A presentation on insurance, along with discussion on adding new staff to the district highlighted Monday's meeting of the Wayne Community Schools' Board of Education.
Sherry Shonka with All Lines Inter-local Cooperative Aggregate Pool (ALICAP) shared information with the board during a required educational session.
She talked about how the organization came into being in the 1980s to pool schools' resources when workers compensation coverage became difficult to obtain.
She explained some of the benefits of being a part of the group to pool resources to help manage risks in regard to coverage of the districts' property and workers' compensation claims.
Among the advantages is the fact the district would be able to get certain types of coverage at levels it would not be able to afford without the pool.
Other advantages include a nurse case hot line to handle questions, the fact that retired superintendents are part of the governoring board and the fact that on-line safety training is available.
Shonka said the decision to become a part of the pool would involve a long-term commitment and shared information on how the program works and explained the dividends that have been paid to members through the years.
She also talked about how the districts are billed for being part of the pool.
During the new business portion of the meeting, board members voted unanimously to enter into an interlocal agreement with ALICAP.
One of the reasons for the change is the fact that the cost of having the insurance with EMC, handled through Northeast Nebraska Insurance, was cost prohibitive and the deductibles were higher.
Superintendent Dr. Mark Lenihan said the district has worked with Northeast Nebraska Insurance for a number of years and he "appreciated working with them."
In other action, board members voted 3-2 to add E-Sports as an activity for students at Wayne High School. Approximately 30 students are currently involved on a club-level.
Board members Jeryl Nelson and Lynn Junck voted against moving forward with adding the activity, stating concerns with "adding without taking anything away. We (the board) will see other groups coming before us asking to add their activities."
Several Agenda Item Management (AIM) documents were discussed during the meeting, relating to additional classified and certificated staff within the district.
The first of these involves kitchen staff, janitorial staff and secretaries at the Early Learning Center.
Approval of this document received first reading approval.
A second AIM document would establish an additional PreK position at the Early Learning Center.
Board members discussed several options for the position and discussed which would be better for the district. These include having four year old students attend all day, every day or having two different groups of student attend on alternating days.
Early Learning Center Director Misty Beair told the board there are "pros and cons to both options."
The board voted to move forward with the first reading of this document also.
Also receiving first reading approval was an AIM document regarding the addition of certificated staff (K-6) at the Early Learning Center.
Board members discussed class sizes for the coming years and noted the person who fills the position could be utilized at the elementary school in some capacity.
Additional discussion took place for AIM documents for an additional Physical Education position, an art position and an additional school counselor.
Information shared with the board would have these three positions create two full-time-equivalent (FTE) staff.
Superintendent Lenihan shared information on funding the positions based on current statue. He said it was a little early to do an accurate estimate on how the new positions would impact the school's budget.
Board member Nelson said he was worried about how the district would be able to afford these positions in coming years.
"This is $730,000 worth of new teachers. I am worried that we could have to RIF (Reduction in Force) these positions. We need to be cautious about hiring for these positions," Nelson said.
No action was taken on these items as they died for a lack of a motion.
Board members accepted the resignation of Suzanne Hasenkamp, effective at the end of the first semester of the 2024-2025 school year.
Board members also approved the hiring of Jillian Allemann as a science teacher, effective Jan. 2, 2025. She was hired on a probationary status.
Pay application No. 15 for $1,184,265.25 to Hausman Construction was approved as work continues on the renovation/construction project.
Prior to the adjourning of the meeting, the board went into Executive Session to discuss negotiations.
The Wayne Community Schools' Board of Education will next meet in regular session on Monday, Dec. 9 at 5 p.m. in the junior-senior high school library.
