January 13, 2025 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

1. Call to Order
The Superintendent shall preside over the meeting until the new President is elected. 

1.1. Roll Call

1.2. Recognition of Open Meeting Law

1.3. Pledge of Allegiance

2. Oath of office for most recently elected board members

3. Election of Officers

The motions for the officer elections should read: Move that ___________ be elected as ___________ (name of office) to serve a term of one year, or until the person’s successor is elected and qualified.

3.1. Nominations and election of the President 

3.1.1. Newly elected President chairs the meeting.

3.2. Nominations and election of the Vice President

3.3. Nominations and election of the Secretary

3.4. Annual appointment of the Ex officio Recording Secretary and Treasurer
 

3.4.1. By job description, the Business Manager is the Treasurer and Recording Secretary of the minutes of all meetings for the Board of Education. This position should be reappointed each year when the board recognizes and elects officers. 

The motions for the Ex officio appointment should read: Move that the Business Manager be elected as the Treasurer and Recording Secretary to serve a term of one year, or until the position's successor is appointed.
 

4. Appointment of committees

Per school policy, the President is responsible for establishing committees and appointing members.

5. Approve the District newspaper

The McCook Gazette is used to advertise board meetings to patrons.

6. Board members are provided with State Statutes Regarding Conflict of Interests

See attached PDF

7. Reports, Communications & Public Participation

7.1. Board accepts public comments

7.2. Student board member report

8. Approve the consent agenda which includes the minutes and financials

8.1. Approve minutes from the special board meeting

8.2. Approval of Expenditures/Payroll for December 2024

9. Reports from Staff Members and Committees

10. Administrator's written reports: Please review prior to the board meeting

10.1. Board Comments

11. Superintendent's report/comments

External Team Visit:

• An external team visit in Nebraska focuses on reviewing a school or district’s school improvement process. This process ensures that the school is actively working to improve education for all students by setting goals, implementing strategies, and measuring progress.
• The purpose of the visit is to:
  • Review the Improvement Process: The team examines how the school identifies its goals, plans improvements, and tracks progress to ensure there is a clear and effective process in place.
  • Observe Practices: Team members visit classrooms, observe teaching and learning, and look at how the school functions to see the improvement process in action.
  • Provide Feedback: After the visit, the team shares observations, celebrates the school’s strengths, and offers recommendations to help refine and enhance the school’s improvement efforts.
• This visit is a collaborative effort, not an evaluation of whether the school is meeting specific accreditation standards. Instead, it ensures the school is focused on continuous improvement and making meaningful progress toward better outcomes for students.
• If you are available, we would like board members to be present at our welcome presentation. This presentation will start at 6:00 p.m. and will be held in the Jr. High cafeteria. During the presentation, we will need a board member or two to talk about MPS's school improvement process. 
  • As you are aware, I give a school improvement update most months during the school year. 

School Improvement Review:

• The district's school improvement goal is to directly and significantly impact student learning through the implementation of a comprehensive instructional program approach focused on high-quality teacher training, collaboration, curriculum development, assessment development, and multi-tiered student learning support structures. 
• The Comprehensive Instructional Program (CIP) is a structured approach designed to improve student achievement for all students. It focuses on five key components:
  • Teacher Collaboration: Educators work together to share ideas, strategies, and best practices. Schools where teachers collaborate with and learn from each other are often referred to as a professional learning community (PLC).
  • Professional Development: Teachers participate in ongoing training to enhance their skills and knowledge. 
  • Assessment Development: Schools create and use assessments to measure student learning and guide instruction. The district has invested heavily in developing its own criterion-referenced tests (CRT) to ensure assessments align with local goals.
  • Curriculum Development: A clear, consistent curriculum is designed to meet students’ needs and state standards. The district has worked hard to identify foundational curriculum goals, called essential learning objectives, which are critical learning objectives all students are expected to master.
  • Interventions (MTSS): Support is provided through a multi-tiered system to address the academic and behavioral needs of all students. Locally, this system is known as Pyramidal Response to Intervention (PRtI).
• This approach ensures that every student has the opportunity to succeed by fostering continuous improvement in teaching and learning.

January 20th Teacher In-service

• On January 20, teachers from across the district will be engaged in a professional development training session facilitated by the renowned educational researcher Rick Stiggins. 
• Rick Stiggins' most recent book, "Give Our Students the Gift of Confidence", emphasizes the importance of fostering student confidence as a foundation for learning and academic success. The book explores how traditional assessment practices often undermine students' self-belief and offers strategies for using assessment to empower and motivate students. It advocates for a shift from using assessment solely for grading to focusing on building a supportive learning environment where students see themselves as capable learners.

Potential Teacher Certification Changes

• NDE along with state legislators, have been working to open up new avenues for individuals to become certified to teach in the state of Nebraska. Below I have listed the changes that are likely to be implemented in the near future. 
• Future Certification Pathways (Proposed Changes):
• Proposed replacement for the current pathways:
  • Requirements:
    • Bachelor’s degree.
    • Teaching job.
    • Enrollment in a program of study.
• Grow Your Own Program:
  • Allows schools to hire:
    • Paraprofessionals who are working toward certification.
    • Undergraduate teachers as paraprofessionals during their student-teaching phase.
  • May result in student teachers transitioning to schools that hire them.
• PRAXIS Content Test Changes (Pending Approval):
  • Elimination of the content test for candidates completing approved programs.
  • Micro-credentials

12. Director of Business services report

13. New Business

13.1. Accept Resignations

13.2. Approve contract for Rachel Rydgren - Life Skills room 2025/2026 school year.

13.3. Approve contract for Cherie Wallace - JH Special Education teacher for the 2nd Semester 2024-2025 school year only.

13.4. Approve contract for Meagan Paul - 4-12 SLP for 2025/2026 school year

13.5. Accept Grant funds from The Graff Charitable Foundation in the amount of $1,500 for the NORE group.

14. Positive Comments

15. Adjournment

16. Items for Review