Members Present: Chadron, Crawford, Hemingford, Mitchell, Morrill, Bridgeport, Minatare, Sioux County, Banner County, Rushville, Gering, Garden County, ESU 13

Members Absent: Kimball, Gordon, Hay Springs, Scottsbluff

Agenda

1. Chadron State College Early Entry Proposal – B.J. Peters, WNDLC Coordinator, asked for any comments on the proposal that was presented to the group at the last ESU 13 administrator’s meeting by CSC’s Steve Taylor. The proposal indicates that when Chadron State full-time faculty are used to teach classes to high school students, both the CSC distance learning fee ($20 per credit hour) and minimum student number policies would be used. If high school faculty are used to teach as adjunct faculty for Chadron State, CSC will waive the distance learning fee and minimum number requirements. Gary Fisher of Crawford indicated that it is a significant change from Chadron State’s original policies. B.J. indicated that if it is our intent to get more college credits for our students from CSC the schools need to work harder at getting more of their high school faculty qualified as adjunct.

2. Chadron State College Summer & Fall Graduate Courses – Peters shared again with the group the list of graduate courses that will be taught by Chadron State on our DL system this summer and fall and urged the group to tell their staff to register early. Site locations could change depending on registrations.

3. Western Nebraska Community College (credit courses & community ed) – Peters said that for the first time WNCC would be offering a freshman level course in the evenings this fall originating out of the Scottsbluff High School classroom. It will be History of the American West on Mondays from 6 to 9 p.m. This will be available to any site depending on registrations. This could be for any members of the community as well as high school students who are looking for college credits but can’t fit it in their daily schedule. As far as community ed classes are concerned, Peters said there are only a couple more left this spring, but Lori Mayor at WNCC would like to hear from the schools as to what type of classes their communities are interested in for next fall.

4. Spanish Teacher Update – Peters said that ESU #13 is moving forward with hiring a Spanish teacher through the NDE teacher exchange program. At this time Banner County, Minatare, and Crawford have indicated they will participate in equally sharing the cost of this position. (NOTE: After the meeting Peters received a letter from Hay Springs asking to be included in this agreement as well.) All the schools involved indicated the importance of getting together soon to set schedules. A meeting was set for Tuesday, May 15, 9 to 11 a.m. The DL system will be used with the Northern schools (Crawford & Hay Springs) meeting at Chadron High School and the Southern schools (Minatare & Banner County) meeting at ESU #13 in Scottsbluff.

5. Fall 2001 Schedule Review - Peters shared that latest fall schedule with the group and said that at this time three classes from WNCC are full (Medical Terminology, Criminal Justice, and College Algebra). Spots are still open in Calculus, Trigonometry, Intro to Psychology, Electronics, and German. Peters noted that the Psychology class will be using an adjunct professor for WNCC and will be taught on our high school bell schedule in the 6^th period (12:45-1:35). Ed Hollinger of Hemingford told the group that his Ag teacher had resigned last week and was uncertain that he could fill that position. Three other schools have already signed up for Animal Science from Hemingford for next year.

6. Tech Plan updates & E-Rate update – Peters went through the list of schools that had not yet updated their school district tech plans. Six of the 16 WNDLC schools still need to do more work on their plans. He said that it is very important that it get done before school gets out this spring. Year 4 e-rate discounts will not be approved until the tech plans are updated and re-certified by NDE. Peters noted that the new e-rate applications are just not starting to be reviewed for funding. We will probably hear sometime this summer.

7. Phase III Construction Update - Peters said that he talked to Sprint right before the meeting and they said that all the fiber optic cable and electronic equipment has been delivered. He expected to start installing the "blue boxes" by Memorial Day. The four schools affected need to be sure that they have the plywood hung soon so they don't hold up the phone company when they arrive with the equipment. Peters said that Sprint also plans to start with the fiber placement by June 1^st as well which means that the conduit carrying the fiber from outside the building to the blue box needs to be installed by June 1. Classroom equipment is still planned on getting installed in July.

8. Legislative Update - Peters shared with the group progress that LB833 has made in the Unicameral. While the meeting was being held, the legislature advanced the bill to final reading by voice vote. LB833 will provide lottery funding to schools that apply through NDE to pay for start up costs to connect to a distance learning system. This funding is expected to complete the process started a few years ago in putting distance learning into every school district that wants it. In the Panhandle it affects most of the schools in ESU #14.

9. Distance Learning Training (June 11 & 12, 2001) - Peters announced the schedule of this summer's DL training. The June session will be offered over the DL system at two sites in the North (Chadron & Rushville) and two sites in the South (Gering & Bridgeport). Although it is primarily intended for the four new schools joining the consortium, it is also being made available to any teacher within the system that hasn't received the training in the past. Certified teachers will receive a $100 per day stipend for attending. One hour of graduate credit is available from Chadron State College. Shirley Schall, coordinator of the Southwest Nebraska Distance Learning Consortium, will present the first day of the workshop. B.J. Peters will facilitate the second day. Registration brochures have been sent to all principals. Register through ESU #13 SOAR office.

10.Grant Evaluation - Dr. Roger Wess of Chadron State College was expected to talk to the group about the grant evaluation process and its progress, but he was unable to make it to the meeting.

11.2001-2002 Budget - Peters laid out a budget for the group for the next year. The original lottery grant finishes the end of August 2001. At that time each school must pay for a share of the coordination. Per the WNDLC bylaws the annual assessment must not exceed $4,000 per school. Peters showed that the group that the per-school shares for next year would come close to that amount. The shares of Kimball and Minatare will come from the final year of their lottery grant. Schools are encouraged to budget the full amount of the distance learning line charges ($15,465) and Internet line charges ($2,900) even though both are e-rate eligible. There are no guarantees.

12.WNDLC Officer election - Peters said that elections needed to be held for the WNDLC executive board. Motion by Rushville, Second by Sioux County to nominate Gary Fisher of Crawford for President of the board. Voice vote was unanimous. Motion by Hemingford, second by Mitchell to nominate Jim Calder of Bridgeport for Vice President of the board. Voice vote was unanimous. Motion by Chadron, second by Hemingford to nominate John Cruzeiro of Sioux County as the Northern Representative to the board. Voice vote was unanimous. Motion by Gering, second by Banner County to nominate Wayne Ferguson of Morrill as the Southern Representative to the board. Voice vote was unanimous. The ESU representative will remain Terry Miller of ESU #13

13.From the group - Peters told the group that the Principal's council would have one more meeting before the end of school. It would be Tuesday, May 22, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The group would be finalizing the schedule for next fall.

14.Meeting was adjourned at 12:20p.m.