Board Briefs from October 26, 2020 Business Meeting

This information includes highlights of information received by the Ladue Schools Board of Education at the October 26, 2020 regular Board of Education business meeting. This is an unofficial record. Official minutes of each Board meeting are posted on the district website and are available for viewing at the Administrative Center after the Board approves them, typically two weeks after the meeting.

Click here to view a recording from the October 26 Board Meeting

Board President Remarks

• There is still a lot of positive conversation happening between the Board and Dr. Wipke as we continue to make decisions on behalf of the district.

Superintendent Remarks

• It is great to be able to recognize somebody like Megan Grossbauer who is so deserving of the Excellence in Education Award. I had the chance to talk with her for my podcast last week and she is very humble and always recognizing others.

• Congratulations to our Spotlight honorees and thanks to Don Goble for serving as PA announcer at the LHWHS football game last Friday.

• We have begun to transition LECC and K-5 students back and it has been successful, not perfect as we’ve had some minor quarantining take place, but overall things have gone very well.

• We’ve received positive feedback from staff and parents about that transition.

• We’re in the process of getting our secondary students back into classrooms.

• Daily COVID case rates are on the rise in our area so we need to continue to be mindful of how quickly things can change.

• We’ve always said we will not focus on one specific health metric when making decisions, and I continue to meet with other superintendents to learn more about how we might approach our return to school.

• Architects for our potential building updates held a meeting at the high school to give principals a more in-depth look at the improvements. Thank you to Carolyn Jaeger and Andy Bresler for attending those meetings.

• Thank you to Sue Blumm who handles our district food services, as she helped our students and staff navigate a boil order last week.

INFORMATION ITEMS

Ladue Education Foundation Report

LEF Executive Director Julie Ferrie shared an annual update on behalf of the Foundation.

Enrollment and Residency Report

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Julie Helm shared enrollment information for the current school year and projections for future years.

Assessment Data Report

District Assessment Specialist Lisa Lacroix led a presentation on student assessment data.

Superintendent Update

Dr. Wipke shared the latest information on the district’s Return to Learn plans and transitioning students back to in-person learning.

UPCOMING MEETINGS

The next Board of Education meeting will be a regular Business Meeting on Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. The meeting will be held virtually using Zoom and the Meeting ID will be posted on the Featured tab of BoardDocs when the meeting information is officially posted.

TENTATIVE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NOV. 9

Information

2021-22 LECC Tuition and BASK/TAS Rates

2021-22 High School and Middle School Course Change Proposals

District Finances - update

DEI Presentation

Design Documents Finalized

 

Board Briefs from October 12, 2020 Business Meeting

This information includes highlights of information received by the Ladue Schools Board of Education at the October 12, 2020 regular Board of Education business meeting. This is an unofficial record. Official minutes of each Board meeting are posted on the district website and are available for viewing at the Administrative Center after the Board approves them, typically two weeks after the meeting.

Click here to view a recording from the October 12 Board Meeting

Board President Remarks

• It’s good to have students back in school. I know that Dr. Wipke, the administrative staff and the teaching staff have worked hard to get to this point.

• We’ve held 10 community engagement sessions regarding the potential bond referendum. It’s been a busy week but these sessions have provided a great opportunity to learn from our community.

• Nancy Goldstein has agreed to coordinate our board training as part of our board goals; thank you to Nancy.

Superintendent Remarks

• We’ve had a great week leading up to this meeting: I’ve enjoyed visiting our schools and seeing the kindergarten and 1st grade students excited to be back in class.

• We’re preparing for our middle school students to transition back to school. I was joined by Dr. Newland of our Medical Task Force and several school administrators as we walked through the middle school last week to make sure everything was ready to go and safe for students and staff.

• Thank you to Susan Downing for organizing our bond referendum community sessions; they have gone very well and given us a chance to have great conversations.

• Our phone surveys about the bond issue are about to begin. I encourage anyone who receives a call to provide their opinions and honest thoughts about the potential referendum.

• Last Thursday, we hosted our first CURE meeting of the school year. Thank you to those who presented and our board liaisons for their participation.

• Thank you to Don Goble for all of his work, and congratulations on his recent recognition from Adobe.

• This past Friday, I attended our softball team’s Senior Night. We feel very fortunate that we’ve had the opportunity to play this year. Congratulations to all of this year’s seniors.

• I also attended our first football game of the year last week and it was great to see more of our student-athletes and coaches getting the opportunity to participate in a real game.

ACTION ITEMS

Surplus - Curriculum Materials

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Amy Zielinski detailed, and the Board approved, a list of surplus textbooks that are outdated and no longer used in school curricula.

2020A Policy Updates

The Board reviewed policy updates included and in the Missouri School Boards’ Association 2020A Update. The Board approved the policies as presented.

2021-22 Board Meeting Dates

President Jaeger introduced, and the Board approved, meeting dates for the 2021-2022 school year.

INFORMATION ITEMS

Community Survey/Debt Service Levy

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jason Buckner and the Board discussed the debt service levy, which will be used in the community survey about the potential Future-Ready Schools bond referendum.

Human Resources Update

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Julie Helm shared Human Resources department updates relating to the Diversity Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Plan.

Superintendent Update

Dr. Wipke shared an update on plans for transitioning middle and high school students back to in-person learning.

UPCOMING MEETINGS

The next Board of Education meeting will be a regular Business Meeting on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. The meeting will be held virtually using Zoom and the Meeting ID will be posted on the Featured tab of BoardDocs when the meeting information is officially posted.

TENTATIVE AGENDA ITEMS FOR OCT. 26

Consent

2020-21 Bus Routes/Mileage

 

Information

Ladue Education Foundation Report

Enrollment and Residency Report

Assessment Specialist Data Report

Board Briefs from September 29, 2020 Business Meeting

This information includes highlights of information received by the Ladue Schools Board of Education at the September 29, 2020 regular Board of Education business meeting. This is an unofficial record. Official minutes of each Board meeting are posted on the district website and are available for viewing at the Administrative Center after the Board approves them, typically two weeks after the meeting.

Click here to view a recording from the September 29 Board Meeting

STUDENT AND STAFF RECOGNITION

Director of Communications Kimberly McKenzie recognized the following individuals during Spotlight on Ladue:

• Jack Fox ‘15 for earning a spot on special teams for the NFL’s Detroit Lions.

• William Xie, senior at LHWHS, participated in the Economics for Leaders Program. At the culmination of the program, he earned a rating of Excellence on the exam, the highest level attainable.

• She also celebrated the accomplishments of 29 LHWHS students who were named 2021 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists.

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Amy Zielinski recognized Wendy Guhr, English teacher at LHWHS, with an Excellence in Education Award. 

Board President Remarks

• Carolyn Jaeger shared an overview of the school safety and security, legislative, board governance and legal training that she, along with two other board members and the Superintendent, participated in during this year’s virtual MSBA conference this past weekend.

• She also encouraged the entire community to attend one of 11 community engagement meetings to discuss the Future-Ready Schools Bond Referendum Project to allow the Board to hear the voices of the community regarding this project. Dates and times of the virtual meetings can be found on the district website.

• MSBA has a new Book Club project to provide additional Board training.

Superintendent Remarks

• Congratulated the individuals who were recognized during the Spotlight on Ladue and Wendy Guhr.

• Excited about bringing our kindergarten students back to in-person learning later this week.

• He thanked the maintenance crew for their work around adding additional safety measures in our schools to further help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. He also reiterated participation in the community engagement meetings to discuss the Future-Ready Schools, Bond Referendum Project.

ACTION ITEMS

Approval of 2020-21 Tax Rate

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jason Buckner presented, and the Board approved, recommendations related to the 2020-21 Tax Rate.

Early Resignation Notification Incentive Plan

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Julie Helm shared information about the district’s proposal for an Early Resignation Notification Incentive Plan (ERNIP), which the Board approved. The plan will offer retirement-eligible employees a one-time payment should they submit their intent to retire at the end of the 2020-21 school year by Nov. 16, 2020. This plan will only be in effect for the current school year and is designed to allow the district ample time to post open positions and hire highly qualified candidates.

Curriculum and Instruction Board Advisory Committee - Additional Appointments

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Amy Zielinski discussed a request to expand the Advisory Committee from seven members to ten, which the Board approved.

INFORMATION ITEMS

Surplus - Curriculum Materials

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Amy Zielinski presented an update on surplus curriculum materials.

2020A Policy Updates

The Board reviewed several policy updates included in the Missouri School Boards’ Association 2020A update.

2021-22 Board Meeting Dates

Board President Carolyn Jaeger introduced tentative Board meeting dates for the 2021-22 school year.

Future Board Meeting Location/Format

The Board discussed the location and format for future meetings.

Superintendent Update

Superintendent Dr. Jim Wipke shared the latest information on return-to-school plans and health data for the district.

UPCOMING MEETINGS

The next Board of Education meeting will be a regular Business Meeting on Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. The meeting will be held virtually using Zoom and the Meeting ID will be posted on the Featured tab of BoardDocs when the meeting information is officially posted.

TENTATIVE AGENDA ITEMS FOR OCT. 12

Action

2020A Policy Update 

2021-22 Board Meeting Dates

 

Information

Potential Bond Referendum Update