4R board adds snow make-up days to calendar

The Aurora 4R School Board faced a full agenda at its regular monthly meeting Monday, spending nearly 40 minutes discussing the best options to add a day and a half of classes before the end of the school year, then ending the nearly three-hour meeting with two executive sessions regarding possible negotiations for the purchase or lease of real estate.
Supt. Jody Phillips confirmed his assumption announced at the February meeting, reporting that the six days of school canceled during a 10-day span in January due to heavy snow will leave the district short of the instructional minutes required by the Nebraska State Department of Education. Phillips outlined several options to the board on how the instructional time could be made up.
“We are a day and a half short of instructional hours, specifically at the high school,” he began, “so we have to make that up sometime between now and the end of the school year. As you know, last year we eliminated early-out Wednesdays the whole month of April. That worked, but I’m going to tell you that we have more activities planned this year on our Wednesdays, so we wouldn’t probably be able to go a whole two months of eliminating early-outs because we have things that need to get done and take place on those days.”
The board discussed several options at length before finally agreeing to eliminate the day off planned for the Monday after Easter, April 1, and converting the final early-out Wednesday, May 15, to a full day of classes. The motion also included extending the final day of school on May 17 from an 11:30 dismissal to a 2 p.m. dismissal. Phillips said he would confirm the total instructional time minute count by computer, and if the district is still short of minutes May 8 would also be converted from an early-out to a full day of school.
“This will be very close,” he said of what he termed preference one. “If that doesn’t suffice we’ll go back and use the last two Wednesdays. After that, option No. 3 is May 20-21.”
Phillips noted that school is tentatively scheduled to get out for the summer on May 17, though the following Monday and Tuesday, May 20-21, are listed on the calendar as possible snow make-up days.
“The main conversation is around making up time, trying to be the most productive with that time,” he said early during the discussion. “We don’t just want to add time. When you talk about days at the end of the school year it’s hard to look at those days as quality instructional days. Nobody wants to come back May 20-21, especially if you have other options.”

Executive sessions
After more than two hours of discussion, the board went into executive session to discuss the last two items listed on the agenda regarding the possible purchase or lease of real estate. The first executive session lasted 20 minutes, while the second, regarding an item not related to the first, lasted about 25 minutes.
“I can’t do anything myself,” Phillips said in a later phone interview, explaining the vote to authorize him to negotiate based on parameters set by the board. “If we were to go and purchase something everything has to be approved by the board. So basically, I need to get parameters from the board if we were going to pursue anything, whether that be a piece of land, or a building, a facility, whatever it might be. That’s what those two items are for.”
The board is awaiting the results of an evaluation of all district facilities, which is part of a detailed strategic planning initiative launched more than a year ago. Phillips said he could not discuss how, or if, these two property negotiations are related to that process.
“By next month I should be able to come back publicly and say what those are and what we’re looking at,” he concluded.
In other action, the board:
* approved a 3.01 percent increase in administrative salaries, which includes the same insurance package changes given to teachers, representing a total increase of just under $29,000;
* approved a 2.39 percent salary increase for Supt. Jody Phillips, including the same insurance package adjustments, boosting his annual salary to $179,500;
* accepted a letter of resignation from Paula Dush, a middle school/high school Family & Consumer Science teacher;
* accepted a letter of resignation from Halie Merryman, a middle school special education teacher;
* approved the hiring of Grayce Seger of Grand Island as a new early childhood/preschool teacher for the 2024-25 school year;
* approved the hiring of Morgan Samuelson, a Hastings native expected to graduate in May, as a new middle school/high school Family & Consumer Sciences teacher for the 2024-25 school year;
* heard a report from athletic director Jay Staehr, who announced spring sports participation numbers as follows — middle school track, 85; high school track, 35 girls and 35 boys; girls soccer, 25; boys soccer, 32; boys golf, 14; boys baseball, 19;
* approved the $31,885 purchase of a Case IH Farmall Series II utility tractor/mower from Grosshans International;
* approved the payment of expenses estimated between $3,000 and $4,000 for Supt. Phillips and board member Brock Wyatt to attend a National Association of School Boards legislative event in Washington D.C. April 29-May 2;
* approved the 2024-25 district calendar, which will reflect a “rollback year” with the school year starting and ending later than recent years in an effort to adjust for calendar fluctuations;
* approved two classified staffing adjustments, including the hire of a new kitchen staff member and para professional.
Monday’s meeting began with presentations from first grade teacher Sara Luzum, who explained her “Free Write Friday” program; from third grade teacher Ashley Peterson, who had four members of her class explain the “Kindness Squad” program; and from Scott Phillips, who updated the board on his first trip and presentations as 2024 Nebraska Teacher of the Year (See related story on Page A1 of this week’s edition.)