April 14, 2022 at 4:30 PM - GIPS BOE Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

It is 5:____PM and I now call to order the Grand Island Public Schools Board of Education Meeting.  This is the April 14, 2022 meeting.  Notice of this meeting has been advertised in the Grand Island Independent, which is the District's designated method of giving notice of these meetings.

We want those in attendance to know that copies of the Open Meetings Act are available at the entrance to the Board Room.  If anyone in attendance is interested in addressing our Board, you are welcome to do so.  We simply request that you complete the appropriate form and turn it in to us so that you may be recognized during the Requests to Address the Board part of our meeting.  If you have not already completed the form, please see the staff person outside the entrance to this room.  Public comment is welcome. We do ask that no signs be brought into the boardroom.

Mrs. Simmons, will you please call the roll?

Rationale:  Roll Call.

Rationale: 

The Mission  

Every Student, Every Day, a Success!  In educating students, we teach hearts as well as minds. 

Student Commitments  

Within the school district of Grand Island:

• Every student has access to high-quality, culturally responsive, and engaging learning environments.  
• Every student will develop literacy skills across disciplines.  
• Every student is socially and emotionally equipped to thrive in school and in life. 
• Every student will graduate as a college, career, and community-ready citizen.  

 

 

Rationale:  The first item on the agenda tonight is the Consent Agenda.  The Consent Agenda to be approved is as follows:

(items read.)

This is the Consent Agenda as published.  Would anyone like to remove any items or add any items to the Consent Agenda? (pause)

Does anyone have a potential conflict of interest on agenda item 4.3? If so, please state the check number that you will be abstaining from voting on.

Rationale:  Standing Committees
 A monthly agenda presented to the board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration in the standing committees.  
 

• Finance and Facilities Committee
• Leading for Learning Committee
• Personnel Committee
• Policy Committee
• Public Relations and Partnership Development Committee
• Governance Committee
• GNSA/Legislative Committee

Rationale:  Recognition of State Speech Duo. First state champions since 2004.

Anne Martinez
Elaine Abrajan



 

Rationale:  Recognition of the Scholastic Art Awards of Nebraska.  


Tia Broadwell
Isaac Guevara
Anahi Mendoza-Perez

Rationale:  State Championship Unified Cheerleaders recognition.  

Abby Christensen
Alexis Monie
Angela Gaede
Daynna Pickett
Haley Horst
Jennica Maring
Joy Ruybalid 
Krystal Cortez Domingo
Miavalentina Paula
Montana Weber
Nelly Medina Sanchez
Ramzi Conklin
Rinoa Garcia
 

Rationale:  Recognition of Skills USA State Champions.  

Diesel  Equipment Technology-Moseley
Mouse Trap Vehicles-Distance-Elits

Nathan Moseley
Hazzard Elits
 

Rationale:  WIN time provides the time/space for students to receive and access intentional support, intervention, or enrichment from their teachers.  This just in time, proactive strategy occurs during the school day.

Rationale:  Verifying learning is so important to making informed instructional decisions throughout a lesson-New technology has facilitated this process for teachers.  Wasmer teachers will demonstrate how they are leveraging this technology to capture how students are progressing in their learning and how the data is used to guide/inform their decisions.

Rationale: 

• Each person addressing the board will be allowed 5 minutes. The Board of Education has the prerogative to limit speaking to 3 minutes when there are three or more patrons to allow speakers an opportunity to address the Board in a timely manner.
• We allocate up to 30 minutes for addressing the board at each regular board meeting.
• Please face the Board,  not the audience when you speak
• We want to hear what is being said so we ask the audience to refrain from making comments or sounds that make it hard to hear the speaker. 
• No signs are allowed in the boardroom.
• We will not engage in dialogue with patrons presenting to the Board, the purpose of the requests to address the board is to listen to patrons.
• The Board president and superintendent will identify staff to follow-up on information requested from patrons when necessary.
• At regular business meetings any school district-related matter can be presented to the Board, but only agenda items can be acted upon during a given meeting. At special meetings, comments will be limited to the subject of action items of the meeting's agenda. 
• Speakers will not be permitted to make defamatory comments, or use abusive or vulgar language. 
• Expressions of personal complaints about staff or students are discouraged at public meetings. Concerns about individuals should be brought to the attention of the appropriate administrative authority. Specific building or program concerns should be brought to the attention of the building principal or program supervisor.

Rationale:  Short recess to transition into the information portion of the current agenda.  Members of the public are welcome to stay for the remainder of the board meeting.  

Rationale:  Reconvene from short recess before transitioning into the information items of the current agenda. 

Rationale:  Grand Island Senior High's robotics team will speak about their experiences in their first year of competition.

Rationale:  For the purpose of transparency and celebration this report will share highlights from the 2021 Annual Report with the Board of Education and Community

Rationale:  2022-2023 school year implementation and approval of Grand Island Public Schools additional staffing positions FTE (Full Time Equivalent) 
Upon approval from the Board, the Personnel Department will start the recruitment process. The following positions are being submitted for approval:

1.0 2nd Grade Teacher Howard Elementary
1.0 1st Grade Teacher Knickrehm Elementary
2.0 Walnut Middle School- Math and Language Arts
.50 Custodian (Part Time) O'Connor Learning Center
.50 Activities Director Increase from .50 to a 1.0 FTE
1.0 Nursing Instructor Academies of Grand Island Senior High

Rationale:  In order for the District to effectively and timely respond to ESSER Fund requirements, the District self-certifies the following micro-purchase threshold, which is a higher threshold consistent with State law, that purchases below $35,000 of supplies or services using simplified acquisition procedures are not subject to competitive bidding under Nebraska law.
 

Rationale:  Proposal to revise Policy 4312 to adjust the bid process requirements to meet ESSER requirements to align with GIPS procurement policies. GIPS has worked with NDE and KSB Law Firm to revise this policy.

This is an info/ action request due to the need to submit purchases for reimbursement to NDE for ESSER funds purchases.

Rationale: 

Mr. Petsch will present the construction update. 

Rationale: 

Ms. Isabela Prado Gomez will report the student representative report to the board. 

Rationale: 

Dr. Grover will present the superintendent report. 

Rationale:  The GIPS Board of Education reviews the superintendent's contract and total compensation for the superintendent on an annual basis.  The proposed 2022-23 contract for the Grand Island Public Schools Superintendent of Schools and the copy of the Superintendent Pay Transparency Act Notice is attached to this agenda item.  The Superintendent Pay Transparency Act Notice was posted on the school district's website in advance of the board meeting, in accordance with state statute.
 

Rationale:  2022-2023 school year implementation and approval of Grand Island Public Schools additional staffing positions FTE (Full Time Equivalent) 
Upon approval from the Board, the Personnel Department will start the recruitment process. The following positions are being submitted for approval:

1.0 2nd Grade Teacher Howard Elementary
1.0 1st Grade Teacher Knickrehm Elementary
2.0 Walnut Middle School- Math and Language Arts
.50 Custodian (Part Time) O'Connor Learning Center
.50 Activities Director Increase from .50 to a 1.0 FTE
1.0 Nursing Instructor Academies of Grand Island Senior High

Rationale:  Blocksi provides an online technology solution for classroom, classroom management, and web filtering on and off-site. Our existing technology was based on legacy solutions which have not made the transition to cloud platforms effectively. Moving forward will result in more granular control of web filtering and a classroom management solution which will reduce troubleshooting time in classrooms, and increase instructional time and effectiveness. GIPS IT proposes that we move forward with purchasing Blocksi Manager Education Everywhere for GSuite Chromebooks.

Rationale:  Per policy 7310: The Board of Education may vote to adopt the academic content standards recommended by the State Board of Education ("State Board").

Rationale:  GIPS is in need of high school math resources that provide curricular resources which closely align to our vision of instruction, GIPS mathematics commitments, and provide students "standards-based instruction where students collaborate, think critically, and persevere through rigorous, authentic tasks." 

Rationale:  GIPS supports high-quality instructional materials that are strongly aligned to content area standards and reflect the instructional shifts within the college and career-ready standards. High-quality instructional resources support equity by ensuring all students learn the same core content at a specific instructional level. Student survey data indicate that students who participated in the Social Studies pilot were engaged in learning.

Rationale:  GIPS current website was updated in 2018.  The industry standard is to update websites every four years.  In addition, this proposal gives GIPS the opportunity to improve the user experience and to aggregate products into a single source for more efficiency.  

Rationale:  ESSER III Project for Knickrehm Elementary 

Rationale:  In order for the District to effectively and timely respond to ESSER Fund requirements, the District self-certifies the following micro-purchase threshold, which is a higher threshold consistent with State law, that purchases below $35,000 of supplies or services using simplified acquisition procedures are not subject to competitive bidding under Nebraska law.
 

Rationale:  Proposal to revise Policy 4312 to adjust the bid process requirements to meet ESSER requirements to align with GIPS procurement policies. GIPS has worked with NDE and KSB Law Firm to revise this policy.

This is an info/action request due to the need to submit purchases for reimbursement to NDE for ESSER funds purchases.
 

Rationale:  A monthly report to the Board and community on the major items discussed and under consideration by the Grand Island Public Schools Foundation.

Rationale:  A monthly update from the Nebraska Association of School Boards.  

Rationale: 

The Board will convene into executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel matters.

Rationale:  Board of Education Meeting: Thursday, May 12, 2022.