School board rejects bids: will scale back remodeling

 

April 14, 2022



Monday evening members of the Superior Board of Education opened the April meeting by reciting the pledge of allegiance to the U.S. Flag and then listened to two presentations. One from the Cat Café and the second from the school lunch program.

The Cat Café is new this year. It is a work based experience directed by Kristine Boyles and Baily Ellwanger. Boyles is a special education teacher and Ellwanger is the family consumer science instructor.

Each morning school staff can complete a Google order for coffee which will be delivered by the Cat Café during second hour. On Friday, the coffee comes with a baked treat which was prepared by the students on Thursday. Staff pay for the coffee, but the treats are free with an order of coffee.

The goal of the café is to help students with disabilities transition from school into the work force. Multiple skills are addressed including social communication skills, ordering, inventory, financial literacy, team work, kitchen safety, food safety and technology. Four students are involved with the café at this time. On an average day, they fill three orders, but most Fridays they have 10 orders.

Students named the café and have made the posters which advertise their service throughout the school building.

The second presentation revolved around food service at the request of the board. Social media has given the program some bad rap which the board wanted to address. Kris Holcomb, food service director, reviewed some of the standards the district must meet to qualify for federal reimbursed meals.

Schools must offer all five components in at least the minimum required quantities: meat or meat alternates, grains, fruits, vegetables and fluid milk.

Elementary students are served and get everything on the menu. However, upper level students participate in offer versus serve (ovs). Under OVS, students must select three meal components including at least a 1/2 cup of fruit and or vegetables.

OVS is required in high school and is optional for middle and elementary schools under the federal guidelines. It was introduced to help minimize food waste.

“Supply has been an issue this year,” Holcomb said. “For example, Crispitos, a student favorite, are no longer made. When I called to order pizza, there were only two choices today.”

Jason Jensen, a member of both the board of education and of the beef boosters, questioned the availability of freezer space for beef. Additional freezer space was added so a supply of locally grown and processed beef could more frequently be part of school lunch. Now the freezer is full of purchased frozen items.

Holcomb said, “One week I can get an item and the next week I can not get the same item for three months. Most years this is not a problem. For example, frozen juice cost 17 cents per container, on shelf juice cost 35 cents per container, so we have purchased a larger quantity of frozen juice to help stay within out budget.”

Luke Meyers questioned the availability of seconds and students complaining the kitchen had run out of food. Some of the issues the kitchen faces which can affect the availability of the main dish include variability in the lunch count (at times the lunch count was not turned into the kitchen), students have changed their minds when they saw the main dish and took it when they did not order it. The kitchen regularly prepares for 10 extra servings, at times more than 10 students want to purchase seconds.

Board members questioned if the servings of seconds prepared was adequate and suggested seconds be available for half of the students. Supt Kobza responded more seconds could be prepared, but the board should expect to subsidize the food service program as many foods do not reheat for the next day, so food waste and related cost would increase.

Matt Sullivan asked if it was feasible for the school to not be part of the federal program.

Supt. Kobza reviewed a district which had abandoned the federal program. Only 11 percent of the students within the district qualified for free and reduce lunch while nearly 50 percent of Superior student qualify for free and reduced lunch prices. If the federal program was abandoned, the district would not have to meet nutritional requirements, but they would not be eligible for commodities. Kobza expected participation to decrease and for student meal prices to be $5 and $7 with no free or reduce lunches.

“Most districts that have abandoned the federal program return to it,” Kobza said.

“Students complain the most when we run out of fruit on the line. Often this is because the students in the line before them took more than a serving size. For example, a serving size of orange slices is two slices. If someone ahead of them takes eight slices, then we run short. However, if asked, we have fruit that can be put on the line, but it may be something else.

It was suggested that the data could be reviewed so on days (like pizza) more leftovers could be prepared. At this time no changes will be made and the board will review the program annually.

Business action items included purchasing a new Grasshopper 29T6 mower for $17,815 with money from the depreciation fund. It will replace a mower which is worn out and has a bent frame.

The board also unanimously rejected bids for the public entrance and renovation of the high school restrooms and offices. Two bids were received. One for $1,745,00 and the other for $1.944,000. The school had budgeted $1.3 million which was thought to be high. They will be requesting a bid for a reduction in scope to address only the main entrance. There is no fee for rebid.

Two certified resignations were approved, one from Randal Loch and the other from Laura Issacson. Loch has served the district as secondary physical education instructor and head volleyball coach. Issacson has been an elementary special education teacher and has accepted and administrative position elsewhere.

Teaching contracts were offered to Sydnie Spiegel to teach middle school science and to Andrew Diehl to teach elementary physical education and coach. Both have been working at Blue Hill.

Next year’s kindergarten enrollment is near 30.

Jodi Fierstein, elementary principal, reported that elementary students raised $21,011.05 for the American Heart Association making Superior the top fund raising school in Nebraska. As part of the fund raising activities, a family fun night was held in Lincoln Park. It included a fun run – walk with a burger meal provided by the Beef Boosters and the elementary PBiS team. 1,322 laps around a ring in Lincoln Park were made by families that evening.

A first grade field trip to the Hastings Museum is planned for April. It will be the first time many of them have ridden on a school bus.

Elementary celebrated the Week of the Young Child last week. Each day had a theme: Music Monday was a day for singing, dancing and listening to music with a goal of developing language and early literacy skills while being active and encouraging movement.

Tasty Tuesday focused on cooking together to connect math with literacy skills, science and more.

Work Together Wednesday was a day for children to build together as they explored math and science concepts and develop their social and early literacy skills.

Artsy Thursday – think, problem solve, create! Children developed creativity, social skills and fine motor skills with open-ended art projects where they made choices, used their imaginations and created with their hands.

Friday included a family engagement project where members of the student’s family were invited to come and share apple slices.

Bob Cook, secondary principal, talked about testing, tornado drills and the music concert held March 24.

Upcoming activities includes a district track meet which Superior is scheduled to host May 12. Twelve schools are scheduled to complete. Only elementary students will have school that day. High rise bleachers will be placed near the announcer which will seat 600 near the finish line. Other bleachers will be distributed around the track. It is the first district track meet current administrative staff remember hosting.

Supt. Kobza reported that Pioneer Seed will supervise a test plot on the 17 acres directly north of the high school. Pioneer Seed will cover the costs of planting, harvesting and fertilizing. Students will get to participate in harvesting and delivery of grain to a local elevator. An agronomist will help students learn about soil. The plot will be handled in a manner which may encourage some pest and disease to assist students with identification and treatment.

The area will be squared off leaving 2 acres which will be used by two students for an FFA SEA melon project.

At the May meeting, discipline data will be reviewed by the board. The meeting adjourned at 9:50 p.m.

 

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