November 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 Regular 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 Open Meeting Laws would be followed.
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3. Motion to Excuse Board Member's Absence
Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Lange to excuse the absence of Mary Benes. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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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 Lange, second by Matulka to approve the consent agenda as presented including the regular meeting minutes of October 15, 2025; October financial statement; and monthly bills. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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5.1. Minutes of October 15, 2025 Meeting
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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
Discussion:
Evelyn Dickey was awarded a spot in the Honors Peformance Series, an exclusive international choir opportunity.
Marissa Tvrdy was selected into the NMEA All State Band. Thanks to Mrs. Jones and the students who participate in SkillsUSA, National Honor Society, FBLA, band and choir for organizing an amazing Veterans Day Program. The FFA Agriculture Communications Team placed 6th in the nation. Raymond Central hosted the NCC Choral Clinic on November 10. Mrs. Nierman did a fantastic job organizing the event. |
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6.1. More Than A Field Update
Discussion:
Tony Kobza gave an update on More Than a Field. The Donor Tile Wall is complete and will be delivered and installed soon. Thank you to TMCO for donating this portion so all of the family and individual donations could go straight to the project.
We have passed the $1 million mark in funds and support raised for the project. The $1 million includes individual/family donations, business sponsorships, fundraising efforts, grants and donated in-kind services. The original quoted cost of Phase 1 was $6.3 million. We are now at a point that we will be able to complete Phase 1 for under $2 million. That means we are still fundraising but we are hoping to continue to show progress in steps so we are ready to move forward without delay. The new driveway will be fully operational on November 17. Traffic flow changes will be made once the entrance is fully operational. We continue to fundraise for Phase 1 of our Project. We will start construction as we feel confident we have the funding necessary to complete each step. |
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6.2. Annual Financial Literacy Education Report
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Discussion:
Mr. Hanson reviewed the Financial Literacy Act and indicated that our Life and Career Readiness course meets State guidelines for personal finance.
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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: On Monday, November 10, we continued our Professional Development series focused on the 6-Phase Instructional Model. Our goal remains the successful installation and implementation of this model. Previously, the Professional Learning Team led by teacher leaders, provided strong guidance during the New Learning Phase, laying a solid foundation for ongoing success. This session was designed specifically for Focusing on New Learning. Additionally, Mike Feit from the ESU provided staff training on Reframing Behavior. He will guide staff through several phases of this training over the coming months. Extra time is also being allocated for the English Language Arts team to advance their work with CommonLit, including best practices for teaching writing lessons with the support of a CommonLit trainer. Celebrate Everything: We are exploring innovative ways to recognize and celebrate student success. Recently, we began awarding students for elevated MAP performance and effort. At an assembly in late October, the first group of students was recognized for scoring over 80% in growth or achievement in three or four subject areas. Last week, we celebrated students who improved their MAP achievement in one or two areas. Students received certificates acknowledging their accomplishments and, based on their level of growth, were awarded concession stand coupons-the highest gains earning the largest rewards. Through these recognitions, we aim to normalize extra effort and elevated performance, gradually shaping a culture of academic excellence, one assessment at a time. Counseling: Tasha and Celia
Requested Items Include:
Additionally, we will take donations of sturdy boxes (such as those used for reams of paper) for the Caring Shelves packaging process. The Student Council is proud to lead this initiative and appreciates the continued generosity of our Raymond Central community in supporting local families during the holidays. JH Student Council: The JH StuCo has scheduled the famous JH Dance for Friday, January 23 from 7-10 PM in the New Gym! The students are so excited and are looking forward to planning the details. We will be working concession stands at the wrestling meet on December 12. We are excited to plan out the details for Make-A-Wish week, too! Stay tuned for more. FBLA: The craft fair was a great success in October. No additional update this month. (Reminder) Raymond Central JH/HS Goals 2025-26: Goal 1: Students will improve in all core academic areas as measured by appropriate, annual grade level strategies and assessments. Target: 100% of all students will meet proficiency or expected growth goals in Reading, Math, Science, and Language Usage as measured by ACT or NSCAS/MAPS assessments. Additional Collaborative Goal with Mr. Hanson: 80% of our students will be on-track. Goal 2: Decrease the number of absences and tardiness for all students to improve student achievement in all academic areas. Target: 100% of students and families will be informed of the importance of attendance. Establish an Average Daily Attendance of 95% and maintain it building wide. (State Average was 93% in 2024-25) Goal 3: Improve public access to district school improvement data to encourage stakeholder collaboration in the school improvement process. Target: RCHS as part of the district, will further develop a school improvement website, located on the district’s website, to house school improvement data. Strategy or Intervention:
Submitted by Tony Kobza, Asst Jr-Sr High School Principal/Athletic Director Facilities/MTAF Created parking area on the well field that can be used for overflow parking attached to current and future parking areas. MTAF is over $1 million raised through donations, sponsorships, fundraising, grants and in-kind commitments. The driveway is paved and close to being usable. This will affect traffic flow in a positive way. We are working on fundraising and grants that will help us continue to show progress. Driveway is a major step. We are close to being able to pursue the lease purchase option but WILL NOT move forward until we feel confident funding is available to complete next steps. Next steps are:
FFA - has had a busy month. Our land judging team placed second at District Land Judging. The team consisted of Joel Crees (who placed 2nd as an individual), Wyatt Suchy, Isaac Zobel, and Lucy Echtenkamp (who placed 9th individually). At the State Land Judging contest, the team placed 11th overall. The Central FFA, Agriculture Communications Team competed at the 98th National FFA Convention and Expo on October 29. The team placed 6th in the Nation in the contest!! Central FFA will compete at District Livestock Judging on November 12. We have 21 members who will be competing. We are also a host chapter for that contest. SkillsUSA - had two students participate in Mid America Leadership Training. Cooper Huck placed 1st in the fundraising competition. FBLA - had our annual business tour field trip. We toured the Engler program at UNL, MetalWorks, and Spreetail. The students learned about job opportunities around the area as well as opportunities to start a business while in college. Thank you to the Engler Program, MetalWorks, and Spreetail for letting us come visit! One Act - has a busy month coming up! After a couple months of rehearsal, Peter/Wendy is performance ready. Our first competition is Saturday, November 8, and the team will perform five times between now and December 5. The students, cast and crew alike, have been working incredibly hard to make a magical, whimsical, and impressive play that really showcases their incredible talents. In addition to learning their lines, cues, and blocking, the students have also been diving into the text and analyzing this interpretation of the classic tale of Peter Pan. They have had meaningful conversations about what they want the audience to walk away from this show with, and what it means to them. They also have been taking on Devised Theater, a form of Theater that gives the performers full autonomy to create art that is meaningful to them and showcase their own individual creativity. They are creating a short piece that will be performed before the public performance of Peter/Wendy. The public performance is on Tuesday, November 18 at 7:30 PM, and we can’t wait to share the show with the community! Central Players - are moving right along and getting ready to start the season. With a lot of our kids also participating in One Act, we are delaying our season start by a week. We will be kicking off the year mid-November and hoping to bring home some hardware this year! Art Club - students just finished up the month of October by participating in daily drawings based on the prompts from Inktober. They are also working towards creating projects that will be submitted to Scholastic (our state competition) and NCECA (national ceramic competition) in December. Spanish Club - will be doing a fundraiser with Brewed Awakening on November 22 and 24. Check social media and spread the word! Band - The HS Band received two superiors in the month of October at both of their competitions. They ended their season a few weeks ago. They've also participated in many pep bands and a successful Veterans Day Program with the JH Band. Choir - hosted a successful Nebraska Capital Conference Choir with all 9 choirs in our conference coming together at RC and over 200 students attending on November 10. The 6th and JH choirs also sang successfully at the Veterans Day Program. Marissa Tvrdy was selected for the all-class Nebraska All State Band, and she'll participate in this November 20-22. Our concerts are 6-12 Choir on Monday, December 8 and 6-12 Band on Monday, December 15, both at 6:30 PM in the Main Gym. Athletics Fall season has ended and winter will start up on November 17. Post season awards will be shared in Mustang Minutes as they start to come through. Submitted by Abby Horbach, Asst Jr-Sr High School Principal Things continue to run smoothly at the middle/high school, which is always a positive sign! Our systems are becoming more consistent, and students and staff are getting in a good rhythm as we move deeper into the semester. We are currently looking at making a few tweaks to our advisory/intervention structure for next semester (which aligns with our MTSS process). Advisory was originally designed to provide academic support and help reduce failing grades. When it began, there were over 300 failing grades, and now we are down to fewer than 80! That progress is something to celebrate! Many of the remaining cases are repeat offenders, often due to factors such as attendance. As we continue to refine our supports, our goal is to shift Advisory toward a more structured Tier II intervention model with MTSS. This would allow content teachers to pull specific students to reteach essential standards and address learning gaps, rather than focusing solely on missing assignments. We’re drawing from several ideas we gathered at the MTSS Conference to make this shift meaningful and sustainable. All of these suggestions/ideas will be run by the Teacher Leadership Team before being rolled out to staff. Looking ahead, our team is already brainstorming ways to restructure and reframe systems for next year to best meet our students’ needs! It’s hard to believe we’re already thinking about 2026-2027, but we believe in being proactive and always doing what’s best for kids! Submitted by Elementary Principals Steve Rose and Deb Kruse Para Training: From November 5-7, two paraeducators from each building participated in Orton-Gillingham training led by ESU 2’s Caryn Zietlow. This specialized professional development is designed to equip staff with evidence-based strategies for supporting foundational literacy skills in students from kindergarten through fifth grade. By deepening their understanding of structured, multisensory instruction, these paraeducators will be better prepared to meet the diverse learning needs of our students and reinforce essential reading interventions across classrooms. Veterans Day: On November 11, all K-5 students had the special opportunity to attend the district-wide Veterans Day assembly held at the High School, bringing together students from across all grade levels, K-12, in a powerful show of unity and respect. The event honored the service and sacrifice of our nation's veterans. A huge thank you goes to Kate Jones for her outstanding leadership in organizing the assembly and thoughtfully including our youngest learners in the program. Student Leadership The 5th Grade Student Council had an awesome experience at the Region I Leadership Conference in York on October 20. Great lessons were learned, and our students represented our school with pride and enthusiasm. They participated in engaging activities, collaborated with peers from other districts, and explored what it means to be a leader in their school and community. It was a day full of inspiration, growth, and team spirit! Turkey Trot / Food Drive: The 3rd-5th Grade students participated in our annual Turkey Trot on November 5. The 4th and 5th Grade students ran 1 mile on Oak Creek Trail and the 3rd Grade ran ½ mile. As part of the trot this year, we ran a food drive to benefit our local Caring Shelves. The donations will be used to benefit families in need in our district. The students and families donated over 1,000 items during the week. The winning class earned themselves a pizza party! Well done and special thanks to Mr. Lucas for planning this year’s event. Submitted by Amanda Coufal, Director of Special Education Unified Bowling: Unified Bowling officially kicked off on October 20! Due to an overwhelming number of interested students, we implemented an application process--including a reference letter--to select the team. This is a great problem to have, showing how excited students are to join this inclusive sport. We currently have 13 partners and 4 athletes participating, with practices held Mondays and Thursdays at Sun Valley Lanes. Meets are open to spectators, and we had a lot of parents and grandparents at our first meet. We have some pretty exceptional kids at RC. If you would like to see them in action, here are the upcoming meets:
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8.2. Student Board Member Report
Discussion:
Student Board Member Emma Dukeshearer reported on recent activities of the Student Council including the Homecoming Dance, Blood Drive, Food Drive, and the Toy Drive that will begin soon.
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8.3. Superintendent's Report
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Discussion:
Superintendent Hanson has attended three hiring fairs this fall. As a result, we have had a couple requests to student teach here.
We will be able to share the results from the Spring NSCAS tests and our Aquestt ratings at the December Board Meeting. The Policy Review Cycle was shared with Board members. |
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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 Ford Transit Vans have been modified to decrease the capacity to ten passengers plus the driver so we are now in compliance with Federal Regulations.
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8.3.6. Facilities Report
Discussion:
We are getting prices for adding lighting to the drives and on the parking area south of the school.
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8.3.7. Important Upcoming Dates
Discussion:
November 19 - Informational Meeting and Tours with School Administration
9:00 AM at Valparaiso Elementary 10:00 AM at Ceresco Elementary November 20-21 - State Education Conference December 9 - Informational Meeting and Tour with School Administration - 11:00 AM at Jr-Sr High School |
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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, Brase)
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9. Old Business
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10. New Business
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10.1. Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary Action to Adopt the most recent FEMA approved version of the Lower Platte South NRD Hazard Mitigation Plan Update.
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Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Heyen to adopt the most recent FEMA-approved version of the Lower Platte South NRD Hazard Mitigation Plan Update in its entirety. Once adopted, Raymond Central becomes eligible for project grant funding to add safety enhancements. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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10.2. Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary Action to approve the Superintendent Evaluation
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Discussion:
Motion by Burklund, second by Lange to approve the Superintendent Evaluation as presented. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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10.3. Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary Action to Approve the replacement of the dishwasher at Ceresco.
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Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Brase to replace the dishwasher and garbage disposal in Ceresco at a cost of $15,325.54. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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11. Next Regular Board Meeting
Discussion:
The next regular Board of Education Meeting will be held Wednesday, December 10, 2025.
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12. Adjournment
Discussion:
Motion by Lange, second by Matulka to adjourn the meeting at 6:38 PM. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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