The Superior Express -

Monday members of the Superior Board of education unanimously voted to extend at contract to Community Building Solutions for facility maintenance and improvements. The project addresses air conditioning both the high school and junior high gymnasiums, the boys and girls locker rooms, replacing the entire school’s fluorescent lights with LEDs, new recessed LED fixtures and wiring in the high school and installing a new ventilation system in the welding shop.

Total cost for the project is $679, 420. Several years ago the board of education rejected a plan to air-condition the high school gymnasium when the cost was projected to be approximately $800,000.

More specifically specifications call for the installation of two, 20-ton packaged rooftop HVAC units to be mounted on the roof of the high school gymnasium. The current air handling system was installed in 1963. Jacob Hurla, president of Community Building Solutions, said, “The ductwork is old, but has never gotten wet. It is adequate for the new system. ”

The ductwork will be professionally cleaned and reused. Existing exterior openings for supply and return ductwork will be used. Two electrical panels will be replaced on the stage and switches added so lights can be turned on and off with switches instead of breakers. In addition new gas lines and electrical power will be provided and the current air handlers removed. Additional steel structural support will be added to assure enough strength to hold the HVAC units.

Similar work will be done in the junior high gymnasium, except only one 20-ton unit is needed to provide for the heating and cooling.

Two new furnaces will be installed in existing locations and two roof-mounted condensing units will be used to heat and cool the locker rooms.

Lighting upgrades are projected to save the district $17,000 each year in electrical costs even with the added electricity used to cool the gymnasiums. The entire school uses T-8 fluorescent bulbs including the elementary. Supt. Kobza said, “I helped replace a light fixture in the high school and the wire is brittle. It snapped in two between my fingers.”

The lighting up grade will put LED lighting throughout the entire school and in the parking lots on existing poles. Wiring for the high school lights will be replaced as well as the fixtures. In newer parts of the building, fixtures will be retrofitted for LED bulbs.

The welding shop has six welding stations with an inadequate exhaust system. The project removes the existing ductwork and roof-mounted fan and replaces it with a new down blast exhaust fan, new ductwork and extraction arms for each booth. In addition a new exhaust grille will be installed above the plasma welding tables. One switch will control the exhaust fan. The cost of the upgrade is $39,125.

Cooling systems are expected to be functional by the first day of school in August.

The district plans to pay cash for the project. Earlier this school year, the board maxed out tax asking for the building fund (tax requests $655,000), anticipating considerable maintenance needs. In addition, CDs for the cooperative fund (a fund consisting of money returned to the district when it withdrew from the South Central Unified District) are coming due and can be channeled into paying for the project (nearly $300,000 in both March and July.) The cooperative fund money must flow through the general fund and be expensed to the depreciation fund. The process may require a budget hearing. Supt Kobza plans to have approximately $500,000 in the building fund next school year if all taxes come in as requested.

The March meeting was called to order at 7:30 by Matt Sullivan, president. Broad members, guest, staff and patrons stood and repeated the Pledge of Allegiance. Drew Harris talked about the services of ESU9. He was assisted by Scott Boyles, a ESU 9 board member, and the ESU 9 media -technology director, Gary Needham.

Boyles said, “When I first was appointed to the board, districts paid the ESU a fee and no questions were asked. Now, now every decision is a budget decision. The educational unit employees highly trained, long tenured staff.”

Harris said, “The ESU unit is much like a farm cooperative. Some services are more cost effective to do together than individual schools doing alone. Plus, with the ESU comes service.”

Needham focused on technology and media services provided by the service unit. One he highlighted was “know before email safety” to assist staff members with identifying scam.

ESU 9 serves 14 school districts. A multiple page handout listed services provided by ESU 9. Superior has relied on ESU 9 for much of the special education services like mental health therapists, speech language pathologist, school psychologist and behavioral consultation. Several years ago “The below age 5 program” was staffed by ESU 9 employees. Little by little this seems to be changing. Brodstone Memorial Hospital has been contracted with to provide mental health services this past year and will be at the school even more this coming year.

Monday evening the board approved a special service director job description. In a separate motion, Jodi Grabast was offered a contract to be half-time special services director and a half-time speech language pathologist. Some of Grabast duties will be to oversee the preschool program, behavioral services and help with evaluations.

Supt. Kobza estimated it would save the district $100,000 and said, “Kristine Boyles is working on a master’s degree in behavioral management.”

Another ESU 9 service utilized by Superior is a bookkeepers cadre. Kim Williams said, “It has been helpful.”

The resignation of Luke Walls was accepted. He has taught fourth grade this year. His wife has been assigned to an occupational therapy rotation in the Kansas City area and the family wants to live together.

In addition, contracts were offered to Lauren Issason and Paul Heusinkvelt.

Board members voted to increase classified staff wages 30 cents per hour which is a 2.5 percent increase. Wages for route bus drivers will be $40 per route and $16 per hour for activities. They are now $33 per route and $12 per activity. Supt. Kobza said, “We were significantly behind the average for our size of district. The average is $39 per route and $16 per hour for activities.”

The board also agreed to an inventory disposal: most of the list is outdated computers. Included are 42 Window 7 machines without hard drives, 22 (18-22 inch) screens, old Macs, old cables, old projectors without bulbs, old intercom speakers and equipment, four computer tables and five analog cameras.

Doug Hoins, elementary principal, reported on the Read Across America program going on this week. Each day students dress up and there are two -10 minute “Drop Everything and Read” times in addition to other activities. This year the program has been directed by Sonia West. The Dr. Seuss Celebration will conclude Wednesday with a carnival.

Bob Cook, junior- senior high principal, reported there are 14 boys and three girls out for golf, six junior high boys and seven junior high girls out for track and 15 high school boys and 13 high schools girls.

He also reported on an ESU 9 conference held in Kearney about restorative practice as part of the PBiS program. It is designed to teach staff how to work with students face to face for working through problems. It includes helping students and staff members act towards each other in a helpful, nonjudgmentalal way, understand the impact of their actions on others, learn from any harm that may have been done and deal with difficult behavior in a manner that produces a positive outcome for everyone.

He announced Superior was second at the girls state basketball tournament in sportsmanship. Ponca was first. They played St. Cecelia in the final round.

Supt. Kobza reported he had been a presenter at a conference in San Diego. While there, he discovered “Rutabaga,” an elementary garden based science, nature and nutrition curriculum which can be used in the classroom and the after school program. A grant has been written to fund a garden club.

Another grant will fund a literacy pack program. Packets with consumables will be prepared which parents can pick up and use at home. When completed, they can be returned to school where staff will replenish the consumable and they will be ready for check out again.

Another project Supt Kobza is exploring is check-out-able internet for students who do not have internet at home. Kobza said, “There are hot spots that can go home with students which we could check out and filter, so they would be used strictly for education.”

He is also exploring the costs for WiFi on activity busses, but not route busses.

Administrative staff also had reviewed a post-graduate survey. Supt. Kobza said, “In general, our graduates felt well prepared. There were some areas which they identified where we can improve. They are also areas we have identified and are working on.”

Several seniors attended the meeting to meet part of their civic education requirements for graduation.

At 7 p.m., Monday evening, a half hour prior to the regular meeting, members of the American Civics committee met in the Superior High School library for their second required meeting of the year. The committee meeting was advertised in the newspaper and designed to be a public comment meeting. However, only board committee members, the school superintendent and the press attended the meeting.

Nebraska Statute Lb 79-724 took effect in September 2019. It requires the school board to appoint three board members to a committee on American Civics. Matt Bargen, Jason Jensen and Matt Sullivan serve Superior as member of the committee this year. During the committee meetings, board members are to review the social studies curriculum to ensure it aligns with the Nebraska Department of Education standards.

Supt. Kobza reviewed what the district has done since the law was passed. First, the social studies curriculum became a priority. It has been rewritten. Most of the outcomes are written and by fall it will be in place. Social studies had previously been taught to meet state standards using whatever curriculum teachers had.

Students are required to either take a written test identical to the entire civics portion of the naturalization test used by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services prior to completing the eighth grade and again prior to graduation from high school. The students also must attend a public meeting and write a paper which they demonstrate or discuss the personal learning experience related to attending the meeting.

Lb 79-724 dictates specific amounts of time which must be devoted to teaching American History and states that appropriate patriotic exercises are held on the birthdays of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; Native American Heritage Day, Constitution Day, Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving Day or the week preceding or following such holiday.

Supt. Kobza said, “We are still working on what is appropriate for each day.”