April 14, 2025 at 4:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

More Information:  Mission Statement - Milford Public Schools will prepare all students to be successful citizens: Our Mission is fulfilled when all students read with comprehension, speak and write clearly, compute accurately, reason logically, understand and appreciate the fine arts, apply suitable strategies and habits of mind to solve problems, utilize technology to communicate and to understand information and behave morally.

This agenda contains a list of subjects known at the time of its distribution.  A copy of the agenda reflecting any changes will be available for public inspection during normal business hours in the District Office.  Except for items of an emergency nature, the agenda shall not be altered later than twenty-four hours before the meeting.  The Board reserves the right to alter the order of items, as it deems necessary.

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Information concerning the Open Meeting Law, Chapter 84, Article 14 of Nebraska State Statutes, is posted on the bulletin board in the back of the meeting room.

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This is the public’s opportunity to speak to items on the agenda. This is also the public’s opportunity to speak to other non-agenda topics concerning the school district - since it is not an agenda item the board cannot discuss or take action on the matter at this time. To be recognized, all participants must complete the Request to Address the Milford Board of Education Form.  The District has established separate complaint procedures for any complaints, including complaints and concerns against individual employees.  As such, the Board requests that this complaint process be followed before discussion with the Board takes place.  Thank you for your participation.

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General Fund for $134,214
Payroll for $753,323
Total $887,537

Depreciation Fund Expenditure: $14,317 for a rooftop HVAC unit at the elementary.

There are many expenditures to Educational Service Unit #6 this month.  These expenditures represent the quarterly billings for our contracted services for OT, School Psychologist, etc.

Our current cash balance in the General Fund is $2,819,909.  This amount represents approximately 3 months cash on hand. 

With Board approval, I anticipcate being able to make a $200,000 transfer to the Depreciation Fund at the end of the fiscal year.  We can talk in greater detail during the August board meeting.

 

More Information:  PK: 37
K-6: 388
7-8: 138
9-12: 253

Three students fewer than last month.

More Information:  Attached is the draft strategic plan.  Once we have a chance to discuss the draft, I will plan to send the plan out to the entire group for feedback.  Based on feedback and final edits, I anticipate final approval for the board to consider at the May board meeting.

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Open discussion as needed.

More Information:  Attached is a redline version and a draft final version of the proposed policy.  This policy essentially requires students to take three years of core classes at Milford or another accredited school.  If a homeschool student wishes to enroll in school and receive a Milford diploma, they would need to enroll by their 10th grade year.

More Information:  The attached contract outlines the work Clark & Enersen will perform related to the HVAC project and roof project at the high school.  The costs for the services include:

• Design
• Development of Bidding Specifications and Bidding Documents
• Conducting the Bidding Process
• Evaluating Bids and Presenting Recommendations for Bid Awards
• Oversight of Construction During the Constrcution Phase
• Evaluation of Payment Request from Contractors

Once approved, Clark & Enersen will plan to meet with the board or committee to discuss and plan the phases and timeline of the projects.

More Information:  To fund the project we are able to use a loan to QCPUF for up to 10 years.  We have been working through Farmers and Merchants to set up the loan for the project.

• To pay the intial contract costs with Clark & Enersen, I would recommend moving funds from the General Fund to QCPUF.
• Once bids are completed and a contract for construction is finalized, we can establish a lending agreement for the costs of construction and the fees for Clark & Enersen
• Once we have the funds from the lending agreement, we can move the intial funds from QCPUF back to the General Fund.

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Below is the information that was provided to the Foundation Board of Directors.

Brett Ebert and her legal assistant Janessa Fowle have provided updates.  We started the process with updating them on the activities we currently are involved in, our current financial position and activities, and possible future activities and financial opportunities.  We then walked through our current articles and bylaws.  During this process, Brett shared her thoughts and how she would like to change our current documents.

1. They did state that there was nothing substantially wrong with our current articles or bylaws.  They did agree that we should update the overall wording and that we should update to ensure we had flexibility for the future.

2. Caveat:  Brett and Janessa did not send us a red-lined version of the changes.  They created new proposal documents as if they were setting up our first documents and tried to implement individual items we thought were important.  They feel these proposals incorporate current language and procedures, and all IRS wording, that will have the foundation in a position to grow financially and in a position to be involved in any fundraising activities or management of funds that may arise in the future for the school. They are broader in nature allowing more flexibility for the foundation board. They stressed we would just have to make sure we are not in any violation of state requirements in relation to our tax filings and use of our tax deductible position.  Tammy does a great job with this!

3. Brett and Janessa did share that the most important document for us is the bylaws.  They stated that the articles document does not have to meet or be worded in a way that reflects current practices.  It is the bylaws document that we should keep current and follow.

4. Currently, the way our current documents are written, the Milford Board of Education has to approve the proposed changes first and then the Milford Schools Foundation will approve the changes.  All future bylaw changes, as long as the proposed changes do not venture away from the mission of supporting the Milford Public Schools, will be updated by the foundation board and shared with the board of education.  As we all know, no major changes should happen without the school district's support.

5. Items that stand out:

   1. We could be pointing out a lot of items that had word changes to allow for more flexibility, but these are the ones that stand out:

   2. Number of Directors - now states no less than 3 members allowing the foundation board to decide the number of members.  Moved the board of education appointment or re-appointment of foundation board members to January instead of June as January is when the board sets committees, etc.

   3. School Board Member - bylaws will now state "a member of the board of education" and not state that it has to be the school board president.  They felt that the school board president may not always be the best choice for being a member of the foundation.  Mitch and I discussed having this position be appointed in January when the board president is making committee appointments.  

   4. The board will have more flexibility for voting and decision making.  Voting and decision making will be possible by email.  The board would then confirm the vote at their next meeting so it is accounted for on an official meeting agenda.

   5. Annual Meeting - moved this date from March to April to tie better to scholarship drive and honors night at the high school.  Also, changed this section to allow the foundation board to move this date to whatever works best for the foundation board members.  

   6. The board now has a lot of flexibility for creating committees or hiring/appointing foundation staff members.  They shared a sample resolution we should use when appointing Tammy as acting treasurer.

      1. If the board were to ever decide to pay Tammy, the board would have to work with our auditors on the proper process to follow. 

   7. Executive Director Position - they recommended that I contact other school foundations and get copies of their contracts with their executive directors and then create one that meets our needs.

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The Board of Education reserves the right to enter into Closed/Executive Session for 1) the protection of the public interest, or 2) the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual, and/or the individual has not requested a public meeting. When making a motion to enter into Closed/Executive Session, the member making the motion should be as specific as possible as to the reason(s) for executive session.

The Board President will restate the reason for Closed/Executive Session after the motion has been acted on.