MINUTES - REGULAR MEETING -May 8, 2000

MINUTES - REGULAR MEETING –September 14, 2009 Central Administration Office Boardroom

Notice of the meeting was given in advance by publication and/or posting in accordance with the Board approved method for giving notice of meetings. Notice of this meeting was given in advance to all members of the Board of Education. Availability of the agenda was communicated in the publicized notice and a current copy of the Agenda was maintained as stated in the publicized notice. All proceedings of the Board of Education, except as may be hereinafter noted, were taken while the convened meeting was open to attendance of the public.

1. CALL TO ORDER:

At the beginning of this meeting, the chairperson announced and informed the public that a current copy of the Open Meeting Act is posted on the West wall of the meeting room.

Mitch Deines called the regular meeting to order at 7:30 PM at the Central Administration Boardroom. Those members present: Monte Lofing, Steve Winter, Jon Zimmerman, Terry Cossel, Tobias Tempelmeyer, Lisa Pieper and Randy Coleman. Jim Spangler was absent from the meeting. Dr. Dale Kruse, Secretary of the Board was also present.

2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:

The Board of Education and those attending the meeting recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

3. CONSENT AGENDA:

a. Moved by Steve Winter, seconded by Tobias Tempelmeyer that the agenda be approved as submitted.

ROLL CALL: Aye: Lofing, Winter, Zimmerman, Deines, Cossel, Tempelmeyer, Pieper and Coleman Nay: None Motion Carried

b. Moved by Steve Winter, seconded by Tobias Tempelmeyer that the minutes of the August 10, 2009 regular board meeting and the minutes of the August 22, 2009 board retreat are approved as circulated.

c. Moved by Steve Winter, seconded by Tobias Tempelmeyer that the proposed accounts for payment be paid.

d. Moved by Steve Winter, seconded by Tobias Tempelmeyer that the budgetary receipts and expenditures be received and placed on file.

ROLL CALL: Aye Lofing, Winter, Zimmerman, Deines, Cossel, Tempelmeyer, Pieper and Coleman Nay: None Motion Carried

e. Moved by Steve Winter, seconded by Tobias Tempelmeyer that the committee minutes of the Finance and Facilities Committee and the Instruction and Activities Committee be approved.

1 f. Moved by Steve Winter, seconded by Tobias Tempelmeyer that the choice requests be approved - From Tri County 09/10 – Gabriel Hevelone – Gr. K – From Southern 09/10 – Nicolas Dunn – Gr. 7 – From Freeman 09/10 – Ashton Huenik – Gr. 2 – Jadyn Huenik – Gr. 4 and From Freeman 10/11 – Garrett Morgan – Gr. K – To Tri County 09/10 – Halah Lamberti – Gr. 9 – Corwin Barnes – Gr. 5 – To Lewiston 09/10 – Wyatt Currie – Gr. 1 – Adam Blazek – Gr. 9 and To Southern 09/10 – Kiesha Hollman – Gr. 11

4. OUTSTANDING RECOGNITION:

The Board of Education recognized an award presented to Beatrice Public Schools by Kathy Mullins of Energy Education for Energy. The award recognizes the organization’s efforts to implement an innovative people-oriented energy conservation and management program. The award for Energy Stewardship was presented to Bob McClelland and Terry Brethouwer. Bob and Terry thanked everyone in the District for all their help in making this award possible for Beatrice Public Schools.

5. INFORMATION:

a. Superintendent's Report – Dr. Kruse shared that Public Health Solutions will be sending information to parents in regard to the flu mist clinic for seasonal flu that will be held at each of the buildings starting the week of September 28th.

b. GNSA/Legislative Report – No report for this month.

c. Student Update – Bethany Randel shared that all fall sports are underway. Rehearsals for the Music Man will start on Thursday. Homecoming with be this Friday, September 18, 2009 against Blair. This week is spirit week, they will have dress up themes for each day, a powder-puff football game going on tonight and pep rally on Thursday. Students will be dismissed at 11:45 AM on Wednesday. Educational Planning will be on September 23, during the day at Southeast Community College. Parent Teachers Conferences will be on Monday, September 28 and Thursday, October 1. Bethany reminded everyone 1st quarter ends on October 21st. d. TeamMates Update – Joni Bruhn, Coordinator for TeamMates updated the Board of Education on the TeamMates program. In 2008 Beatrice TeamMates set strategic goals to have 9 board members and they now have 8, and also to recruit 60 mentor teams by 2011 and have grown from 18 teams in May of 2008 to 29 teams in May of 2009. Joni shared with the Board information on 2009/2010 fund raising activities they are planning. Joni also shared with the Board information, showing a 40% academic performance improvement, 81% fewer disciplinary referrals, and a 100% fewer unexcused absences for those involved in the program.

e. Dictionaries for 3rd – 5th Grade – Bob Moran and Dorothy Zimmerman, representing the Rotary Club came and shared that they had received a grant and will be distributing over 500 dictionaries to all 3rd, 4th and 5 graders in St. Paul Lutheran School, St. Joseph School and Beatrice Public Schools.

f. Start of School Update – Betty Replogle and Theresa Smith shared that enrollment is up in the Elementary. Betty and Theresa shared with the Board the names and positions of the new teaching staff. The PLC Teams have met and are working on writing their smart goals. Open house at the elementary has been well attended. Paddock Lane has seen a large increase in the number of students with special needs and has required some staffing changes. The new reading program has been implemented and staff is doing a great job. Betty and Theresa thanked Terry Brethouwer and the maintenance staff for great job of getting the roofs done on time and all the cleanup work.

Randy Schlueter shared that Middle School staff have defined learning as a process of acquisition and application of knowledge. With this definition they will look how this works within the Professional Learning Community. Middle School has also had a change in their reading curriculum using a reading program called Literature 2010. The Middle School has identified 30 students in 6th grade needing additional help in reading

2 and has created a yearlong reading program for them. Next year the Middle School hopes to have reading interventions for 7th and 8th grade. Counselors at the Middle School are working with students on social and emotional issues. Mr. Schlueter shared that enrollment in his building is up, but they too are also seeing students with significant needs. Mr. Schlueter also reported his roof replacement went well.

Jason Sutter shared that BHS is off to a great start with enrollment also up from last year. Jason shared with the Board the names and positions of his new teaching staff. Once again this year, the High School had only the freshmen students there on the first day, which works very well and they encourage the freshmen class to make a connection with the High School. This year the Professional Learning Teams will be working on developing a pyramid of interventions. The administrative team at the High School will be spending more time in the classroom this year, and so far they have seen great learning opportunities going on.

g. Student Enrollment – Dr. Kruse updated the Board that the enrollment on the last Friday in September is the enrollment number that is used for calculation of State Aid. Our enrollment as of September 1st was more than a year ago at this time and we would anticipate the enrollment on the last Friday in September to be higher than last year.

h. Board Committees – Monte Lofing shared some thoughts he had in regard to committees. Monte would like to see committee meetings set earlier than the week before the board meeting to allow more time for communication. Monte also questioned the necessity to always have administration present. Terry Cossel shared that in the past he had also suggested that staff might speak more freely if administration were not present. Steve Winter shared that at Finance and Facilities, Dr. Kruse and Mr. Nelson are used more as resources. Randy Coleman felt that Finance and Facilities committee is more number oriented, where School & Community might be more issue related and that maybe we need to look at each committee. Terry Cossel suggested that Instruction and Activities is not the same as School and Community and that maybe School and Community should merge into the Staff Relations committee. Mitch Deines shared that the Board had discussed this at the retreat, and while not everyone agreed on the committees, all felt it was reasonable as it works now.

i. Review of Board Goal # 1 – Summer Stephens reviewed Goal # 1, which is to ensure that a rigorous and relevant K-12 curriculum and instructional program is delivered for the purpose of raising student achievement. Indicator # 1 is to establish district-wide curriculum/PLC steering committee – This team has been developed and will be reviewing our essential learning’s to align them with State Standards. The team will also look at subject criteria between elementary, middle school and high school levels. Indicator # 2 is to measure increased student achievement in core curriculum areas of reading and math by 1) District ACT Scores remaining above the state average and 2) an increase in the percent of cohort students in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quartiles on the TerraNova reading and math composite scores. At the start of the school year a data retreat was held to review 2008-2009 testing data. Reading interventions at the elementary level have been implemented and we are now expanding in the Middle School. Next they will begin to focus on math interventions. ACT results were above the state average. The high school will continue the ACT Prep Class, ACT Parent Session and work with ACT Prep instructors. This year 9th graders will be given the Explore test, which is a precursor to the Plan test, which will be given to the sophomore class. Indicator # 3 is to assess the status of 21st Century learning. We have assessed our 21st Century leaning by looking at our technology plan and procedures for funding technology. We will be surveying students about what technology they have access to and this will give us a baseline for 21st Century Learning.

j. Superintendent Search – Dr. Kruse shared that the Board of Education has discussed the Superintendent search during the August retreat and agreed to continue the discussion at the September Board of Education meeting and then determine how to proceed. Mr. Winter started the discussion stating that he felt that this is one of the most important jobs that the Board of Education will do. Steve felt that a firm offers lots of services, expertise, and experience that would be invaluable in helping the Board make the right choice. Mr. Cossel stated the Board has the expertise and they could do it on their own without a firm to save money. Mr. Deines stated it is important we hire the best person possible. We need to find out who is out there and the expertise of a firm is very important. In order to move forward Mr. Deines suggested we invite the two firms that have shown an interest to present to the Board what services they can provide.

3 Mr. Tempelmeyer felt we should have a search firm come and present soon. The Board of Education then looked at possible dates for the two firms to come down. After these presentations the Board will decide whether to use a search firm or not.

6. COMMITTEE REPORTS:

a. Finance & Facilities – Steve Winter reported his committee met on September 10, 2009. The committee discussed facility rental issues and the requests of groups for how they are classified. The committee discussed different donation possibilities and how they would be treated. It was felt there was no need to make changes to the current policy at this time. The committee reviewed the option enrollment report for the month of September. It was agreed the current format was acceptable and that it provided the information being requested.

b. Instruction & Activities – Mitch Deines reported his committee met on September 11, 2009. Summer Stephens updated the committee on back to school data retreat with Dr. Tammy Heflebower. The committee was updated on the high school math course offerings. The committee was updated that the state of the schools report will be released on October 5th. Results of the 2008-09 ACT were shared. Jami Jo Thompson updated the committee in regards to changes at Paddock Lane’s ACE program and shared the current enrollment of students with special needs in the district. Summer Stephens shared that each building will have a Hal coordinator assigned to support staff to help with implementation of differentiated learning opportunities. The committee was updated on the current ELL program. Shannon Vogler from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation shared information regarding the organization’s support opportunities for Beatrice Public Schools.

7. PUBLIC FORUM:

No one spoke in public forum

8. ACTION:

a. Steve Winter moved that the Board of Education of District #15 approve officially adopting a budget for the General Fund in the amount of $21,878,034.86 and for the Special Building Fund in the amount of $ 3,865,360.73 and for the Bond Fund in the amount of $750,926.25. Monte Lofing seconded the motions.

b. Steve Winter moved that the Board of Education of District #15 approve officially adopting a property tax request for the General Fund in the amount of $9,177,703.57 and for the Special Building Fund in the amount of $88,247.15 and the Bond Fund in the amount of $750,355.51. Terry Cossel seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL: Aye: Lofing, Winter, Zimmerman, Deines, Cossel, Tempelmeyer, Pieper and Coleman Nay Motion Carried

c. Monte Lofing moved that the Board of Education of District # 15 approve the 2009-2010 Security Crisis Response Plan. Tobias Tempelmeyer seconded the motion.

d. Tobias Tempelmeyer moved that the Board of Education of District # 15 bring the question of approving the 2009-2010 Facility Rental Fees that was tabled at the last meeting off the table. Terry seconded the motion.

4 ROLL CALL: Aye: Lofing, Winter, Zimmerman, Deines, Cossel, Tempelmeyer, Pieper and Coleman Nay: None Motion Carried

Randy Coleman moved that the Board of Education of District #15 approve the Facility Rental Fees for 2009-2010. Steve Winter seconded the motion.

e. Tobias Tempelmeyer moved that the Board of Education District # 15 approve recognizing, at their monthly meeting, any student or school sponsored group of District # 15 that is involved in a school activity for function with a paid or unpaid school sponsor provided by District # 15 and that satisfies the guidelines set forth in Exhibit “A”, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated by reference.. Randy Coleman seconded the motion.

f. Mitch Deines asked for a motion to approve the three-year Inter-local Agreement with the City of Beatrice for a School Resource Officer. After discussion by the Board, Terry Cossel moved that the Board of Education of District # 15 approve a one-year Inter-local Agreement with the City of Beatrice for a School Resource Officer. Randy Coleman seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL: Aye: Lofing, Zimmerman, Deines, Cossel, Pieper and Coleman Nay: Winter Abstained: Tempelmeyer Motion Carried

g. Terry Cossel moved that the Board of Education of District # 15 approve Policy 6212 Assessment- Academic Content Standards. Lisa Pieper seconded the motion.

h. The Board of Education of District # 15 heard the 2nd reading of Policy 5115 Option Enrollment.

i. The Board of Education of District # 15 heard the 1st reading of Policy 8240 Employment of Immediate Family Member.

9. NOTIFICATION OF NEXT MEETING:

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education is scheduled for Monday, October 12, 2009 at 7:30 PM in the Central Administration Boardroom. An agenda for the meeting, which shall be kept continually current, is readily available for public inspection at the Superintendent’s office during normal business hours.

10. EXECUTIVE SESSION:

Terry Cossel moved that the Board of Education go into Executive Session to discuss teacher negotiations and Tobias Tempelmeyer seconded motion.

The Board of Education took a five-minute recess before going into executive session to discuss teacher negotiations. The Board went into closed session at 9:20 PM. Immediately prior to the closed session, the presiding officer restated on the record the limitation of the subject matter of the closed session.

5 The Board of Education returned to open session at 9:48 PM.

11. ADJOURNMENT:

Monte Lofing moved that the board adjourn and Jon Zimmerman seconded the motion.

Meeting adjourned at 9:49 PM.

______Dale F. Kruse, Ed.D., Superintendent Date