OSMOND — At the Monday, Jan.
13, District 42R Board of Education meeting, members received notice that long-time math and science teacher and wrestling coach Larry McKenna had expressed his desire to retire from teaching, and had handed in his resignation letter.
McKenna has served the community at Osmond Community School since the 1992-93 school year. Board members expressed their thanks to Mr. McKenna for his many years of service.
Appointment and Elections Another item on the agenda was appointing someone to the vacant seat on the board after only two members registered and were reelected in the 2024 election. After she agreed, past board member Michelle Reikofski was appointed to fill the position.
Election for board positions was then held, with Mark Moes, Larry Krohn and Tyler Gansebom reelected to their positions as board president, vice president and secretary-treasurer, respectively. Margaret Ryan was again appointed recording secretary.
NebraskARTS Award
Superintendent Skip Bremer announced that music instructor Christalin Ginn had received an email stating that Osmond Community School is one of two schools that is a NebraskARTS award winner. The award is given by Nebraskans for the Arts (NFTA) to reward student talent and creativity in the arts.
A date will be determined NFTA and the school to present the award, most likely during a music performance.
Principal’s Report
Principal Kurt Polt advised that report cards for the second quarter and first semester were sent home on Jan. 10, and said there will be no school for students on Monday, Jan. 20, for a teacher in-service.
He announced that Conference Honor Band is at Wayne State College on Jan. 18, conference wrestling is Jan. 23 at Winside, and conference basketball tournament begins Feb.
1. Polt reported that the sophomores will take the pre-ACT test on March 12, and juniors will take the ACT test on March 25.
Elementary principal interviews will take place on Jan. 24, Polt said - there are four candidates, who will be interviewed by an administration panel and a teacher panel, and will be given a facilities tour by the elementary Student Council. He also plans to set up interviews this week to fill the vacancy that will be left when Mr. McKenna retires; so far, there have been three applications.
Polt reported that he is making progress on the sign to be placed on the school grounds for the FFA field plot. He sent a proof of one to board members, but no decisions have been made yet.
Mr. Polt also reported that K-6 teachers are working on the language arts curriculum for the 2025-26 school year.
Superintendent Report
Superintendent Bremer quickly went over board policies 4034, 4037, 4038, 4039, 4040, 4041 and 4042, all of which are posted on the school website.
Bremer reported on the building remodel: the security window for the front entrance, door installation and glass replacement, boosters on the surveillance monitors and windows from the main office to administrative offices are all completed.
Bremer also discussed continuing remodel plans for this summer, which includes rooms for guidance, school nurse, business manager, superinten - dent, TeamMates and storage, among others. The facilities, transportation and grounds committee met in December and discussed several options.
Superintendent Bremer reported that Osmond and Wausa committees met via Zoom on Dec. 2 with NRCSA to go through the draft of the feasibil ity study. The public joint community
presentation will be held Wednesday evening, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m. in the school gym.
Bremer reported that the before and after school program through Little Tigers, with Paige Kumm in charge of operation, will begin soon. It will be held in the school library.
Bremer advised that the school's Rule 10 compliance visit was held on Dec. 10, and there were just a couple of issues to complete. The 2025 NRCSA spring conference is March 19-21, and he asked who would be attending. A teacher/staff survey summary was distributed and briefly discussed, as were board goals. The annual report to patrons was also distributed, and will be posted on the school website and Facebook page.
The board discussed the Sparq meetings program, which is up for its second year renewal. Recording secretary Margaret Ryan commented that she had had high hopes for it, but some of it is not user friendly. Bremer said he will meet with Mrs. Ryan to see what can be done differently with some of the issues.
Other Items on Agenda
In action items, the board designated the Osmond Republican as the official news agency, KSB Legal Firm as school attorney, AMGL as the auditor, Bremer as the state and federal programs director, and Security Bank as the school depository.
The board also appointed board
committees, as follows: Negotiations/policy and procedure:
Justin Koehler, Gansebom, Tiffany Rice Americanism and curriculum: Rice, Reikofski, Moes School improvement/student and professional service: Moes, Koehler Technology: Krohn, Reikofski Facility, transportation, grounds and FFA: Moes, Krohn, Koehler Sharing/co-op: Moes, Gansebom, Reikofski Daycare/early childhood education: Gansebom, Rice, Krohn Gansebom advised that he had a preliminary contract for the commu- nity sign downtown, and would need signatures on it.
