Inspiring and challenging students through diverse opportunities
I. Call to Order – Welcome 7:00 p.m.
II. Pledge of Allegiance
Difficult two weeks across the nation- moment of silence for parkland victims
III. Adoption of Agenda- moved by Kendell, 2nded by Brueck. Passed unanimously
IV. Public Comments
The Board encourages citizens to attend its meetings. Citizens have this opportunity
to comment on issues and concerns (Policy 210.9 & 213)
- lindsey Paull- 1st grade teacher at NH- 6th year in the district- chose to come here- this is her home- pretty cool to work with former teachers- not sure she would consider applying without a master contract- losing many kids to wb- could lose teachers there as well- students first, staff always. To honor us, listen to our colleagues- don’t want things to be able to be changed without knowledge.
Kellie Mason- 4th grade teacher at NH- 13 years- 27 kids in classroom- proud mother of corse kids- 95 bhs grad- teaching is her passion- always knew what she wanted to do- proud of community and district- grayhound pride- should attract quality educators- master contract benefits her and students by providing stability- language in contract is unbreakable and fair- safe environment, hours- handbook is unilateral in nature. Employer doesn’t believe in me as much as they once did.
Nicole Wingate- high school science teacher- BEA pres elect- hire and retain good teachers- factors outside our control- help strengthen retention by adding permissive language back in- 2 page contract now- fresh out of college might not choose here. Our contract doesn’t show respect for us. Handbook isn’t legally binding- admins could change rules if they wished to.
Equation of marriage contract- support to administration- prove that same love for teachers
Kristen Madigan- Grimes- 4 years- 19 children in class- IWC- 2 year old daughter- loves burlington- great place to work and raise a family. Proud to work at grimes. Lifelong learner. Coworkers work over hours. Recently feels as if respect has floundered. Handbook came out in august. Couldn’t understand difference. 32 year teacher position eliminated- this is an associate. Promote a job fair. When given confidence of master contract, didn’t have it. Districts in our area kept a master contract. Other districts have smaller class sizes. Kindergarten class of 27 is a negative. Employers need to have our back.
Liz Sanning- some of them were students- blessed 25 year teacher- 22 years- when she was a new teacher didn’t have a master contract. Her life was a little different. Had a great family structure. Didn’t have a choice- had to supervise the bus. Was blown away by our contract. 4 hours away from her family. Hard to find daycare for family. Good to know that she didn’t have to sign up for everything for her career. Kids got bigger and they were active. Liz still had that consistency that the agreement gave her. Now she can be part of committees and do after school clubs. Number of young families. Want them to have the same safety net- wants them to come here. Master agreement makes that differenc.e
Tom Buckman- for a long time the BEA has represented the teachers and the students. We bring up concerns. Multiple times its what best for our students. People in this room- BEA members and reps- they come up- speak their piece- hard things- have to carry that message for the teachers. To make a difference. Commend all of us for standing up and saying what needs to be sad. Last year we had to take a vote- 89.6% of staff voted for BEA.
Becky Davis- important to me- teaches 1st at Corse- came from Clinton and taught at ND- both go to Corse- having a teacher at public and private- she likes public school. She loves BCSD. we are here for the long haul. No collective bargaining- other districts kept permissives. We have great teachers. Elem classes are bursting at the seams. Corse has enough unknowns right now- admin cares about students and employees- allowing us to have contracts are something they can do something about.
Matt Zurmuehlen- 2 kids in our district- security concerns- lots of safety concerns in school. Got to participate. Things that can be changed. Parents can roam freely without appointment. Students going in and out at the end of the day. Need to secure entrance. Laws take time that not everyone has. He thinks teachers should be armed. Member of the gun community. Training available. No trauma kids. First aid at work- alice drills haven’t been done yet this year. Alliant energy has grants available. Find solutions that work. Door locks- grimes ptos. Wants it safe for students and staff. Some staff are willing to carry. Alice drills need to be done.
Kirby Corrick- reitired police officer- most of career in bcsd- completed crisis response plans. Threats in area have happened. Reserve deputy. Asked to speak on gun control. In favor of gun control. Not all teachers should be armed. They should be as qualified as he is. Background checks and psychological exams. Hope it doesn’t come to that. Appreciate time- would do anythign to support staff. Hope will continue to debate this. As Matt Z we need to be better prepared in all of our buildings.
V. Public Hearings
2. Concrete at James Madison Educational Center (JMEC)- no comment on this part.
VI. Consent Agenda
3. Minutes, Bills, Financial Reports, Human Resources Report, and Gifts- moved by hatteberg- 2nded by Kendell. Passed unanimously with 2 abstaining.
VII. District Positive Accomplishments- Bowling Team-Scott Mason- MAC bowling coach of the year. Appreciates opportunity to brag on bowling team. We are new compared to other teams. 6th year. Tring to get out from behind 8 ball. Island of misfit toys. Athletes on team have found their niche. Coach of the year was a great honor. We haven’t won a boys meet while he’s been coach. MAC coaches sent a message about what it should be about. Grayhound way and grayhound pride. About 20 years of coaching.
Jaylie- growing up in USBC- competing in youth- no connection. Bowling team provided that. Only girl 9th grader that joined bowling.
Blake Groecke’s mom- she lives in WB- her son goes to BHS- her son bowled for BHS. he is an exceptional bowler. Need to add bowling to the boards. Scott did a great job with the kids. Promote bowling more. Anybody can do it.
VIII. Student Representative Report- Matt Rowland- apologizes for not promoting bowling more. Blood drive Thursday. 9-2. Spring sports coming about. Girls boys track- up 300%- thanks to Mr. Webb. Promoted really well. Tennis and softball and baseball coming up. Margret Tillotson organizing a walk out on Friday- in protest of school violence. Hard to see. Walk out is a great demonstration of 1st amendment rights.
XIV. Superintendent’s Report- Coen- at each desk have a picture of burlington kdg- sent to every legislative member- thanked them for allowing the voucher to die. Would have allowed jim crow like movement. Districts that took 4k voucher takes a lot more than that for special ed. Giving us back the 1c sales tax. School district did great work with newer and fewer. Facilities committee. HS is shouting I need attention. SF 270- open enrollment to be more open- encouraged them to not vote for that. Past week- trying. Gun Violence- everyone talking about it. KBUR asking questions. Grassley town hall. Does have a letter sent to marliss- talks about the walkout rally- why it’s protected by 1st amendment- 2nd amendment people have same right. Can’t take the constitution in pieces. Must ingest it as a whole. We are gonna make every effort to make it an educational opportunity- have to teach them to exercise their rights. Unified voice- people saying the same thing so people are listening. Do have a group of hs kids- that feel strongly about the 2nd amendment. We may be an opportunity- we are so divided it’s ugly- kids talking 2nd amendment- we’ve got to have school safety. They want the same thing- how can we get there. Hours and hours working through that. Met with Tillotson- had BPD, Keane and worked through the process of how it will work out. Have a plan in place for the students. Peaceable assembly. Grievance process. People have that right. Hawk eye can look at it. Not allowing elem kids to walk out. Any parent that wants to pull their kid out and bring them here. Grade schoolers can’t. MIddle schoolers can’t either. How do you control them. High School has a good plan. Working with BPD so traffic won’t be affected. MS if you want your child to go you can check them out. Explain to them
Met with greater burlington partnership- talked about changes in burlington. Demographics changes. Fewer students not due to open enrollment- due to changing demographics- we may have to close a school. Not due to poor environment- due to fewer kids than in 1980.
Open enrollment- working with university of iowa- next board meeting- 11,000 contract to come up with a plan. If we changed 2 kids that pays for it.
Grayhound way meeting with shay. Multitude of issues. Hopefully bad weather behind us. Spent hours going through master contract as it was and handbook as it is. Legislation and alignment- to develop a training guideline for the handbook.
Job Fair- extremely successful- most positions are 2ndary- math, science, trying to flee illinois. Bus drivers, associates, subs. Overall successful. Will change some things- will continue with it.
Every day he talks about positive impact on adult quality of life- like some of the people that talked this evening- he went to a former students wedding. Collective experience brought to them by the teachers does bring about change. Nice to see the grown man from the student.
Board- put the picture on your fridge- it’s a tough time to be a board member. You do make a difference.
Heather- did a great job at burlington partnership
The walkout is not a school sponsored event.
What about kids that don’t walk out?
High school will be more of a problem- educational component- 2 diff staging areas. Don’t burn cars or neighborhoods. We are all citizens. Constitution must be exercised. 100 a day die of cell phones. Young black men die of gun violence. If you’re gonna step up, you might be challenged. May be one of the best lessons we have all year. Phone numbers of legislators. Too slow- they won’t listen. Teachers and staff- teachers have that right. Have obligation in classroom- we are in charge of the kids. We can’t leave the kids unsupervised. That’s a tough one. We have a right to be heard but we can’t leave the kids.
Quotes liz- if they want to go- might allow them to cover each other’s classes
Robberts- if you are looking to make a change- the walkout can’t stop at the end of the day- it takes years to make changes. Contact legislators. Problem is everywhere. Keep working at it. Not just a 1 day show.
Had an example of that across the river- happened at biggsville- they had demonstrations- phone calls- it worked- took time
I stopped listening for a while
X. Items for Discussion
4. Bid for Concrete at James Madison Educational Center (JMEC)
Moved by Courtney- 2nded by Hatteberg- passed unanimously
5. Bid for Auditor- moved by Courtney 2nd by Bross- passed unanimously
6. 2017-18 K-3 Site Agreement IA Reading Corp AmeriCorps Program- Mark Taylor- moved by Bross and 2nd by Courtney- it’s year to year- passed unanimously
7. Contract for Becker & Associates- agent of record for employee benefits program- IASB utilizes them- will provide with opportunities and benefits we currently don’t have- they will work for same cost as we currently pay- we can change this at our discretion- this is a change from 2 rivers- drive down insurance cost- we will still have local businesses- this could help our employees out- can we pool- we can- pooling will help us with rates- potential to keep us from high rate increases-comparable coverage- our plans are at our discretion
Any input from facutly- they don’t want the 400 less in paycheck- self insure? May be able to take impact of insurance increase- cut it in half ( we will see)
Could be 300 or 400 less take home pay next year
Passed unanimously
8. Property Quit Claim Deed (State of IA Correctional Facility- property at 944 valley st- deed wasn’t properly recorded- moved by bross, 2nd by Brueck- passed unanimously
9. 21st Century Update Information only- Cassie Gerst- info about 21st cent grants- eval- wrapped up last school year- 451 kids- 776 kids. I didn’t listen super closely to this.
XI. Board Communications
The members will have the opportunity to share items and events.
Bross- feels like a work session on security would be informative. To hear things that are going on.
Coen- grassley’s thing- he put it on local control.
Bross- we need to know where we stand.
Brueck- have meetings somewhere else- we need to make a change. Shoutout to freshmen class- penny drive for injured student.
Vickstrom- echo way we have handled friday- got ahead of something for a while. Got to reach an understanding. Get somewhere where we can be comfortable- not conducive to a good meeting. Happy to see people express their opinion. The meek may inherit the earth but won’t get the mineral rights. Don’t shut up. You’re valuable people. You need to be heard- your opinions need to be heard, people need to be safe. No one wins all the time.
Courtney- didn’t speak.
Hatteberg- thank SEIA builders- gave 5500 worth of tools. Thank speakers- we are listening- it’s a transition- any kind is kind of painful- hopefully with both sides continuing to communicate we will reach consensus. We do understand. Trying to make it all come together- doing best to come through for us and the students. Keep district financially afloat. Thanks to coen for all your work. Handbook thing- thanks for working on that. Walkout- hope students are able to feel like they’ve made a difference. Positive discourse. Similar to things we are going through with staff. Finding a way to make it happen.
Kendell- thank you to coen for work on walkout. Multiple ways to exercise our rights. Love the bowling. Appreciate the audience and comments. We hear you. Appreciate you taking time to speak. Cell phones shut off for positive accomplishments. Thanks for working on kdg roundup.
Robberts- that would be helpful. Would allow us to reach out to community. Community partners in securing our schools. Everyone wants our schools to be safe.
XII. Adjournment
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