April 14, 2021 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting
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1. Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
Discussion:
President Gould called the meeting to order at 6:02 PM and the Pledge of Allegiance was said.
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2. Motion to Excuse Board Member's Absence
Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Burklund to excuse the absence of Lori Springer. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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3. Open Meeting Law
Discussion:
The audience was reminded that the Open Meeting Laws would be followed.
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4. Consent Agenda
Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Lange to approve the consent agenda as presented including the regular meeting minutes of March 10, 2021; March Financial Statement; and April monthly bills. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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4.1. Regular Minutes of March 10, 2021
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4.2. Financial Statement/Report
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4.3. Monthly Bills
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5. Correspondence/Recognition
Discussion:
Congratulations to Scott Tvrdy for being one of 10 students (out of 320) selected for the UNL Kiewit Program. With his selection, he will get a full-ride scholarship to the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
Thank you to our bus drivers who are always ready to transport our students to and from school safely, no matter what the road conditions are like. I know there have been several mornings that they had to leave extra early and drive extra careful to ensure the safety of our students and for that, I wanted to recognize their efforts and dedication to Raymond Central. Thank you to everyone (parents/guardians, staff, and Mrs. Stansberry) for their efforts in making prom 2021 a safe, fun, and memorable event for our students. May 7 is National School Lunch Hero Day and to celebrate, Nebraska SNAC reached out to administrators, teachers, nutrition staff, and parents and asked them to nominate school nutrition heroes in their communities. "Since entering the global pandemic in March 2020, Patty has worked diligently to ensure the students of Raymond Central have had access to at least one healthy meal per day. From serving meals during the week from March-May 2020 to creating the district’s first-ever Summer Lunch Program, Patty has donated her time and energy to support our students and families. Patty also planned and executed three weeks of meals for students over Winter Break and is planning to do the same over Spring Break. Patty approaches every challenge with an open mind and an action solution focus. For this, she is a hero!" ~ Nominated by Derrick Joel, Superintendent; Raymond Central Public Schools |
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6. Public Forum
Discussion:
Carolyn Enevoldsen, RCEA President, extended appreciation for support received from the Board throughout the year. The RCEA would like to propose to the Board that they forgive 1-2 make up days at the end of the school year after all of the challenges, teaching in person and remotely, and always doing their best to keep kids safe.
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7. Discussion Items
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7.1. Student Board Report - Sydnie Blanchard
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Discussion:
Submitted by Sydnie Blanchard, Student Body President
Graduation & Seniors Last Day - Seniors last day will be May 11 followed by graduation on the 15th. Graduation will be held in the main gymnasium and will begin at 2:00 PM. Junior ushers will be announced soon, limits for attendees per graduate have been lifted at this time. Prom - Prom was held on March 27 as planned and was enjoyed by all attendees. Deidel Photography was at the dance to take professional photos of prom royalty and all attendees. Guidelines held by our school for the dance and post prom was handled closely the same as surrounding schools. National Honor Society - New members will be inducted into the Raymond Central National Honor Society on April 15. Scholarships - Local senior scholarships were due weeks ago for seniors and will be announced soon. Thank you to our surrounding organizations, families and towns for extending scholarships to our students to aid in their journeys to college and the work force. Mental Health in Students - Mental health is a growing issue in high schools. Mrs. Stansberry and I want to work on making resources available for students struggling with mental health in our district. Many children and young adults do not have the resources to seek outside help for these issues. Surveys will soon be sent to students to get an estimate on what mental health looks like in our school. NPR Article Regarding Mental Health In High School Students: https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/08/31/464727159/mental-health-in-schools-a-hidden-crisis -affecting-millions-of-students |
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7.2. Administrative Reports
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Submitted by Allison Stansberry, Jr-Sr High School Principal
ACT was held on Tuesday, April 6. The makeup test date will be Wednesday, April 20. Prom 2021 is in the books! We are so grateful for being able to provide our students with this experience. Huge thank you to our chaperones, parents, and community members for helping us organize this event. This year’s theme was "The Great Gatsby." Both the dance and post prom were held at the school. The gym was completely revamped by the junior class and parents, it didn’t even look like a gym! Congratulations to our 2021 Prom Queen and King-Grace Mueller and Skylar Sterns. NSCAS Testing begins next week for our 6th-8th graders. The schedule is as follows: ELA April 12-16; Math April 19-23; and Science (8th only) April 25-30. Senior Shout outs-
Mini College and Career Fair was held March 31 with the following in attendance: Wayne State College; Willmar Electric; NMC CAT; Shanahan Mechanical and Electrical; Nebraska National Guard; Lincoln Electrical JATC; Peru State College; Concordia University; UNK; UNL; and Saunders County Medical Center. Graduation Plans are in the works. The ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 15 at 2:00 PM. Currently, we are at 75% capacity indoors. An email will be going home early next week to lay out what our plan is. Currently we know: Masks will be required; Band and choir will not be performing to allow us more seating; and Ceremony will be held in the gym. The only piece we are still working on is tickets per student. The gym’s capacity is 1,400. At 75% capacity we are restricted to 1,050. We also have to account for social distancing. I am hoping we don’t have to restrict too much, especially with not having band set up (that provides us a little more space). Submitted by Brian Gralheer, Assistant Jr-Sr High School Principal/Athletic Director Track season is off and running. Track athletes have competed well at Doane and Malcolm. Coach Brannagan was happy to report a number of personal best performances. The Lincoln Lutheran/Raymond Central soccer teams have had a great start to the season. The girls started the season 6-0 with a tough shootout win over Columbus Scotus, before falling to Omaha Mercy in a hard-fought 1-0 battle. They are currently 6-1 and will face Schuyler next. The boys have a small but hard-working team. They beat Seward last week, but currently sit at 1-6 on the season with Schuyler next on the schedule. The Branched Oak Bucks are off to a 5-3 start. With over 50 kids on the team, we have added a number of Reserve baseball games. Like most spring seasons, there have been a number of rainouts, but I have had many players tell me it’s nice to be back on the baseball diamond after losing last spring. After a successful live performance at the High School Pops Concert, I will be working with Mr. Luke and Mr. Strouf to hold the rest of the Jr-Sr High Concerts in person with restrictions for the remainder of the year. Electronic Contracting Company is on the homestretch of their work on a new sound system in the Main Gym. With a couple parts on temporary backorder, we are looking to complete well before our deadline of the May 16 HS Graduation. A big thanks to Jared, Ron, and the ECC crew for working with us to still hold classes while installing the speaker system. I am excited to work with the new system. I have been in discussion with the City of Ceresco about the possibility of moving our softball practice and games to the field in Ceresco for the upcoming fall season. Talks have slowed somewhat as Coach Prai and I noticed some areas where the field may not be up to code to hold a high school event. I will continue to work with the City to see what could be done in the future. The Central Players Speech Team recently finished 5th as a team at the State Speech Competition held at Kearney High School. Congratulations to our individual medalists: Grace Cadotte-6th in Poetry; Olivia Nelson-3rd in Informative; Eleanah Enevoldsen-5th in Persuasive; and Hunter Kohl-5th in DI. Submitted by Shelly Dostal, Elementary Principal at Valparaiso/K-5 Curriculum Director State Testing (NSCAS) - Testing window is now open for the Phase I Pilot. The format for the tests are new this year. NDE describes these as adaptive through-year tests. Since the testing is new, limited results will be available to the public. The ELA (English Language Arts) Test and the Math Test are being administered to students in grades 3-8. The students take the tests on-line for an unlimited amount of time. Students in grades 5 and 8 will also be administered the Science Test. Students who qualify for accommodations may take their test on the computer with accommodation. No paper/pencil tests will be given this year. RC also has some students who are given an alternate version of the test if they meet the qualifications. Mr. Steve Rose and Mrs. Keely Schaffer are facilitating the technology components for the on-line tests. Each school has their own schedule, with all the testing completed by April 29. Makeup testing will be given the following week. I held training sessions for all staff who will serve as proctors for testing. ACT - All juniors took the ACT on April 6. A huge thank you to Ms. Tasha Osten and Mrs. Allison Stansberry for facilitating all the many tasks associated with giving the ACT. Professional Learning - Teachers met on March 24 to review data and begin preparations for Summer Academy. Parent-Teacher Conferences were held via Zoom on March 9 and 11. The home-school connection is vital for the education of our students. Planning for 2021-22 - A parent meeting for all 2021-22 Raymond Central prospective kindergarteners was held on March 29. There are currently a total of 42 kindergarteners registered in the district for 2021-22. Visitation Day for prospective kindergarteners will be Monday, May 3. Transition date for 5th to 6th grade is scheduled for April 29 with a meeting for parents to be held in August. The hiring process for next school year is mostly complete with screening, reference checks, and interviewing. Thank you to the PTO for providing meals for the teachers during parent-teacher conferences. The PTO is sponsoring some end of year special events for our students. We appreciate their continued support. Other happenings at Valparaiso: We participated in Severe Weather Awareness week and practiced a tornado drill on Wednesday, March 24. Many staff received their second vaccination on March 25. Consequently, both March 25 and March 26 were very busy at school covering classrooms. Special thanks to all staff who did "whatever it takes" to make it happen. Students were encouraged to participate in a reading challenge during March. Valparaiso had 47 students complete their reading logs to document reading at home for at least 20 minutes a day for 20 days in March. Students who met the challenge received a free book. Thank you to the PTO for purchasing the books and to Mrs. Hlavaty for organizing and facilitating the challenge. An online Book Fair was held from March 4-17. We usually have a Book Fair at the school in conjunction with parent teacher conferences, but we adjusted for this year. Growth and Development was presented to 4th and 5th graders on April 1. Genders and grades were split. Nurse Amanda Ehlers led the video and discussion for each grade for the girls. Mr. Steve Rose led the boys at each grade level with a video and discussion. The Plant Sale will be held on May 1. Drive thru pick up is scheduled from 9am to 3pm at the Valparaiso Elementary parking lot. All ordering is now complete. A limited number of plants will be available for open sale. Thank you to Mrs. Kristine White and Mrs. Kendra Carlson for organizing the sale and to all who ordered plants. All proceeds benefit the Jump Start to Kindergarten and Kindness Retreats. TeamMates is hosting a Book Fair at Barnes and Noble located at South Pointe Pavilion in Lincoln. In store shopping days are May 8 and 9. The online shopping dates are May 8-13. Track and Field Day is being planned for the week of May 10 with upper grades attending in the morning and primary grades participating in the afternoon. Each school will have their own day at their own site to align with our current protocols. The Elementary Music Program for grades 3-5 is scheduled for May 10. To align with current protocols, the concert will be virtual. Mr. Strouf and Mr. Luke will record the segments and then send the video out to families. Positive feedback was received from families regarding this format for the Winter Concert. Plans are being made to host 2021 Summer Academy. Classes will be held in the mornings on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays with wrap around care available through Civic Nebraska for a fee. Participants will be invited to attend; notices will go out to families later in April. Submitted by Ann Egr, Elementary Principal at Ceresco/Special Education Director Elementary The window for NSCAS state wide testing is open from March 22-April 30 for students grades 3-5. Parent-Teacher virtual conferences were held March 9 and 11 from 4:15-8:00. Ceresco had 98% of the 137 parents participate. Thank you to the teachers for providing this opportunity for parents to support their child’s education. Raymond Central is excited to announce a new program for this summer. We will be offering Summer Academy 2021 free of charge in June. This learning experience will be offered by invitation only. Students will participate in a variety of learning activities based on his/her progress towards grade level learning goals. Teachers are designing engaging lessons to close the learning loss in grade level benchmarks for reading, writing, and math. Cross grade level groups of grades K and 1, grades 2 and 3, and grades 4 and 5 will be offered at each elementary school; however, these groupings are dependent on student need and participation numbers. Participants will be expected to attend each day the Summer Academy is planned. Summer Academy 2021 will take place from June 8-July 1 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Approximate times will be from 9:00-11:30am. A take home lunch will be provided to participants. Wrap around child care will be available through the Civic Nebraska Summer Program for a fee. Invitations to individual students and their families for Summer Academy 2021 will be sent home in mid April. The Kindergarten parent meeting was held Monday, March 29 at 7:00 in the high school new gym. Currently, Raymond Central has 40 students registered for Kindergarten. Special Education-Numbers continue to increase in the Special Education Department. In May, the final distribution will be added to the Board Report. |
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7.3. Curriculum Report
Discussion:
Administration presented data from the Fall 2020 to Spring 2021 MAP scores showing positive results. MAP is a summative assessment and adaptive to individual student learning. It is one measure of student learning with standards.
Steve Rose reported on the work of our EIR Grant which will enhance STEM and Computer Science throughout the district. |
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7.3.1. Review MAP Scores (Fall 2020 to Spring 2021)
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7.3.2. EIR and STEM Update - Steve Rose
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7.4. Superintendent's Report
Discussion:
The last day of school for students will be Friday, May 14 with an 11:45 AM dismissal at our elementary school sites and a 12:00 PM dismissal at the Jr-Sr High School. Teachers will report for the week of May 17-21 and we will also provide a couple of days for classified staff to make up for missed time due to snow days.
We served 143 four-day meals to students over spring break. Thank you to Patty Hudson and her team for prepackaging meals and making this possible. We are planning to continue the Summer Lunch Program starting the week of May 17. We are excited to announce the expansion of our preschool program with a stand-alone 3-year-old program. Right now we have 36 four-year-olds (max capacity) and 19 three-year-olds. We are currently working on the space where the 3-year-olds will be housed. Wellness Committee Update - The Wellness Committee met on March 31 to discuss the Farm to Table Grant, Monthly Meal Program, Summer Lunch Program, and also the Governor's Wellness Award. RC staff (over 60%) completed the personal wellness survey. The data collected from this will be used to create staff wellness goals. The committee will also be reviewing student movement during class time through a teacher survey. Teacher Evaluation Committee Update - The Teacher Evaluation Committee met on March 30 to continue the creation of our updated evaluation process and protocols. Significant steps were taken forward. The committee will meet on April 27 to finalize the evaluation rubric and develop the process that will be used. We will also meet a representative from TeachBoost who will be digitizing the process for us. COVID-19 Update - We will continue to wear masks for the remainder of the school year. We will also continue our mitigation protocols within our three school sites. We have received confirmation from both health departments that the variant strands have made their way to Nebraska. Thank you for everyone's continued efforts in helping to stop the spread of the virus. 85% of RC staff voluntarily signed up and were vaccinated. We have not made any decisions about COVID-19 related protocols for the 2021-2022 school year. These conversations will occur over the summer. PLC Summer Institute - ESU2 will be hosting a virtual Solution Tree PLC Workshop in Fremont June 2-4. We are seeking teachers who are interested in spending three days out of their summer to learn with the nation's experts on collaboration, MTSS, data-driven instruction, assessment, and more. Raymond Central's Summer Academy for K-5 - Mrs Dostal and Mrs Egr have been working hard to develop Raymond Central's Summer Academy for 2021. The focus will be to close learning gaps for students in grades K-5. More information will be communicated when plans are finalized. Update on Student Leadership Equity Work - Our plan is to create a 20-minute video introducing the work that the leadership team has been doing. We are still planning to bring Aaron Davis in to share his stories with our students. Bottom line is that our students need more experience and exposure to the world around them to understand differences among everyone. If we cannot identify our own bias, it will be difficult to create the movement we are looking to do across our amazing district. |
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7.4.1. Goal 1: Ensure continuing well being of staff and students by creating an equitable framework for responding to and recovering from a pandemic.
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7.4.2. Goal 2: Continue the creation of a 10-year facilities strategic plan for implementation that addresses maintenance and improvements for existing building assets.
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7.4.3. Goal 3: Develop progress monitoring tools to evaluate the effectiveness of district initiatives to ensure the sustainability over time.
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7.4.4. 2019-2020 Raymond Central Strategic Plan
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7.5. Facilities Report
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Discussion:
The Facilities Priority List is continually updated. Upcoming large projects include:
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7.6. Review of Technology Plan
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Discussion:
I attended ESU2 Tech Rep Meeting. At the meeting, we discussed new Google tiers, Microsoft Pricing, different services that they can offer, upcoming projects they are working on, updates on NNNC, and eduroam.
Tasha and I have been working on updating the video board outside the Mustang Room. We have been starting to add pictures, content, and update records. I have been working with teachers and students to run updates on their computers and Chromebooks. I have started to purchase the necessary technology for teachers and staff members. Website Updates -
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7.7. Update of Raymond Central Crisis and Safety Protocol
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7.8. Committee on American Civics (Breitkreutz - chair, Springer, Burklund)
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7.9. Transportation Committee (Breitkreutz- chair, Springer, Lange)
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7.10. Finance Committee (Springer- chair, Blanchard, Breitkreutz)
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7.11. Facilities Committee (Blanchard- chair, Springer, Burklund)
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7.12. Negotiations Committee (Blanchard - chair, Gould, Lange)
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7.13. Curriculum Committee (Gould - chair, Burklund, Lange)
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7.14. Policy Committee (Springer- chair, Gould, Lange)
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7.15. NASB Monthly Update
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7.16. Review 2021-2022 Student Fee Schedule - Consider, discuss and take all necessary action
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Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Burklund to approve the 2021-2022 Student Fee Schedule with no changes. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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7.17. Energy Services Contract - Jr/Sr High School HVAC Work - Consider, discuss and take all necessary action
Discussion:
Motion by Blanchard, second by Lange to approve Energy Services Company Contract Resolution: Whereas the Board of Education authorizes the Superintendent to sign an Energy Services Company (ESCO) Contract with Facility Advocates for the amount not to exceed $475,000 for the Energy Conservation Measures discussed. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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7.18. Review Public Forum Presentation(s) - Consider, discuss, and take all necessary action
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8. Action Items
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8.1. Approval of Substitute(s)
Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Burklund to approve Kate Gralheer as a Teaching Substitute; and Hannah Miller and Emily Priefert as Paraeducator Substitutes. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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8.2. Approval of Staff Resignation(s)
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Motion by Blanchard, second by Lange to approve staff resignations of: Wade Houchin, Strength and Conditioning Coordinator (effective June 1, 2021); Tyler Jedlicki, Industrial Tech; Janet Dannelly, High School Student Council; Whitney Lehn, Agriculture Teacher and FFA Sponsor; Zac Tanner, Valparaiso SPED Para; Mike Henderson, JH Boys Basketball; and Rhonda Madsen, Independent School afternoon driver. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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8.3. Approval of Staff Appointment(s)
Discussion:
Motion by Lange, second by Breitkreutz to approve staff appointments of: Kathryn Arp-Agriculture Educator and FFA Advisor (MA, Step 6); Aliya Spale-K-12 Vocal Music (BA, Step 1); Johanna Jackson-6th grade (BA+18, Step 5); Jenna Winfrey-HS ELA and Girls HS BB assistant (BA, Step 4); Paige Mestl-Ceresco SPED Teacher (BA, Step 3); Megan Kemnitz-PK Teacher and Elementary SPED (MA, Step 5); Rachel Beck-SLP (MA, Step 1); Caitlin Roussan-Psychologist (MA+36, Step 6); Amanda Coufal-Special Education Director (12 month contract, $85,000); Cherie Swanson-Ceresco Elementary SPED Para; Kent Millington-JH Speech Coach; Kate Millington-Asst HS Speech Coach; and Court Croghan-JH Boys BB position. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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8.4. Approval of 2021-2022 Special Education Services Contract
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Discussion:
Motion by Blanchard, second by Lange to approve the 2021-2022 Education Service Unit No. 2 Special Education Services Contract providing services for Birth-PK Speech Pathologist (0.40), Teacher of Vision (0.05), Administration Services, and Supervision at a total cost of $62,105.00. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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8.5. Approval of Title IV Consortium Through ESU2
Discussion:
Motion by Burklund, second by Lange to approve the Title IV Consortium Agreement through Educational Service Unit No. 2. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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8.6. Approval of 2021 RC and VABA Baseball (Softball) Agreement
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Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Burklund to approve the 2021 Raymond Central/VABA (Baseball-Softball) Agreement. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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8.7. Approval of Raymond Central Education Foundation Member
Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Lange to approve Monica Siebrandt as the replacement for a board-approved member of the Raymond Central Educational Foundation and finish the term which ends December 31, 2021. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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8.8. Approval of Next Regular Board of Education Meeting - Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Discussion:
Motion by Blanchard, second by Lange to approve the next Regular Board Meeting to be held on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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9. Adjournment
Discussion:
Motion by Breitkreutz, second by Lange to adjourn the meeting at 7:29 PM. RCV 5-0. Motion carried.
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10. Important Upcoming Dates:
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