Dorchester Times: Jan. 12 School Board Minutes: Havlat Re-Elected As Board President

Friday, January 16, 2009

Jan. 12 School Board Minutes: Havlat Re-Elected As Board President

(The following minutes from the Jan. 12 Dorchester Board of Education meeting appear as submitted to the Dorchester Times by school administration staff.)

President Brad Havlat called the regular monthly meeting of the Board of Education of Saline County School District 76-0044, a.k.a. as Dorchester Public Schools, to order at 7:35 p.m. on Monday, January 12, 2009. All members were present along with Superintendent Brian Redinger, Principal Mitch Kubicek and Joyce Karl. Motion by Hansen, second by Boller to approve minutes of the December regular meeting. Members voting yes to the motion were Hansen, Boller, Bors, Zoubek, Kahle, and Havlat. Motion passed by a vote of 6-0. There were no visitors present.

After verification of publication of the meeting notice in the Crete News, local postings of the meeting notice (Dorchester Schools, Farmers Coop, First State Bank and the Village Office) and the advanced receipt of the meeting agenda and other meeting materials by individual board members, the President stipulated that meeting minutes should reflect that this meeting was held in compliance with the Nebraska Open Meetings Law. It was also noted the Open Meeting Act Poster is posted in the boardroom.

Reorganization of the Board of Education

Motion by Bors to nominate Brad Havlat for the office of President, second by Hansen and also moved that nominations cease. All members voted aye with Havlat abstaining.

Motion by Kahle to nominate Mark Bors for the office of Vice President, second by Hansen and also moved that nominations cease. All members voted aye with Bors abstaining.

Motion by Kahle to nominate Matt Hansen for the office of Treasurer, second by Bors and also moved that nominations cease. All members voted aye with Hansen abstaining.

Motion by Hansen to nominate Ron Kahle for the office of Secretary, second by Boller and also moved that nominations cease. All members voted aye with Kahle abstaining.

There was no request for change of agenda. The December Treasurer’s Report was reviewed. Motion by Bors, second by Kahle to approve the December Report. Voting yes were Bors, Kahle, Boller, Zoubek, Hansen and Havlat. Motion passed 6-0. Motion to approve January 2009 expenditures was made by Kahle, second by Hansen. Voting yes were Kahle, Hansen, Bors, Boller, Zoubek and Havlat. Motion passed 6-0.

Building/Grounds Committee: Installation of the railing for the front entrance was discussed. The front entrance will be the sole designated handicapped accessible entry with two handicapped accessible parking areas and one van accessible parking area. The project is being planned for the spring.

Principal’s Report: Mr. Kubicek discussed that the Otter Creek materials had been ordered and this initiative will begin when materials arrive. Mr. Kubicek, Mr. Rut and Mrs. Johnson will assist with administering the program. A summer workshop through the ESU #6 Professional Development Department on Curriculum Alignment will be arranged. Creation of mid-year assessment tests, aligned with the upcoming standards test, are being considered with assistance from ESU #6. Available grants for math initiatives were discussed along with the possibility of a Summer Reading Program.

Superintendent’s Report: Mr. Redinger elaborated on the Summer Reading Program and the prospects of offering an APEX Summer Credit Recovery Program.

New Business:
a.) Election of Officers – completed during reorganization

b.) Appointment of Board Committees for 2009:
- Americanism/Curriculum – Kahle and Zoubek
- Building/Grounds – Hansen, Boller and Havlat
- Transportation – Bors and Boller
- Negotiations – Bors, Kahle and Zoubek
- School Lunch – Hansen and Kahle

c.) Official Designees for 2009:
- Representative for State and Federal Programs – Superintendent/designee
- Attorneys – Kelley Baker and Karen Haase
- Newspaper – Crete News
- Depository of District Funds – First State Bank, Dorchester and NE School District Liquid Assets Fund Plus

d.) Motion by Kahle, second by Zoubek to approve the school district’s implementation of multicultural education throughout the curriculum. Voting yes were Kahle, Zoubek, Bors, Boller, Hansen and Havlat. Motion passed 6-0.

e.) Mr. Kubicek’s 2009-2010 contract was discussed and may be approved in February pending his acceptance.

Motion by Kahle, second by Hansen to adjourn to executive session at 9:10 pm. All members voted aye. Motion by Hansen, second by Kahle to return to regular session at 10:05 pm. Voting yes were Hansen, Kahle, Boller, Zoubek, Bors and Havlat. Motion passed 6-0.

The next regular monthly meeting of the Dorchester Board of Education will be Monday, February 16, 2009 at 7:00 pm. Motion by Kahle, second by Hansen to adjourn at 10:06 pm. All members voted aye.

Signed: Ron Kahle, Secretary of the Board of Education

2 comments:

AnonymousJanuary 18, 2009 at 2:50 PM
Maybe the school board needs to look at the safety of the learning environment of our students. I know of several female students who feel that they have to constantly be on high alert for a particular student. This is not fair for those girls who are supposed to be provided a safe learning environment. After all the below statement is right off of the school's webpage "The mission of the Dorchester Public School is to provide a superior education for all students." It also states "Creating a safe, positive environment for teaching and learning" What happened to following the schools mission and belief statements

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AnonymousJanuary 19, 2009 at 1:19 AM
When it comes to failing students, it must be the board or the teachers or the new facility or the birds in the sky. It must be anything other than me or my lousy parenting skills. I'm too scared to pick up the phone and call the principal or superintendent. I'm too cowardly to go in and talk with the teachers. I'm too busy to discipline my child.

I'm pretty much a failure at being a parent and my kids are paying the price through apathy and lousy grades. But darn it, I'm going to blame someone - anyone - other than me!!!
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."