5:00 p.m. Closed Session-
2. Expulsion Recommendation
5:20 p.m.
3. Expulsion Recommendation
5:40 p.m.
4. Expulsion Recommendation
The mission of the Burlington Community School District is:
Inspiring and challenging students through diverse opportunities
I. Call to Order – Welcome 6:00 p.m.- Hatteberg absent
II. Pledge of Allegiance
III. Adoption of Agenda- moved by Courtney 2nd by McVay
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)- Jerry Sherwood- Purple and Grey Foundation- rebranding of school district. Need to step back and look at this- been in contact with university of Indianapolis- continuing to use hound that we have now. Worth the effort- citizens of Burlington want to see. Purple and Gray spent a lot of money remodeling the stadium- stuff isn’t 5 years old. Nice venue- comfortable with the logo that we have. Dog in center of field- statue on central street side. A lot of money spent, especially on the statue. Don’t want other brands (symbols) to conflict with what we have. Coen approved Purple and Gray calling university of Indiana. Item that will go before board of university to allow us to use the symbol. They are a division 2 school- we aren’t harming their brand by using the symbol. No one will get rich on the apparel. Wants board to be diligent on what they decide to do. Group will visit university if they need to.
No one else spoke.
V. Consent Agenda
5. Minutes, Bills, Financial Report, Human Resources Report and Gifts- approval moved by McVay- 2nded by Courtney- passed.
VI. District Positive Accomplishments- Grimes Student Council- Grimes principal- 3rd and 4th grade. Group of students. Helped with a couple activities- non-perishable food drive before thanksgiving. Bracelets. Collected 1698 food items for a food pantry. 3rd grade donated the most- 308 items. Students had overwhelming support. Lend a paw pantry. Fundraising for ice cream party with toppings. Selling bracelets that sell Grimes Grayhounds on them. Selling bracelets for $1 a piece. Grimes PTO purchased them for students to sell. Have sold over 100 at this time. Another activity they want to do is Pennies for Patients. Each board member is getting a bracelet from the students. Principal- students are trying to get stuco more active- principal sees great things coming from this group. Thanks the board for their support.
Kendell- when do you meet and when is the ice cream party? Student- meet at 8 in library on Fridays. Student didn’t tell when the ice cream party is. Aurora Critser- Grimes is one of the best schools because it has the best people. Aurora was supposed to go to NH but she and her mom said NO. lol.
VII. Student Representative Report- busy year so far. Student council getting ready for dances. Beach night. Bake sale for junior class cabinet. Boys and Girls basketball are going well. Bowling girls have a winning record. Boys swimming is going well. NHS is collecting donations for animal shelter.
VIII. Superintendent’s Report- Coen- icy weather- didn’t mess up weekend activities. Cory and Coen met. Efforts in reading. Exciting- Sarah McKee- systemic literacy in reading- going to be published. Daily 5. Afterschool at Aldo Leopold. Coen expressed gratitude to adults. Had parade of excellence. Highlight is teachers seeing former students as young adults. Cheyanne Phillips presented youth mentoring at Kiwanis. Greg and Coen had meeting with Vickstrom and Courtney. Talked about mid year evaluation, start times, Iowa sent out poverty data which wasn’t positive for Burlington. Grad rate going up dispite this issue. CTE leadership- Corse becoming early childhood center. James Madison decision still needs to be made. Health care costs- very little if any increase coming from Becker. Dr. Carlson- science club at middle and intermediate schools. Coen attended Grimshaw retirement. Will we make up funeral day- 1 day is about 110k dollars- we can’t give that away. We will make that up- Greg found that some things are going very well with budget- solvency rate is good. Work session is on Feb 10th. Hats off to kesterke- crew in on sunday to clear snow and ice. Didn’t want any work loss injuries.
Kendell- Daily 5- that is a big deal. District has been doing good things for quite some time. Previous board gets kudos for that. Any part of that video that can be shared for promotion of the district?
Coen- yes, Cory Johnson has got online- we can make that available. To share on social media.
Vickstrom- anything else?
IX. Items for Discussion
6. Contracted Nutrition Services- Reynolds- Oopa- presenting to board about the company. Do we want to have a company manage our food service.
Oopa- Greg Frost- was an educator, principal and admin. Opaa family owned business. Chesterfield, Missouri. Homestyle cooking and baking. Majority of their districts in Missouri- 7 states. Only 20 or so districts in Iowa contract food service. Districts range from 300-1000. Saves money for district because they can buy food cheaper. This is a lot of stuff about food service which i can’t keep up with- about fed guidelines- employee management.
Sheila Frost- scratch cooking. Roast turkey. Homemade meatloaf- burritos made from scratch. Variety of freshly prepared items- salad bars. Can do individually made salads. Speciality bar- rotates daily- asian, south of the border, baked potato bar. A la carte- non-reimbursable. All their foods meet smart snack guidelines. Breakfast- biscuits and gravy. Coffee bars. Help district write grants to help pay for equipment. 2nd chance breakfast- for students who arrive close to first bell- staff special for adults at least once a week. Daily menu choices. Has nutritional and ingredients for food items- and carb counts. Can allow students, parents, and nurses to see what will be served. Brought samples of the bread.
Sieren- logistics of the service- Oopa uses existing staff- they handle the food purchasing. They train our staff how to make their recipes. We are charged on a per meal basis. Spend a lot of time selecting food products. Cereal comes from general mills. Chicken comes from Tyson.
Farm to school- farm fresh products into the districts- fresh apples- all the rice is from a farmer owned rice mill. Fresh eggs.
Got more into buying beef.
They partner on community gardens, learning gardens, farmer market days. Some of their schools serve 3 meals a day.
Health and wellness fairs. Catering provided as well. Got into logistics more.
Catering for school related events.
Bid process- takes 6-8 weeks. 5 year fixed pricing. Board of ed renews annually.
Very positive in terms of cost savings to district- 150k + savings. Oopa serves 40 mil meals a year. They get better deals and better quality food.
District sets meal prices. Study was based on present numbers. They think more kids would eat meals if we do this.
Money comes to us as it usually does. District is in charge of new hires including director of nutrition services. District sets policies and procedures. This food program depends on our cooks and staff. If staff didn’t buy in, it would fail. We have plenty of staff to do this program. Our staff works a lot but doesn’t serve as many meals. We can do better with this service. Increasing food choice usually gets more kids to eat hot lunch. 2nd chance breakfast is a big hit.
Fruit and vegetable bar. Midland- sigourney- hudson in iowa. 8 districts in Iowa looking at it. Coen has spoken with Sigourney superintedent- want to send some students and parents to a school where they have this food service.
Mr. Johnson comes up to the podium. He and kitchen manager create the menu currently. Waht does Johnson think of it- a lot of it is great- his issue is that he’s currently a half time food service director- he doesn’t have enough time in his day. Be interested to look at how the buying power thing works- they would have to bid the same way we do. There are things on their that we could do if we had the resources.
Kendell likes if we can boost # kids eating- hungry kids aren’t productive- Kendell is hesitant- but would like to look into it more. More food options would be appealing. Johnson is surprised by take rate- we have expanded our menu a lot. We have spent more money on food in some places to try to make kids happier.
Kendell- caveat- we have partnerhip with food pantry- our food pantry is all separate. It’s a totally separate program. Kendell doesn’t want that affected.
Courtney- when things sound too good to be true- he’s unsure of it. He has a hard time losing part of control of our district.
Sieren- one of the staffing options is we keep all of our staff- they just provide menu and purchasing. We still cook and prepare the food.
Frost- best people to talk to are other board members and superintendents who have the service. District maintains control- Oopa partners with the district. Has to be viewed as a partnership. We can vote them out at any given time.
Sieren- didn’t want to lose staff or lose resources- he has been swayed somewhat- if it doesn’t work after a year, we could go away from it.
Frost- it’s an easy transition back if we decide not to keep doing it. Food service impacts more students than almost any other program in school. Courtney still can’t believe it. Frost is really selling it. More kids will eat and be happy with the food.
Its a food fight!
Vickstrom- you’d be paying the food service?
Sieren-
Board is debating how the service would work
Reynolds- district is still required to employ food service.
Still talking about logistics-
Cooks can claim unemployment in summer months- they like that.
Courtney asked about insurance if they’re the employer of the food service.
Cooks would be then in private sector- wouldn’t have seniority
Kendell- talking about different options
Board asking what they’re supposed to do
We are required to open ourselves up to bids
Coen- will get a list of board members from districts doing it. Will check it out. Extensive process through dept of ed- they have to know by feb we are going out for bids- Coen- we are thinking about it but not sure yet.
RFP process starts in Feb-
Hoelzen moves to put out RFP
2nded by Kendell
Roll call vote- McVay- no
Hoelzen- yes
Courtney- no
Sieren- yes
Kendell- yes
Vicstrom- no
Sieren- what’s the hesitation
Courtney- no discussion- the vote occurred
7. Letterman Creative School Logo- Ruehs didn’t bring snacks or gifts. Started working on this a year ago. David Ruehs- went to graphic arts teacher. Logos are pixelated. Speedhound came from university of indianapolis. Our logo system isn’t cohesive. Vickstrom limiting him to 5 minutes.
Discussing team that looked at it. A lot of representation. Having team present- Junior student presenting- 791 responses. Feedback what liked and disliked. Full hound and half hound.
Betsy Wolf- our consistency across the district- we don’t have. Colors and logos are different across the district and levels. Wants a guideline for when we go out to venders and suppliers. Change is hard. Was here when speed hound came in- it wasn’t liked at first- came in 2002- we are trying to hold on to it. Change won’t happen overnight- when things wear out- when things need to be updated- not like we will revamp everything all at once. Ruehs- letterman creative created two guides for us. We have official colors- purple and gray- we have an official typography.
Kendell doesn’t agree with the five minutes. I protest this.
Vickstrom- i’m doing what i’ve been asked to do.
Ruehs- same lettering and look at all the schools- board approved it. Put in a year’s worth of our time.
Rules on what not to do- guidelines that we can follow.
Ruehs super proud.
Music come up there- music booster president- love the athletic counterpart- they held off on choir robes- wanted to wait until district made a decision. Music kids are excited. They think the symbology is awesome. Choir band and orchestra looking forward to it.
Vickstrom- is there a legal problem?
Ruehs- we wanted a unified brand. The trademark was an issue- the speed hound isn’t under our control- companies were putting speed hounds on stuff and trying to con us.
What we have now is ours. Trademark paper has been emailed to us.
Vickstrom- we have all these things with the old logo-
Ruehs- we have transitioned before-
Vickstrom- how many times are we going to change
Kendell- was impressed with the company and committee
This is the right thing to do. He respects purple and gray- he’s very fond of it. He feels strongly we need this. Our staff needs this. We don’t have quality letterhead.
Courtney- appreciates what they’ve done. Sherwood didn’t make an unreasonable request. They would like us to just wait a minute. Courtney makes a motion to table the issue.
Ruehs- pushes back.
Courtney motions they table it. Vickstrom 2nds it.
Kendell- we don’t have universal color font and so on. Like what.
Sherwood holds up a paper with his work.
Kendell-we approved the contract from lettermen- purple and gray didn’t complain at the time. If university of indiana doesn’t let us use it we are back where we were before. Things replaced as needed.
Sieren- if we weren’t to table, what motion are we considering
Hoelzen- reviews what the committee has done.
Motion would be to accept or reject the proposal.
Bothers Hoelzen to say we approved the proposal, but we don’t want to go through with it. After they have worked on it.
Scott Zaiser- booster club- kept them informed. They’re 60-40 for it.
Vickstrom- how much time do you need? Purple and Gray
Sherwood talks again. If this doesn’t happen for 30 days or 45 days, what does it hurt?
His company bids on stuff all the time- don’t always get it. Can’t tell you university will tell right away-
Vickstrom- we can’t lag this out forever
Kendell- you’re addressing one part of the puzzle, not the whole thing
Sherwood didn’t get the RFP
Kendell wants to make a decision tonight.
How long does it take to get the robes? Takes 8 weeks for the robes. Last concert is May 11.
Sieren- ISU has been through 2 logo changes. It’s not popular when it changes. Kansas State did the same thing. Logo changes happen. It happens as often as needed. None of these decisions are permanent. Statues become part of history.
Coen- has received an overwhelming amount of email about the logos. Everyone loves the grayhound they had when they were in high school.
Courtney- foundation spent a lot of money. He doesn’t care which logo we go with.
Kendell- wishes it would have come up 5 months ago.
Sherwood- when did we get the final drawings.
Ruehs argues back.
McVay- we changed a few years ago away from logos. We need to be unified sooner than later. Move forward with the unity.
Sherwood- we’re adding a logo.
Courtney- communication gap- purple and gray has done a lot for this school.
Kendell- motion to table
Tabling the issue- Vickstrom and Courtney voted to table. Kendell moved to make it our logo.
Sieren- not going to replace logos unless needed. Field turf-
Amendment-
Kendell- proceed with logos as official logos- any new products
Passed.
Purple and gray is not happy.
8. Resolution to Approve Revenue Purpose Statement- Reynolds tells vickstrom to read it. SAVE 1 cent sales tax. Voter approval to use the funds. Voters allowing district to spend money we have gotten from sales tax. Vickstrom introducing the resolution and a roll call vote will happen.
Voted unanimously.
Dean read it. It was super long
It’s not a raise on taxes- it’s not an increase. It’s just an extension.
9. Bloodborne Exposure Control Plan 2nd Reading- Sieren asks Dean to read it. Dean threatens to throw a water at him.
Laci Johnson- recommends approving 2nd reading. Moved by Sieren 2nd by McVay.
Passed.
10. SBRC Request for Additional Allowable Growth for At-Risk Programs- Reynolds- drop out and at risk programs. Asking for additional allowable growth. 25% match from general fund which we do every year. Associates and coordinator, counselors, social workers, some teachers at BILA, Ed Stone, and one other- review and renewal
Sieren- # of students identified- what grades does that include- just high school.
Courtney moves approval- Sieren 2nd. Passes.
11. New Job Description, Director of Career and Technical Education- Cory Johnson- ask to change it to table for now. Talked to a lot of labor leaders. Dave Keane. Believe we need to pursue this at some point. Think there are options to share the position with other businesses. Also became aware of a grant. Want to explore before we move forward as it is written. Have a huge emphasis in our district and community around CTE- there is a lot of movement happening. This will be vitally important to move those programs forward.
Courtney- moved table, McVay 2nd.
McVay- thanks, Cory.
Passed- tabled.
X. Board Communications
The members will have the opportunity to share items and events.
Sieren- encourage community to reach out to board as they have questions- someone who is good at websites- old board is still on the district website.
Sad that board didn’t move forward on RFP for food service. Could save 150k.
Shout out to 2 people who passed- Tatum Ross and Chris Richards.
Kendell- thank Mr. Ruehs and branding committee. Regret people didn’t take opportunity to provide feedback earlier on. Grimes kids were highlight. Get good things going. Deepest condolences to Mr. Richards family. Proud of southeast iowa for coming together. Kudos to Mr. Coen and his staff. No time to plan for such a catastrophe. Rough one. Admin handled it well. Thanks for professionalism.
McVay- attending basketball games, music program at Aldo. as a parent of a blackhawk student, amazing how quickly everything came together. Memorial service was wonderful. Shoutout to the custodial staff- kudos to them.
Blackhawk parade of excellence- her son really liked it. Important that all sports are represented- would be nice if choir was involved. Other school’s school councils should come present to the board.
Hoelzen- none
Courtney- nothing
Vickstrom- don’t forget about Mrs. Richards-
Hearing better things about the school system. Uncontrollable variables we are up against. Hope everyone comes together about the logo. Just because you don’t get what you want hope we make things work.
XI. Closed Session
12. Readmission Hearing
XII. Adjournment- moved to adjourn at 831.
XIII. Exempt Session-Negotiations
