District 42R school board reorganizes for year
OSMOND — The regular meeting of District 42R Board of Education followed a board workshop on Monday, Jan. 11, during which board members spoke with a focus group of staff members. A report on that meeting with the focus group will be published next week.
Board Reorganizes
The regular meeting began with reorganization of the board. Because Board President Michelle Reikofski had been elected as District 17 representative for the NASB board of directors, she stepped down from her position and Mark Moes was elected as the new District 42R school board president. Aaron von Rentzell was elected vice president, and Tyler Gansebom as secretary-treasurer.
Margaret Ryan was re-appointed to her position as recording secretary, and the following committee appointments were made:
Negotiations: LaDonna Stanosheck, Tyler Gansebom, Aaron von Rentzell
Americanism and Curriculum: von Rentzell, Moes, Gansebom
School Improvement, Stanosheck, Larry Krohn
Technology: Moes, Reikofski
Student and Professional Service: Gansebom, von Rentzell
Facility, Transportation and Grounds: von Rentzell, Moes plus one other who is available at time of meeting
Policy and Procedure: Gansebom, Krohn
Sharing: Reikofski, Stanosheck, Krohn
Principal Polt Reports
Principal Kurt Polt reported that the first semester ended Dec. 18; report cards were sent and mailed home Jan. 8; honors breakfast is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 27, and he would like to continue something he started last year: treating students to ice cream during eighth period, with pictures to follow.
Mr. Polt advised that there is no school for students on Monday, Jan. 18, for a teacher in-service. The winter workshop in Norfolk was canceled so the in-service will be in Osmond.
The first speech contest is scheduled for Jan. 30 at Hartington, Polt said, and there are seven students participating this year. He has not heard yet what the protocols for spectators will be.
Conference Honor Band will be conducted at Plainview High School on Jan. 23, and Osmond will be represented by 10 students, he continued. Band students have until the end of January to audition for the Class D All-State band concert in March.
The conference wrestling meet is scheduled for Jan. 21 at Ponca. Polt advised that competitions are now broken into subdistricts to limit the number of participants at each site. So subdistricts are scheduled for Feb. 6 in Pleasanton, and districts for the participants who qualify will be held on Feb. 13 in Tilden.
Conference basketball tournament is scheduled to begin Jan. 31; girls subdistricts begin Feb. 15, and boys’ subdistricts on Feb. 22.
Senior banners are all hung, Polt said. He congratulated the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams on their wins at recent pre- and post-holiday tournaments.
Polt then gave a brief report on bids for a projector for the school gym, which the board had discussed at a previous meeting. The bids coming in were from $15,000 to $50,000, much higher than he anticipated, he said. He plans to speak with other districts to see if any of them have a projector, and get more information.
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Dave Hamm gave a report on the renovation project for the yellow building and shared a diagram of the floor plan. The next step is for complete plans with mechanical and electrical specifications to be finished, and then advertise for bids.
In discussing the renovations and the future of the fitness center, Hamm said he recommends the board doesn’t accept money from the fitness center for the renovations, because then it is making a commitment to that group. The board also discussed other options for that space, including a preschool, if it was decided to make a change in the future.
Gansebom commented that, to him, “the preschool idea is something just to keep in the back of your mind.” Hamm said there are certain requirements for amount of space per child to have a preschool, and with the amount of space in that area of the building, it would be sufficient.
As far as the bus barn addition, he recommended going forward with that project so there’s a place to go with things from the yellow building if that happens. Stanosheck added that she agreed with a previous recommendation that the two projects be considered separate. Scott Kuhlman of Aschoff Construction is putting together bid specifications for the district.
Mr. Hamm recommended the board offer a K-12 contract to Mr. Polt. In the past, the negotiations team has worked out details with Polt prior to acting at the next meeting, and he believed Polt was interested in a two-year contract as in the past. The board will act on this at the February meeting.
Under new Directed Health Measures, Hamm said, the district may now have 50% capacity at home games. There will be three tickets per player, to be used for household members and grandparents. He advised that the gym will not have to be cleared between games, and tickets can be used more than once, meaning if someone leaves after a game, they can transfer their ticket to another person.
Hamm advised that guidance counselor Lacy Stelling will attend the February board meeting to discuss weighted classes. He also reported that enrollment is down to 180 students, the lowest it’s been, he said.
Focus Groups Discussed
During board comments, Stanosheck gave a summary of the focus group meeting which was held that night and which will be reported in this paper next week. von Rentzell commented that the next focus group, in February, is the ag community, and asked who exactly the committee wants for that meeting. It was agreed that it would be mostly those in ag production.
Gansebom suggested that invitations be sent out earlier. Board members are to send suggestions for specific questions to Stanosheck to add to the list of basic questions which are asked of everyone who will attend the meetings, and give her the names of people to send the invitations to.
In other business, the board:
— designated The Osmond Republican as the official news agency; KSB Legal Firm as the school attorney; AMGL as the auditor; David Hamm as the State and Federal Programs Director, and Security Bank as school depository.
— recognized the Osmond Education Association as the exclusive bargaining agent for the district’s nonsupervisory certified staff for the 2022-23 contract year.
— approved the hiring of Bill Ryan as a para-educator for the district.
— heard von Rentzell give a report on the propane bus.
— asked Hamm if he had any comments on the previous month’s superintendent’s evaluation, to which he replied, “This is a great place to work. We have a school we can be proud of” — meaning the people, he said.
— heard of several thank you notes from TeamMates and from staff members for Christmas gifts.
— recognized Reikofski for her years of service as president of the school board, and congratulated her for being elected as District 17 representative for the NASB board of directors.
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