The Heartland School Board had a lengthy agenda for its June regular meeting, with only four board members present. The Heartland School Board members pictured here, bottom row L to R: Tyler Newton, Ryan Goertzen, Jeb Mierau; Top Row: Tammy Ott, Jen Hiebner, Lacey Gloystein – photo from Heartland Community School Website
It was a “hot” meeting for the Heartland School Board, but not because of the agenda. With the ongoing construction inside the building, the normally cool and comfortable conference room was without any AC. Thankfully, the ceiling fans kept the room tolerable for their meeting, which began at 7 p.m. and adjourned at 9:17 p.m.
Board members present were Lacey Gloystein, Jen Hiebner, Jeb Mierau, and Tyler Newton. Absent board members were Ryan Goertzen and Tammy Ott. School administrators attending were Superintendent Jeremy Klein, High School Principal Tim Carr, and Elementary Principal Dana Reinke. There were nine patrons present for the meeting as well.
The meeting opened with public comments from Kendall Siebert concerning some ideas about improvements to the west extended parking lot and for the school board to consider livestreaming its meetings.
The board had a lengthy agenda for their meeting, but here are some highlights from the meeting.
Building/Construction Update:
Superintendent Klein reported that they had conducted a preliminary walk-through in early June with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) at the daycare facility.
“I thought it went well and we have already rectified a few of the items that needed changing,” said Klein. August 1 is still the target date for substantial completion of the facility, according to Klein.
He reported that the new transformer has been tied into the existing school building, which was why they were without power from June 2 – 12. The sprinkler system is currently being installed. The north gym bleachers have been removed, and ductwork and painting of the walls and ceilings are underway in the gym, he said.
The north gym is undergoing renovation, with the bleachers removed and ductwork standing ready for installation.
High School and Elementary Hallway Ceiling Repairs
Considerable time was spent discussing the issues with the school’s original (1953) hallway ceilings in the east-west high school wing and the north-south elementary hallway. The original construction is made of wood, and due to recent renovations, it was discovered that the ceilings need to be updated to meet current fire codes and be approved by the State Fire Marshal.
The board has been wrestling with the best way to solve the problem for several months, and chose between seven options proposed by the architects at Monday’s meeting. It was the most expensive option, coming in at $214,700, but all the board members agreed it was the right one for solving the problem for the long term.
“I’m frustrated with the architects, Clark/Henderson, that this wasn’t included in the original specs. I think they should have known about this problem, and now we are stuck holding the bag on this one,” said Mierau.
The board instructed Klein to ‘lean on’ Clark/Henderson and Hans Construction to negotiate a lower cost. Option #7 included a complete demo of the existing ceilings, as well as the installation of new fire dampers, fire alarms, fire sprinklers, suspended ceiling, and lighting.
The problems with the ceilings are also connected to the cold air entering from the buildings’ south and west soffits. Klein presented a plan to replace the original soffits, aiming to alleviate the temperature issues in the building, particularly in the ceilings, where water pipes are prone to freezing in the winter. Klein will provide the board with more information by the July meeting, before they make a final decision on how much of the soffit to replace.
Here’s the high school hallway ceiling with the suspended ceiling torn out, revealing the original 1953 ceiling that will also be removed. Above the original ceiling, water pipes run the length of the hallways. Over the years, to help provide warm air to circulate so the pipes don’t freeze, holes have been made in the old ceiling. This whole system does not meet fire code standards and needs to be remedied.
Bin Site Development
Klein is developing a preliminary conceptual plan with Clark and Enersen for the bin site property located west of the existing parking lot. “It will be good to put on paper some ideas for the area so we can get a vision for what it might look like,” said Klein.
Discussion followed about how much of the space should be concrete and crushed rock, allowing for future development. There will be two entrances from the current 17th Street parking lot entrance and one on Main Street. Reconfiguring the layouts of both parking lots was discussed, and the possibility of burying existing power lines was considered.
Policy and Student Handbook Changes
Both principals reported on the changes in progress on student handbooks. Reinke reported that visitors will be required to check in and out at the front office, where they will receive a badge before entering the building. Some other changes require incidental deliveries (balloons, gifts, etc..) for students to be dropped at the office instead of delivering directly to a student’s classroom to minimize classroom distractions.
The new entrance and front office design should help control the flow of visitors into the school, with everyone being routed through the office before entering the school.
Cell Phone Policy Update
A considerable amount of time was spent discussing Heartland’s cell phone use policies. Klein provided an update on the policy regarding cell phone use, mandated by the recently enacted LB 140, which bans students from using cell phones on school property.
He emphasized that school districts only need to adopt a cellphone policy that limits student use of devices during classroom instruction. Mr. Carr outlined the current cell phone policy in the student handbook and the changes he’s working on for the next school year. He explained that it was primarily up to the teacher’s discretion regarding usage.
Questions were raised by board members about whether, under this new law, students could technically use their cell phones at basketball games, during weightlifting, and in other extracurricular activities. Carr said any exceptions will be spelled out in the handbook. Heartland’s cell phone policy doesn’t deny possession but limits access, said Carr.
Currently, high school students may use cell phones during the lunch hour, between classes, and at the discretion of the classroom teacher for students in grades 9 through 12. If a student is misusing the device, the teacher will collect the item and submit it to the office, or at other times, at the teacher’s discretion.
Gloystein, Hiebner, and Mierau all expressed a need to ‘tighten up’ the current use of cell phones in school and cited examples of when kids were allowed too much time on their devices. Mierau raised the question of whether there were any rules for staff regarding cell phone use, and Carr answered that he didn’t know of any but would look into it.
Gender policy related to Nebraska LB89, “The Stand With Women Act”
Carr explained that the school would not address any gender issues, but instead, gender would be strictly determined based on a physical examination provided by healthcare providers. This new bill focuses on defining male and female to regulate access to restrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams.
Board Meeting Livestreaming
Mierau brought up the idea of providing livestreaming of the Heartland School board meetings.
“I think it would provide more transparency for the public about our meetings if we were able to livestream them and archive them on our website for future viewing,” he said. He emphasized that it would “clear up any miscommunication” if the meetings were livestreamed and recorded. He also suggested changing the setup of the board seating so that they face the patrons who attend the meetings.
After the discussion, Newton said they would gather more information about livestreaming and add it to the agenda at a later meeting.
The board adjourned and will meet on Monday, July 14th, for its next regular meeting.
