WESTSIDE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS DISTRICT 66 Board Meeting Minutes The Board of Education Meeting of School District 66 was convened in open and public session on at 6:30 p.m., at the Westside ABC Building, 909 South 76th Street, Omaha, Nebraska. Board members present: Absent: David Woodke, President Rosie Zweiback, Vice President Scott Hazelrigg, Secretary Martha Slosburg, Treasurer David Williams, Director Tom Baker, Director Notice of the meeting was given in advance by publication on the District s website beginning on September 4, 2013, and appearing continuously up through the time of the scheduled board meeting; copies of which are attached to the official minutes. Notice of this meeting and the availability of the agenda was simultaneously given to all members of the Board of Education and available to anyone at the Board of Education offices. All proceedings hereafter shown were taken while the convened meeting was open to the attendance of the public. District Administrative Staff Members in attendance: Blane McCann, Bob Zagozda, Enid Schonewise, Mark Weichel, Ruby Larson, Kent Kingston, Susan Johnston, Kami Jessop, Alison McGinn, Peggy Rupprecht, Maryanne Ricketts, Rick Avard, Molly Hurley. Other Staff and Visitors: Beth Welke, Greg Betts, Garrett Higginbotham, Laura Iliff, Garrett Mueller, Diane Zipay, Lynn Spady, Matt Lee, Paul Lindgren, Tammy Sherman, Dave Richardson, Sue Mehaffey, Sharon Brown, Bence Brown, Grace Brown, Kristie Brown, Beth Morrissette, Deb Kruse, Katie Susman. Board President, David Woodke called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. He acknowledged that the meeting had been publicly announced and the agenda was available to any interested parties. Board member roll call was taken and attendance is noted above. Mr. Woodke welcomed the audience and encouraged everyone to sign the attendance sheet since this information is part of the official minutes of the Board meeting. Mr. Woodke told the Board that the Nebraska Open Meetings regulations have also been posted. He also announced that handouts of supportive documents dealing with issues being discussed during the meeting were available.
Page 2 Mr. Woodke made a motion to approve the minutes of the Board of Education Public Hearings and Meeting held on August 26, 2013 as presented. Mr. David Williams, Board Director, seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote. Communications Dr. Blane McCann, Superintendent, had a number of recognitions of both student and staff. He began by calling Bence Brown forward. Bence is a fourth grader at Sunset Hills Elementary who won a national cooking contest earlier this summer sponsored by Epicurious and Mrs. Michelle Obama s Let s Move initiative. Bence was invited to the White House this summer and represented the State of Nebraska at the Kids State Dinner at the White House on July 9, 2013. Dr. McCann presented Bence with a Lighthouse Leader Award Certificate. On October 3 rd, Bence s Tuna Casserole recipe will be on the lunch menu in our schools. Next, Dr. McCann recognized staff members Paul Lindgren, Lynn Spady and Matt Lee. Paul, Lynn and Matt were featured in an Omaha World-Herald article on helping parents choose grade-level educational apps. Lynn is a former district technology integrationist and current Excellence in Youth Coordinator. Matt is a former WHS Economics teacher and current Technology Integrationist. Paul is Westside s district Technology Coordinator. Dr. McCann asked Diane Zipay, District Nutrition Services Director, to come forward. Dr. McCann recognized Diane, her staff and dozens of volunteers for their hard work on organizing the Food (r)evolution event on August 29 th at the Westside High School Stadium. It was an amazing event that was attended by nearly 1,000 people who sampled food, visited with celebrity chef s, learned about exercise and nutrition and enjoyed a concert by Jill Jaynes, the world s only rock-star nutritionist. Lots of raffle prizes were given away, including two bikes. Dr. McCann thanked Diane for providing our district families with a fun event to kick off the school year. Finally, Dr. McCann recognized Deb Kruse, sixth-grade teacher at Sunset Hills Elementary. Deb arranged for Nigerian artist and UN Art Ambassador Ibiyinka Alao to visit Sunset Hills during the week of September 2, 2013. Ibiyinka spent time with the students creating art, singing and dancing. The students hosted an art gallery and presentation of their works on Thursday evening, September 5th. Deb stated that the week was absolutely amazing. She saw smiles all week and read great reflections written by students about Ibiyinka s visit. Adoption of 2013-2014 School Budgets Mr. Bob Zagozda, Chief Financial Officer, presented for approval the school budgets for 2013-2014. Information on the budgets was presented at the August 26, 2013 Public Hearing. The only change since that time was the collection of tax amounts.
Page 3 Mr. Williams made a motion that the Board of Education approve the Nutrition Services Fund for 2013-2014 in the amount of $4,624,050 calling for a local real property tax need of ($ 0). Ms. Ms. Slosburg made a motion that the Board of Education approve the Enterprise Fund Budget for 2013-2014 in the amount of $803,540 calling for a local real property tax need of ($ 0). Ms Ms. Zweiback made a motion that the Board of Education approve the Activities Fund for 2013-2014 in the amount of $1,800,000 calling for a local real property tax need of ($0). Mr. Hazelrigg seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote. Mr. Hazelrigg made a motion that the Board of Education approve the Student Fees Fund for 2013-2014 in the amount of $115,000 calling for a local real property tax need of ($ 0). Mr. Williams seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote. Mr. Williams made a motion that the Board of Education approve the General Operation Fund Budget for the 2013-2014 fiscal year in the amount of $77,924,280 calling for a local real property tax need of $8,470,410 plus 1 % County Treasurer Collection Fee of $85,560 for a total of $8,555,969. Ms. Zweiback seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote. Ms. Slosburg made a motion that the Board of Education approve the Special Building Fund Budget for 2013-2014 in the amount of $1,453,529 calling for a local real property tax need of $648,604 plus 1% County Treasurer Collection Fee of $6,552 for a total of $655,155. Ms. Ms. Zweiback made a motion that the Board of Education approve the Bond Debt Service Fund Budget for 2013-2014 in the amount of $3,400,000 calling for a local real property tax need of $3,438,249 plus the 1% County Treasurer Collection Fee of $34,730 for a total of $3,472,979. Ms. Slosburg seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote. TERIP Review Dr. Enid Schonewise, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, presented a report on the district s Temporary Early Retirement Incentive Program (TERIP), policy 4517. TERIP is meant to provide an early retirement incentive for qualified employees within the bounds of fiscal conditions. Effective dates for TERIP are September 1, 2013 (for the 2013-2014 fiscal year) through August 31, 2018 (for the 2017-2018 fiscal year) unless earlier amended and / or repealed by the Board of Education. Employees in the following positions qualify for TERIP:
Page 4 Administrators, Full and Part-Time Certificated staff employed in a Certified position, and Full- Time Building Service and Full-Time 12-month and 10-month Administrative Assistant /Technical Staff who are not eligible to receive benefits under Board Policy 4515. Qualified employees must have reached the age of 60 during the school fiscal year in which they intend to retire. They must also have completed at least 20 years of Credited Service (or the equivalent of 20 years FTE) in a Qualifying Position in the District. Applications must be submitted in full to the Superintendent on or before December 1 st of the school year in question. Failure to submit a fully completed and signed Application and Agreement by the December 1 st deadline shall render an employee ineligible for that school year. There are certain limitations on the number of employees that can participate each school fiscal year and the Board of Education reserves the right to limit the number of participants in any school fiscal year. Unless a different number is approved, the Board of Education shall approve up to ten eligible employees to participate under the following allocation: Administrators up to two participants; Certified Staff up to six participants; Full-Time Building Service/10&12 Month Administrative Assistants/Technical Staff up to two participants. Approved Administrators will receive a total benefit equal to the lesser of 2% of current salary times years of credited service or $50,000. Approved Certificated staff will receive a total benefit equal to the lesser of 2% of current salary times years of credited service or $40,000. Approved Full-Time Building Service, 12 and 10-month Administrative Assistants / Technical Staff shall receive a total benefit equal to the lesser of 2% of current salary times years of credited service or $30,000. The current estimated breakdown of eligible participants for the 2013-2014 school fiscal year is $205,691.43. (A copy of the Executive Summary is attached to the official minutes.) Summer Nutrition Program Diane Zipay presented a report on the district s Summer Nutrition Program, called EATS (Eat All Through Summer). Westside Community Schools has been sponsoring the summer nutrition program since 1994, which now serves over 2,000 lunches at over 32 sites every day during the summer. During the summer of 2013, Westside served: 15,431 breakfasts; 68,759 lunches; and 31,195 snacks. These numbers represent a 9% increase over 2012. In addition, Westside served over 3,100 parent meals that were paid for by the Mutual of Omaha Foundation and Hunger Free Heartland. This program provides free meals to parents who accompany their children and promotes families eating together. Westside s Summer Nutrition program not only helps keep children fed during the summer, but it also ensures the quality of our Nutrition Service workforce by providing our school-year employees with employment during the summer months. In addition, the program provides a source of revenue that allows us to purchase and upgrade equipment at no additional cost to the district. (A copy of the Executive Summary is attached to the official minutes.)
Page 5 Apple Distinguished Educator Program Dr. Mark Weichel, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, introduced Matt Lee, District Technology Integrationist and Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE). Matt is one of three district staff members with the ADE designation. The ADE program was established in 1994 and there are currently 2,000 members worldwide. The program is set up to recognize teachers who utilize Apple technology in new and innovative ways. Matt attended the ADE Institute in Austin, TX, July 14-19, 2013. The Institute consisted of intensive workshops and collaboration on technology integration with teachers from the U.S., Canada and Mexico as well as Apple Engineers and Apple Software Designers. Attendees also had learning opportunities in photography, presentation design and improv. Matt has already shared many of his new ideas with the high school social studies department, the district s Excellence in Youth team and has updated the district s technology help site (area66.westside66.org). (A copy of the Executive Summary is attached to the official minutes.) Sister Cities Shizuoka, Japan Dr. Weichel introduced Katie Susman, Kindergarten Teacher at Swanson Elementary School. Katie was one of three Omaha-area teachers, selected by the Omaha Sister Cities Association (OSCA), who traveled to Shizuoka, Japan, in June 2013 as part of a teacher delegation. Katie spent time participating in Shizuoka s educational system with visits to elementary, middle and high schools, the mayor s office and with the superintendent of schools. She also stayed with a host family and learned about Japanese home life. Katie was grateful to OSCA for providing an opportunity to experience global travel and encouraged the Board to consider future partnerships with OSCA to promote staff and student exchanges with schools in other countries. In addition to her time in Shizuoka, Katie also traveled to Kyoto and Hiroshima Announcements Dr. McCann identified hand-outs included in Board Member packets and announced upcoming event dates: September 11 th NASB Area Membership Meeting; September 23 rd Board of Education Public Hearing and Business Meeting; October 7 th Board of Education Curriculum Meeting; October 12 th Westside Community Schools VI-VI Dinner / Dance / Silent Auction at Embassy Suites LaVista; October 15-16 th Parent / Teacher Conferences; and October 21 st Board of Education Business Meeting. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:46 p.m.