School board has light agenda
(By Regina Lorenz)
OSMOND — The District 42R Board of Education met on Monday, Oct. 12, with a fairly short agenda.
Principal’s Report Read
With Principal Kurt Polt absent, Superintendent Dave Hamm read through his report. The end of the first quarter is scheduled for Oct. 16 and report cards will be handed out to parents attending parent-teacher conferences on Oct. 19, with the rest to be mailed the next day. Elementary conferences will be scheduled with parents, while high school conferences will be on a first-come, first-served basis and will be in individual classrooms this year.
The honors breakfast will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Breakfast will be served to the students being honored, and parents will be asked to view the awards presentation via a live stream.
The marching band will travel to Wayne this Saturday, Oct. 17, to march across their campus for the Wayne State Band Day. To conclude the day, the Wayne State Band will perform in the stadium.
Cross country districts will be held at the golf course in Ainsworth on Thursday, Oct. 15, and state cross country will be held in Kearney on Friday, Oct. 23.
First round of football playoffs in Class D2 is Thursday, Oct. 22, with the site and opponent to be determined. Volleyball subdistricts will be held Monday, Oct. 26, with the site determined by the highest-seeded school in the subdistrict.
The first one-act play performance is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 14. More information on this performance will be released as the date comes closer.
The Lewis & Clark vocal music clinic and concert that was scheduled to have the clark side hosted in Osmond on Monday, Nov. 2, has been moved to a virtual format for the safety of all schools involved. More information will be provided once the music directors have decided on all the details.
The Lewis & Clark academic contest will be held at Wayne State College on Tuesday, Nov. 3, as scheduled.
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Hamm asked if any of the board members had watched the area NASB membership meeting, which was held virtually. Board President Michelle Reikofski and member LaDonna Stanosheck said they had, and commented on what they had seen.
Hamm then said he needed to know who would like to be registered for the state conference. It will also be virtual — for Osmond. He, Stanosheck, Reikofski and Tyler Gansebom will be registered, with the others to let him know by the deadline.
Hamm reported on the district’s audit, which was done remotely. He does not have the completed audit yet, but said it seemed to go smoothly, and the auditors had high praises for secretary Margaret Ryan.
The superintendent had included in the packets quotes that transportation director Dwight Kahny had received for new radios for the buses. He explained that the more expensive quote included a base station that is no longer needed. In addition, he said, with the new radios they will no longer need the tower, so if they would add on to the bus barn, they wouldn’t need to worry about moving the tower. Hamm advised that he gave Dwight permission to order the radios from Tri-State Communications.
Hamm told the board that he does not have a copy of the instrument they will use for his evaluation, but said the board usually completes it in November. Two of the board members said they will check to see if they have it and send it to the others.
Hamm said on his list of things to do is have a public meeting of the Committee on American Civics, as well as start required trainings for Title IX. Since there is a late start on Nov. 4, he suggested that would be a good date for the committee meeting, to which members agreed. A public notice will be posted before the public meeting.
Yellow Building Discussed
The board again discussed the yellow building, which houses the fitness center and which needs work done on it. Board Member Mark Moes said it could be the first of the year before anything is done because contractors are busy right now. After some discussion, it was decided that the superintendent will talk to Walt Aschoff to see if Aschoff Construction’s architect can put something together. The project will still need to be let for bids.
Board to Bring Survey Questions
Another item discussed was whether the board should still do a community survey. This would be to get ideas from the community and get input on their vision for the school. The board had a list of about eight questions at the meeting in July. It was decided they will come up with some ideas for the questionnaire by the meeting in November.
Other Items
The only action item on the agenda was to discuss and take necessary action on revising board policies. The recent set of policy changes recommended by KSB, the district’s legal counsel included those on publishing meeting notices, budget hearings being separate from regular meetings and several others, much of which the district already complies with.
Another item briefly discussed was the English program. Moes said he heard there were still problems with getting questions answered. Hamm said that is something he should probably ask Principal Polt. Reikofski commented that her son said they need a real teacher (in-house), and added that it’s not ideal.
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