Scottsbluff board approves consent agenda, budgets, calendars and program purchases

The Scottsbluff Public Schools Board of Education approved a series of personnel actions, expenditures and program changes at its regular meeting.

The approvals included routine consent-agenda items (new hires, retirements and minutes), three expenditures, an annual review of board policy 5101 on student discipline, the PAWS/PTP and pre-K–12 calendars for 2025–26, an amended partnership with JAG Nebraska scaled to one high-school position, purchase of a summer curriculum, and furniture for the Westmore Elementary modernization.

The consent agenda motion approved certified hires (including Taya Johnson, Erica Croft, Hallie Cochran, Analise Kingsley, Alexander Harris, Scott O'Dell and Christian Shank), certified resignations and a retirement. The board noted one resignation (Andrea Peterson, special education at Bluffs Middle School) was rescinded before action and thus was removed from the consent agenda before the vote.

On expenditures the board approved three items. The transcript records an expenditure grouped as “the expenditures without the law firm Douglas, Kelly, Austic, Snyder, Ocean and Vogel, and those for Tory Schwartz” with an unclear quoted amount in the audio; the board approved that expenditure motion. The board separately approved payment to the law firm Douglas, Kelly, Austic, Snyder, Ocean & Vogel (quoted in the meeting as $429.50) and a payment for Tory Schwartz (quoted in the meeting as $150), for which one board member stated, “I will abstain due to conflict of interest.” The transcript contains a garbled reading of the first amount; because the recording’s figure is unclear, the article reports the board approved the item as stated at the meeting and notes the transcript amount is not clearly legible.

The board completed its annual review of Board Policy 5101 (Student Discipline) with no changes recommended and approved the 2025–26 PAWS and PAWS transition program calendar and the combined pre-K–12 calendar. The PAWS/PTP calendar approved additional non-student collaboration days to preserve staff planning time for intensive-behavior programming.

The board amended a previously approved JAG Nebraska partnership: due to uncertainty in federal and state funding, the district rescinded the earlier two-position proposal (one at Bluffs Middle School, one at Scottsbluff High School) and approved moving forward with one full-time JAG career specialist position at Scottsbluff High School for the 2025–26 school year; the middle-school position will be reconsidered if JAG secures funding.

On instructional materials, the board approved a one-time purchase of Summer Scholars curriculum materials for summer instruction, quoted in the meeting at $81,386.30; district staff said ongoing student consumable workbooks would be an annual expense if chosen. For school facilities the board approved the purchase of classroom furniture for portions of the Westmore Elementary modernization project in the amount quoted at $284,738.54; district staff said those costs will be paid from the district’s depreciation fund and that additional furniture purchases for the new office addition may come later.

Motion authors and seconds were recorded on the meeting for many items (examples: consent agenda moved by Lang, second by Schwartz; multiple expenditure motions moved by Polk and seconded by Lang; the JAG amendment motion moved by Merrigan, second by Schwartz; the Summer Scholars purchase moved by Polk, second by Lang; the Westmore furniture motion moved by Marion, second by Polk). Where individual roll-call votes were read aloud during the meeting, board members responded verbally. One board member abstained from a payment to Tory Schwartz and that abstention was recorded on the audio.

The board adjourned at the conclusion of the meeting and noted its next regular meeting date on April 14, 2025.