part-day (4 hours) center-based program or a full-day program at Educare of Lincoln. The staff will continue to serve families in the same high-quality approach as is currently provided in the school centers. The part-day staff will be Lincoln Public Schools employees, and the full-day Educare staff will be Educare employees as per signed agreements. 

The program is based on research and best practices in the field of early childhood and family systems. By embracing the child and family in a secure, nurturing, and culturally-appropriate environment, the child’s growth and development will flourish. Research demonstrates that the best approach to serve the families of these young children is through quality preschool services to assist with transitions to kindergarten. The program would emphasize the core elements of family through home visitation with an emphasis on family literacy that supports education as a core family value.

Proposal
That the Board discuss submission of this Early Childhood Expansion grant application for six additional part-day classes in the amount of $300,000 with a 100 percent match on basic grant only. The match will be provided through various grant funds and community partners. An additional amount ($50,000) of these funds will be used for start-up costs (no match required for start-up costs) dependent upon final funding.

The grant application is due to the Nebraska Department of Education March 1, 2013.

Rationale:  Graduation, dropout, and still attending rates are computed each year for the graduating class in Lincoln Public Schools.  Dropout rates are also computed for the total high school enrollment for each school year.  All information is disaggregated by race and by gender.

This information is used to monitor trends within the district and as an indicator of what is happening in students’ lives, both in the schools and in the larger community.  The information is also used in grant submissions by the district and by several community agencies.

Explanation
The first table of longitudinal information about the class of 2012 shows the status four years later of the 2,517 students who entered Lincoln Public Schools as 9^th graders in 2008:  graduation (84.7 percent), dropout (8.3 percent), or still enrolled in LPS as fifth-year seniors (6.9 percent).  The data indicates a decrease in the dropout rate, as compared to the data from 2010.  The graduation rate for the class of 2012 is the highest since 1987, the year the district began calculating graduation and dropout data in this manner, and the dropout rate is the lowest in that same time period. 

The second table reports the annual dropout rate for all high school students enrolled at any time during a single year in LPS.  For the 2011-2012 school year, the annual dropout rate was 2.8 percent. 

Information including trend data for total and disaggregated groups will be presented by LPS staff at the Board meeting.

Proposal
This is an information item; no Board action is requested.

Rationale: 

February 13, 12:00 p.m., Face the Chamber, Lincoln Country Club

February 18, No Elementary School

February 20, 9:30 a.m., GNSA Meeting, NCSA Office

February 12, 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., Board Meeting

 

Rationale:  In keeping with Policy 8420, a time limit of five minutes will be allotted for any speaker. At the discretion of the Chair, the speaker may be allotted additional time.

Rationale:  The Lincoln Board of Education is authorized by state statute to hold closed sessions.  Closed sessions may be held when clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest or for the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual.  Reasons that meet this standard include but are not limited to:  (a) strategy sessions with respect to collective bargaining, real estate matters, pending litigation, or litigation which is imminent as evidenced by communication of a claim or threat of litigation to or by the public body; (b) discussion regarding deployment of security personnel or devices; (c) investigative proceedings regarding allegations of criminal misconduct; (d) evaluation of the job performance of a person when necessary to prevent needless injury to the reputation of a person and if such person has not requested a public meeting; and (e) legal advice.