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

Today's edition recaps the regular February 9th, 2023 GIPS Board meeting.

• Public Meeting Agenda
• Board Meeting Video Stream
• Below are highlights from the regular February Board Meeting.

Principal Angie Eberlie and teachers, Michelle Carter, Val Chmelka, & Katie Wilkinson, presented on the improvement in the effectiveness of positive proactive support strategies. These building wide efforts have increased instructional time for learning and foster a positive culture and climate at Dodge Elementary.

Dodge's building initiatives and student leadership programs are designed to provide safe, predictable, and vibrant learning environments for students while empowering them to lead by example. They report the building culture is bought in and they are seeing wonderful results.

Way to go, Dodge Dragons!

Dr. Dexter presented a resolution to "adopt by resolution specific standards for acceptance and rejection of enrollment option applications due to student capacity and space in special programs" - Special Education Programs, Alternative Programs, and English Learner Newcomer Programs.

Due to capacity (staff, facilities, equipment, etc.) this resolution would contain programs like Special Education, English Language Learners, and Alternative Programs to only students that are enrolled in Grand Island Public Schools.

Dr. Danielle Buhrman, GIPS Math Curriculum Coordinator, shared an update on the district's math standards, student commitments, and how the state standards have evolved.

GIPS K-8 Mathematics is currently aligned to the 2015 Nebraska Mathematics Standards. Dr. Buhrman shared an update to changes made in the new 2022 Mathematics Standards set, which by law is reviewed and revised every seven years by the state. This is information for February and request for Board of Education adoption in March.

Dr. Toni Palmer, GIPS Chief of Leadership & Learning, presented an updated look at the Middle School Redesign project and how the Middle School Learner Profile will look to be implemented over the next two years.

Last month, the Middle School Design Team shared an in-depth walk through the initial framework. You may read a detailed update on that presentation HERE. After that initial presentation and dialogue from the Board, district leaders went back to the Middle School Design Team to gain additional feedback. The Goal:

Identify areas that need more clarity and expand the rollout of the new design to provide a more feasible timetable for a phased implementation.

The cornerstone of the Middle School Redesign remains the Learner Profile as all three Middle Schools look to ensure curriculum equity:

Look to answer the following questions at the next Board of Education Meeting in March:

• What does a Middle School schedule look like with this new framework?
• How does the shift to 60 minute core classes impact class sizes?
• Does this schedule design allow for increased choice for students?
• How are staff and students involved in the process going forward?

The Newcomer Program is specifically designed to provide language instruction to recently arrived students that have demonstrated limited English language proficiency. The program supports language development, foundational content academic knowledge and skills,
acclimation to the U.S. School System, and parent/family engagement.

The Newcomer Program aligns with multiple success measures within our strategic plan, including developing literacy skills across disciplines and learning in a safe and resourceful environment.

GIPS currently has three Newcomer teachers organized by grade level (Grades 2-3, Grades 3-4, and Grades 4-5).

The GIPS Newcomers Program would like to hire two additional Newcomer teachers to support the growing number of students enrolling in GIPS that qualify for Newcomer services. Our guidance in the past has been class sizes of 12-15 students for our Grades 2-5 Newcomer Program. This is comparable to other districts with elementary Newcomer class sizes of 10-12.

The school board president and the superintendent of schools are authorized to transact on the school's bank accounts at 5 Points Bank. With the recent changes in the positions of school board president and superintendent at Grand Island Public Schools, Mr. Matt Fisher and Mr. Hank McFarland need to be named on the account. 5 Points requires a copy of the board minutes at which the Grand Island Board of Education acknowledges and approves this change in order to update the banking resolution.

The Board shared an updated look at the committee structure going forward for 2023. Here is how the Board Committees will look:

Facility & Finance:

• Lisa Albers, Hank McFarland, Dave Hulinsky, & Josh Hawley
• District Leads - Dr. Ken Schroeder & Mr. Dan Petsch

Personnel:

• Josh Hawley, Josh Sikes, Amanda Wilson, & Dave Hulinsky
• District Lead - Mr. Brian Kort

Policy Review:

• Josh Sikes, Lindsey Jurgens, Amanda Wilson, & Josh Hawley
• District Lead - Dr. Robin Dexter

Leading for Learning:

• Lindsey Jurgens, Amanda Wilson, Eric Garcia-Mendez, & Katie Mauldin
• District Lead - Dr. Toni Palmer

Governance Committee:

• Lisa Albers, Eric Garcia-Mendez, Dave Hulinsky, & Katie Mauldin
• District Lead - Mr. Matt Fisher

Public Relations & Partnership Development:

• Lisa Albers, Eric Garcia-Mendez, Dave Hulinsky, & Katie Mauldin
• District Lead - Mrs. Jennifer Worthington

An in-depth discussion was also had by the Board pertaining to the approach and legalities for participation in Stakeholder Groups. Specifically, how will The Board interpret protocols regarding "quorums" — gatherings where five or more Board members are present.

That discussion may be heard HERE. The Board will continue examining this and look to legal counsel for insight as well.

Mr. Fisher shared is his first Superintendent Report with the Board.

A few highlights include:

• "The timing of when I arrived to the district granted me the opportunity to interact with a lot of folks from a lot of groups."
• Groups met with this week included: Equity Task Force, Key Communicators, Superintendent Cabinet, Parent Advisory Council, Personnel Committee, L4L Committee, Governance Committee, Legislative Committee, GNSA, and more.
• Fisher has started venturing to buildings and is encouraged by the positive energy he's seen throughout the district. "Everyone feels really positive.

A few things that are coming up in the next week:

• Presentation to Grand Island Rotary
• Speaking at The Grand Island State of the City Event
• Visiting More GIPS Schools

"After being on the job for a week-and-a-half, I feel good about where I'm at, but I still have a lot to learn."

This action would officially name Grand Island Education Association (GIEA) as the bargaining agent for the 2024-2025 contract year.

Motion Passed: 9 - 0

See information item earlier in this newsletter for the rationale.

Motion Passed: 9 - 0

See information item earlier in this newsletter for the rationale.

Motion Passed: 9 - 0

See information item earlier in this newsletter for the rationale.

Motion Passed: 9 - 0

The GIPS Board of Education convened into an Executive Session for the purpose of discussing negotiations. There was no action as a result of the Executive Session.