February 12, 2025 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting
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1. Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
Discussion:
President Burklund 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. Consent Agenda
Discussion:
Motion by Heyen, second by Matulka to approve the consent agenda as presented including the regular meeting minutes of January 15, 2025; January financial statement; monthly bills; New hires: Jacee Kesting-Elementary Music, Taryn Hadwiger-2nd Grade, Cayton Butcher-Secondary Math, Taryn Miller-Industrial Technology; Substitute Teacher: Cameryn Brandt; and Reassignments: Celia Newman-.50 Math/.50 Jr-Sr High Counselor, Kim Hudson-Interventionist. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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5.1. Minutes of Meeting January 15, 2025
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5.2. Financial Statement/Report
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5.3. Monthly Bills
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5.4. Policy Review
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5.5. Certificated Staff Hire(s)/Reassignment(s)/Resignation(s)
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6. Correspondence/Recognition
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6.1. Report on Lease Purchase Option for More Than a Field Project
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6.2. Report on Schedule Change at the High School Level
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Discussion:
There will be a modified bell schedule at the high school for the 2025-2026 school year. Grades 9-12 will have three 8-period days and two block days. Every day will be a consistent schedule as opposed to every other day and it will allow for more face to face instruction with teachers each week.
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7. Public Forum
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8. Reports
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8.1. Administrative Reports
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Discussion:
Submitted by Troy Lurz, Jr-Sr High School Principal
Professional Development/Learning: The Professional Learning Team will meet on February 13 to prepare for the professional learning day with the staff in March. Our focus continues to be the tenets associated with our 6 Phase Model being led by Deb Kruse and the learning team. Last session was dedicated to learning targets. We now will focus our energies on where the rubber really hits the road with student learning; success criteria. In its simplest version, success criteria are things students will say, do, create, or write to demonstrate they are beginning to understand/master learning goals. Learning Targets: Classroom teachers have been working very hard about and within the process of using student friendly learning targets. Our last professional learning day was dedicated to this cause. Early evidence is that we are starting to see consistent use of the targets in the classrooms regardless of the content area which is the district expectation. A student friendly learning target would be posted using I can or I will statements to personalize learning intentions for students. We invite you to visit a classroom and see for yourselves. Achievement Scores and Testing: The high school data team is beginning to flesh out our spring assessment calendar. We hope to correspond our schedule with that of the elementary to mirror the schedules as closely as we can. Testing season truly never ends, it just gets busier this time of year with state testing on the horizon. Long-term Substitute: Taryn Miller (Long-Term Sub) will be taking over for Katie Donahue starting February 10. Taryn is an excellent resource for us in lieu of Katie. They have spent several days together and the direction Mrs. Donahue hopes the classes and her program to go is dialed in. Welcome to Raymond Central Taryn. Decision-Making Matrix: Another item vetted through the decision making matrix is the conversation that will be shared with the board for consideration in the near future. It is the 10 point grading scale proposal. We have used this decision making process with success several times already this year. The system is working as intended. Counseling/ACT/Senior Experience/Scholarships (Tasha): Graduation is 3 months away and time is flying! Senior Scholarship season has kicked into full gear, there are two Scholarship Saturdays coming up for seniors to come and get help on scholarships. Open dates are hard to find so anyone who can’t make it, can schedule time for help. Students in grades 9-11 have looked at their personal learning plans for next year and will be receiving updated course catalogs within a couple of weeks. ACT is coming up in April with events to be announced for every grade level. We will have two more college/career/military fairs left for the year (February 10 and March 12). We are always looking for local businesses to set up a booth and share opportunities within our community. Evaluation Update: Evaluations continue to be completed. We are in the process of completing T3 and English Language Arts educators this semester. This does not include the normal rotation and non-tenured staff as required. Their evaluations are continuing as planned. The conversations have been excellent and very productive. There are some great things happening in our classrooms. Staffing: We interviewed for the counseling position and assistant principal positions last week. The candidate pools were excellent. We believe we have been able to secure quality personnel to help lead our school. I would like to thank all of the staff and administration involved in the selection process and for being part of the committees again. They made some very hard decisions on behalf of our school. Their efforts are very much appreciated and often go unnoticed when we fill such positions. Student Council: We have fully implemented our new program for student donors to have the opportunity to receive honor cords for donating blood! We are calling them Lifesaver Cords! Students for this 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. Our next blood drive is Friday, March 7, 2025 | 10am-2:30pm. The Student Council will pack backpacks with Jim Marsh on March 18th. JH Student Council: The Junior High Student Council held a dance for 7th and 8th grade students on January 24. We had great attendance and everyone had a great time!! Part of the profit from the dance will be donated to Nebraska Make-A-Wish. We recently held a fundraiser for Nebraska Make-A-Wish from January 24-February 1. The elementary buildings beat the JH/HS building by a landslide! Elementary winners will receive a treat the week of February 10. We met our goal of $1,000 through the various events!! We are very thankful for everyone that donated and couldn’t have done it without the support of our community! Submitted by Tony Kobza, Asst Jr-Sr High School Principal/Athletic Director Facilities Valedictorian 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. Athletics Winter seasons are entering postseason play.
FBLA: FBLA week is next week (February 9-15)! We are looking forward to many FBLA events throughout the week. Our monthly meeting will be on Monday, February 10. Other events include dress up days, FBLA trivia, and find the FBLA logo around school. We are also working on updating our RC FBLA Database. Past members can fill out this form: https://forms.gle/WHsptm5M812rwkpH8 Speech: The Central Players hit the ground running this month with a spectacular win at the Elmwood Murdock Silver Sword Invite. We have Bellevue West, Grand Island Central Catholic, Conference, and Lincoln East to finish out the month. We're hoping to maintain that momentum! Play Production: The drama program is beginning the spring musical! Students are auditioning February 10-11 for the Addams Family, which will be performed May 2-4. We are so excited to begin putting this show together with students grades 6-12, both on and offstage! FFA: Results from February CDEs Ag Mechanics -- 5th Place State Qualifier
FFA's first annual Fish Fry is March 7 in the HS Commons we will be serving from 5-8pm. see attached flyer for full details Band/Choir: HS is still working on and supporting our sports with basketball pep bands! Here are the rest of those dates:
Submitted by Amanda Coufal, Director of Special Education Unified Bowling Banquet: The Unified Bowling banquet took place on January 22 at the Seward Bowling Alley. Nearly all partners, athletes, their parents, and siblings joined in the fun. The night included plenty of bowling, opportunities to connect, and some friendly competition. Special awards were presented, celebrating achievements like "Most Strikes," "Most Spares," "Best Teammate," "Most Improved," and "Most Positive." Adding a sweet touch, the life skills students baked cookies shaped like bowling pins, and Peggy treated everyone to ice cream. The bowling alley surprised us with a bowling pin, which all the kids signed. This pin will be proudly displayed at the high school. The kids and parents all expressed how much they enjoyed this banquet. We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support this year and it does not go unnoticed! Parent Surveys: As part of the Special Education data collection for Indicator 8 - Parent Involvement on the State Performance Plan, a survey link was sent out to all parents of children with special needs ages 3-21 that attend Raymond Central. In 2022, the parent response rate was 51.3%. This year, we would like to aim for 65% or higher. The survey collection will close on April 18 and reminders will be sent out to parents. When we receive the results back, the special education team will meet to go over the results to determine areas of improvement. Submitted by Breanne Poston, Asst Jr-Sr High School Principal/Preschool Director We LOVE our PRESCHOOL students! They are the sunshine that makes our day and we always enjoy learning what the world looks like through their lens. With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, we posed a couple of questions about love and their responses were share-worthy! WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE? Umm hearts...Uh hugging, that’s love...Hearts...Like a [heart] magnet...Married...Love is about sharing and hugging...A heart...I love my mom...Like a heart...Happiness...Hugs and kisses...and lots of heart hand signing HOW DO YOU SHOW SOMEONE YOU LOVE THEM? Give them hugs...I hug my mom and my dad...Hug...I hug my dog because I love him...By hugging...Making a heart cookie...By hugging them...Give breakfast to them...Doing kind words and saying sorry...Give them a heart...Say "I love you"...Give hugs...Give a present...Share a dessert with people...Share a hug with mom and dad...Hang out with Mom and Dad...Be with your friends...Draw a heart and give it to someone...Give someone something they like...Color a heart and hug someone...Make a card for someone...Do a funny thing like this [insert silly dance moves with tongue out] RC Preschool students will celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 12th and 13th. More from Preschool Land... PK3 began Literacy Show and Tell, which provides our youngest students an opportunity to bring an object from home starting with an assigned letter, reinforcing important skills. Preschoolers are working on letter exposure and speaking in front of groups of kids and so far they are loving it! Preschoolers are also looking forward to this month's activities including Valentines Day, RC Petting Zoo, and FFA coming to read to PK3! PK4 jumped back into routines beautifully! Preschool students are having a great time working through how structures are built and testing and math concepts with addition and subtraction. Yes, our preschoolers are brilliant!! They are also working on writing first names in appropriate casing, which they know as "the kindergarten way". This has been a task that allows our preschoolers to work through challenges to persevere and experience success. This month has also brought the opportunity to collaborate with Mrs. Parks’ Pastries class to decorate cookies as well as host students in early childhood classes. High school students have planned morning activities and have come out to preschool to read. Like the PK3 class, PK4 will visit the RC Petting Zoo later this month and also have FFA guest readers! According to Mrs. Ariel, "It’s always a party up in Preschool Land!"?? |
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8.2. Student Board Member Report
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8.3. Superintendent's Report
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Discussion:
Grade-Alike Updates: Elementary students will be released two days prior to the Jr-Sr High School for the summer to provide elementary teachers with two full days to pack up their classrooms. The move will occur the week of July 7 provided maintenance and carpet installation is complete. Teachers will be granted two paid days before the official start of their contract to set up their classrooms.
We do not plan to adjust school start times, but we will offer supervision for students starting at 7:45 AM and extending to 3:30 PM after school. This schedule will align with normal bus routes and provide flexibility for parents who wish to drive their children to school. Classrooms will be organized in pods by grade level at each school. Students will be assigned to classrooms based on educational factors and district goals. Parents will not have the option to request specific teachers. A transition day will be planned in the spring, allowing students to visit their new school. More details will be provided soon. Raymond Central Vision Committee: Superintendent Hanson would like to start the process of creating this committee which will play a crucial role in guiding and shaping the future of the district. |
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8.3.1. Classified Staff Hire(s)/Reassignment(s)/Resignation(s)
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8.3.2. NASB Monthly Update
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8.3.3. NRCSA Monthly Report
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8.3.4. Update on Superintendent Goals
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8.3.5. Safety Report
Discussion:
The next Safety Team Meeting will be on February 20.
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8.3.6. Facilities Report
Discussion:
Exterior door re-keying has been completed at the high school.
A Facilities & Transportation Committee meeting will be held during the week of February 24 or March 3. |
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8.3.7. Important Upcoming Dates
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8.4. Board Committee Reports
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8.4.1. Curriculum & American Civics Committee (Burklund-chair, Lange, Matulka)
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8.4.2. Facilities & Transportation Committee (Matulka-chair, Burklund, Lange)
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8.4.3. Finance Committee (Burklund-chair, Heyen, Lange)
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8.4.4. Negotiations Committee (Benes-chair, Heyen, Matulka)
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8.4.5. Policy Committee (Benes-chair, Heyen, Wiig)
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9. Old Business
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10. New Business
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10.1. Discuss, Consider, and Approve the Calendar for the 2025-26 School Year
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Discussion:
Motion by Lange, second by Benes to approve the 2025-2026 calendar as presented. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.2. Discuss, Consider, and Approve an Amendment to the ESU 2 Services Contract
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Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Benes to approve an amendment to the ESU#2 Services Contract increasing B-PK Speech/Language Pathologist from .50 FTE to .55 FTE. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.3. Discuss, Consider, and Approve the Addition of New Classes at Raymond Central High School
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Discussion:
Motion by Heyen, second by Benes to approve the addition of new classes at Raymond Central High School: SCC Duel Credit Chemistry; SCC Intro to Livestock Production; SCC Crop and Food Science; Fundamentals of Ag Marketing; Companion Animals; Advanced Digital Design; and Entrepreneurship. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.4. Discuss, Consider, and Approve a bid for the installation of remaining heat pumps at Valpariaso Elementary
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Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Heyen to approve the bid from Prairie Mechanical for the installation of remaining heat pumps at Valparaiso Elementary not to exceed $147,946.54. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.5. Discuss, Consider, and Approve the Purchase of New Science Stations as Part of the Upgrades to the High School Science Rooms
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Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Lange to approve the purchase of new science stations at the high school at a cost of $64,596.09. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.6. Discuss, Consider and Approve 2025-2026 Classified Staff Salaries as Presented
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Discussion:
Motion by Heyen, second by Burklund to approve the 2025-2026 classified staff salaries as presented. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.7. Discuss, Consider, and Approve 2025-2026 Administrator Salaries as Presented
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Discussion:
Motion by Benes, second by Burklund to approve the 2025-2026 administrator salaries as presented. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.8. Discuss, Consider, and Approve a resolution authorizing the district to enter into a lease purchase agreement with a bank, in the amount not to exceed $1,500,000 to provide financing for a portion of the costs of various athletic facilities.
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Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Benes to approve a Resolution authorizing the District to enter into a Lease-Purchase Agreement with a bank, in the principal amount not to exceed one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) to provide financing for a portion of the costs of various athletic facilities; providing the pledge and levy of certain funds for the payment of such lease-purchase agreement; approving certain terms of such lease-purchase agreement and related documents; delegating authority to certain officers of the district to approve final terms related to the lease-purchase agreement and all necessary documentation; and related matters be it resolved by the Board of Education of Lancaster County School District 0161, in the State of Nebraska. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.9. Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary Action to Approve the Contract for Secondary Assistant Principal Abby Horbach
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Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Heyen to approve Abby Horbach as Secondary Assistant Principal. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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11. Next Regular Board Meeting
Discussion:
The next regular Board of Education Meeting will be held Wednesday, March 12, 2025.
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12. Adjournment
Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Lange to adjourn the meeting at 7:27 PM. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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