The New Bremen Local Board of Education met in regular session at 7:00 p.m. in the High School Community Room.

Roll Call:  Mrs. Michele Bambauer, Mr. Scott Bertke, Mrs. Shelly Busse, Mr. Cory Suchland, and Mrs. Suzanne Wells. Also present were Superintendent Jason Schrader, K-6 Principal Diane Kramer, 7-12 Principal Marcus Overman, and Treasurer Jill Ahlers.  

Mr. Brian Puthoff reported on the progress of the One-to-One Initiative for New Bremen Schools.  He explained the One-to-One Committee was formed at the end of last school year and has been working out the details of the entire One-to-One Initiative. Activities included visiting with schools that currently have one-to-one programs, researching learning management systems to determine the best for New Bremen Schools, decided the district will use Chromebooks as its one-to-one device, and wrote the district’s One-to-One Guidelines and Chromebook Policy. The district is currently focusing on teachers becoming Google Certified Teachers and planning professional development for the remainder of the K-12 teaching staff.  One of the goals of district is to be one-to-one in grades 5-12 in four years.  To accomplish this, each year students in Grade 5 and Grade 9 will receive a new device.  There will be a fee assessed to students in the program, which includes one “accidental” repair, if needed.  Mr. Puthoff reported that our network infrastructure is ready for the increase amount of devices.  He also stated the district should realize a cost savings through the one-to-one initiative.  Carts of laptops, Chromebooks, or iPads will soon only be needed in younger grades, device duplication will be eliminated, and printing costs will go down since online collaboration and turning in assignments electronically will be expected. The current cost of a Chromebook ranges from $270 - $380 per device, which includes the licensing fee and case.  The district has secured funding to help offset the cost of the first year.  The technology fee will help offset costs of additional years. Mr. Puthoff stated student activity will be monitored using the systems we already have in place. 

K-6 principal, Diane Kramer, submitted the following report:

1.	Continuous improvement
•	Vaughn Ray from the Auglaize County ESC has been providing professional development to math and language arts teachers in grades 3-8.  The PD included reviewing released test questions from last year's State test, looking at our own assessment data from the test, student performance, analyzing possible gaps between grade levels, and reviewing the types of questions with depth of knowledge. 
•	On February 6th, Lauren Link, our school psychologist, and I attended day thee of PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) training in Lima.  We are in the process of meeting with the middle school and high school staffs to develop a districtwide PBIS team.
•	Congratulations to our Power of the Pen writing team under the direction of 6th grade language arts teacher Polly Rodgers on their accomplishments at the district tournament in Ft. Loramie.  Individual awards were won by Lexa Steinke, 11th place out of all 8th graders and Liv Gabel, 2nd place out of all 7th graders.  The 7th grade team placed 4th out of 11 teams overall.  These students advance to the Regional tournament on March 6th at Lourdes University.

2.	Instruction
•	The week of February 11th, third grade teachers started after school Title I Reading sessions on Mondays and Thursdays for students who did not pass the Ohio’s State Reading Test last fall.  Sessions will be from 3-4 p.m. and run for seven weeks.  The next administration of the test will be April 4-5th.
•	The one to one technology committee has been meeting to revise our policies to reflect Chromebooks being purchased for all 5th and 9th grade students for the 2019-2020 school year.

3.	 School Operations, Resources and Learning Environment
•	We currently have 60 students registered for kindergarten screening which will be held March 25th and 26th.
•	Our district Spelling Bee for grades 4-8 was held on February 5th at 9:00 a.m. in the middle school gym.  Congratulations to our winner, 6th grader Emma Eshleman and runner-up, 6th grader Sophia Eidson.  Emma will be representing New Bremen at the Regional Bee in Lima in March.
•	Sixth grade students went on a field trip to Victoria Theater on February 19th.
•	Fourth grade students were administered the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) test which measures student achievement across the nation.  The results are released as The Nation’s Report Card which provides information about student achievement to educators, parents, policymakers, and the public.  Our district was randomly selected and student participation is voluntary.
•	The staff salad bar has been a huge hit at the elementary.  We are averaging 20-30 salads each day.  The salad bar started for students in grades 7-8 on the 19th and will be offered to 6th grade next week.

4.	Collaboration
•	The second K-12 pep rally was held at the high school on January 25th.  It’s always a fun time for elementary students to visit the high school!
•	The senior winter athletes came to the elementary on February 11th to have lunch with our grades K-6 students.  We are planning a recess time for the spring senior athletes to visit with the elementary students.
•	The BIY (Believe in Yourself) committee is planning for the end of the year event.  The dates will be May 21st-22nd this year.  We are partnering Cardinal Pride to sponsor a field day for all students K-8 on the 21st and will continue to hold the 5K run as the culminating activity on the 22nd.

5.	Parent and Community Engagement
•	The final Kindergarten Project Ease was held January 15th.  The focus of this session was on writing sentences.

6.	 Special Education
•	The ESC is providing training to our Special Education teachers on the Progress Report section of writing IEPs.

Upcoming Events:
•	The Middle School Mid-Winter band concert will be held Thursday, February 28nd at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the MS gym.
•	The fourth grade spring musical will be held Thursday, March 14th at 9:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.  This year’s musical is entitled Pirates! The Musical.
•	No school on March 15th due to the teacher in-service which will include the health fair and ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training.
7-12 principal, Marcus Overman, submitted the following report:

Continuous Improvement
-	Vaughn Ray from the Auglaize County ESC was at New Bremen on Monday, February 4th and Thursday, February 7th to work with all math teachers in grades 3-8.  He worked with teachers on resources, data, instruction, and released test items from ODE.
-	Vaughn Ray will be at New Bremen on February 21st to work with our ELA teachers.  
-	Health and Physical Education for high school credit in the middle school grades.  

Instruction
-	Course Registration Meetings have been had with all students for next school year.  Mrs. Wendel and I met with each class to go over the offerings, and then sat down with each individual student to go over their requests.  We have entered all requests in the computer, and will be spending a day working with Andy Kemmer from WOCO to get us started on building the schedule.  
-	Course Offering Changes
o	Deletions
•	English 9 Honors
•	Creative Writing
•	Film as Literature I & II
•	Basic Geometry
•	Senior Advanced Math
•	Astronomy
•	Accounting II
•	Business 101
•	College & Career Explorations
o	New Options
•	Professional Communications & Careers
•	Political Science & Current Events
•	Accounting I
o	Other Changes
•	Graphic Design I & II will alternate years with Accounting I
•	Accounting I will be offered next year
•	OHSAA Officiating courses will be offered every other year
•	Not offered again until 2020-2021
-	High Honor Roll
o	7th Grade – 3 
o	8th Grade – 2 
o	9th Grade – 7
o	10th Grade – 9
o	11th Grade – 10
o	12th Grade - 6
-	Honor Roll
o	7th Grade – 20 
o	8th Grade – 25 
o	9th Grade 27
o	10th Grade – 20
o	11th Grade – 16
o	12th Grade – 32
-	Merit Roll
o	7th Grade – 11
o	8th Grade – 18 
o	9th Grade – 15
o	10th Grade – 19
o	11th Grade – 10
o	12th Grade – 11 
-	Congratulations to Tri-Star senior, Tyler Smart on earning a trip to the Business Professionals of America state competition.  Tyler finished in the top 6 at the Regional competition and will be competing in Fundamentals of Web Design.  

School Operations, Resources & Learning Environment
-	Nicotine Testing
-	The 7th grade students have begun their second Washington D.C. fundraiser.  They are selling Winner’s Meats products throughout the month of February.  
-	We had 14 sophomores apply for Tri-Star and each one was accepted into their first area of interest.  
-	Congratulations to Erin Smith who was chosen as our Franklin B. Walter Award winner this year.  
-	College Credit Plus Grading Scale

Collaboration
-	At our most recent Staff Collaboration we discussed the following:
o	PBIS
o	State Testing Resources
o	ACT Prep
o	Scheduling
o	Student Progress

Parent & Community Involvement
8th Grade Orientation was held at the end of January.  Every student was in attendance with at least one parent and the event lasted a little more than an hour.  Important
-	topics such as graduation, testing, course registration, Tri-Star, and One-to-One were covered.  
-	The College Credit Options meeting was held at the beginning of the month.  There were roughly 15 students in attendance as well as several representatives from area colleges.  
-	Congratulations to Sami Hemmelgarn, Madi Lozier, Spencer Elking, and Grant Brautigam for earning this year’s Cardinal Character Awards.  

Extra-Curricular Activities
-	Good Luck to the boys and girls varsity basketball teams who will begin their tournament in the near future.
-	Good Luck to the Techno Birds competing at state this weekend.
-	Best of Luck to Vivian Niekamp as she competes at the State Diving Championship.
-	Congratulations to the 7th Grade girls basketball team on their MAC Championship.
-	Congratulations to the 7th Grade boys basketball team on their MAC Championship.

Testing Dates
April 2nd – ELA I, Part 1
April 3rd – ELA I, Part 2
April 4th – ELA II, Part 1
April 5th – ELA II, Part 2
April 8th – American History, Parts 1 & 2
April 9th – Biology, Parts 1 & 2
April 10th – Government, Parts 1 & 2
April 11th – Algebra, Part 1
April 12th – Algebra, Part 2
April 15th – Geometry, Part 1
April 16th – Geometry, Part 2 

Upcoming Events
February 20th
	-ACT for all Juniors
February 21st
	-Leadership & Character Talks with MS students
February 22nd
	-Techno Birds State Competition
March 1st
	-Leadership & Character Talks with HS students
March 5th
	-OHSAA Spring Parent Meeting
March 6th
	-Talent Connections Forum
March 11th
	-Winter Sports Banquet
March 14th
	-End of 3rd Quarter
March 18th
	-Blood Drive
	-Open House
March 20th
	-Athletic Council Meeting

Athletic Director, Gary Jones, submitted the following report:

Athletic Department Update – February 2019
1.	Congratulations to the following winter athletes and teams 
-	Vivian Niekamp for placing 8th at the District meet and qualifying to the State Diving Finals 
-	The girls swim team for placing 1st at the Coldwater Invite and Sectional swim meets
-	The following ladies for earning All MAC Honors in basketball; Kelly Naylor 1st team, Madison Cordonnier 2nd team and Hanna Tenkman Honorable Mention

2.	We are planning to play a home girls and boys basketball game at the junior high gym on Saturday December 28th. The girls will play Lehman Catholic and the boys will play Riverside. More details to come.

3.	Activity free week will be June 30 – July 7 for 2019

4.	Varsity football games will start at 7 PM beginning in 2019

5.	We will be hosting the junior high MAC track meet this spring on Thursday May 9th  

6.	Upcoming Important dates

-	Baseball and softball practice begins 2/18
-	Girls sectional final game at St. Marys 2/23 at 6:15 PM
-	Boys sectional tournament game at Lima Bath 2/26 around 8 PM
-	Track practice begins March 1st
-	MAC winter banquet March 4th at Minster at 7 PM
-	Spring OHSAA parent meeting March 5th at 7 PM
-	New Bremen winter sports awards program March 11th at 7 PM
-	Spring sports media day March 12th 3 PM

Technology Director, Brian Puthoff, submitted the following report:

Treasurer’s Recommendations:
1.	Approve the Organizational and Regular School Board Meeting minutes on January 9, 2019, and the special meeting on February 6, 2019.
2.	Approve the General Fund Paid Bills . . . . . .	   $     182,276.84	    
3.	Approve the Lunchroom Fund Paid Bills . . .    	   $	  6,337.67	 
4.	Decrease anticipated revenues & appropriations for Title I by $9.12 for a new total of $58,144.88.
5.	Increase anticipated revenues & appropriations for Title III by $34.78 for a new total of $1,159.61.
6.	Accept a donation in the amount of $500,000.00.  Increase revenues and appropriations accordingly (Fund 019-9009).

19-14		Motion by Bertke second by Suchland that the board approve the motions contained in the Treasurer’s recommendations as presented. Upon the call of the roll, the vote was as follows: Bambauer, yes; Bertke, yes; Busse, yes; Suchland, yes; Wells, yes. Motion Carried.

Superintendent’s Recommendations 

1.	Resignations
Accept the retirement resignation of Kendra Knapke, effective May 31, 2019.  Mrs.  Knapke has been an employee of New Bremen Schools for 30 years. Thank you Mrs. Knapke for your years of service.

2. 	Supplemental Employment Contracts
Employ the following individuals for the 2018-19 school year, as listed:
Employee	Position	Step	Year	Type of Contract	
Mark Sharp	Varsity Track-B	3	2018-19	1 Year	
Chad Williams	Varsity Track-G	3	2018-19	1 Year	
Julie Ferguson	Asst. H.S. Track	3	2018-19	1 Year	
Kris Kuck	Asst. H.S. Track	1	2018-19	1 Year	
Lindsey Roiberg	Co. J.H. Track	3	2018-19	1 Year	
Seth Williams	Co. J.H.Track	2	2018-19	1 Year	
Cody King	Asst. J.H.Track	1	2018-19	1 Year	
Joel Niekamp	Asst. J.H.Track	1	2018-19	1 Year	
Chad Wells	Baseball	3	2018-19	1 Year	
Cory Stephens	Reserve Baseball	3	2018-19	1 Year	
Will Hoskins	Asst. Baseball/Grade 9-(1/3 position)	1	2018-19	1 Year	
Logan O'Neill	Asst. Baseball/Grade 9-(1/3 position)	3	2018-19	1 Year	
Jack Gilberg   	Asst. Baseball/Grade 9-(1/3 position)	2	2018-19	1 Year	
Carol Krumm	JV Softball (2/3 position)	1	2018-19	1 Year	
Michelle Voress	JV Softball (1/3 position)	1	2018-19	1 Year	
Chad Wells	HS BB/SB Facility Coordinator	N/A	2018-19	1 Year	

3.	Volunteers Recognized  
Recognized the following Athletic Volunteer(s) for the 2018-19 school year:

Community Individual	Athletic Team	
Tom Thieman	JH Girls Basketball	
Chris Keller	Baseball	
Mark Cisco	Softball	

19-15		Motion by Wells second by Bambauer that the board approve the appropriation resolution as presented.  Upon the call of the roll, the vote was as follows: Bertke, yes; Busse, yes; Suchland, yes; Wells, yes; Bambauer, yes.  Motion carried.  

  Informational Items
A. Valuation
Every year during the month of December/January, the Auglaize County Auditor sends each school the valuation of the school district for that particular calendar year.  The new valuation of the New Bremen School District in addition to the percent of change over the previous year is listed below:  
Tax Year 		Valuation	Percent Change Over Previous Year	
1999	(6 Year)	91,359,940	8.60%	
2000		97,955,010	7.22%	
2001		96,113,666	-1.88%	
2002	(3 Year)	102,262,150	6.40%	
2003		98,294,742	-3.88%	
2004		101,650,744	3.41%	
2005	(6 Year)	101,679,874	0.03%	
2006		99,835,910	-1.81%	
2007		94,585,721	-5.26%	
2008	(3 Year)	99,778,340	5.49%	
2009		101,337,350	1.56%	
2010		102,689,920	1.33%	
2011	(6 Year)	101,558,200	-1.10%	
2012		102,161,390	0.59%	
2013		103,317,190	1.13%	
2014	(3 Year)	111,945,970	8.35%	
2015		113,856,600	1.71%	
2016		114,913,370	0.93%	
2017	(6 Year)	120,790,910	5.11%	
2018		122,742,720	1.62%	

B. Accounting & Payroll Software Conversion
	The State software currently being used for accounting and payroll is being phased out.  We have the option of converting to the new Redesign State software or e-Finance Plus.  The e-Finance Plus software has many features and benefits that are not available in Redesign.  

C.	Public Notice – Title VIB Hearing
New Bremen Local Schools receive federal Special Education IDEA Part B funds to assist with the education of handicapped children aged 3 through 21, Community members who would like to have input into the planning of the use of the federal IDEA funds are welcome to provide comment during our public hearing to be held on March 20, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at the High School Community Room. (At the March Board meeting)

D.	New Bremen Education Foundation
The 2019 Fund Drive for the New Bremen Education Foundation is now underway.  During the 2018 Fund Drive, our efforts resulted in 85 scholarships totaling $88,270 being awarded to the 2018 Seniors.  Any group or individual interested in making a contribution can do so by cash, check, or online at www.newbremenfoundation.org/donate-now.  Checks should be made payable to “New Bremen Foundation” with the scholarship name noted in the memo line and can be mailed to: New Bremen Foundation, PO Box 97, New Bremen, OH 45869.  If you have any questions please contact Anna Rammel, New Bremen Foundation Coordinator, at 419-629-9260 or anna.rammel@newbremenfoundation.org. All donations are tax deductible as provide by law.

E. Building Project Update- 
•	The Groundbreaking Ceremony is scheduled for March 28, 2019 at 1:00 PM
•	Gilbane Meeting: Discussed what the construction fence will enclose and what changes in our practices need to be made (example: Fire Drills)
•	Class composites are now digitized and need to be put back into frames and hung back up

F. Roof at JH Building
•	The Junior High Gym roof needs repaired in 5 locations due to rotting.

G. Cafeteria Update
•	First round of cafeteria manager interviews begin early March (March 4 & 7)
•	Participation in school lunches has increased with the implementation of the salad bar

H. Bus Purchase – 19/20 SY
1. Information was provided on gas vs. diesel buses
2. Repair costs were provided for the 14/15school year through the current 18/19 school year.
Executive Session:

A.	The Board or Superintendent may desire to adjourn to Executive Session for the express purpose of discussing:
☒ Personnel
           	☐ Appointment or Evaluation		☐ Promotion
                 	☒ Employment                    		☐ Demotion
      	☐ Dismissal                          		☐ Compensation

Investigation of Charges or Complaints Against an Employee, Official, or Student

            	☐ Discipline                          		☐

☐ Property Purchase or Sale
☐ Conferences with an Attorney Involving Pending or Imminent Court Action
☐ Negotiations (Preparing, Conducting, or Reviewing)
☐ Matters Required to be Kept Confidential by Fed/State Law
☐ Security Arrangements

19-16              Motion by Bambauer, second by Bertke to adjourn to executive session for the purposes of Personnel - Employment at 8:23 p.m.  Upon the call of the roll, the vote was as follows: Wells, yes; Bambauer, yes; Bertke, yes; Busse, yes; Suchland, yes. Motional Carried.
	
19-17             Motion by Suchland second by Bambauer to return to regular session at 9:00 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
	
19-18	         Motion by Busse, second by Suchland to adjourn the meeting at 9:01 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.

				
			President							Treasurer