May 9, 2022 at 5:30 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

STRIVE  -  COMMIT  -  SUCCEED  -  District Mission Statement

Schuyler Community Schools in partnership with parents, students, and the community is committed to educate students to become skilled, knowledgeable and responsible citizens in a global society - District Vision Statement

Notice of this meeting was given in advance according to State Law 84-1411, by giving notice of the meeting to the public.  Notice of this meeting was also given in advance to all members of the Board of Education

Rationale: 

This meeting has been preceded by advance notice and is hereby declared to be in open session.  A copy of the Open Meetings Act is posted in the front of the meeting room.

Nebraska Open Meetings Act:  http://nitc.nebraska.gov/documents/statutes/NebraskaOpenMeetingsAct_current.pdf

Rationale:  Discuss, Consider and Take Action on the consent agenda

Rationale: 

Rationale:  This committee is responsible for recommending approval of building/grounds and transportation programs, vehicle replacement schedule, building and maintenance and upgrade schedule.

Rationale: 
The pickup is for the building maintenance staff and is listed on the board-approved transportation plan.  They need a pickup for snow removal, pulling trailers, hauling mowers and equipment, etc.... 

The recommended purchase is a used 2015 Ford F150-XLT Pickup from Reineke Ford.  See information attached below.

Rationale:  This committee is responsible for budget, finance, and contract negotiations with administration, certificated staff, and support staff.

Rationale: 
Support Staff Retirment
1.  Rick Eller:  SMS Head Maintenance/Custodian

Certified Staff Resignations
1.  Sarah Ihrig:  SCHS Language Arts
2.  Cortland Cassidy:  SES Teacher
2.  Rachel Wood:  SES Teacher
3.  Gina Bossow:  Preschool SPED Teacher
4.  Nadia Morales:  SES Teacher

In accordance with the Nebraska Continuing Contract Law, all teacher contracts are considered renewed on April 15th.  If a teacher resigns after that date, they are to request a release of contract for the following school year.  According to board policy, teachers resigning after April 15th and before May 1st, are released without conditions. 
 

Rationale: 
1.  Elizabeth Pedro:  SES Para-Educator
2.  Abigail Linnerson:  SCHS Language Arts
3.  Austin Hauptman:  SCHS Physical Education
4.  Lilibeth Estrada:  SCHS Spanish Teacher

 

Rationale: 
Attached are the recommended support staff salary changes and schedules for 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years.

Rationale: 
See attached list and corresponding assigned positions for the 2022-23 school year.

Rationale: 
Attached are the School Nurse and Sixpence Home Provider salary schedules. 

The board finance committee is recommending moving the nurses to a salary position comparable to both Columbus and Fremont Public Schools.

The Sixpence Home Providers are already on this salary schedule.  See attached recommendation.

 

Rationale: 

Priority Plan Update:  This past month we were able to meet with our consultants on three different occasions.  We met on April 13th, 14th, and 28th.  We had a long list of to-do items, but I feel the meetings went well and were very productive.  We spent a great deal of time working on our presentation to the state board, as well as reviewing our instructional playbook for next year, our priority review, discussions on assessment, culture, and a variety of other topics.  With Dr. Head, we discussed ACT implementation and celebrations as well as coaching logs, collecting data, and embedding ACT standards into bellringers.  We also spent a great deal of time just working on aligning our strategic plan to our transition plan for the priority school.    

We continue to visit and coach a number of teachers every week as well as complete formal evaluations.  

We also spent part of the day reviewing our progress plan ratings and on areas that we rated as areas of focus for the remaining part of the year.  Again, this was a very good use of our time. It gave us time to reflect on what we have been doing, and what we can do to continue to make the remaining part of this year a success.  Again, this has been an excellent process, and I feel we are doing some amazing things here at Schuyler Central High.  We will meet with our consultants in May to complete the final year ratings for our plan.   

Below is a link to our priority plan, as well as our SCHS newsletter.  Again, if you have any questions or concerns, don’t be afraid to contact one of the high school administrators.

https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/908802/Draft_2018-2021_Schuyler_Priority_Plan__1_.pdf 

https://5il.co/nlww

Rationale: 

Preschool/SES /3-5 Principal's Report:  Mr. Comley
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  This month I would like to highlight Cara Neesen. Mrs Neesen has been a tremendous asset to Schuyler Community Schools. She has advocated not only for the children and parents of SES, but the community as a whole. Mrs. Neesen has helped SES grow and become a better place. On a personal level Mrs. Neesen has helped me grow and become a better administrator and person. She will truly be missed and I hope in the future Mrs. Neesen is back working with Schuyler soon. Thank you for all you have done for us!

SES K-2 Principal's Report:  Mrs. Neesen             
Program/Staff Member Spotlight: For the final spotlight of the 21-22 school year, I would like to highlight and celebrate the work and years of service of Mary Eckstein. Mary has been with Schuler Community Schools for over two decades and in multiple capacities. Saying "thank you" doesn’t even scratch the surface of our gratitude and appreciation of her work. Mary has positively impacted the lives of our students with her dedication to education and relationships that she has built with students. Mary, you’re a class act and we hope you enjoy your grandmother duties during retirement. 

Fisher’s, Richland & DO Dual Language Principal's Report:  Ms. Bebout
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  I want to give a big THANK YOU TO MY STAFF AND STUDENTS for their hard work throughout the school year.  We have completed NSCAS testing and are just wrapping up MAP and Star testing.  Is it exciting to see the growth that the students have made over this year!  We are looking forward to ending the year with some fun activities.  Please feel free to join us for any of these exciting activities!!!

  Fisher’s - 

• May 4th - Jump Up Day for the 8th Graders at the High School
• May 11th - Jump Up Day for the 5th Graders at the Middle School
• May 12th - 4th-8th Grade Field Trip 
• May 17th - K & 8th Grade Graduation & Awards Ceremony
• May 19th - Color War

  Richland - 

• May 4th - Jump Up Day for the 8th Graders at the High School
• May 16th - Field Day
• May 18th - 8th Grade Graduation & Awards Ceremony

Dual Lang -

• May 3rd - Trip to the Firestation
• May 11th - Field Day
• May 17th - K Spring Program & Kindergarten Graduation
• May 18th - Trip to North Park

Middle School Assistant Principal's Report:  Mr Banahan
Program/Staff Member Spotlight: As we are just wrapping up Teacher Appreciation Week, I would like to thank all of our teachers and staff members in our district for their dedicated service to all of our students! Every one of you makes a difference in the lives of our students every day. You are the positive person in their lives that they are excited to see and share not only their triumphs with you but also the hardships of life that they face every day! All of you show up every day for our students and make our schools a better place. A warm and inviting place where our students feel safe from whatever is going on in their personal lives. You show up to support your students in the events or competitions that are important to them regardless if it’s a school-sponsored event or not because you want to support them! I have seen teachers show up to youth wrestling tournaments, dance recitals, summer league softball/baseball games, and much much more, and every time the smiles on the faces of the students tell that it made their day. Teaching is a hard job and oftentimes can feel overwhelming, but remember it’s the little moments that make the greatest impact on our students' lives and bring the most joy. I truly want to thank all of you for all of your hard work throughout this school year!

Spotlight Upcoming Events: This month has been flying by as we are already entering our last week of school! This month has had a myriad of things happening here at SMS. Our athletes compete in their last track meet of the school year on Monday, May 9th at David City.  Students will be honored with Academic Honors on Tuesday, May 10th. On May 13th we have our R-Time celebrations, and Athletic Honors during the school day. We wrap up our year with 8th-grade graduation on May 19th.

Middle School Principal's Report:  Mr. Zavadil
Program Spotlight:   This month I would like to highlight our new staff that will be joining SMS next fall.  This hiring cycle was extremely competitive and the nationwide teacher shortage has impacted every district across the state.  In this tough environment, our schools were able to work together and recruit good staff to our buildings.  The district administration is working hard to do even more next year to support our new staff and to work to attend recruiting events to get the best staff in the most competitive environment in modern history.  

Staff Member Spotlight:  This Month I would like to highlight the work of Mr. Randy Martin.  Mr. Martin has worked for Schuyler Community Schools for 44 years as a coach, athletic director, and art teacher.  He also spends his personal time every year organizing the group powerball ticket purchase at the Middle School as well as organizing the end of the year staff golf outing.  Mr. Martin has been a great staff member that boosts morale around the building with his extra efforts and his gifts of cookies and snack mixes.  Mr. Martin art class is a highlight of many students’ day and he pushes students to be better artists than they thought they could be!  Mr. Martin’s 44-year tenure at Schuyler shows a dedication and commitment to a district that is becoming more and more rare and we are grateful for the time that he has given our students and staff. 

Upcoming Events:  We have already had a couple of fun year-end events that went great!  The 5-12 Bandfest was a hit, as well as our Freshman Orientation day, and the home track meet went very well. Last Friday we had our annual 6th Grade Track and Field day and the busyness continued for the remaining week and a half of school.

6th Grade Jump-up Day: will be on Wednesday and we are looking forward to reinstating this practice after a two year hiatus.  The format has of course been changed a little bit, but we are excited to utilize our R-time groups to give our incoming 6th grade students a nice reference and family feel to start their day when they transition to a new building.  NSCAS season is wrapping up and our teachers did a great job administering the tests.  The preliminary data is coming in and we are already diving into that information to help inform our practices.  Below is a list of remaining end of year activities that we have scheduled.

1. Honors Night May 10th (any non-athletic awards)

2. Athletic awards and R-time celebration May 13th

3. 8th Grade Graduation May 19th
    

High School Asst. Principal's Reports:  Mr. Steinhoff
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  In this month’s staff spotlight I would like to recognize Ms. Jazmyn Flores.  Ms. Flores is a Spanish and EL teacher at the high school.  Ms. Flores has the unique ability to relate to a lot of our English language learners because she had a very similar experience growing up.  She often shares her experiences and her stories with many of her students, and is a great example to our students.  Ms. Flores’ classes are engaging, informative, and students always leave wanting to come back to learn the next.  Ms. Flores is a rock star and has been an excellent addition to our team this year!

High School Asst. Principal's Report: Mrs. Ladwig
Program/Staff Member Spotlight: I would like to highlight the work of Mrs. Staci Shonka and Mr. John Sayer, our junior class sponsors. Mrs. Shonka and Mr. Sayer spent countless hours working to make prom a success for our students this year, and it did not go unnoticed. They worked with our junior students for two days to transform our east gym into an enchanted forest, and we heard nothing but praise from community members who came to see the decorations and the promenade. Both Mrs. Shonka and Mr. Sayer chaperoned the dance and was seen tearing up the dance floor, which is something our students appreciated immensely. Thank you to both of these teachers!
Notable Topics: Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week, and I would like to thank all of our teachers for their hard work every single day. Teaching is something that no one can truly understand unless you’ve been a teacher yourself. Our staff works tirelessly to plan lessons, meet with students as a trusted adult, sponsor activities, and coach sports, and their hard work and dedication does not go unnoticed. Thank you to our teachers at SCHS!

High School Principal's Report:  Dr. Lefdal
Program Spotlight:  I would like to spotlight Ms. Amy Johnson for the work that she has done over the course of her career.  She is always willing to do whatever is necessary to help students with a caring and compassionate heart.  Her ability to think outside of the box on how to best help students is nothing short of amazing.  I wish her the best in her retirement! 
Notable Topics:  The spring musical was an amazing representation of the great work that our school and students are doing.  Watching students work together to create an amazing performance, even when that performance might be outside of their comfort level, was nothing short of awe-inspiring.  Bravo!
Looking ahead:  I am excited about our students and the end of the year.  Our students have worked hard this year and I know they are pushing to stay positive and focused.  Many are excited to see the end of this school year and get on with a normal summer.

Rationale: 

K-6 Youth Sports Director Report Name: Cara Neesen
Program/Staff Member Spotlight: I would like to highlight the coaches of the Youth Sport programs. Thank you Elyse Belina - Volleyball, Blake Neumann - Football, Dana Schultz - Boy Basketball, Brante Hayes - Girls Basketball, Sarah Garcia (Liemser) - Softball, Drey Keairnes - Wrestling, Sheila Hoppe and Guilermo Guiterez - Soccer. I would also like to thank all of the parent and community volunteers that help make these programs run smoothly. The Youth Sport programs couldn’t run without the hours that these coaches and volunteers put in.

Warrior Academy - ASP Director's Report:  Ms. Bebout
Program/Staff Member Spotlight: I would like to highlight the Boost Conference we attended in Palm Springs, CA. The conference had many different workshops to attend, from Social Emotional Learning, STEM, Leadership, and types of clubs we can possibly run in our program. It was a great experience seeing everyone coming together from all over the world. Especially for Kimmi, who will be Director next year, and Aylin, who will be SES Coordinator. They both received a lot of great ideas to incorporate into the after school program.

Middle School Activities Director's Report:  Mr. Banahan
Spotlight Program: My program spotlights for this month include choir, band, and track! Although early into this month, it has been packed with huge accomplishments and events for our Middle School students! First off, we celebrated on May 2nd with our first ever Bandfest! This celebration showcased our talented musicians from our beginners in 5th grade up to our talented seniors in their last show. Along with each band playing, we also got to hear from some talented soloists, as well as our District Music competition winners! It was a fantastic night of music! We have the same opportunity coming up for our vocal musicians on Sunday, May 8th! I am sure this event will be as much of a success as Bandfest!

Along with our talented musicians, we have had some outstanding performances on the athletic track as well. Recently, we had 13 middle school athletes invited to Aurora High School for the A-Town Showdown, which is a premier invite-only track meet with invites only going out to schools south of Highway 91, to the Kansas/Nebraska state line, as well as Highway 77 in the East and Highway 183 in the West. Results from the track meet include the following.
1st Place Finishes:

• Erick Colli - 200 M Dash (25.07 Seconds)

• Boys 4X800M Relay (David Arciga, Yojan Cruz, Kevyn Martinez, and Jairo Aguilar) (9:52.68)

2nd Place Finishes:

• Erick Colli - 100 M Dash (12.0 Seconds)

• Miriam Deanda - 1600 M Run (5:52.24 - New School Record) 

  • The previous record was set in 1995 by Katie Cavanah (5:57.13)

3rd Place Finishes:

• Boys 4X100M Relay (David Arciga, Chris Ardeano, Kevyn Martinez, and Erick Colli) (49.29 Seconds)

• Kevin Mariona - High Jump (5’1")

4th Place Finishes:

• Yojan Cruz 800 M Run (2:21.16)

Other Results: 

• Miriam Deanda - 5th 800 M Run (2:37.72)

• Yojan Cruz - 6th 1600 M Run (5:19.02)

• Citlaly Martinez - 15th 1600 M Run (6:41.39)

• Perla Mejia - 18th 200 M Hurdles (38.46 Seconds)

• David Arciga - 7th 100 M Dash (12.49 Seconds)

• David Arciga - 8th 200 M Dash (26.32 Seconds)

• Victor Arriaza - 10th Shot Put 36’3" 

• Luis Marino - 11th Pole Vault (8’3")

• Marcos Gomez- 10th High Jump (4’9")

Spotlight Upcoming Events: Our upcoming events for Middle School Activities include summer camps for our athletes, as well as summer weight training that will help to give our athletes an edge in the competition. In addition to these events, we also have multiple students qualifying for the Middle School State Track meet held in Gothenburg on Saturday, May 14th. 

High School Activities Director's Report:  Mr. Steinhoff
Spotlight Events:  This month ends the spring sports season.  Both the boys and girls soccer teams have just finished up their seasons, and district track and golf are around the corner.  I would like to especially recognize our support staff, maintenance staff, and coaching staff as these seasons come to a close.  In the past month we have hosted numerous soccer games, a high school track meet, a junior high track meet, and our sixth grade track meet.  We are also in the process of organizing our year-end awards night.  We have received many compliments on the execution of our events, and this would not have been possible without the work that goes on behind the scenes by our whole staff. 
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  This month, I would like to spotlight coach Lyndon Beebe.  Coach Beebe does an excellent job of not only teaching the fundamentals of soccer, but also the importance of hard work, discipline, and teamwork.  Although Coach Beebe has a lot of experience, he is always looking for new ways to improve his team and help both his students and players grow as individuals.  Mr. Beebe is also the S-Club sponsor and is playing a big part in insuring the traditions and values of past Schuyler alumni are honored and held onto.  A special thanks to all his hard work on the field and in the classroom!
NSAA Spotlight High School:  This month Schuyler Central High School was the feature high school with a focus on the Fine Arts Program.  Congratulations to the staff and students on your success.  See link to the article below.

https://www.nebraska-advantage.org/performing-arts-programs-soaring-success-schuyler-central

Special Education Director's Report:  Mrs. Vrba
Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  As Henry Ford's quote about teamwork states, "Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success."
Well, that totally sums up our year!! With the change in Rule 51, we
realized that the beginning of the school year until Thanksgiving was
going to be filled with lots of testing and IEPs so our 14 to 21-year olds could have a written Transition Plan assembled in their IEP. Pattie Rea was busy scheduling IEP dates on the Special Education calendar daily and/or changing dates daily. (Sometimes, it felt like the calendar was changing by the minute!) One of Pattie's main responsibilities is to check over MDT/IEPs paperwork...she watches for original signatures, all the dates are correct and match the MDT/IEP dates, identification statements along with receiving all final paperwork. Her seven 4-drawer fireproof filing cabinets and the case managers' completed IEP documents are sacred to her...you don't touch them without her permission!! (If some paperwork is missing, look out...she will hunt you down!! We love teasing her!) April Becker, our school psychologist,
set an all-time record! She conducted 200 + testing sessions, wrote 100+
MDTs so the testing results could be shared with our parents, did numerous classroom observations and worked side-by-side with teachers to generate solutions to challenging classroom situations. She fields numerous questions throughout the day...most are from classroom teachers or special education teachers or para-professionals or building administrators or her Special Education Director who will be forever learning the World of Special Education. Honestly, April and I have many meaningful and valuable brainstorming sessions...we both bring different attributes to the discussions.
   As Team SPED wraps up yet another year, I am so humble to have the
opportunity to work with a number of amazing professionals. As Dominique Wilkins says..."You are only as good as your team." But Pat Riley has a better quote..."There are only two options regarding commitment. You are in or out. There is no such thing as a life in-between." Team SPED is ALL in!!

Curriculum, Assessment & Instruction Director's Report:  Dr. Gibbons
Program/Staff Member Spotlight: I’m sure I’ve said it before but I am going to highlight the work of Katie Bertrand at SCHS, Paula Kment at SMS and Meridith Riha at SES for their work on ensuring that all of our students are tested.  We should come out of this testing season with an across the board 100% participation rate.  These three counselors are in charge of testing at their schools.  Mindy Perrin, the curriculum office assistant, is also essential for getting the data uploaded that we need to be able to test and track testing of our students.  I am also congratulating the teachers at Fisher’s and Richland for their work in getting all their students tested.
Since the Last Board Meeting,  We have been working to get all our summer employment and summer school teachers and Para educators all lined up.  We will be offering courses and credit recovery at the high school.  Warrior Academy and STEM camps at the elementary and middle school levels.  There will also be specific classes for our English Learner students.
Summer PD:  We have lined up a variety of professional development opportunities for our staff over the summer.  Our next step in overall curriculum development is to align our daily learning targets and tasks with the rigor of the standards, so we will have Learning Sciences International come May 23 and July 25 to work with teachers on that project.  The Educational Service Unit in Columbus will also be offering professional development opportunities for teachers in the ESU area.  That list can be found here (Summer PD at ESU 7). 

Rationale:  Program/Staff Member Spotlight:  Capturing Kids Hearts Showcase Schools:  Congratulations to the SES Elementary and Middle Schools for being selected as Capturing Kids Hearts "National Showcase Schools".  See CKH Program video link:

https://www.capturingkidshearts.org/national-showcase-schools

1.  2022 Legislation:  See attached information.
2.  Board Policy Updates:  Attached is the first installment of new and amended policies from the 2022 legislative session.  I sent these to Jim Luebbe from NASB the recommended policy changes for him to review and codify to our board policy manual.  Policy Committee, please review these recommendations and any other policy changes you want us to send on to Jim or our legal council for review.  We hope to have the first reading of policy changes/updates ready for the June board meeting.
3.  2022-23 Extra-Duty Assignments:  Attached is the list of Extra-Duty Assignments for 2022-23.  There are still a few open teaching positions that may be tied to extra-duty positions.  We will work to have these finalized by the June Board Meeting.
 

Rationale: 
1.  May Foundation Meeting:  See Foundation Website
2.  Graduation:  Sunday, May 15th at 2:00 PM.  Board members with a graduate are welcome to give the diploma.  Please let Rich Brabec know if you would like to participate.  We also have a row for board members and Distinguished Alumni receiving awards during graduation.  I need to know if you plan to sit in this row or sit with your family. 
3.  NASB Board Notes:  See attached information