The Falls City Public Schools held its regular monthly board meeting on Monday, July 8, 2024. Here are the highlights of the meeting.

Required Annual Policy Hearings - The Board of Education conducted public hearings and a review on several policies requiring an opportunity for public input and review. Those specific board policies included 7500 Student Fees; and 8310 Parental Involvement. The Student Fee Fund is a separate school district fund, not funded by tax revenue, into which all money collected from students pursuant to the ESEA Student Fee Authorization Act must be deposited. The Student Fee Waivers and Driver’s Education are accounted for through this program. The district’s parental involvement policy is required by state law and requires the board to hold a public hearing. After the hearing, the board reaffirmed it as written.

Facility Improvements Underway - The carpeting replacement projects at North School and the Middle School have been completed and new classroom furniture for two kindergarten classrooms at North School will accompany these improvements. An updated fire alarm panel project at South School is partially underway and is planned for completion prior to the start of school. The gym light LED conversion is complete at the high school, with the middle school slated for completion in two weeks. The asphalt milling, overlay, and striping project at the high school began on Monday July 8th, and will be accompanied by a new striping layout designed to ease congestion and improve traffic flow in the high school parking lot. And last, the stadium turf impact evaluation has been completed by Turf Diagnostics, resulting in a favorable report on the football field’s condition.

School District Budget - Property Tax Authority and State Aid (TEEOSA) has been certified with State Aid set at $1,456,096. This is approximately the same state-level funding the district received in the 2023-2024 fiscal year. The 2024 preliminary property valuation is $1,209,120,106. This is a $108,073,576 increase at 9.82% over 2023. The Board of Education will engage in a budget work session on August 26th for planning purposes regarding the preliminary 2024-2025 school district budget.

NDEE Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant Awarded - The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) informed the Falls City Public School District that the department’s application to EPA’s 2022-2023 Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) National Grant competition has been fully funded. This grant award will allow NDEE to fund the school bus replacement project proposed by Falls City Public Schools, along with projects from ten other school districts and one refuse company. The district applied to replace a 2004 Thomas bus with a new diesel bus with a quoted price of $135,100.  The expected reimbursement for this project is 25% of the purchase price up to a maximum reimbursement of $24,000. The school bus replacement project must be completed and reimbursement requested by June 30, 2026.

School Board Policies Reviewed and Updated - With the conclusion of the 108th Nebraska Legislature, school districts are required to update and adopt policy changes that go into effect July 19th for the 2024-2025 school year. The Board of Education reviewed and adopted 12 board policies.

The District 56 Board of Education acted on several items before concluding the regular meeting.

1.     Approved the final reading on Policy Reviews and Revisions: 1) 7500 Student Fees; 2) 8310 Parental Involvement in Education; 3) 7142 Bullying;  4) 8312 District Title I Parental Involvement and Family Engagement; 5) 3060 Firearms and Weapons for Non-Students; 6) 5320 Transportation; 7) 5351 Audio and Video Recording; 8) 7128 Emergency Exclusion; 9) 7135 Student Cell Phone and Other Electronic Devices; 10) 8216 Reading Instruction and Intervention Services; 11) 8313 Repeat of Grade at Parent-Guardian Request.

2.     Approved a school budget work session for Monday, August 26 at 6PM.

3.     Set Budget and Property Tax Hearings for September 9, 2024 at 7PM.

            The next regular monthly Board of Education meeting is scheduled for August 12, 2024 at 7:00 P.M. in the Central Office in Falls City Middle School. Regular and special meeting agendas are kept in the Office of the Superintendent, Tim Heckenlively.

District policy is that no person shall be subject to discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or handicap in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups.