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 September 2023 Board proceedings.

• GIPS Annual Budget Workshop - 5:30 p.m. - Workshop Agenda (not live streamed but was open to the public)
  
• GIPS 2023-24 Board Budget Hearing - 6:30 p.m. - Hearing Agenda
  
• GIPS Regular Board Meeting - 6:30 p.m. - Agenda
  
• Video Stream
• Board Member Mr. Josh Hawley was not present but gave prior notice to his absence.

Every year GIPS hosts an annual Budget Workshop with the Board of Education. The workshop is open to the public and provides the Board and the community with an opportunity to review the updated budget for the upcoming school year.

After the workshop, the Board of Education then held a Budget Hearing before the regular meeting. The hearing allows for the Chief Financial Officer, Virgil Harden, to share a brief update on the budget and invite members of the public to share feedback, concern, or questions.

There were no requests from the public to speak before the Board regarding the budget.

Next, the Board will hold a special meeting on September 25th at 5:30 to vote on the budget.

Here are a few notable highlights for the GIPS Budget for the 2023-24 school year:

• Lower Tax Levy; First Time in 22 Years

The overall levy needed to support the our schools will decrease by a total of about 10 cents for each one hundred dollars of assessed valuation.

• Increased Special Education Reimbursement from the State will Lower Property Tax

$6 million more of Special Education services will be moved off of the property taxpayer and will be covered by state funds.

• Staffing Covers 80% of the Budget

Our valuable staff are the backbone of our district. We want to continue supporting them as they support our students.

• Rebuilding Cash Reserves Remains a Focus

GIPS is continuing to make strategic investments in order to lower bond debt and take care of today's needs and plan for the future.

Learn more about the 2023-24 budget by listening to the district's latest podcast episode with Mr. Fisher and Mr. Harden, HERE.

Welcome to the Board!

Board of Education Student Representative, Adi Beltran, was sworn into her position this evening.

While the role of Board Student Representative does not carry voting agency, the student rep has ample opportunity to influence discussion, considerations, and impact opportunities for change.

Beltran, like her predecessors, will attend each regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting and sit at the same rotunda as the elected Board Members. As an active participant, she will have the opportunity to hear all public reports, presentations, and requests. She will have the chance to share comments and questions from her perspective along the way. Additionally, Beltran will share a monthly report on the latest updates, concerns, and ideas from Grand Island Senior High’s student body.

Beltran commemorated the occasion with her mother, Jeff Gilbertson, GISH Executive Principal, Mayra Quintana, GearUp Program, and Interim Superintendent Matt Fisher alongside Board President Hank McFarland.

Congratulations, Adi!

Read the full article HERE.

34 Grand Island Senior High (GISH) students earned recognition for stellar results on their respective AP tests. Some of the highlights include:

• 293 students taking AP courses
• 472 AP tests taken by all students
• 100 students with scores of 3+
• 55 students with scores of 4 or 5
• 34 students earned "AP Scholar" status

Four more GISH "AP Scholar" students were honored at the Board Meeting last evening. Thirteen additional "AP Scholars" were recognized at last month's (August) Board Meeting.

Way to go, Islander Scholars!

Mr. Matt Fisher, GIPS Superintendent, presented potential policy updates as first read information items. Each of the following policy highlights were up for regular review as part of normal board operations.

Board Member Oath of Office would be a slight update to an existing policy. The one change would be to list the legal name of the school district, "Hall County School District Number 2" rather than, "School District of Grand Island".

No other adjustments were presented. This will be an Action Item at the October Board meeting.

Hear Mr. Fisher's presentation on all first read policy updates, HERE.

An existing policy that was due for regular review. There are no changes to this policy proposed at this time.

This will be an Action Item at the October Board Meeting.

An existing policy that was due for regular review. There are no changes to this policy proposed at this time.

This will be an Action Item at the October Board Meeting.

An existing policy that was due for regular review. There are no changes to this policy proposed at this time.

This will be an Action Item at the October Board Meeting.

An existing policy that was due for regular review. There are no changes to this policy proposed at this time.

This will be an Action Item at the October Board Meeting.

An existing policy that was due for regular review. There are no changes to this policy proposed at this time.

This will be an Action Item at the October Board Meeting.

An existing policy that was due for regular review. There are no changes to this policy proposed at this time.

This will be an Action Item at the October Board Meeting.

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

GISH INVOLVEMENT:

• Adi was elected by her student peers to represent them in this role.

• She is a two sport athlete, Cross Country & Track.

• Active in National Honor Society, School Government, and the GISH Book Club.

• She is a student in the Law & Public Safety Academy.

• Eventually she will attend UNL and major in Law to eventually become an immigration lawyer.

SPORTS UPDATES:

• GISH Football has started off strong! Congratulations to Coach Tomlin on his 200th career win.

• Homecoming Royalty announced with Charlie Gentry & Mariah Cobler being named King & Queen.

• Cross Country had their first home race and had two first place finisher (Boys & Girls).

• Haedyn Hoos surpassed 1,000 kills for GISH Volleyball.

• Softball Team has won three games in row.

• Boys Tennis got 2nd Place at the North Platte invite.

ACTIVITIES UPDATES:

• Tickets for the GISH Fall Musical, “Beauty and the Beast”, are now available!

• GISH Marching Band performed at the State Fair

• Student Class Officers have started their work together. The first Senior Class activity will be a “Senior Sunrise” with breakfast provided by Sonic on Friday (9/15).
  
  

Thank you for your leadership, Adi!

Mr. Fisher shared a Superintendent Report with the Board.

A few highlights include:

• The GIPS Foundation Harvest Gala coming up this month (the 28th). It is the second year for the annual event and I really encourage everyone to attend. This looks to become one of the more important fundraisers for the GIPS Foundation.
• The Governance Committee has been working away at the Superintendent Evaluation. Specifically through the evaluation tool that NASB has provided.
• Our newcomer population has continued to grow. Especially at Barr Middle School, we’ve almost doubled the number of students we have in the program. We will be seeking to add additional staff to help support the growing program.
• GISH scheduling process is getting ready to start. Part of that process if looking at efficiencies the are available within the Academies.
• Great first Parent Advisory Council meeting earlier this month. Great discussion with that group. We are looking forward to continue hearing from them as we work together in our district.
• Key Communicators stakeholder group meets for the first time this school year on Monday. That will be us connecting with many community representatives.
• School year is off to a pretty good start! I’ve been in all of buildings at least a few times and we’re seeing so many great things; some challenges; but the year is starting off strong.

Hear Mr. Fisher's full report HERE.

Update to an existing policy relating to longevity experience in education. The proposed change would state, "New hired non-administrative certified staff shall be granted credit for up to 10 years experience in previous districts..." The previous edition of the policy granted credit for up to eight years.

These updates were presented as information at the August Board Meeting.

Motion Passed: 8 - 0

Update to an existing policy regarding basic special education procedures. The changes reflect the practices the district has been practicing for years, but needed to formally update the language in the policy. Consistent updates include:

• Ensuring all children with verified disabilities through the age of 21 have education available to them.
• Disciplinary procedures for children with disabilities.
• IEP accessibility for staff directly connected to the education of the student.

Again, these are practices the district has been maintaining but needed to ensure the language in the policy matched the practices.

These updates were presented as information at the August Board Meeting.

Motion Passed: 8 - 0

A new policy required from the State Legislature. This would permit the Superintendent to identify (or delegate) specific points of contact for behavior related support at each school in the district. This new policy would state that GIPS has identified the school counselors and/or school social workers as the behavior point of contact. If the policy is adopted, GIPS will share that information with the Nebraska Department of Education and post the information on the district website.

These updates were presented as information at the August Board Meeting.

Motion Passed: 8 - 0

Update to an existing policy to better ensure safety in our schools. The update would clarify that it is still unlawful for individuals to carry concealed firearms in school, in a school-owned vehicle, or at a school-sponsored activity or athletic event regardless of the "concealed and carry" stipulations in the state.

These updates were shared as Information Items at the August Board Meeting.

Motion Passed: 8 - 0

Mr. Fisher has done an outstanding job leading Grand Island Public Schools through a time of transition. We believe he has earned the trust of our staff, students, and families and has proven himself to be the right person for the job. Because of our faith in him and how he has approached his work, we, as a Board, wanted to affirm his role with the district by removing the word “Interim” from his job title.

Out of our desire to support Mr. Fisher and inform our community of our confidence in him, our Board made an operational mistake. At last evening’s Board meeting we reconvened after Executive Session and voted to approve dropping “Interim” from Mr. Fisher’s title. In retrospect we realized we did not have the appropriate Agenda nor Action Item clearly identified on the Board agenda. This is a misstep we take responsibility for.

In the meantime, we are grateful to have Mr. Matt Fisher leading our district and we look forward to seeing how his positive leadership betters our district.

We will have more to share later on procedural updates to make everything official.