March 14, 2016 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale:  The president or ranking officer calls the meeting to order

Rationale:  The recording secretary calls the roll

Rationale: 

1. The Board of Education reserves the right to enter into Closed/Executive Session for 1) the protection of the public interest or 2) the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual, and the individual has not requested a public meeting. When making a motion to enter into Closed/Executive Session, the member making such a request should be as specific as possible keeping the previously listed stipulation in consideration.
2. If the Board is in agreement, a motion may be to enter into Closed/Executive Session to 1) discuss a personnel matter or 2) for the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of the individual, or 3) to discuss litigation and for the protection of the public interest.
3. Action Concerning Matters Discussed in Executive Session will be taken during open session.

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Unexcused absences from 3 consecutive meetings automatically removes a person from the board. The board generally excuses members absent for good reason who call to let the president of the board or the superintendent of schools know they will be absent and the circumstances surrounding that absence.

 

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During this item, the board president or superintendent may share information regarding the accomplishments of our school district, its students and/or staff during this item. Students and/or staff may present on special topics during this agenda item.

 

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This item is to allow members of the public to address the board regarding matters. The time on this topic is limited to 30 minutes total and a maximum of 5 minutes per speaker. Speakers may only address the board once.

 

Rationale:  The board makes use of a consent agenda to streamline the meeting and avoid unnecessary extension of the meeting on items regarding simple and routine matters which may come before the board.

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To verify that notice of the meeting was given by publication in the Benkelman Post, a legal newspaper for Dundy County Stratton and by written notice to each member of the board, the designated method of giving notice.

 

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Adopt the agenda of this meeting. The Board reserves the right to change the order of items within the agenda.

 

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Attached is the proposed 2016-2017 Calendar. It is very similar to last year. We have 180 student days and 186 total contract days for staff. 

 

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Statutorily this is not required until later, but everyone seems to be happy with taking this action after we have completed the current (2016-2017) round of negotiations. The board has received the formal request for recognition from the DCSEA and the recognition should be approved.

 

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As with the fall coaches the board needs to decide whether to retain the coaches in wrestling, girls basketball and boys basketball. Mr. Fette has discussed renewal with the activities committee. 

 

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Discuss, consider and take all necessary action regarding:

 

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Approve minutes of previous meeting(s) on Feb. 8, 2016.

 

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Presentation of the financial status of the district, balances in the various funds, recent/impending activity therein, anticipated expenses and planning for future considerations.

 

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We discussed the purhase of a mower last month. The Transportation/Facilities committee has reviewed the options  and has a recommendation.

 

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Rationale:  Lana Wiese has submitted her resignation and retirement letter to Mr. Rotherham. Lana has worked for the district in a variety of capacities over the course of many years. We wish her well on her retirement. We are discussing replacement, timeline and training.

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Action should be taken to accept the resignation of Bill Polson

 

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Action should be taken to accept the resignation of Taylor Lutz.

 

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We have at least one teacher contract offer for the board to approve.

 

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We would like to recommend that the contract offer for the 2016-2017 school year to Matthew Thomas be approved.

 

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We would like to recommend that the contract offer for the 2016-2017 school year to _____be approved.

 

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We would like to recommend that the contract offer for the 2016-2017 school year to _______ be approved.

 

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We would like to recommend that the contract offer for the 2016-2017 school year to ______be approved.

 

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Attached you will find a copy of our current teacher contract document. In the bottom left corner it indicates that it was recommended by State Department of Education 11/9/82. It is time to  update. 

You will also find two versions of teacher contracts suggested by legal counsel, in this case KSB. The first is similar to the one we use but with some statutorily updated items. The second is more aggressive. The board and teachers need to agree if we are to change. Mrs. Hinojosa has both copies and hopefully they will agree to at least the first one. 

We can leave it alone, statute will always take precedence anyway, we can try to change to a more current version. Maybe we con't have time to change right now. Maybe it needs to be part of negotiations. But it is something we need to work on. 

Rationale: 

By statute these renew automatically every year unless action is take by the board otherwise. It is on the agenda for you to know that it is happening. The administration does not, at this time, have any staff that are not being recommended for renewal. Any action taken by the board on this matter can create legal issues for the board at a later and more important time. The board should only take action on the initial contract approval of a new teacher and any administratively recommended non-renewal of a teachers contract. 

 

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We have been approached about selling the lots south across the street from the school in Stratton. The board should discuss this topic. Do we want to sell? How do you want to handle the sale? As a public entity we must advertise and accept bids in some fashion.

 

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I would like to recommend the following as major summer projects, in addition to the usual painting, floor finishing, cleaning, etc. 

1. Repair the plumbing at Stratton Elementary. This will include installing tankless water heaters in the building.

2. Replace the fascia around Benkelman Elementary. We plan to replace it with an engineered wood plank. 

3. Replace the high school commons floor. The plan would be to remove the existing tile and either polish and stain the concrete or use an epoxy finish.

4. Replace the single pane windows and exhaust fans at the high school. More efficient windows with shades and larger fans with variable speed

The order they are listed is the priority I think they should be done in and if we run out of time or it gets to be more money than we want to spend we will stop. I am thinking about $30,000 total for these projects.

 

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I  would recommend four goals to the board. 

1. The District will continue to re-build the cash balance so that at a minumum we always have 3 months operating expenses in the MMSA
2. The District will continue to build the balances in the special building fund, Qualified Capital Purpose Undertaking Fund (QCPUF) and the Depreciation Fund to guard against future building, infrastructure and repair needs.
3. The District will continue the addition of technology with the goal of having a device for every student K-12.
4. The District will implement programs and curriculum with the goal of improving NeSA test scores in Reading and Writing K-12

 

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Reports are for the dissemination of information to the board and are written in nature. Any questions should be directed to the individual making the report prior to or after the meeting. 

 

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Needs to schedule a meeting to begin looking at 2016-2017 budget numbers.

 

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This committee will meet prior to the board meeting to discuss mower proposals and bids.

 

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nothing to report

 

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nothing to report

 

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Nothing to report