001Good evening and welcome to the Pavilion L Vista Community Schools Board of Education meeting for November 10th. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bailey, >> Miss Butler >> here, >> Mr. >> H. here. >> Mr. >> Here. >> Thank you. Please note that the Nebraska open meetings law is posted at the entrance to the room. We'll begin with communications and recognition. Dr. Rickley will announce our candidates tonight. >> We're going to share, share, like because that's what we do around here in Pam Vista Community Schools, ladies and gentlemen. So, happy Monday everyone. Uh we are
002at that point in the agenda where we like to recognize our staff and our students that have done something exceptional athletically, academically in the area of uh just something that contributes to the greater uh wellness and likelihood of the whole school district receiving recognition. So we've got an individual we're going to recognize tonight and then we've got a group of individuals that we're going to recognize tonight. So just because some of you may not have attended our board meetings in the past, here's how we'll do it. So, we'll make our very first recommendation. I would invite that individual to come down to your board of education, be recognized, take any pictures, including family members that are here. Uh, we'll recognize them, and then we'll move on to the second group. Uh, we're doing the individual
003first, followed by the team, and we are so very proud of all of you. The very first individual we are recognizing is our own Emily Hegy, who goes to Pilion La Vista South High School. Miss Heggy was presented with the Class A Girl state cross country champion which is presented by NSAA. She won the individual, not the team, the individual championship. Two interesting facts about Emily. First of all, uh she serves on my superintendent student advisory council. So we have lunch with a group of eight monarchs eight titans. We have lunch every single uh every single month and we just talk about things that are going on in the school district in the buildings. Emily has been an outstanding contributor contributor to that group. The other point that I'd like to bring up is uh
004Emily's reputation as a runner and as an athlete has preceded her. Uh when she was first coming up through the ranks through our middle schools, uh I had a conversation with her principal at Pilon Le Vista South, Mr. Jeff Spiler, and he's like, "Andy, you're really going to like this young lady. She is a worldclass runner, but more than that, she's an outstanding human being and a really great student." Emily, we couldn't be prouder of your accomplishments. I know you brought coach Hazelho and maybe you brought mom along too. Please come down and be recognized by your board of education. [applause] >> Turn them on. Take the picture. Congratulations. [applause] >> And Emily, not to put any pressure on you, but with you still having several years left in your high school career, maybe this
005isn't the last time that we recognize you and your accomplishments. Outstanding job, and thank you for being here tonight. Uh moving on to our second uh recognitions of the evening. Uh it's not often that we get to recognize non- high school students or non- high school staff just by the nature of how recognitions work. We've as a board decided to recognize individuals, staff students that receive state level or national level recognition. And just by the way these things work, we don't often get to recognize middle school. Uh so this is a really special evening and a really special group of young ladies. Tonight we are recognizing the L Vista Middle School girls cross country team who is named the 2025 Nebraska State Junior High, not middle school, junior high cross country champions. This is the
006third consecutive year that LVMS has won the Nebraska State Championship. Good grief, ladies. That is a dynasty. The race was held on the cross country course located at Pony La Vista South High School. I don't know if Speedy is involved or not, but I'm guessing Speedy is involved. Coming from the father of somebody that ran cross country for a time myself, it's a difficult course. It's an incredibly competitive course for you to win three consecutive years. Ladies, what an incredible accomplishment. Please come down and be recognized by your board of education. [applause] [cheering] >> And we have coaches. Please come down. We got several coaches. Absolutely. Beautiful. I don't know who does join us. Please join us. Does this work? Can we fit everybody? >> [applause] [applause] >> Ladies, I'll say the same thing to
007you that I said to Emily. Uh I wouldn't be surprised if we see you back in this boardroom celebrating your athletic and academic accomplishments. We are so very proud of you. Uh, as always, uh, for parents and students, feel free to stick around. We'd love to have you in our board of education, but we also will not be offended if you get up and leave at some point. We know you're all very busy. Super, super proud of you. Moms, dads, family members, coaches, thank you for being here. So, very proud. And with that, Miss Whit, I'll conclude our recognitions for the evening. >> Thank you. I turned your mic on. Is this Is this working? >> Yes. >> Okay. Uh, our next item on the agenda is our student council report. We have members from
008Pil Vista South High School, Abigail Bender and Mattie Larson. >> Abby from Pavilion South and I am flying solo tonight, but I think I'll be okay. We are in full swing for second quarter of the 202526 school year at Pavilion V South and we've been very busy. Um, and we're going to take a moment to highlight some of the great things we have going. We recently kicked off ACT prep. So, every week, once a week, Titan times, students are working hard on their ACT prep. Um, and they have the test upcoming, I believe, in March. So, they will help build their test skills to succeed on that test. Also on October 29th, we had our college and career fair where we welcomed over 60 vendors representing a wide range of career paths, which was a
009great experience for our juniors and sophomores to explore options and begin planning for their futures. A special thank you to Miss Peterson and Miss Javins for their leadership in organizing this special event. Next is our journalism. Um they received one of the state's highest honors, the Corn Husker Award for their outstanding yearbook publication. Um, this recognition reflects the dedication and creativity of our student staff and they produced another exceptional addition. Next is our PSAT prep. So, we saw our highest PSAT participation this year, um, which is for juniors and sophomores alike, and they will be prepped for all their college entrance exams and scholarship qualifications in the future. Um, and we also hosted our very own state student council convention, welcoming over 550 students from schools across the state, over 32 schools, and it was
010a great event to show off Pavilion the Vista South and Pavilion Lista Community Schools. Next, we'll move on to athletics. So, excuse my voice. Um, Titan volleyball captured another state championship on Saturday night, our fifth title in seven years, and I myself was able to seal the game with the winning kill. U, which was a perfect ending to an incredible season. So, I'm very proud of my fellow players and coaches for our hard work, dedication, grit, and teamwork. And >> Thank you. I believe we'll be at the next meeting. So, don't get too sick of me. >> You already sent out the invitation. >> Awesome. And then we also are super proud of our Titan football team who has made school history, making it the farthest ever in their playoffs. Um they have hosted two
011playoff games and they will face Kraton Prep at Burke on Friday. Um they have their best program seasonal record of eight- one and they defeated Millard North last week 36 to 26 for the second time this season. So nice we had to do it twice and we are in the final four. So we're one away from the state championship where we might be able to take off mighty South. So we were super proud of the team success and leadership on and off the field. Um next up boys cross country. Um they had a super strong season and showed consistent effort and improvement throughout the year. Aiden Garing was able to finish second at state barely just so close to being here with Emily HGY. Um but their team also performed very well. And then girls
012cross country as we recognized tonight. Emily HGY freshman state champion and also Ashlin Carter placed sixth. So, the hard work and leadership exemplify the Titan standard of success for that team and they had a fantastic season as well. And lastly, we are kicking off winter sports next Monday, November 17th. And we're going to have strong participation in girls and boys wrestling, girls and boys basketball, and swimming and diving and bowling. So, we are looking forward to another exciting season of Titan athletics. I know we swept all three seasons with the state championship last year, so fingers crossed. Um, next, moving on to fine arts, we will host the fall musical curtains [clears throat] starting this Thursday at 7 PM and then we'll have uh Friday and Saturday evening shows in a Sunday matinea. Um, the
013cast and crew have been working tirelessly and audience can expect a fantastic show filled with talent, energy, and fun. Next, the band wrapped up an outstanding season placing third at state and they received honors for best percussion and best visual performance. Um, this show was a true fan favorite and a great source of pride for our school community. And congratulations to our students and directors because they absolutely rocked it. Um, lastly, our choir program is busy preparing for the December concert which will showcase their hard work and musical growth of our vocal students. In addition, all four Titan show choirs are in full rehearsal mode and are preparing for their January debuts. It's an exciting time for our performing arts and we're looking forward to another season of excellence in creativity. With that, once again,
014thank you for allowing me to present at this meeting and for the positive impact that you, each and every one of you have had on our school district and community by serving in your role. We are extremely proud of what has been accomplished at Papio South this semester and can't wait to wrap it up. Thank you. We'll see you. >> Thank you. Moving on to reports. Superintendent. >> Uh thank you very much, Miss Whit, members of the board. Maddie stole all my thunder with all of her great announcements, but she did an outstanding job. Uh for our community members that are with us this evening, thank you for joining us and engaging with your board of education. For those of you that may be watching from home, thank you for engaging in that manner. We
015value your input and your feedback. Uh, as Maddie and other speakers had indicated, it's been a busy few weeks. Uh, we're approximately halfway through uh, the second quarter. Doesn't seem possible. It'll be winter winter break before we know it. Lots of really exciting things going on. One of the things that Mattie briefly touched on was the access your future night. Uh, this is the night where we host uh, basically a showcase for all of our academy programs. Um, it's a chance for our kids to interact with the academy programs, the sponsors, figure out a little bit more about the curriculum, the types of coursework associated with each of of the academy programs. Uh, I asked Miss Jabins this morning what uh the academy applications look like. She said it looks pretty similar to previous years,
016but the applications don't close for a few more days, and she said we typically see an influx of applications. So, with any luck at all, we'll see uh an increase over applications last year. But certainly one of the things as a school district that we're so very proud of is the academy programs. Also wanted to remind the board and the staff that we're concluding our pickmeups. I want to thank Dr. Via Rial for coordinating what is a herculean effort to hit every one of our 21 schools and multiple programs from the print shop to technology to early childhood to buildings and grounds to warehouse and everything in between plus all of our schools. We try to hit every one of our buildings and we're just about done. Uh we'll be wrapping that up I believe
017this Thursday with a couple of school visits uh where they receive personalized popcorn. The popcorn is popped to the color of their school mascots color. So it's kind of a fun opportunity for us to be out in our buildings and for our staff to hopefully have a healthy snack. Uh also wanted to remind the board and community we are fast approaching our second round of advisory meetings. Uh as the board is aware and our community may be aware we have a number of advisory groups we meet with throughout the course of the year. Uh tomorrow we will meet with our teacher advisory. We have at least one teacher from every one of our 21 schools. Uh we'll be meeting with our classified advisory where we have at least one representative from each of our 21
018schools and we will be showcasing YATP in particular. Now, we couldn't get to YATP for our classified staff, but we will be meeting at YATP for our teacher advisory. Many of our teachers have not been in that building yet even though we did our little kickoff uh open house at the beginning of the year. So, that'll be a fun opportunity to showcase that program. We'll follow that up with our second student, actually it'll be our third student meeting of the year, which will be back at Monarch High. Uh also had the opportunity to attend our unified bowling uh the week before last. Uh many of the board members have attended unified events in the past for parents watching at home. Uh our unified sports program is an opportunity for our students with disabilities and their
019non-disabled peers to compete in a variety of different activities. Right now we're focusing on bowling. So we're here uh in downtown Pavilion at Papio Bowl. It's just so fun to see our students interacting and doing something that they love and for parents to show up and be able to root on our students. Just really special events and and so very proud of that program and how many of our schools are recognized with the national banner designation. Uh as Maddie indicated, we've got a couple of big events coming up. Of course, we'll recognize uh the South volleyball team two weeks from now. really proud of of that dynasty that they've built, football Friday night, uh, and the plays that are going on at both Monarch and Titan. Last thing that I have, uh, just want tomorrow
020to put out a heartfelt thank you to all the men and women that have worn our nation's uniform. I'd like to extend a special thank you to our own Colonel Skip Bailey, who served with distinction for, I believe, the better part of better part of 30 years of the United States Air Force as a pilot. Um, military families are pretty special around here, ladies and gentlemen. uh not only the the men and women that wear the uniform and deploy and put their own lives uh at risk for this great country of ours, but the families that are left behind. They carry a special burden. The kids carry a special burden. And uh we don't have quite as many military dependents as Belleview, for example. They're about 30%, but we're approaching 10%. and we see every
021day the special challenges that spouses and kids and families bear when mom or dad deploys uh in defense of this uh wonderful nation of ours. So, um many of our schools, we'll have a Veterans Day program tomorrow. I'm going to start my day at Hickory Hill. I think I finish at Ashbury, but you're going to find Veterans Day programs all across this district. Um we love our military families. Just want to say thank you and Godspeed for all of them that are putting themselves in harm's way to protect us. And again, Colonel, thank you for your service to this nation of ours. And with that, I'll conclude my superintendent's comments. >> Thank you. Moving on to um board member reports. >> I guess I can start. Uh I'll start with uh I had a liaison
022lunch at the wonderful Le Vista West Elementary uh since our last meeting. Uh it's always just such a fantastic building to go into. uh the renovations that have been completed uh from the prior bond uh and just the positive nature of of of the kids and the staff in that building. Uh it's always a a wonderful time to visit. I I was a a G Stanley Hall Hawk, so just uh just down Park View Boulevard, but all of us to West so many friends and and folks and teachers that I've known from that building. It's always a pleasure to be back. uh they started it off uh a little different than than some of the other liaison lunches I've been to with uh bringing in a handful of students uh to share why they love
023being at La Vista West. Uh and so it was just a great a great way and and and and with some of them different ways that they use technology to to communicate. Uh so it was it was kind of fun to see the interaction of of our paras and our our special education folks uh to demonstrate some of those as well as just a few from different grades uh and why they they love being there and and and most of them was the friends you know their teachers and and that they all you know are there and and feel special and and love coming to school every day. So that was a great way to to kick off uh the meeting. Uh and then we spent a majority of the the remainder of meeting just
024talking about uh different challenges and and things that that impact title one buildings. Um obviously questions with the government shutdown and different things just on state funding, federal funding, what impact that that might have uh going forward. Uh and then just really good general discussion on a lot of the topics that obviously we we discuss at a majority of them. But just again a a fantastic uh afternoon. Chick-fil-A was delicious. So, thank you, Miss Nichols. So, that was a good treat uh on a on a somewhat rainy cool day. So, uh but again, I appreciate uh the ability to to to have those liaison lunches and and just the great dialogue we have with the the staff and this time even a few students. So, and then other than that, like many of us, uh,
025attended a lot of the athletic events, it was a really late night in Lincoln for class A to kick off, uh, late. So, uh, but as many have mentioned, congratulations to the the Titan volleyball team. I mean, five out of seven years is is pretty amazing in this day and age in the the state of college and high school athletics. Uh, so uh what a fantastic uh environment. Huge thanks to the to the student section. Uh late night Friday night football the night before. Husker game was on late. Lots of reasons to to decide not to make the the the drive down to Lincoln. Uh but it was a pretty packed uh loud supportive student section. So glad they got to celebrate alongside the Titan volleyball players. With that, I'll conclude my comments. >> Thank
026you for the assist with the microphone. Shireen, appreciate that. I'll try not to get stuff all over it. She's not paying attention to me over there. So, um I also had a great liazison lunch YTP YATP. I think I said that right. Um Chick-fil-A as well. So, you've had Yeah, it was another day at Chick-fil-A. And I for the life of me, I'm the young man who served us our drinks. I could I lost his um >> Nathan, thank you. Yes, Nathan did a fantastic job taking everybody's drink order, which was fantastic. And uh it's nice to go back in that building and kind of see uh you know we were all there for the the ribbon cutting, but to kind of see how things are going. I know they still have a few things
027they're trying to work through just like any new building I think has a few snafoos here and there. I think they said a couple of their outlets aren't working and everything. So I know that they're trying to take care of all that, but it was really good to talk with them and and hear how they like the building, how a couple of them have been through a couple iterations of moves and and how much they're enjoying it. um got a couple of ideas of of things that they would like to see, smaller things. I think a basketball goal, I thought that was a great idea somewhere up. They have an idea of where they could put that. I think that'd be a fantastic addition. But uh like I said, it was just great lunch. And
028I think as we were leaving, they were all headed up to uh um Liberty up there. I think to uh since it was it was beautiful day outside, I think they were going to go head to the playgrounds up there and um but uh yeah, it was it was a lot of fun and and a great Chick-fil-A meal. So that's never a bad thing. So um thank you for the happy veterans day. I wanted to echo that as well to everybody that I know, all the families out there, all the uh veterans. Uh happy veterans day. We do appreciate everything you are doing. It has been a while since I have done it. Um retired and old guy, but uh really appreciate all the hard work that they uh put in uh every day them
029and their families. I appreciate you recognizing the families cuz uh I personally know and I know plenty of you have people that you know that the families work hard uh when the uh the active duty member or the guardsman or the reserveist is out uh doing their thing. So uh and then finally I will have a maybe meeting um on Wednesday of this week. So we'll miss not having you there, but I'll still try to you know hold the torch for uh for us there. No other comments from board members. We'll move on to committee reports starting with buildings, grounds, and finance. >> Uh we have not >> human resources and student services. >> Uh we actually met just before uh our meeting this evening. Um discuss uh numerous topics uh primarily including just an
030update on where we are on our uh in the process of our voluntary separation. uh kind of where current numbers are and uh as as the deadline approaches. Um discussed uh just future agenda items as well as just kind of early preliminary uh staffing plans for the 2627 year as well as uh going over the uh proposed student calendar uh that is on tonight's agenda. >> Thank you. and curriculum and Americanism. >> Uh we did not meet. We were supposed to meet last week and due to some personal reasons we have to reschedu that. >> Thank you. >> Moving on to action items for tonight. Action by consent. >> I'll make a motion to uh approve the action by consent as presented. >> Second. >> Thank you. I have a motion by Mr. Lotus and
031a second by Miss Wood. If there's any discussion, if not, roll call, please. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Last item on the action agenda is the 2025 classified staff desktop purchase. Mr. Moore, >> welcome. Uh so yeah, as we discussed the last board meeting, um this is our the sixth year of our six-year cycle for our desktop machines. Uh so we're up for a refresh. Um so we got out went out and got some quotes on specifications and the amount that we were needing and you can see in your board summary sheet there that we're looking at about 250. Um based on the spec specifications, uh Sterling ended up uh coming up with the best uh price for what we were looking for. So recommendation is to make a motion to approve entering into a
032contract with Sterling Computers uh for the total purchase amount of $158,750 to replace the desktops for the classified staff across the district. I'd be willing to answer any questions if you guys have any questions. >> No questions. I'm glad it sounded, you know, based on our prior discussions and things we've got many competitive bids and uh that the market's kind of come back down. own tariffs hasn't impacted us too much. So that's that's definitely more in line what I'm seeing with my IT purchases at my business. So that was great to see. So >> with no further questions, I'll I'll make a motion to approve entering into a purchase agreement with Sterling Computers for a total purchase amount of $158,750 to replace desktops for classified staff across the district. >> Thank you. We have a
033motion by Mr. Lotus and a second by Mr. Madler. Any further questions or comments? Roll call. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. Bailey. >> Yes. >> Miss. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Moving on to discussion and information items. The first is proposed 2026 27 student calendar. Dr. Settles. >> Thank you so very much. Um yes. So over the last several weeks we have um been having administration, cabinet, uh leadership cohort all kind of took a look and weighed in on some items for the calendar and um that's something too that we visit with our superintendent advisory classified and certified about throughout the year at different times. So, um, you have in front of you for discussion tonight a proposed calendar for 2627. Um, that includes 173 student days for elementary and
034175 days for our secondary students. For staff, um, at what we usually do and what you see on here is 187 days included for staff. Um, 190 is what a typical staff um, contract is. So, three of those days are reserved for the hours for parent teacher conferences. Um, and we don't place those on the calendar as those come at different times for each building, but we do acknowledge that um between meeting time and prep time for conferences and communication with parents, three days are on there, not shown. Um, we also have the uh first day of school for students uh would be on August 12th this coming year. It would be a Wednesday and that is for our K through 7 and 9th grade students and that's a um shortened day for them. And
035then the last day of school noted on there is May 21st, 2027. You'll also notice on there spring break is scheduled. It's a little bit later um than usual. It happens to coincide with a different um spring holiday that sometimes people like to take some time off for. So we went ahead and went with that week for it um for the March 22nd through 26th and then coming back from that on with a staff development day for the March staff day. Uh we also build in some inclement weather days. Uh we do have some makeup days though should we go over a comfortable amount and need to have some makeup days. You'll notice that there's several days outlined in blue um being February 15th, March 29th, April 26th, and then May 24th through 26 as
036possible days if needed. And that just allows us to have some flexibility kind of depending on when the inclement weather happens. Um we it have we liked this past year being able to utilize one of those days early as opposed to asking people to come back. But um where we're ending for next year does provide u plenty of time for those if needed for makeup time. Uh seniors, we do also put makeup time for them. So we could have them stay the whole day on May 6th and return on May 7th before graduation on May 9th. Um other than that, I believe you see 11 uh staff development days in the calendar um which would be the same as usual. And then we have our new teachers that we welcome [music] back uh beginning on
037August 3rd uh for our new special education teachers and then the 4th through the 6th for the rest of our new teachers before the entire staff comes back with a kickoff on August 7th. Are there any questions at all I can answer? >> I just uh really appreciate the 11 staff development days that are in there. Um I that we take great pride in the great professionals. Thank you. I also like that we built in the inclement weather days so that we don't have to worry about trying to bring kids in on days that and and instructional time is actually better served on those days that are already built into the calendar. And I would ask Dr. Siri as the do we have enough instructional days to meet Okay, thank you. That's always very important.
038That's what we're here for is our instruction. >> All right. No other comments. That'll come back to us next agenda for Yes. Thank you. And our last item on the discussion agenda is the balancing high school enrollment. All right. That one is me as well. And um thank you for coming up Missy Stalie as well. Uh so just to kind of let the rest of the board know where we left off from this. So thank you all for the very in-depth and thorough discussion that you had at your board retreat. And just kind of a reminder from that retreat came the recommendation for a special ad ad hoc committee. And um so I do want to thank Mr. Madler, Miss Butler, Mr. Bailey, um Miss Dolly, and Dr. Rickley all for being a part of
039that. Uh we also had the high school principles in for several pieces of discussion and consulted with uh Becky Meyers and Trent Steel, too. So, um just tried to kind of get all considerations on on board there as we um looked at this. So um what we took to task for this um ad hoc committee was looking at first of all what's happened over the last several years um and enrollment trends um over many many years and then we looked at our current numbers currently at any given point we're around 200 um students different between um PLSHS and PLHs and we also took a look at the RSP growth projection ctions as well as um the current growth that is happening. We do know that uh the majority of that growth is still slated more
040for the um south side. We also took a look at our current indist um procedures and the option enrollment procedures. So indistrict transfer being those that are within and wanting to go to a different school than where they're slide um slotted to go or um option enrollment being from outside of the district and opting in. And then we took a look at I think at least five or six different options and um that could help to curb the growing imbalance. And that um left us to with a goal to bring you a recommendation by this meeting and bring you further information. So um just a quick look at some of that historical information. Um I think very very crucial first of all that we state something that was said over and over and over again
041and that's that we have two incredible high schools that deliver an equitable education for our students. If you are a district resident, you are guaranteed a spot at an outstanding high school. Uh that includes high quality instruction at lots of different extracurricular and social opportunities. Um very robust student supports at both schools and then um a couple of shared co-curricular programs um such as media and NJOTC. So we do maintain the position that there is really no academic need for transfer and we think that that's very important that we remember um as we took a look at some of the his history portion um and these numbers are available on the Nebraska education profile as well and then they are uh high school numbers as of August 31st as we began looking at this. But
042the history piece of this is a reminder that back in 23 24 we began the one to one staffing. So if we had um five monarchs wanting to go be titans and five titans wanting to go be monarchs that is a one true onetoone. Any imbalance of that and those were selected um based on um application and lottery draw. Um we allowed at that point in 23 24 limited option. Then um in 2425 with construction being completed uh we did look at our staffing numbers and our staffing capacity and set those at 500 capacity and then allowed for option only as um capacity allowed. Um just a reminder our physical capacity at both high schools is 2200 and our staffing capacity is at 500 per grade level. Um that is truly because we do need
043to leave some space there for um the growth that is yet to occur. We cannot completely fill that. Um our indistrict transfers as well as growth that we have is what is uh really contributing mostly to some of the imbalance that we're seeing. It is not um option enrollment that's making um that a growing number. So that committee um did decide that we would like to avoid any boundary changes if possible. We know that can be um sometimes it is necessary, but we do know it can be emotional and create a disruption. Um we also wanted to make sure that we were basing decisions on long-term impact and what those growth projections shared with us. Um I already mentioned indistrict transfers being a big contributor to this imbalance. And then one of the really important
044pieces that this um group looked at is the data really shows that um where students start as freshmen, the vast majority of those stay. So we know that our students get into the schools and meet friends and become a part of many different activities and um experiencing um all of the all of the curriculum and co-curricular activities that we have to offer. Um so that that is truly what we see that most of those um transfers um don't happen after freshman year. Um, our data also showed that we really don't have a lot of new option enrollment requests at the high school level. Most of those students have been here previously and have requested at an earlier um grade level. Um, we do uh aim to be able to provide parents with as much choice
045as possible without overcrowding the schools or having to increase staffing. And then of course we have to follow the Nebraska state law for option enrollment. So as the group looked at it, we do have some recommendations to bring to you for moving forward. Um first of all, we recommend that the high school boundary does remain the same. Uh we also uh recommend for in district transfer that we accept those just on a onetoone basis at the high school level per grade level. uh February 1st will be the priority date for those in district transfer applications and if someone is denied from that they can go on to a May 1st weight list should any other um spots become available of where they were interested in transferring when we consider the option enrollment piece for our
046non-district trying to option into our PLCS boundaries um we will consider those opt option enrollment if there is still space at the 500 um grade level capacity and we do know that some of our classes will have no space for that because they all will already be at 500. Um and then as always with our initial deadline of March 15th for option enrollment we will follow the state law with that. We also made a small procedure um rec change uh on this area and that is we previously had a exception for students who were previously um had siblings at Rumsy station that went to South could continue at South. Those students have all now gone K through 12 and so we were able to remove that one. And then previously we had um an option
047of some special curricular things like media and ROC and we know that um that is we don't need to leave that one in there as we're not seeing requests from those and we do have some transportation options and pieces available. So we recommend that those go away. Um we also wanted just to mention a couple of future pieces for this board and that is first of all our recommendation would be um let's go with these new parameters that are very very slight change from what we've previously done and let's give them a couple of years to work as we looked at this um model and uh based it on our current numbers. it does look like we should come closer within the next couple of years understanding there is still um increased growth on one
048side of the district. We also u want to make sure that we keep monitoring the growth and balance um as well as those free and reduced numbers. So right now at any given point um it's between 10 and 12 percentage difference and we just want to keep an eye on that always. Uh we also uh thought that there might be some options that come up in the future that the board could consider to help with um continued balance and try to make some additional recommendations that could per um help with this piece. I think that was all of the items, but I do want to ask if any of the members of the ad hoc committee had anything they wanted to add to that before we open it up for discussion. I don't I think
049we got it all. [laughter] >> I think the only thing that you know again I I just can't say it enough. I think we all were doing it in the ad hoc committee is we have two equal high schools and there is no need academically to be moving because I mean they're both fantastic. I think that was one of the things that when we kind of we kept coming back to that when we were talking. So I just want to make sure that you know again that we voice that that that is you know it seems like what do we the friend friendships and you know and that sort of thing are the reason and of course athletics and all that you know the people think they need to move for those but for academically
050and I mean I'd say even athletically we are we have two outstanding schools so um I'll shut up now but yeah I just want to make sure I said that >> well and I think too at the ad hoc committee we looked at other surrounding districts as well and I think this is in line with those districts if not better than what they're offering. So, thank you. >> Yeah, I just want to say I appreciate you and the team putting together all the data to walk us through not having as much, you know, in the weeds details as as you all that that live it every day. So appreciate you answering our questions uh walking through different scenarios and hypotheticals and you know uh training us like uh you know we're 10year-olds on the different
051dates and the state laws and what needs to be done at what time so that we can better understand it. Uh so thank you for your patience and walking us through that and appreciate you coming up with the uh the deck and and walking the rest of the board through the recommendations as well. I'm I'm pleased with what we have. I'm uh with Dr. settles to continue to monitor because any change that we'll make, it doesn't affect anyone that we've already approved in the prior year. So, it will take a few years to see any changes flow through the four grade levels of the high school. Um, but again, continue to monitor and then if if there's a need, think through additional options, but appreciate the putting it together. No, I just want to say
052thanks to the ad hoc and and uh committee and especially just based on our conversations at the board retreat. Um, you know, this definitely was a topic that needed a little bit of of a deeper dive just given some of the data uh numbers that that that we're seeing. Uh, and so I'm in agreement. I I I I don't think we're quite there yet. I think these minor modifications uh are reasonable and appropriate that at this time, but the biggest thing is as we do almost on a daily basis, especially the the district staff, uh is continue to monitor. Um I mean, we know there's certain areas of the district that are 100% landlocked and there is no potential for uh further development that would bring students into uh the district. Uh we all know
053where all the dirt's moving uh in the other parts of the district. So, uh, definitely something we we've got to do our due diligence and continue to monitor and and make sure that, uh, we continue to support, as Mr. Bailey said, uh, both of our fantastic high schools. So, thanks to the staff, the administration, and especially the students for continuing to make, you know, our two high schools two of the best in the state. So, thank you. >> Thank you. We look forward to this next as a action item, right? Um, this was a procedural change, so it actually does not include the need for any actual um action items unless there is something further or different that you would want to see from this. >> Great. >> Yeah, that that really was a conversation
054that came up at the board retreat and I I would leave that we would leave that to the board. Um, as Dr. Settles indicated, it is a procedural change which wouldn't require uh the board to take action. But if the board feels like this is significant enough where we need to get the board on record taking a vote, we would absolutely fall in line and we could codify that through policy. So we'll we'll truly do whatever direction the board wants to go. >> I think I heard a lot of support from the board members tonight for the committee's work and no need to take action unless someone else believes so. Okay. Thank you. All right. Moving on to our final item. We have no public comment tonight and the future board calendar on November 14th.
055a liaison lunch with Pilion Vista High School with Mr. Madler at 11:30. On November 19 through 20, the Nebraska Association of Schoolboard State Education Conference at the CHI Center. I think all board members are attending that event. And on November 24th, the Board of Education meeting at 6 PM here at the central office. No further business. We will adjourn at 6:46.