1.  Superintendent’s Report December 8, 2014

2. Veteran’s Day Program  As usual, Pender hosted another very successful Veteran’s Day program on November 11  Thank you to all the students and teachers who performed or presented during the event  Thank you to keynote speaker Colonel Bob Stevenson who is the Commander of the 155 Air Refueling Wing for the Nebraska Air National Guard  Rae Brown and Rusty Bartlett again deserve high praise for their efforts to make the event successful, and they deserve and extra special thank you

3. School Improvement  We continue to prepare for our AdvancED external visit  The “Student Performance Diagnostic” is nearly completed  Data analysis – October 10 and November 7  SLT – December 4  Admin Team will finalize ASAP  Collection of evidence and artifact finding  Began December 5  The goal is to have everything collected by January 31  Other tasks to complete  Executive Summary  Improvement Plan Stakeholder Involvement  Self Assessment  Stakeholder Feedback Diagnostic  Assurances  Goals and Plans  Principal’s Overview  SLT’s introductory presentation

4. NASB State Convention  NRCSA Executive Committee meeting (9 am) and Legislative Committee meeting (1:15 pm) on November 18  18 new senators and a new governor will make the upcoming legislative session very interesting  State aid  Growing talk that a new state aid formula is in order since the current one is 20 years old  Sweeping changes would not go into effect until the 2017-2018 school year  NASB conference highlights  Opening keynote, Kevin Honeycutt, provided some nice ideas I shared with the Media Communications class  ESU 15 in McCook shared details about the PLC’s they utilize for smaller schools in their service unit  Video surveillance  Legal issues to consider with respect to booster clubs and PTAs

5. Video Surveillance  I would like to install a video surveillance system during the summer of 2015 (its on the summer list)  A rep from Electric Innovations, a Sioux City based company, was here last week to help us get the ball rolling  Proposal for two systems will be sought  Wish list of options  Practical list of options  Proposals from other companies will be sought as well

6. NSAA Proposals  Process  Step 1 – At least 1 district must vote to approve the change during the November meetings  Step 2 – At least 3 districts must vote to approve the change during the January meetings  Step 3 – Either the representative assembly or the board of directors must vote to approve the change  Proposals that impact Pender  8-man football eligibility threshold  Currently, only schools with a three-grade enrollment of 83 or less students are eligible for the playoff  This proposal changes the number to either 92 or 98  Participation in more than one sport during the same season  For example, a female student could play volleyball and be on the girls golf team  School districts would determine the manner in which this option would be available to students via school policy  Football playoff host  Currently, the games are hosted by the higher seeded team UNLESS the lower seeded team played an away game and the higher seeded team played a home game the week before  The highest seeded team will always host based on this proposal

7. East Husker Conference  November 13, 2014  The EHC does NOT have a Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media page  The only official EHC information on the internet is on the Stanton Community Schools website  Recent posts have been made that may or may not reflect the opinions of those in the EHC  I want all Pender district patrons to be aware that the EHC does not have any social media accounts  Several proposals impacting a few activities were discussed and subsequently added to the by-laws  Admission prices  Currently $5 for adults and $3 for students  Starting in the 2015-2016 school year, the prices will change to $5 for adults and $4 for students  Federal lunch guidelines (see next slide)

8. Lunch Standards  We must modify what we sell to students during the day out of our pop machines  On school days from midnight to 30 minutes after the school day, beverages sold to students must meet the following guidelines  12 oz. containers must contain 40 or less calories  16 oz. containers must contain 60 or less calories  20 oz. containers must contain 10 or less calories  Pepsi plans to bring a new machine so containers other than 20 oz. containers can be sold  Parents are only allowed to provide food for their children at lunch  Parent provided food or food brought from home has very few if any regulations  This will impact our wrestlers because they will no longer be able to get food from a certain classroom at lunch. They have been doing this so they can eat something other than what is being provided at lunch. This has been a strategy they use to maintain or lose weight during the season.

9. EHC One-Act Competition  Pender hosted the Elkhorn division competition in Lyons on November 25  The event went well, and I would like to officially thank Lyons-Decatur for allowing us to use their facility for this purpose  Why did we host in Lyons??  School would have had to be cancelled, and I wanted to avoid that  Our lighting system is does not meet competition standards (we should consider upgrading it)

10. NPERS  Actuarial numbers look solid  No increase for the coming year  Two main reasons  LB533…increased state contribution  Two tier teacher retirement system

11. Emerson-Hubbard and Pender Collaboration  The following individuals met on December 3 to discuss ways in which the two districts could continue to work together  Dave Jones – Emerson-Hubbard Superintendent  Mark Koch – Emerson-Hubbard Secondary Principal  Ken Swanson – Emerson-Hubbard Activities Director  Jason Dolliver – Pender Superintendent  Eric Miller – Pender Secondary Principal  Greg Conroy – Pender Activities Director

12. Emerson-Hubbard and Pender Collaboration  Both districts are interested in working together in junior high school activities  If we do move in this direction, the decision needs to be made ASAP so planning can occur  In both districts, low participation numbers are driving this concept  Both districts agreed that future collaboration in high school activities should continue to be monitored but no other activities will be shared other than what is currently being shared for now  As is always the case with Emerson-Hubbard, the lines of communication between the two districts will remain open

13. Sounds of the Season  December 14, 2014  5:30 pm  Legion Hall in Pender  Presented by the Music Booster Club

14. Winter Break  December 19 – last day of school before winter break  December 29, 30, 31 – basketball holiday tournament at Wayne State College  January 5 – school resumes