A review of Omaha Public Schools Board of Education meetings.
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May 7, 2024
Following each Board of Education meeting, the Office of District Communications recaps the board meeting in the Board Digest.
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Congress Debate State Winner | |
The #OPSProud Spotlight recognized Central High senior Charlie Yale for winning the state title in Congress Debate at the Nebraska State Debate Tournament. | |
Board of Education Consent Agenda | |
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Consent agenda items are packaged into one agenda item. They are often routine and garner very little discussion.
The consent agenda items were:
- Staff Adjustments
- Approval of Additional Liability Insurance Package Negotiated with First National Insurance Company for Property Insurance Coverage from May 1, 2024 through April 30, 2025 ($592,290.00)
- Approval to Award Bid No. 24-025 to Rotella’s Italian Bakery for Bread Products for the 2024-2025 School Year ($786,000.00)
- Approval to Award Bid No. 24-050 and Contract to Grunwald Mechanical, Inc. for OPS Pool Equipment Upgrades, Summer of 2024 ($1,865,225.00)
- Approval of Change Order No. 001 for Bid 23-060 Benson High School Addition – Add $394,840.00 Revised Total: $7,376,140.00
- Approval to Enter into Contract with Zum Services, Inc. for Student Transportation Services for the 2024-2025, 2025-2026, and 2026-2027 School Years (Estimated First-Year Cost is $18,685,370.00)
- Approval to Exercise First One-Year Extension with Performance Food Group, Inc. for Food and Paper Products for the 2024-2025 School Year ($19,092,000.00)
- Approval to Exercise the Second and Final Extension for the Agreement with Henry Schein for Medical Supplies for the 2024-2025 School Year ($130,200.00)
- Approval to Exercise the Second and Final Extension of the Agreement with School Health for Medical Supplies for the 2024-2025 School Year ($387,300.00)
- Approval of Extension of Contract with Security Equipment, Inc. (SEI) for Monitoring and Maintenance of Intrusion Alarms, Fire Alarms and Elevator Phones at all Locations ($532,848.00)
- Approval of First Amendment to Tower Cell Site Lease Agreement with DISH Wireless L.L.C. for Replacement of Antennas at Benson High School Tower Facility
- Approval to Purchase Two-Hundred Thirty-Five (235) MacBook Air Laptops for High School Journalism Classrooms ($295,865.00)
- Approval of Second Amendment to Memorandum of Understanding with Midland University for ESL Endorsement Program from August 1, 2024 through July 31, 2025 ($170,000)
- Approval of Second Reading of Policies
- Approval of Second Reading of the 2024-2025 Code of Conduct
- Approval of Proposed Staffing Adjustments
View the entire consent agenda.
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Board of Education Action Items | |
Approval to Award Proposal P002-24 to Skill Struck and CodeHS for K-12 Computer Science Technology Materials and Resources for the 2024-25 through 2030-31 School Years | |
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Curriculum and Instruction Support (CIS) staff shared the process they undertook to review new computer science technology materials and resources. In April 2022, the state Legislature passed LB 1112, which outlined revisions to state standards and graduation requirements in computer science. Computer science and technology includes knowledge and skills in computer literacy, educational technology, digital citizenship, information technology and computer science.
In spring 2023, our district aligned our standards with the new state requirements. Staff have since been working to select materials and resources.
Our district issued a request for proposals for materials. Staff then selected initial materials, led teacher reviews, community reviews and field testing. Staff summarized the findings and recommendations for the Board.
Our district curriculum committee recommended Skill Struck for elementary and CodeHS for secondary. The Board approved the recommended resources. The agreements will come back before the Board for final approval.
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Approval to Award Proposal P004-24 to Davis Publications for K-12 Visual Arts Materials and Resources for the 2024-25 through 2030-31 School Years | |
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Curriculum and Instruction Support (CIS) staff shared the process they undertook to review new K-12 visual arts materials and resources. Our district issued a request for proposals for materials. Staff then selected initial materials, led teacher reviews, community reviews and field testing. Staff summarized the findings and recommendations for the Board.
Our district curriculum committee recommends Davis Publications for K-12 materials and resources. This resource gives students access to materials in hard copy and electronically. The Board approved the recommended resources. The agreements will come back before the Board for final approval.
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Approval of Agreement with the Omaha Education Association to Amend the Collective Bargaining Agreement | |
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Our district proposed an updated agreement with the Omaha Education Association (OEA). It builds on the pay increases approved last year in the original contract. These changes are designed to better recognize staff for long-term service and advanced education.
Key updates include:
- Further increasing salaries for educators with a master’s degree.
- Further increasing salaries for educators with a doctoral degree.
- Adding a MA18 paygrade (master’s degree plus 18 graduate hours) between the MA and PHD levels.
- Paying a stipend for special education teachers who are covering additional IEP’s due to a vacant position.
- Increasing pay for instructional facilitators by 10% with an additional 18 days or equivalent time on each school year’s duty calendar.
The Board approved the updated agreement with the Omaha Education Association which begins with the 2024-25 school year.
The approved update will be posted to ops.org for your reference once available.
Please note: Staff in positions that are part of the OEA agreement should have received a message on Friday with this update. Somewhere between sending the email and inboxes, a server held onto the message in a queue. Therefore, not everyone received the message. We have worked throughout the weekend to identify what happened and continue to work towards a fix. Thank you for your understanding.
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Approval of the Memorandum of Understanding with Service Employees Union Local 226 (Educational Paraprofessionals) to Amend the Collective Bargaining Agreement | |
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Our district proposed an updated agreement with the Service Employees Union Local 226. It builds on the pay increases approved last year in the original contract.
Key updates include:
- Increase hourly rate of special education paraprofessionals to be 110% of general education paraprofessionals.
The Board approved the updated agreement with the Service Employees Union Local 226 which begins with the 2024-25 school year.
Please note: Impacted staff should have received a message on Friday with this update. Somewhere between sending the email and inboxes, a server held onto the message in a queue. Therefore, not everyone received the message. We have worked throughout the weekend to identify what happened and continue to work towards a fix. Thank you for your understanding.
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Approval of the 2024-25 Omaha Public Schools Calendar Revision and the 2025-26, 2026-27 Omaha Public Schools Calendar | |
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Accountability and School Improvement staff presented on the revisions for the 2024-25 calendar and 2025-26 and 2026-27 calendars. They shared feedback collected regarding the proposed calendars.
The updated 2024-25 school year calendar allows for four Improvement Days, each with a two-hour late start for students. This would give staff time for data-driven work together, focused on improving teaching and learning. The 2024-25 dates will be:
- Sept. 24
- Oct. 29
- Jan. 28
- April 1
Highlights of the 2025-26 adopted calendar:
- Aug. 1-5: New teacher in-service
- Aug. 6-12: Preservice days
- Aug. 13: Staggered start for kindergarten students and entry-level students for middle and high school
- Aug. 14: All students K-12 return
- May 20: End of fourth quarter/second semester - students' last day
- May 21-22: Building-based professional development/teacher planning
Highlights of Breaks
- Thanksgiving Recess
- Students: No school the week of Thanksgiving
- Staff: Break begins Nov. 26
- Winter Recess
- Students: Begins Dec. 22 and ends Jan. 2
- Staff: Begins on Dec. 23 and ends Jan. 2
- Spring Recess
- March 16-20
Conferences
- All conferences moved to same week
- Fall: Week of Oct. 13
- Spring: Week of March 9
Highlights of the 2026-27 adopted calendar:
- Aug. 6-11: New teacher in-service
- Aug. 12-18: Preservice days
- Aug. 19: Staggered start for kindergarten students and entry-level students for middle and high school
- Aug. 20: All students K-12 return
- May 26: End of fourth quarter/second semester - students' last day
- May 27-28: Building-based professional development/teacher planning
Highlights of Breaks
- Thanksgiving Recess
- Students: No school the week of Thanksgiving
- Staff: Break begins Nov. 25
- Winter Recess
- Students: Begins Dec. 21 and ends Jan. 4
- Staff: Begins on Dec. 22 and ends Jan. 1
- Spring Recess
- March 15-19
Conferences
- All conferences moved to same week
- Fall: Week of Oct. 19
- Spring: Week of March 8
The Board of Education approved proposed changes to the 2024-25 calendar and the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school calendars.
We will publish the calendars on ops.org/calendar as soon as they are available. It may take some time.
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Next Omaha Public Schools Board of Education Meeting
The next Board meeting is May 20, 2024. It is tentatively scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. The meeting will take place at the Teacher Administrative Center.
Board of Education Agenda
To review previous Board of Education agendas, click here. If you need help accessing direct links, please access the entire Board of Education Agenda to view presentations and other documents.
How Can I Watch a Previous Board of Education Meeting?
Video from Board of Education meetings/workshops is most often available by noon the day after the meeting. The video can be viewed by clicking here.
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