BENNINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

DOUGLAS COUNTY

SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 59

BOARD OF EDUCATION

REGULAR MEETING

MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2024 6:00 PM

BENNINGTON DISTRICT BOARD ROOM

 

Posting Information: Notice published in the Daily Record on 12/06/2024. Notice of meeting posted on the District website. Agendas posted at all Bennington Public School buildings three days prior to the meeting date.

 

Attendance Taken at 5:58 PM. Jeremy Dick: Present, Tim Dreessen: Present, Kara Neuverth: Present, Kristi Ryan: Present, Steve Shannon: Present, Allyson Slobotski: Present.

 

I.       Call Meeting to Order- President Allyson Slobotski called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. The Board of Education makes available at least one current copy of the Open Meetings Act posted in the meeting room at a location accessible to members of the public.

 

II.     Public Forum- One member of the public was present to speak.

 

III.   Consent Agenda (Note: Items on the consent agenda are considered routine and will be enacted under one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items at the meeting unless a Board Member requests an item removed from the agenda for separate action.)

 

MOTION PASSED: Motion to approve the consent agenda as presented, passed with a motion by Tim Dreessen and a second by Jeremy Dick. Jeremy Dick: Yea, Tim Dreessen: Yea, Kara Neuverth: Yea, Kristi Ryan: Yea, Steve Shannon: Yea, Allyson Slobotski: Yea

 

December 2024 Personnel Notes: Certified Staff Hire: Alexa Berney- elementary teacher at Stratford Elementary, Erica Babin- elementary teacher at Anchor Pointe Elementary, Lyndsay Rahlfs- CADRE, Amanda Plymale- teacher at Anchor Pointe Elementary, Nick Hoff- teacher at Bennington South Middle School. Classified Staff Hire: Chapagain Amrit, four-hour cook at Pine Creek Elementary, Ryan Sullivan- bus route driver, Jessica Thorberg- life skills paraprofessional at Bennington High School. Torrey Bergstrom- life skills paraprofessional at Bennington High School, Ben Gentry- paraprofessional at Pine Creek Elementary. Certified Staff Resignations: Lyndsay Rahlfs has chosen to resign from Bennington Public Schools as a teacher at Heritage Elementary to pursue a CADRE position with the district. Classified Staff Resignations: Londa Nelson, Zavaire Ingram, Archana Pesarekalaya, Kimberly Ash, Garet Wright.

 

IV.    Items Removed From the Consent Agenda for Separate Action- No items were removed from the Consent Agenda.

 

V.      Reports- Elementary- Craig Theis, Middle School- Lucas Apfelbeck, High School- Greg Lamberty, Student Services- Dan Bombeck, CIA- Shannon Thoendel, Operations- Matt Blomenkamp, Superintendent- Aaron Plas. Dr. Plas and Allyson Slobotski expressed their gratitude to Kara Neuverth for her decade of service to the Bennington Public Schools Board of Education. In recognition of her contributions, Allyson Slobotski presented Kara with a clock as a token of appreciation. Committee Reports- Building/Finance and Curriculum. Coordinator- None. Spotlight- Out of the Blue gave a vocal performance to the Board. Lobbyist- None

 

VI.    Unfinished Business

VI.A. Discuss, Consider, and Take Action to Add/Revise Policies for Section 400- There were 13 policies that were recommended for modification with only grammatical corrections, and 13 policy revisions with language updates that introduce minor but material changes. The remainder of the 400 section was determined appropriate by the Committee.

 

MOTION PASSED: Motion to approve the revision of the section 400 policies as presented, passed with a motion by Steve Shannon and a second by Kristi Ryan. Jeremy Dick: Yea, Tim Dreessen: Yea, Kara Neuverth: Yea, Kristi Ryan: Yea, Steve Shannon: Yea, Allyson Slobotski: Yea

 

VII.   New Business

VII.A. Discuss, Consider, and Take Action to Approve Tender Offer/Cash Defeasance of Series 2021B Bonds- The Board reaffirmed its commitment to exploring options for paying down the bond debt early. D.A. Davidson conducted a tender offer, but no submissions were received, likely due to the limited availability of eligible bonds. The Board discussed pursuing an early bond defeasance in the coming months as the next step to accelerate debt repayment and generate potential savings for the District.

 

VII.B.    Discuss, Consider, and Take Action on Curriculum and Personnel Proposals- The Curriculum Committee met on November 25th to continue the process of determining which curriculum and personnel proposals to recommend for the 2024-25 school year.

 

MOTION PASSED: Motion to accept the recommendations by the Curriculum Committee for 2025-26 curriculum and personnel proposals #21, #31, and #12 as outlined in the November 25, 2024, Curriculum Committee Report and pending 2025-26 budget approval, passed with a motion by Kara Neuverth and a second by Steve Shannon. Jeremy Dick: Yea, Tim Dreessen: Yea, Kara Neuverth: Yea, Kristi Ryan: Yea, Steve Shannon: Yea, Allyson Slobotski: Yea

 

VII.C.    Review and Discuss Evaluation of the Superintendent- Board policy states the board will conduct an ongoing evaluation of the superintendent’s skills, abilities, and competence. No action on this item, discussion only.

 

VII.D.    Review High School #2 Proposed Design and Information- The Building/Finance Committee and Curriculum Committee have met to hear an initial proposal for High School #2. Feedback was received and implemented from each of these sub-committees. A full presentation of the current proposal was presented to the Board.

 

VII.E.    EXECUTIVE SESSION to Discuss Certificated Staff Negotiations-

 

MOTION PASSED: Motion to enter into closed session at 7:41 P.M., to discuss the final proposal and answer questions as necessary from the Negotiations Committee as an executive session is clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest, passed with a motion by Allyson Slobotski and a second by Jeremy Dick. Jeremy Dick: Yea, Tim Dreessen: Yea, Kara Neuverth: Yea, Kristi Ryan: Yea, Steve Shannon: Yea, Allyson Slobotski: Yea

 

The Board returned to Regular Session at 8:04 P.M.

 

VII.F.    EXECUTIVE SESSION to Discuss Pending Litigation-

 

MOTION PASSED: Motion to enter closed session at 8:05 P.M., to hold a strategy session regarding pending litigation as an executive session is clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest, passed with a motion by Allyson Slobotski and a second by Steve Shannon. Jeremy Dick: Yea, Tim Dreessen: Yea, Kara Neuverth: Yea, Kristi Ryan: Yea, Steve Shannon: Yea, Allyson Slobotski: Yea

 

The Board returned to Regular Session at 8:15 P.M.

 

VIII. Time and Date of Next Regular Meeting- January 13, 2025, 6:00 P.M., District Office.

 

IX.    Adjournment

 

MOTION PASSED: Motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:16 P.M., passed with a motion by Allyson Slobotski and a second by Kara Neuverth. Jeremy Dick: Yea, Tim Dreessen: Yea, Kara Neuverth: Yea, Kristi Ryan: Yea, Steve Shannon: Yea, Allyson Slobotski: Yea

 

Jodi McCoy-

Board of Education Recording Secretary

 

12/09/24 Bennington Public Schools Claims Board Report

        

Vendor Name     Amount

DEPRECIATION 

COACH MASTER’S INC    $62,000.00

 

GENERAL FUND CHECKING

A CATERED AFFAIR        $475.00

A UNITED AUTOMATIC DOORS        

& GLASS, INC       $1,920.00

ACCESS SYSTEMS LEASING      $24,735.62

ACCESS SYSTEMS  $509.90

Albin, Kathy          $42.21

AMAZON CAPITAL SERVICES    $11,828.97

APPLE INC   $299.00

ARBOR FAMILY COUNSELING   $8,954.00

ARNOLD MOTOR   $701.82

Assmann, Kathryn $19.23

Austin, Marc         $20.10

AWARDS UNLIMITED, INC.      $25.95

Becker, Jane         $42.88

BENNINGTON AUTO INC $980.08

BLACKOUT EZ LLC $873.99

Blevins, Cole         $146.06

BLICK ART MATERIALS   $131.28

Blomenkamp, Matthew    $274.60

Bobolz, Cody        $87.10

Bombeck, Daniel   $153.30

Bottorff, Alexandria        $63.52

Bouaphakeo, Ann $55.88

BOYS TOWN NATIONAL 

RESEARCH HOSPITAL     $6,384.07

CDW GOVERNMENT       $787.05

CERRIS SYSTEMS  $49,230.50

Christensen, Jamie         $73.37

Christensen, Jennifer      $18.69

Christian, Jack      $21.44

CI SHIRTS   $1,892.40

Coble-Obermeyer, Kristi $18.29

CONTROLLED RAIN        $5,035.00

COX BUSINESS     $1,314.30

CUBBY’S, INC        $9,083.92

CULLIGAN   $40.00

CUMMINS SALES AND    

SERVICE      $5,138.57

DAILY RECORD, THE      $299.33

DeHart, Melissa     $33.50

DEMCO, INC         $58.53

DH PACE COMPANY        $270.00

DIETZE MUSIC HOUSE, INC     $2,360.47

ECHO GROUP, INC         $84.89

ELECTRICITY, LLC $2,071.58

ELECTRONIC CONTRACTING   

COMPANY INC      $612.50

ESU 2 $3,825.00

ESU 3 $34,760.92

FIBER PLATFORM, LLC   $2,368.83

FILTER SHOP, INC $1,936.00

FIRST STUDENT, INC     $34,702.76

FIRST WIRELESS INC     $108.38

Fisher, Molly         $38.59

Fitzgerald, Abby    $56.62

FOLLETT CONTENT SOLUTIONS,      

LLC    $1,138.67

GARY CLEMMER    $240.00

GHIMIRE, GANGA $50.00

GOODWILL INDUSTRIES, INC  $1,900.00

Green, Meghan     $140.00

GROUNDWORKS   $4,263.34

Gutz, Stacy $88.11

HD SUPPLY FORMERLY  

HOME DEPOT PRO         $9,214.19

HEARTLAND SCHOOL     $9,553.00

HILAND DAIRY, INC.      $39.74

HY-VEE INC $308.97

I3 BANK      $80.00

INTERSTATE BATTERY  

SYSTEMS OF OMAHA      $489.90

INTERSTATE POWER SYSTEMS,       

INC    $8,611.39

Johanek, Jay         $77.72

JOHN DEERE FINANCIAL $1,165.99

JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD $1,854.12

JUST FOR KIDS THERAPY INC  $30,036.75

Kessell, Christopher        $671.34

Kiger, Emily          $31.49

KNUDSEN OIL & FEED    $10.00

Korbel, Alysha       $72.96

Lamberty, Gregory         $110.55

LANG DIESEL INC $44.96

Loptin, Robbie      $52.26

MATH LEARNING CENTER, THE         $95.50

Matland, Charles   $109.88

Mattson, Tara       $30.08

METAL DOORS &  

HARDWARE CO.    $1,319.75

METROPOLITAN UTILITIES     

DISTRICT    $18,849.00

MID-AMERICAN RESEARCH CHEM      $271.10

MIDWEST BUS PARTS     $340.16

Mitchell, Millie       $20.64

NEBRASKA CHAPTER OF NATIONAL  

SCHOOL PUBLIC RELATIONS ASSOC  $50.00

NEBRASKA PEDIATRIC PRACTICE     

INC    $2,500.00

NEBRASKA STATE FIRE MARSHAL    

AGENCY      $480.00

NEBRASKA TURF PRODUCTS    $4,060.00

NEBRASKA.GOV    $322.00

NMC INC     $160.44

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH CENTERS   

OF NE, P.C.  $220.00

Ohlson, Calena      $20.44

ONE SOURCE        $454.95

OPPD $75,547.00

PAINTIN PLACE CERAMICS       $265.00

Panning, Emily      $178.22

PERRY LAW FIRM  $1,591.71

PITNEY BOWES     $696.03

Plas, Aaron $156.78

POPCO INC., DBA IDEAL         

PURE WATER        $5.00

PORT-A-JOHNS INC        $325.00

POWERSCHOOL GROUP LLC    $2,944.10

PRESTO-X    $796.00

PRIME SECURED, INC     $2,009.00

Reinwald, Alexander       $65.66

RTG BUILDING SERVICES, INC $81,377.08

SCHAEFER ELECTRIC, INC       $584.00

SCHOOL DATEBOOKS     $1,918.35

Sindelar, Kathryn   $127.70

SOLIANT HEALTH, LLC   $7,020.00

STERICYCLE, INC  $625.99

SUNCO        $1,420.32

Theis, Dawn         $19.30

TK ELEVATOR CORPORATION  $179.55

Townsend, Jake    $8.04

TRANE US INC      $2,343.50

TRUCK CENTER COMPANIES    $161.45

Uchtman, Robert   $60.30

Underwood, Sheryl         $114.98

US BANK     $11,501.20

US POSTMASTER  $1,058.27

USIC LOCATING SERVICES, LLC        $252.09

VALA’S PUMPKIN PATCH $1,221.96

VERIZON     $535.51

VISITING NURSE  

HEALTH SERVICES         $15,688.75

VOSS, DOUGLAS   $820.08

WAVERLY HIGH SCHOOL         $500.00

WHC NE, LLC DBA ZTRIP         $4,785.30

WM CORPORATE SERVICES,   

INC    $7,431.44

Young, Norise       $60.17

 

SPECIAL BUILDING FUND -          CHECKING

OLSSON ASSOCIATES     $1,650.00

WHITE CASTLE ROOFING        $68,808.48

 

12/20          ZNEZ

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