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Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 11/15/04 Nemaha Valley School board members got a "sneak peek" of the new classrooms that are being added on to Seneca Grade School. Two above average size classrooms, a newly located boys restroom, and an enclosure of the exterior band room stairway are being constructed on the west side of the building. AHRS is the general contractor and estimates the project to be complete late January or February, 2005. Immediate occupants of the classrooms will be the two second grade classes. Their vacated classrooms will be used for special education service. Members also authorized Hoss & Brown Engineers to develop specifications for Direct Digital Controls on 15 heating and air conditioning units in the 1983 and 1993 additions at the grade school. Breakdown in the current analog electric controls have caused room flooding and require considerable annual maintenance. Board members also requested information on the cost of new units for comparison purposes. In other action, the board approved action plans to achieve district priorities, reviewed the district's overtime policy, and approved fees for facility use. Members recognized donations from the First National Bank and Community National Bank. The board formally recognized the Nemaha Valley Junior High Volleyball team as the 2004 OTL champs. The team was coached by Connie Ronnebaum and Shirley Schmitz. Anne Hobbs and Myra Koch were approved as head and assistant Scholar's Bowl coaches, respectively. A new paraprofessional position was approved for the Early Childhood program. Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 10/11/04 At the Nemaha Valley School board meeting. Board members took a tour of the construction site of the 2 new classroom additions to the high school building. Superintendent Brian Harris said that the rooms will be finished by the end of January, however the room to be used for long distance learning will not be used until the next school year due to the additional technical equipment that will need to be installed. In other business, school board members heard the annual presentation of the high school improvement plan and testing report. Last year was the first year that students were offered a choice of testing online or by the paper format in math and reading. Board members were told that the state of Kansas is moving towards being completely online for all assessments. Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 9/13/04 At the Nemaha Valley school board meeting, board members heard the presentation of the annual independent fiscal accounting audit for 2003-2004. David Bogner, accountant from Lawrence gave the audit an excellent rating and the board approved a motion to accept the audit for last year. A motion to approve the contract for Fiscal Auditing Services with Bogner Accounting for 04/05 was approved. The cost for this school year is $3,950. Board members approved a contract with Durham Bus Services for the 40/05 school year. The contract calls for a 3.15 percent increase in the driver’s wages, the base cost will remain the same. A presentation of the Seneca grade school/Nemaha Valley Junior High annual school improvement report and testing report was heard by the board. Members of the school improvement team made the presentation. Teaching strategies to improve student achievement in each of the content areas - reading, mathematics, science, writing and social studies - were highlighted during the presentation. Kansas Assessment tests in each of the content areas are given to select grade levels as directed by the State Department of Education. Students at the grade school and junior high were very successful last school year in several different categories. The 8th graders achieved the Standard of Excellence in reading and writing. 4th and 7th graders achieved the Standard of Excellence in Math and the 4th graders in Science. Dave Engelken from Durham School Services gave the annual bus transportation report. About 266 students are eligible for buss transportation on 5 different routes. Engelken said that all 5 routes will stay the same this school year except for minor changes on one route. Engelken also said that this is the 12th year of service to the Nemaha Valley School district and in all those years the bus service has had only 2 accidents. Superintendent Brian Harris thanked Engelken for their fine service over the years. A presentation of the tentative enrollment for 04/05 was giving by Brian Harris. Harris said that the count for grades K through 8 was down by one from the last school year, however the high school grades 9 to 12 are up by 11.6. Harris said that the tentative FTE is up 14.7 from last year with a total of 494.6. That number includes other students not counted in the grades K through 12. A motion was approved to hold the October school board meeting at the High School and the November meeting at the Seneca Grade School and Junior High building. Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 8/9/04 At the Nemaha Valley School Board meeting the board members approved a motion to adopt the 2004-2005 school budget as published. The property tax levy for the budget is up about 2.8 mills over the 2003/04 mill levy. The mill levy for the supplemental general fund or local option budget was increased to offset for a projected loss of around $30,000 in state aid due to a declining enrollment. The budget contains a total mill levy of 31.47, which Superintendent Brian Harris estimates will be in the lower 10% of all school districts across the state In other business, Harris announced that AHRS Construction of Bern has begun work on the expansion project at the Seneca Grade School/Nemaha Valley Junior High building. Work on the high school expansion project will not begin until later in September. Harris said that the grade school project is much more complicated than the high school expansion. The school board discussed staffing assignments and the building schedules. Mr. Harris said that there was no turn over in teaching staff this year. An amendment of the 2004/05 school calendar was discussed. The city of Seneca will be installing a new transformer for the Seneca Grade School this fall, and will need to turn off the electricity to the school to do the work. The board decided to change Friday, October 22nd from a “no school” day to a half day of school from 8:00am to 12:15pm, and close both the high school and grade school on Friday, October 29th. Teachers will have in-service work days on both days. Harris gave a preliminary report on the standards of excellence results for 2003/2004. In math, grades 4, 7, and 10 all received the standard of excellence. In reading grades 5, 8 and 10 were tested and grade 8 received the standard of excellence. And in writing grades 5, 8 and 11 were tested and grades 8 and 11 received the standard of excellence. Harris said that the results were the highest that the Nemaha Valley school district had ever received. Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 7/20/04 At the Nemaha Valley School board meeting, board members approved a motion to publish the 2005 budget. The budget calls for an increase in the mill levy from 28.71 this year to 31.47 in 2005. The public hearing to approve the final budget will be held August 9th. In other business, board members approved a bid from Joe’s Electric of Seneca to replace the high school stage lighting control panel. The amount of the bid is $11,060 and was the lowest of several bids received. Nemaha Valley school superintendent Mr. Harris said that the control panel is at least 35 years old and parts are no longer available. Harris also said that last school year a student was shocked by the failing equipment. Other bids for the lighting control panel include: Joe’s Electric said that they can install the new control panel as soon as the ordered equipment arrives. The School board approved a change in the employee health insurance. Harris said that he had taken a survey of the employees to see which plan they favored. Harris said that 75% of eligible employees chose the “shared Pay Blue plan”, this is a Blue Cross Blue Shield no deductible plan. Medical expenses previously covered are covered under this plan. Employees pay 50% of medical charges up to $1,500 for a single plan, after that 100% is covered. Harris said that premiums should stay roughly the same. Harris said that the reason for the change was that the insurance plan the school currently has would go up 15% to 20% for the 04/05 school year. The new plan becomes effective September 1st. School board members approved bids for equipment and services for the rural utilities service distance learning grant. Harris said that the first work that needed to be done would be to connect the grade school and high school with fiber optic cable so that the grade school can take advantage of long distance learning service. Harris said that he had permission from the city of Seneca to install the lines on the city poles between the schools. Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 6/14/04 The Nemaha Valley School board accepted the lone bids for classroom additions at the grade school and high school The board accepted a bid of $574,658 from AHRS Construction of Bern for a two-room addition at the grade school and a bid of $382,154 from the company for a two-room addition at the high school. Both bids were under the engineer's estimate. In other business, the board approved a contract with the Nemaha Valley Teachers Association for the next school year. The contract calls for a salary increase of 2.91%. The base salary for a beginning teacher will increase by $895 to $25,080. The health insurance fringe will increase $30. The overall package will cost the district an additional $81,252. The board accepted a proposal from SBS Insurance of Seneca for the district's property, liability, auto and worker compensation insurance for $51,142 - a 10% increase over this school year. The board approved joining a legal brief in support of low enrollment weighting before the Kansas Supreme court. The cost to join is $500. Superintendent Brian Harris said the cost is minimal considering that the low enrollment weighting brings one million dollars in state funds to the Nemaha Valley School District. The USD 442 board also authorized Harris to seek bids to replace the stage lighting board at the high school. Harris estimated the cost at between $10,000 to $20,000. Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 5/10/04 The Nemaha Valley School board was presented Monday night with the final designs for the proposed classroom additions at the high school and grade school buildings. The plans were presented by Horst, Terrill and Karst Architects of Topeka. After some minor changes, the project will now go out for bids, with a bid opening date of June 10th. In other business, the board approved the purchase of new high school boys basketball uniforms. The uniforms will be purchased from Acy's of Topeka for $8,640. Superintendent Brian Harris says the uniforms are replaced every five years. The old uniforms are recycled by giving them to the Freshmen boys team to use. The board approved an increase in fees for next school year. Textbook rental fees will increase $2.50 for 1st - 12th grades and will increase $5 for Kindergarten. Lunch prices at the high school and grade school will increase 10 cents. Also, breakfast prices at the grade school will increase 10 cents. Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 4/12/04 The Nemaha Valley School Board approved spending nearly $66,000 for technology upgrades for next school year. The district will upgrade computers and equipment in the special education office, which Superintendent Brian Harris says hasn't been upgraded for at least seven years. Harris said that computers and other technology equipment in the school district is replaced on a five year rotation basis. In other business, the board commended the 4th and 7th grade students of 2002-2003 for attaining the Standard of Excellence in Math and Science assessment testing. The board held a brief discussion on property that may become available during the process of the City of Seneca's Western Development Project. Harris recommended that the board form a committee to study what property the school would be interested in, if property becomes available. Board President Bill Love and board member Carol Massieon volunteered to be on the committee. The committee will come before the board at their next meeting with their recommendations. Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 2/9/04 School time lost due to inclement weather was among items discussed at this week's Nemaha Valley School board meeting. Four complete days and several part days have been cancelled due to the snowy weather in the past few weeks. Two make-up days were designated when the 2003/2004 calendar was established. By state law, the district has to first make up those two days before any forgiveness is allowed. Once those two days are made up, the next two days missed because of inclement weather are forgiven. The board voted that March 15th be changed from a teacher in-service day to a student day and that April 12th be changed from a no school day to a student day. These two changes are contingent upon approval from the Nemaha Valley Teachers Association as these days are part of their negotiated contract. The teachers association will vote on the changes next week. May 27th was also approved as an in-service day for teachers. Looking ahead to next school year, a 2004-2005 calendar was approved. With the exception of an extra day of vacation at Thanksgiving, the calendar is very similar to the current school year calendar. The first day for students will be Wednesday, August 18th. Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 1/12/04 Nemaha Valley High School has been awarded a $10,000 NASA grant to participate in a robotics competition this March in Denver. High School Principal, Pat McKernan informed the Nemaha Valley School Board Monday Night of the grant award through the University of Kansas. McKernan says 9 students from the 9th to 12th grade have asked to participate in the competition. Industrial Arts teacher, Bruce Stanley will be the instructor and Oz Automation in Seneca has volunteered to be the business partner. Dave Perry, also an Industrial Arts teacher, will be assisting with the robotic assembly. The board approved making the school suburban available for the robotic team's use to travel to Denver in March. In other business, the board voted to hire Todd Leonard, Principal at Saint's Peter and Paul School in Seneca, as high school head football coach for the 2004-2005 school year. The board also voted to hire Julie Brinker as a part-time janitor at the grade school. Superintendent Brian Harris presented three different school calendar proposals for the 2004-2005 school year. Harris said the school calendar hadn't changed in many years and he wanted to offer the board a choice of the traditional school schedule or something a little different. The board members will look over the calendar proposals and vote at their next meeting. And, the board voted to extend the three year contract of Superintendent Harris for one year. Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 12/8/03 The Nemaha Valley School board received information about the possible addition of classrooms to the High School and Grade School buildings. Presenting the information was Chuck Smith, an architect with Horst, Terrill and Karst of Topeka. Due to technology and the increase of special education services, classroom space has become short over the past few years despite creative use of space and classroom sharing at each building. A two or four classroom addition to the south side of the High School was discussed. Plans for two or four classrooms were also discussed for the Grade School. Location options were the northwest side of the building, east side of the building, and the addition of a second story on the 1993 addition. Following the presentation, board member decided to seriously discuss the options at the January meeting. In other business, Special Education Director Wanda Hartman gave the annual report for the Marshall-Nemaha Special Services Cooperative. She reported that as of December 1st, the coop was serving 308 students. The Special Education cooperative includes B&B Schools, Axtell-Bern-Summerfield, Centralia-Frankfort and Nemaha Valley. The board accepted the resignation of Deb Olberding as a full time 4th grade teacher, effective the second semester and a new half-time contract was approved. A half-time contract was then approved for Sarah Renyer who will finish the second half of the day in the 4th grade. Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 11/10/03 The Nemaha Valley School Board received a report from reading recover teacher Dee Lizzol. The program, which targets first grade students who are struggling in reading, is in the fifth year at the Seneca Grade School. Lizzol handed out parent and teacher testimonials on the success of the program. Students receive one-on-one instruction for 12 to 22 weeks until they successfully complete the program. About eight students participate in the program each school year. As part of American Education Week, which is November 17th - 21st, four members of the Nemaha Valley High School Kay Club presented the board member with name plaques in recognition of their service. The 2003 Friends of Education were also recognized as part of American Education Week. Nominated and selected by grade school staff members was Subway, owned by Mark Heideman. Koch and Company was selected by the high school staff. Also nominated were the Durham School Services, Benskin Motors, First Stop/Phillips 66, Al Farmer and the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital. Following an executive session, the board accepted the resignation of head high school football coach Cory Bass. A contract was approved for Larry Pfeifer as assistant high school boys basketball coach. The Nemaha Valley School board also approved a request from the fourth grade teacher Debra Olberding to change from a full-time to a part-time position effective the second semester. Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 10/13/03 Seneca Grade school was the site for the Nemaha Valley school board meeting. David Bogner from Bogner and Long CPA’s of Lawrence gave the independent audit report of the financial records for 2002-03. Bogner said the budget had no violations in the school year. A contract with Bogner & Long was approved for the fiscal year 2004. Eric Buetzer High School Guidance counselor gave a presentation on the high school group testing planned for the year. In reviewing the results of several tests taken last year, he noted that NV students continue to score in the mid-range and above national averages. Seneca Grade school staff members, Dr. Amy Beck, Carol Lueger, Amy Schmitz and Briana Evans gave a presentation on the Kansas Assessments tests given last school year and goals for Cycle III of the School Improvement process. In other business the board approved a motion to accept a grant from the US department of agriculture rural development of just over $456,000. The funds are to be used to develop and improve long distance learning in the Nemaha Valley, Bern, and Centralia schools and Highland Community College. The School Board members took a tour of the improvements made to the Grade School and Junior High building over the summer. A new information desk was built for the library. The library also has new carpet and has been arranged so that there is more room and so that the librarian has a better view of students who are using the library. Board members viewed the lower ceilings and new lights that have been installed in the class rooms that are located in the 1938 original building. They also toured the gym which has had the floor re-surfaced and new fan/blower installed and a new stage curtain. The 1938 original building also has a new roof which was not toured. Superintendent Brian Harris said that he had visited with the architects regarding space and facility needs, the architects gave him an estimate of the fee that they would charge to develop a concept for the school district not to exceed $5,000. Harris mentioned that the dist has some funds left over from improvements that come in under budget. Harris asked school board members to set a date for a working meeting to discuss the school expansion building needs. Oct 29th at 7:00pm was set for the meeting. Bill Love was selected as the KASB delegate with Robert Neihous as the alternate. Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 9/8/03 The Nemaha Valley School Board received the annual school improvement report for Nemaha Valley High School and annual transportation report. High School QPA school improvement committee chairman Mike Philbrick represented the report. Philbrick reviewed results of the assessment tests taken this spring in reading, math, science and social science. He highlighted goals of the building committee as they began cycle three of the QPA process. The federal "NO Child Left Behind" Law and Adequate Yearly Process will be followed closely in the next cycle. Strategies for improving student achievement will be studied and implemented by all instructional staff members. Local bus manager David Engelken presented the annual transportation report. Engelken handed out maps of the five regular routes. The significant change this school year is the elimination of one of the previous six routes which had been approved by the board early last spring. Engelken said the routes have been set so that no student is on the bus for more than one hour. In addition to the five regular routes, an athletic route is run on days when the Junior High Students have practice. Nemaha Valley was recognized as one of two school districts that contract with Durham School Service that had no accidents last year. The board, which held their meeting at the Nemaha Valley High School, took a tour of the building to view the improvements that had been completed this summer. Improvements included a new wood shop dust collection system, lowering of the art room ceilings, new lights installed in the gym and the state floor has been refinished. Board members also visited the long distance learning room where students in Spanish one and two take classes by computer from a teacher in Sabetha.
Nemaha Valley School Board Meeting 8/11/03 USD #442 Nemaha Valley School Board members held a hearing regarding the fiscal year 2004 budget at a special meeting on August 11th. The proposed general fund budget is down slightly from fiscal year 2003 at $3,315,227. The local mill levy for the general fund and supplemental general fund will be down slightly from 29.431 in FY 03 to 28.648 in FY 04. The budget was approved with school board member Robert Neihous opposing the approval of the budget. During the regular meeting immediately following the budget hearing, board member received an updated report on Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) which is the cornerstone of No Child Left Behind and the updated state accreditation process. AYP is the process for making judgment as to whether public elementary and secondary schools, districts and states are reaching the annual targets to ensure all students achieve the state's definition of proficiency by 2013-2014 as mandated by No Child Left Behind (NCLB). NCLB is the common title for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Local AYP reports for the 2002-2003 school year were reviewed indicating that AYP was met by both buildings as well as the district. Contracts were approved for Dirk Colgrove, assistant junior high football coach; Paula Rottinghaus, classroom aide; Danise Mohney, speech paraprofessional; Brenda Burdiek, paraprofessional; and Shirley Schmitz, assistant junior high volleyball coach. Members voted to hold the September 8 regular board meeting at the high school and the October 13th meeting at the grade school. |
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