January 10, 2022 at 5:30 PM - Committee As A Whole

Discussion:  Board members, Candy Becher and Mike Jeffryes were late due to the Lost Creek Listening Session. 

Discussion: 

JP Holys, Lost Creek Elementary Principal, presented on school programs and events. He introduced the new staff at Lost Creek. Mr. Holys shared the High Reliability Schools foundational levels and how Lost Creek is implementing the program, Safe, Supportive and Collaborative Culture is shared with students through Expectation Stations, which is taught at the beginning of each semester.  Lost Creek staff uses SOAR Tickets that are given to students that go above and beyond in safety, respect, and responsibility. Tickets are then placed in a classroom raffle and then if drawn can win something from a motivation menu of items.

Mr. Holys said they have been able to bring Eagle time back, which is exciting after taking the year off due of COVID. Eagle time is spent with teaming different grade levels to work on specific skills, and then practicing these skills. He also mentioned activities the staff participate in to stay engaged with each other, such as a "Would You Rather?" board in the staff room. Mr. Holys mentioned the Circle of Friends Club, the Ukulele Club, and the Where’s Waldo Christmas Tree, as meaningful and enjoyed events at Lost Creek. He also shared the PTO activities. Lost Creek has an awesome and very active PTO. This year some of the events have been Poppy's Pumpkin Patch, Freddy’s Night, Cookie Dough Fundraiser, and Cookies with Santa, all were well received. Student Council is an active group participating in leadership, monthly meetings, sucker sales, Red Ribbon Week, caroling, holiday food drive, and the Penny for Patients Drive.

Foundational level 2, Effective Teaching in Every Classroom prompts PLC’s to ask the four questions: What do we want students to learn? How do we know students have learned it? What do we do when students don’t learn it? What do we do when students learned it/already know it? Lost Creek have been using "Data Into Action" and have gone through the first cycle of collecting data, narrowed down the information and are tracking. Foundational Level 3 Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum: Proficiency scales and reporting is used with common language and common use for reporting proficiency scales. Mr. Holys said teachers stress where students are and where they are headed. They identify goals and how it ties in with work habits. He also shared the importance of getting the information out to parents regarding the grading, they will use building focus meetings, the Smore Newsletter, spring conferences and side by side conversations. They will have a question and answer session with teachers and parents in March, and curriculum nights in the fall. Mr. Holys ended his presentation with FLY LIKE AN EAGLE!!

Discussion: 

Mr. Hiebner, CHS Principal, said the draft is not attached.  Over the last couple of years, he has been working on streamlining the course book and making it consistent through each department. Additions will include, the new Health Sciences Pathway, the Wayne State Pathway, and Honors where needed. 

Discussion: 

Appointments by the Board President were discussed, committees will remain the same. Board Member Mark Brown will be removed from the Safety and Security Committee. 

Discussion: 

Financial Institutions to approve were presented. Chip Kay, Director of Finance and Human Resources said the BOK handles bonds and Capital One handles lease purchase agreement for CPS. 

Discussion: 

Dr. Loeffelholz said that we use Grant and Grant and Fehringer for local and real estate legal counsel. Personnel issues, we use Perry, Guthrie, Haase & Gessford and KSB School Law.

Discussion: 

Listed are the media outlets we use for press releases.

Discussion: 

Dr. Loeffelholz said that a name must be submitted.  In the policy and exhibits we use the title.

Discussion: 

Dr. Loeffelholz presented the documents for the annual review of Policy 502.01, 502.02 and the exhibit 502.02E1. The exhibit has the projected number for next year and the cut-off numbers that are used to determine acceptance or denial of the Nebraska Option Enrollment Applications.  Dr. Loeffelholz clarified that when a school accepts a student, they accept all students in the family.

Jason Harris, Director of Student Services and Special Education talked about the special services and special education programs. Typically, all of those programs are full, and we can’t accept option students. He also talked about tuition and said typically there is no tuition because we aren’t serving students outside our district. Dr. Loeffelholz also gave information on in-district transfers and said that there are specific guidelines. If a family moves from one elementary attendance area to another, the family is offered the choice of staying or attending the new school.

Discussion: 

Mr. Kay noted a decrease in the balance of the building funds, this money was used to purchase the 3rd Avenue property. Revenue is showing that the collection of state funding is at 33% which is on target for January. Expenditures show a lot of names, these are mileage payments to staff for travel throughout the district. 

Discussion: 

Dr. Loeffelholz talked about the certified hires and resignations on the list, Eric Edzards is taking the SIS Specialist position. He will finish out this year as a school psychologist and begin the new position over the summer break. Mr. Harris said he will be looking for an intern at UNK, we have had good luck through UNK.  There were some questions and discussion regarding the movement of teachers resigning at midterm. Dr. Loeffelholz said this is the first time he has seen this in the district and recommended the discussion continue in executive session next Monday. 

Discussion: 

Mr. Kay said we have hired some people to take the open positions. 

Discussion: 

Dr. Loeffelholz gave a brief update of the information on the travel report.

Discussion: 

The Foundation Report is showing contributions of $23,486.89 for the month and $154,934.25 for 2021. He also said you see Post Prom ramping up along with fundraisers being paid. The Foundation is working on grants for the Early Education Center. 

Discussion:  Mr. Kay talked about the annual review of Policy 802.06 Unpaid Meal Policy. He said the communication has been very effective in keeping families up to day on lunch accounts. He shared information about a new line at CMS called The Galley. This provides a lot of the students favorite menu items and makes it a quick way to get food that they want and allows more time to eat.  This line always offers 2 options, such as bosco sticks and hot dogs. Students still receive the required fruit and vegetable along with the main item, it is all placed in a bag. 

Discussion: 

Dr. Loeffelholz shared the proposal on adding another communications specialist to work with Nicole Anderson, Director of Communications and th Foundation Director. This person would work with HR, Communications and the Curriculum Department.  The idea is to build a library of resources for recruiting and training employees.  This hire would qualify to use ESSER III funds for the first 2 years. Using the 2 years as a trial period to see if the position is necessary. 

Discussion regarding ESSER III funding qualifications which does apply when used for recruiting and retaining staff. Mrs. Anderson said that adding the professional development piece in making videos is very time-consuming. Questions regarding students taking over the live-streaming responsibilities were discussed. Mrs. Anderson said we do have some students helping, however, some students are not mature enough to do all that is being asked.  The curriculum for the multimedia class at CHS is in the early stages, and Dave Heibner, CHS Principal, said it does need to be taken to the next level, and there have been some issues with scheduling.  Students sign up and then decide they want to just be a spectator.  Also, since COVID, attendance is not what it once was, so getting students there can be an issue. Some live-streaming does not have commentary because some students involved are not ready to commentate on the event. 

The job description lists a lot of skills and responsibilities, Mrs. Anderson said it is unlikely that someone can be found to do all the duties, they want to find someone with some skills and then work around that with Isaiah’s skill set. Dr. Loeffelholz added there is just not enough time to meet all the needs of the department. The salary range being offered would depend on the skill set of the prospective candidate. The hope would be that the instructional coaches could utilize training videos that could be created with adding another person to the communications department. 

Board questions regarding all the needs of the district and if this is the best way to use funding to assist our teachers. The answer is that recruiting staff and developing training tools for staff does assist our teachers. Should we use the money to hire more paras, the answer is we have para positions open now that we can not find people to hire. What are the retention issues, why are we losing teachers? Do we hire another teacher to teach these skills to get students ready to take on some of these responsibilities? Doug Molczyk, Board President, recommended taking this item off the agenda until more information is available and questions are answered regarding the position. Dr. Loeffelholz reminded the board that the last two proposals to add district employees were taken off the next meeting's agenda and all departments are stressed as well.

Discussion: 

Mr. Kay said we now have 94 substitutes for the district, this is the highest number CPS has ever had.  He noted they all do not work in every building. Having added some paras with local substitute certificates is really helpful. He also updated on openings, TERIP interest and two of the eight openings that have been filled. 

Mr. Kay is working on the RFP for food service, he is expecting 3 to 4 to come in.  CPS also has the choice to manage their own food service.  The data is really incomplete from the last two years because of the pandemic and the free lunch program that has been in place. He said he will recommend a four-year contract, NDE does have some rules in place to look at. 

There was discussion from Board Members regarding why subs won’t work in some buildings, and looking at hiring some full time subs to alleviate some of the situation. 

Discussion: 

Mr. Kwapnioski gave a brief update on projects. Work at Kramer continues with more steel going up tomorrow. He said Area B is close to having decking down. Some adjustments are being made on connecting the old and the new building. They are hoping to do a big concrete pour this week. The ICE House project is progressing, they are waiting on the garage door that was ordered 4 months ago.  Mr. Kwapnioski said the city did fill the pond, and two days later it was gone The city says there needs to be 2 feet of frost in the ground. The warming shack is mostly complete. He said the CASSETTE House estimated costs should be in by end of the week.  He shared that wood prices have started to escalate again, there is so much need and not enough product. Mr. Kwapnioski is glad many of our supplies have been prepaid.  Lease agreement with the farmland tenant is completed. He is projecting completion on Kramer by December 2022. 

Discussion: 

Amy Romshek, Director of Curriculum and Instruction provided an update of the strategic plan. The plan has a 5-year life span. The plan is rewritten every five years to clearly define measurable goals, provide direction and improvement for building and system plans, and organize a communication plan. Dr. Romshek shared the Academic Goal, which includes each specific goal, measures and how it aligns with High Reliability Schools. There was discussion on the number of kindergarten students that had been to preschool and how to capture those for better results. Dr. Romshek said that with more space for preschoolers, recruitment of preschool students would be another way to utilize the proposed new communication specialist. The curriculum used is mandated through the Nebraska Department of Education, making sure they are ready for CPS. There has been a decrease, which is likely because of the pandemic. She talked about testing and the two check points, the spring and the fall. Dr. Romshek provided data for the previous 5 years. The data shows that students proficiency has taken a hit with students being away from school because of the pandemic and quarantine. Dr. Romshek highlighted the approximate 30 certifications that are being offered at CHS, and over 60 programs of study. She also shared the Social-emotional Goal with data from the overall goal, and measures and the High Reliability Schools Alignment. In this section, receiving services within a certain amount of time was not addressed until 2019-2020 when we had staff to meet that need. Attendance standards are at 79% of our student body have less than 9 days absent. 

Office referrals are at a very low percentage due to training being done with teachers through Well Managed Classrooms and BIST.  Mr. Kwapnioski will report Goal #3 Facilities: Establish, equip, sustain, and enhance the educational programs of the District at a later date. 

Discussion: 

Jason Harris, Director of Student Service and Special Education reported that the Concussion Awareness policy has not changed, he also mentioned there is an exhibit which gives the procedure, the document is completed for each student.  Students are required to be cleared by a physician or one of the CPS trainers. He said the CPS nurses review the procedures each year. 

Discussion:  No Updates.

Discussion:  Adjourned at 7:50.