(These notes are a mess, because the discussion around cuts was all over the place. I did my best to follow the convo as well as I could.)
The mission of the Burlington Community School District is:
Inspiring and challenging students through diverse opportunities
I. Call to Order – Welcome 7:00 p.m.
II. Pledge of Allegiance
III. Adoption of Agenda- moved by hatteberg 2nd by bross-
IV. Public Comments- none.
The Board encourages citizens to attend its meetings. Citizens have this opportunity
to comment on issues and concerns (Policy 210.9 & 213)
V. Public Hearing
4. 2017-18 Calendar- 2 options- #2 and #4- no one here for public hearing about calendars.
VI. Consent Agenda- moved by Vickstrom, 2nd by Garwood.
5. Minutes, Bills, Human Resources Report, and Gifts- went with above.
VII. District Positive Accomplishments- 9th Grade Steps to Success (Mrs. Dentlinger)- based on community exploration, partnering with SCC, have National Guard with training- HEAR?- students get 1 credit- they do journals, presentation, explore community business education- 176 students involved- Mrs. Dentlinger not the best person to present as she says because she hasn’t been to all of them- benefits have been tremendous- 1st year has been a lot of work, but has been beneficial. 7 diff rotations at SCC, career fair, health fair, service day at elementaries, variety of activities for 9th graders. Vida Long has been in charge of it. Lots of Hound Room teachers have put a lot work into it. Next year will be a building year beyond this one. Next year hope to have all of freshmen involved. Coen- we have young people who have parents who didn’t finish hs, but now those students are walking around with a college credit. That was the substance of the whole thing. What are the opportunities in Burlington and Beyond. SCC falling all over themselves about how polite the students are, and how well behaved. Sharon- this applies to all of our students- Special Ed and JMEC.
Coen- think of the depth of a child now that is challenged academically, emotionally, SCC is now a not scary place. Hats off to Mrs. Dentlinger and everyone who has helped with this.
Mrs. Robberts- was impressed when they came in. Keane- shout out to all businesses and pastoral who have helped with it- wouldn’t be possible without them.
Bross- it’s going to be great in coming years.
Dentlinger- community is behind it- that makes all the difference.
Garwood- opens students’ eyes to opportunities.
VIII. Student Representative Report- not present
IX. Superintendent’s Report- Week flew by- ch 20 changes big news- Greg is our point man. Transitioning from contract to handbook. Not going to change a whole lot- handbook will be similar to contract.
Uptick in concerns-
Board President, VP, Bross- discussed deliberate decision making. Completed draft of changes to transportation so we can have a hub.
Round table at stone- ch 20 came up. We are going to create a handbook similar to contract- treat staff with dignity and honor and respect they deserve.
Visited Mrs. Mitchell’s training with social workers- will have a social character development curric in place.
Attended PD on Frid- at HS, Stone, Aldo- well thought out, planned- Dentlinger has a huge job, but she continues to distinguish herself.
Admin team meeting friday pm- looked at course of action- employee handbook will resemble ch 20 (?)
Mrs. Robberts- we applaud your work (Coen)
X. Items for Discussion
6. Wellness Committee 507.10, 50710 R1 & 507.10 R3 Policy Update 1st Reading- Mr. Tabor- wellness policy is on board agenda- Mr. Mehaffy here for questions, if any. No questions from board about it. Bross- looks like some smart changes. Bross moved, Kendell 2nded.
7. Budget Guarantee Resolution- Mr. Reynolds- protect schools with declining enrollment- don’t want to lose the spending authority- around 200,000. Garwood motioned, Hatteberg 2nd. Unanimous approval
8. Budget Proposals- Mr. Reynolds- started early last fall- through committee meetings at each of the buildings- asking for suggestions from staff- all of these suggestions came from those meeitngs.
- Our new money next year, will be neg 235,000. Cost increases historical impact- anticipating 700,000 in cost increases.
- Admin restructuring- consolidating tech dept and nutrition into one- admin realignments- B Johnson would be director of IT and nutrition
Butler would be principal at stone
Moving O’Rourke to HS to cover opening
Would fill assoc principals
Reducing admin assoc days some savings from that as well- all that combined to around 120k
Vickstrom- does Johnson have skills to perform- Coen- his strength is tech, the other one we will send to training- Dept of Ed says he could do both of those things- Vickstrom-
Cooks would fall under building principals- everyone has their first day at a new job (coen says)
MS would hire assoc principals- would still have 2 asst princ- they would have shorter work year
Could save more money if people from within district move up
Hatteberg- stone would have 2 new admins- concern with that
Would rather do this restructuring than cut teaching staff (Coen)
- Reducing 2 staff PD days- 185 days- not reducing wages- just reducing the number of days (which means less pay for teachers)
Coen- teachers said let’s work less days at round table meetings- older teachers said we would rather give up days and keep younger teachers
Bross- 120,000 a day- you could go to 3 teacher days and we’d make same- not true
There would be a smaller amount of money on the annual basis
- Improvements to routes- $125,000- would be cutting bus drivers- may affect transportation times- we are roughly a 70 mile district- we really are only 45 miles-
Kendell- it’s hard to get bus drivers- there are indications that it’s true, but not necessarily (coen)
- Retiree attrition- possibly not replacing reading teacher, not replacing guidance, replacing with social workers- guidance counselor would serve all 5 buildings- Coen- that fulfills our obligation to the Dept of Ed
Vickstrom- how often do guidance counselors work with students- Dentlinger- depends- sometimes they are doing lunch duty and after school
Garwood- what are the duty differences between the two- Dentlinger- there really aren’t any- they have degrees that they can work with students- they have the training and skill set
Coen- we hope to fill open positions with young people- Guidance counselors have masters- Social workers don’t- they’re less expensive- BOEE has no guidance on social workers
Kendell- with attrition- ELP at Sunnyside- categorical fund- those will be replaced
- Over 30 associates- identified 6 that could be reduced- not affecting special ed students- these are gen assoc
Vickstrom- are there any schools that have more than others-
Dentlinger- these 6 come from diff buildings
Robberts- we are keeping our class sizes down- Dentlinger- depends on the building
Coen- we will keep class sizes down- that’s one of the drivers between this option- our K class sizes will not balloon
- Health insurance- district renewal 19.89- normally district covers to pay for our typical cost increase- employees pick up the diff- move away from full single, and 90% family- that would change- family plan and singles would be changed
Hawkeye ins (?)-
Reynolds- we are still working through EBS- hope to not have a significant impact on
employee cost
Coen- our teachers are important to us- health insurance is burning through us- this would
affect admins are affected as well
Vickstrom- teachers are taking two hits-
Coen- when we have TQ days they don’t show up- they self vote that they don’t want the extra pay
- Equipment insurance program- 100k- this would be a district change- miscellaneous income- this would be charged management levy
Kendell- how would this option affect taxes-tax flat
Option 2 and 3 variable is health insurance-
This would make the hit on teachers even greater- the employees would make up the differences
Option 3- if district paid full single and 90% of family- this would cause 2 Hs, 2 MS, and 2 elem to be reduced
Reynolds- we want insurance to be as affordable as possible
District would cover a 7% increase- Greg is working off a 15%-17% increase in his numbers
Copays and things will change as well
Option 3- Robberts- do we know what positions would be cut- we would have issues with class sizes and still be in the hole
Other options-
HS French teacher- over last 7 years, fair enrollment in years 1 and 2- 36 french 1, 19 french 2, 5 french 3, and 4 french 4
Keane- those students would go to spanish- French 2,3 would be finished by another staff member who currently has other duties (I don’t know who that is)
Could use Polycom
French 1 would be eliminated- could Polycom French 1- another staff member would cover French 2 and 3
SCC does have french as an option- students won’t have 4 years of french- would have to be TAG to take college courses- those would be high rigor classes
Robberts- doesn’t want to eliminate truancy officer- Garwood and Hatteberg agree
Sectors coordinator- Hatteberg asked about it- who is it- this needs to go anyway- does someone have this position- this is a social worker-
Registration fees- where are we compared to others- we are higher than a lot, but 75 is not out of line- if you qualify for free and reduced lunch you don’t pay- we are a 1:1 school
- Robberts- I don’t like option 2- dont want to freeze district insurance- don’t want to cut staff- she wants to cut french, sectors coordinator, and increase registration fees- central office restructuring- secretarial- is that something to hold for next year-
Dentlinger- who would be eliminated, how would responsibilites shift
Not ideal, but this supports
Coen- a secretary from James Madison could be coming to whitehouse- Would be going from 2 tech sec and food services sec
Hatteberg- concerned about insurance and ch 20 stuff that has come out this year- she concurs with Robberts- but would like to do more for staff insurance contributions-
Reynolds- cover what we typically have covered-
Kendell- 2 less teacher days- teachers will still be there doing the work- since they asked for it
- Bross likes that, too.
- Vickstrom wants to leave central office alone
HS French program getting eliminated, sectors coordinator, registration fee increase
Garwood doesn’t like admin restructuring- food service can be so complicated- has an issue combining those two
Food service wouldn’t have to supervise cooks- principals would do that
Coen- we can’t increase class sizes- cuts have to come from somewhere- way to leave teachers alone and keep class sizes down- want to be competitive with neighboring districts
Kendell- in this scenario i defer to supt and reynolds- I also look at feedback I receive- I didn’t hear from anyone about this issue
Brian Johnson is a licensed admin- Keane works 14-16 hours a day- if Johnson has to work more hours, he can do it
Johnson is making more money than 85% of our population-
Brian will have to work a lot more hours
Vickstrom- how often will these people be evaluated- Coen it’s usually annually- Johnson will ask for help if he needs it
Garwood- how will you combine those two- food service and IT- sometimes it doesn’t look like anyone’s on the buses
Coen- bus routes- we would move food service office to tech office- Brian would be in charge of both of those offices
Reynolds- Versatran is going to help improve the routes
Vickstrom- have we not used the simulation to the fullest-
Bross- motion to take option 1- sectors coordinator, registration fees increase, hs french program
Will tweak health insurance later- aren’t going to know tonight on insurance
Kendell 2nded-
Garwood- this is such a difficult decision- we have to keep our students in mind- hates to agree to it, but feels like it is the best option with the least amount of impact.
Vickstrom I dislike this one less than the others.
Vote- unanimous
So, insurance is still up in the air. We will have 2 less teacher contract days next year. French program will be cut, but current French students will be covered somehow. Sectors coordinator will be cut. Brian Johnson will be food and tech.
9. BHS Graduation Date and Senior Last Day of School- graduation not on memorial day weekend, we have an issue when graduation is. Seniors last day May 25, Graduation on June 3. Students’ last day is May 31. Passed.
10. 2017-18 School Year Calendar- this was addressed before graduation date- motion to approve calendar draft 2, with the budget changes. By far the most popular. Passed unanimously.
11. Board Policy Graduation Requirements 505.5 1st Reading- should be a total of 5 credits. Kendell motion to table this- Robberts 2nded. Policy committee didn’t review this before it. Kendell wants to discuss transfer in sections, competent private instruction. Unless we need to approve it right away, Kendell wants to delay. Tabled unanimously.
12. Trimester Update Information Only- Keane- teachers are working on section numbers, and who will be assigned to teach sections. Positive comments from parents that they were part of the scheduling students. Keane- met with 70% of parents(?).
55% of students filled their schedule. Keane was impressed with offerings kept students out of study halls.
Garwood- this has progressed well after a rocky start. Quite positive it’s one of our best moves.
XI. Board Communications
The members will have the opportunity to share items and events.
- Bross- got to see students in action at Great River Region days. EmpowerU students were impressive. Grimes PTO will be selling trash bags.
- Garwood- difficult night. Probably the best decision for our students- not increasing class size- hopefully keeping education system strong.
- Vickstrom- now that our political leaders have gotten their pound of flesh, i hope they leave IPERs alone.
- Hatteberg- thanks everyone who participated in the cuts process. It’s music in our schools month.
- Kendell- glad to hear about the STEPs program and how it’s working out. I know it’s a slight disruption to the HS schedule, but the good outweighs any of the problems. Difficult evening with budget- legislators are having forums this weekend- districts need money- 1.1% is laughable- if you have an opinion, go talk to legislators. Tell them what you’re thinking.
- Robberts- challenging process- insurance going up 19%. Thanks for Coen and Reynolds. A lot of the ideas were from staff. The ideas aren’t perfect- we would rather offer more opportunities, not less. Thanks Mrs. Dentlinger and Long.
XII. Adjournment- adjourned at 8:58 pm.
XIII. Exempt Session-Negotiation
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