EXCERPTS of USD #384 Special Board of Education Meeting

A Special Board of Education meeting for USD #384 Blue Valley was held on February 29, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room.  Members present were Jason Hartman, Drew Taylor, Autumn Cercone, Melissa Geisler, and Reo Shultz (via GoogleMeet).  Administration present was Rex Boley, Superintendent (via GoogleMeet), and Caitlin Combest, MES Principal.

CALL TO ORDER:  President, Jason Hartman called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

APPROVE THE AGENDA: The Board approved the agenda as presented. 

NEW BUSINESS: Personnel - The Board held an executive session to discuss personnel. The purpose of the executive session is to protect the privacy interests of an identifiable individual. 

Board moved into executive session with 6:06 p.m. with Caitlin Combest and Rex Boley to discuss personnel.  

Meeting reconvened at 6:12 p.m. and it was noted that no action was taken during the executive session. 

Melissa moved to accept the hiring of Cassy Llewelyn as the McCormick Elementary School Secretary effective immediately; Autumn second; motion passed 5-0.

Adjournment: Drew moved to adjourn; Melissa second; motion passed 5-0. Meeting adjourned at 6:13 p.m. 

Melody Pfaff, MS Secretary

EXCERPTS of USD #384 Regular Board of Education Meeting

A Regular Board of Education meeting for USD #384 Blue Valley was held on February 12, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room.  Members present were Jason Hartman, Reo Shultz, Stephen Corkill, Tim Innes, Autumn Cercone, and Drew Taylor.  Administration present was Rex Boley, Superintendent, Caitlin Combest, MES Principal, Anthony Meals, BVHS Principal, and Alison Moore, Board Clerk.

CALL TO ORDER:  President, Jason Hartman called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

APPROVE THE AGENDA: The Board proposed changes of adding 13k to discuss the March board meeting date. Tim moved to approve the agenda with the changes; Stephen second; motion passed 6-0.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Board and guests recited the Pledge of Allegiance. 

WELCOME GUESTS: President, Jason Hartman welcomed our guests. 

POSITIVE BOARD COMMENTS: 

  1. Stephen commends basketball on their great seasons so far.

  2. Reo said the cheer clinic went off great and Rael and the cheerleaders did a great job.

  3. Tim said the FFA Alumni banquet was a huge success.

  4. Autumn gave accolades to FCCLA for taking 6 events to State in April.

  5. Jason heard from the community and parents that they were impressed with the communication from the school during the bad weather.

SPECIAL REPORTS: 

  1. NONE

RECOGNITION OF STUDENTS/STAFF: 

  1. Student of the Month:

    1. McCormick Elementary School – Jeremiah Brenner 

    2. Blue Valley Middle School – Evea Dunstan

    3. Blue Valley High School – Ella Hoeltzel

PRINCIPAL REPORTS: 

  1. MES – January wrapped up with Kansas Day activities that the 5th graders were able to come over and participate in the centers. The 100th day of school was celebrated on February 6th with teachers wearing shirts that said “100 Days Brighter”. Brandi Innes printed 100 Rams and placed them around the building for teachers to find and add to the 100 day chart in the gym. Teachers have been working on their schedules for next year and are excited to add MTSS time for the students.

  2. RMS – Ms. Goddard is planning the school spelling bee which will be coming up soon. Working with Mrs. Ellis on planning out 8th grade promotion. Baseball coaches are setting up indoor batting cage and machine for practice.

  3. BVHS – There are no large adjustments to the HS-side of the schedule apart from a homeroom addition for announcements and attendance; the MS-side will look to offer more elective options and attempt to reduce the amount of passing between buildings. Royal Blue had 10 students from the MS and 28 students from the HS for first semester; Crimson Red had 46 students from the MS and 26 students from the HS for the first semester. Softball supplies and uniforms have been ordered and interviews for coaching have been completed. Due to conflicts in the fall with football playoffs and other student conflicts; the play was rescheduled to April, but due to continued conflicts, the play has been canceled for this year. Due to snow days this year, the district is looking at the Senior hour requirement and working with KSDE to make sure all requirements are met.

SUPERINTENDENT REPORT: 

  • Transportation – Contacted Riley County to see if they can add gravel to roads that drivers have said were tough to drive on. Some issues with bus doors, but we are looking into them.

  • Administration 24/25 – Administration have been discussing responsibilities and coverage for the upcoming school year with the possible shift of 4th grade.

  • ROCS – Rhonda Trimble reached out wanting to partner with USD 384; students from ROCS would become Blue Valley students. 384 would be responsible for all KSDE reporting, and all their student data would become part of 384 student data. There is a meeting set for Feb. 14.

  • Door Access – meeting is set with our door access company to see about adding a door entry point at the MS courtyard as well as updating the system to be controlled remotely, such as on snow days.

  • Radios – Ka-Comm has a couple radios programmed that they will allow us to borrow to see how the communication coverage will be for the bus routes.

OPEN FORUM: No one addressed the Board during open forum. 

CONSENT AGENDA: The Board approved the Consent Agenda as follows: 

  1. Approved Minutes: January 8, 2024 Regular Board of Education Meeting 

  2. Approved Receipts

  3. Approved Warrants 2 and Transfers

  4. Approve accepting gift for $2,100 from Olsburg Festival to purchase Quaver, elementary music curriculum

  5. Approved Hirings: Josh Williams – PowerLifting Coach; Alison Moore – Head HS Softball Coach; Luke Dumler – Assistant HS Softball Coach; Anthony Meals – Assistant MS Track Coach; Robert Green – Substitute Teacher

  6. Approved Resignations: Bridget Bryan – HS ELA; Jenny Hoeltzel – Elementary Secretary

  7. Out of District:

Tim moved to approve consent agenda; Autumn second; motion passed 6-0.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

  1. Early Childhood/PreK Update – table until March

NEW BUSINESS:

  1. Audit Report Update – Bruna Auditing Service has come back with his analysis and there were some errors made from the 22-23 year. Melody has been working on finding these errors to correct them and they are almost finished; at that point the audit should be ready to finalize.

    1. Board requested going back to seeing the financials of the current year to last year. Once the corrections have been made, then there shouldn’t be a problem providing that.

  2. Twin Valley Internet/Phone Service Contract - $300 less than now but won’t become effective until this summer. Stephen moved to accept new contract; Autumn second; motion passed 6-0.

  3. Food Service – there has been confusion in scanning between HS and MS, so another computer has been added to alleviate the problem; there will also be a second set of eyes during scanning to check trays to make sure nutritional needs are covered; there will be no more ala carte provided for MS students.

  4. 4th Grade Moving to BVMS Next Year – make it a 4th and 5th grade intermediate wing; possibly look at sending out a survey with room for concerns.

  5. Rambacker/PTO – look at bringing both organizations together as one.

  6. Visit with Salina Catholic Dioceses – Luckey Cooperative only goes up to 8th grade; a survey was sent out for interest in Catholic HS in Manhattan, and who would entertain attending Blue Valley; out of the 180 surveys they received back from elementary and MS, only 7 families said “yes” but unsure how many kids that total would be.

  7. EMC Insurance 24-25 SY – property insurance looking to go up 25%; roofs will go off actual cash value; need to look at being proactive and preventative maintenance.

  8. Required School Hours for Students - School Hours – KSDE School Auditing has confirmed that K-11 is okay on their 1,116 hours for the school year with a recommended change of removing Ram Time for the remainder of the year; however, the seniors will be short of their required 1,086 required hours. It was suggested to alter the Senior Sneak trip (to Sa, Su, M, T) to accommodate the hours so they will make them up in time for graduation. 

    1. Drew moved to end Ram Time for the remainder of the year; Tim second; motion passed 6-0.

    2. Drew moved to shift Senior Sneak; Tim second; motion passed 6-0.

  9. Negotiation Training and Notice Letter – need to start working on negotiating items and letter; team will be Melissa, Jason, Tim, and Tim as alternate.

  10. March 20th Career Day – RealityU for 8th and 10th grades to participate in; 8:15am to 1:30pm with lunch provided.

  11. March Board Meeting – March board meeting is during Spring Break; leave it on the 11th as it’s best for most.

  12. BOE Work Session – Kelly Gillespie willing to work with board on topics; send out a Google form for what days/times would work best for members.

  13. Personnel - The Board held an executive session to discuss personnel. The purpose of the executive session is to protect the privacy interests of an identifiable individual. 

    1. Board requested a 5 minute break at 8:18 p.m.; then moved into executive session at 8:23 p.m. for 45 minutes with Anthony Meals, Caitlin Combest, and the board.

    2. At 9:08 p.m. the board requested 10 more minutes. Caitlin Combest and Anthony Meals exited executive session at 9:13 p.m.

    3. At 9:18 p.m. the board requested 2 more minutes.

Meeting reconvened at 9:20 p.m. and it was noted that no action was taken during the executive session. 

  1. KASB Policy Update – Stephen moved to accept all KASB Policy Updates except GARIA but revisit that policy at a later time; Drew second; motion passed 6-0.

Future Agenda Items: 

  1. All Day PreK

  1. FastBridge/MTSS Overview

  1. Athletic Handbook

  1. Long Range Plan (Draft)

  1. Facility Use access procedure change - Information only

  1. Superintendent Evaluation

  1. Surplus Property approval

  1. PTO - Donation of Shade Structure at Elementary School

  1. Branding Committee Update

Adjournment: Tim moved to adjourn; Stephen second; meeting adjourned at 9:34 p.m. 

Alison Moore, Board Clerk