January 15, 2025 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting
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1. Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
Discussion:
Superintendent Hanson called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM and the Pledge of Allegiance was said.
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2. Nebraska Open Meetings Law
Discussion:
The audience was reminded that the Nebraska Open Meetings Law would be followed.
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3. Motion to Excuse Board Member's Absence
Discussion:
All members were present.
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4. District Mission Statement
The Raymond Central community is committed to providing a positive, challenging learning environment which prepares each individual to be a responsible citizen in an ever-changing society. |
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5. Annual Organizational Meeting
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5.1. Swear in New Board Member
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Discussion:
Jason Wiig recited the Oath of Office and was sworn in as a new Board member.
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5.2. Election of Officers
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5.2.1. Elect President
Discussion:
Superintendent Hanson called for nominations for President of the Board. Motion by Matulka, second by Heyen that Cathy Burklund be elected as Board President to serve a term of one year, or until the person’s successor is elected and qualified. RCV 5-0, Burklund abstained. Motion carried.
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5.2.2. Elect Vice President
Discussion:
President Burklund assumed chairmanship. Motion by Burklund, second by Matulka that Larry Heyen be elected as Board Vice President. RCV 5-0, Heyen abstained. Motion carried.
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5.2.3. Elect Secretary
Discussion:
Motion by Burklund, second by Matulka that Bill Lange be elected as Board Secretary. RCV 5-0, Lange abstained. Motion carried.
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5.2.4. Elect Treasurer
Discussion:
Motion by Lange, second by Burklund that Mary Benes be elected as Board Treasurer. RCV 5-0, Benes abstained. Motion carried.
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5.2.5. Review Board Policy 8272 Code of Ethics
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Discussion:
The Board reviewed Policy 8272 Code of Ethics.
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5.3. Approval of Committees, Positions, and Designations
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5.3.1. Discuss, Consider and Take Action to approve Perry Law Firm and KSB Law Firm as the primary legal counsel
Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Benes to approve Perry Law Firm and KSB Law Firm as the primary legal counsel. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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5.3.2. Discuss, Consider President's appointment to board committee and representative positions
Discussion:
Motion by Heyen, second by Matulka to appoint 2025 Board Committees as follows: Curriculum & American Civics: Cathy Burklund-Chair, Bill Lange, Derek Matulka; Facilities & Transportation: Derek Matulka-Chair, Cathy Burklund, Bill Lange; Finance Committee: Cathy Burklund-Chair, Larry Heyen, Bill Lange; Negotiations Committee: Mary Benes-Chair, Larry Heyen, Derek Matulka; Policy Committee: Mary Benes-Chair, Larry Heyen, Jason Wiig. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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5.3.3. Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary Action to select Jones Bank, Ceresco Bank and First Northeast Bank of Nebraska as depositories of record
Discussion:
Motion by Benes, second by Heyen to select Jones Bank, Ceresco Bank and First Northeast Bank of Nebraska as depositories of record. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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5.3.4. Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary action to select the Wahoo Newspaper, Lincoln Journal Star, or other newspapers of general circulation in the event of the need to publish a notice on short notice, as District Newspapers of record
Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Heyen to select the Lincoln Journal Star, Wahoo Newspaper, or other newspapers of general circulation in the event of the need to publish a notice on short notice, as District Newspapers of record. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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5.3.5. Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary Action to appoint Superintendent as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and all federal programs representative
Discussion:
Motion by Lange, second by Benes to appoint the Superintendent as Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and all federal programs representative. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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5.3.6. Disseminate to Board members the conflict of interest policies
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Discussion:
Conflict of interest policies 8260, 8261, and 8270 were disseminated to Board members.
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5.4. Review the plan for Review of Board Policy
Discussion:
Superintendent Hanson presented the three-year plan to review Board policies:
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6. Consent Agenda
Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Benes to approve the consent agenda as presented including the regular meeting minutes of December 11, 2024; December financial statement; monthly bills; New Hires: Elementary Teachers-Darrin Pokorny, Andrea Woita, and Rhiannon Stoner; Speech Language Pathologist-Amanda Smith; Reassignments: Abby Spangler-1st Grade, Hannah Kring-3rd Grade, Kendra Carlson-5th Grade, Andrew Placke-.75 Technology Director/.25 Social Studies Teacher/HAL; Substitute Teachers: Kevin Scheef, Calvin Finley, JenaRae Kelley, and Lydia Rathe; Resignations: Breanne Poston-Asst Principal/Preschool Coordinator, Zac Ochsner-Vocal Music, and Elijah Hackbart-Industrial Technology. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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6.1. Regular Minutes of December 11, 2024
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6.2. Financial Statement
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6.3. Monthly Bills
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6.4. Policy Review
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6.5. Certificated staff hires/reassignment/resignations
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7. Correspondence/Recognition
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Discussion:
Evelyn Dickey, Zaylee Kring, and Alivia Ceja had artwork submitted to the Missouri State University High School Juried Exhibition. Over 800 pieces of artwork were submitted from students across 10 states which were reviewed by jurors.
A letter of gratitude from the Raymond Central Teammates was shared with the Board for their support of the program. |
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8. Public Forum
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9. Reports
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9.1. Administrative Reports
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Discussion:
Submitted by Troy Lurz, Jr-Sr High School Principal
Professional Development/Learning: The Professional Learning Team will work on the January 13 setting the stage for the next day of professional learning day on January 20. Our focus will be on items associated with Chapter 3 in Learning that Sticks and Chapter 2 in the New Classroom Instruction that Works. Learning targets will be a central focus of our energies as we differentiate the difference among varying concepts: learning targets, learning objectives, learning intentions, and perhaps even success criteria. Achievement Scores and Testing: At our staff gathering on January 3, we discussed semester exams and how we will conduct culminating activities in the future. This conversation will likely take on another layer as we close in on the end of the second semester and school year. We believe that the process went fairly well. Just a reminder that the intention of a culminating exam or activity is to measure the learning that has taken place over the semester and in some situations, the year. The expectation is that students are given an assessment that tests their skills, and dispositions, against the standard expected with respect to the course content. The teachers currently have the autonomy to define what that looks like. Subcommittees will work to improve this process in the coming months. Student Teachers and Long-term Substitute: We have a few new faces around our building this semester: Jackson Hilyard (Social Studies), Breanna Trampe (Family/Consumer Science), Cayton Butcher (Math), Taryn Miller (Long-Term Sub). If you see them out and about, please welcome them. Summative and Formative Assessments: We are in our first full year of implementing our summative and formative assessments. Although there are a few wrinkles still being ironed out, we have been able to establish a baseline for the staff to use with respect to data that we use to derive at grades. This is a structured attempt to bring common language and consistency to grading practices. It is also a big first step to accountability with respect to accurate grade reporting so that a student's actual academic progress and feedback are represented fairly, accurately, with specificity, and are timely reported. For your reference: Formatives let students see what they ARE learning; Summatives let them see what they HAVE learned; Formatives are FOR learning; Summatives are OF learning; Formatives are CHECK-UPS; Summatives are an AUTOPSY. Decision-Making Matrix: One of the first recommendations that came as a result of the subcommittee structure shared with you last month was to move Friday celebration to Advisory and to change the frequency. The decision-making system is up and rolling and is designed to give everyone a voice. All subcommittees are working on something right now. The structures subcommittee also met on the morning of January 9 and unanimously agreed to a change in the use of our block schedule. The recommendation is that we now move to a modified block that better fits our needs. Good things are on the horizon and we have a vehicle to help make things work. It has been impressive to see the groups collaborate and problem solve. Evaluation Update: We continue to get in and observe classrooms on a routine basis. We are adding a content area to the evaluation cycle this spring. We may add additional content areas if time permits. Our hope is to offer quality feedback to our staff so they are validated for the good work they are doing and are afforded suggestions on how they might improve instructional practices to benefit their students. The only way we can do this with accuracy and fidelity is to be in their classrooms on a regular basis and to continually ask questions about what is happening. Staffing: This is always a busy time of year when it comes to personnel. We will be aggressive and thorough in our efforts to hire staff that best fit our needs at RCHS as they happen. FBLA: We have started to prepare for the State Leadership Conference. State FBLA will be held in Kearney on April 10-12. FBLA Members and officers are also preparing for FBLA week which will be February 9-15. Student Council: The student council dropped off 80 winter wear and toy donations to the Salvation Army. Way to go, RC! To celebrate the most donations collected, they provided treats for Mr. Wilmes and Ms. Starner’s advisory periods. The student council will be working the concession stand on January 31 to raise money for the Homecoming Dance next year and any other student/school needs that may arise as deemed necessary by the council. We have fully implemented our new program for student donors to have the opportunity to receive honor cords for donating blood! We call them Lifesaver Chords! Students for this 2024-2025 school year only need to donate 2 times to receive an honor cord for graduation. For each school year following, every student will need to donate a minimum of 4 times to qualify. The student will visit our school programs page HERE and select the Lifesaver Cord section for more information and to fill out the simple application. All it will ask for is: Name, High School, and Graduation Year. Our next blood drive is Friday, March 7, 2025 | 10am-2:30pm. Submitted by Tony Kobza, Asst Jr-Sr High School Principal/Athletic Director FacilitiesValedictorian and Salutatorian plaques have been ordered to update our record board area. We are working on updating the recognition for activity and athletic accomplishments. The Senior Picture screen will be moved to the blue wall with the Val and Sal plaques to start to create an academic celebration wall.Records have been broken and record board updates are being done. The activity bus has been delivered!!! AthleticsWinter seasons are halfway through. Fall Award Winners:
ActivitiesFBLA: We have started to prepare for the State Leadership Conference. State FBLA will be held in Kearney on April 10-12. FBLA Members and officers are also preparing for FBLA week which will be February 9-15. Here is a link to the RC FBLA Newsletter: https://secure.smore.com/n/b0c9kValentine's Day Fundraiser. Here is a link to the form: https://forms.gle/MVSQkNYF1RC996yp8Speech: The Central Players weren't able to compete at our last few tournaments of 2024, but have come back this semester well-rested and ready to tackle 2025! Our first tournament of the year will be Fremont followed by our home tournament and then a weekly regiment of competition. We'll have a few long-distance tournaments coming up that we are really excited about attending this year that are new to our schedule. A notable ending to 2024 was having our head coach, Carolyn Enevoldsen, win the Excalibur Award from the Southeast High School Joust.Submitted by Elementary Principals Steve Rose and Deb Kruse Data Dig: January 3rd The elementary teachers met on January 3rd to begin processing through our current data in order to begin defining our school improvement goals for the next cycle of accreditation through the NeMTSS Nebraska Frameworks. Our teachers spent the day looking at Demographic, Perception, Programs and Processes, as well as Student Performance Data. We used informed practices to guide us through the information to unpack our current reality and start the planning process for how we can look across all our pieces of data and see how they interconnect. We will be using this to determine what is working and what needs to be adjusted. This will guide us as we make decisions in relation to professional development and programming in the upcoming months and years. Staff Hiring and Internal Movement We have been busy in the process of interviewing new candidates for our open elementary positions for the 2025-2026 school year. The external candidates have been of very high quality and we are excited for those we have offered positions to join our staff. We have also been busy fielding requests from current staff about possible internal movement to open positions. A summary of what positions are filled and staff movements can be seen below:
The professional learning team will meet on January 13 to plan for our next professional learning session. We are moving into the next phase of learning: Commit to Learning. To learn anything, students must find it both meaningful and achievable and therefore worthy of expending mental effort. The strategy we will focus on in this phase of learning is student goal setting and monitoring. But before students can set goals, they must first know the daily learning targets. Teachers have been diligently working on posting their daily learning targets. The professional learning team will enhance this work by ensuring a common language and a consistent process for writing learning targets. Submitted by Amanda Coufal, Director of Special Education Staff Retirement: Linda Hennessey, our current SLP from ESU, will be retiring at the end of the year. Throughout her time with us, Linda has primarily supported our PK and early childhood students. This year, we contracted with ESU to add another day of service so Linda could provide speech services to our grade 6-12 students as well. We are grateful for Linda’s dedication, ?exibility, and the positive impact she has had on so many students. We wish her the best in her well-deserved retirement! Staff Hiring: On Wednesday, we conducted interviews for a PK / 6-12+ grade Speech-Language Pathologist position. We were fortunate to interview two highly knowledgeable candidates. After careful consideration, we offered a position to one of them and she eagerly accepted. Our new SLP brings extensive expertise in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), which will be invaluable in supporting our nonverbal students. She understands the challenges of working with PK and then grade 6-12 students but is equally excited about the opportunity to make a meaningful impact across these diverse age groups. Having our own dedicated SLP will provide the ?exibility and time needed to address the individual needs of all of our students. She will be working closely with Clair Turman, and both are eager to begin collaborating. With our current numbers, our new hire will be serving 36 students. We are excited to welcome her to the team and look forward to the positive outcomes her expertise will bring! Submitted by Breanne Poston, Asst Jr-Sr High School Principal/Preschool Director The Raymond Central Preschool holiday party and programs shone bright like festive lights thanks to our youngest performers as well as the dedication of our amazing preschool team. Performances included sweet vocals and impressive sign language skills. We are very grateful for all who were able to join us before the holidays and look forward to sharing many more celebrations in the future! As Maria Montessori expresses in the above quote, we are here to foster children’s innate curiosity and eagerness to learn. Recent highlights include welcoming students back, beginning preparation for preschool roundup, and continuing weekly shared book readings in PK4 and what a valuable opportunity it is for our families to stay connected, promote literacy, and foster a love for reading simply by playing a short video for their child during time away from the classroom. The PK4 classroom also unveiled their new sensory space last week. This space is open to all preschool students and there is no shortage of excitement as they are all very eager to "play" with the different sensory items. The sensory space serves as a great asset to the preschool classroom! Until next time, stay curious and smile often. :) |
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9.2. Student Board Member
Discussion:
Submitted by Ellerie White, Student Body President
We ended first semester on a great note. Since school has started back up, we have had senior night for cheer and dance. Dance had their first competition at heartland last Sunday. They did a wonderful job and placed 5th. The junior high student council is hosting a junior high dance for 7th and 8th grade Raymond Central students on Friday, January 24. We do have another blood drive on March 7. If you can sign up, please please do! |
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9.3. Superintendent's Report
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Discussion:
Curriculum Review Cycle was shared with the Board.
Power School Data Breach: Based on the information that we have received, Raymond Public Schools was not involved in the data breach. We do not store Social Security numbers in Power School. Elementary Update: All positions created for lower class sizes have been filled. In February, we will be reporting on logistical matters such as classroom assignments, start and end of the day procedures, and a moving timeline. Legislative Update: Proposal (LB140) that would require every school board in the state to adopt a policy that would bar students from using cellphones "while on school property or attending a school function." Proposal (LB 14) would provide free breakfast and lunch at school to all students daily, regardless of their family income. Funding for the meals would come from the state’s general fund. I plan to have a monthly update on legislative matters that impact schools. |
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9.3.1. Classified Staff hires/reassignment/resignations
Discussion:
Kaycee Lile has been hired as a Media/Tech Assistant.
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9.3.2. NASB Monthly Update
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9.3.3. NRCSA Monthly Report
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9.3.4. Update on Superintendent Goals
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9.3.5. Safety Report
Discussion:
Re-keying of doors is set to begin. The exterior doors that have not been converted to the electronic locking system will either be re-keyed or removed. This will limit the number of keys needed and prevent those with old keys from being able to enter the building.
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9.3.6. Facilities Report
Discussion:
The fire panel has been installed in Valparaiso.
The heat pumps have been delivered. We are waiting on the parts for the enhanced ventilation system in the shop at the high school. |
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9.3.7. Important Upcoming Dates:
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9.4. Board Committee Reports
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9.4.1. Curriculum & American Civics Committee (Burklund-chair, Lange, Matulka)
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9.4.2. Facilities & Transportation Committee (Matulka-chair, Burklund, Lange)
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9.4.3. Finance Committee (Breitkreutz-chair, Burklund, Heyen)
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9.4.4. Negotiations Committee (Lange-chair, Benes, Heyen)
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9.4.5. Policy Committee (Benes-chair, Breitkreutz, Heyen)
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10. Old Business
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11. New Business
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11.1. Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary Action to Approve the Annual Audit
Discussion:
The Finance Committee met with the auditor on January 14 to review the 2023-2024 District Audit. Motion by Matulka, second by Benes to approve the District Audit as presented. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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11.2. Discuss and Consider Preschool Enrollment Options
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Discussion:
Discussion was held regarding options to increase availability for our 4-year-old students in the preschool program as well as working to eliminate the wait list.
After meeting with Karen Vontz, Early Childhood Specialist at ESU 2, we have identified several key areas to address in collaboration with our early childhood educators. First, it is essential that Raymond Central ensures that 4-year-old children who wish to attend our preschool and will be moving on to Kindergarten with us have guaranteed placement. Students who attend preschool, particularly in our program, tend to have a more successful transition and stronger educational outcomes when they enter Kindergarten. Second, we would like to explore the possibility of offering a four-day preschool option for 4-year-old students. Initially, slots would be prioritized for children with identified educational needs, with clear criteria rubrics in place. We would still maintain a two-day per week option for parents who prefer it for their children, as well as for 3-year-old students. Lastly, we would like to discuss the potential need for expanding our program to eliminate the current waitlist. It is crucial that children who are set to attend Kindergarten at Raymond Central have access to a spot in our preschool program to ensure continuity in their early education. |
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11.3. Discuss, Consider, and Take Necessary Action to approve Ravae Masek and Monica Siebrandt as members of the Raymond Central Educational Foundation.
Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Benes to approve Ravae Masek and Monica Siebrandt as members of the Raymond Central Educational Foundation. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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12. Next Regular Board Meeting
Discussion:
The next regular Board of Education Meeting will be held Wednesday, February 12, 2025.
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13. Adjournment
Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Lange to adjourn the meeting at 7:02 PM. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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