GIPS Board Brief May 15, 2026

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 May 2026 Regular Board Meeting.

• Agenda
• Video Stream
• Josh Hawley & Carlos Barcenas were not present, but both gave prior notice.

Elementary students across the district submitted various technology-based creative projects to the Nebraska Educational Technology Association (NETA) Spring Conference competitions. Nine GIPS students came home with awards as they won their respective categories of Digital Media Graphic Design; Coding; and Video Production.

Congratulations to the Following NETA Award Winners:

• Brianny Ramirez Munguia (Graphic Design) - Dodge Elementary
• Dean Ho (Coding Musical Project) - Gates Elementary
• Hayden Dimmitt (Video Production) - Engleman Elementary
• Rowan Lesiak (Video Production) - Engleman Elementary
• Rylen Lindsey (Video Production) - Engleman Elementary
• Annabelle Marten (Video Production) - Engleman Elementary
• Barrett McMullen (Video Production) - Engleman Elementary
• Dayn Tophoj (Video Production) - Engleman Elementary
• Lucy Schlegel (Video Production) - Engleman Elementary

Way to go, student creators!

The Westridge Middle School Quiz Bowl team had a great season this year. Their season culminated in a second-place finish in the ESU 10 Academic Quiz Bowl competition.

• Chase Bennett
• Kush Budler
• Taylor Krebs
• Daxson Lindsey
• Ava Myers
• Lance Noorlander
• Asa Nielsen
• Lila Phinney

Congratulations, Westridge Quiz Bowl Team!

Today, we want to share a massive thank you and a heartfelt farewell to Katherin Xicara for her incredible service as our GISH Student Representative on the Board of Education this school year.

Katherin has been a great voice for the GISH student body. Whether she presenting her monthly reports or advocating for her peers, she led with grace and conviction.

Last weekend Katherin graduated from GISH and plans to attend college and major in Mechanical Engineering.

Congratulations on your graduation, Katherin, we can’t wait to see the amazing things you’ll do next!

Kari Hooker-Leep, GIPS Foundation Executive Director, shared an exciting annual update to the Board recapping the Foundation's notable achievements from the 2025-26 school year.

Highlights from the report include:

• We provided 110 students 198 scholarships for a total of $759,058. Congratulations to the class of 2026.
  
  
• The 23rd annual staff giving campaign concluded with a 90% participation through staff and incredible amount raised at 110,316. It took 58 teams seven co-chairs with 32 teams raising 100% participation.
  
  
• New this year we will be doing the innovation tank. This is taking classroom grants to a whole new level from $2500 to a whole new level of $5,000.
  
  
• We just concluded our teacher of the year nominations. With 2100 nominations coming in for almost 600 staff. We provided the nominations to staff members through email at a perfect time of the year when they need it most. The nominations are a great way of showing gratitude for all the wonderful things they do.
  
  
• Next week we'll close out submissions for our professional development grants. We have three grants available for $1,500 each for staff and teachers to assist in their extended education.

The GIPS Foundation remains grateful to the district for all their support and aiding the foundation in empowering students.

Hear the full report from the GIPS Foundation HERE.

Christine Ostermeyer, GIPS FiT Program Coordinator, shared an annual update with the Board.

The Families in Transition report presented to the Board of Education highlights the ongoing efforts of GIPS to support students experiencing homelessness.

Ostermeyer's report outlined the district's compliance with the McKinney-Vento Act, ensuring these students have access to supports they qualify for to help keep students in school and ultimately graduate. Updates focused on the identification of students in need, the removal of educational barriers, and the coordination of essential services like transportation. Overall, the report emphasized a commitment to stability and success for some of the district's most vulnerable learners.

Data highlights included:

• 360 students qualified for support under the McKinney Vento Act (with every GIPS school represented).
• 88% of those families are doubled up with friends or family for housing.
• 16 students resided in a shelter program.
• 80 students do not live with a legal guardian.

This was shared as an information item report.

Hear the full report from the GIPS FiT program HERE.

Mrs. Cara Kuhl, GIPS 6-12 ELA & Social Studies Coordinator, and Mrs. Megan Ahrens, GIPS L4L Curriculum Coordinator, shared a regular report with the Board on the work of teaching American Civics (or Social Studies and History) in GIPS classrooms.

The report allows for the Board and the community to stay up to speed on classroom experience for teachers and students surrounding social studies related curriculum and resources for Kindergarten - 12th Grade. The report also helps the district stay in compliance with Nebraska PL 79-724 and GIPS Policy 2230.

Highlights from the report include:

• Overview of curriculum resources and classroom tools.
• A spotlight focus on the learning experiences in Kindergarten - 5th Grade classrooms.
• Specifics on the K-12 curriculum standards work that was aligned in 2019.
• How GIPS meets state curriculum standards.

This was shared as an information item report.

Hear the full report from Mrs. Kuhl & Mrs. Ahrens HERE.

Dr. Carrie Kolar, GIPS Chief of Human Capital Management, shared a proposed update to Extra Standard Compensation for the district.

The Extra Standard requests reflect an intentional response to an increase of responsibilities and support needs for a number of activities. Proposed extra standard updates would include:

• Increasing the payment categories for both the Cheerleading and Dance coaches at Senior High to keep those roles similar in scope and compensation.
• Increasing the category for Freshman Football Coaches, Assistant Track Coaches, and the Head Unified Track & Field Coaching position.
• Increasing the compensation category for head Speech Sponsor.
• Adjusting the Middle School Activities Director compensation model to be 18% of the base rather than a flat total.

Dr. Kolar presented the requests for the 2026-27 school year to support learning and extracurricular activities at our Middle Schools and GISH. The total cost would be $70,813.

This was shared as information and will be up for vote as an Action Item at the June Board meeting.

Hear the full update from Dr. Kolar HERE.

Mr. Virgil Harden, GIPS CFO, shared a request for GIPS to consider partnering with Optimizon to help support district printing and copying services.

The proposal is for a strategic partnership with Optimizon to help manage and optimize the district’s printing and copying framework across all buildings. Following their successful facilitation of the recent RFP process, Optimizon would transition into an administrative support role. The district has already secured a 60-month contract with Eakes Office Solutions for printing equipment, valued at approximately $2,200 per month.

The Role of Optimizon would serve as a contracted servicing agent focused on:

• Data tracking and monitoring equipment usage across the district.
• Providing enhanced support through administrative oversight for the new hardware.
• Being more cost efficient by identifying opportunities for "sizable" financial savings through streamlined operations.
• While the equipment contract spans five years, the agreement with Optimizon includes a two-year exit clause. This allows GIPS to terminate the partnership early if the projected savings and support standards are not met.

By leveraging Optimizon’s expertise in support in printing/copying support, GIPS aims to maximize the value of their Eakes Office Solutions contract while maintaining the freedom to pivot if the partnership doesn't deliver the expected cost savings.

This was shared as an information item and will be up as a votable Action Item at the June Board meeting.

Hear the full report from Mr. Harden HERE.

Mr. Virgil Harden, GIPS CFO, also shared an update on behalf of the district's Nutrition Services Department.

In the report, Mr. Harden made the recommendation to award the Prime Vendor contract, including applicable renewal options, to Cash-Wa Distributing (CWD) for the upcoming school year. This recommendation is based on a comprehensive evaluation process conducted according to the criteria outlined in the RFP. The evaluation emphasized market basket pricing and cost-plus markup, which together accounted for 60% of the total score.

This was shared as both an information item and a votable action item to ensure the contract could be implemented in a timely fashion for the upcoming school year.

Hear the full report from Mr. Harden HERE.

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.

Regular review of an existing policy.

Only proposed change would be to specific listing of resources in one sentence, and shortening it to simply reference “resources”.

This was shared as a first read item and will be up for approval at the June Board meeting.

Regular review of an existing policy.

The policy had not been reviewed since 2013. Since digital needs and requirements have changed notably since then, the policy has been rewritten to align with the district’s current practices.

The overall purpose of the policy has not changed, but updating the wording and best practices to current protocols is needed.

This was shared as first read item and will be up for approval at the June Board meeting.

Regular review of an existing policy.

A few wording changes to better align with how we reference reading instruction practices in the district and to remove some redundancies.

The intent of the original policy stays the same.

This was shared as first read item and will be up for approval at the June Board meeting.

Regular review of an existing policy.

One statement has a proposed change. The change would eliminate some specific examples listed. Scaling back from the specifics allows for better consistent practice with other district policies, and provides the district flexibility to respond to individual needs.

This was shared as a first read item and will be up for approval at the June Board meeting.

Regular review of an existing policy.

One statement has a proposed change. The change would eliminate some specific examples listed. Scaling back from the specifics allows for better consistent practice with other district policies, and provides the district flexibility to respond to individual needs.

Overall, the main focus of the policy stays the same which is two-fold: We meet and operate within the state statute, and we review the process yearly.

This was shared as a first read item and will be up or approval at the June Board meeting.

Regular review of an existing policy.

A few adjustments were proposed to ensure the policy is current with the most recent legislative adjustments. The main edit would be to remove the sentence that specifies the types of "excused absences" as that list may not always be accurate depending on the year or legislative action.

This was shared as a first read item and will be up or approval at the June Board meeting.

Regular review of an existing policy.

Made a few wording changes to better match the current district protocols. Recommendations were made from the Lead GIPS School Nurse.

This was shared as a first read item and will be up or approval at the June Board meeting.

Katherin Xicara, GISH Senior, was elected by his peers to represent them on the Board of Education as a Student Representative. At each Board Meeting, she shares a student report.

Highlights from Katherin's report include:

GISH HIGHLIGHTS:

• The boys baseball team finished second place in districts and will be heading to first round of the state tournament this week. Seniors Miles Nelson and Carson Washburn were acknowledged as NCPA Academic all state through the NSAA.
• Girls Tennis had a great turn over with a 9-0 win over Lincoln Northeast
• Islander competed at the District NSAA District A-1 meet with outstanding performance including: Aurora Karr 1st place in unified long jump; Wendy kolar 1st place in unified shot put; Fernando Aguilar Prieto 3rd place; for 100 meters Unified. Celia McCoy first place in the 100 and 300 meter Hurdles. Michael Obermiller p 3rd in 110 meter hurdles. And Katie Johnsen 3rd place in 32-hundred meters
• Senior Makenaah Mazanec was named National Athlete of the year and senior Aysha Gawrych and Noah Bauer were named all American Athletes by the NHSSCA National
• The Gish Esports won the Nebraska state league of legends championship after taking a 2-0 win against scottsbluff.
• The robotics team 8151W competed at nationals and earned 35th place.
• SKillsUSA chapter had 47 competitors with 13 teams placing at state. 5 of those teams qualified for nationals this summer in Atlanta.
• Class Officers hosted class day on Thursday last week. The day consisted of fun games and special videos and recognitions for the class of 2026. Over 600 seniors attended and got to walk the halls of GISH for one last time before graduation. Also, the class of 2027 class officers were elected by peers. These which are President: Isaac Hawley, Vice President: Cricia Chacon, Secretary: Nancy Martinez and Student Board Representative: Angie De Orta
• Shrek the musical earned 2026 outstanding ensemble award by Nebraska theater academy.
• Nebraska state poet jewel Rodgers hosted a student writer workshop and an open mic night session at GISH sharing her experiences and writing process with students.
• Theater students played the roles of goldilocks and the three bears mocking a trial for goldilocks for invasion. The trial served as a learning opportunity for 3rd graders all over the district to understand the courthouse and experience the judicial system first hand.

EVENTS AROUND GIPS:

• GISH had over 650 students graduating this weekend. All achieving a milestone that will help them reach their future goals. With a special honor to Sarah Wickman that shared her inspiring words as student speaker during the ceremony.
• GISH offered capstone presentations during finals weeks where different pathways students presented their accomplishments throughout their senior year to families, students, and staff members. From small businesses, engineering prototypes, practicum teaching reflections, to real world job shadowing, seniors were able to showcase all the great opportunities that GISH pathways allow.
• GIPS foundation hosted a scholarship reception for the Class of 2026 GIPS scholarship recipients. They were able to meet their donors and share their exciting after high school plans.
• 9 juniors were signed to be part of the Nebraska Registered Apprenticeship program. These students will learn work-based learning experiences with local businesses.
• Junior Construction pathway students presented the keys to the new homeowners to the house they have dedicated their time building from the ground up. This community partnership gives students a learning experience while helping community members receive a brand new affordable home.
• Senior Aksam Dodban alongside myself were MCQ’s during the global roots festival. During the festival a group of Lincoln elementary students showcased their cultural folklore dancing to community members. In addition, GISH volunteers help set up, run, and tear down the event. Ultimately, contributing and embracing all the backgrounds in our community.
• Walnut D.C diplomats completed 10 murals that are displayed at stolley park little kingdom. This was the outcome of a community partnership between GIPS, G-I parks department and the AOK ladies.
• M-Tech club hosted their family night where students had the opportunity to teach their families what they have been learning in the club. The students got the opportunity to code something for their parents and take home the plants they have been taking care of throughout the semester.
• Dodge running club had their last meeting as well, with an extra surprise. The students who participated got to walk out with a new pair of matching running shoes. encouraging the students to stay active throughout the summer.
• The eagle man student-ran Character council hosted a Coins for Cancer fundraiser to support local families with a total of 2,821 dollars collected and donated.
• Knickern started a buddy program partnering older students with younger ones for quarterly activities through the years. The program aims to build students' confidence, mentorship, and safety throughout the school.

STAFF SHOUT-OUT:

• Mrs. Stephanie Riak - GISH Social Studies Teacher & New Glamour Gals Club Sponsor

Hear the full report HERE.

Mr. Fisher shared a Superintendent Report with the Board.

• Thank you to Katherin for being a great student representative on our Board and for her influence in the Superintendent Student Advisory Council.
  
  
• GISH Graduation was a success! The decision to holding it on a Saturday morning (and not on Mother’s Day) was a good move.
  
  
• Junior Registered Apprenticeships from GISH Academy of Technical Sciences are an incredible paid opportunity for our students. 24 of the state’s 29 high school apprentices are from GISH.
  
  
• Baseball’s run in the state tournament starts Friday morning.
  
  
• State Track qualified 9 boys and 8 girls from the Islanders.
  
  
• Girls Tennis is venturing to their conference meet on Friday.
  
  
• Boys Golf won the city title.
  
  
• Middle School state track in Gothenburg is coming up. We qualified two student athletes from each of our three middle schools (six total).
  
  
• Middle School concerts for the Spring season have been going well.
  
  
• All of our Elementary schools are in their Field Day seasons.
  
  
• Elementary school 4th Graders are making their field trips to Lincoln to visit the Capital.
  
  
• Newell hosted their annual Oregon Trail reenactment.
  
  
• GIPS Retirement Reception was hosted this week and was an enjoyable event to honor our retiring staff and educators.

See above information item for rationalte.

MOTION PASSED: 7 - 0

Newly proposed policy in connection to a new legislation requirement.

The model policy was provided by the district's legal counsel. Overall, the policy provides a framework for parents of GIPS students to request access to the records of which materials their student is checking out from their school media center.

This was shared as a first read item at the April Board meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 7 - 0

Regular review of an existing policy.

Recommended changes would include:

• Removing the word “standardized” from the title since the policy is speaking to various types of assessments.
  
  

• Policy changes would better reflect the best practices and protocols we are currently using across the district.
  
  

This was shared as a first read item at the April Board meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 7 - 0

Newly proposed policy in connection to a new legislation requirement.

This model policy was provided by the district's legal counsel. Overall, the policy covers the safety and medical protocols we have already been following in the district for a number of years.

This was shared as a first read item at the April Board meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 7 - 0