The Grand Island Public Schools "Board Brief" is an online monthly publication sharing the Board of Education meeting highlights, updates, campus recognitions, and more.

Here's a recap of the November 2023 Regular Board Meeting.

• Agenda
• Video Stream
• All Board members were present.

Dr. Evan Lee, GIPS Social Studies Curriculum & Fine Arts Coordinator, shared the district's bi-yearly report on American Civics.

The report allows for the Board and the community to stay up to speed on classroom experience for teachers and students surrounding social studies related curriculum and resources for Kindergarten - 12th Grade. Dr. Lee's report also helps the district stay in compliance with Nebraska PL 79-724 and GIPS Policy 2230.

Highlights from the report include:

• Overview of curriculum resources and classroom tools.
• Notable American Civics projects for students during key grades.
• How GIPS meets state curriculum standards.
• The positive impact of social studies related discussions in classroom settings.
• And more.

Hear Dr. Lee's full presentation HERE.

Mr. Virgil Harden, GIPS CFO, shared insights on a possible platform update for the district. Mr. Cory Gearhart, GIPS Chief Information Officer, and Dr. Carrie Kolar, GIPS Chief of Human Relations, provided additional insight into the process as well.

GIPS has been using some form of Kronos (UKG) Workforce Plus for time and attendance and SmartFind Express (SFE) for leaves management and substitute placement since January 2010. Kronos (UKG) has announced that Workforce Plus on premise deployments will enter end of life as of March 31, 2027.

However, as early as October 2019 GIPS had identified the need to migrate to a more robust software platform but the COVID-19 pandemic brought that process to an abrupt end. The need for a more modern approach to managing these activities (Time & Attendance, Leaves Management, Substitute Placement Software) has never been more apparent for the following reasons:

1. The desire to be more competitive in hiring practices by moving classified staff to a bi-weekly payroll cycle (not possible with our current software and processes).
2. Full API (Application Program Interface) between TimeClock Plus and School ERP Pro.
3. 100% paperless time and attendance payroll processing, leaves management, substitute placement.
4. Real time 24/7/365 one version of the truth for employees leaves and balances.
5. More modern substitute placement via (text, email, IM, etc) rather than phone calls alone.
6. Clock In Clock Out via smartphone technology with geofencing plus via time clocks and kiosk.
7. Data analytics for informed decision making.
8. Elimination and streamlining the number of software vendors and processes both internally and externally to GIPS.
9. Full compliance with labor and wage laws and regulations around complex FMLA and other related issues.
10. Cost avoidance by reducing error rates via manual computational errors with current process

Listen to the team's full presentation HERE.

Mr. Fisher shared the latest installment of district policy reviews and proposed updates. Descriptions of the proposals may be found immediately below.

Hear Mr. Fisher's full presentation on policies HERE.

Regular review of an existing policy. The only proposed change is to remove the specifics listed in the checklist as not every vehicle may require each of those specifics. The district would maintain the regular checking of vehicle safety.

This was presented as first read and will be up for vote at December's Board meeting.

Regular review of an existing policy. No proposed edits at this time.

This was presented as first read and will be up for vote at December's Board meeting.

Regular review of an existing policy. The only proposed change would be to remove the phrase "audio tapes" and simply refer to "music" that is under copyright protection.

This was presented as first read and will be up for vote at December's Board meeting.

Regular review of an existing policy. No proposed edits at this time.

This was presented as first read and will be up for vote at December's Board meeting.

Regular review of an existing policy. No proposed edits at this time.

This was presented as first read and will be up for vote at December's Board meeting.

Regular review of an existing policy. No proposed edits at this time.

This was presented as first read and will be up for vote at December's Board meeting.

Adi Beltran, GISH Senior and Board Student Representative, shared her latest report with the Board of Education. A few highlights may be found below.

• GISH Volleyball won the District Championship on October 26th. This was historic as it gave the team a State Tournament berth for the first time in ten years.
  
  
• GISH Football had a great season and highlighted it with a big win in the State Playoffs against rival Kearney.
  
  
• State Cross Country was on October 20th. It was a great experience for all involved to support our teammates competing.
  
  
• Fall Sports Season is finished.
  
  
• Winter Sports Season is here and starts this month.
  
  
• The GISH Musical, "Beauty and the Beast", was a huge success!
  
  
• GISH also hosted the State Student Council Conference a couple weeks ago. Over 600 high school student leaders from across the state attended the event to learn about leadership.
  
  
• National Honors Society Red Cross Committee is hosting a blood drive next week.
  
  
• GISH also hosted the annual 8th Grade Islander Extravaganza — an open house experience for current 8th Graders and their families. Mr. Gilbertson shared that we wanted to host the event in the fall to give our 8th Graders better opportunity to learn about the Academies at Grand Island Senior High earlier in the year as they look to be Islanders next year.
  
  
• Nebraska State Poet, Matt Mason, is in the district this week. He's sharing poetry insights with our GISH English classes and even working with some Elementary School groups. He shared a poetry reading last night that was free and open to the public.
  
  
• Mr. Gilbertson, GISH Executive Principal, and Mrs. Wells, GISH Activities Director, shared their intentions to retire at the end of the year. They have been great leaders for the school and the district!

Hear Adi's full report HERE.

Mr. Fisher shared a Superintendent Report with the Board.

A few highlights include:

• Board of Education officers, by policy, are required to declare their intent to run. Incumbent Board President and Vice President must declare their intent within two days after the November Board Meeting. Other interested candidates from the Board must declare by December 1st.
  
  
• The Stuhr Museum is interested in displaying the artifacts of old Board of Education minutes and teacher screening documents from the district in the 1800s.
  
  
• Met with the Chamber of Commerce community group to have a discussion about child care in Grand Island. Was a really good dialogue session about how to tackle this need in our community.
  
  
• Economic Development Corporation invited me and Mr. Harden, GIPS CFO, to join a group conversation about taxes in the community. Spent quite a bit of time talking about TIFF and how that impacts us. It's good to meet with our community entities to continue fostering relationships and better understanding how finances impacts all of us.
  
  
• Our district communications audit was this week which included third party auditors coming to our district and meeting with ten different focus groups from around the district and community. We had an exit interview with the lead Auditor and it was a great experience. Some really good information will be coming from the full report. The auditor was especially complimentary of the high school student group he met with.
  
  
• Much of the week has been focusing on budget needs for the district in the 2024-25 school year. We have been having meetings with district leaders and Principals the last few weeks to start the process of brainstorming ideas and problem solving. Also, this week we shared a more detailed update with our staff through video in this week’s staff newsletter. We’re wanting to be proactive in sharing the process with all of our staff and invite them to share ideas with their building leaders as we continue these discussions and the process of becoming more financially efficient.

Hear Mr. Fisher's full report HERE.

See above "Information Item" for details.

MOTION PASSED: 9 - 0

Proposed edit to the existing policy that would remove the guaranteed accommodations of a seperate table for media and printed editions of the agenda.

Going forward, the Board would plan to maintain the current layout of the board room; this simply would allow the room to have flexibility on future needs that may arise on a situational basis. Agendas have been available online in digital format for a number of years and that will continue to be the case.

This was presented as information at October's Board Meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 9 - 0

Proposed edits to an existing policy to clear up syntax. Also would remove the specification that the breastfeeding accommodations be only for employees and open it up for individuals in buildings.

This was presented as information at October's Board Meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 9 - 0

Regular review on an existing policy. No changes are being presented at this time.

This was presented as information at October's Board Meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 9 - 0

Proposal to eliminate the current policy. The rational is that basic first aid best practices will continue to be the district's protocol at all buildings and events. This eliminates any chance of inconsistencies across the district as care is being provided for while removing guarantees that certain components will take place when the situation may not require it.

This was presented as information at October's Board Meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 9 - 0

Two proposed adjustments to an existing policy.

1. Adding the stipulation that student behavior must be in accordance with all guidelines established in handbooks and policies.
   
   
2. Eliminating the stipulation that rules of conduct will be provided to students riding the bus. Instead, rules of contact will be provided through the handbook which is public and available for all students and families.

This was presented as information at October's Board Meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 9 - 0

Proposed adjustment to an existing policy.

Students in violation of behavior expectations on the bus would potentially lose the privilege of riding the bus the remainder of the school year after a third violation.

The current edition of the policy states the loss of privilege after the fourth violation.

This was presented as information at October's Board Meeting.

After additional discussion, the Board and Superintendent agreed to review the policy a second time to ensure it may be as clear and equitable as possible. The Policy Committee will review the policy one more time and bring it back as an Action Item at December's Board meeting.

MOTION TO REVIEW THE POLICY ONE MORE TIME PASSED: 9 - 0

Regular review on an existing policy. No changes are being presented at this time.

This was presented as information at October's Board Meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 9 - 0

One proposed change to fix syntax by removing an "Often times" qualifier before a sentence.

This was presented as information at October's Board Meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 9 - 0

Proposed adjustments to an existing policy.

1. Adding a clarification sentence that states: "School district provided transportation should be considered an extension of school property and students should conduct themselves in accordance with all guidelines established in handbooks and policy."
   
   
2. Removing the component that allows a student's parent to personally appear at an event and request a student may ride home with them without first completing the proper paperwork.

This was presented as information at October's Board Meeting

MOTION PASSED: 9 - 0

The Board entered into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing negotiations and to review the Superintendent's evaluation. Because it is in the best interest of the public, the discussion was held in a closed session.

After returning from Executive Session, the Board offered a motion to accept the Superintendent Evaluation as submitted.

Motion Passed: 9 - 0