GIPS Board Brief January 9, 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 January 2026 Regular Board Meeting.

• Agenda
• Video Stream
• Lisa Albers was not present but gave prior notice.
• Josh Sikes was not present as he resigned his position on the Board.

• Broc Cramer
• Wendy Kolar
• Hunter Spanjer
• Eryk Stuchlik
• Bailey Vodehnal

• Marc DuVall - Head Coach
• Eric Kolar - Assistant Coach
• Ronna Enck - Assistant Coach

2025 marked Grand Island Public Schools’ first year participating in the Nebraska Seal of Biliteracy.

In November 2025, ten GIPS students earned the Seal of Biliteracy, including three at the Gold level and seven at the Silver level in Spanish. These students were among 197 Nebraska high school students recognized statewide for demonstrating proficiency in English and at least one additional language. Earning the Seal reflects strong academic achievement and opens doors to college and career opportunities. It also honors students’ identities, cultures, and linguistic assets, positioning them as confident, capable contributors in an increasingly multilingual world.

NEBRASKA SEAL OF BILITERACY RECIPIENTS - GISH:

• Juan Pablo Magana Garcia: Gold
• Elizabeth Gabriel Pintor: Gold
• Katherin Xicara Ramos: Gold
• Kevin Sanchez Barrios: Silver
• David Diaz Hinojosa: Silver
• Kimberly Fuentes Ochoa: Silver
• Eva Raymundo Paiz: Silver
• Lincy Lopez Perez: Silver
• Jesenia Pedroza Sotelo: Silver
• Jackelyn Garcia Yucute: Silver

The Board operates with two internally elected officers of President and Vice President. Each January the Board holds elections for those roles.

Here is what the process looks like:

• Nominations were called for by oral ballot.
• Voting was conducted by written ballot.
• Motions were made and accepted for the Board President and V.P. officers.

The GIPS Board President will be Hank McFarland who was re-elected with a voting margin of (4-3).

GIPS Board Vice President will be Josh Hawley who was re-elected with a voting margin of (7-0).

On Thursday, January 8th, 2026, the GIPS Board of Education accepted the resignation of member Josh Sikes effective immediately.

Mr. Sikes stated that his resignation was due to pursuing another job opportunity outside of the Grand Island community, and would be moving. He shared:

“It has been an honor representing Ward A as I served the families and students of GIPS.”

Read the full announcement of Sikes' resignation 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 changes are to remove "The" from the name of "Grand Island Public Schools", and to clarify the name of "Hall County School District 2".

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

Regular review of an existing policy.

There are no proposed changes.

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

Regular review of an existing policy.

There are no proposed changes.

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

1. The Foundation’s online scholarship application went “live” on December 1. Students will be able to apply for 212 scholarships through this one application. The application is due February 4, 2026.
   
   
2. At their January Board Meeting, the Foundation Board will induct new board member Marci Tompkins. Additionally, the Foundation hosted a new board member orientation session on Wednesday, December 9, 2025.
   
   
3. The Foundation is gearing up for a busy spring. The Annual Staff Campaign will begin in March and Scholarship Review will begin in late February. Anyone who would like to volunteer to be part of the scholarship review is welcome as long as he/she is not related to a GISH Senior this year.
   
   
4. The Foundation Board will have the following business before it at its January 20, 2026 Meeting:

• Board Leadership change for 2026
• 2026 Grant/Scholarship Distribution percentage from invested funds
• Special Facilities Presentation by Superintendent Mr. Matt Fisher

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 Updates:

• GISH Boys Basketball competed hard during the Winter Break earning win over North Platte.

• The Dance & Cheer Teams performed at the GICC Showcase.

• Islandaired Dance Team is hosting their Dance Camp coming up on February 3rd.

• Both Wrestling Teams (Boys and Girls) had strong showings at the Council Bluffs meet.

• Boys Wrestling Team also won the Flatwater Fracas & Kearney Dual.

• A few GISH Boys Wrestlers one their 100th Matches: Gavin Pedersen, Rudy Rodriguez, & Kaden Harder.

• Islander Robotics will be attending the UNL Robotics Tournament this weekend

• GISH Carolers performed at CHI Health St. Francis in the lobby as part of a Rotary presentation.

• Annual Band Winter Concert was a great performance.

• Show Choir is hosting their annual Kids Camp this weekend.

• GISH Student Council has been busy preparing for Winter Ball this weekend.

GIPS Updates:

• West Lawn hosted a holiday themed Family Engagement Night.

• Wasmer hosted their annual Holiday Store in partnership with Third City Church.

• Westridge donations to Hope Harbor.

• Barr Middle School students attended the 2025 Nebraska Digital Citizenship Symposium and developed a "responsible uses of AI" presentation for their classmates to hear during Bulldog Time.

• Michala Soundy held a presentation with Leadership Tomorrow about the importance of providing students internship and work-based learning opportunities.

• Congratulations to classmates who earned Seal of Biliteracy Status and thank you Mr. Fuentes.

Staff Shout-Out:

• Micki Nuss, GISH Art Teacher & Senior Class Officers Sponsor
  
  

Hear the full report HERE.

Mr. Fisher shared a Superintendent Report with the Board.

Hear Mr. Fisher's full report HERE.

Each year a GIPS Calendar Committee works to produce the annual calendar for the upcoming school year. For an updated protocol, the committee envisions being able to craft and propose school calendars two years at a time to better ensure consistency with staff support and keeping information readily available ahead of time for the community.

The Calendar Committee was comprised of representatives from: GIEA, Administrators, Leading for Learning Department, Special Education, Success Academy, Early Learning Center, Activities (GISH & Middle Schools), and the Board of Education.

Proposed calendars are for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years. Both ensure the legal requirement is met with student days, as well as consistency with providing Planning & Prep days and PLC time.

This was shared as an information item at the December 2025 Board meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 7 - 0

Mr. Cory Gearhart, GIPS Chief Information Officer, also shared a brief update on the RFP process for wireless networking needs.

Highlights from the E-Rate update include:

• GIPS participates in the E-Rate program to secure funding for its internet and networking devices. This RFP is currently out for bid and we will determine a winning bidder at the January Board of Education meeting.
  
  

• GIPS is seeking to update all the switches across the district. Approximately 1,000 access points will be updated.
  
  

• GIPS would be responsible for about 20% of the total cost due to the district's participation in the E-Rate program. The overall cost for the project is estimated to be approximately $1.2 million. The GIPS cost would be approximately $120,000.

This was shared as both an information item at the December 2025 Board meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 7 - 0

The current GISH cooling tower is thirty years old and reached its end of life. This bid is for a new cooling tower (equipment only) with the total replacement cost excepted at $550,000.

This was shared as in information item as part of the GIPS Facilities Projects for 2026 presentation at the December 2025 Board meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 7 - 0

As part of the Safety and Security plan funded by the QCPUF $7.2M debt issue of September 2024 GIPS is rewiring buildings in the district to upgrade security cameras, door access, phone systems, etc. This bid is for the second part of the two year plan.

This was shared as in information item as part of the GIPS Facilities Projects for 2026 presentation at the December 2025 Board meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 7 - 0

Mr. Josh Sikes has submitted his resignation from the board of education due to he and his family leaving the Grand Island community for another job opportunity.

In order to start the official process of filling a vacant seat, the Board needs to accept the resignation of Mr. Sikes.

MOTION PASSED: 7 - 0

Proposed new policy for the district in relation to the requirements that are part of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

The purpose of the policy would be to cover the use of video surveillance in all district buildings. This proposed edition of the policy was drafted by the district's legal counsel to ensure it meets FERPA requirements.

Primary language from the policy reads as:

"Cameras may be placed in public areas including, but not limited to, hallways, entrances, parking lots, cafeterias, gymnasiums, school buses, and other areas where security concerns exist. Cameras are not permitted to be placed in private areas where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as restrooms, locker rooms, or health/therapy rooms."

This was shared as a first read item at the December 2025 Board meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 7 - 0

Regular review of an existing policy.

The Annual Report published by the district is a requirement by the state legal statute known as Rule #10. Specifics for the Annual Report are identified by Rule #10.

Since the report exists to meet legal requirements, and also serves as an opportunity for the district to engage the community, the proposed updates to the policy would be to remove a paragraph that speaks about the specifics of what the report contains.

Why?

So the policy may be less about procedural details, which are already covered by Rule #10, and the policy can be sustained longer if there were any changes made in the legal statues. The proposed version of the policy now reads more about the annual commitment and the need to meet requirements mapped out in Rule #10.

This was shared as a first read item at the December 2025 Board meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 7 - 0

Regular review of an existing policy.

Proposed changes would be to simply remove the paragraph highlighting specifics about types of memorials that may be considered. Instead, it would move to language that states each memorial opportunity would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This helps to avoid any inconsistency issues.

The annual opportunity to use a "In Memoriam" page in the yearbook would remain.

This was shared as a first read item at the December 2025 Board meeting.

MOTION PASSED: 7 - 0

All other policies from the January Board meeting were voted on and approved in the consent agenda as those policies did not require approved changes or simply fixed grammatical errors.

The Board entered into a brief Executive Session for the purpose of discussing negotiations.

Upon return from the Executive Session, the Board voted to approved the proposed negotiated agreement with the Grand Island Education Association (GIEA) for the 2026-27 school year.

MOTION PASSED: 7 - 0