No School Wednesday

There will be no school Wednesday because of the possible winter storm passing through Nebraska. Most of the semester tests scheduled for tomorrow were moved to today in anticipation of bad weather.
I understand that some of the junior girls are worried about Santa having problems with bad weather Christmas Eve. I have information from a reliable source guaranteeing that Rudolph will once again come thorough and presents will arrive as scheduled.

Merry Christmas.

Teacher shortage in some subject areas

There is a shortage of teachers in some subject areas in Nebraska. This past week the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) received notification that the following endorsements have been officially designated by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) as teacher shortage areas for the 2009-2010 school year:

Agriculture
Art
English (Language Arts)
Foreign Languages
Guidance Counselor*
Industrial Technology
Mathematics
Music
Sciences
Special Education
Speech Language Pathology



Nebraska teachers in these subject areas can qualify for some loan forgiveness on their student loans. I suggest any current or future college students going into teaching to utilize student loans, even if you don't need them. There are several opportunities for loan forgiveness available (for example, you can get anywhere from $5000-$7500 forgiven if you teach in a low income school for 5 years).

Where were these programs when I started teaching?

Pictures from the Star City Parade

The B-R band performed at the Star City Parade Saturday December 5. Enjoy the pics.

Oral Reading Fluency

Oral reading fluency is a high priority reading skill in the Bancroft-Rosalie Elementary. Parents will often comment that they encourage their child to read a lot at home, and I always ask "Do you listen to them read out loud?" Reading orally is the best way to determine reading ability (not comprehension) in young readers. We use the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) assessment.

ORF is a standardized set of passages and administration procedures designed to (a) identify children who may need additional instructional support, and (b) monitor progress toward instructional goals. The passages and student goals are grade level appropriate. Student performance is measured by having students read a passage aloud for one minute. Words omitted, substituted, and hesitations of more than three seconds are scored as errors. Words self-corrected within three seconds are scored as accurate. The number of correct words per minute from the passage is the oral reading fluency score.

We use the Retell assessment to measure comprehension at the older grade levels.

All DIBELS assessment are given by the Reading Coach, Mrs. Vogt. She is in the process of giving the mid-year reading assessments to students in grades K-6 and the results should be in before Christmas break.

Football Districts

The football districts for next year have been released.


District D1-1:
Schools Assigned:
Concordia
Lyons-Decatur Northeast
Omaha Christian Academy
Omaha St. Peter Claver
Scribner-Snyder
West Point Central Catholic

District D1-2:
Schools Assigned:
Bancroft-Rosalie
Emerson-Hubbard
Omaha Nation
Pender
Walthill
Winnebago

Fall Academic All-State

The following B-R students received NSAA academic all-state for fall activities.

Football
Jalen Flock
Mitchell Hawk

Play Production
Jacob Hennig
Taylor Ostrand

Volleyball
Kalene Anderson
Taylor Ostrand

Job outlook for future graduates

The following research results are provided through the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

They examined educational requirements for projected job growth and the findings are staggering: The percentage of the workforce requiring some college or above grew from 28% in 1973 to 59% in 2007 and is expected to increase to 62% by 2018. The demand for an increasingly skilled and educated workforce is growing steadily; unless we increase output from postsecondary institutions, the demand for college talent will exceed its supply.

In 1970, high school dropouts were three times as likely to be unemployed as degreed workers; today, high school dropouts are five times as likely to be unemployed as degreed workers. When the recession is over, most of the non-college jobs lost will not be coming back, and a growing share of new job openings will require some college.

These research findings are similar to what other experts are saying. That jobs are increasingly requiring some level of education beyond high school. This fact is what is driving the push for higher academic requirements in high school.

School Board meeting news

Baseball is back at B-R and an architect was approved to draw up a proposed addition to the B-R school. Below is a summary of last night's board meeting.

The December meeting of the Bancroft-Rosalie School Board was held Monday, December 14, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in the school library. Dr. Cerny presented the November transportation report, the vehicle replacement schedule, a Certificate of Recognition from ALICAP, a report on the Department of Education NCLB monitoring visit, and the Rural Business Innovation grant program. A job description for the Business Manager/administrative secretary position was presented. This position will be advertised and applications accepted through January 15th and hiring done at the February board meeting.

In old business, the board approved a cooperative agreement with Pender Public Schools for baseball in 2010 and 2011. The schools are accepting applications for a head coach and a coaches’ aide. The board also approved an agreement with Beckenhauer Construction and BVH architects to provide schematic floor plans, elevations, and cost estimates for additions and renovations to the Bancroft-Rosalie School for a consulting fee of $6,000.

In new business the board approved the 2008-09 audit and the 2008-09 annual report. The staff Christmas gathering at the Country Pub was set for Wednesday, December 23. No action was taken to support of the Nebraska “Race To The Top” grant application. The board discussed storage of Fine Arts Booster supplies.

Baseball on board agenda for tonight

The Bancroft-Rosalie and Pender school boards will be taking action tonight on a proposal for a cooperative sponsorship of baseball this spring. The administrators at both schools worked together to come up with a proposal that spells out the responsibilities of each school. Mr. Hulstein, athletic director at B-R, will be in charge of scheduling and hiring umpires. He has contacted nearby schools with baseball programs and has several dates for games, pending board approval. B-R has twelve players interested in playing and Pender has 7. That will give the program good numbers if there is a team this spring.
The schools have agreed to split expenses 50-50. B-R will be the fiscal agent and provide the transportation to away games. Pender will arrange for concessions and take gate at games. Mr. Dolliver will make the decision on home game cancellations due to weather. Home games will be played in Pender. Outdoor practices will be in Pender and indoor practices are tentatively set for the Rosalie gym. If both board approve the cooperative agreement, the coaching position will be advertised in the Pender Times for two weeks. The coach and any coaches’ aides will need to be approved by both school boards. The Pender legion team has okayed the use of their uniforms and equipment for this spring. Both schools intend for this to be a long term commitment, and plan to work with the legion to help with future uniform and equipment needs.
Possible opponents include South Sioux City, Norfolk, Fremont, Blair, Arlington, Yutan-Mead, Wahoo-Raymond Central, Douglas County West, Elkhorn, Omaha Roncalli, Bennington, and Columbus. Obviously, bigger schools will provide tough competition, and the team will have to play well to be competitive. But it will provide opportunities for these 19 boys to participate in a spring activity (only a few have been in track) and it will bring back a high school baseball program that ended in Bancroft in 1984 when high school ball in Northeast Nebraska folded.

Neihardt program Sunday at 2:00 pm

Remember there is a program at the Neihardt Center this Sunday. Author Joseph Starita will present a program on the writing of his historical works, “I am a Man: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice” and “The Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge: A Lakota Odyssey.”

The program should be interesting and enjoy some refreshments in the Neihardt library afterwards. Please be sure to sign the guest book, so that the historical society will have an accurate count of visitors to the Center.

B-R students check with Mr. Hulstein ot Mr. Peters about possible points for attending. Find out why Standing Bear is such an important figure in American History.

New mileage rate for pupil transportation

The Nebraska Department of Administrative Services (DAS) has decreased the reimbursement rate for mileage.



Effective January 1, 2010, the new rate is $.50.



Prior to January 1, 2010, the rate was $.55.



The rates for parent transportation and enrollment option transportation Effective January 1, 2010, will be the State Mileage Rate of $.50.
· Regular Resident District Students: 285% of .50 = 1.425
· Enrollment Option Reimbursement: 142.5% of .50 = .7125

Prior to January 1, 2010, the State Mileage Rate was $.55.
· Regular Resident District Students: 285% of .55 = 1.5675
· Enrollment Option Reimbursement: 142.5% of .55 = .78375

State Board increases graduation requirements

Yesterday the Nebraska State Board of Education increased graduation requirements for math and science by one semester. The new requirements are 4 years of English, 3 years of Math, 3 years of Science, and 3 years of Social Studies.
These new requirements match the exisiting requirements at Bancroft-Rosalie in these subject areas, so it should not affect our school.
The only area I would like to see changed at B-R is in math. I would like to see the school require that students be enrolled in a math class all four years of high school. Skipping a year of math in high school can cause a student problems when they continue their education at a post-secondary institution.
I am interested in what B-R alumni feel about four years of math.

B-R Audit information

For those of you who like to look at numbers, here is demograhic data, teacher information, facilities information, and financial information from the 2008-09 school year audit.

I. DISTRICT DEMOGRAPHICS

1. K-12 Enrollment 282
Pre-school Enrollment 21
2. Average Daily Attendance K-12 94.32%
3. Number of Certificated Personnel 27.60 FTE
4. Number of Classified Personnel 19.5
5. Enrollment by Grade Level:
Half-day K- 2
K- 20
1st- 24
2nd- 17
3rd- 20
4th- 18
5th- 18
6th- 19
7th- 20
8th- 15
9th- 34
10th- 26
11th- 25
12th- 24

6. Student to Certified Staff Ratio 10.2 to 1
7. Hours of Instruction- K- 1187 Elem- 1187 Sec- 1236


II. PROFESSIONAL STAFF
1. Percentage of classes taught by teachers with an endorsement in that subject: Pre 100.0%
K-6 100.0%
7-8 100.0%
9-12 93.0%

2. Certified Staff Qualifications:
Doctorate 1
Master’s Degree 10
Bachelor’s Degree 17
Average Year’s of Experience 15.77


III. PHYSICAL FACILITIES Age

Gym in Rosalie 1964
Bancroft Gym Addition 1939
Metal Building Addition in Bancroft 1968
Metal Building Addition in Bancroft 1997
Main Building in Bancroft 1998


IV. BUDGET
1. GENERAL FUND
A. Sources of Income:
Total Local Property Taxes 1,555,118
Total Motor Vehicle Taxes 99,297
Total Other Local Revenues 4,358
Total County Receipts 13,016
Total State Aid 681,302
Total State Special Education 164,928
Total Other State Receipts 151,265
Total Federal Receipts 252,384
Total Receipts 2,921,668

B. Expenditures:
Salaries 1,463,120
Benefits 470,958
Purchased Services and Utilities 343,593
Supplies and Materials 94,403 Furniture and Equipment 6,050
Debt Service 194,961
Other Expenditures 14,341
Transfers 6,000
Federal Programs 311,520
Total Expenditures 2,904,946

C. GENERAL FUND BALANCE
Balance 8-31-08 572,599
Receipts 2,921,668
Disbursements 2,904,946
Cash Balance 8-31-09 589,321

2. ACTIVITY FUND
Balance 8-31-08 81,349
Receipts 181,470
Disbursements 202,736
Balance 8-31-09 60,083

3. LUNCH FUND
Balance 8-31-08 24,690
Receipts 156,836
Disbursements 160,533
Balance 8-31-09 20,993

4. BUILDING FUND
Balance 8-31-08 87,568
Receipts 4,140
Disbursements 28,043
Balance 8-31-09 63,665

5. DEPRECIATION FUND
Balance 8-31-08 65,108
Receipts 1,307
Disbursements 31,803
Balance 8-31-09 34,612

6. BOND FUND
Balance 8-31-08 155,496
Receipts 65,093
Disbursement 138,862
Balance 8-31-09 81,727

7. COOPERATIVE FUND
Balance 8-31-08 60,325
Receipts 7,270
Disbursements 17,000
Balance 8-31-09 50,595

8. STUDENT FEE FUND
Balance 8-31-08 -(132)
Receipts 1,182
Disbursements 806
Balance 8-31-09 674

9. EMPLOYEE BENEFIT FUND
Balance 8-31-08 12,290
Receipts 27,780
Disbursements 30,076
Balance 8-31-09 9,994

10. TAX LEVY
General Fund 1.0310
Bond Fund K-8 0.0051
Bond Fund 9-12 0.0301
Total Levy 1.066

11. ACTUAL VALUE OF SCHOOL DISTRICT
Dept. of Revenue Adjusted Valuation Certification-2008

Agland 126,402,367
Residential Real Property 24,854,711
Ag. Improvements and Farmsites 6,632,765
Centrally Assessed Real and Personal Prop. 4,093,274
Commercial and Industrial Real Property 3,009,941
Personal Property 8,576,038
Total Assessed Value 173,569,096
12. Average Per Pupil Cost (ADM) $ 8,368.55

The importance of the ACT test

Bancroft-Rosalie will start ACT test prep with the juniors in February. We use the John Baylor test prep program. If students complete the John Baylor program, the school will pay the fee for students to take the April test. If students get their ACT test homework done for every session, they will receive a $20 gas card. These costs are paid for by the EducationQuest grant, which is $5000 a year for four years. We are in the second year of the grant.

Why does the school take the ACT test so seriously?

In-state colleges and universities: most students can get in without ACT Preparation, but increasing that score can mean thousands of dollars saved.

UNL, UNK, UNO: students need a 20 or higher to get in (average score in Nebraska is a 22.1). But students typically need at least a 27 to be considered for the NU Honors College-- worth $500 per year plus the Honors Dorm and Honors Courses, meaning fewer and more capable students per
class. A Regents Scholarship usually requires at least a 30 for consideration-- a Regents means free tuition for all 4 years or about $32,000 saved by the family. So 30 is usually the magic number (depending on GPA and class rank) for big scholarship money within the University of Nebraska's 3 campuses.

Peru, Wayne, Chadron: students need at least a 17 to get in typically. A 25-26 (or higher) usually means 4 years of free tuition or about $24,000 saved. So 25 or 26 is often the magic number (depending on GPA and class rank) for big money within the state colleges.

Nebraska's private colleges are now about $28,000 total a year, with Creighton charging about $38,000 annually. You're in usually with a 20 or higher, but each point typically is worth about $500 a year in financial aid. So a student is admitted with a 22, but if she jumps her score to a 25, that's about $1500 more in aid a year times 4 years or $6000 in savings. The exact scholarship formula for Dana, Doane, Wesleyan, Midland Lutheran, Concordia, Hastings, St. Mary's, etc... differs slightly for each school, but the $500 per year per ACT point is typical (below is the exact formula used by Wesleyan for scholarships based solely on ACT scores-- these amounts are the dollars saved each year for 4 years). The $500 per point per year is a rough estimate for Nebraska's private colleges and actually can understate the impact of score increases. For example, just a 1-point jump from a 28 to a 29 for Wesleyan means an increase in annual aid from $7500 to $9000.

ACT Composite Score Class Rank Scholarship Award
32 and up NA Board of Governors Scholar Award $11,500
29-31 NA Wesleyan Scholar Award $10,000
27-28 or Top 10% Fredstrom Scholarship $8,500
24-26 or Top 25% President's Scholarship $7,000
22-23 or Top 33% Recognition Scholarship $5,500

Merit-based aid at Nebraska's private and public colleges usually is only earned in high school. Once enrolled in college, a student typically cannot qualify for or increase her merit based aid based on college grades or performance.

Out-of-state colleges desperately seek small town Nebraska students-- a rare commodity in the nation's pool of potential college applicants. Thus, small town Nebraska students enjoy geographic affirmative action in the high stakes, out-of-state, selective college admissions process. This advantage over students from Omaha-- not to mention Connecticut, Illinois, and California-- is significant. The further away a college is, the more it wants rural Nebraska students for diversity's sake. However, because of distance, out-of-state schools may not fully appreciate the other elements of the application-- GPA and extra-curricular achievement. Thus, the ACT score weighs heavily in both admissions and financial aid decisions at out-of-state schools.

Simply put, for Nebraska colleges and universities, most students can get admitted with a 20, but raising that ACT score is absolutely the best paying job a high school student will ever have. For out-of-state colleges and universities, it's critical for both financial aid and admissions.

Snow Day

There are probably some who wondered why the decision to close school Tuesday was made last night without a single snowflake coming down. The forecast is calling for 6-10 inches of snow this afternoon and tonight with high winds starting in the early evening. Sometimes forecasts are wrong as storms change their path or weaken as they move, but this time the weather forecasters are sure of their predictions. Enough so that Lincoln and Omaha made the decision to call off school and declare a snow emergency last night in anticipation of possible blizzard-like conditions this evening.
Maybe we could have tried an early out, but the day would have been spent trying to guess when to let out so the kids could get home before the storm made road conditions dangerous. In these situations not much learning takes place as everybody looks out the window watching the snow fall and wondering when the call will be made to send everyone home. I scheduled 184 student days on the school calendar with the expectation that we would have school on 180 of those days. So far we have avoided using any for fall sports, which means after today there are 3 “snow days” left. It is important to maximize instructional time because the state aid formula rewards school districts that are above the average number instructional hours. That average is derived from schools in our comparability group. Basically, that means that the more hours we have school, the more state aid we receive. Last year our instructional time allowance, as it is called, was over $121,000. This aid will be more difficult to obtain in future years as schools start increasing their student time in school to try and qualify for the time allowance.
Students enjoy the day off and be careful on the roads. Don’t travel if you don’t have to.

Sophomore PLAN test Results

B-R sophomores took the PLAN test October 27 and the school received the results last week. The PLAN test is a pre-ACT test that will give us an idea of the students’ academic strengths and weaknesses in the four areas assessed by ACT (English, Math, Reading, and Science reasoning).
We had 31 students take the test. Twenty-two (22) students scored above the 50th percentile, or above average, on their composite test score. This was a higher number than scored on any individual test, which means that several students scored high on one or two parts of the test, bringing their overall average up. Here are the subject areas tests and the number of students above 50% (a typical school would have half of the students, 15-16 in this case, above 50%:
English 15/31
Math 16/31
Reading 20/31
Science 17/31
Here are the numbers of students scoring above the 75% in the subject area tests (a typical school would have 25% of the students score at this level, or 8 in our school):
English 6
Math 8
Reading 4
Science 9
The math course students were taking made a noticeable difference in how they performed on the Math test.
Algebra II students- All 11 scored above 50%, and 7 scored above 75%. The decision years ago to teach Algebra in 8th grade to students that are ready continues to pay dividends.
Geometry- 4 of the 9 scored above 50%.
Applied Math I and II- 1 of 11 scored above 50%.
None of the sophomore students are currently taking Algebra.
The results tell us that B-R School is getting the majority of our sophomore students prepared for college. We are doing well with the high achieving students in Math and science reasoning.
The results are also broken down by student reported racial groups. It was interesting to note that students who considered themselves “mixed race” performed better as a group than students who reported themselves as being “Caucasian/white”. I am glad to see that we are getting results for all groups of students.

Checking Student Obesity

A bill in the Ohio legislature would require public school students to have body mass index measurements taken in kindergarten, third, fifth and ninth grades. The bill is being proposed is response to media reports concerning obesity, including a new study that estimates if obesity trends continue on their current path, more than 40 percent of adults in the United States will be obese by 2018. The study estimates that about $344 billion in annual medical-related expenses would go towards obesity by 2018, equaling about 21 percent of health-care spending.
The bill would require that the results of the Body Mass Index screening be placed on the school’s annual report card. Some Ohio administrators are concerned with how this information might be used. Will the media rank schools according to obesity numbers? Will they be grouped into "fat" and "thin" schools?
I applaud schools that are measuring Body Mass Index of students and using this information to help the student understand about how nutrition and exercise can affect body fat. Body Mass Index is relatively easy to calculate, but it can vary quite a bit depending on who is doing the measuring. Since the numbers may not be accurate, I question whether the schools’ numbers should be made public. And I am against legislature’s placing more unfunded mandates on the schools. It is possible that B-R will be measuring Body Mass Indexin the near future, but I would not appreciate the legislature making that decision for us.

Cell Phones as Instructional Tools in School

Most schools have policies restricting cell phones in school. But according to an Apple computer representative, the Apple I Phone will be the next technology finding its way into the school. Seventy-one percent of teens had a cell phone by early 2008, according to a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Cell phones have become the equivalent of small computers — able to check e-mail, do Internet searches and record podcasts. A few teachers have incorporated the use of cell phones into their classes, as calculators in math, cameras for student projects, and for communicating in Spanish classes.

Most people understand the value of student cell phones. There will be a time when schools require cell phones in their classrooms just like they calculators. First we have to find an answer to the problem of “sexting”, cheating, unauthorized texting to friends during class, and sending bullying or harassing text messages. Schools have the ability to control what students can access on computers and can monitor what they are doing. Not so with student cell phones. Cell phones have the potential to be a valuable instructional tool, once we start trusting students to use them in appropriate ways.

If you want to read more about this, see http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jUQk2GnYkzO7XH5zQwqq6UJBVVjgD9C847N00

One Act gets second at districts

The play cast gave their best performance of the year and took home runner-up honors in a district that included two state champions and a state runner-up from last year. Stanton, last years C-2 champion, won the district, but B-R defeated last year's runner-up (Laurel-Concord) and last year's D-1 champion (Winside).
Congratulations Play cast, Crew, and Coaches on a fine season and for adding another district plaque on the wall.

Author to speak at Neihardt Center Dec. 13

On Sunday, December 13th at 2:00 pm, educator, journalist and author Joseph Starita will present a program on the writing of his historical works, “I am a Man: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice” and “The Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge: A Lakota Odyssey.” Starita, born in Lincoln, spent many years as a working journalist in other parts of the country, and after 13 years with the Miami Herald he returned to Nebraska in 1992 where he became a journalism professor at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.
His first book was a family history following four generations of the Dull Knife family over a century. Family members figure prominently in events such as the Cheyenne break-out at Fort Robinson in 1878, the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890, and even traveling with Bill Cody. The book received two Pulitzer Prize nominations, won the Mountain and Plains Booksellers Association Award, and has been published in six foreign languages.
With his research on the Ponca chief, Standing Bear, and the landmark court case of 1879, Starita chronicles the series of events leading to the trial and the roles played by both Indian defendants and white supporters and prosecutors which gave new meaning to “justice for all.”
The program begins at 2:00 PM and is free and open to the public. A reception with refreshments will follow where the author’s books can be purchased for signing.

The Henry-Doorly Zoo Academy

Wouldn’t it be fun to spend to spend your junior and senior years at the zoo? I had a chance to visit the Zoo Academy at Henry-Doorly Zoo during the school board conference. The zoo has three classrooms below the ticket office and 1 below the desert dome. Papillion-Lavista High School rents these classrooms and operates a zoo academy at the school. The academy is open to juniors and seniors. They take all of their classes at the zoo. The day is divided into 4 two hour blocks. The students were taking English, math, and social studies classes during the current quarter, and had a two hour internship. During the internship, I saw students feeding Jellyfish, cutting up food for the sharks, doing research on what blood is better for baby vampire bats, and working with fertilized embryos. The program accepts up to 80 students.
The zoo also offers summer programs for students outside of Omaha. I believe those programs run three weeks and have a fee.
Academy programs are springing up all over the United States. The zoo academy is the most innovative in Nebraska. The Henry-Doorly Zoo has plans to expand the program in the future. Pending state approval, the zoo wants to build a school on the Rosenblatt property. It would be a charter school, not affiliated with any school district, and open to any interested students. Since charter schools are not legal in Nebraska, they will have to work with the Department of Education and the Nebraska Unicameral to legally operate a Zoo School. Nebraska needs to support these opportunities for its students. The fear is that Charter schools will accept only high performing students, and leave the job of educating low performers to the public schools. As long as the zoo school is not taking state aid away from the public schools, then we need to do what is best for the students.

Office gets a make-over

The Superintendent and Principal offices will look different after cabinets were put in over the week-end. The cabinets were cut from the original building project in 1997 and it was decided that now is the time to complete the offices as they were originally intended. Custom Woodworks in Sioux City built the cabinets and Glenn Bonsall and Bruce Smith installed them. Can you tell which office belongs to Dr. Cerny and which is Mr. Sjuts?

Howells wins big, where does B-R rate?

It has been a week since my last blog because I spent three days at the School Board Conference in Omaha and spoke at a football coaching clinic in Lincoln Sunday. For speaking, the Nebraska Coaches Association gave Coach Peck and I free tickets to the championship games, so we stayed Monday to watch the Howells game. The tickets in the skybox provided us a good seat to evaluate the game.
With the rout of Giltner (60-6 in the 3rd quarter), we were talking about where Bancroft-Rosalie should end up in the ratings. Since we were the only team to beat Howells, and the only team to actually play them close, it can be argued that a #2 ranking is appropriate. Johnson-Brock can argue that they should be rated higher than B-R because they beat us, but if we all agree that Howells, J-B, and B-R deserve to be rated 1,2,3, then let’s use comparative scores between the three schools to decide 2nd and 3rd. Bancroft-Rosalie beat Howells by 2 points ( yeah I realize their QB didn’t play, but would he have made a 40 point difference in the game?). Johnson-Brock beat B-R by 12 in a game that was tied with 8 minutes left in the game. Howells thumps Johnson-Brock by 40 points in a game that was clearly not a contest. How does that justify J-B getting a higher rating than B-R? To place J-B #2, you would have to say that play-off games count more than regular season. If that is the reasoning, I don’t have an argument. But I can’t see placing Giltner or Palmer ahead of a team that beat the state champions.
Baldwin says that the Lincoln Journal sells more papers in the Johnson-Brock area, so he thinks they will be ahead of us. If that is the case, then politics may put Giltner ahead of us, too. I give Ryly Jane Hambleton at the Journal more credit. She is without a doubt the most thoughtful rater when it comes to the lower classes (C-D). Stu P. at the World Herald came to all three games of the games in question. From his articles, he seems to think that the Howells quarterback would have made a big difference in the B-R game and that will work against us.
I think B-R should be #2, but will probably end up #3.

Discussion with the Commissioner

I had a chance to be part of a discussion with the Nebraska Commissioner of Education today in Fremont. Here are some of the changes that are coming in Rule 10. Rule 10 contains the rules and procedures that schools in Nebraska need to follow to be accredited.
1. 7-12 teaching endorsements will be able to teach grade 6.
2. Districts must adopt a policy on date violence. (I'm not sure that it is our responsibility to educate students on how to date.)
3. Adopt the new state math standards.
4. Minimum graduation requirements will be 200 credits, including four years of Language Arts, 3 years of Math, 3 years of science, and 3 years of social studies. The requirement that one year of math be during the senior year was removed.

State aid changes will not effect B-R

The Nebraska State legislature gave initial approval to LB 5, which would adjust the state aid formula. The adjustment was needed to reduce state aid to schools next year in light of a shortfall of revenues.
The Nebraska Department of Education produced a model which showed how the changes would effect each school district in Nebraska. Bancroft-Rosalie state aid was projected to be unaffected by changes in LB 5.
An amendment filed by Senator McGill was withdrawn prior to a vote. This amendment, pushed by the Nebraska State Education Association (the teacher's union) would have required schools to make any cut spending from programs other than teachers salaries. Thankfully this was not considered. School Boards and administrators should not be forced to follow dictates from groups outside the school system when it comes to making financial decisions for the district.

NSAA District proposals

The Northeast District of the Nebraska School Activities Association met to discuss and vote on new proposals Wednesday. Since there are several district patrons interested in school activities, I will discuss briefly some of the proposals that were introduced and how the vote went. Proposals that pass go to a vote of all six districts in January.
1. Proposal to increase the number of teams that can co-op activities from 3 to 4. Passed. I see no reason to have tight limits on how many schools can co-op for a sport as long as the total enrollment of all schools involved is used to classify the team. For example, it may help small schools form baseball teams if they can join four schools together to compete in Class B.

2. Forming a study committee to look at adding a fourth (summer) sports season. Passed. I volunteered to serve on this committee. I like the Iowa system, where a fourth season runs through the first week in July for baseball and softball. It is worth looking into. This would reduce the number of summer camps that other sports have during the summer.

3. Allowing participation in more than one sport during a season. Example- a football player can also run cross-country. Many surrounding states allow two-sport participation. Failed. It was added to a topic for the fourth season study committee.

4. Moving the limit of volleyball matches in one day from 3 to 4. Failed. Four volleyball matches in one day? We just moved to a three day state volleyball tournament because coaches said that it was unfair for teams to have to play two matches in one day. Make up your minds.

5. Middle level teams may co-op with schools that are not NSAA member schools. Passed. Middle level activities are now under the control of the NSAA, pending action by the Department of Education. This proposal will allow students in parochial schools, like Zion St. John's in Wisner, to play with the public junior high teams. It is being done now. Why would we want to limit it?

I have talking with an architect about what it would cost to put together a concept drawing for a possible classroom addition to the north of the school gym. The addition would include 3 classrooms on the lower level, allowing us to split up to two elementary classes and have an extra secondary classroom. The lower level would also have two office areas for the speech therapist and school nurse. The upper level would have a performance stage with a 38 foot opening and two small dressing/locker rooms.
A preliminary cost esimate is $1.5 million dollars. The tax impact would be a tax levy increase of 5 cents for 20 years (approximately $90,000 per year). The current levy for the school this year is 97 cents. If the levy drops beloe 95 cents, the state will start reducing state aid. The school bond will be paid off in 2015. The bond payment is $375,000 on average for the next six years.
The state aid situation is stable for Bancroft-Rosalie at the present time. The changes that are being proposed should not impact our district very much, if at all.
With construction costs and interest rates at a very low level, this would be an opportune time to get additional space that would improve education at a very reasonable price.
With a concept map, the school board and district patrons would be able to see exactly what they would be able to get for their money. With this information, we can make a choice that is best for everyone involved.

Bancroft-Rosalie Community School Board News

The November meeting of the Bancroft-Rosalie School Board was held Monday, November 9, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in the school library. Dr. Cerny presented: the October transportation report; District tax history; and information on classroom needs.

In new business Principal Sjuts gave a preliminary report on teacher evaluations. The board also reviewed the district multicultural program and the technology plan, and approved the purchase of cabinets for the offices and the workroom.

In old business the board discussed the possibility of a cooperative agreement for with Pender for high school baseball.

H1N1 shots Wednesday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm

The school will be hosting an H1N1 vaccination clinic Wednesday from 10:00 am to 2:00pm. Students and siblings that turn in their permission forms will be receiving shots. Staff members with chronic illness will also be eligible to receive a shot. EMT's and First Responders can get shots during this time, too.
If you have not signed your students up yet, do it before Wednesday.

10:15 am start Friday

We decided to go with a two hour late start Friday, due to the late volleyball game Thursday night. Grades 7-12 will start with 3rd period at 10:15. The volleyball game will be over by 10:30, so travelers should be home before 1:00 pm. Students that attend the game can still get 8 hours of rest that night.

B-R vs North Platte St Pats 8:30 pm at Lincoln North Star

The NSAA just released the brackets. We play North Platte St. Pats next Thursday at 8:30 pm at Lincoln North Star.
If we win, the second game will be at 9:00 pm at Lincoln Southeast on Friday.

B-R Volleyball girls headed to Lincoln

The B-R volleyball defeated Atkinson West Holt in the District championship game last night in five sets. The girls qualified for the state tournament next Thursday in Lincoln. The official brackets have not been released, but the power points on the NSAA website have been updated and the Lady Panthers are the #7 seed right now.

That means the girls will play North Platte St. Pats in the 8:30 pm game at Lincoln North Star. Yes, there will be a regular school day on Thursday. No decision has been made yet concerning school next Friday. If they win the first round, the team would play the 8:30 pm game on Friday.

Congratulations to Coach James and Mrs. Weborg. In three years as volleyball coach Mrs. James has won over 70 games and qualified for state three straight years. And don't forget the one state championship. She is, without question, the most successful volleyball coach this school has ever had. Her record and her success speak for themseleves.

Football vs. Johnson-Brock 5:00 pm next Tuesday

Bancroft-Rosalie will travel to Johnson-Brock Tuesday November 10 for a 5:00 PM game. School will dismiss at 1:00 pm. No afternoon pre-school.
Johnson is approximately 163 miles from Bancroft. Both teams are undefeated (10-0).

Lady Panthers play 7:00 PM Friday at Pierce

The Lady Panthers defeated Wakefield in four sets last night, advancing to the District final against Atkinson West Holt. The game will be played Friday night at Pierce. Friday's winner advances to the state tournament.

Cuming County Economic Development approved

After an informative presentation by County Clerk Bonnie Vogltance and a good discussion, the Bancroft Village Board passed the County Economic Development Interlocal agreement 5-0. Now the County Supervisors can start the process of establishing an office and hiring a developer. I know of a couple experienced developers in the area that would do a good job.
A concern that the Board expressed was that they were not involved in the early Economic Development meetings when financing was discussed, and most were unaware that these meetings were scheduled until they read it in the paper. One of the first duties of the Cuming County Economic Development Office needs to be establishing direct lines of communication with ALL Cuming County communities.
The Village Board will be appointing one community member to sit on the nine member County Economic Development Board. This person will represent Bancroft and must ensure that our community is served.
Kudos to the Village Board for not letting politics interfere with pursuing new jobs for the area.

Economic Development on Village agenda tonight

The Bancroft Village Board has County-wide Economic Development on the agenda at tonight's village board meeting. The decision to join in a County-wide effort will set the future course for economic development in Bancroft.
A YES vote to join means Bancroft is committed to working with the rest of the County to increase the number of jobs in Cuming County.
A NO vote is a vote for the status quo.
The rumor mill is that Bancroft Village board members are concerned that Bancroft will pay the same as West Point and Wisner. Each community is asked to pay $5000 and the County Board will pay the remaining $50,000. Bancroft Board members prefer a per capita fee. Unfortunately, that is not the proposal that the Cuming County Economic Development committee put forth. For your information, Kent Neumann and I were the only people from Bancroft to attend committee meetings, even though several community members were personally invited and everyone was welcome to attend. Kent Neumann proposed a per capita fee. That proposal was discussed and eventually ruled out because West Point and Wisner would pay they bulk of the cost, and they already have a large amount budgeted for Economic Development in their own communities. To my knowledge, Bancroft does not have any money for budgeted for Economic Development, making $5000 a reasonable amount.
Pender has a sales tax to support development in Pender. Lyons is involved in a County-wide effort in Burt County.
The Cuming County proposal is the best plan we have and Bancroft needs to get on board. If the Bancroft Village Board votes not to join the rest of Cuming County, the board needs to share their plan for economic development in Bancroft.

11:30 am dismissal Wednesday- No Lunch

School will dismiss at 11:30 am Wednesday because of the 1:30 pm play-off game. No lunch will be served. The Pawnee City team will be arriving between 11:30 and Noon and we want the building empty and the bus parking area cear when they get here.

#200

Thanks to everyone who came to congratulate me on winning the 200th game at Bancroft-Rosalie School. Obviously, you don't win without talented players and good assistance coaches. I appreciate former coaches Brent Gatzemeyer and Tim Slaughter coming to the game. Brent was an assist for 38 of the wins and Tim assisted with the first State Championship team in 1985 and the runner-up team in 1986. In those days, coaches didn't trade film. We had to jump in a car and drive to Ansley when we wanted to scout them.
Also thanks to writer Steve Smith for coming to the game. Being mentioned in his book (only as "the B-R football coach", not by name)made it fun reading for me.
A special thanks to Richard Mohl and Clark Petersen for the special effects at the game and in my front yard. I might leave that up for a few days.

B-R vs. Pawnee City game time 1:30 pm

Next Wednesday's play-off game will be played at 1:30 pm at the request of the Pawnee City Superintendent. If the visiting team travels over 125 miles they have control of the game time.

Sub-district volleyball pairings released

Sub-district volleyball will start Monday November 2 at Wayne High School.
5:30 PM #4 Ponca (8-14) vs. #5 Winnebago (8-14)
6:30 PM #2 Homer (16-10) vs. #3 Wakefield (13-16)
7:30 PM #1 Bancrft-Rosalie (18-8) vs. Ponca-Winnebago winner

Tuesday November 3
7:00 PM Sub-district championship game

Retaining youth in small towns

Jon Bailey forwarded me information on a recent study that looked at the dilemma rural youth face at graduation. Do they remain as adults in rural communities where they may sacrifice educational or economic opportunities, or leave for expanded options in urban areas?
The authors of the study interviewed 300 former students of a small rural community in Iowa (the community is not revealed). They found that most youth fit into one of four categories- Achievers, Stayers, Seekers, and Returners.
The Achievers are the students that are successful in high school. These students are “enthusiastically encouraged by parents and teachers to focus on their high school studies, pursue higher education, and seek careers outside of town.” The Stayers typically skip college and remain in the hometown area to marry, have children, and work at mainly service or factory jobs. The Seekers tend to skip higher education and turn to the military as a way out of the community, seeking greener grass elsewhere.
The Returners fall into two categories. “First are the High-Flyers, Achievers who, for a variety of personal and economic reasons, return to rural communities. Boomerangs, who were originally eager to explore the world, ultimately were disappointed enough to return.”
The study offers some suggestions for how rural places might do a better job of retaining their youth. They note the “irony of investing heavily in youth who are destined to leave rural communities for opportunities elsewhere.” The authors encourage school boards, teachers, and others to “turn their attention to Stayers and Boomerangs, those who will remain in rural places and will be most interested in their viability.” The authors recommend “stronger relationships between local high schools and community colleges and the establishment of career academy, dual credit or transition programs for potential Stayers and Boomerangs.” This may also include efforts to link curriculum and instruction to local community needs, including economic development. Not an easy thing to do.
Bancroft-Rosalie School has been working closely with Northeast Community College on exactly what the study suggests- career academies and dual credit opportunities. We need to encourage the Stayers to attend college and learn skills that they can bring back to utilize in the community. Possibly, to start their own business.
The study is published in the book, Hollowing Out the Middle: The Rural Brain Drain and What It Means For America.

Volleyball team advances to Conference Championship game

It is a busy sports week at B-R. Last night the girls won a five set thriller over Winside to advance to the conference championship game this Friday night. B-R will play Wynot at 7:00 pm in Wausa. Wynot won in five sets over Homer.
With rain forecast for Thursday, it will be too wet to harvest so park the combine in the shed and head to Wausa Friday night to support the girls.

Football Play-off shirts are in

The football play-off shirts are for sale in the school office. Prices are:
T-shirt $10
Long Sleeve T $15
Crew neck Sweatshirt $20
Hoodies $25

Complete roster on the back.
Limited supplies in some sizes. Get them before they are gone. A second order may be placed depending on sales.

Football game time set for 7:00 pm Thursday

Bancroft-Rosalie will host Omaha Christian Academy this Thursday night. Game time will be at 7:00 pm. Omaha Christian has a record of 6-2. Common opponents for B-R and OCA are Lyons-Decatur and Winnebago. OCA defeated Winnebago 53-14 in the seoncd week of the season and beat Lyons-Decatur 36-6 in week 3.

Updated play-off projection

After a few upsets last night, this is how I see the bracket shaping up. The 32 teams I had making the D-1 play-off's agree with the Lincoln Journal teams that were released shortly after midnight.
East
#1 Johnson-Brock vs #16 Clarkson
#8 Shelby vs. #9 Freeman

#4 Bancroft-Rosalie vs. #13 Omaha Christian Academy
#5 Pawnee City vs. #12 Humphrey

#2 Howells vs. #15 Hartington
#7 Osmond vs. #10 Meridian

#3 Exeter-Milligan vs. #14 Newman Grove
#6 Winside vs. #11 Emerson-Hubbard

The actual bracket will be released by the NSAA Saturday morning. There were some teams with identical power points, so a tie-breaker will be used. I think I got the tie-breakers right.

Latest play-off projections

Those B-R that have been following the class D-1 football play-off picture were pleased to see Pawnee City upset Exeter-Milligan last night. That win will cause a shuffle in the top of the East play-off bracket. The probable seedings in the East will be
#1 Giltner (assuming they win tonight against undefeated Silver Lake)
#2 Johnson-Brock
#3 Howells (assuming Winside wins tonight)
#4 Exeter-Milligan (341 power points)
#5 Bancroft-Rosalie assuming B-R takes care of business tonight(340 power points, 345 if Concordia wins tonight)
#6 Pawnee City (339 power points)

If this scenario plays out, that makes a re-match with Howells unlikely until the semi-finals.
Possible first round opponents could be Deshler, Freeman, Emerson-Hubbard, Meridian, Clearwater-Orchard, or Humphrey.

Personal Learning Plans

The eighth grade students just completed their Personal Learning Plans as part of Life Skills class with Mrs. Ras. A personal learning plan serves as a roadmap to a student’s high school coursework. The plan is developed based on the student’s skills and interests. It identifies the specific courses a student needs in order to reach his or her academic and career goals. The PLP can be changed as students career interests change.
In developing a Personal Learning Plan, the students completed career interest inventories and utilized the Nebraska Career Connections Website. It is the goal of Bancroft-Rosalie School for all high school students to have a PLP.
Eighth grade parents- ask your students to show you their plan. We want parents involved in helping their students make academic and career decisions.

Complaint Procedures for Athletics

The following complaint procedure was presented to the school board at the October school board meeting. It will be in the upcoming school newsletter.

Complaint Procedure for Coaches

1. All complaints must be put in writing and given to the Athletic Director. (Complaints will be kept on file and a copy will be given to the Coach)


2. Coaches will not talk with disgruntled parents after a game. If a meeting is requested it will be held with the parent, the coach, and the Athletic Director present.


3. The following is a list of items that Coaches decide and are not open for discussion with parents:
-Playing Time
-Strategies
-Roster Moves (such as Starters and who suits up for Varsity)
-Other players



4. Anyone who violates these procedures will be subject to suspension from some of all Home Athletic Contests.

School Complaint Policy

In light of recent events, I feel it is time to remind parents and community members of Board Policy 0625.1 Complaints

The board encourages its members and all persons who are employees or students within the school and citizens within the community to observe the following procedures when complaints are heard concerning school personnel, procedures, instructional materials, or other issues related to the operation of the school:
1. Listen to the information presented by the person voicing a complaint.
2. Determine whether or not the complaint has been made to the appropriate employee of the school.
3. If the complaint has not been made to the appropriate employee of the school, assist the complainant in the process of contacting and informing the appropriate school employee.
Complaints may be discussed informally with designated employees. If an issue is not explained or resolved, the following procedures will be followed:
1. Complaints about personnel, procedures, or instructional materials and other issues arising within the context of a specific building shall be referred to the principal; all other complaints shall be referred to the superintendent.
2. Persons making complaints may be asked to state, in writing (a) the specific complaint, the reasons for the complaint, and the action or solution to the complaint which they are either seeking or would recommend and to sign (b) the written statement of the complaint, its reasons, and the recommended or requested solution.
3. When a written complaint is received by an administrator, a written response will be prepared within three (3) work days after the complaint is received.
4. If the person who filed the complaint is not satisfied with the response made to the complaint, the decision may be appealed. Appeals should be directed to the superintendent when the original complaint was filed with a principal, or to the board when the original complaint was filed with the superintendent.
5. The refiling of a complaint (an appeal of a decision) should occur within one week (7 calendar days) after the written response to a complaint has been received.
6. Complaints about the superintendent should be referred to the president of the board of education. If the complainant is not satisfied with the explanation or decision of the president of the board of education, the written complaint shall be heard at the next regular meeting of the board of education or at such other time as designated by the board.
First Approval June 11, 1984 Final Approval July 9, 1984

Nebraska considering raising graduation requirements

The Nebraska Department of Education is considering increasing their graduation requirements. The new requirements would be- 4 years of English, 3 years of science, 3 years of social studies, and 3 years of math. One year of math must be taken their senior year. It sounds like these requirements will be put in place next year.

Bancroft-Rosalie School currently requires all of these except the requirement that math be taken during the senior year. My initial thought is to require students to take a math class each year they are in high school. It doesn't make sense to skip a year sometime in the sophomore or junior year and then pick it up again. We currently require students to take 4 english, 4 social studies, 3 science and 3 math.

Conference Volleyball tournament pairings released

We host the first round Monday, October 26 and play Walthill at 5:00 PM.
Ponca and Newcastle play the second game and in game 3 we play the winner of game 2. Games 2 and 3 are 20 minutes after the end of the previous game.

Some flu at B-R

There are been several elementary students with flu-like symptoms. So far, there have been no confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza, although one parent was told by their PA that their child probably had H1N1. Several parents and teachers have expressed concern.

I am attaching a letter that we are sending home with elementary students today, and it will be posted on the school website, ptoviding information about what to do to prevent the spread of influenza.

Dear Parents,

We are writing to inform you that there have been several cases of influenza in the Bancroft-Rosalie elementary school. So far there has been no confirmed case of H1N1 influenza within the school, but many physicians are treating flu-like symptoms as possible, or probable, H1N1 influenza. This letter will give you information about the situation and will help to answer any questions that you may have in regards to this.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations, students who are not ill can safely come to school. We will keep you updated with any important information.

It is of utmost importance that we all do our parts to keep the flu from spreading to more people...we ask you to keep sick children home. Children can safely return to school after being ill if they have a fever less than 100°F without the use of fever reducing medications for at least 24 hours. Any children who are sent to school sick, or who become ill during the school day, will be sent home immediately.

In consultation with Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department, there are ways that you can protect yourself and your family against H1N1 flu. Some of these ways include:

- Keep children who are sick at home. Don’t send them to school.

- Teach your children to wash hands a lot with soap and water for 20 seconds. Be sure to set a good example by doing this yourself.

- Teach your children to cover coughs and sneezes with tissues or by coughing into the inside of the elbow. Be sure to set a good example by doing this yourself.

- People who are sick should stay home from work or school and stay away from other people until they are better (symptom-free, including fever-free, for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication).

You can get more information from Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department online at www.elvphd.org or call 1-402-529-2233 or toll free at 1-877-379-4400.

Recommendations may change as we move forward. In the event that there are recommended changes, further communication with parents can be expected.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jon Cerny, Superintenden

Mrs. Heftie retires

The Bancroft-Rosalie School staff held a retirement party this morning for Karen Heftie. Mrs. Heftie has taught at B-R for 20 years, teaching elementary music as well as just about every junior high subject (science, social studies, english, reading). With her permission, I am posting her letter to the school board and administration.

"At this time I want to say "Thank You", for letting me work with the young people in your communities and having confidence in me to make a difference in their lives.

This began my 20th year at B-R, and I remember how excited and filled with enthusiasm I was when I parked north of the Rosalie gym, carried my bag of music supplies and went up to the third floor in my first year here. I am still filled with excitement every time my key opens the door and I walk down the quiet hallways in the morning.

At this time I wish the utmost success and continued educational progress for Bancroft-Rosalie Community School.

Respectfully submitted,
Karen Heftie."

Mrs. Heftie has been a dedicated teacher at B-R, always willing to do whatever she was asked to. I am sure many B-R alumni carry with them fond memories of her. Good luck in retirement, Mrs. Heftie. Now you have more time spend with those grandkids.

Mr. Jordan will be teaching elementary music for the rest of the year.

What happens in a 120 minute Kindergarten Reading period

There have been questions raised about the amount of time kindergarten students are scheduled for reading and language instruction. Bancroft-Rosalie kindergarten students are scheduled for 120 minutes of uninterrupted reading and language instruction. Parents of two kindergarten students spoke to the school board last Monday expressing concerns about this schedule.
School board members said that from what the parents told them, they believed that the students are required to sit straight in a chair with their feet on the floor for the entire two hours without any opportunity to move or interact with others and that this has led to students not liking school. I have looked in on the classroom on several occasions and had never personally seen anything like this happening. To be on the safe side, I spent Tuesday morning in the kindergarten room for the entire reading block. I brought along my stopwatch and timed each of the three reading groups. I have become skilled at the use of a stopwatch after years of timing forty yard dashes, although some athlete’s claim that their 5.1 time is really is a 4.9, but I believe my results to be accurate.
I found the kindergarten class to be just as I expected. The classroom was filled with students actively engaged in learning. Mrs. Slaughter did an excellent job teaching reading skills, Mrs. Headlee and Mrs. Polenske (Mrs. Knuppel was gone that day) worked with the students on language skills, and students were taught using a variety of instructional techniques. Students moved from chairs to tables and from group to group smoothly. Students were focused and attentive, some needed an occasional reminder. They looked happy and eager for me to see what they could do. One girl gave hugs to each para at the end of the lesson. Each group demonstrated good behavior, so they received a treat before they moved to the next instructor.
The students were divided into three groups based on their current reading/language skills. Mrs. Slaughter had each group for 35 minutes of reading instruction. The first group spent 17 minutes in chairs receiving direct reading instruction from Mrs. Slaughter, 5 minutes practicing reading a sentence together (Wednesday’s sentence for one group was “he had a hut”), and then moved to their tables where they spent 14 minutes on independent work, like drawing a line between the two words that are the same.
The second group also had 17 minutes of direct reading instruction, spent 14 minutes doing their workbooks (this group was further along in the program), and 5 minutes at the tables doing independent work. The 35 minutes was up before this group completed the independent work.
The third group had 22 minutes of direct reading instruction, 7 minutes reading together, and 4 minutes for independent work. They also did not finish.
When they are not with Mrs. Slaughter, the groups are with one of the para-educators working on language skills. Approximately 20-25 minutes they are in chairs with the para’s directing instruction and for 10-15 minutes they are doing independent work, which involved some coloring (which is really an art activity, not reading). At the end of each lesson, the students listen to the para read a short story tied to what they learned.

I checked Mrs. Slaughter data and found that the language groups are each completing one lesson a day. The reading groups are averaging about 8 lessons per week. The goal is to have all three of Mrs. Slaughter’s reading groups through kindergarten reading (160 lessons) by the end of the year.
So I have to ask myself, where could we cut 30 minutes without hurting reading instruction? The teacher spent 17-22 minutes with each group on direct reading instruction. I don’t see cutting that. Should we eliminate the independent work? Or should they take it home or do it at another time in the day? When we had the 90 minute block, Reading First did not allow any independent work during the 90 minutes so all independent work occurred outside the 90 minutes. That is how most schools with 90 minute reading blocks handle it.
What about cutting computer time? The students spend 25 minutes each day on computer activities. Could they do their independent work during that time?
At this point, I am pleased with the reading and language instruction in kindergarten and I do not anticipate making any changes, although I will continue monitoring the class data each week. Last year, 15 of our first graders were taught using the same 120 minute reading block schedule. I encourage parents of kindergarten students, or any parents for that matter, to personally talk with me if you have concerns about the education of your child.

Logan Valley Building Entrepreneurial Communities Act Project

The Logan Valley BECA project has a program of activities planned that can benefit community members in all six communities involved in the project. The communities are Bancroft, Rosalie, Pender, Thurston, Lyons and Decatur. The steering committee looked at opportunities to enhance small business, recruitment of new familes to the area and intergenerational development.
The following activities were selected:

1. A series of computer trainings through the University Extension program using a mobile computer lab. Topics to be covered include: e-commerce marketing for high school students, spreadsheet use for agri-business, computer basics, intro to internet, social networking, pod casting, digital photography and web 2.0 for adults.

2. Marketplace registrations for the 2010 conference for youth interested in entrepreneurship.

3. Learning To Lead in Logan Valley, a leadership program available to anyone interested in participating. The program will focus on various stages of leadership development, followed by the implementation of the skills learned to enhance community development.

4. Intergenerational Development will be a program that offers a high school assembly pointing out to students the important role they play within their community , followed by an assembly for all community members focusing on how to communicate with the Millenial Generation.

All of these programs could involve Bancroft-Rosalie students. I hope many of our kids will attend some of the Learning To Lead workshops. Bancroft and Rosalie need to encourage our young people to consider returning to our community after they complete their education. If these activities help them to see how they can be involved and possibly be a future leader, then it will be a worthwhile project.

Athletic Record Board fund-raising at $5200

Mr. Peters has been contacting alumni about donating money so the school can purchase school athletic record boards to display records in the hallway next to the gym. The goal is to raise $6000 for the boards. The boards will be large and can hold up to 24 individual or team records. $5200 has been pledged as of today. When the $6000 mark is reached, the boards will be ordered. Donations will be run through the school foundation, which is a non-profit organization. Donor names will be displayed next to the record boards in three categories:
Gold Donations over $1000
Silver Donations from $500-$999.
Bronze Donations from $100-$499.
There has been a good response from alumni whose names will be on the record boards. If you want to contribute, contact Mr. Peters. rpeters@esu2.org.

October School BOard meeting agenda

Bancroft-Rosalie Community School
Regular Board of Education Meeting Agenda
Monday, October 12, 2009 --- 7:30 p.m. in Bancroft

1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call

3. Read and approve the minutes of the September 14, 2009 regular board meeting,
annual budget hearing, and hearing to set property tax amounts.

4. Treasurer’s Report
A. Approve the Bills
B. Financial Review

5. Review Agenda
6. Public Hearing

7. Administrator’s Reports:
A. Superintendent’s Report
B. Principal’s Report
C. Athletic Director’s Report

8. Old Business:
A.

9. New Business:
A. Reading Program

B. Annual Review of School Insurance.

C. Annual review of transportation.

D. Amend policy 0538 Free and Appropriate Education. “The end of the school year shall be defined as the date of the students 21st birthday.”

D. Purchase of Automatic Floor scrubber.

10. Discussion Items
A.

B.

11. Executive Session-

12. Future Planning- Next meeting- Monday, November 10, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
13. Adjournment.

Football player face painting

It's been a busy blog day.

This ruling was just released to football coaches and officials in Nebraska.

FOOTBALL COACHES - Please read the the following NSAA memorandum which has been sent to all football officials. Acts that focus attention on, or those intended to engender ill will toward individuals have no place in the educational activities. Rule 9-5-1 clearly outlines that unsportsmanlike conduct includes any “baiting or taunting acts.” Acts such as diving into the end zone with no defender present, excessive face painting or marking of equipment with inappropriate words and use of disconcerting gestures should be penalized immediately as per the rule code. Excessive face painting is interpreted by the NSAA as any eye black beyond the single strip under the eye. Anything beyond that is considered excessive.

It is pretty clear that any face paint other than the single strip under the eye are not allowed and will be penalized. I will be glad to be rid of the ridiculous face painting that some players put on.

Governor Heineman calls a special legislative session.

According to the Lincoln Journal-Star, "A dramatic downturn in last month's state tax receipts prompted Gov. Dave Heineman Wednesday to call for a special session of the Legislature for early November." The Governor has asked state agencies to limit travel expenses and not fill any job vacancies unless absolutely essential.

I don't anticiapte that the state will make any changes to the state aid that was certifed to school districts for this current school year, but unless the economy turns around there could be less state aid to schools in 2010-2011. We will find out more in November when the legislature hears what the Governor has to say.

Homecoming Week

What ranks right up there with having the swine flu? That's right, Homecoming Week. This is the week where some rules are relaxed and students dress crazy, act silly, and very little academic work is accomplished. But thankfully, like the swine flu, it only lasts a week.

Cops and Robbers Day? I don't think the handcuffs are a good idea.

Favorite Person Day? Close, but missing the hat.

Entrepreneurship class opens Paw Prints

The entrepreneurship is starting a new business, Paw Prints. The business will sell snacks after school in the commons area starting in the second quarter of the school year. They also plan to sell B-R items at home basketball games, possibly blankets. Paw Prints will advertise on the internet and put a link on the home page.

The Paw Prints board of directors are President Hannah Niemeyer, Vice president Rebecca Schmeckpeper, Secretary Kim Peterson, and Treasurer Jade Farmer.

Cuming County Economic Development

I am a member of the Cuming County Economic Development Committee. We are working to establish a County-Wide Economic Development Office to serve the residents of Cuming County.
The Cuming County Board of Supervisors are interested in providing a large share of the funding required for the Cuming County Economic Development Office. They are waiting to see if the four towns in Cuming County approve an interlocal agreement to support the office.
Wisner has already approved the agreement. On Friday, the West Point City council voted to sign the interlocal agreement for countywide economic development with the condition that all other communities also sign it.
Members of the Cuming County Economic Development Committee will meet with Beemer on Oct. 12th at 7:00 p.m. and Bancroft on Nov. 2, at 7:00 p.m. I would appreciate the help of Bancroft residents to support the program by encouraging Bancroft Village Board members to vote yes to sign the inter-local agreement. This has the potential to have a positive impact on future jobs in Cuming County and the surrounding area.

Neihardt Foundation Laureate's Feast

The Laureate Feast will be held Sunday, October 25 at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha. The Feast is the main fund-raiser for the Neihardt Foundation. Tickets are $100. $65 of the ticket price is a tax deductible donation.

The feast is prepared by the culinary arts department of Metro Community College, one of the only culinary arts programs in Nebraska. The featured presentation is "The Neihardt Center: A Presentation bu Randy Lukasiewicz." The presentation will be followed by a live auction of donated items. A slent auction will be held prior to the meal.

Join Carol and I at the Feast.

What the Nebraska Dept. of Education is thinking about.

The State Board of Education will be meeting Oct. 7 and 8. During the Oct. 7 study session, the board will discuss the state’s bid in the "Race to the Top" federal grant program. On Oct. 8, the board will be discussing a resolution on increasing high graduation requirements across the state. This discussion comes as part of the P-16 discussion that Gov. Heineman has been promoting in recent months.

Why the need? Too many students are entering college unprepared in math and english. Students are flunking out or are having to take remedial classes before they are accepted into the school. Most people believe that we need to increase the number of Nebraska students that graduate from college (2 and 4 year schools). Most new jobs require some type of post high school training.

What this means? Tougher math and english requirements for graduation. Some states are requiring Algebra II for graduation.

Press Release for Neihardt Center Program October 16

This will be a good one.

INDIANS AND EMIGRANTS TOPIC AT NEIHARDT SITE

On Sunday, October 18th at 2:00 pm, Nebraska author and educator Michael Tate will discuss the relationships between emigrants and Indians along the overland trails between 1840 and 1865, the period of greatest movement west to California and Oregon across the Great Plains. Unlike in the Hollywood versions, this period was more cooperation than conflict, mainly because the emigrants were anxious to get further west and relied on the Native peoples along the route for much needed fresh meat and produce, help in time of sickness and accident, and their knowledge of the geography and climate. Increased conflict would come toward the end of this period as the greater influx of emigrants depleted the game and pasturage, disrupting the balance until the next period, 1865-1890, would be called the era of the Indian Wars.
Using images and commentary from research for his book “Indians and Emigrants: Encounters on the Overland Trails,” Tate will explain the progression of this change from cooperation to conflict.
Tate is the professor of History and Native American Studies and the Martin Chair of Western History at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is also the author of “The Frontier Army in the Settlement of the West,” “The American Army in Transition,” and a study on the Omaha Tribe entitled “The Upstream People,” as well as several scholarly articles. The current book received the 2006 Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize.
The presentation begins at 2:00 PM and is free and open to the public. A reception will follow and the author’s books can be purchased for signing. The John G. Neihardt State Historic site is located at 306 W. Elm Street in Bancroft, NE. For more information call 1-888-777-4667 or 402/648-3388 or e-mail at neihardt@gpcom.net.

Free and reduced lunch numbers go up

The number of students at Bancroft-Rosalie School has increased this year. Last year there were 44% of students qualifying, and in 2009-10 exactly 50% of the students qualified for free or reduced meals. Is this a sign of the economy in rural Nebraska, or are more people choosing to apply who may have qualified previously?

The increase of low income students is both good and bad. It is unfortunate that so many families are not making a decent income, but the school benefits financially from increases in federal and state aid. The projected increase in state poverty funds could be as much as $30,000. This money needs to be tied in to programs for poverty students that we would not provide otherwise. This year, poverty money is used to pay for the Reading/Math Coach position- Mrs. Vogt. She is responsible for monitoring the progress of students who are not at grade level in reading and math. She also provides some interventions for these students.

One thing I am considering is having a nurse in the school every day for 1/2 of the day. They would be available to check ill or injured students and teach CPR classes, both of which are currently done by the Superintendent. The nurse could also teach CNA classes, which we added this year and contract with Elkhorn-Logan Valley Health Department for an instructor. The half-time nurse (probably an LPN with an RN from the Health Department supervising) would probably cost around $20,000.

Any thoughts on the nurse idea?

Channel 4 sports visits B-R

Channel 4 was at practice Monday to interview players for a broadcast Wednesday night. Alex Berg has been selected by Channel 4 as their player of the week. Alex and Ryley Mohl were players interviewed for the show.

Tune in to Channel 4 sports Wednesday to see what they have to say.

Basketball Districts released

The basketball districts for this year will be in Wisner. The following teams are in the district:

Bancroft-Rosalie
Lyons-Decatur Northeast
Stanton
West Point Central Catholic
Winnebago

The winner of the district will play the winner of this district:

Archbishop Bergan
Oakland-Craig
Omaha Brownell-Talbot
Omaha St. Peter Claver
Yutan
North Bend (Girls only)

Upset

Not many people thought that the boys would beat Howells last night. It is a good lesson for our kids to learn- that if they work hard and and give a great effort, that anything is possible. The defense played an outstanding game, holding an all-state running back to less than 60 yards.
The coaches have felt that we lack size, but the guys make up for it with desire. And they are pretty tough. Now they need to stay focused and finish the regular season.

This picture is enough to scare any opponent!

Mrs. Bargmann retiring

Deanna Bargmann will be retiring at rhe end of the school year. She will work through the month of June. The office has received several inquiries into the job and I have established a time-line for filling the position.
The school will officially advertise the position in January. We will accept applications through mid-February, then interview for the position in late February. A recommendation will be made to the School Board at the March Board meeting. The new bookkeeper will begin in April and work with Mrs. Bargmann until the end of June.
Below is the job description for the position. Payroll accounting and paying the bills are the two most important aspects of the job. Preference will be given to applicants who have previous experience in both. We also want a positive, friendly person who works well with students and the public and can deal with confidential matters appropriately.

Title: Business Manager 5.1

Qualifications: 1. High Schools Diploma
2. Demonstrated aptitude or competence for assigned responsibilities.
3. Such alternatives to the above qualifications as the Board may find
appropriate and acceptable.

Reports To: Superintendent of Schools

Job Goal: (Administrative Secretary) To assist and relieve administration of paperwork and impediments so that they may devote maximum attention to the central problems of education and educational administration; to contribute to the efficient operation of a school office so that it can play its effective part in the educational process.

(Bookkeeper) To assist in the administration of the district’s business
affairs so as to provide the maximum services for the financial
resources available; To contribute to staff morale by the prompt and
accurate handling of all payroll matters.

Performance Responsibilities:
1. Maintains a complete and systematic set of records of all financial transactions of the district.
2. Records detail of school financial transactions in appropriate journals and subsidiary ledgers from such sources as requisitions, payroll records, etc.
3. Summarizes and balances entries recorded in individual journals and ledgers and transfers data to general ledgers.
4. Prepares financial statements, income statements, and cost reports to reflect financial condition of the district.
5. Traces errors and records adjustments to correct changes or credits posted to incorrect amounts.
6. Computes and records cash receipt summaries.
7. Reconciles canceled payroll and accounts payable checks with bank statements
and verifies bank balance with statements.
8. Receives and computes all payrolls, making deductions for income tax, retirement,
annuities, health and medical insurance, and the like.
9. Maintains records covering all deductions.
10. Keeps record of staff leaves and absences and the records of substitute teachers.
11. Mails checks to those employees who are absent during summer months.
12. Maintains the time records of all hourly employees and certifies them for salary
purposes.
13. Obtains, gathers, and organizes pertinent data as needed, and puts it together in usable form.
14. Maintains a regular filing system, as well as a set of locked confidential files, and processes incoming correspondence as instructed.
15. Maintains such student records as shall be required.
16. Orders and maintains supplies as needed.
17. Places and receives telephone calls and records messages.
18. Welcomes visitors and arranges for their comfort, and screens unexpected callers in accordance with predetermined policy.
19. Types a variety of materials, such as letters, student records, reports, memos,
monthly statements.
20. Verifies totals on report forms, requisitions, etc., and proof reads work of other typists as requested.
21. Performs various related office duties and other such tasks as assigned.


Terms of Employment: Salary and work year to be established by the Board. Work schedule to be established by the Superintendent.

Evaluation: Performance of this job will be evaluated in accordance with provisions of the Board’s policy of Evaluation of Classified Personnel.