Dorchester Times: School Board Minutes: Bell Monument Construction Begins This Week

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

School Board Minutes: Bell Monument Construction Begins This Week

(The following minutes are from the May 11 Dorchester Board of Education meeting. They appear as submitted to the 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 8:04 p.m. on Monday, May 11, 2009. All members were present along with Superintendent Brian Redinger, Principal Mitch Kubicek, Joyce Karl and Scott Pohl, AD. Motion by Hansen, second by Bors to approve minutes of the April regular meeting. Members voting yes to approve the minutes were Hansen, Bors, Zoubek, Boller, Kahle and Havlat. Motion passed by a vote of 6-0.
Visitor present was Karma Ridpath.

After verification of publication of the meeting notice in The Crete News, local postings of the meeting notice (Dorchester Schools, Farmers Cooperative, 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 NE Open Meetings Law. It was also noted the Open Meeting Act Poster is posted in the boardroom. No request for change of agenda.

The April Treasurer’s Report was reviewed. Motion by Boller, second by Zoubek to approve the April Report. Voting yes were Boller, Zoubek, Bors, Hansen, Kahle and Havlat. Motion passed 6-0. Motion to approve the April 2009 end of the month and May 2009 general fund expenditures was made by Bors, second by Hansen. Voting yes were Bors, Hansen, Kahle, Boller, Zoubek and Havlat. Motion passed 6-0.

Committee Reports:

Building/Grounds Committee:
* Discussion was held on areas to be roped off around playground and parking lot. This will be done as soon as possible.
* The Bell Monument will be started this week (May 12-16, 2009). Items for the time capsule are being gathered. Items for the capsule will be on display the night of the Alumni Banquet and all alumni attending will be asked to sign a roster that will be included in the capsule.

Principal’s Report:
* A NETA Conference summary was given. New ideas were obtained utilizing technology in the classroom that would both benefit teachers and students.
* Dorchester will be an ACT testing site on June 13, 2009.
* Our current school mission statement and current belief statements were discussed. The addition of academic goals was also considered.
* Cohort school information was shared. ESU #6 is attempting to coordinate surrounding schools to meet and share successful strategies currently implemented. Three dates for next year are tentatively planned as this project is still in the planning stage.
* Otter Creek results were shared. Skills are measured weekly with positive results noted.
* Mr. Kubicek gave a clicker PowerPoint presentation. The school currently utilizes 148 clickers which are mostly used in secondary classes.

Superintendent’s Report:
* Mr. Redinger noted that State Aid figures would not be finalized until June 1.
* Concerning negotiations, it looks like the State will increase retirement by 1% instead of 2%.
* The 2009 Summer Projects list was discussed.
* Upgrading some of the weight equipment for the weight/strength training classes will be done this summer.

Unfinished Business:
The Board instructed Mr. Redinger to start the process of securing bids for the accessibility improvements to the south side of the building, gym project scheduled to begin the summer of 2010 and for the repairs to the shop roof. Also, the District will accept the bid from Midwest Floor Co. for the new carpet, Egan Supply Co. is scheduled to refinish the gym floor starting June 4, storm repairs will be scheduled and stage acoustics will be investigated and presented to the Board.

New Business:
Mrs. Ridpath presented information explaining the changes in Dorchester’s Title I Program. We will be moving from a target assisted program to a school wide program beginning the 2009/2010 school year. Motion by Kahle, second by Bors to move ahead with plans to become a School Wide Title I Program. Voting yes were Kahle, Bors, Zoubek, Boller, Hansen and Havlat. Motion passed 6-0.

Discussion regarding the sale of the 1996 school van was held with the decision to sell. Discussion regarding the purchase of a new school van resulted with the decision to start looking at models/prices.

Motion by Boller, second by Bors to retain current student fees (policy #5045). All members voting aye.

Motion by Hansen, second by Kahle to renew the Preschool contract with Mrs. Broz for the 2009/2010 school year. Voting yes were Hansen, Kahle, Boller, Bors, Zoubek and Havlat. Motion passed 6-0.

Motion by Kahle, second by Zoubek to approve the 2009/2010 Elementary and Secondary Student/Parent Handbooks. Voting yes were Kahle, Zoubek, Boller, Bors, Hansen and Havlat. Motion passed 6-0.

Motion by Hansen, second by Zoubek to approve a Secondary Spanish and Elementary ELL contract with Kyla Petersen for the 2009/2010 school year. All members voting aye.

Motion by Hansen, second by Kahle to move to executive session to discuss superintendent’s contract and classified staff assignments at 11:15 p.m.

Motion by Hansen, second by Kahle to come out of executive session at 12:30 am. Voting yes were Hansen, Kahle, Boller, Bors, Zoubek and Havlat. Motion passed 6-0.

The Board approved the extension of Superintendent’s contract through June 30, 2011.

The next regular monthly meeting of the Dorchester Board of Education will be Monday, June 15, 2009 at 8:00 pm in the Library. Motion by Bors, second by Boller to adjourn at 12:35 am. Voting yes were Bors, Boller, Kahle, Zoubek, Hansen and Havlat. Motion passed 6-0.

Signed: Ron Kahle
Secretary of the Board of Education

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."