April 11, 2016 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Discussion:  Notice of this meeting was posted at the Jeffrey Elementary School, Osceola Middle School/High School, Pinnacle Bank of Osceola, and the Osceola Post Office. A copy of the agenda items is tentative and may be changed by the Board if necessary.

Discussion:  President Schleif called the regular meeting to order at 6:00PM and informed those in attendance that a current copy of the Open Meetings Act is posted in the meeting room, then directed the public to its location.

Discussion:  Also present were Superintendent Steven Rinehart, MS/HS Principal Dale Maynard, Elementary Principal Brett Webster and Mrs. Jodie Roberts.

Discussion:  No board members were absent.

Discussion:  Mrs. Jodie Roberts was in attendance and Board President Tom Schleif presented her a token of the Board's gratitude for her 11 years of service on the Board of Education.

Discussion:  Principal/Activities Director Brett Webster gave his oral and written report about the progress of NeSA and MAPS testing, and the results of Jump Rope for Heart which resulted in Mr. Nielsen and Principal Webster kissing a pig! There will be no school at the Elementary on Friday, April 15th, due to an English Language Arts work day. Teachers will be traveling to Seward, Crete, and Cross County to investigate different reading series. The "Hit The Books" event for reading goals was achieved by 88% of the Elementary. There are some changes to "Kindergarten Roundup" with Pre-School registration and a Kindergarten Parent Meeting held the night of April 21st. The actual Kindergarten day for preschool kids will be on April 22nd. The Elementary Track and Field Day is set for Monday, May 16th, at 1:00PM. In Activities: Golf and Track seasons are going well. Next year, the OHS Track Invite will be scheduled on a Saturday. Conference Track will be here on April 30th - a big thank you to the large number of volunteers set to help at the meet. The Speech Team placed 4th at State, and Cy Cannon was a 2-time defending state champion in Informative and Persuasive Speaking! Mr. Webster presented the Eagle Eye Pro Timing System and HyTec software for track.

Discussion:  Principal Dale Maynard gave his written and oral report about State FFA and State FBLA being held last week. NHS's induction was today, Monday, April 11th. NeSA testing is taking place. The Autism Conference (ASD) in Omaha was attended by Kim Green, RaNae Turek, Dale Maynard and Donavon Jones. Donovan gave a presentation at the conference and did a wonderful job! The Region V Youth Action Board is sponsoring students to go to the Red and White Game. There has been a request for early graduation from a student. A foreign exchange student is expected next school year. The handbooks will be online starting next month. Also with the new hire in place, there is a possibility of MS Spanish for next year's schedule.

Discussion:  Superintendent Steve Rinehart gave his oral and written report about the resignation of Craig Ford at the end of 2015-16 school year, and the hiring of Jenna Christensen as the new school counselor for the 2016-2017 school year upon releasing Lisa Boucher from her counseling contract for the 2016-2017 school year. The optional student insurance will be through Pinnacle Agency, and the school's catastrophic insurance will be through Zurich Insurance. Superintendent Rinehart also discussed the classified staff salary increases for the 2016-2017 school year; the hiring of summertime custodial help as needed; extra duty assignments; the World Strides trip; adding new padding in the gym; the passage of LB 959 and other legislation; and upholding NSAA's decision on transgender participation. A law seminar for the Board is scheduled June 9th and 10th in Kearney.

Discussion:  There were no Board Reports

Discussion:  The treasurer's report was not completed prior to the meeting due to complications.

Discussion:  The Treasurer's report was not completed due to complications.

Discussion:  Ms. Christensen has a daughter who will be a junior at Osceola next year. They will be looking for housing here in Osceola. Welcome to Osceola Public Schools and the Osceola community!

Discussion:  Not all extra-duty assignments are known at this time due t retirements, but the extra-duty assignments known for the 2016-2017 school year were presented and discussed.

Discussion:  The timing of the World Strides trip for the 2016-2017 school year was discussed. The Administration will discourage trips that conflict with events that Osceola hosts.