September 16, 2024 at 7:00 PM - At the conclusion of the special hearing, Board of Education Regular Meeting

Discussion:  Parent teacher conferences will begin on October 2nd.  This date was moved up a few years ago so that parents can hear from teachers prior to grades being finalized at the end of the 9 weeks.  The next board meeting will be October 14th.

Discussion:  Nancy Bailey went over expenditures for the month.  Mr. McMurtry pointed out that expenditures were very high this month because of ESSER III expenditures that are due at the end of September.  Roughly $188,000 of the expenditures are planned to be reimbursed through ESSER III dollars.  Casey Meyer asked about an expense to a bakery in Gothenburg.  Nancy explained that some donuts were bought for the student council meeting that was held in August.  Food expenses continue to be very high.  Last year's general fund transfer to the lunch fund was not transferred back with the expectation that expenses will remain high in the lunch fund.  

Discussion:  Mrs. Friend presented the administrator report as follows:

Board Meeting Sept. 16 - Friend 

Elementary: 

• TIP Plan Meeting for the upcoming school year, Sept. 18th, adding a Reading Goal.  

• First Parent Night was Sept. 9th, great turnout. 

• Partner Up Rodeo was on Sept. 11th. We took 5 students.

• Cognia planning begins for next year’s School Improvement External Review.  

• Fall testing completed.  Working on interventions and small groups, identifying those that need more assistance. 

• DARE for 5th Grade started this month, and Graduation is in Dec. 

• Prepare for P/T Conferences which will be at the first of October. 

 

High School:

• We are off and running!

• All teachers have their newline boards installed and in use. Mr. Madsen has even started recording his lessons on them!

• Fall NSCAS testing for 7th and 8th Math and English began on September 5th and 6th and all students were finished testing by September 13th. 

• Planning for Pre-ACT and ACT testing for 9th-11th graders is in the works. We are looking to administer the first tests at the end of October. We will then again in April. 

 

AD:

• All Fall Sports are underway, this is Homecoming Week. 

• The Jersey Auction is tonight at the Football Field

• Illa Gosnell has set two new course records for XC, one in Med Valley and another at the St. Pat’s Invite

• Maxwell Girls XC were the Med Valley Invite Champions, a first for the school

• Play Production is holding tryouts this week

• New Football Pants and helmets were purchased for Middle School Football. We ended up with 14 players, which was more than expected and we had to purchase 8 small helmets to properly fit the team.

• The new Hudl cameras are installed and will be used this week during the Homecoming Games

• Christina Smith, Cole Huffman, and Victoria Quick were selected to represent Maxwell for the NSAA Believers & Achievers program. 

HQEE -Teacher Evaluation: 

• Teachers have all been given their Evaluation Handbook, provided a Padlet with Danielson material to review if needed, and signed off that they received. 

• Administration will begin conducting Walk-Thrus (3 per year) and Formal Observations (1 per year for Tenured and 2 per year for Non-Tenured).  

• Also, the administration will try to complete an Eliot on each teacher’s classroom for School Improvement.  

• For TIP documentation, we also collect data on Explicit Instruction.

Discussion:  Mr. McMurtry presented the building and grounds report as follows:

September 2024 Board Report

 

• Busy as usual and already September and things are still not slowing down. More Tvs and stands ordered and installed. One more on the way.

• Hudl Camera has been installed in the new gym. Temporary power and ethernet has been installed so it's up and running for the games thursday. Will have to work on permanent for both in the upcoming days. 

• Due to the min. Distance needed for the camera at the football field I had to install a power pole behind the crows nest to mount the hudl camera to at the correct height and distance from the sideline. I will be picking up a lift tomorrow morning to finish installation. 

• Have many different buses/vehicles heading in every direction. Thankful for all the bus drivers and also the coaches that drive to different events. 

• Allicap insurance inspection was last week. I believe everything went smoothly and Carl was again very impressed with our campus. He did have a couple suggestions for us to improve our environment. We will be working on these in the upcoming weeks.

• Carl did bring up some van concerns and I believe Mr McMurty will be speaking with you about them. 

• Performed our start of the year fire drill and tornado drills in the second week of school. Also our bus evacuation drills.

Discussion:  Mr. McMurtry spoke on the following items:

Commissioner's Council - A focus was on AQuESST ratings and revamping the system working toward simplicity.  
The district audit is on September 17th
A desk audit for NPERS will be on September 19th

The state school board meeting is in Omaha from November 20-22nd.  Those interested in attending should let Mr. McMurtry know so that he can reserve rooms

The annual report will be given in October at our regular meeting

A vacancy on the negotiations committee will need to be filled.  Discussion was had and it was determined that Shaun Pagel will serve on the negotiations team alongside Monica Breinig and Casey Meyer

Mr. McMurtry discussed the threats that are circulating on social media.  Mr. McMurtry discussed his intentions of addressing students to establish the importance of not sharing or participating in the posts that are going around.  

 

Discussion:  Mr. McMurtry discussed ESSER III funds which must be obligated by the end of September.  A hot topic throughout the state is the use of vans.  Mr. McMurtry discussed a plan with the board to move toward other vehicles for transportation in the future.  ALICAP stated that all vans would be insured under our policy.  KSB law stated that the law hasn't changed in 19 years.  Their recommendation is to have some type of plan in place in the future to move away from vans used for transportation.  No ESSER funds will be utilized for vehicle purchase at this time.  

Discussion:  Mr. McMurtry explained that this is a requirement to have in place for the district.  With the resignation of Todd McKeeman due to a move out of the district, the district had to reacquire the assurety bond in Shaun Pagel's name who now serves as the treasurer.

Discussion:  This resolution now recognizes Shaun Pagel as the treasurer for the district.