Two CCS principals given 4-6% salary increases in ‘23-24

    Principals at Chase County Schools received salary increases for the 2023-24 school year after board action at the Feb. 14 meeting.
    High School Principal (7-12) Christopher Barr will see a 4.16% hike in his pay next year, after board members approved a 2023-24 contract in the amount of $125,000, up from this year’s $120,000.
    Barr is completing his first year on the job at CCS.
    Becky Odens, K-6 principal, was given a 6.1% pay increase from her current $106,500 to $113,000 for 2023-24.
    The salaries were approved  on a 7-0 vote after a closed session. Board members Josh Fries and Dan Reeves were absent.
    Money was a topic of several other agenda items last week, another of which was potential pay for student teachers at CCS.
    No action was taken, but the board directed Supt. Adam Lambert to come up with some recommendations, possible suggestions and parameters.
    Supt. Lambert said paying student teachers is a new concept in schools, and noted a former CCS student is getting paid while student teaching in Perkins County.
    One school pays $1,500 for the semester (18 weeks), others $1,000 to $1,500 per month, Supt. Lambert said.
    He said the subject caught his attention when he received a UNK survey asking if CCS paid its student teachers.
    Lambert said having a student teacher could lead to hiring that person if a job is open in their area.
    However, he felt if CCS was to offer some money to student teachers, the student teacher should be interviewed before administration brings them on as a student teacher.
    Board member Linsey Foote said paying student teachers is something CCS should do.
    According to Principal Odens, CCS utilizes a student teacher every other year, on average, and one will be in the school this fall.
Other new staff discussion
    After approving the addition of another middle school special ed. teacher Feb. 14, board members also discussed two other potential new staff positions­—a technology teacher and social media director.
    Curriculum coordinator April Lambert told board members of legislation passed in 2022 in Nebraska that requires students to complete a technology class to graduate.
    The law as it now stands states: “Beginning with school year 2024-25, each school district shall include computer science and technology education in the instructional programs of its elementary and middle schools.”
    For 9-12 students beginning in 2026-2027, the law also says at least five of the minimum credit hours shall be a high school course or the equivalent of a one-semester high school course in computer science and technology.
    However, LB 520 was introduced this year to revise some of what was passed last  year, she said, adding they don’t know what will happen with the current law if LB 520 gets out of committee.
    The current law has requirements for the teacher of these courses, too, she said, who must be endorsed in 7-12 Business, Marketing, Info Tech or 7-12 Info Tech.
    Business teacher Sandy O’Neil is the only one on CCS staff now who could teach the class, A. Lambert said.
    Five standards must be met in the high school course—computer literacy, educational technology, digital citizenship, information technology and computer science.
    Administrators said teachers in the endorsed areas are hard to come by.
    Schools have the option of offering an online course to meet the requirement, she noted, and was what board member Jeff Olsen said may be the best option.
    Olsen said there are only so many class periods available. He doesn’t want another teacher with classes on the schedule to take away from others, such as ag, or leave only 1-2 students in other classes.    
    Supt. Lambert was directed to advertise for potential teachers with the required endorsements and see what applications come in.
    Supt. Lambert also brought up the potential position of a district media person to be responsible for daily school website updates.
    Several board members complained of discrepancies between printed calendars and schedules on the website, and the lack of some activities posted at all.
    No action was taken.

Other school board business

The 2023-24 calendar was approved with some changes to be made. The original proposal had no winter break included, but the board suggested adding it on Feb. 2, 2024, which then moved the last day of school from May 21 to May 22 and a teacher in-service from May 22 to May 23. The Oct. 10 school board meeting will be moved to 7 p.m. due to P/T conference from 1-7 p.m. the same day. First day of ‘23-24 classes will be Tuesday, Aug. 22, with teacher in-service dates on Aug. 14 and 21. Christmas break starts Dec. 22 with students returning to class on Jan. 3, 2024. Teachers have a Jan. 2 in-service.
Chromebooks and Macbook laptops were approved for incoming freshmen and K-6 teachers. The 65 14-inch chromebooks for the 2023-24 freshmen class will cost $17,679.35 while the 20 13-inch laptops for teachers are priced at $17,980. Supt. Lambert said there will be no direct cost to the district budget due to a $41,000 grant CCS received and Rural Education Achievement Program funds.
A ramp was purchased for the school’s portable stage used for graduation. The purchase from StageRight of Clare, Michigan is not to exceed $13,500.
Holiday Farms will provide the CCS lawn care for 2023-24 which includes spraying the football field, practice field and school lawn, in addition to sterilizing the playground area with two applications. The bid accepted was for $8,683. Longhorn Lawn Care also submitted bids of $8,954.46 and $8,059.01, the latter a 10% discount if paid by March 1. Board member Jeff Olsen said he preferred the organic material used by Holiday Farms. Supt. Lambert suggested a possible sharing of duties between local companies, saying they’ve gone back and forth in awarding bids to the two companies. Board member Steve Wallin said he’d like to continue with bids to be responsible to taxpayers.
School policy on community relations was changed slightly to include additional forms of media “to keep the public informed,” reads Policy No. 1000. The original policy included area newspapers, issuance of newsletters, school newspapers and presentations for keeping the public informed. Added on a board 7-0 vote were school website, Twitter, Facebook, Rooms app., email and text messages, in addition to phone calls, the local paper and postal service.
Contracts for 2023-24 were renewed with McConnell Psychological Solutions at $134,076 for school psychology services, teacher consultation, serving as the school Special Education Director for program supervision and early childhood services. Contracts with ESU 16 for audiology services were approved at $2,380 and for distance learning and internet services at $23,000 for the 2023-24 year.
CCS’s speech pathologist requested two Augmentative and Alternative Communication Devices to aid students who have difficulty communicating, said Supt. Lambert. He called them “souped-up I-pads.” The $13,048 price for the units from Tobii Dynavox in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was approved. The purchase will qualify for federal reimbursement, he said.