Public Meeting Minutes: January 14, 2019 at 5:30 PM - Committee As A Whole

I. Committee As A Whole

I.A. Call to Order

I.B. Roll Call of Board

I.C. Pledge of Allegiance

I.D. Notice of Open Meeting Posted

I.D.1. President insures all can hear proceedings

I.E. Board Special Functions

I.E.1. Administer Oath of Office to Theresa Seipel, Doug Molczyk, and Mike Jeffryes

Attachments: (1)

G1_ Oath

1/10/2017 at 3:27 PM

I.E.2. Presentations

I.E.2.1. West Park Presentation

Discussion: West Park Principal Paula Lawrence reported that 70 percent of the students at West Park qualify for free and reduced lunch and 20 percent are English Learners. The Maps and Dibels data team meet to place the data in a more usable form for teachers. Lawrence said the formative data is used to drive instruction and used during PLC meetings. She said the NSCAS data is also used. Last year, CPS switched from NeSA to NSCAS in Math, so this is the second year for gathering comparative data. PLC teams meet weekly and use progress monitoring data, common assessments, and exit tickets to see what is working. The data is used to form interventions groups. For the students at risk, there is progress monitoring done. Lawrence said this year Dibels and Maps data are being put into a school wide chart that are displayed for students. Staff have always done these charts to track kids to see how they are doing, but they felt students might also benefit from seeing the charts. She said discussing the data is the key.

Mrs. Peterson works with individual kids to do check ins, skill-based triage and behavior planning. She also holds small groups for students in need of additional skills and practice. Lawrence said they use proficiency scales and teacher referrals to form groups. She said this has helped staff to be more proactive in services. Lawrence said the staff is now being more data driven instead of reactionary; doing weekly lessons help with acquisition of skills instead of just introduction; and building relationships with students and families.

Lawrence said they have also been working to build a positive culture. Every morning the staff and students start the day by gathering together to say the pledge and do the Mustang promise. She said they also do monthly student assemblies. At these assembles, they recognize students for being kind and responsible. CHS teacher Patrick Clark brought some high school students to West Park to talk about kindness. They also presented three West Park students with kindness awards. Before he left, he challenged the students to do 1,000 acts of kindness in 10 days. Lawrence said they are still working on this goal. She said they have also made a kindness chain to display in the building. Lawrence said this is to help students to be more aware.

Lawrence said Gayle Farmer spearheaded raising money for a percussion playground. She the students started fundraising in August by doing restaurant nights, change collection, candy cane sales, and donations. The waffleman will be coming on March 7 from 5-7 p.m. A percussion playground improves coordination and balance, develops social skills and develops imagination. Lawrence said they have raised almost $6,000 since August, and the total cost of the playground is little over $8,000. She said the goal is to install the playground in April. Board member Mike Goos said they heard a lot of positive things from staff, and the building culture things are paying off.

I.E.3. Election of President for 2019

I.E.4. Election of Vice President for 2019

I.E.5. Appointments by the Board President

Discussion: President Candy Becher identified the committees.
Negotiations: Doug Willboughy and Theresa Seipel;
Curriculum: Candy Becher and Mike Goos;
Finance and facilities: Doug Molczyk and Theresa Seipel;
Policy: Doug Willoughby and Mike Goos.
Americanism: Mike Jeffryes and Doug Molczyk;
Social and Emotional: Mike Goos and Mike Jeffryes;
NASB Delegate Assemble: Doug Molczyk;
School Bell: Theresa Seipel;
Legislative Representative: Mike Goos;
CPS Foundation: Candy Becher and Mike Jeffryes;
Safety and Security: Theresa Seipel and Mike Jeffryes.

I.E.6. Approval of Financial Institutions

I.E.7. Approval of School Attorneys

Discussion: Superintendent Dr. Troy Loeffelholz said Fehringer, Mielak and Fehringer were added to the list of attorneys because of the emergency work they did for the district.

Attachments: (1)

Fehringer_Mielak Ltr

1/8/2019 at 4:58 PM

I.E.8. Approval of Media Outlets

I.E.9. Appointment of Dr. Troy Loeffelholz as the Affirmative Action Coordinator

I.E.10. New Summer Enrichment/STEM On The Go Coordinator Position

Discussion: Dr. Loeffelholz said he is recommending the creation of a STEM on the Go and Summer Enrichment Coordinator. He said STEM on the Go takes activities to the elementary buildings, and there needs to be someone in charge of coordinating this with the principals. He said the district currently spends a lot of money on students who fall behind but doesn’t do much in terms of enrichment. He said there is summer school money and grant funds available to fund the position. Dr. Loeffelholz said would be open to all students. He said how the program will look has not yet been determined but it could involve experiences that students might not otherwise get to do including taking field trips. Middle School Principal, Jordon Anderson started a similar program in St. Paul, MN. Dr. Loeffelholz said some of the community partners may be willing to step up and help fund the enrichment programs. The summer enrichment will kick-off this summer. The individual who is hired will be paid $20,000, and this will probably be a contracted position. Dr. Loeffelholz said there were a lot of teachers who worked on STEM on the Go, but they would have to be pulled from their teaching duties to be the coordinator. The teachers will still do the lesson planning, but there needs to be central coordination.

I.F. Consent Agenda

I.F.1. Approval of Minutes

Attachments: (2)

Committee As A Whole Mtg Min_12_10_2018

1/7/2019 at 3:42 PM
Regular Mtg Min_12_17_2018

1/7/2019 at 3:42 PM

I.F.2. Financial Reports M2, M3, M4a

Discussion: Executive Director of Business Operations and Human Relations Dave Melick said there were a number of items paid through the special building fund such as Alfred Benesch and Co., $1,195.50 for asbestos abatement at the Kramer Education Center; Commonwealth Electric being, $9,395.31 for the electric work done at the Kramer Education Center and Commonwealth Communications, $8,500 for work done; New Century Environmental, $4,052 for a study done of the ground at the Anchor Complex. Melick said he had to transfer some money out of the depreciation fund to the general fund to cover some of the bills because the tax money was slow coming in. He said this will be paid back once the tax payments are awarded.

Other bills discussed were Beard-Warren who did some work on the boiler controls at West Park. Several LCD projectors were purchased from CDW Gov. The payment to the Columbus United Way was for the grant writer. The Nebraska Extension of Stanton County was paid for a career exploration activity at high school. Schumacher, Smejkal and Brockhaus and Herley were paid for the audit.

Attachments: (3)

M2_Cash Balances_12_31_18

1/8/2019 at 4:59 PM
M3_Rev Detail_12_31_18.

1/8/2019 at 4:59 PM
M4a_Exp Detail_12_14-31_18

1/9/2019 at 9:48 AM

I.F.3. Financial Report M4b

Discussion: Seipel Repair was paid $610.37 for break and heater repairs on pickups and door repair on one of the vans.

Attachments: (1)

M4b_Exp Detail_12_14-31_18

1/9/2019 at 9:49 AM

I.F.4. Financial Report M5

Discussion: Cuna Mutual Retirement Solutions is the third party that handles the 403 B plan for the district. Melick said there are 44 people involved. He said the district also paid the time management system the yearly maintenance fee for all time clocks, but these will need to be replaced because they are wearing out. Melick said if any of the board members had questions about the finances to let him know.

Attachments: (1)

M5_Exp Detail_01_1-10_19

1/11/2019 at 10:23 AM

I.F.5. Certified Personnel

I.F.6. Classified Personnel

Discussion: Dr. Loeffelholz said there has been a new person hired to replace Doug Zoucha in the technology department. He said Troy Medinger will be moving from the high school to the middle school, and the new person will be at the high school. Executive Director of Technology and Operations Leonard Kwapnioski said with the person being new to the job, it would be better for her to be at the high school because they have more of a system in place. This is the first year for CMS to be one to one, so many things are still trying to be resolved.

I.F.7. Professional Travel

Attachments: (1)

Travel Report

1/10/2019 at 9:59 AM

I.G. Acceptance of Gifts/Donations

Discussion: The Foundation and umbrella contributed $40,396.11 back to the district. The high school raised $11,949.61 to purchase the grand piano. Dr. Loeffelholz said Foundation Director, Nicole Anderson started on January 3.

Attachments: (1)

Foundation Report

1/8/2019 at 4:59 PM

I.H. Business Operations and Human Relations

I.H.1. Policies

I.H.2. Administrative Functions

I.H.2.1. Charitable Giving Fundraising Applications

Discussion: Melick said these are fundraisers that don’t go directly to student activities or the classroom. Lost Creek is wanting to do the Heart Challenge, which raises funds for the American Heart Association. The CHS Key Club is collecting items to be given to the Center for Survivors. The Diamond Dancers will be selling Trevor’s Fight bracelets and doing a pass the bucket at Jam the Gym. The money raised will go toward a scholarship fund. CLS and Autism Coffee Service will sell coffee to students for 50 cents the money will be used to purchase this for the service.

Attachments: (1)

School Fund Raising Apps

1/11/2019 at 4:45 PM

I.H.2.2. New 1st Grade position at Emerson Elementary

Discussion: Since the start of the second semester, several new first graders have enrolled at Emerson Elementary. The class sizes are now large enough for the creation of another first grade position. This will mean three sections. Board members expressed concerned about the students will be divided. Dr. Loeffelholz said the teachers are collaborating to determine which could make the transition the easiest. He said in the first grade, there are several special education, EL and newly arrived students. The person hired will be on a semester contract. Dr. Loeffelholz said there have been some student teachers who have done well and may want the job for the semester. Melick said the money to fund the positon will come out of the depreciation fund. He said as the district builds the budget for next year, the position will be included.

In addition, Dr. Loeffelholz said the elementary principals proposed an idea of hiring people before the positions are available. He said if they wait until March, many of the good candidates are already taken. Dr. Loeffelholz said to figure out how many to hire they will look at early retirement and find the average number of hires over the last few years. He said if there are more hired than jobs available, they will be permanent substitutes for a year. North Park Principal Bob Hausmann said the purpose is to get a jump on the great teachers and get ahead of the other schools. He said when they wait to March, they are left picking the best of those interviewed instead of trying to get the best candidates. Dr. Loeffleholz said the elementary average of new hires is 8, and the administration is looking at hiring 6. He said there are already some who they know will not be coming back.

I.H.3. Updates

Discussion: There were nine people who attended the meetings on the Teacher Early Retirement Incentive and two were administrators. If they are interested, an application must be made and the board must give approval. Negotiations will not be done this year because of the two-year agreement. Melick said the only way they would have to negotiate would be if benefits took a big jump or something drastically changed. The base salary increased $500. The deductible for EHA increased from $900 to $1050. There is also an increase in seven extra duty categories. Letters will be sent asking personnel if they are coming back next year in mid-February. They have until March 15 to respond. Melick said if the district is not planning on bringing someone back, he or she must be notified by April 15. Teachers that are offered a position late can be released without a suitable replacement up to May 1. After that time period, a suitable replacement must be found before he or she can be released

I.I. Buildings & Sites/Technology

I.I.1. Policies

I.I.2. Administrative Functions

I.I.3. Updates

Discussion: Executive Director of Operations and Technology Leonard Kwapnioski said there is plenty activity going on at the Kramer Education Center. Kwapnioski and CPS Foundation Director Nicole Anderson worked with the Columbus Telegram to publish an article about the Kramer Education Center because of all the wrong information in the community about the project. He said RVW architect Dan Keiter was even getting calls from businesses wanting to know what was going on. Kwapnioski said hopefully the demolition will start soon. It will begin in the southwest corner and move from west to east. Kwapnioski said Tucker Masonry is very excited about the project and saving some of the large stones. He said to replace all the concrete blocks that were removed from the building, it would cost between $80,000-$90,000. Kwapnioski said there were 18 pallets of items saved. He said they have run into some electrical issues in the building. He said overall things are going well and the community has responded positively about the project. Kwapnioski said he has speaking engagements set with the Optimist Club and Dr. Fred Bellum’s coffee group. He said in the near future, he will be talking to the board about renaming the football field at CHS to honor the history of Kramer. The items that were saved will be used to make an entrance to the football field. Kwapnioski said the Kramer building was very well built, and there is a lot of steel in it. The corner stone will be staying and will be incorporate back into the education center.

Kwapnioski said CPS was one of eight school districts approved to have their own fiber. He said that most of the other applications were denied. He said he applied for $325,000, and the district would have to pay $60,000. Also, Kwapnioski thanked the board for switching to the paid Remind. He said recently Remind and Verizon no longer work together, so text messages could not be sent to Verizon customers on the free version. This is not an issue with the paid app.

I.J. Curriculum and Instruction

I.J.1. Policies

I.J.2. Administrative Functions

I.J.3. Updates

Discussion: Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction Amy Romshek said there are many factors that go into the AQuESTT report, and it is very complex. AQuESTT provides for accountability for a quality education system today and tomorrow. She said every school in the state of Nebraska needs to be accountable. Schools are no longer ranked. They now receive a grade of Excellent, Great, Good and Needs improvement.

AQuESTT is based on six tenants: positive partnership, transitions, educational opportunities and access, college and career readiness, assessment (state testing) and educator effectiveness. Romshek said the district received points for graduation rate, extended graduation rate, chronic absenteeism and progress toward EL proficiency. She said more tenant indicators will be added. Some that are planned to be added in for 2019 include: individual score growth in ELA and Math; score improvement (ELA and Math); non proficient score reduction; science proficiency and science score improvement. Romshek said the scores can be increased. She said a district must provide more resources to get a strong report. The overall district classification is good. Four buildings received a score of good and three buildings were excellent. Romshek said she will email board members directions on how to get to the snapshot on the Nebraska Department of Education website. Romshek said the dropout rate is one year only and graduation rate is based on a four-year cohort number. She said when looking at results, people must look at the CPS student population. She said CPS is very similar to other school districts near our size, and CPS is not that far off the mark from other school districts. Romshek said CPS is improving and was close to be moved up to a higher category. She said CPS scored 91 points and to move up had to be at 117 points. She said as the district provides more resources that should help.

I.K. Student Services

I.K.1. Policies

I.K.2. Administrative Functions

I.K.3. Updates

Discussion: Executive Director of Student Services and Special Education Jason Harris said things are moving forward with the Kramer Education Center. He said CPS has been developing steps toward an early childhood center. Step one is determining the need for an early childhood center. He said there may also need to be a community assessment done to determine enrollment and student needs, but there has been so many things done in this area it might not be necessary. Step two is developing a business plan for the center as to why we want this for the community, identifying team and partners, determining the business structure (such as would the district be fiscal agent or other community organization) and determine funding. Step three is deciding on the facility needs, beginning construction and determining marketing plans and enrollment. Step four is getting the facility construction and staffing complete, determining staffing needs, determining equipment needs, hiring staff and accepting enrollments. Harris said with an early childhood center, there may need to be a director. Step five is determining the facility enrollment, and making sure staffing and building equipment needs are done. Harris said when you write something on paper, a vision starts to develop. He said when the others and he attended a conference, he purchased a book that will help guide a person through creating a center.

Dr. Loeffelholz said the process is very similar to the steps that were used to build STEM. He said if the district can identify some partners and get them on board, the plan can build momentum. Dr. Loeffelholz said just like with STEM, a group like Clark Creative Group may be needed to get the message out. Theresa Seipel said there have been a lot of studies out there on childcare so maybe the district won’t have to do another one. Harris said there is a community group that was meeting on an early childhood center, but that group hasn’t met for a year. Mike Goos said that he would like to be part of the early childhood committee. Doug Molczyk said as soon as the building is torn down, the district needs to start working on the early childhood center and formulating a plan.

I.L. Superintendent's Report

Discussion: Dr. Loeffelholz said he will share a link from ADM Cares about a Jag story. He said he sent an email to principals and staff about Jan. 23 being I Love Public Schools Day. The schools will be filming videos that will be played during the basketball games, soup supper and wrestling meet at the high school. Dr. Loeffelholz said at this time, the district will also be starting the be kind campaign on January 23rd and doing random acts of kindness. Dr. Loeffelholz said there will be some prizes awarded for students doing nice things. He said the board video’s will possibly be played on the big screen in the gym or on social media. He said it has been a tough couple of weeks for the CPS Crisis Team, and they responded very well. Mike Goos said the West Park staff also thought the crisis team and the high school administration did well.

I.M. Board Sharing

Discussion: Board sharing will be done at the meeting on Monday.

I.N. Adjourn

Discussion: The board adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

Dr. Loeffelholz thanked Theresa Seipel for serving as the board president.

January 14, 2019 at 5:30 PM - Committee As A Whole

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