The Broken Bow Board of Education held its regular meeting on the evening of November 18 at the Broken Bow Library.
Following approval of minutes from the previous board meeting, school board treasurer J.B Atkins provided a brief summary of the current budget. Atkins told the board that expenses compared to last year are up due to the recent purchase of property near the school. Superintendent Darren Toby also provided information on an unexpected expenditure to upgrade the intercom system at North Park Elementary to expand communications during lockdown procedures. Atkins said revenue has been normal early in the fiscal year and expects the numbers to balance throughout the school year. The board unanimously approved the Treasures and Claims reports.
Superintendent Tobey highlighted district accolades, some of which included the High School English classes that recently hosted the Anne Frank Tour and Exhibit for students and the public. The FBLA won the Wild Cat Business Invite Championship at Wayne State and was awarded 3rd place at the Husker Business competition at the University of Nebraska. Tobey said some of Broken Bow’s students participated in County Government Day, and the One Act Play students have performed for the public and have prepared for competition. The first home Unified Bowling contest will be held at Pleasure Lanes on Thursday. The newly formed teams feature life-skilled students teamed up with other students who don’t usually participate in sports. Tobey also thanked the Special Education instructors for the excellent job they are doing this year at North Park Elementary School. Earlier this month, the school invited the Ag community to High Five on Friday. Tobey was very pleased with their attendance and interest in the students’ activities. Winter sports practice officially started Monday, November 18, and included girls’ wrestling. Superintendent Tobey was happy to announce that eight girls have signed up and are super excited.
During Administrator comments, Superintendent Tobey updated the board with first-quarter stats for student’s attendance, discipline, and academic achievement goals. The newly formed Professional Learning Community (PLC) created the goals before the 2024-2025 school year started. Mr. Tobey reported that the overall attendance goal of 95% for elementary, middle, and high school students and staff may be attainable. However, Mr. Tobey reported increased incidents of student behavior at most grade levels compared to last year. To understand the trend, Superintendent Tobey reached out to the school’s principals directly, discovering that many of the discipline events have occurred with new students who have never been in this district before. Approximately 25% of the Middle and High School discipline events are related to alcohol or tobacco use at school. Tobey said the goal of reducing behavioral incidents by 50% will not be within reach, and at this rate, discipline events will likely surpass last school year’s totals. Tobey assured the board that the administration would attempt to understand the trend better and put more things in place to curb it. Tobey asked the board to keep in mind that a small number of students are causing attendance and behavioral issues at Broken Bow Schools, and most of the kids are doing well. The Academic Achievement Maps test goals were set at 80% for students. The first quarter report shows that there is work to do. Tobey said he is expecting improvement in the test results in 3 weeks.
Before adjourning, the board approved a temporary appointment for School Board Treasurer due to unusual circumstances. According to board President Tom Osmond, the school’s checking account was compromised by an out-of-state scam, and a new account had to be opened with new signatures required. J.B Atkins has served as Treasurer for eight years but ends his service at the end of the year. The board voted to approve the temporary appointment of Amy Staples now to avoid the need to sign again after the first of the year if she is approved as the permanent Treasurer in 2025.
The next work session will be held at noon on December 2, 2024, and the regular meeting was scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on December 16, 2024. Both meetings will be held at the Broken Bow Library.
