Lapeer board administers oaths, elects officers and advances policy changes including new superintendent‑evaluation tool recommendation

The Lapeer Community Schools Board of Education opened its organizational meeting with oath administration for newly elected and re‑elected board members and moved quickly into elections and committee appointments before receiving committee reports on personnel and policy matters.

Judge Nolan administered the oath to new and returning members, asking: "Do you accept the position of a member of the Board of Education of Lapeer Community Schools?" Board members responded in the affirmative.

The board conducted nominations and elected its officers for 2025. A board member nominated Summer Putnam for president; a second was recorded and the motion carried. The board also nominated and selected officers for secretary and vice president and authorized the assistant superintendent for business and operations to serve as treasurer, following the district’s prior practice.

Organizational structure: The board decided to continue the five‑committee structure used in 2024: finance and operations; student advocacy and communication; teaching, learning and technology; personnel; and policy. The board voted to authorize the board president to appoint committee members and chairs, and to maintain a legislative ad‑hoc committee.

Personnel and policy committee reports: The personnel committee (reported by Mrs. McKenna) and the policy committee (reported by Dr. Nomash) reviewed administrative evaluation tools and recommended transitioning the superintendent evaluation tooling to a state‑approved administrative instrument referenced in committee as the "Collins and Waha" (or similarly phrased) superintendent evaluation tool. The personnel report said the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) requires improved instructional evaluation tools and that the committee believes the recommended tool aligns with current evaluation areas and will expand some components.

Committee timeline and training: Committee materials recommended policy language adjustments be presented as follows: policy adjustments at the December meeting (already in packet), first reading in January, second reading and adoption in February, with training on the new tool in March (approximately 1–1.5 hours). The new superintendent evaluation cycle would conclude in April and move to an every‑other‑year cycle thereafter, according to the committee report.

Action items and consent: The board approved consent items on the agenda, including approval of minutes from Dec. 4, 2024; overnight field‑trip requests for the varsity wrestling team to travel to Toledo, Ohio, and to Traverse City, Michigan (dates in the packet were not specified in the public transcript); and first readings of several policies (Policy 12‑20 employment of superintendent; Policy 12‑40 evaluation of superintendent; Policy 31‑20 assessment of professional staff; Policy 31‑24 employment contract; Policy 41‑20 employment of support staff; Policy 83‑21 criminal justice information security). The board also moved to second readings and adoption of a set of student discipline and related policies (including Policy 5500 Student Code and Policy 5600 Student Discipline/Removal); specific policy titles and code numbers were read from the agenda packet.

What the committees recommended is not final policy until the board completes the formal two‑reading adoption process. Mrs. McKenna said the committee’s recommendation is to adopt the state‑approved administrative evaluation tool because it "aligns well with the areas currently assessed and actually expands to a few that are not explicitly outlined today." The policy committee likewise recommended moving several policies to first reading at the meeting.

Board communications and community items: Members made announcements — including a Lapeer County Road Commission sign contest for third graders and a leader fund fundraiser planned for Feb. 28 — and thanked staff and students for presentations. The superintendent reminded the board that bargaining and budgeting season is imminent and asked for board support during an intensive work period.

Formal votes recorded in the public transcript were recorded as procedural approvals (motions carried, "ayes" recorded by roll call for the committee appointment motion); where the transcript did not record full roll‑call tallies, the actions are summarized here with outcomes stated as recorded in the meeting (motion carried/approved).