Regular December 2023 Meeting Monday, December 11, 2023 7:00 PM as advertised in the Pilot-Tribune/Enterprise and on fortcalhounschools.org High School Media Center ROUTINE BUSINESS -Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM. There were 4 administrators and 7 visitors in attendance. -Note Nebraska Open Meeting Laws: So noted. -Excused Absences: There were none, all members present. -Roll Call: Mike Bonacci-Present; Josh Christensen-Present; Cassie Kelly-Present; Amanda Schrum-Present; Kelli Shaner-Present; Ted Welchert-Present. -Approval of Agenda: Motion to approve Agenda as presented. This motion, made by Christensen and seconded by Bonacci, Passed. Mike Bonacci: Yea, Josh Christensen: Yea, Cassie Kelly: Yea, Amanda Schrum: Yea, Kelli Shaner: Yea, Ted Welchert: Yea PRESENTATION: Mr. PJ Mallette Mr. Mallette is a 6th Grade teacher while still filling the role of Behavior Interventionist. He has been working with a new program, LiveSchool, addressing staff concerns and using it to alleviate some of them. It has behavior bridges and will work within our current framework of PBIS. It is data driven and is being used in the 4th-6th grades as a better solution for our older kids. It includes classroom management and positive reinforcement with both a teacher and student platform. Teachers can build this platform to pinpoint focus areas and give merits or demerits for classrooms, halls, restrooms, playground, and lunchroom. Students will be able to see their positives and minuses as they happen. Teacher expectations are a 4/1 ratio of good to bad. Our students average 28/1 good to bad which is outstanding. There is a rewards store to get these kids excited plus extra rewards to boost engagement in the program. Teachers can get the data to show successes and challenges to continue to get better and better. Different tier support helps to find kids who need more which also helped the demerits to drop off. This program’s impact is creating an instant bridge to the kids and building communication skills. The information is available to students to see what they’ve achieved and teachers can track the behaviors to see if they are reaching their goals. This is improving behavior and the data shows that. A question was asked about what data is being watched. It is the hope that all student behavior will go down from quarter to quarter with points up and demerits down. Mr. Green commended Mr. Mallette’s work on this in his spare time and continues his classroom teaching. REGULAR AGENDA -Public Participation: No one asked to address the board. -Approval of Claims: Motion to approve the Claims as presented in the amount of $592,608.14 from the General Fund, $720,385.20 from the Bond Fund and $10,095.76 from Savings and Depreciation. This motion, made by Christensen and seconded by Kelly, Passed. Mike Bonacci: Yea, Josh Christensen: Yea, Cassie Kelly: Yea, Amanda Schrum: Yea, Kelli Shaner: Yea, Ted Welchert: Yea. Mr. Green stated there were none out of the ordinary but did explain the elementary lease payment and the Bond Fund payment. -Claim from Abe's Trash Service: Moved that the claim from Abe's Trash Service be approved in the amount of $1,565.45. This motion, made by Bonacci and seconded by Shaner, Passed. Josh Christensen: Abstain (With Conflict), Mike Bonacci: Yea, Cassie Kelly: Yea, Amanda Schrum: Yea, Kelli Shaner: Yea, Ted Welchert: Yea -Consent Agenda: Motion to approve the Consent Agenda be approved as presented. This motion, made by Shaner and seconded by Christensen, Passed. Mike Bonacci: Yea, Josh Christensen: Yea, Cassie Kelly: Yea, Amanda Schrum: Yea, Kelli Shaner: Yea, Ted Welchert: Yea. There was a question about the balance in the General Fund. -Standing Committee Reports: Finance---Amanda Schrum reported on settling negotiations with changes including personal leave and experience brought in from previous schools. The superintendent’s contract was discussed and finalized with compensation for 2024-25. Also discussed was raising the preschool tuition, hiring a nighttime janitor, and getting bids for electrical work on the track. Mr. Green said since preschool tuition is part of the fees policy, the American Civics committee will meet and the change will be presented at the next meeting. The American Civics committee did not meet. -Superintendent Contract and Salary: Moved that the board of education extend a contract of employment to Jerry Green, Superintendent for 2024-25 with the salary as noted in it. This motion, made by Christensen and seconded by Kelly, Passed. Mike Bonacci: Yea, Josh Christensen: Yea, Cassie Kelly: Yea, Amanda Schrum: Yea, Kelli Shaner: Yea, Ted Welchert: Yea. President Schrum attended a meeting where it was suggested that superintendent contract and salary be set and voted upon at the same time. The contract includes a 3% pay increase, 5 days added to vacation and changing sick leave at retirement to be the same as in the teacher’s contracts. There was a question about the rate of increase as this has usually coincided with the teachers’ increase and why vacation days were added. The negotiations committee felt he was worthy of the 3%, and it put Fort Calhoun closer to the array. Bonacci stated this was still in the lower end of our array. The vacation days were added to match the majority of superintendents in the array who receive 25 not 20. -Accept the Negotiated Agreement with Certified Teaching Staff for 2024-25: Moved that the board of education accept the negotiated agreement with the certified staff for 2024-25. This motion, made by Kelly and seconded by Christensen, Passed. Mike Bonacci: Yea, Josh Christensen: Yea, Cassie Kelly: Yea, Amanda Schrum: Yea, Kelli Shaner: Yea, Ted Welchert: Yea. Kelli Shaner reported there were 4 meetings and after negotiations, both sides settled on a 2.71% increase. Also included was increasing the number of years a teacher can bring into the district and that includes not only new staff, but also staff already here. Some language was cleaned up for more clarity on time periods, and reimbursement of unused personal time for employees leaving in good standing was added. It also now allows accredited prior experience for teaching in post secondary institutions. -Physical Education Position: Moved that the board of education offer a contract of employment to Hunter Thomas as a physical education for 2024-25. This motion, made by Christensen and seconded by Bonacci, Passed. Mike Bonacci: Yea, Josh Christensen: Yea, Cassie Kelly: Yea, Amanda Schrum: Yea, Kelli Shaner: Yea, Ted Welchert: Yea. Dr. Wemhoff said Mr. Byrd will move to science leaving this position open. He is a graduate of Fort Calhoun who is now teaching in Iowa. We are excited to have him back. His passion is physical education, the weight room and kids. He is excited to be coming back and we’re excited to have him coming home. We had really good candidates and he was the best fit of the 3 interviewed. -Board Member Reports: Mike Bonacci complimented the One Act Play, Unified Basketball and that its wonderful when alumni come back here to teach. Kelli Shaner gave information about the upcoming Foundation Trivia Night. Amanda Schrum commented on the Thanksgiving Feast at the elementary, that the state school conference had great information, and she is excited for Winter sports and Christmas break. She thanked Mr. Green for reaching out to our community and kids with all that had gone on in the last few days. -Administrator Reports •Dr. Wemhoff: He is proud of our kids with the High School getting a rating of “Great” and our Junior High getting an “Excellent” rating from the NDE State of the Schools report. He met with NDE to see what criteria is used in these ratings. They use test scores, attendance, and graduation rates to determine them. He had a celebration with staff on their accomplishments and their prepping for the testing. Chriss Lloyd and the MCC held a very successful blood drive. She and her students did a great job. “There is nothing greater than the gift of life”. An alumni panel will be coming on Friday for our juniors and seniors to ask questions and see what it’s like after high school. There will be a Post Prom lasagna dinner on December 18th during the basketball games. Post Prom will be at the high school again this year because outside costs have really gotten high. He highlighted upcoming music concerts. Dr. Wemhoff has been tracking eligibility lists and has started going back to look at this beginning with 2021-22 through 2023-24. He showed graphs of the various classes/grades/failing marks and strives made over these years. Junior high is doing well and the high school needs to devote more time to keep the kids on track, but average failure grades are getting higher. An 8-period day would make it better to be able to support students other than those that already receive services. This would allow us to have focused study halls for those not able to stay after school. This schedule would have a positive impact on our students and there will also be the flexibility to get more courses introduced. He and his staff are looking at this as a team. •Mr. Wagner: PJ Mallette is the one that brought LiveSchool to our attention over the summer showing how it would impact students and interact with PBIS. The data collected is amazing and can be used to make decisions. Mr. Mallette worked with Miranda Adams to identify supports that are needed. He reported on the Thanksgiving Feast serving over 750 people; finishing the Winter assessments with students; the largest ever Preschool Little Pioneers Playgroup; and Chris Roberts is doing a great with HAL making sure we are challenging kids so they get a lot of support and connections. The elementary NDE rating is “Great” and the 6th Grade is in with the Junior High with a score of “Excellent”. The staff continues to impress with what they do—we don't get the ratings we do without them. The administration is looking at the data received in November for school improvement. Mr. Schleifer: Reported on the end of the Fall Sports and those who received recognitions; both boys and girls basketball opening their seasons with 2 wins each; girls and boys wrestling up and going with both a JV and Varsity tourney this past weekend; the Unified basketball game was really fun and they are trying to get a tourney set up for them; and he gave a shout out to the One-Act Play receiving Superior ratings, outstanding actors and 2nd Place Tech Team. The staff appreciation holiday breakfast is December 16th with the Waffle Man and Santa. -Superintendent Report: Mr. Green presented a deeper look at the board goals, now being halfway through the year. •Technology-Mr. Wilson is doing a great job for the district and is a real asset. An update will be coming from him in the Spring. •Continuous Improvement and safe student learning: Staff surveys were submitted and the administration is putting together an overview of the results; utilizing MTSS, PBIS, LiveSchool and other positive behavior systems to ensure safe student learning; new door access, committing to a fiscal responsibility in meeting our students’ needs; and taking pride in our buildings with several outside groups commenting on its cleanliness. •High performing staff: The negotiated agreement shows this-kudos to our board for taking care of our staff; Teacher orientation, teacher mentors, inservices and outside personnel from ESU #3 are available for support. Mr. Green is finding and using every avenue of recruiting to get good candidates to fill our positions, and get “Fort Calhoun Schools” out there. •Vision: The administration continues to communicate celebrations, challenges, and needs. There is overall support from staff PK through graduation. There is constant communication to the board and staff from the administration, and several media platforms are used for parents/patrons and the community. He concluded by saying all are doing a good job of “hitting the mark” on these 4 goals. If the board needs any other information, reach out to him. CLOSED/EXECUTIVE SESSION A Closed/Executive Session was not needed. ADJOURNMENT Being no further business, President Schrum adjourned the meeting at 8:04 PM. ZNEZ PT 12-19-23
