The Norman Public Schools Board of Education approved the contract for school resource officers at elementary schools, revisions to its policies, and a resolution calling for an election for the Office 5 seat at its Monday meeting.
Position for assistant principal intern at Adams Elementary School
The board elected Nicole Wayland to be the assistant principal intern at Adams Elementary School. Wayland is currently an instructional coach.
Executive session
The board moved to executive section.
Strategic plan and survey overview
Holly McKinney, executive director of teaching and learning, presented an update on the district’s five-year strategic plan, which began in 2022.
McKinney said teaching and learning is the district’s essential purpose. She said the plans align with open standards but also promote creativity and innovation.
McKinney said the district is actively working in safety and security at elementary schools. She said the district wants to focus not just on physical safety but also emotional and psychological safety.
McKinney also presented the district wide strategic plan survey that gives feedback on the effectiveness of the strategic plan. She said that 82% of middle and high school students filled out the survey compared to 74% of high school students last year.
The survey revealed around 80% of students feel that the district is tailoring to their needs, but a lot of new families do not know which opportunities are provided, which McKinney said the district will continue to work on.
The survey showed similar scores to last year with about 80-90% satisfaction with various categories included in the strategic plan.
McKinney said each school will receive their own data specific to their school.
Office 3 Board Member Annette Price said that the lowest scores were in questions related to college and career programs and asked what strategies were in place to improve the score.
McKinney said the district will continue to provide experiential learning activities and field trips that get students excited about learning. She said the district will continue to focus on hands-on learning and incorporating family engagement into career coaching.
Policy changes
The board approved revisions to three of its policies and new policy on student transfers.
Gayla Mears, executive director of teaching and learning, proposed revisions of policy 5011 under parent and family engagement.
The Title I Family Engagement policy recognizes the importance of family in the lives of students. The revisions to the policy would provide programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents and family members.
Stephanie Williams, executive director of student services, presented the second policy, policy 4002 under the student behavior and discipline policy.
Williams said the recommended changes will give more clarity in the steps taken by administration when a student is suspended for more transparency.
The revision would also refine the language around drug and alcohol special considerations in order to align with the district’s drug prevention efforts. Williams said the changes will reflect the district’s intention to not only discipline students who are using drugs and alcohol, but also provide them administrative support.
The third proposed change, in policy 4004 under the enrollment and open transfers, would remove existing transfer language and retitling the policy to just “enrollment”.
Policy 4013 is in alignment with House Bill 3386 which requires districts to make adjustments to its transfer policy to provide open transfers for students with disabilities. The change to policy 4013 would change the title to just “student transfers.” Williams said the changes would make it easier for families.
Cardiac Arrest Emergency Action Plan
Beth Roberson, NPS health services coordinator, presented an overview of the Cardiac Arrest Emergency Action for 2024-25 academic year.
The action plan would be in compliance with Senate Bill 1921, requiring public schools to make a cardiac emergency response plan.
Roberson said the cardiac response plan will be activated using the RAVE app, which also notifies local emergency services.
In order to ensure an effective response, Roberson said the cardiac response team will hold periodic drills and there will be an annual review of the plan.
Oklahoma Aviation Academy update
Gary Armbruster, architect and partner at MA+ Architecture, gave an update on the Oklahoma Aviation Academy.
The first floor will house classrooms, administration offices, cafeteria and multi-purpose space. There will be storm shelters on the first and second floors, which Armbruster said would make it easier for students that are on either floor.
“Basically, the rest of the building it’s hit by a large tornado (and) blows away. We’re kept with that piece,” Armbruster said. “It’s hard to design a piece that’s able to be blown away on top of it, that’s why we went vertical with the two story.”
The second floor will house more classrooms, multipurpose spaces and a room to build planes. Armbruster said there are two aviation areas for flights and a large multi purpose space capable of holding 700 students. Armbruster said the multipurpose space will be built to the scale of the Max Westheimer Airport runway for students to walk and see how planes turn.
“It’s got a folding area for bleachers like you’d see in a gymnasium,” Armbruster said. “Very open space. You can have robotics classes. You can have drone flying (classes). You can have a civil air patrol practice.”
The college and career building, in collaboration with OU, will hold administration areas for OU aviation and four total classrooms, two of which can be divided into smaller classrooms. The building will also have a lobby and student space.
The entrance of the main building includes a learning staircase that could hold about 50 students. The front of the main building is designed to showcase a plane that Armbruster said would be built by students.
The aviation-themed building will have gate numbers labeling classrooms and morse code built into the floor.
Armbruster said OU has already started moving utilities on site and they hope to begin construction around Thanksgiving time.
Energy program updates
Sarah Chan, Cenergistic energy specialist, said her job consists of monitoring buildings and following up on calls expressing concerns and confirming the need for work orders. She also coordinates visits by contractors and vendors.
NPS entered a five-year contract with Cenergistic, a Dallas-based energy conservation consultant, to reduce energy consumption.
Since Oct. 1, 2023, Chan said she has accessed buildings and its automated systems to look at the amount of energy consumed by the schools.
By putting buildings in occupied and unoccupied settings, Chan said the district saves 52% in cooling costs and 14% in heating costs. She said the program has reduced energy by 9% increased savings by 11.5% since October 2023.
Annual election resolution
The board approved a resolution calling for the annual election to be submitted to voters of the district to elect a board member for the Office 5 seat.
According to the resolution, the filing period begins at 8 a.m. on Dec. 2 and ends at 5 p.m. Dec. 4. The general election would be set for April 1. If more than two candidates file and qualify for the seat, a primary election would be held on Feb. 11.
Tina Floyd, president of the board, currently holds the Office 5 seat.
According to the NPS website, school board members are elected to staggered, five-year terms.
Contract for security officers at elementary schools.
The board approved a contract for SRO’s services at Dimensions Academy and designated elementary schools for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
During its August meeting, the board approved a new five-year SRO program that would add four additional officers to designated elementary schools. The program will be effective July 1 to June 30, 2029.
Justin Milner, NPS associate superintendent and chief operating officer, presented a new contract for security officers at elementary schools. The new contract includes six additional SROs on elementary sites and one at Dimensions Academy, making a total of 10 SROs.
After the board’s approval, Milner said the agreement would go to the county’s commissioners for their approval next week.
“Once we have a fully executed agreement, (the district can) move forward with any kind of hiring for these positions,” Milner said.
After a question from Office 2 Board Member Alex Ruggiers about funding, Milner said the agreement would cost $604,800 from the board’s general fund, about $500,000 more than the previous year.
Office 4 Board Member Dawn Brockman said she’s concerned on how the cost would contribute to the county’s financial challenges. Milner said the cost would be sustainable compared to the cost of private security.
“When you look towards private security, we would be giving up some of those opportunities that we now have with either the sheriff’s office or Norman police department,” Milner said.
NPS Superintendent Nick Migliorino said the board would be paying the full cost of the officers.
Brockman said that, because of budget issues last year, she’s concerned the investment would not be sustainable. Migliorino said new SROs would contribute to implementing the board’s strategic plan, which he said has been a goal the board has been working toward over the past few years.
“When we’re talking about sustainability, the sustainability will be on our side because we’re paying the full cost of the hiring results,” Migliorino said.
Price asked about the training the SROs would get, which Milner said the County would provide such training.
Migliorino said NPS can remove an officer at any time, whether they are employed by NPS or not. Milner said officers can also be moved to another school.
On Sept. 20, NPS released a statement following a bomb threat made against Norman High School. Milner said NPS has ongoing conversations with law enforcement officials and district attorneys to find solutions to false threats towards schools.
Milner thanked parents for having conversations with their children about threats within schools and encouraged parents to continue those conversations. Dirk O’Hara, the board’s vice president, also thanked the city and county for helping get more SROs in Norman schools.
Consent docket
The board approved all items on the consent docket including an agreement to provide guest conductor services for the All City 5th Concert rehearsals and performances and an agreement for certified educational consulting assistance.
National Merit Scholars semifinalist recognition
The board recognized NPS students that placed as semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship.
From those students, nine were from Norman North High School and seven from Norman High School.
The finalists will be announced on February.