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.  

President Shelly Busse led the pledge of allegiance.

Presentations: 

FFA members were present to update the board on what they have been participating in and shared several accomplishments.   FFA members present included Hannah Kramer, Grace Wilker, Alli Wilker. FFA instructor, Maria Homan, was also present. The New Bremen FFA was recognized as a Three Star National Chapter and Joanna Frankenberg was the National Winner of the Dairy Placement Proficiency Award at the National FFA Convention!

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

1.	Continuous Improvement
•	Teacher level Value-Added reports were released the first week of November.  Lindsey Schmiesing from Mercer County ESC was here last week to meet with teachers to look at strengths, weaknesses, and trends in data.  Additional professional development will occur in December.

2.	Instruction
•	The third grade Ohio Reading Achievement Assessment was administered online to all third grade students the mornings of October 22nd and 23rd.  Results will be available in mid-December.
•	Students in grades 2 and 4 were administered the Iowa Achievement Test and the CogAT Cognitive Ability Test over the past couple of weeks.  These assessments are administered online and used for gifted identification as well as determining student interventions.
•	Learning opportunities for students outside of our classroom walls:
•	Sixth grade students attended a manufacturing field trip to Crown, Coldwater Machine, and JR Manufacturing on October 18th.
•	Fourth grade students attended a musical presentation at the Schuster Center in Dayton on October 30th.
•	Students in grades 3-5 attended a science presentation at the high school on November 7th sponsored by Lock One Community Arts.

3.	 School Operations, Resources and Learning Environment
•	Our two Lego League teams have been busy preparing for their upcoming competition.  They attended a practice day at Honda in Anna and hosted area schools for an evening here at New Bremen.  Their competition will be this Saturday, November 23rd at Versailles Local Schools.

4.	Collaboration
•	The elementary Lean Six Sigma team completed the yellow belt training and will continue to work on implementation of a research based phonics program in grades K-2.
•	Right to Read Week was held the week of November 4th for grades K-8.  The theme this year was “Right to Read Week: Arctic Adventure Book Fair:  Snow Much Fun to Read!”  The book fair was open to the public both Monday and Wednesday evenings.  Money generated will go towards purchasing books for both libraries.

5.	Parent and Community Engagement
•	Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plans have been written for over 40 students in grades K-3.  This is a requirement for the Third Grade Reading Guarantee.
•	Parent teacher conferences were held the evenings of October 28th and November 4th.  Parents again had the option of having a phone conference, in person conference, or no conference if agreed upon by teachers.
•	On November 6th, Cardinal Pride sponsored “Donuts with Grown-Ups”.  Students in grades K-8 invited parents/grandparents in for donuts and beverages before school.  We had close to 600 students and guests in attendance.
•	The annual Veteran’s Day Assembly was held on Monday, November 11th.  We had a record number of veterans in attendance this year.  A special thank you goes out to Niles Harris, New Bremen native and Vietnam Veteran, for making the trip from South Dakota to attend and speak at the assembly.
•	Also on November 11th, our third grade students were invited to Elmwood to sing for the residents at their Veteran’s Day Program.  Students sang the same songs they sang at our Veteran’s Day Assembly.
•	The second Cardinal Pride meeting was held on Monday evening.  They just wrapped up a fund raiser selling “Cardinal” socks.  A special thank you goes out to Cardinal Pride for providing meals for our teachers during parent-teacher conferences.

6.	 Building Project
•	Our second Junior Builders program was held October 25th.  Students toured the building site and learned how to read blue prints.

Upcoming Events:
•	November 26	Kindergarten Grandparents Day – 1:30 p.m.
•	December 2-5	Santa Shop sponsored by Cardinal Pride – Grades K-5
•	December 12	2nd Grade Christmas Musical – “A Holiday Road Trip” – 9:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
•	December 16	Middle School Christmas Band Concert – 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Donuts with Grownups
             
Veteran’s Day Assembly

7-12 Principal, Marcus Overman, submitted the following report:

Continuous Improvement
-	Jim Place was in the High School last Friday to speak to students during our Power of the Cardinal Character Session.  Mr. Place is a hall of fame football coach and is widely considered “The Character Coach.” He spent 49 years in education as an administrator, athletic director and as the Director of Character Education at Hamilton City Schools.  He currently teachers Character Ed courses at The University of Dayton and has spoken at more than 300 conferences.  
-	I am working with Tri-Star and the CBI program to improve the process for students to complete the OhioMeansJobs Job Readiness Seal.  We will be working together to create a process for students to use that is easy on employers but still gives us the documentation that we need.  We hope to have something developed in the near future and then present it to all of the principals.  
-	Lindsey Schmiesing from Mercer County ESC was in on November 14th to talk to middle school value-added teachers about their scores as well as areas of strength and areas for improvement.  Item Analysis information was provided to the teachers to show how students scored on the state tests last year on various areas of the test. 

Instruction
-	Honor Roll Numbers for the 1st Quarter
o	High Honor Roll – 5 Middle School/28 High School
o	Honor Roll – 54 Middle School/100 High School
o	Merit Roll – 25 Middle School/58 High School
-	Karen Rose from Mercer County ESC was in on November 19th to watch the middle school math and ELA teachers conduct a lesson.  In the near future, Karen and I will be meeting with the teachers to discuss items that we saw, both good and bad, during the lesson.  She will do the same thing with high school math and ELA teachers on November 21st.  
-	The CogAT and Iowa assessments have been given to 2nd and 4th graders.  These tests are our new assessments used to identify students as gifted.  

School Operations, Resources & Learning Environment
-	School Safety
o	On October 25th we conducted a lockdown drill and brought drug dogs through the building and parking lot.
o	On October 29th we conducted an active shooter drill.  Chief Skinner and I spoke with kids to go over the process, ran the drill twice, and then had a debrief at the end.  
-	Current 8th and 9th graders visited Tri-Star on November 7th to gain more knowledge about the programs offered and to see the new facilities.  Sophomores listed to a Tri-Star presentation on November 6th and interested sophomores will have the option to visit Tri-Star coming up on December 11th. 
-	A grab and go breakfast will be offered to 9-12 students starting on December 2nd.  Thank you to Mary Williams for working on this and organizing it for students.  

Collaboration
-	I am working with teachers to set the upcoming Exam Schedule for the 1st semester.  It will most likely look the same as it did last year for both Middle School and High School teachers and students.
-	Our Green Belt Team is still working on creating the best Bell Schedule for the 2020-21 school year.  We are providing surveys to the staff and trying to get a feel of what they think will work best.  Our team is also working with another Green Belt team as they are working to refine CPT to make it the best use of time for our staff and students.  

Parent & Community Involvement
-	We had over 40 parents attend Parent Teacher Conferences at the Middle School and nearly 100 parents at the High School.  
-	On October 28th, Mrs. Wendel organized a College presentation as well as a Financial Aid presentation for parents of upperclassmen.  Her presentation consisted of college applications, ACT information, scholarships, and other college information.  The Financial Aid presentation was given by a rep from UNOH and focused mainly on the FAFSA.  
-	A community pep rally was held on November 7th to show support for the volleyball and football teams.  It is great to see the community coming together to support our student athletes in such a great way.  I want to thank and congratulate the coaches and athletes for a season well done!
-	A Welcome Home event was held for the State Championship Volleyball team on Sunday, November 10th.  It was a great turnout to celebrate the coaches and players one last time.  

Upcoming Events
Friday, November 22nd
	-Junior Builders Meeting 11:00
Wednesday, November 27th
	-Blood Drive
	-NHS Induction Ceremony 2:00
Thursday, November 28th & 29th
	-No School
Tuesday, December 3rd
	-EOC Re-Takes (AM)
Wednesday, December 4th
	-EOC Re-Takes (PM)
Monday, December 9th
	-HS Exam Materials Passed Out during CPT
	-MS Exam Materials Passed Out during CPT
Wednesday, December 11th
	-Collaboration
	-Tri Star Visit (Interested Sophomores)
	-Board Meeting
Thursday, December 12th
	-RE 2 Meeting
Friday, December 13th
	-Secret Santa Staff Lunch
Monday, December 16th
	-MS Band Concert 2:00 & 7:30
Tuesday, December 17th
	-HS Band Concert 7:30
Wednesday, December 18th
	-Exams
Thursday, December 19th
	-Exams
Friday, December 20th
	-Exams

Athletic Director, Gary Jones, submitted the following report:

November Athletic Department Update
1.	New Basketball scoreboards are up in the gym, locker room clocks, backboard lighting and shot clocks will be finished over the next few weeks. Thank you again to our sponsors, Thieman Quality Metals, NkTelco, First National Bank and Minster Bank

2.	Fall work on the softball/baseball has been completed. Work included laser grading the infields and placing more infield material to get the grade back to the idea level. Over seeding outfield areas that were getting thin.

3.	A new discuss cage will be put up either this fall or next spring. The old cage needed upgraded to a safer model.

4.	  What a great fall season New Bremen Athletics are having. 

-	Volleyball won their second Stater Championship in 3 years and has played in the Championship game for 3 consecutive years. Congratulations to Coach Kramer, her staff and senior Macy Puthoff, Taylor Paul and Ashton Heitkamp for a 4-year accumulative record of 103 wins and 11 losses.
-	Football team qualified for the OHSAA tournament, the 3rd time in school history. We are currently in the regional final game at Wapakoneta on Saturday night versus Marion Local. 
-	Sarah Parker set a school record in golf and qualified to Regional Competition
-	The following Athletes earned post season awards (some football awards have not been announced yet) 
                 All League MAC 
                     Landin Boyle – 2nd team cross country
                     Madison Cordonnier – 2nd team cross country
                     Sarah Parker – 1st team golf (4th year on 1st team)
                     Cassie Stachler – 2nd team golf
                     Alli Wilker – honorable mention golf
                     Macy Puthoff – 1st team volleyball
                     Taylor Paul – 1st team volleyball
                     Claire Pape – 1st team volleyball
                     Josie Reinhart – 2nd team volleyball
                     Diana Heitkamp – honorable mention volleyball
                     Ashton Heitkamp – honorable mention volleyball
                     Mitchell Hays – 1st team football
                     Ryan Paul – 2nd team football
                     Zach Bertke – 2nd team football
                     Wyatt Dicke – 2nd team football
                     Dan Homan – 2nd team football
                     Spencer Alig – honorable mention football
                     Nolan Bornhorst – honorable mention football
                     Sean LaFleur – honorable mention football
                     Ben Blickle – honorable mention football
                 District 8 volleyball
                     Macy Puthoff – 1st team, All star match
                     Taylor Paul – 1st team, All star match
                     Claire Pape – 1st team 
                     Josie Reinhart – honorable mention 
                 All Ohio Volleyball
                     Macy Puthoff – 1st team
                     Claire Pape – 1st team
                     Taylor Paul – 3rd team
                Coaches/Administrators
                     Diana Kramer – Coach of the year MAC
                     Diana Kramer – OHSVCA Lifetime Achievement Award 
                     Burt Fiser – OIAAA Hall of Fame
                     Gary Jones – OIAAA Athletic Director of the Year  

Technology, Brian Puthoff:

•	Meals Plus Cafeteria System
We have started the process of converting our point of sale system within our cafeteria from Food Service Solutions to Meals Plus. The Meals Plus system has more, and better, functionality for our cafeteria staff, better reporting for our financial department, is more intuitive and user friendly and is the same yearly cost as our current system. The new system will also utilize a different online payment system for our parents. Right now, we are in the process of converting our data to the new system and attending training on the new system. We plan to switch over sometime after the first of the year. Information on the new online payment system for parents will go home with students before Thanksgiving.

•	District Website and Smartphone App:
We have started the process of designing our district smartphone app and we have started the process of re-designing our district website. At this time, the admin team is completing design work to help us get a better feel for what we would like to see in both of these system. We plan to have these systems ready in early spring. More information to come as this project continues…

•	Library Automation:
Starting in April, we will be using a new automation system for managing our school libraries. This new system, called SIRSI, is used by all other schools in our area. Shelley This and I are heading up this project to convert our library data over to the new system. This new system will provide the same functionality as our current system, but for a lower cost to the district.

Treasurer’s Recommendations:
1.	Approve the General Fund Paid Bills . . . . . .	   $  	92,148.60	 
2.	Approve the Lunchroom Fund Paid Bills . . .    $      14,313.71	 
3.	Establish the following activity accounts and increase revenues and appropriations as listed for each account:  
Account	Account Number	Estimated Revenues	Estimated Appropriations	
Cardinal Business Club	200-935A	$1,000	   $500	
Football Parents 	300-959A	$5,000	$2,000	
Volleyball Parents	300-959B	$9,000	$7,300	
Boys Basketball Parents	300-959C	$5,000	$2,000	

4.	Decrease anticipated revenues & appropriations for the OHSAA Volleyball Tournament (022-900B) by $5,600 for a new total of $600.00.
5.	Increase anticipated revenues & appropriations for Title I by $1,545.36 for a new total of $50,803.43.
6.	Decrease anticipated revenues & appropriations for Title II by $234.94 for a new total of $9,722.60.
7.	Increase anticipated revenues & appropriations for Safety Grant (#499-0000) to  $3,318.27.
8.	Increase anticipated revenues & appropriations for BWC Safety Grant (#499-9999) to $40,000.00.
9.	Establish Fund #467-9020 for the new Student Wellness & Success funds and increase revenues and appropriations by $30,791.59.
10.	Accept an anonymous donation of $3,259.20 for basketball uniforms.
11.	Approve the 5-year Forecast dated November 20, 2019

19-66		Motion by Bertke second by Suchland that the board approve the motions contained in the Treasurer’s recommendations, with the exception of Item #1 – approve the minutes from the October 16, 2019 board meeting. The minutes were not uploaded to the Board website; therefore they will be place on the November Board meeting agenda to be approved. 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.	Volunteers Recognized
Recognized the following Athletic Volunteer for the 2019-20 school year:

Community Individual	Band or Athletic Team	
Nate Niekamp				Diving

2.	Payment in Lieu of Transportation 

Transportation to Holy Rosary Catholic School for two students is impractical for the New Bremen Local School District.  In lieu of transportation the Board of Education agrees to pay Laura Gerlach a total of $725.00 per child, a total of $1,450.00 for their two children at the end of the 2019-20 school year based on completion of the school year.

19-67		Motion by Wells, second by Busse that the Board approve the Superintendent recommendations 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.  

Other New Business

A.	Resolution:

RESOLUTION NO. 19-65
ACCEPTING $374,735.50 IN ALTERNATES AT THE 
NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROJECT
The Superintendent recommends approval to add selected alternates in the amount of $374,735.50 to the scope of work included in the New Elementary School project.
Rationale:
1.	The New Bremen Local School District Board of Education (the Board) previously approved and entered into a CMR contract with Gilbane Building Company for the New Elementary School project.
2.	An Add Alternate list of 16 items was created during design for the District to incorporate into the project if funds became available after bidding. 
3.	The bidding did not result in enough funds becoming available for the project to use cofunded dollars to pay for selected Alternates, therefore LFI funds will be needed to pay for these items.
4.	Alternate items #4-15 will be listed as Contingent LFI, and can be funded by cofunded dollars if there are said dollars remaining at the end of the project. 
5.	Gilbane Building Company will prepare change orders to add the selected Alternates to the cost of the project. The change orders will be reviewed and approved by the School District, Architect, and the OFCC Project Manager.
6.	The New Bremen Local Schools superintendent recommends approval to add the following alternates and seeks authorization to execute the change orders of the following alternates, all of which are 100% LFI: 
Alternate #4 North parking lot work $97,034.59
Alternate #5 Ceramic wall tile in corridor $58,702.42
Alternate #6 Ceramic wall tile in restrooms $24,611.00
Alternate #7 Raised platforms $2,094.20
Alternate #8 Change carpet to rubber $28,982.63
Alternate #9 Parking lot lights $49,946.58
Alternate #10 Gym divider curtain $10,994.53
Alternate #11 Acoustical overhead door $36,857.86
Alternate #12 Site plantings $41,883.93
Alternate #13 Pedestrian pavement $13,889.76
Alternate #15 Post & panel signs $9,738.01

The Board resolves as follows:
1.	Selected Alternates listed above are approved to add to the scope of work for the New Elementary School project.
2.	Change orders adding the selected Alternates to the scope of work for the New Elementary School project, all of which are 100% LFI, are approved, subject to the review of the Architect, and OFCC project manager. 
3.	The Superintendent and Treasurer are authorized to sign the change orders once they have been reviewed and approved by the Architect and OFCC Project Manager.
4.	The Treasurer is authorized to issue a purchase order for the selected alternates, or otherwise amend the existing purchase order for Gilbane Building Company.

19-68	         Motion by Bertke, second by Bambauer that the board approve the other new business items as presented.  Upon the call of the roll, the vote was as follows: Suchland, yes; Wells, yes; Bambauer, yes; Bertke, yes; Busse, yes. Motion Carried.

Informational Items
A.	Cafeteria Data
The following number of students were approved for Free or Reduced Lunches:
  		
Year	Free	Reduced	Total	
2007-08	46	23	69	
2008-09	64	29	93	
2009-10	79	43	122	
2010-11	92	17	109	
2011-12	84	14	98	
2012-13	60	24	84	
2013-14	68	24	92	
2014-15	60	8	68	
2015-16	46	10	56	
2016-17	43	13	56	
2017-18	45	0	45	
2018-19	32	6	38	
2019-20	45	2	47	

B.  Health Insurance Costs
The Mercer/Auglaize Benefit Trust Trustees reported the following premium costs for the 2020 plan year:

Plan	Single	Family	% Change	
Alt PPO Plan	$871.06	$2,137.77	+12.0%	
HSA Plan	676.13	1,787.97	+12.0%	
Dental Plan	37.34	100.41	+0.0%	

There will be a health insurance premium holiday in November, 2020.

C. Transportation Data
Each year, the Ohio Department of Education requests various transportation information pertaining to the opening of school.  The following information is shared with the board to compare transportation data with past school years.  

	                         	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	
Daily Miles Driven    	183	207	191	168	204	158	
Daily Students Trans.	261	256	240	235	260	249	
Yrly Cost For Trans.	$167,078	$191,298	$192,595	$208,056	$225,682	$216,373	
Maint. And Repair       	$31,987	$33,933	$38,633	$45,044	$54,969	$41,477	
Fuel Costs                   	$31,264	$25,323	$18,000	$20,947	$22,082	$23,905	
Actual Annual Miles -  from odom.   	46,170	52,227	  48,998	50,293	50,000	50,392	

D.	There will be a public hearing at the December school board meeting to discuss school calendar options.

E.	Building Project Update: 
1.	Substantial Completion Date of August 18
2.	$15,000 spent for overtime on project
3.	Continuing to lay block & complete Roofing-Goal to be enclosed by December

4.	The December Board meeting will be on December 11 at 6:00

5.	Christmas gathering – December 20 at the American Legion – 3:00 p.m.

19-69	         Motion by Suchland, second by Busse to adjourn the meeting at 8:10 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.

				
			President							Treasurer