GIPS Board Brief February 9, 2024
Updates from the GIPS Board of Education
GIPS Board Brief - February 9, 2024
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 February 2024 Regular Board Meeting.
Board of Education Meeting - 02.08.2024
- Agenda
- Video Stream
- Board Member Mrs. Lindsey Jurgens was not present but gave prior notice.
INFORMATION ITEMS
Update on EL & Newcomer Programming in GIPS
Dr. Amanda Levos, GIPS English Learner Director & Equity Systems Navigator, shared an update on the English Language Learner (EL) & Newcomer programs at the district.
Who are English Language Learners (EL)?
A student whose home language is something other than English and have not demonstrated English Proficiency on the ELPA21 assessment.
Who are Newcomers?
At Grand Island Public Schools, we use the following criteria to identify students that would benefit from Newcomer Programming:
- New to U.S. School (less than one year)
- Home Language is something other than English
- English Language Proficiency score is Proficiency not Demonstrated (PND) or Emerging
- Limited or interrupted formal educational experiences
26% of students are in the English Language Learners Program.
- 66% of the Elementary EL Students are born in the United States
- 747 EL students have exited the program by meeting benchmarks
56 Birth Countries are represented in GIPS. The top five represented are:
- US
- Cubs
- Guatemala
- Mexico
- El Salvador
55 Languages other than English spoken. Top top three represented are:
- Spanish
- Arabic
- Somali
Currently have 52 English Language Learners (EL) Teachers.
- 42 w/ ESL Endorsements
- 26 LETRS trained
- 16 Multilingual Teachers
- Over 30 Bilingual Paraprofessionals
Since August of 2023 - We average 14-22 students per week enrolled at GIPS thru the Welcome Center. Only families who speak other than English.
Listen to Dr. Levos' full presentation HERE.
Hope Squad at GISH
Hope Squad is a school-based, peer-to-peer suicide prevention program. Fifteen educators were trained by Hope Squad Trainers as Hope Squad advisors in June of 2023 so the program may be brought to GISH as a student led initiative across the school.
Mr. Matt Shultz, GISH Social Studies Teacher & Hope Squad Sponsor, shared an update alongside GISH Senior and Hope Squad peer, Kobe Callahan.
Here is the timeline of Hope Squad activities at GISH:
- June 2023- Training with Kevin Rolfs at CPI.
- August 2023- Advisors met to start the process of selection, discuss how selection will be rolled out.
- Early September 2023- Introduced Hope Squad to High School staff.
- Mid/Late September 2023- Hope Squad was introduced to all students in English classes.
- October 2023- Selection begins- All 100% student driven in selection.
- Late October- Advisors meet to vet perspective selectees into Hope Squad/ Students are notified of Selection.
- November 2023- Parent meetings/Students meeting for selected individuals.
- December 2023- First meetings held and curriculum is started. Students also attend the Hall county Youth Prevention Summit.
- January 2024- Curriculum meetings commence.
- Freshman and Sophomores met with Jerlene Mosley to discuss how strengths can play a role in Hope Squad, these meeting will continue.
Future Hope Squad events at GISH include:
- March 2024- Plan Hope Week at High School.
- April 2024- Have a Hope week- Hope Week is to promote Hope Squad to the school population.
- May 2024- Wrap up year one of trainings with students and prepare for back to school activities.
- August 2024- New Freshman Elections to Hope Squad.
4-year program approach is the current GISH Hope Squad model:
- Year 1- Module trainings for students to start to recognize the warning signs
- Year 2- More proactive approach to implementing to entire student body
- Year 3- Full implementation of program to school
- Year 4- Continuance of Program and sustainability of Hope Squad Commences.
Listen to the full Hope Squad presentation HERE.
Summary of NDE External Continues Improvement Visit
Dr. Summer Stephens, GIPS Associate Superintendent, shared an update on the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) External Visit that took place at the end of January. Every five years NDE conducts what is called a continuous improvement visit and shares a report of commendations and recommendations for the district as it seeks to grow in the future.
Here are a few highlights from the report:
16 External Team Members visited GIPS which were comprised of NDE Staffers, ESU Staffers, and Professionals from other School Districts.
NDE shared three primary commendations for the district:
1. Supportive Environment
- Administration, teachers and students feel extremely supported, by each other as well as the building and district leadership teams.
- Established routines and family atmosphere contribute to students feeling emotionally and physically safe.
- The staff clearly care about kids.
2. Instruction
- Instructional staff introduce lessons with learning targets and success criteria.
- The use of High Quality Instructional Materials across levels ensures Guaranteed and Viable Instruction within the district.
- PLCs enhance collaboration between teachers in aligning instructional methods.
3. Data Utilization
- Teachers, Administration, L4L and PLC groups collect and organize data to make informed decisions.
- Strong leaders promote data literacy efforts to ensure data systems and build collective capacity among staff.
NDE shared a few recommendations for the district:
1. Consistency of Implementation
- Although district level strategic plans are in place and processes are created for building level plans, consistency in building level plan implementation varies.
- Data analysis, root cause analysis, and strategy implementation needs to be monitored to ensure plans are truly making improvement in school processes and student success.
2. Differentiated Learning Support for Students
- There is little evidence of differentiated learning support for students within Tier 1 Instruction.
- Academic support and professional development for teachers surrounding formative assessment processes is needed to reach the individual needs of all learners.
The district intends to share findings from the full report with district leaders, Principals, and staff. Going forward, the NDE findings will help guide the district as it begins mapping out its next strategic plan within the next year.
Listen to Dr. Stephens' full presentation HERE.
Priority Project List
Mr. Dan Petsch, GIPS Director of Grounds & Safety, shared a first look at the district's project priority list for facility updates.
The process for establishing a districtwide facilities priority list starts in September. Mr. Petsch spends time at each building and discusses ideas and needs with each building Principal. The list currently holds 41 items with the goal of having them completed within the next year. Anything that is not able to be completed or needing to be tackled in phases will be pushed to the next year.
Highlights from the list include:
- Islander Annex updates to prepare for relocating the Success Academy
- Security server and camera upgrades to a number of buildings
- Security vestibule renovation at Westridge Middle School
- Replacing the gym floor at West Lawn Elementary
- Updating window systems at Newell Elementary
Funding for the list of 41 projects may come from a variety of funding source such as the Special Building Fund, the General Fund, Depreciation, ESSER III, Grants, and others. The total projected cost for the GIPS Facilities Priority Project List is $2.8 million.
Listen to Mr. Petsch's full presentation HERE.
GIPS Google Workspace Plus Multi-Year Agreement
Mr. Cory Gearhart, GIPS Chief Information Officer, shared an update on how consolidation of third party apps into our Google Workspace productivity suite will yield productivity gains, as well cost savings.
Overall, upgrading the Google Workspace resources for the district would help provide more consistent technology resources for classroom instruction, student learning tools, and teacher resources.
The standard sticker price for the package is typically $52,000. However, the GIPS negotiated packaged would would be $42,000 for year one, and $40,000 a year for the next two years equalling about a $12,000 per year savings for the district.
This was shared as information and will be an Action Item for vote at March's Board meeting.
Listen to Mr. Gearhart's full presentation HERE.
Reduce Specific Certified Staff Positions
Dr. Carrie Kolar, GIPS Chief of Human Capital Management, shared a brief update on the district's staffing plan in response to the budget reduction efforts.
Specifically, Dr. Kolar presented that the Board discuss, consider, and take action on the reduction or elimination of programs and/or staff, including the Aviation Program, the Leading For Learning Department and District Administration, effective at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.
The three roles recommended for reduction were:
- One certified full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) from the Aviation Program, effective as of May 23, 2024.
- One administrator full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) from the Fine Arts & Social Studies Curriculum Program on the Leading For Learning Team, effective as of August 15, 2024.
- One administrator full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) from the Assessment, Research, and Accountability Program on the GIPS Superintendent’s District Leadership Team, effective as of August 15, 2024.
This was shared as information and is listed as an Action Item for vote below.
Listen to Dr. Kolar's full presentation HERE.
POLICY UPDATES
Mr. Fisher shared the latest installment of district policy reviews and proposed updates. Descriptions of the proposals may be found immediately below.
Hear Mr. Fisher's full presentation on policies HERE.
Board Operating Principles - 2111
Proposed updates to the existing policy include:
- Update the language about “chain of command” to read “chain of communication”.
- Update committee expectation language to clarify that committees will meet monthly or as needed.
- Update committee expectations that a board member may fill in for another in a committee meeting if the original committee member is unable to attend.
- Update to state Board Members interested in being considered for Board President or Vice President need to make it known to the group by January 5th instead of December 1st.
- Remove the stipulation about the Board President having ex-officio status for all committees.
This was shared as first read and will be up for an Action Item vote at March's Board Meeting.
Board Member Code of Ethics- 2112
Regular review of an existing policy.
No changes were proposed.
This was shared as first read and will be up for an Action Item vote at March's Board Meeting.
Board Member Compensation for Expenses - 2330
Update to an existing policy to adequately reflect the current practices within the district and adjusting language to be consistent throughout.
This was shared as first read and will be up for an Action Item vote at March's Board meeting.
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE REPORT
Adi Beltran, GISH Senior and Board Student Representative, shared her latest report with the Board of Education. A few highlights may be found below.
ATHLETICS
- Girls Wrestling has been on a roll!
- Became the number one ranked dual team in the state.
- Three girls wrestlers joined the 100 won matches club.
- 29-0 in dual matches in three years.
- Boys Wrestling earned 3rd in NSAA Duals
- Two GI Football Players were selected to participate in the Shrine Bowl
- Girls Bowling are conference champions, district champions, and state runner–ups
- Boys Basketball - Coach Slough earned his 100th win over the weekend
- Six Islanders earned bids to the USAPL national competition
- GISH Cheer & Islandaire Dance Teams hosted their winter camp for Elementary students. Campers performed at Saturday’s basketball game.
- Six student athletes signed their letters of intent for playing at the next level.
ACTIVITIES
- GISH Show Choir has found a lot of success!
- Robotics season has started
- GISH Speech hosted their annual home meet of the year
- 14 medalists in numerous events
- Mr. Ladwig has been named the new Activities Director
- Induction of National Honor Society, Monday, Feb. 19th at 7:00 p.m.
Hear Adi's full report HERE.
SUPERINTENDENT REPORT
Mr. Fisher shared a Superintendent Report with the Board.
A few highlights include:
- Congratulations to our Girls Bowling Team for earning 2nd at State!
- GISH Hosting Boys Wrestling Districts.
- Girls wrestling will wrestle in Broken Bow.
- Mr. Calvin Hubbard, current GISH Assistant Principal, will be the new Principal at GISH.
- Mr. Ladwig, current GISH Assistant A.D., will be the new Activities Director at GISH.
- Mr. Joe Eckerman, current Barr Middle School Principal, will be the new MTSS Coordinator at the district.
- Mrs. Opal Bentley, current Knickrehm Elementary Principal, will be the new Academic / Assessment Coordinator at the district.
- I went to Lincoln and testified on three bills.
- LB1230 is more movement on option students that live in the same city. This is something we’ll want to be aware of and watch.
- Registration for the 2024-25 school year is open from Feb. 5th - March 31st.
- State of the City is Friday morning and I will share an update from Grand Island Public Schools.
Hear Mr. Fisher's full report HERE.
ACTION ITEMS
GIPS Cyber Security Licensing and Support Renewal
Cory Gearhart, GIPS Chief Information Officer, shared a district cyber security update with the Board.
Periodically GIPS needs to renew it's licensing for Firewalls, Anti-virus, Endpoint detection, VPN, Anti-malware, etc. We are extending the current equipment and licensing for 30 additional months to push us into the next E-Rate category two, five-year cycle.
This was shared as information at January's Board meeting.
Motion Passed: 8 - 0
Reduce Certified Staff Positions
See above information item for details.
Motion Passed: 8 - 0
School District Legal Status - 1210
Review of an existing policy.
A proposed change would be to clarify the title of "Hall County School District 2" which is the legal name for Grand Island Public Schools.
This was shared as first read at January's Board meeting.
Motion Passed: 8 - 0
School Board Legal Status - 2120
Regular review of an existing policy.
No changes were proposed.
This was shared as first read at January's Board meeting.
Motion Passed: 8 - 0
Conflict of Interest - 2340
Review of an existing policy.
No proposed changes at the time of this regular review.
This was shared as first read at January's Board meeting.
Motion Passed: 8 - 0
Voting Method - 2460
Review of an existing policy.
No proposed changes at the time of this regular review.
This was shared as first read at January's Board meeting.
Motion Passed: 8 - 0
Admission of Resident Students - 8220
Review of an existing policy.
The only proposed change would be increasing the Pre-School class size limit from 15 students to 20 students per session or class. This increase would be within the framework mandated by the Nebraska Department of Education and would be consistent with the recommended budget adjustments for the 2024-25 school year.
This was shared as first read at January's Board meeting.
Motion Passed: 8 - 0
Transfers Within GIPS - 8331
Review of an existing policy.
The proposed changes would be to update the priority order of considering students transferring schools within the district. Priority two has slightly updated language. Priority three would be a new listing to the policy. The new priority order would read:
"Transfers will be reviewed and approved based on the following priority:
- Capacity of grade level — Policy 8220 Admission of Resident Students
- Sibling currently enrolled at requested school
- Parent is a staff member at destination school
- Day care needs
- Attendance or discipline issues at neighborhood school
- Enrollment Option Students
Applicants will be notified of approval or denial prior to the first day of school for the current year."
This was shared as first read at January's Board meeting.
Motion Passed: 8 - 0
March Regular Meeting
Live stream for the Board meeting will be available on the GIPS YouTube channel.