February 6, 2025 at 8:30 AM - ESUCC Regular Board Meeting

Discussion:  The Board Meeting was called to order at 8:31am.

Discussion:  No visitors present.

Discussion:  No public comments were provided.

Discussion:  Shiela King, AESA Chief Strategy Officer, attended the board meeting and reviewed the attached slides. 

ESUCC CEO Polk discussed the need to include ESUCC staff in the strategic planning process. AESA recommends the planning committee to consist of a chair from each committee and one ESUCC staff member. Most of the meetings would be virtual meetings with some in-person meetings throughout the process. Board President, Dr. McNiff, asked the board to think about the need for additional proposals and when might be a good time to start the process. 

Questions:

• Is there a ballpark for when we would start, and how long the process would take?
  • The timeframe discussion is part of the next steps along with budget and working with leadership to manage logistics of the project. One idea is to start in the summer/fall and have something by the end of the year, or we could use the bold steps as a jumping off point and do planning in the 1st and 2nd quarter of the following year.
• What is the average cost of this process?
  • Ms. King would need to map out with the planning team or ESUCC CEO Polk the number of groups and the number of interviews needed. Ms. King spoke with Joan Wade, AESA, about a range, and it is between $15,000-$35,000, depending on the time it takes.
• How full is your plate, Dr. Polk?
  • The process would need to be done in a timeframe considering Dr. Polk's calendar. 
• If the strategic planning process starts in June, when would the goals be effective? Would it be easiest to roll with an academic year instead of a calendar year?
  • If the strategic planning process is done in December, we could make intentional time to begin rolling it out in the spring with full implementation the following fall. 
• When would you like a decision made?
  • April is preferred. This timeline works for Ms. King and gives her time to get a more targeted proposal prepared.
• Are there any other vendors? Have we looked at anyone else? Have we considered anything else?
  • Dr. Polk can pull together other proposals if that is what the board would prefer. Dr. Wheelock, ESUC 10 Administrator, discussed an organization she used for their strategic planning process. Dr. Schnoes does not think we will find another company more versed in ESUs than AESA.
• Are we trying to create a more focused vision collectively? Are we adding another tier of things we need to do and cannot get to?
  • The board is ESUCC and provides governance to ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk. When strategic planning is done, they work with the board and staff to create a plan for the agency. There are a lot of projects coming to ESUCC CEO Polk, and if there was a solid vision, Dr. Polk would have more guidance on what she could say yes or no to. Bold steps have been valuable but could possibly be more structured. 
• Is this the right year to do the strategic planning? Could this be done in the fall or summer of next year? 
  • The summer and the fall would be the best times to start the strategic planning process. Next year is a short legislative session, so it may be better. Dr. Polk does not want to wait another year for reimagining PDO, but that can be done separately from the strategic planning process. 

Discussion:  Becky Sosalla, Nebraska PowerSchool Cooperative Director, reviewed the linked slides with the ESUCC board.
 

Discussion:  Gerald Kuhn attended via Zoom to provide the Learning Community update to the board. The Learning Community is wrapping up their strategic plan for the next three years. It is a very strenuous process but worth it to have that lighthouse for the Learning Community. There are three new board members. The Learning Community has been losing participants due to the threat of deportation. 

Discussion:  Dr. Wingard provided an NCSA update. Admin Days are coming quickly. Amy Poggenklass, NCSA, is handling the Admin Days hotel reservations. February 11th is the date the hotel reservations open. Admin Days is still in need of presentation proposals. February 21 is the date to get the proposals in for Admin Days.

Discussion:  Dr. Shirley Vargas joined via Zoom, and reviewed the linked NDE Updates. 

Questions:

•  Rule 21 and Rule 24 were approved last November, and are on the Attorney General's desk. Do you know when that will be approved?
  • Dr. Vargas will check into this.
• Has the Behavior Intervention money been released from NDE yet?
  • An amended contract was signed, we are just waiting for the funds to be released.

Discussion:  Dr. Schnoes provided the AESA update to the board. Legislative work is continually being done. 

Discussion:  ESUCC CEO Polk needs clarification on the spend down report timeline. There will be money deposited into the ESUCC account. Contracts are signed and in. When ESUCC gets the dollars, the bills ESUCC has for BITS will be paid from the admin fees. The remainder of the money will be distributed based on the formula previously submitted. The ESUs will receive a letter from the ESUCC describing what documentation is necessary. There are three areas BITS covers.

Questions:

• BIRT system. When will this be active?
  • BIRT is active, and the link is on the one-pager. The link to BIRT is on the one-pager.
• Are the ESUs entering information for the districts in BIRT or are the districts entering it themselves?
  • ESU 2 does it for the districts. ESUs and districts have access to BIRT.
• Is there a defined date when information has to be submitted in BIRT?
  • Yes, there is a date on the one-pager. 

Discussion:  ESUCC CEO Polk provided the legislative update to the board. There is a small Ad-Hoc committee that meets with Jason Bromm. ESUCC CEO Polk reviewed the attached ESUCC 2025 Legislative Positions. The action was amended to give Dr. Polk the authority to work with the legislative bills to represent ESUs in Nebraska.

Discussion:  ESUCC CEO Dr. Polk reviewed the attached ESUCC Legislative Day 2025 document. Two people will be at each display. Dr. Polk would recommend you bring handouts for each table. This year, the legislative day is focused around core services. 
 

Discussion:  Dr. Schnoes introduced Sasha Pudelski. Sasha Pudelski reviewed the attached Nebraska PP slides.


 

Discussion:  Dr. DeTurk - No lead report.

Discussion:  Dr. Wheelock - No Influence & Invest report.

Discussion:  Drew Harris - Forwarded the responses from the last Advocate committee. 

Discussion:  Dr. Schnoes - No updates at this time. 

Discussion:  Co-Chair Robke referred to the Information Services Committee Meeting Minutes attached.

Discussion:  Co-Chair Poppert referred to the attached Educational Resources Committee Meeting Minutes.

Questions:

• Will there be any transition days with the Literacy Officer?
• There was an email sent out to ESUs in order to receive dollars for the current year. What information needs to be submitted?
  • Send an email with the name of the person and when they are starting. 

Discussion:  Co-Chair Harris reviewed the minutes from the committee meeting.

Questions:

• Why does ESUCC go through ESU 17 for payroll?
  • Staffing has to go through the ESUs to be NPERs qualified. 

Jason and Curt Bromm attended at 11:17am. The bill to focus on is LB 389. Jason met with Senator Murman on LB 389.

The Appropriations Committee is currently meeting and going through some recommendations from the governor's team.

Jason Bromm met with Senator Hughes. Regarding the legislative positions letter, positions should come from Dr. Polk or the board on what the positions are and if there are conflicts, that is good to know as well. 

Discussion:  Board President, Dr. McNiff provided the Executive Committee update to the board. During the discussion about how the last PDO meeting went, there were some affiliate groups who felt they were directed to meet until 5:30pm even if their agenda did not go that long. Dr. Polk reviewed the attached draft calendar. 
 

Discussion:  ESUCC CEO Polk reviewed the attached Budget Summary.

Discussion:  Dr. Schnoes received a public records request. Dr. Schnoes read the request to the board and asked if any other ESU had received anything similar? No other ESU has received this request. Dr. McNiff thanked Dr. DeTurk for the language sent a few months ago responding to record requests.

Dr. Schnoes provided a word of thanks and encouragement for the relationships built during trips to Washington and the relationships in the legislation.

Mr. McGown would like to recognize Mr. Picquet for scheduling a presentation at the ESUs.

Dr. DeTurk asked the board if anyone sent anything out to staff when the Executive Order for the Federal Pause came through? Some administrators did, but not all.

There are two postcard bills coming up, LB 149 and LB 430. Keep an eye on those two bills. There will be an amendment to LB 300. 

Discussion:  The board meeting adjourned at 1:15pm.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Mindy Reed, Executive Secretary to the ESUCC CEO.