November 13, 2024 at 10:30 AM - Educational Resources Committee Meeting

Discussion: 

Committee Chair Takako Olson called the meeting to order at 10:32am.

Discussion:  CEO Polk reviewed the linked CEO Report to the Board November 2024 document. During PDO planning, the structure of PDO was discussed. The committee feels if it can be emailed, it should be done via email. During the PDO meeting, there will be two breakout sessions, each with four options. This structure will be in place for the PDO meeting in January 2025. 

Literacy Update - The chairs of the tenants and the Commissioner are trying to be as transparent as the process will allow. At this point, it is likely the Coaching Tenant 3 will be rolled out in two phases. Phase one will include seven ESUs, two being ESU 18 and ESU 19, and the other five ESUs will be from the NEMTSS regions. The remaining ten ESUs will be included in the next year. The first year will allow for any adjustments needed for the second year. Funding is actively being discussed. All 17 ESUs will receive funding. Committee Co-Chair Poppert asked how the five ESUs would be selected from the MTSS regions. The selection process has not been determined at this time. If an ESU is not selected for roll-out during year one, and they have a great candidate they would like to hire, the year-one salary will be absorbed by the hiring ESU until the roll-out takes place. Co-Chair Olson asked who would be doing the training. The decision on the coaching model will be made, but the decision has not been finalized as of now. The other training would be whatever your district(s) are using for Science of Reading. Co-Chair Poppert asked if this is being funded by the $1.8 million appropriation or the grant. The money the ESUs will receive will come from the appropriation. Co-Chair Olson asked CEO Polk if she knows when the training will take place and what the commitment will be. The training details have not been decided at this point. There will be collaboration for the training. Consistency in vocabulary will be very important for all involved parties. There has been great collaboration and teamwork with NDE. Students cannot excel in anything if they cannot read, so this is very important. 

Principal Support Partnership - The support would be for Principals and Superintendents. The NE Leadership Development Network (NLDN) team includes: Troy Loeffelholz, Mike Sieh, and Mike Teahon. The NLDN is trying to provide as much support as possible. The Leadership cadre and NLDN have been in communication. Dr. Melissa Wheelock is part of the Leadership Cadre, and she will represent ESUCC as often as she can during the NLDN meetings. 

Medicaid Billing - CEO Polk has had conversations with a couple of ESUs regarding Medicaid billing and how much of a process it is. CEO Polk would like feedback if providing a service to help with Medicaid billing would be beneficial. Should we have someone to come in to talk to the committee about Medicaid billing? The service would be a revenue source for ESUCC. Committee member Elmshaeuser could see this as being a beneficial service and would support CEO Polk looking into it. CEO Polk spoke with ESU 2 Administrator, Dr. Ted DeTurk, about Medicaid billing. It is a huge undertaking and there are numerous hoops to jump through. CEO Polk will invite someone from the ESUs already doing Medicaid billing to talk to the January 2025 committee meeting or board meeting. 

Belweather Report for Systems Involved Youth - NDE is working on a plan for students in the juvenile justice system to allow for transferring credits more constantly. Is there something the ESUCC could do? CEO Polk would recommend the committee to look into the Belweather Report. 

Nebraska Grow Your Own - Jim Kent from NDE would like to come to the CC meeting to come and talk to the ESUCC and how ESUs can play a role. Does the committee want to invite Jim to the board meeting or wait until the January 2025 committee meetings? Co-Chair Olson asked if there are any school districts or ESUs already doing this and recommended we share with Mr. Kent on what is already being done. If there are schools in Nebraska who want to start this, timing is critical. Jim Kent communicated with many ESUs and CEO Polk will reach out to him to gather the information he has already communicated. 

Discussion:  Scott Isaacson, Technology Director, reviewed the attached SRS Report with the committee. The primary goal for SRS right now is to update the operating system and make enhancements to the IEP form. The affiliate is currently in the phase of internal testing and will soon engage external testers. 

Project Para - The new registration process using Canvas opened in October. 

Discussion:  Andrew Easton, Distance and Digital Learning Coordinator, reviewed the attached Digital Learning ESUCC Ed Resources Committee Report. Digital Learning has many new things going on. The new NVIS site is live. 

Discussion:  Amy Schultz, SDA Chair, reviewed the attached SDA report. There was an SDA training session last week at ESU 10. Over half the SDA members are new as of the last couple of years. The meeting was held in person only, with no zoom option. Nearly 80 people attended the training in person at ESU 10. The SDA team will meet on December 12, 2024, to have a follow-up conversation on recent training. SDA is in the process of researching what training topics will be offered next year. The new needs assessment administered at the beginning of 2024 is what is guiding the training scheduled this year. Committee member Kanyon Chism let Amy Schultz know about her experience with speaker Jimmy Casas. He talked to Assistant Principals at the beginning of October and it was a great presentation. He is a great presenter and the information resonates with his audience. 

Upcoming events - SDA strategists will meet on December 12, 2024. The next business meeting will be in Kearney on January 14, 2025.

Discussion:  Shirley Vargas, NDE School Transformation Officer and Office Administrator, provided the NDE update to the committee. Dr. Vargas reviewed the linked ESUCC Ed Resources Committee NDE Updates document. The State Board of Education will meet December 5-6, 2024 in Lincoln. There will be four new board members in January 2025. CEO Polk notified Dr. Vargas if the Commissioner would like her to communicate with the new board members about what ESUs and the ESUCC are, and what they do, she would be more than happy to do so. If anyone has any questions, input, or feedback about the District Management Group (DMG), reach out to Dr. Vargas. 

Discussion: 

No additional agenda items to add to the next committee meeting.

Discussion: 

The Educational Resources Committee meeting adjourned at 11:41am.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Mindy Reed, Executive Secretary.