GIPS Board Brief December 12, 2025

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 December 2025 Regular Board Meeting.

• Agenda
• Video Stream
• Donna Douglass & Josh Sikes were not present but gave prior notice.
• Carlos Barcenas was late due to a family commitment, but gave prior notice and arrived before the Executive Session started.

For ten years GIPS has hosted an annual Holiday Card Contest. The friendly competition provides students from all grades (Preschool - High School) to create and submit original holiday themed artwork.

Each year submissions are gathered, and the district office selects (by vote) three finalists (one Elementary, one Middle School, one High School) to be recognized with one overall winner selected by the Superintendent.

The overall winning artwork is printed on the cover of the annual GIPS Holiday Card. This holiday season, the district office received over 1,400 submissions from students!

GIPS recognized the three finalists and overall winner for the 2025 Superintendent Holiday Card Contest:

• Layla Gerber, 9th Grade - GISH (Overall Winner)
• Maria Castro Gutierrez, 5th Grade - Howard Elementary (Elementary Finalist)
• Gabriela Cortez Moreno, 8th Grade - Walnut Middle School (Middle School Finalist)

Congratulations, Artists!

Dr. Carrie Kolar, GIPS Chief of Human Capital Management, presented the proposed calendars for the next two school years.

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 and will be an action item at the January Board meeting.

Hear the full presentation HERE.

Mr. Dan Petsch, GIPS Director of Buildings, Grounds, & Safety, shared an annual update on the list of projects selected for completion at GIPS buildings during the fiscal year of 2025-2026.

The District operates a large portfolio of aging facilities which requires a proactive and strategic approach to maintenance. While the need for facility renewal is substantial, being mindful of financial resources is always important. This reality requires a disciplined, collaborative methodology for determining which projects move forward each year.

All identified projects were reviewed and considered using the following factors:

• Safety and Health: Regulatory compliance, mitigating immediate hazards.
• Asset Preservation: Projects that prevent significant, costly damage (e.g., roof repairs).
• Instructional Impact: Projects that directly improve the student learning experience.
• Organizational Capacity: Feasibility given current staffing levels and project timelines.

Each project will be approved via normal business processes and procedures.

Highlights of the project list include:

• Barr Middle School - Updated HVAC system
• Renovated Planetarium at GISH
• Replace gym floors at Howard, Dodge, & Walnut
• Walnut Middle School - Upgrade to LED lighting
• Security camera upgrades at Barr, Gates, Howard, Islander Annex, Jefferson, Kneale Building, Knickrehm, Lincoln, Stolley Park, Wasmer, & OLC
• Upgrade phone systems at Jefferson, Lincoln, Stolley Park, & Wasmer
• Update network wiring at Gates, Howard, Knickrehm, Lincoln, Wasmer, & Kneale Building
• And more

This was shared as an information item and will be an action item at the January Board meeting.

Hear the full presentation HERE.

Mr. Cory Gearhart, GIPS Chief Information Officer, shared an update on technology hardware needs for the district.

The proposed capital equipment lease purchase will help facilitate the scheduled renewal of instructional technology across the district. By entering a multi-year lease-purchase agreement, the district can immediately provide up-to-date Apple computers for students and staff, supporting current curriculum requirements and standardized testing mandates.

This financing method provides predictable annual payments $350,000 (maximum) to responsibly spread the cost of the equipment's expected useful life, ensuring fiscal stability while maintaining high-quality educational tools.

Ultimately, by moving to this lease purchase with Apple, the district will be able to save money in the long-term, be more efficient in providing IT support, and allow for staff devices to be updated to the same models.

This was shared as both an information and action item to ensure maximum financial savings for the district.

Hear the full presentation HERE.

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 and action item to ensure maximum financial savings for the district.

Hear the full presentation 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.

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 and will be up for an action item at the January Board meeting.

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 and will be up for an action item at the January Board meeting.

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 and will be up for an action item at the January Board meeting.

1. The Foundation’s online scholarship application went “live” on December 1. Students will be able to apply for over 205 scholarships through one application.
   
   
2. The Foundation hosted our Scholarship Fair on December 3rd at GISH. The fair included scholarship application presentations from the GIPS Foundation as well as booths manned by several colleges. In addition, Education Quest was assisting with the FAFSA.
   
   
3. The Foundation Executive Board was presented with the 2025 Audit by AMGL. The Audit was accepted and approved by the GIPS Foundation Board.
   
   
4. The Foundation Board also heard from the Board Development/Nominating Committee.
   
   
5. The New Slate of officers were voted in for 2026.

• Past-President-Kelly Enck, President-Paul Hoos,
• Vice-President-Diana Kellogg, Treasurer-Shane Wissman
• NEW Board Member was voted on and accepted Marci Tompkins. Marci will begin her term in January 2026

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:

• Unified Bowling won the program’s first ever state championship.

• Power Lifting won their first girls team championship ever.

• Girls wrestling earned runner-up at the Kearney High Tournament.

• Boys wrestling won over Columbus in their first dual of the season.

• Islander Robotics 8151 won the Concordia High School tournament.

• GISH Dance Team hosted a Father/Daughter Dance.

• GISH Student Council Leaders presented at the State Education Conference about “Cell Phone Free”.

• GISH One-Acts will be performed this weekend.

• Show Choir is getting ready to host their annual Junior Show Choir Camp.

• Katelyn Sodomka, GISH NHS, partnered with Stolley Park for donations for the Humane Society.

Around GIPS:

• Shoemaker Literacy night

• Engleman donations to Hope Harbor

• GISH Hosted Middle School Girls Basketball Jamboree for all three middle schools

• GISH Islander Experience was hosted last weekend

Shout-Out:

• Miss Wagner - GISH English Teacher

Hear the full report HERE.

Mr. Fisher shared a Superintendent Report with the Board.

Hear Mr. Fisher's full report HERE.

Please see above information item for rationale.

MOTION PASSED: 6 - 0

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