Red team loses, but Jess Tietz receives award.

Jessica Tietz played for the Red team at the Nebraska Coaches Association Girls Basketball all-star game last night in Lincoln. Although the Blue team beat the Red 88-71, Jessica came out a winner.
The players voted for most valuable teammate prior to the game, an award based on leadership and placing the team before yourself. Two players from smaller schools earned the awards -- Jessica Tietz of Bancroft-Rosalie for the Red team, and Jaime Kennedy of Boone Central for the Blue team.

State Aid- Bancroft-Rosalie 2012-13 Needs Calculation

Here are the formula needs for 2012-13 State Aid at Bancroft-Rosalie.

Basic funding (See last weeks blog for how this is determined)      $2,605,823.87

Poverty Allowance (Based on number of students qualifying for Free and Reduced Lunch   $77,642.18

Limited English Proficiency Allowance (Based on number qualifying) $34,000

Elementary Class Size Allowance (Based on number of K-3 students in class with 20 or less students) $120,904.86

Summer School Allowance (Based on number of summer school students and hours attended)  $17,943.82

Special Receipts Allowance (Receipts for special education related services)  $172,486

Transportation Allowance (Reimbursement for student transportation to and from school)  $58,943.47

Distance Education Allowance (For Internet and other telecommunications)  $37,088.22

Instructional Time Allowance (For students attending school more hours than the state average) $162,100.29

Local Choice Adjustment (Reduction because student enrollment is less than 300 students) $17,534.52

Total Calculated Formula Needs  $3,269,398.19

Summer School starts Monday

The Bancroft-Rosalie School “Jump Start” summer school will begin next Monday. Jump Start is a program designed to develop and review skills in math and reading in order to prepare students for the beginning of the new school year. Teachers and paraprofessionals will be working with students in kindergarten through 8th grades. Each student will follow an individual plan that will be developed by their teachers focusing on the needs of the student. In most cases, we are recommending entire reading groups attend so that the group can catch up to join another reading group. Classes will meet for twelve days, Monday through Thursday beginning the last week in July. The following are summer school dates and times: July 23-24-25-26 8:15- 11:45 am July 30-31 August 1-2 8:15- 11:45 am August 6-7-8-9 8:15- 11:45 am Rosalie and Walthill students can ride the van that will leave Rosalie at 8:00 am and will leave Bancroft at 11:50 am returning to Rosalie at 12:00 noon. Summer school teachers are- Mrs. Wegner, Mrs. Schuttler, Mrs. Zwygart, Mrs. Elsasser, Mrs. Vogt, Mrs. James, and Mr. Grinvalds. Paraprofessionals are- Mrs. Polsenske, Mrs. Bacon, Mrs. Cerny, Mrs. Briggs, Lexi Raasch and Steph Larsen. Thirty students have registered for summer school and we are expecting a few more to show up the first day.

State Aid - Calculating Formula Needs

The first calculation for the Nebraska Department of Education is determine the number of Formula Students in each District. "Formula Students" is basically the sum of the number of students in grades K-12 + the number of 4 year olds in preschool - the number of half-day kindergarten students. There are some calculations made to account for the percentage of time four year olds and half-day kindergarten students attend school, with preschool students counting as 0.37 of a student and half-day kindergarten as 0.5. Bancroft-Rosalie has 268.79 Formula Students. The Department of Education lists all schools from the lowest Formula Students to the Largest with their adjusted General Fund Operating Expenditures and cost per student. Next the Department of Education calculates the Adjusted General Fund Operating Expenditures for each district. Adjusted General Fund Expenditures is the result of the Total Expenditures from the General Fund minus funds received and spent on identified State and Federal programs, including the allowances I noted in yesterdays blog. For example, Bancroft-Rosalie adjustments would include any General Fund Expenditures to pay off Bonds, for preschool, summer school, poverty programs, the limited English program, some transportation costs, distance education, above state average instructional time, and special receipts. The adjusted General Fund Operating Expenditures for Bancroft-Rosalie $2,100,223.10. Divided by 268.79 Formula Students, the adjusted cost per formula student is $7813.64. Calculating Basic Funding Needs for each district: Take the 10 larger schools, 10 smaller schools and the school district itself. Add the adjusted General Fund Operating Expenditures for all 21 schools, throwing out the 2 highest and 2 lowest numbers. Divide the total by 17 and that number is the Basic Funding Needed for that school district. The Bancroft-Rosalie Basic Need is $2,605,823.87. Look at the document below to see the schools that are included in our district calculations. I circled the four schools that were thrown out of the calculation for being the two highest and two lowest spending schools. Notice that we were thrown out of our own cost grouping because we were one of the low spending schools, which has been the case every year.

State Aid Formula

The state aid formula is based on a simple concept: District needs - District resources = Equalization Aid It gets complicated when the calculation of needs and resources begins. Here is how needs are calculated- Basic Funding + Poverty allowance + Limited English Proficiency allowance + Elementary Class Size allowance + Focus School Program allowance + Summer School allowance + Special Receipts allowance + Transportation allowance + Elementary Site allowance + Distance education allowance + Instructional Time allowance + Teacher Education allowance + Averaging Adjustment + New School Adjustment + Student Growth Adjustment + Local Choice Adjustment = Calculated Formula Needs The receipts are calculated by the following- Yield from Local Effort Rate (Valuation of district divided 100 x 1.0395) + Net Option Funding + Allocated Income Tax Funds + Other Actual Receipts + Minimum Levy Adjustment + Retirement Aid = Total Formula Resources Calculated Formula Needs - Total Formula Resources = Equalization Aid Total State Aid Calculated = Equalization Aid + Net Option Funding + Allocated Income Tax Funds + Retirement Aid + Non-equalized Minimum Levy Adjustment + District Reorganization Incentive Bancroft-Rosalie will have a Total State Aid Calculated in the amount of $708,170.59.

Cost of telecommunications Services

Bancroft-Rosalie School will see a decrease in the cost of telecommunications services next year. Telecommunication Services include Internet Access, Telephone service, and the Web Hosting Service. Bancroft-Rosalie School qualifies for a 70% discount on telecommunications services. This percentage is based on the school free and reduced lunch percentage. The discounted portion is paid by with Universal Service Funds collected by the federal government through a fee charged on all telephones. Bancroft-Rosalie School uses Great Plains Communications for Internet Access and local telephone service. The total cost for Internet access will be $29,859.84 for next year, making the discount $20,901.89. The school cost for Internet is the difference between the two, or $8957.95. The estimated total cost for telephone service is $2430.72, with a school cost of $729.22. Verizon Global Business is the school long distance carrier. The total cost for long distance is estimated to be $4953.6, and the school cost is $1486.08. The Foundation for Educational Services is the school web host. The total cost for web hosting is $1310.40. The school cost is $393.12.

Crow's Nest looking good

The outside of the Crow's Nest has been completed by RP (Ryan Petersen) Construction. A new flag pole is purchased and ready to be installed by the scoreboard. The inside still needs to be insulated and finiahed. It should be ready for the first home game August 31.

Bancroft Cash Mob Saturday July 14 at 10:30 am

The Cash Mob will meet in front of the Bancroft Community Building at 10:30 am. What is Cash Mob? With at least $15 in hand members of the community will come together to shop in a locally-owned establishment in Bancroft. The featured business will be revealed at 10:30 am.

Please plan on spending $15 to get your name in the drawing for Bancroft Bucks. You enter by signing the back of your receipt.

Beerfest August 4/ Neihardt Day August 5

Movie Night July 20

Classroom addition work on schedule

The classroom addition is still scheduled for completion by August 1. Work on the parking area will begin next week. The retaining wall pictured here will be extended to the edge of the garage and a concrete parking lot will cover the area from the retaining wall to the pedestrian sidewalk by the street.

The music room is ready for drywall. You can see the three practice rooms have been framed.

Mr. Peters classroom.

Concrete steps will lead up to the garage and the shop.

The view looking down the addition hallway from the old exit doorway.

School Board meeting summary

The Bancroft-Rosalie Board of Education met Monday, July 9, 2012 at 7:30 pm in Bancroft. Superintendent Cerny presented the June transportation report, the Kindergarten Early Entrance Procedures, and MAP test results grades 3-11.

Principal Sjuts presented information on the Positive Behavior Intervention Supports program, handbook changes for 2012-13 and athletic schedules.

In old business the board approved extending the retaining wall to the end of the school garage and paving a 50’ x 100’ area north of the addition, including sidewalk replacement. The bid from Great Plains Communications was accepted for a new phone system and 2.5% increases were approved for administrators.

In new business, the board named First National Bank as the official bank for the general fund and Citizens Bank for all other funds, named the Wisner News-Chronicle as the official newspaper, selected Harding, Schultz, and Downs as legal council, and set hot lunch prices and class enrollment limits.

Hearings were held to discuss the Student Fee Policy and the Parent Involvement Policy and both were adopted without changes.

In other new business, the board approved the teaching contract for Jessica McPhillips, reviewed the school census, and approved the school flexible benefit plan. First approval was given for revised policies 0413 and 0590.

The board went into executive session to discuss administrator salaries and the open position on the school board.

School Lunch rule changes will effect school lunches

This ran in the Omaha World Herald. Read the entire article at http://www.omaha.com/article/20120709/NEWS/707099923/1707#new-school-lunch-rules-less-bread-less-salt.

My opinion: Unfortunately, regardless of how nutritious something is, if kids don't like it they won't eat it. And if they don't get enough to eat, they won't be happy.

From the article:
"Food companies that cater to schools are shrinking their buns and breadsticks, removing the breading from chicken nuggets and launching a host of other new products to give the nation's schools options as they rewrite menus to comply with strict new federal school lunch rules."

"(School food service) managers are feeling the pressure to comply with the rule changes, which they call the most significant in 30 years. Under the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, districts must offer more fruits and vegetables and increase fiber while limiting grains, meats and sodium. The reward for compliance is an extra federal reimbursement of 6 cents per meal."

"Much of the calculating focuses on a new requirement that schools serve kids fewer grain products each week. Figuring out what combination of breads, buns, breaded products and pastas will fit under the new limit poses the most difficult challenge in the law this year, according to company and school officials. Beginning in the coming school year, for example, kindergartners through fifth-graders will be restricted to 9 ounces of grains a week for lunch. The average hot dog bun weighs 1.5 ounces to 2 ounces."

"Sharon Davis, assistant director of nutrition services for the Nebraska Department of Education, said the rule changes will probably bring an end to two common cafeteria practices: offering free leftovers and placing out bowls of bread as a supplement to the day's fare. “That's a big change,” she said. “The bread baskets probably won't be in existence anymore.”

School Board agenda July 9, 2012

Updated School Calendar for 2012-13

This calendar includes monthly 2:00 dismissal dates for staff development. The early dismissal days are Wednesdays. Parents are encouraged to schedule dental and other student appointments on these afternoons. High school practices will be held at regular times (4:00 pm) on early dismissal days.

Follow-up on State Sportsmanship Award

The following nine schools received the Farmer's 2011-12 Sportsmanship Award:
Bancroft-Rosalie
Battle Creek
Elkhorn South
Gothenburg
Lincoln Lutheran
Norfolk Catholic
Pierce
Plattsmouth
Valentine

Bancroft-Rosalie is the only class D school to receive the award this year.

Spring Academic All-State Awards

The Nebraska School Activities Association is pleased to announce the student recipients of the Spring 2012 Nebraska Chiropractic Physicians Association Academic All-State Awards for their individual academic excellence, leadership and significant contributions in their NSAA activity.

Boys Golf- Preston Peters
Music- Jasmine Greenfield and Olivia Nottlemann
Boys Track and Field- Dylan Slaughter
Girls Track and Field- Makala Muller and Jessica Tietz

Summer School begins July 23

The Bancroft-Rosalie School “Jump Start” summer school will begin the last week in July. Jump Start is a program designed to develop and review skills in math and reading in order to prepare students for the beginning of the new school year.

Students were selected for Jump Start summer school based on MAP test scores in Reading and Math and NeSA state assessments (Grades 3-8) and teacher recommendations (Grades K-2). 

Teachers and paraprofessionals will be working with students on an individual plan that has been developed by their teachers focusing on the needs of that student. In some cases we are recommending entire reading groups attend so that the group can catch up with another reading group. Teachers for summer school are: Mrs. Schuttler, Mrs. Zwygart, Mr. Grinvalds, Mrs. Vogt, Mrs. Elsasser, Mrs. James, and Mrs. Wegner.

Classes will meet for twelve days, Monday through Thursday beginning July 23. The following are summer school dates and times:

July 23-24-25-26                 8:15-   11:45 am                                                                  

July 30-31 August 1-2         8:15-   11:45 am

August 6-7-8-9                     8:15-   11:45 am 

Rosalie and Walthill students can ride the van that will leave Rosalie at 8:00 am and will leave Bancroft at 11:50 am returning to Rosalie at 12:00 noon.