July 13, 2026 at 7:00 PM - Regular Meeting

Rationale:  This allows the Board to approve the agenda as published according to policy 204.07.

Rationale:  Jessica Hedlund, with JAG Nebraska, will join us virtually to share about the JAG (Jobs for America's Graduates) program. 

Jessi met with the principals, counselors, and 3 board members on July 1st. Everyone felt this was worth exploring as a possible program to include at ACS.

Rationale:  Principals Kelsey and Cory will present the plan they created using research-based information and strategies aligned to MTSS in order to promote positive attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism.

We look forward to taking a proactive, tiered approach to addressing attendance. With a solid foundation already present, our goal is to provide supports and motivation to encourage better and better attendance throughout the system.

Rationale:  The last time we raised our sub pay was in the fall of 2024.  We have been at $145 for teacher subs and $110 for para subs for the last 2 school years.  It would be prudent to consider an increase to remain competitive and comparable to our neighboring school districts. The regional average for teacher subs is $145.  Rock County and Keya Paha County will be at $155.  Our last increase was $10, 2 years ago. Increasing $10 would put us in line with neighboring districts, who are the ones we compete with for subs.

According to Board Policy 4133, the Board or Superintendent will periodically set the rates for subs.

Rationale:  In order to hold a day of professional development with Franklin Covey related to the Leader In Me program, the calendar was adjusted.

November 9th is now listed as a teacher in-service day. If approved, professional developers from Franklin Covey will be on site that day to provide training in the 7 habits of highly effective people and how it relates to the Leader in Me program.

Rationale:  Kesley Angelilli requests to enrollment option her children Maxwell Sybrant (grade 7) and Myles Angelilli (grade 1) to Rock County for the 2026-27 school year.

The children already attend Rock County. The family has recently moved into Ainsworth's district and the parent works in Bassett.

Rationale:  Daysha and Timothy Norwood wish to option their son Theo Norwood (Grade KG) to Keya Paha County effective the 2026-27 school year. 

They live closer to Springview and have family in Colome.

Rationale:  Annually, the Board approves the student-parent handbooks.  The handbooks for this year have some typical revisions to be considered as well as items implemented as a result of the absenteeism work session held during the 2025-26 school year. 

Overall, the revisions are minor and do not represent a significant change.  Both Principals and AD will be available to answer questions and provide clarification.

Legally, the student-parent handbooks are approved as working drafts, allowing administrators and the board to make adjustments if needed.

Rationale:  Attached are the Teacher/Staff handbooks for 2026-27.  Other than the typical annual updates, there are no major revisions.  The Principals will also be available to answer questions if needed.

Rationale:  In 2019, ACS began to review and revise the Board Policies.  By July of 2020, ACS had made the switch to the NASB policies as part of the NASB Policy review service.

During the 2025-26 school year, NASB formed a partnership with the Perry Law Firm to launch a new and improved Policy Support Service.  The policies are closely aligned with the previous NASB policy manual but are strengthened with the partnership of the Perry Law Firm. Further, the policies will sync and be provided to the public through our Sparq website for Ainsworth. The new service will allow more automatic updates of policies made available to the public upon board approval.

Superintendent Hafer has been working with the NASB staff to review and inventory policies since May.  It is recommended we move forward with approving the first reading and adoption of the new NASB/Perry Policy manual as provided through the NASB Policy Review Service.

The policies are available at our newly developed "policy site" as provided by Sparq through NASB:

https://policies.sparqdata.com/NASB/browse/ainsworthset

Once we approve the new policies with a first and second reading, we will start another cycle of policy review. 

Rationale:  Conditioned Air Mechanical replaced a motor that failed on the air handler that takes care of the 2nd and 3rd floors of the high school.  The total for the repair was $7,568, and it is recommended that we use depreciation funds to pay the invoice.

Rationale:  The next regular meeting of the Board will be August 10, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. The Board will host the annual Budget Retreat on August 24, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. The current agendas will be available for public inspection in the office of the superintendent.