JCC Board Approves Staff Resignations, Discusses HS Renovations

Kim Wellensiek was elected president of the Board of Education at Johnson County Central Schools for the eighth consecutive year during a reorganizational meeting on January 14. Dan Jones was elected vice president and Gail Hutt as treasurer. Laurie Badertscher will continue as the recording secretary.
The board also designated American National Bank as its depository of funds. Board member Jon Schmid suggested that it would be good business to have the school's cash reserves in another bank depository since the general fund accounts are at the American National Bank. KSB School Law was designated as JCC's legal representative.
Principals Justin Damme, Marsha Bacon and Beckie Robeson, as well as Special Education Director Dr. Laura Rademacher each received a $4,000 increase in salary for the 2026-2027 school year.
Discussion on Classified Staff compensation and the Activities Director contract for Garrett Collin was tabled until the February board meeting.
The board approved the resignations of Braden Hawley as instrumental music instructor, Skye Grafton as the Resource Teacher for grades 6-8; and Shirley Schwartzkopf as a para, at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.
The JCC Board of Education approved Option One for the 2026-2027 school calendar which will have a student start date of August 10. Other changes implemented were to not have school on Good Friday, March 26. There will be school on Wednesday November 25 with a 1 p.m. dismissal. The last day of school will be May 21 with an 11 a.m. dismissal. Board member Sarah Weber expressed her concerns with starting school before the Johnson County Fair because it becomes a busy time of year for the students who are involved in fair preparations in addition to having two-a-day athletic practices.
The board discussed some of the options that Clark-Enersen recommended regarding the high school cafeteria and gym spaces. They indicated that it would be more cost effective to remove the wall on the west end of the cafeteria than to replace the doors to the cafeteria. Clark Enersen also recommended removing the stage area and the chairlift area from the gymnasium to add more floor space. The board thought it would be a good idea to remove the stage area from the gymnasium, as long as they can store the 400 chairs that are currently stored under the stage in another convenient location. More details of the high school renovation project will be discussed with Clark- Enersen representatives at a 6 p.m. special meeting on Wednesday, February 4.
Superintendent Jon Rother reported that he approved a cooperative agreement between Johnson County Central and Nebraska City High School for soccer. The deadline for approving spring sports activities was January 1.
Johnson County Central Schools' teaching staff will attend the ESU 4 Engaging Educators Conference in Nebraska City High School on Monday, February 2.
Candidate filings for a position on the Board of Education opened on January 5. The deadline for incumbents is February 17 and the deadline for new candidate filings is March 2. The 2026 Primary election is Tuesday, May 12, with the General Election scheduled for Tuesday, November 3.