September 12, 2025 at 9:30 AM - ESUCC Regular Board Meeting

Discussion:  The ESUCC Board Meeting was called to order at 9:30am.

Discussion:  No visitors present.

Discussion:  No public comment provided.

Discussion:  ESUCC CLO Andrew Easton presented the project profile for Behavior Intervention Training and Teacher Support Act (BITS) by going through the attached ESUCC Sept Board Meeting Project Profile BITS document. The Behavior Intervention Training and Teacher Support Act flier can be accessed by going to bit.ly/ESUCCBIT. BITS 101 Training was released in 2024 and the training focuses on an awareness level understanding of key concepts. The BITS 102 Training was released in 2025 and the training focuses on practical high-impact strategies. The BITS 101 and the BITS 102 training can be accessed by going to https://canvas.education.ne.gov/. The Behavior Intervention Reporting Tool (BIRT) is housed at birt.esucc.org. 

Discussion:  Gerald Kuhn, Learning Community, joined the meeting via Zoom. The Learning Community just finished with their audit. The audit started in March 2025 and just finished at the end of August 2025. The Learning Community will approve the fiscal year 26 budget on September 18, 2025. The Learning Community is working with their lobbyist to get a legislative strategy started, and they are working on building relationships with Senators in the area. The Learning Community reapproved the partnership with the D2 Center. Omaha Public Schools (OPS) has 1,100 students that do not graduate and the D2 Center contacts those kids to reengage with them and encourages them to go back to school. The Learning Community is working with the Buffet Early Childhood Institute. The Learning Community has been awarded the Milagro Award through OneWorld. The Learning Community has been partnered with OneWorld for 12 years and this is the first time they have won the award. Mr. Kuhn let the board know if they were ever in Omaha and would like to tour the facilities or have lunch, reach out to him.

Discussion:  Dr. Kevin Wingard, NCSA, attended to provide an update to the board. Dr. Wingard appreciates the communication from the ESUs and being included in the meetings. Abbey Beardsley, NCSA Event Manager, has been sending out communication on upcoming events. Dr. Wingard encourages ESUs to reach out for support from NCSA if necessary. Dr. Wingard would like to say thank you to Dr. Dan Schnoes, ESU 3 Administrator, for being involved in the NCSA Executive Committee.

Discussion:  Dr. Shirley Vargas, NDE, joined the meeting via Zoom. NDE is working with the Learning Community on the Community Achievement Plan. Dr. Vargas reviewed the linked NDE Updates 2025-26 document.

Discussion:  Dr. Schnoes, ESU 3 Administrator, provided the AESA Update to the board. Dr. Schnoes thanked all involved for keeping Nebraska in the spotlight in a positive manner. The AESA Washington, D.C. Advocacy conference is next week. Dr. Polk, Dr. Schnoes, Dr. Barrett, and Dr. Blum ESU 3 will be attending the Nebraska Breakfast and the conference. The Nebraska Breakfast is the longest running breakfast for any state in the nation. ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk will be on the panel for the pre-conference. The Central Region Symposium is scheduled for October 7–9. Dr. Polk, Dr. Schnoes, Dr. Heimann, and Mrs. Ostmeyer will be attending the symposium. The AESA National Conference will be held in Colorado Springs, CO. AESA is working on a publication. ESU 3 will be writing a chapter for the book. AESA is looking for 25 chapters from ESAs across the nation. AESA purchased a program, which is called AESA Global.

Discussion:  Terry Chvatal and Emir Plicanic provided an in-person presentation that showed how Vosaic streamlines video-based professional coaching. Vosaic is all web-based. Single sign-on can be set up. You only pay for the number of licenses for the people who need to upload videos and the licenses can be transferable. ESUCC CLO Andrew Easton recorded a podcast episode regarding Vosaic. 

Discussion:  ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk reviewed the attached ESUCC 2025-2026 Budget - Summary for Board.

Discussion:  ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk reviewed the attached CEO Report to Board September 2025, focusing on the items labeled FULL BOARD.

TeamMates READ grant: Collecting from ESUs all literacy types of training, lists of training, dates, times, and they will be opened up to the mentors and chapter leads. The mentors and chapter leads are there to learn the context and language.  Create a tool kit for the same audiences, mentors and chapter leads. The toolkit may contain items such as bookmarks, coloring sheets, etc. made available in digital format and/or print. Create a video library, housed in Canvas or YouTube, curated by grant personnel. Curation and creation needs to be done by the end of the grant year.

LB 599 Cybersecurity Bill: Taken feedback from NATA, NOC, Senator, and Dr. McCarville, and created another version of the bill. 
 

Discussion:  No report.

Discussion:  No report.

Discussion:  No report.

Discussion:  ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk provided the SMART update. Nathan McClenahan and Dr. Polk has the responsibility of setting up the SMART Admin meetings and SMART Advisory meetings.

Discussion:  ESUCC CIO Scott Isaacson provided a brief overview of the attached Tech Division Report 2025-09. CIO Isaacson will be the Coordinator of Cybersecurity. There will be another person starting with the Technology Team. Hoping to have this position filled and the person to start on November 3, 2025. The ESUs will not be charged for this position.

ESUCC CLO Andrew Easton provided a brief overview of the attached Teaching & Learning ESUCC Info Services Committee Report-9.2.2025. Accessibility for the website is due by the end of April 2026 for towns with 50,000 or more people. CLO Easton is working toward a statewide affiliate directory. CLO Easton will send a clarifying question to Justin Knight about accessibility dates for the ESUs. Commonsense Media has a website checker, which is a good start. CLO Easton will develop accessibility best practices to roll out, starting with websites and PDFs.

Discussion:  Education Committee Co-Chair Dr. Barrett provided the update to the Board. ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk will email the Administrators to see if there is any interest in Early Childhood LETRS. For the LETRS Facilitators, when the ESUCC sponsors their license, the trainer can train statewide. In these situations, the cost of the license will be recovered in the registration fees.

More than 50% of those using Project Para for training are out of state.

Discussion:  Legal Committee Co-Chair Dr. Wheelock introduced Jenny Ciancio, Coop Purchasing Project Assistant, to the Board.

Discussion:  ESUCC Board President Dr. Heimann provided a brief update on the changes to the CEO Evaluation Document. The changes to the CEO Evaluation were more focused around verbiage.

ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk notified the Board that the Legislative Priorities document would be kept up to date during the legislative session. 

Discussion:  ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk reviewed the attached Budget Summary August 2025.

Discussion:  Mr. Poppert, ESU 11 Administrator, will not be able to attend the December NDE Board Meeting. Executive Secretary, Mindy Reed, will send out the sign-up sheet asking for one of the administrators to attend in December. 

Dr. Barrett, ESU 13 Administrator, notified the Board that per diem overages will not be paid for the Title 1C grant reimbursements. 

Discussion:  The Board Meeting adjourned at 1:06pm. 

Minutes respectfully submitted by ESUCC Executive Secretary, Mindy Reed.