December 10, 2025 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting
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1. Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
Discussion:
President Burklund called the Regular Meeting to order at 6:00 PM and the Pledge of Allegiance was said.
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2. Nebraska Open Meetings Law
Discussion:
The audience was reminded that Open Meeting Laws would be followed.
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3. Motion to Excuse Board Member's Absence
Discussion:
All members were present.
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4. District Mission Statement
The Raymond Central community is committed to providing a positive, challenging learning environment which prepares each individual to be a responsible citizen in an ever-changing society. |
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5. Consent Agenda
Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Benes to approve the consent agenda as presented including the regular meeting minutes of November 12, 2025; November financial statement; monthly bills; resignation of Troy Lurz, Principal; and substitute teacher Breanna Borchers. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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5.1. Minutes of November 12, 2025 Meeting
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5.2. Financial Statement/Report
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5.3. Monthly Bills
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5.4. Policy Review
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5.5. Certificated Staff Hire(s)/Reassignment(s)/Resignation(s)
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6. Correspondence/Recognition
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6.1. AQuESTT Report
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Discussion:
Superintendent Hanson reviewed Raymond Central's AQuESTT Classification Report for the 2024-2025 school year. We received an overall rating of 3=great.
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6.2. NDE Conference Update
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Discussion:
Bernadette Brase, Cathy Burklund, Larry Heyen, and Bill Lange each highlighted sessions they attended at the 2025 State Education Conference.
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7. Public Forum
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8. Reports
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8.1. Administrative Reports
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Discussion:
Submitted by Troy Lurz, Jr-Sr High School Principal
Professional Development/Resource Adoption We continue to carve out additional time for the English Language Arts team to advance their work with CommonLit, including best practices for delivering writing instruction with support from a CommonLit trainer. Early indicators suggest we are ahead of the typical implementation curve. The teachers are to be commended for their efforts to integrate these resources into their classrooms. The Science Department is currently reviewing, sampling, and narrowing down potential resource options. Once complete, this will bring three content areas; Math, Science, and ELA to updated instructional materials within a 20-month window. Our next professional development day is scheduled for January 19, where we will continue our Focus on New Learning. Celebrate Everything Friday celebrations continue, with 17 family members recently recognized for their contributions to the Mustang Way, 10 students and 7 staff members. The quality of the nominations and the thoughtful words used to describe honorees are impressive. Their service is truly noteworthy. We are authentically telling Our Story through the eyes of our school community. Counseling: Tasha and Celia
The Student Council is organizing a Christmas Toy Drive to support several local children in need. Each member is responsible for providing one assigned gift. Members are also assisting with promotional materials, distributing collection boxes to advisories, and coordinating announcements. All gifts will be collected December 17. The goal is to ensure every assigned child receives age-appropriate toys or clothing for the holiday season. Staff Meetings High school staff meetings continue to highlight student learning, systems, upcoming events, and data. During the most recent meeting, we reviewed our district AQuESTT ratings, comparing last year’s performance to this year’s. While we are making meaningful progress, academic achievement within specific subgroups, content areas, and grade levels remains our greatest challenge. Chronic absenteeism continues to be the Achilles’ heel for many schools, and new legislation has made addressing it even more difficult. We provided staff with a brief overview of chronic absenteeism and its impact on ranking systems. Data-driven decision-making will remain a core component of our meetings. We are moving the academic needle. Activity Moratorium The mandatory NSAA No Activity Moratorium will be in effect from December 24-28. This is a valuable opportunity for families to spend quality time together while allowing student-athletes, participants, coaches, and sponsors to rest and recharge. Thank You Thank you for your leadership and for empowering the administration and staff to achieve and maintain the academic supports necessary to reach our school and district goals. Your guidance enables us to provide the programming, curriculum, resources, and visionary direction needed to move our students forward academically and keep our district competitive. Your continued support is sincerely appreciated as we strengthen our culture of learning - preserving what works well while focusing our efforts on academic priorities that best serve our students. Submitted by Tony Kobza, Asst Jr-Sr High School Principal/Athletic Director Activities FBLA - We will be partnering with the Band to collect canned goods for the Caring Shelves before the concert on December 15. We will also hold our monthly meeting that same day. Looking ahead, the next RC FBLA Craft Fair is scheduled for March 21, 2026. FBLA is also launching a business clothes closet to provide members and RC students with professional clothing for competitions and the workforce. More details will be shared soon. One Act - The Drama Program has had a very successful One Act season! The team placed 3rd overall at the NCC Competition, and received the Runner-Up Technical Award. The team heads to Districts at Ashland-Greenwood on December 5. We are incredibly proud of the students' accomplishments! As the One Act season is wrapping up, the Drama Program is gearing up for the Drama Showcase and the Spring Musical (to be announced), as well as our two planned show experiences coming up during the spring semester: Hadestown (based on Greek Mythology) and Capital City (based on Mari Sandoz's novel), both at the Lied Center. Beyond being a great deal of fun, experiences like this are invaluable to the students' learning because they can observe the "best of the best" in the performing arts and take inspiration for their own art, strengthening skills they use in and out of rehearsal. Quiz Bowl - The school qualified a team to attend the National Academic Quiz Bowl Tournament in Chicago again this year. Students who will be attending are: Drew Tice, Sophia Burt, Deacon Christensen, and Marissa Tvrdy. Band - We ended November with an awesome performance at the Nebraska All State Band in Lincoln on November 22, which Marissa Tvrdy was a part of. A huge congratulations to her. It was a great weekend of rehearsing with a large band and amazing conductor, and we got to listen to other ensembles that weekend as well. We had our first JH pep band for a JH basketball game on December 2 for the boys, and it was a huge success. The students had a great time and it ran very smoothly overall. This was not required by students, but it was a great turnout from JH and a few HS helpers alike. We will have our second JH pep band on February 2 for the girls JH basketball game. If this goes well, it is my plan to add one JH football and JH volleyball game next year, and possibly make this a tradition to do one junior pep band game per sport. HS will kick off their first basketball pep band on December 11. Choir: The 6-12 choir concert is Monday, December 8th at 6:30pm, and the 6-12 band concert is Monday, December 15th at 6:30pm. Both of these concerts will feature megaband/megachoir pieces with all students again! Congratulations to the following students for being selected into the following honor bands / choirs as well! They will participate on the following dates.
Winter Season has begun with games the first week of December. Unified Bowling came to a close with a 4th place finish in districts. The unified events are an incredible experience and truly reflect what a great community we have. Facilities/MTAF Created parking area on the well field that can be used for overflow parking attached to current and future parking areas. The new driveway is fully operational. Take an opportunity to drive on it. The drive has multiple curves to keep speed down. We have passed the $1 million mark in funds and support raised for the project. The $1 million includes individual/family donations, business sponsorships, fundraising efforts, grants and donated in-kind services. We are close to being able to pursue the lease purchase option but WILL NOT move forward until we feel confident funding is available to complete next steps. Next steps are:
Submitted by Abby Horbach, Asst Jr-Sr High School Principal This week, we met with our Teacher Leadership Team to review the proposed changes to our Advisory/Intervention structure, and we will be rolling these updates out to the full staff by the end of the week. These changes will go into effect at the start of the second semester. The updated model aligns with our MTSS process and will provide a more intentional Tier II structure, allowing teachers to pull students for targeted reteaching and support. Our Attendance Team has also been consistently meeting, and communication has gone out to multiple families regarding unexcused absences. As always, our approach is to be proactive. Attendance plays a critical role in long-term student success, and we appreciate the teamwork happening across departments to support our students and their families. Behaviorally, we have seen a slight uptick in minor issues at the JH/HS level, but all discipline has been handled consistently and in alignment with our handbook. Staff are doing a great job following procedures and maintaining expectations. Overall, our focus remains on supporting students through strong systems, proactive communication, and a team-oriented mindset. We look forward to implementing our second-semester adjustments and continuing to refine our structures to best meet student needs. Submitted by Elementary Principals Steve Rose and Deb Kruse Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) Grade-level teams continue to meet weekly in their PLCs. Once every three weeks, teachers, administrators, our instructional coach, interventionist, and school psychologist come together to work through a full PLC data protocol. During last week’s data PLCs, we reviewed student performance to determine whether each grade level is on track to meet its mid-year goals. We are excited about the progress students are making and are confident that most grade levels will be close to 80% at benchmark by January. Teacher Leadership Team (TLT) The teacher leadership team meets monthly and in December this team met to review student performance at each grade level. After looking at the data and grade level PLC notes, the team worked to remove barriers and identify professional learning opportunities to increase academic performance. Evaluations This semester’s formal observations have all been completed. We continue to visit classrooms for various purposes: walkthroughs, to work with students, to coach teachers, etc. GrandFriends Day GrandFriends Day was held on November 25 at each building. The awesome afternoon centered around the theme of School, Then and Now at Valparaiso, and "Be a Team Player" at Ceresco. About 300 visitors at each location joined students in hands-on stations and activities, exploring how school has changed and practicing teamwork together. It was amazing to see our students proudly share their classrooms, projects, and culture with family and friends. They were able to create memorable connections with their GrandFriends. Submitted by Amanda Coufal, Director of Special Education Unified Bowling: Unified Bowling had a very successful season! Districts were held on December 3. Travis Silverstrand, Leo Hain, and Connor Tice bowled an impressive 743, earning a 4th place finish! From last season to now, the growth in our athletes and partners has been remarkable - and so much fun to watch! Annual Life Skills Thanksgiving Meal Ms. Doan’s class held their annual Thanksgiving meal on November 25. Students are taught life skills such as shopping, planning, prepping, and cooking for their families and special guests. It's always one of the best days of the year - filled with great company and delicious food! |
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8.2. Student Board Member Report
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8.3. Superintendent's Report
Discussion:
Our NDE Rule 10 Visit has been completed and went very well with only a minor recommendation.
We had a few issues with parents not receiving the message about our late start on December 1 due to the snowfall. Going forward we will send out a text and a voice message when we have a late start or cancellation. The Vision Committee met on December 2. Topics included how we can accomplish our mission, expanding/enhancing our classes and programs, and barriers we face in doing so. Superintendent Hanson hosted a Community Engagement Event on December 9 giving us an opportunity to tell our story. Lunch was served by our FCS culinary kids and presentations were given by students involved in Unified Bowling, Quiz Bowl, Music, FBLA, FFA/Ag, and SkillsUSA. Kristi Meier has been hired as a Jr-Sr High Assistant Cook. We are securing proposals for a lighting project along the new driveway. |
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8.3.1. Classified Staff Hire(s)/Reassignment(s)/Resignation(s)
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8.3.2. NASB Monthly Update
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8.3.3. NRCSA Monthly Report
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8.3.4. Update on Superintendent Goals
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8.3.5. Safety Report
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8.3.6. Facilities Report
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8.3.7. Important Upcoming Dates
Discussion:
December 17 - Policy Committee Meeting at 6:00 PM
January 25-26 - Legislative Conference March 4 - March Board Meeting moved up one week |
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8.4. Board Committee Reports
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8.4.1. Curriculum & American Civics Committee (Burklund-chair, Lange, Matulka)
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8.4.2. Facilities & Transportation Committee (Matulka-chair, Burklund, Lange)
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8.4.3. Finance Committee (Burklund-chair, Heyen, Lange)
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8.4.4. Negotiations Committee (Benes-chair, Heyen, Matulka)
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8.4.5. Policy Committee (Benes-chair, Heyen, Brase)
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9. Old Business
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10. New Business
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10.1. Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary Action to Approve an Early Graduation Request
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Discussion:
Motion by Brase, second by Benes to approve the Early Graduation Request of Michael Penate. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.2. Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary Action to Approve Computer Lab Power/Data Additions from Kidwell
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Discussion:
Motion by Matulka, second by Benes to approve the bid for Computer Lab Power/Data Additions from Kidwell in the amount of $20,675.00. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.3. Discuss, Consider, and Take Necessary Action to Approve Family Services LMHP Invoice.
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Discussion:
Motion by Heyen, second by Lange to approve the Lincoln Family Service invoice for fall semester 2025 services provided by Heather Sisel and Brianna Mumm in the amount of $22,214.50. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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10.4. Discuss, Consider, and Take Necessary Action to Approve the Resolution to Accept the Temporary Early Retirement Incentive Program Application and Agreements
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Discussion:
Motion by Brase, second by Burklund to accept the Resolution to Approve the Temporary Early Retirement Incentive Program Application from Janet Dannelly. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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11. Next Regular Board Meeting
Discussion:
The next regular Board of Education Meeting will be held Wednesday, January 14, 2026.
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12. Adjournment
Discussion:
Motion by Benes, second by Matulka to adjourn the meeting at 7:04 PM. RCV 6-0. Motion carried.
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