Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting – February 13, 2020
The meeting was called to order by Board President Cale Rieger in the administration office on the above date at 7:00 a.m. with all members present except Shawna Blanka.
Troy Hilt made a motion to approve the agenda; the motion was seconded by Chris Hingst and carried.
The Board reviewed and discussed the items on the consent calendar. A motion was then made by Troy Hilt, seconded by Dustin Andrist, and carried to approve the consent calendar, including the following items:
a) The minutes of the regular Board meeting on January 7, 2020.
b) A list of bills being paid on direct deposit slips numbering 0117001 – 0117079 and on checks numbering 11530-11542 on BANKWEST, and checks numbering 14207-14262 on First National Bank for a total of $366,226.65.
c) The Cash Summary Report (including two transfers: $7,876.10 from Supplemental General Fund to the Career & Tech Education Fund, and $3,966.37 from the General Fund to the At-Risk Fund)¸ the Grade School Activity Fund Report, and the High School Activity Fund Report – all as of January 31, 2020.
d) Also approved was a gift-offer of $560.50 from the Cheyenne County Knights of Columbus from their tootsie roll drive to be used for Special Education.
No Audiences.
Under Committee Reports, Superintendent Penka reported that the hiring committee will be recommending: 1) Hannah Billinger for the High School Social Studies position, 2) Katie Myers for the Elementary teacher position, and 3) Toni Landenberger for the bus driver position.
Under Old Business, Superintendent Penka reported the information obtained from the coaching staff regarding the possibility of hiring an Athletic Trainer. After review and discussion, Chris Hingst made a motion to hire an Athletic Trainer to come in once a week; schedule an in-service day with an Athletic Trainer; and have an Athletic Trainer present during the St. Francis Gabel/Jenkins Invitational Wrestling Tournament. The motion was seconded by Dustin Andrist and carried.
Under New Business, Superintendent Penka presented the proposed 2020-2021 school calendar. After review and discussion, Troy Hilt made a motion to approve the calendar as presented; the motion was seconded by J.W. Milliken and carried.
Under New Business, Superintendent Penka reported that we have two resignations: 1) Brenda Nelson will be resigning from her position of bus driver as of February 21, 2020; she has been with the district for 8.25 years. 2) Janell Pottorff submitted her resignation as school counselor effective at the end of the 2019-2020 school year, May 22, 2020. Chris Hingst made a motion to accept the resignations, seconded by Troy Hilt, and carried.
Under New Business, Superintendent Penka requested contract offers for the following: 1) Hannah Billinger for the High School Social Studies position; 2) Katie Myers for the Elementary teacher position; and 3) Toni Landenberger for the bus driver position. Troy Hilt made a motion to offer these contracts, seconded by Danielle McAtee, and carried.
At this time, Superintendent Penka requested a 20-minute executive session. Chris Hingst made the following motion: “Mr. President, I move that the board recess into executive session to discuss the performance of individual staff members in order to protect their privacy pursuant to the non-elected personnel exception under KOMA and that the open meeting shall resume at 8:20 a.m. in the board room.” Motion was seconded by Dustin Andrist and carried. At 8:20 a.m. regular session resumed.
The Board and administration had an initial discussion of staffing plans for 2020-2021. The Board was reminded that by law (K.S.A. 72-5411, as amended) a School Board must notify a teacher in writing on or before the third Friday in May (May 15th this year) if said teacher’s contract will not be renewed, and a teacher must notify the Board in writing on or before 14 days after the third Friday in May (May 29th this year) if (s)he is resigning from their teaching contract.
Contract offers and proposed reassignments (if any) for 2020-2021 can be acted-on at the regular meeting on March 12, 2020, or at the April 9, 2020, meeting if necessary.
Next, under New Business, Dustin Andrist made the following motion: Mr. President, I move that the board recess into executive session to discuss the performance of individual staff members in order to protect their privacy pursuant to the non-elected personnel exception under KOMA and that the open meeting shall resume at 8:40 a.m. in the board room. Motion was seconded by Troy Hilt. Mark Penka, David Morrow, Darla Raile, and Traci Neitzel left the meeting. At 8:40 a.m. Troy Hilt made a motion to extend the executive session to 9:05 a.m. Motion was seconded by Dustin Andrist and carried. The Board then called David Morrow, Darla Raile and Traci Neitzel in one at a time. At 9:05 a.m., regular session resumed.
Troy Hilt made a motion to extend Superintendent Penka’s contract for a year; motion was seconded by Dustin Andrist, and carried.
Under new business, Superintendent Penka conducted an annual review of the St. Francis Educational Foundation Fund that was established by Mr. Werner a few years ago. The procedures for spending money from the fund and making donations to the fund were reviewed. Donations can be made on-line at gnwkcf.org/cheyenne or through Carla Lampe, Treasurer of the Fund.
Under miscellaneous, Superintendent Penka reported that the Administration has been visiting with Cheylin’s Administration to possibly share some resources. Superintendent Penka also reported that after Kindergarten enrollment in March, and once we have a more accurate depiction of the expected numbers, a decision will be made on future plans for the Kindergarten.
Review of Board Policy. Superintendent Penka reviewed the Board Goals document with the Board; Superintendent Penka asked the Board to review the list presented and that they will be discussed at the March Board meeting.
The next scheduled Board meeting will be held on March 12, 2020, at 7:00 p.m.
At 9:29 a.m., Troy Hilt moved that the meeting adjourn; the motion was seconded by J.W. Milliken and carried.
