001And here we go. Good evening and welcome. It's 6 PM and I call to order the July 10th, 2025 student fees hearing for the Papu Lab Vista Community Schools Board of Education. Please stand and join me 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. >> Roll call, please. Mr. Lotus, >> here. >> Miss Butler, >> here. >> Mr. Madler, >> here. >> Miss Wit, >> here. >> Have a motion for our excused absences. I'll make a motion to uh excuse the absence of Miss Wood and Mr. Bailey. >> Second. >> Have a motion by Mr. Lotus and a second by Mr. Madler. Roll call. >> Miss Butler?
002>> Yes. >> Mr. Madler? >> Yes. >> Miss Wit? >> Yes. >> Mr. Lotus? >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Thank you. Please note the open meetings law is posted at the entrance to the room. Our students student fees hearing is the purpose is to review the amount of money collected from students pursuant to the use of waiverss as provided in policy 3307. Administration will present the policy and fe recommendations followed by public questions and comments. Individuals who wish to address the board about this topic must have completed a public comment form as provided. Dr. Rickley and Miss Siri. >> Thank you very much. Uh, Miss Whit, members of the board, and for those members of the community that may be watching at home, thank you for engaging for your with your school district and
003your board of education. The student fees hearing is a hearing that the school district conducts on an annual basis. Typically, we do it in July. The purpose, as Miss Wit stated, is to look at uh all manner of fees. we will find that many of them though not all of them uh deal with athletics and activities at the secondary level but there are certainly uh things associated with the elementary level as well uh it is not necessarily an exhaustive list but we try to make it as exhaustive as possible um very broadly uh Miss Siri meets with the secondary principles Mr. Richards uh meets with the principles. Uh we take a look at fees from the previous year to to establish a sort of baseline. Uh we look at any types of anticipated costs with
004uniforms, with fees, with support activities that may impact the cost and then we adjust the prices accordingly. Uh as we go through the student fees presentation, Miss Siri has a slide deck queued up for us. uh we'll tag team a little bit. If the fee deals uh most specifically with a teaching and learning program or initiative, Miss Shuri will walk us through that. And then some of those other fees such as breakfast and lunch prices, um I will highlight those. I would tell the board as a disclaimer, uh Mr. Richards uh prepared some of these numbers. So, if you have specific questions, Miss Siri and I will do our best to answer them, but you may ask us a question or two that we may have to defer to Mr. Richards if we don't know
005the full backstory when we'll get back to you with accurate information. But uh without further ado, Miss Siri, could I turn the slide deck over to you and then when you're ready, I will pick it up from there. >> Sure. Good evening, Board of Education. In your board packet is a detailed um is the detailed information of the fees list and um changes have been highlighted. So that's probably your easiest place to see it. Um as Dr. Rickley mentioned, Mr. Richards prepared um some general information um for us tonight, including the total number um of students that have completed application for the FE waiver. Dr. Rickley, is there anything you'd like to add on this slide? >> Yeah, just a quick reminder. So, uh the the the waivers basically represent students that qualify for subsidized
006lunch, and that is a definition. Those standards aren't established by the school district. They're not even established by the state. they are established by uh the United States Department of Agriculture. So those are federally defined definitions. The reason why they're important for this board and for this community to consider is if you do receive subsidized meals, if you do meet those income requirements established by the federal government, we do provide a waiver for virtually all fees. So if you want to participate in something, whether it's athletics, activities, band, what have you, and you can't afford it, and we know that's a very real issue for many of our families, we will provide a waiver, i.e. pick up the tab. So, uh, that's something we're very proud of. Uh, and as always, we would encourage our
007families if you qualify for free and reduced lunch. We need you to fill out that application because it does impact the school district in terms of, uh, federal reimbursement, for example. So, really, really proud of being aggressive in that area. So, I think what Miss Siri has laid out for you um, is is a bit of history that Mr. Richard's prepared for us where you can just see the number of fees waivers that we provide every year going back to 2021 uh up to the present. You'll see that as a general rule they stair step up. We did take a little bit of a backward step in 2024. Took a rather significant jump from 24 to 25 from 1680 to 1911. One of the things that we know as a district is that um one
008uh our our overall free and reduced rate hovers around 30% and it's been increasing since the pandemic. But we also know that there are many families particularly at the secondary level for a variety of reasons that don't fill out that paperwork. And again, I I I just really want to emphasize to families that may be listening, staff that may be listening, it is really essential that if families qualify, that they fill out that form. Not only so that we can provide access to these fee waiverss, but it also does come back to us in different forms of miscellaneous federal aid based on our free and reduced lunch status. So, that basically just shows um the student fee account. Uh this is a subset of the overall district budget. Unlike some of our uh district uh
009budgets, general fund being the best example, bond fund though would be another. We do not tax for this fund. This is simply a flow through. We we bring money in. So the that current revenue of $887,000 that represents the total fees that come in K12, PK12 from our students for miscellaneous athletics activities and fund fees. The expenses then obviously uh represent the costs that go out the door. In a perfect world, these numbers would be absolutely the same every single year. What we're bringing in is what we're sending out. You'll see there is a little bit of a gap um approxim $2,000 on an almost $900,000 appropriation. That that's pretty good math. But as much as possible, we want the numbers to match. So you'll see that we do maintain a little bit of a
010a cash reserve there, $161,000. If you go back uh a year ago uh this this last year, 2024, because of the slight discrepancy between revenue and expenses on the most current fiscal year, uh that reserve will go up slightly. Again, just gives us a little bit of cushion in case the expenses ever outpace the revenue. But this was a really good year for us in terms of the expenses being under the revenue. Um, before I switch it back to to Miss Siri, soon to be Dr. Siri, don't don't want to put the pressure on. Don't don't want to put the pressure on. There may or may not be a doctoral defense tomorrow, uh, ladies and gentlemen. So, sorry Shar, you know, you know that I love you, but I had to say that. >> Um,
011so before I turn it back over to to Shireen, one of the things that I know the board pays a lot of attention to is the breakfast and lunch prices. Uh, went up a nickel. I believe we have increased uh gone up a nickel twice in the last three years. We really try not to adjust that unless we absolutely uh must. Um the price uh differential if it does go up, it's almost always a function of commodity prices. Now, we do qualify for some federal commodities, but some products, milk, bread, certain types of pastas, things that raw ingredients that go into our menu, um those are commodities that we really just don't have much control over. And if you've done grocery shopping, and I know we all have, we know that as grocery prices go
012up for your household budget, that impacts our school budget as well. So, we we don't love ever making an adjustment upward on our breakfast and lunch prices, but we feel like that nickel price is pretty modest and hopefully for most families is doable. Uh the one thing that I would add um is every single year, Miss Danker and uh Mr. Richards look at our breakfast and lunch prices to see how we compare across the metro. Um we're never high, we're never low. We always aim to be someplace in the middle. So, uh, you'll you'll probably be able to find a couple of school districts in the Omaha area that are slightly higher, some slightly lower, but we we like being right there in the middle. Um, so the last thing I guess I would highlight
013besides meal prices before I turn it back over to Shream with some of the teaching and learning initiatives, uh, that ESU3 increase, uh, I think that went up from, I believe that was 450 to 475 perhaps. Um, that's a number to be perfectly frank that we don't spend a lot of time looking at because it's not a district program and many of our students that opt into driver's ed. It is not a required course, uh, of course, uh, but many of our students choose to go through private providers. Uh, Green Cross does a driver's ed program. Uh, Corn Husker Driving School does a driver's ed program. So, we we certainly support what ESU3 is doing, but that is not a POV Vista program. Uh, and I think that price is probably pretty consistent with some
014of the other programs we see across the metro. So, I'd happily entertain any questions uh through that second bullet. Otherwise, uh, Shireen, if you want to take some of those other program prices and we'll go from there. >> Sure. So, what you see on the slide, um, Mr. Richards prepared, this is kind of the highlevel changes. In your packet, you'll notice that it's broke out by level, elementary, middle, and high school. Things that are highlighted are a change. Um but he captured it here kind of broad and high level. Um the first thing is we are going to increase the schoolowned instruments. Um families paid $50 to use those. We're going to charge 75. Part of that has to do with maintenance cost as well as cleaning. Uh the instruments have to be cleaned each
015time and there's been an increase in that. So um that's a consideration for us. ROC uniforms. Um we are saying that it will not exceed $300, but um that is a change. Um we're talking about um club shirts, uh adding teams, activities, those types of things. They will not exceed $30. There's quite a range there depending upon what the activity is. Uh but none of them will go beyond $30 for those events. um the academy um so HSA specifically our health academy and our zoo academy um those students are required to have some additional testing um usually in the area of TB or drug testing at the hospital um so that's a fee that um students have to pay to participate in that program and obviously students that um have a waiver we cover as
016a district um but that that is a change in the past Um, part of that has been covered by those, but that pass now is being passed on to the district, so on to the student. Um, graduation cap and gown fees are going to be $65. That's for both high schools to hold that consistent. And AP testing, we're going to just blanket say that um it will match with the college board. The college board controls the cost of the test um for our advanced placement courses. And to be honest, sometimes it's different by test um depending upon what the class is, semester, year, and so on. Um so we're just going to use the language that'll match what the college board sets it because we have no control over it. And then the last thing
017um that he wanted to note is that for families that are wanting to pay their fees with the online module or um the service, the same service we use for lunch, there's a fee to do that, to do the online payment. and that um fee would be absorbed in that process um for a family if they wanted to pay electronically as opposed to sending a check um to the school or or vice versa. In the board packet, just a couple of things to note. Um Dr. Via Real could not be here tonight because he is on vacation with his family. Uh but he spent quite a bit of time meeting with um principles. he formed a committee to really identify the supply list and get it consistent. Um, and so that is updated and will
018be communicated out with parents, but that's also included for you. Um, not really a fee, but there are things that students need um, when they start school. So, I just wanted to point that out to you. And then the things that doc, uh, Mr. Richards captured are also in there in more detail. Questions? It's because we did such a great job. >> Okay. Thank you. Having no comments from the public tonight, we will close the student fees hearing at 6:13 and then we're going to move right into our regular meeting for the board of education. There are uh communications is next. Let's have the Dr. Rickley report. >> Thank you again uh Miss Whit, members of the board. Again, thank you for those members uh at home that may be watching and engaging with their
019board of education. Thank you, Sergeant, for being here as well representing the Pavilion Police Department. Uh first of all, hope everybody had a wonderful Independence Day. Uh the fact that it fell on a Friday, so a lot of people had a long three-day weekend. Hope everybody had a safe and relaxing day celebrating uh our nation's history, the birth of our nation. It's always a fun opportunity to reconnect with family, friends, neighbors, and uh hopefully uh people were safe as well as as had fun. Uh also just wanted to draw attention to those people that may be watching the board meeting that this is highly unusual for us to hold a board meeting on a Thursday night. We appreciate our community being open and supportive of that. Um because we have some staff and board members
020taking some muchneeded vacation. We we weren't able to have a quorum. We have a sixperson board and we need four board members to transact business. Um so as you can see here tonight, uh we do have the four, but if we would have gone on our originally scheduled meeting, we would not have had a quorum and we couldn't have done something even as simple as approving our previous meetings minutes. So again, we we probably won't get in the habit of of moving the date, the time around, but we do appreciate the community understanding that we've got board members and staff uh that that are trying to spend some time with their families, and we're uh very appreciative of that. Uh also related to that, uh one of the issues that we've been tackling in recent
021board meetings is elementary 17. So our new elementary school, uh which is the 17th elementary school, will open a year from this August, so fall of 2026. In a previous meeting uh last May, we talked about uh both the boundaries for the new elementary school as well as potential grandfathering provisions. That is which students will be allowed to stay uh at Prairie Queen since that's the school we're trying to provide some relief to versus which students and families would be obligated to attend the new elementary school. And if you're not aware of the new elementary school, it will be uh on 99th in Lincoln. It is amazing how quickly that building is coming together. So, uh, after conducting the listening sessions throughout the community, pulling together the data, I think as a board, as a
022district, we're probably getting very close, but we think that that's an important enough decision that we don't want to do it without, uh, having a full slate of board and district officials present. So again, with this being a little bit of an anomaly in terms of some people being out, uh our hope is that if we get all of our staff back for our next board meeting, uh that we will revisit the boundary, the grandfathering, and very likely the naming. So if you're at all curious to see what the name of the new elementary school is, tune in to our next board meeting. That will be part uh of our deliberation, and we will take action shortly thereafter, I I suspect. Uh summer's a great time. We're busy. uh even though our our students and
023many of our teachers are gone, uh we concluded a successful summer school. So, thanks to Miss Siri and her team for uh both elementary and secondary summer school. We we count on our teachers a lot. Um we really lean on some people to to give us some of their vacation back so that that we can help um some of our kids that need that instruction the most. So, really excited about that. Uh and during our normal summer hours, we're also continuing to chip away on development of the 202526 budget as well as the facilities. This is a super busy time for our facilities as we chip away at our 2023 bond initiatives. Uh including one project that we're particularly excited about and that is the opening of the young adult transition program. So uh it's
024not a standalone school necessarily, but for all intents and purposes, it operates much like one. We'll have approximately 30 students there uh in the 18 to 21 age bracket that will have a brand spanking new building uh when we open up next month. And uh we've had a chance to to visit the building a couple of times. For my money, I think it's going to be the finest facility of its type in the state. Just really excited to show that off for our community, our students, and our families. Uh, also wanted to remind everyone, and I'm sure there'll be a collective drone coming up from the school district, the first day of school is fast approaching. Uh, it feels like once you get past that Independence Day holiday, school is just around the corner. Tuesday,
025August 12th, half day for most of our students. We'll talk more about that schedule as we get a little bit closer, but make sure we have that scheduled on your calendars. And the foundation gayla is Saturday, August 16th, our back- tochool suare. So, very exciting things happening with our foundation. And lastly, uh on kind of a sad note, um just wanted to to remind the board and our community, we we lost a member of the district family this last week. Uh Mr. Scott Billings, who worked in our central office for several years, oversaw purchasing and procurement. Um passed unexpectedly. Good man. Really good man. Uh really good family. Um, I wasn't able to attend the visitation, but Miss Sheller and I were able to attend the funeral and um, it was just pretty amazing the
026number of Pavilion La Vista Community Schools people that came out to support Mr. Billings and his family. So, terribly sad deal. Um, God speed to Mr. Billings and thoughts and prayers for his families and u, we'll just keep moving forward. And with that, u, Miss Wid, I'd conclude my superintendent report. >> Thank you. Any board member reports tonight? Well, I do. So, I also want to thank the board members and the district committee for allowing the change in the regular meeting um to accommodate those who couldn't be here. We can't carry out business without enough members in to vote and so we needed a quorum and thank you for that flexibility. And then on Thursday, June 26th, uh, Lieutenant Colonel Bailey and I attended the 55th mission support group change of command ceremony for Colonel
027Klesiac, our liaison with Offet Air Force Base. The ceremony was both elegant and endearing as his many accomplishments and accolades were presented and they were impressive. His replacement is Colonel Mark Russell and we look forward to meeting and introducing him to the district in the near future. And if I don't know if we can put a camera on that back display of the Purple Star um awards that the district has been given, but it's impressive and it will always be a reminder because it was Colonel Klesiac who walked us through every single one of those events. It was it was pretty fabulous. >> Okay, on to our next agenda item then is committee reports, building grounds and finance. >> Uh we did meet last week. We discussed uh Mr. Richards went over all the student
028fees that we just went over in the in the student fees hearing. Uh we also started the conversations around our budget for next year and that process that's kicking off and it's well underway with Mr. Richards and his staff. So there's more to come in uh probably starting next meeting or the meeting after for the full board uh to start talking through. And then we uh went through the elementary 17 uh the boundary conversation again and the naming conversation which I know the naming is on our agenda for tonight to at least start that conversation. >> Thank you. Human resources and student services. >> Uh we have not met since the last meeting. Have we will have a meeting scheduled here shortly. >> And Americanism and curriculum. We have no representative but we have not
029met either. I don't have we miss Siri. >> Okay. Thank you. Our next item is action items. Consent by uh action by consent. Do we have a motion? >> I'll make a motion to approve the action by consent. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Mr. Madler and a second by Mr. Lotus. Roll call. >> Mr. Madler? >> Yes. >> Miss Wit? >> Yes. >> Mr. Lotus? >> Yes. >> Miss Butler? >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Thank you. Policy 5000. students discussion during the subcommittee meeting um will be presented by Dr. Cles. >> Yes, thank you so much. Uh we also appreciate that rather than cancelling a meeting, you decided to move this so that we could continue to conduct business, including um getting the 5000s finished up. So, we have had no
030further changes since we last discussed those at the last meeting. Thank you for all the thought that went into those. Um I know that there was significant work done on those by multiple subcommittees. So thank you for all your work on that and we have no further um changes with it. >> Any further discussion from the board on the changes to the 5000 series? >> Okay, I'll need a motion. I'll again make the motion to accept the policy 5000 students changes to policies 508 5209 5210 5211 5212 5213 5403 5601 5602 5603 5604 5606 and 5610 as presented. >> Second. >> Thank you. I have a motion by Mr. Madler, a second by Mr. Lotus. No further discussion. Roll call. >> Miss Wit? >> Yes. >> Mr. Lotus? >> Yes. >> Miss Butler? >> Yes.
031>> And Mr. Matthew? >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Thank you. >> Next item is the 202526 student handbooks. Dr. Settles. >> Yes. Thank you so much. Um this one, just a little bit of background on it. Our student our school district handbooks um really are intended just to convey information and explain school regulations and procedures that are necessary for the schools to run smoothly and efficiently. Um these handbooks are really an extension of the policies that we have in place and they have the force and effect of board policy when they are approved by the board of education which is why we are bringing this before you tonight. Um the handbooks are updated annually and they're uploaded to the school and district websites. So as we get here ready to start the school year,
032you'll see all of those updated. Um as legislation or changes um or new guidance is received, administration is permitted to make changes without board approval unless required by law or if it conflicts with current board policy. Um, so I don't really have anything further on that, but I'll entertain if there's any questions. >> So, the changes that were made in the 5000 have been reflected in there, like the cell phone policy and all those different >> Yep. Okay. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> I'll make a motion to approve district handbooks for the 2025 20226 school year. >> Second. >> Thank you. I have a motion by Mr. Lotus and a second by Miss Butler. Roll call. >> Mr. Lotus. >> Yes. >> Miss Butler? >> Yes. >> Mr. Madler? >> Yes. >> Miss Wit? >>
033Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Thank you. >> Moving on to discussion items. Americanism and multiculturalism statements of assurance. Miss Siri. >> Yes. So each year um as you may recall in January we have a public hearing um as part of a requirement of the Americanism law. Um it is also part of rule 10 in which we take public comment and we talk about our curriculum process and the components that uh or I should say the steps that we take to ensure the components of rule 10 are met. Um we are required by that law to have an additional followup um in a public meeting that also discusses it. Um and that is what is happening here tonight. So this is something we do annually. Um, basically I tried to capture for you rule 10 outlines
034several components that must be met by law um when you're developing curriculum and delivering educational standards to students. Um, some of those a lot of those honestly are uh we ensure are met through our toolbox process. So for example, when we go to adopt a curriculum resource or a textbook, um we have a whole process in which we review those materials for biases to ensure that it is appropriate and multiculturally appropriate for our student population. Um that's just one example of the ways that we ensure that the resources that we are selecting match our student population. Um our teachers are also involved in that process which is critical uh because they are the practitioners and that way we ensure it's timely and appropriate and that our students will relate to it. Um other pieces that
035I just kind of picked at random um obviously rule 10 also outlines our English language profic proficiency program for our English language learners. um that is also outlined and obviously um Missy Jabbins is our administrator that oversees that program. We have several teachers that are working to make sure that the needs of those students are met as well as our PBIS program which is our positive behavior intervention system and so on. So tonight, actually what we will do is um the Americanism subcommittee meeting. We regularly talk on all of these topics and I update that subcommittee as we're going through it for each curricular area. Um at the end of the year, our principles sign a statement of assurance that just acknowledges the parts of rule 10 that they are responsible to ensure are carried
036out in the building. For example, the pledge of allegiance has said the holidays that are outlined in the law are celebrated and recognized with our students such as Flag Day, President's Day, and so on. So, they signed those and returned them, and that is what I will present on record to the board tonight that will go on file. Um, and the subcommittee has already talked about it and looked at it, and they will sign the document acknowledging that they accept the asurances. questions or clarification that you would like on that. Each year I try to give you a different piece. I know the toolbox process has been very successful. Curriculum is always is has been very successful once adopted into the curriculum and it's it's uh good to see that it's working so well. >>
037Thank you. >> Well, we're very grateful for the board that you allow that that is a cost to the district but it's very valuable. So thank you. >> I agree. Yes, that's what we do here. We educate. So we have to have the best curriculum we can find. No other comments. Let's move on to American Civic subgroup. Let's see. That's the uh policy 6000 instruction updates. Okay, perfect. So tonight, um I bring to you changes to the 6000 series. We've had a couple of subcommittee meetings where we focused on this and um earlier this month I sent an email out to the entire board um for your review. We have four policies that have minor changes that we're going to update. Um the first one I have to put on my glasses because the font's
038so small, sorry, is um 6404. And this is a very small ad. This is the parent involvement policy and as you know um with the legislative changes this year we got very specific um guidance on how student survey should be treated by law and Katie uh just presented to you the 5000s. That was a new policy that was in there 5213. And so the only update to this policy is simply adding reference to that policy to remind parents that student surveys also um have very strict guidelines that the district follows and the parents have rights um within those guidelines. And so it's literally just for transparency sake. It's tying the parent involvement policy to the survey policy so that they can reference it. That's the first one. 6702 is the continuous improvement policy. This is
039our policy that talks about um which organization we are accredited through um with our continuous improvement process. This is an update. Previously we went through Cogna. We need to update the language to reflect um this past January we were evaluated and um visited by NDE and their continuous improvement process. So, it's really an update of programs within the language. And then 6203 is actually an elimination of a policy. Um, this is our previous policy when the district hosted its own driver's education program. Now, we contract that out through ESU3. So, it is no longer um our program directly. And so, we are just recommending that we eliminate that policy. And then the last one, 6901, is actually going to be a brand new policy. And so there is no procedure um tonight in your documentation
040because uh this would require um the board to adopt the policy first and then we will write the procedure of how we will implement it. Um but this is a new policy that was recommended by our attorneys in the area of a data breach. And so it's really about what steps would be followed if a data breach um would happen. I don't know if we're lucky or unlucky, but we've already been down this road once. Um, so for us, it would be capturing the steps and the lessons learned um in our procedure, but the language there is to outline that we we do have steps that we would follow if that happened again. And those are the four updates to policy. The rest in the table are just simply changes in language or updates in
041procedure. And as a reminder, we do update through board approval all policy procedures are a responsibility of the superintendent and follow policy. That's correct. So we can have input, but it's his job to take care of that. >> Correct. >> Any other comments for Miss Siri or Dr. Free Dr. Siri? >> Seeing none, we'll move on to elementary 17 naming Dr. Rickley. Thank you. Thank you very much, uh, Miss Whit, members of the board. Uh, I had mentioned that, uh, at our next board meeting, we'll have a more exhaustive conversation about boundaries, grandfathering, and potential action on on the naming, but we did want to start laying some of the foundation uh, this evening. I don't want to steal any of uh, virtual Dr. Via Rial's thunder. Uh he couldn't be here tonight of course,
042but he did do a little bit of a video intro that that covers some of the information regarding our naming conventions and process. Uh but both board subcommittees have been briefed on this process. Uh both board subcommittees had an opportunity to weigh in on potential names. We did some informal voting and uh Dr. Via Rial will talk about that in his video voice over. But just so that the community is aware, um we use a variety of uh of of naming conventions when we look at a building. As a general rule, we do not name buildings after individuals. As a general rule, we've looked broadly at three thematic areas when we build a new elementary building. We look at uh the neighborhood, the surrounding neighborhood uh for cues to for possible uh naming uh potentialities
043for the building. We also look at uh if there's historical significance associated with that building. Probably a really great example would be Bell Elementary, which was named after the Bell Family Farm. Prairie Queen would be another recent example after the Prairie Queen Graange building. And then we have at least two buildings across the district that have uh names that have some type of patriotic or national uh importance. Patriot Elementary and Liberty Middle School being the two most recent examples. So again, I don't want to take all of the information away from Dr. V real some of that he'll cover in his video voice over. Uh I believe Dr. Siri will you please ceue up the video and we'll go through the Good evening board of education. Thank you for allowing me to join you by
044video today to continue our process with preparing Elementary 17 for its opening in the 2627 school year. At this point in the process, we are ready to talk about naming the school. And so I'm really excited to walk you through that process with a little bit of our naming philosophy, talk to you about the steps that have gotten us to where we are right now, and then present to you the final two choices for names for the new elementary school. So first, uh, just to talk a little bit about our philosophy in the district for naming schools. It's important for us that the names that we choose for our schools reflect our community's character and values. And from that we've developed three uh bases for how we name our schools. So the first of those
045categories are names based on geography. That is looking at both man-made elements and natural elements that are surrounding the school. So looking at things like creeks or forests or things like roads, major intersections, um neighborhoods, things like that. The second category is names based on history. So looking at the history of the area, seeing if there's any historical significance for the land that the school is placed on or anything around the land uh that the school is being built on. And the third category is schools based on school names based on patriotism. Uh so looking at our democratic principles as a country, seeing if there's anything that we want to celebrate or call out related to the new elementary school. So then with that naming philosophy in mind, the process thus far has been an
046initial brainstorming session between district leadership and the named principal of elementary 17, Monica Thompson. And so in May, we met and brainstormed a list of names that captured ideas across all three categories. That list was quite long because it was a brainstorming session. There were no bad ideas. We just wrote all of them down. So we had a really strong list to work from. The next step in that process later in May was to share that list with the superintendent's cabinet to review and evaluate against our naming criteria and hone that list down quite a bit to names that we would feel confident if they were selected. And then the third step was presenting that to board subcommittees. And that happened in May and June of this year where we shared that longer list with
047each of the board subcommittees. We talked through it and collected their valuable input and feedback to again narrow that list even more. And that brings us to today where I'm presenting this to you uh to share with you the final two names that have been selected for you to discuss and determine what the ultimate name of the school will be. So, that brings us to the most important part of the presentation, the part that you've all been waiting for, the final two options. Each option has its own slide where I'll explain a little bit about why we chose that name. Um, and you'll get that information. You'll see both names and you'll have the opportunity to discuss. So, the first name that we decided on is Lincoln View Elementary. Lincoln View Elementary has um is
048based on both the the geographic piece and the patriotism piece. So from the geographic lens, uh one of the major intersections for the school is Lincoln Road. And so we pulled Lincoln from that. Um, Lincoln also on that patriotism side honors our state capital and helps to connect our students to Nebraska's governmental heart. And then Vue came into play um partially for disamiguation because there are several other schools in the region called Lincoln Elementary School. And so adding view to that helps to create a unique entity and distinguish it from from others that might have that same name. So that's option one is Lincoln View Elementary School. The second option is Granite Elementary School. Granite comes from that uh geographic category because the school is being built nestled within the Granite Creek subdivision. Um when
049thinking about granite as a stone, it represents uh stability, strength, and permanence. And we also like to see granite as the solid foundation upon which we're building our students education. Um there in a in a search for disambiguation, we found two other Granite Elementary schools, one in Utah and one in Oklahoma, but not being near us and not being as high volume as Lincoln Elementary, uh we didn't feel like there would be any local confusion with that name. So your second option is Granite Elementary School. So with those two options, Lincoln View Elementary and Granite Elementary, I now open it up for board discussion to talk about pros and cons, things that you like about the names, things that you don't like about the names, and the plan. The intention is for this topic to
050return as an action item at the July 28th board meeting. And so with that, I'll sign off and leave you to that discussion. I don't have anything to add, Miss Wit, unless you have any questions from the administration. Otherwise, I would open it up for any questions that you may have. >> Thank you. Um, if the board would like to start engaging in discussion, I'll just say that um, attending the subcommittees, we did review these names and several others, and these were the two top choices in the subcommittee I attended. So, um, I think both names are have value, and given what we were just told, they're proud names, either one. So how does the board feel? >> I can jump in. You think Dr. V Royale watch was watching right now? Well, if you
051>> Yes. Well, if you are, I appreciate you. Yeah, there is some viewership. All right, perfect. Maybe just for that video. Uh well, thank you Dr. V for putting that together and going over that uh for us. Uh and hopefully you're enjoying your vacation. Uh yeah, same uh like Miss Wood, we've gone over this now in the subcommittee meetings. We've discussed it uh numerous times. Um I like the process that the team has used to narrow down and also involving the new principal uh Miss Thompson in it as well, getting her feedback since she's going to be the one that's going to be starting this thing from the ground up. So it's always great to get her feedback and understanding. Uh, I am I am leaning towards the Lincoln View route. I've said that in
052our subcommittee meeting. That's the one I prefer. I do I do like that uh we did come up with some name to differentiate it from the other Lincoln Elementary. So, I I uh yeah, I'm not sure if just Lincoln Elementary I would have been as favorable for, but Lincoln View I uh um you know, being the history guy, that's the one that is calling to me. Uh so, just getting my thoughts out there. >> Yeah. No, I'd agree. I mean, uh the community should know. I mean, we this is an exhaustive process. Uh like Dr. Billy Rial stated, you know, there were no uh bad ideas uh listed as it came to subcommittee for the first time. I mean, the list was at least almost an entire page long, if not a page in two
053columns. Um so, uh lots of ideas and lots of discussion to to narrow it down. Um like Mr. Madler, I'm I'm I'm pleased uh and we've done it uh with the prior elementaryaries uh recently as involving the the new named principal uh and move things along in order to uh one so she can establish the potential colors that they're going to use, keep the construction process going, and then obviously giving it an identity with the name. Um, uh, from from day one, uh, I've been calling this elementary school Granite Elementary or Granite some Granite Creek Elementary. Uh, obviously just with the proximity of the neighborhoods. Um, but as we've kind of gone through, um, like Mr. Madler, Lincoln View, uh, really has kind of jumped out to me. Uh, one for just its uniqueness. Um,
054you know, we've historically we've we've done other, you know, neighbor named buildings after the neighborhoods or surrounding areas, lakes, uh, different things. Um, and so it was a nice change of pace, uh, to me. Uh, but I really like the the historical piece, but also tying it one to the geography, but back to again the historical, the patriotic piece with uh, with, you know, Lincoln as our our capital and and just kind of tying it together in more more ways than just hey we got to name it after the surrounding area. So just gave it a little bit more uniqueness and sound uh foundation. >> Uh I too like both names. I call it granite as well. I just refer to it as that. Um I do kind of wish it was just Lincoln but
055I understand adding the view. Um so I'm open to both names. Um I think they're great. Yeah, >> people will like Terara Heights, they just call it Terara. So, yeah, you can just call it Lincoln. >> Um I think or Brian, I think that you and I both discussed with Dr. Rickley the word Turkey Road was over there. And I just don't know that Turkey might have been a good name for that school. So, um >> maybe mascot >> could be a good mascot. There you go. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. Um but that road has been you know kind of erased with the construction of these different uh neighborhoods. I I I guess for me Lincoln view or yeah Lincoln View is more neutral because we've combined several neighborhoods and I I like the
056idea of it not being tied to just one neighborhood but all the neighborhoods that will be coming feeding into that school district or that building will will have a home that's their own. So, I am also leaning towards Lincoln View and uh appreciate all the effort that went into um all of the different meetings and collaborations that have happened to try to come up with a good name for this new building, but I'm anxious to see it in its finality. So, any other discussion right now? No. Okay. Thank you. We have no public comment for today and uh we have a future board calendar. July 28th, our next board of education meeting at 6 PM here in the central office. August 7th is the all staff kickoff is moved from Warner Field to Foundation Field
057this year. Correct. >> Correct. >> Looking forward to that. >> It's going to be ready. >> I want to thank uh our recording secretary, Michelle, and our engineer, Mr. more for their help tonight and our meeting will adjourn at 646.