Kearney Public Schools Administration Office, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
KEARNEY — The Kearney High School football and boys’ soccer teams both received awards for academic excellence and were recognized during the Kearney school board meeting on Monday, Nov. 13.
KHS principal Jeff Ganz said the Nebraska Coaches’ Association, the National Football Foundation and Sideline Power presented the Team Academic Excellence Award to the 2022-23 football team.
Ganz also noted that KHS was one of only ten schools across the state in all classes to be recognized with this honor, this was also the second year in a row the team had received the award.
KHS football coach Brandon Cool spoke and said the team had an outstanding academic performance, with the team earning an average GPA of 3.62, eight team members had an individual 4.0 GPA score.
Of the 51 students, 45 were on the Honor Roll and 27 were in honors and AP classes and 23 were named Academic All-Conference. The team had a 100 percent graduation rate, Cool said.
Cool said that the leadership from the seniors had been important and for the first time that he could recall, one of the teams’ goals was to earn this academic award, three years in a row.
Ganz also noted the United Soccer Coaches organization presented the Team Academic Award to the KIHS boys soccer team for exceptional academic performance as a team for the 2023 season.
For a team to be considered, they needed to have a composite GPA of at least 3.25, which the KHS team was able to do with a 3.57 GPA. This was the eighth consecutive that the KHS boys soccer team had received the award.
KHS boys soccer coach Scott Steinbrook told Coach Cool that the soccer team was coming for the higher GPA, which will likely foster a good natured competition between the teams.
Of the 24 students, 16 were named Academic All-Conference, Steinbrook said.
The last item during the recognition section was a resolution of support for military students and families.
Board president Drew Blessing read the resolution, which stated in part, “Kearney Public Schools wants to best serve military children enrolled in our schools along with their families who often have unique needs affected by military transitions…Kearney Public Schools celebrates military students and is grateful for the sacrifices they make and the courage they display as the children of our nation’s armed service members.”
During the presentations, Northeast Elementary Principal Cathy Gundersen spoke about the schools Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) and their Morning Meeting implementation.
Gundersen said to help improve student behavior, they have come up with concise and standardized expectations, expressed through similar language across the school.
The expectations are communicated verbally and through posters throughout the school that demonstrate appropriate behavior in the halls, at lunch, at recess, during assemblies, etc.
There is a three-tier system that the school works by, the first tier includes additional support for students, the second tier provides more focused support and the third tier is for the most serious behavior intervention.
The PBIS effort is probably best demonstrated by the Morning Meetings at Northeast.
Gundersen said rather than announcements being read over the loudspeaker, students gather in the gym in the morning for the gathering where teachers and staff might focus on a specific behavior and note those students who demonstrated these habits.
Gundersen said from last year to this year, they have seen a decrease in the amount of minor and major behavior incidents and said the clear, concise and standard PBIS is playing a part in this.
The last announcement was made by Blessing, who said American Education Week is being observed this week at KPS and across the nation.
During the regular agenda items regarding personnel, KPS Human Resources Melissa Herrmann, said there were several resignations and retirements. The following staff had a total of 347 years of education with KPS and 461 years in education, overall.
The board accepted the of Jessica Day, social studies teacher at Kearney High School; Trevor Clark, woods teacher at Kearney High School; and Taylor Jensby, SPED teacher at Buffalo Hills Elementary School, effective the end of the 2023-2024 school year.
The retirement resignations included: Tami Frye, Title I teacher at Central Elementary School; Teresa Cordes, counselor at Central Elementary School; Chris Weis, 4th grade teacher at Emerson Elementary School; Ginny Klingelhoefer, counselor at Emerson Elementary School; Kelly Peak, kindergarten teacher at Buffalo Hills Elementary School; John Weis, 6th grade teacher at Horizon Middle School; Betty Smith, 6th grade math teacher at Horizon Middle School; Jill Clevenger, principal at Kenwood Elementary School; Kathleen Erickson, SPED teacher at Bryant Elementary School; Kelli Teahon, business teacher at Horizon Middle School; Hallie Hagan, school librarian at Sunrise Middle School; Maria Beucke, art teacher at Central and Bryant Elementary Schools; and Kathy Petri, alternative education teacher at Kearney High School, effective the end of the 2023-2024 school year.
Blessing said that the board asks teachers who know they will not be returning after the end of the current school year, to submit their resignations so they have an increased lead time to fill the positions.
Herrmann did present three new certificated staff that the board approved their employment. They included: Kelsey Borowski, BA, Step 3, 1.0 FTE kindergarten teacher at Buffalo Hills Elementary School; Erik Sutterfield, BA, Step 7, 1.0 FTE construction tech teacher at Kearney High School; and Austin Mishou, BA+18, Step 4, 1.0 FTE 4th grade teacher at Emerson Elementary School, for the 2024-2025 school year.
KPS Superintendent Jason Mundorf appeared to speak about the approval of EduPoint as the new School Information System.
Mundorf said for the last eight years, the district has used Infinite Campus but schools across the state have been moving to EduPoint, leaving only KPS and Omaha Public Schools using the former.
The five-year quote for EduPoint was in the amount of $543,992, but Mundorf noted over the period they will save $160,000. He cited that EduPoint has a “robust functionality,” that will benefit the school district.
The board approved the quote, which accounts for all implementation services, licensing and modules needed, as well as professional development for all staff.
Mundorf also presented the 2024-2025 KPS calendar, which had been vetted through the Executive Cabinet, Leadership Council, Kearney Education Association and Superintendent’s Parent Committee.
Some of the highlights included the first day of school being Aug. 15. Mundorf said the start of school was pushed back after parents expressed concern with earlier starts in past years.
Parent-teacher conferences are set for September, with pre-K-8, 9-12 conferences being Sept. 18 and 23 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. On Sept. 25, 9-12 conferences will be 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. and pre-K-8 will be 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Thanksgiving vacation will be Nov. 27-29, holiday break will be Dec. 20 through Jan. 6.
Parent teacher conferences will be at the same time on Feb. 12, 17 and 19 and spring break will be March 24-28.
There will be a holiday break from April 18-21. KHS graduation has been set for Sunday, May 18 and the last day of school will be Thursday, May 22.
Also on the agenda was a performance evaluation of Superintendent Mundorf.
Blessing said for the sake of transparency, part of the evaluation would be held in open session, while a closed session continuing the evaluation would also be held.
During open session, board member Kathy Gifford said she was happy with Mundorf’s communication and keeping the board up to date on what is happening throughout the district.
Board member John Icenogle said this has been a challenging five years in education and Mundorf has impressed him with how he has been able to navigate all the challenges.
Board member Steve Gaasch noted Mundorf’s approachability and his communication and said he has a clear path in front of him and doesn’t waver from it.
Appearing via Zoom, board member Paul Hazard said that he wants Mundorf to know that he is empowered to make decisions for the district.
Hazard also paid compliments to Mundorf’s communication and added that he is proactive and can see opportunities and problems ahead of time.
Blessing said it was clear that community relations are important to Mundorf, evidenced by his participation in school and community events.
Blessing also noted that there have been several challenging years recently, but Mundorf is not afraid to have hard conversations with people.
Regarding policy, Blessing said he noted the largest growth in this area for Mundorf and noted the board supports his decision made within district policy.
There was also a closed session held to conduct a strategy session regarding Mundorf’s contract negotiations for the 2024-2025 school year. No action was taken after the closed sessions.
During the public comment period, Brooke Ritter appeared again with concerns regarding the types of books and their content in KPS libraries but did not cite any titles by name.
Ritter said she wants community standards in place that will determine which books are available to students.
The next regular Kearney school board meeting will be held Dec. 11 at 5:30 p.m. in the staff development room in the Administration Building at 320 W. 24th St.
