The Broken Bow Board of Education met Monday, December 15 at 6:00 PM for its regular session. Board Member Colby Fisher was the sole absence from the meeting held at the Broken Bow Middle School/High School District Conference Room.
Tobey Receives Positive Feedback in Annual Review
The primary item of business for the evening was a review of the annual evaluation of BBPS Superintendent Darren Tobey. Board President Tom Osmond stated that the position is individually reviewed by each board member using a nine-item rubric. Each rubric item is scored on a 4-point scale.
Tobey received an overall average score of 3.68 out of 4. Most items, including shared “vision and strategic direction”, “policy and education system”, and “collaboration with families and communities”, were scored in the 3.7 – 3.8 range.
The low score of 3.5 was received on the item “teaching and learning”. Comments accompanying the grade, however, noted that with Tobey holding both the superintendent and high school principal position currently, there was a lot on Tobey’s plate at the moment.
Tobey’s high score came in “leadership, conduct, and professional growth”, a 4 out of 4. Reviewers commented, “You’re a great leader who speaks honestly with the board, families and community.” “There’s no sugar coating to make him or district look better.” “Proactive instead of reactive – holds yourself accountable consistently.”
With construction and regular activities ongoing this year, Osmond said he viewed this as “the most impressive year”.
Board Member Amy Staples said that in discussions with teachers that “it was very evident that they all bought in and how positive the culture is across the board.”
Tobey stated after receiving the feedback that “it’s important that everybody understands that this is only done because of the people that have around you. We’re really good staff, really good students.”
Other School Board Actions
At the starting of the meeting, Staples provided a high-level view of the school finances, noting a monthly income in November of approximately $250,000 and outlay of $1.1 Million. While the revenue was slightly lower than average, this was viewed as likely to due to timing. The expenditure was typical for the season.
There were very few bond/construction expenditures noted in the expense report for the month. With construction wrapping up, Tobey noted that the first payment on the school construction bond was made on Monday.
Other expenses such as upcoming conference trips for Professional Learning Community training and interest payments for the North Park Bond were discussed, and the Board approved the Financial Report.
Construction work is getting down to activities such as installation of flooring in the last of the renovated classrooms. Tobey stated a final walk-through of the updates will be conducted January 5, with a move-in date of January 12.
In District Accolades, Tobey noted that the Winter Sports Season is now well under-way with some sports wrapping up and others getting ready to start. One-Act has completed its activities for the year, and Speech will also be getting going soon.
In Board Member Comments, Pam Holcomb noted her recent attendance at the Nebraska Association of School Boards (NASB) Conference in November. Sessions at the conference showed that both chronic absenteeism among students and the number of non-returning teachers are trending down in recent years. Holcomb told the board to expect this year’s legislative session to include proposals for hard caps on education spending, student outcomes and changes to how schools receive funding.
Holcomb informed the Board that she will be serving on the NASB Legislative Committee this year.
The Board also discussed the purchase of a new vehicle for trips by smaller school groups. The school had planned to purchase a 2025 Chevrolet Suburban. However, Tobey told the Board that the required options were not available at this time and the purchase had fallen through. As an alternative, Tobey said the school would be ordering a 2026 model from Gateway Motors. Although the vehicle will now take about three months to arrive, the price will be the same as already planned– about $65,000.
The meeting adjourned at 6:45 PM. The Broken Bow Board of Education is planning on a retreat January 5, with a with a working session to follow at 12:00 PM that day. The next regular meeting of the Broken Bow School Board will be Monday, January 19, 2026 at 6:00 PM in the Broken Bow Middle School/High School District Conference Room.
