BEA notes from 7-16-18 BCSD Board Meeting

July 16, 2018 BCSD Board of Directors Meeting

5:30 Work session facility study - I couldn’t attend this so I have no notes on this.

6:30 Expulsion hearing- closed

6:45 Expulsion hearing - closed - cancelled.

I. Call to Order – Welcome 7:00 p.m. by Robberts.

II. Pledge of Allegiance

III. Adoption of Agenda - Vickstrom moved, Hatteberg seconded.  Robberts asked to put two items together ( didn’t catch which one).

IV. Public Comments - none

V. Consent Agenda

4. Minutes, Bills, Financial Reports, Human Resources Report, and Gifts

Motioned to accept Hatteberg, Courtney second - Bross abstained.

VI. District Positive Accomplishments- Middle School Summer School-Camp Journey Update

Angie Butler and Michael Carper presented info on 45 - 60 kids in middle school summer camp.  This is the second year of this relationships oriented summer school where they worked on social skills and executive functioning skills and academic “things”.  They had special speakers including olympic athletes and Trevor Ragan. Carper then showed a video of the summer camp. The camp lasts for eight days. Carper said the staff was great and this year was smoother than last year.  Robberts complemented and thanked them for doing it.

VII. Superintendent’s Report

Last week’s cabinet meeting was referenced.  Evaluations are out for Mrs. Butler, Mr. Yeoman and Mr. Keane.  Coen turned in his own evaluation for the board. He did a radio interview for KBUR.  Janet received a call from a concerned citizen about his phrasing “locked, cocked, and loaded”.  He apologized for that language. James Madison may be used as a food distribution point for community food pantry.  Brian Johnson is looking into this. Coen is working on the 2018-19 welcome back and reeorganizing with Mr. Cory Johnson.  He met with teacher leadership and others recently. He met with someone about solar panels but theymay not be financially feasible for district.  Jeremy, Greg, and he attended Mr. Kendell’s father’s visitation. In his draft evaluation given to the board, he made a comment about valor in education and great things he sees in staff.  That’s in response to Dr. Steffensmeier survey of staff, parents, community. Diane Todd met with Hatteberg and him about attendance problems. Mr. Richards is going to try and pilot a program to stop chronic absenteeism  elementary students. Attendance letter is online. ISBA legislative priorities will be discussed later.

VIII. Items for Discussion

6. Iowa State University Cooperative Student/Practicum Agreement

Cory Johnson presented this.  District has had this in place before and it just needs to be approved. Courntery, Bross - passed.

7. District-Wide Assessments 2018-19 School Year Information Only

Cory Johnson - information only item.  He gave them an extensive paper explanation on testing and the one page sheet that was published in the board meeting packet.  He explained what the different test are and what they are used for in the district.

Bross asked if he felt we are overtesting.  C. Johnson said he tried to pare it down. Bross asked if this was going to be stable and consistent. Johnson - Yes.  He stated which ones are state mandated and that two of the tests on the lists may be taken away in the future. Vickstrom asked which test  is most predictive of student success. Johnson said he couldn’t comment on the new test state test (ICAP) and is not familiar with the district writing assessment.  FAST is relatively predictive of progress but he more or less endorsed all the tests on the list. Coen agreed with that but said to keep in mind that every test is a snapshot of a child that day.  Vickstrom doesn’t want to test the kids to death. C. Johnson said the test is only as good as how we use it. We need to use the data not just give the test.

8. Shoquoquon Choir 28 E Agreement with Notre Dame

Reynolds said it is a continuation of an agreement that we’ve had for the last 8 years.  Courtney, Hatteberg, passed.

9. Milk Vendor for 2018-19

Brian Johnson presented this.  We have to follow the state procurement rules for purchase and we only have two choices.  A and E was the lowest bid. Hatteberg, second by someone, passed.

10. Single Vendors for 18-19

Brian Johnson presented this.  Vendor for non commodity food. Every three years it is bid out and Kohl’s had the best bid.  They were the only company that bid. Courtney, Bross, passed.

11. IASB Legislative Priorities

They had a list of them in the board packet.  Robberts said there were a number of responses from the board members and they needed to choose four to recommend to IASB.  Bross tallied all the results. Courtney didn’t rank any.

Greg explained whether we were well funded for at risk or sped.  We break even on sped and have lost funding in the at risk. Bross asked about unfunded mandates.  Robberts asked about what Courtney thought. He said the board had spent more time on it than the legislature did.  Courtney said we need to stop giving insane amounts of money to big business and put it back in education. Coen said there is a process to write and submit this to IASB.  Robberts said for him to go ahead and do it. Coen for every dollar that comes to a school district one dollar is gone before it hits the school. He agreed with Courtney. Vickstrom - What do we have to lose in doing this?  Coen then gave an example of Courtney helping out when he was in the legislature with Smart Balance funding. Robberts then said they will send four. Chosen were school funding formula, supplemental aid, mental health at that point

Courtney suggested to do mental health and then write up our own saying to fund us instead of funding business.

Vickstrom, Bross motioned to do this.  Courtney and Coen will draft something.  Coen has to submit it to IASB through a series of hoops.  Then they decided to draft it and try to get other school to join.  We can get press on this. Passed.

12. Athletic Training and Sports Enhancement Services

Coach Shay presented the only proposal which was from Universal Therapy Group.  Courtney, Hatteberg. Courtney asked why there was only one bid. Shay said last year GRMC bid but declined to do so this time. Passed

13. Handbook/Attendance Discussion 5. High School Handbook 2018-19 (combined items)

Keanne presented.  He had met with board members.  Robberts opened discussion.

Courtney asked if Kendell should be here since he had significant issues with it.  Robberts said that Keane and Kendell had emailed back and forth about it. Kendell and Robberts discussed that Kendell had looked at other districts and had good ideas.  He recognized that they need staff, students, and administration vetting instead of just the board doing this. Summer is not the best time for this. It was discussed that perhaps next year need to move this up in December and January so this input could happen.   Robberts said we aren’t the same as other districts. She has been on the board for seven years and they haven’t done anything. Staff and students need notice and time to respond. It’s too late to make big changes now. Courtney - we need to pass this and work on for next year?  Robberts - yes Bross - we need to have a work session. Parking concerns, student appearance concerns, etc. Closed campus, id cards, attendance enforced. Keane met with Hatteberg about attendance concerns. Robberts - not at BHS everyday, and silly for her to tell teachers what works at BHS without the input from staff. Vickstrom said we need to have consistency and need to enforce it.  He sees what happens with cell phones because he is at the high school. Keane said he can say the same thing about chromebooks. Some of the changes have been made because the staff is not willing to enforce rules. The backpacks and hats are not causing a problem. It will mean disciplining staff. Coen said teachers have rights to conduct their classroom (not sure what he was saying). Keane if a teacher doesn’t want a backpack or hat they can ask students not to do it.  Teachers need to model the expectations. Keane said that the hat issue seemed to be a big deal but Carper wore a hat tonight and no one had a problem with that. In a science classroom, he didn’t allow food or gum but he allowed it in his shop classes. He wants to support the teachers and their expectations. He will have problem writing up teachers. Courtney won’t some teachers welcome the board making a decision on this? Wouldn’t it take the pressure off the teachers if they could just say the board said they had to?

Keane - No.  It is the same with parking. He painted staff parking spots and he will pull the kids that park there.  Courtney - tow the car? Keane didn’t really answer this. He said when he started at BHS, he got complaints about students parking so he went out to the parking lots and wrote down the license plate of cars without stickers and they were all staff members.  There are things that you don’t want to do as a leader. It’s not fear of consequence but building quality relationships with people. Then some staff don’t model it and kids see that. He wants the students to challenge the status quo and ask why the rule is the way it.  

Hatteberg referenced page 41 in the handbook about absences.  Four days for trimester but 16 days per year doesn’t add up. It talks about unexcused absences and not truancy.  Board policy says that admin meets with students at 6 unexcused absences. Board policy and handbook don’t agree. Hatteberg said we have made great improvement but we need to focus in on the groups in the halls. She liked the program that Mr. Richards will be piloting (not a lot of detail given on that program).  We need to make sure what is said in the handbook is actually something we can do. Robberts agreed that they are important concerns but do we change language now or what? Hatteberg - No, but at the beginning of the year the administration needs to go over the rules with students and staff and get the same verbiage. Vickstrom  something need to be done that minimizes disruption to educational process. How do we minimize it? Robberts tried to summarize and said we need to go over a proposed handbook with Mr. Keane, staff, and students. Keane asked for a cross section of students. Keane said he has a problem with this but he will do it (?). Bross said we want to use a carrot and not a stick but we need a process.  Vickstrom said there is a fine line between supporting and enabling. Keane got testy at this point. Robberts brought it back to the process of getting a handbook. This time she added administrators into the process and restated the due date of December/January. She wants to have a work session for the board because they aren’t all on the same page. Coen has tasked Cory Johnson with organizing a linear document to make sure these are done on a timely basis in the school year.  Robberts said she is very supportive of Keane and he was given something that has been the same at the high school. We need to update in general. Keane agreed with Mr. Coen that there needs to be a process. It has been the exact same as it has been except the hats and he put that back in that students can’t wear them after the last board meeting. Courtney was uncomfortable about ruling on this without Brueck and Kendell are there. Kendell does want staff input in this according to Robberts but we need to get a handbook for next year.  Bross asked about the hat thing (I’m not sure if they are in or out). They decided to approve last year’s handbook with date and name changes. Hatteberg we all agree on we want you to do your job to the best of your ability. We want to offer the best situation that we can. Robberts asked for a motion. Hatteberg said that the motion

needed a taskforce established for the new handbook.  The taskforce would be composed of students, staff, and administration.  Keanes asked if this is limited to the high school handbook? Vickstrom seconded.  Robberts didn’t really answer directly but said that the principals watching this would probably decided it was a good thing to do.  Passed.

IX. Board Communications

Hatteberg - I want to echo my thanks to Mr. Keane for taking extra time to me with me.  Yearly total of gifts over $100,00

Vickstrom - nothing

Courtney - nothing

Bross - Experienced online registration and worked well.  Continue to be pleased with the summer learning opportunities.  Thanks to Cory Johnson for great detailed information on the testing.

Robberts - Asked Coen about evaluation in August that there will need to be a work session.  When is welcome back? Coen - August 20 at Memorial Auditorium, 8 A.M.

Encouraged people to register online.  Thanked Mr. Keane for his contributions.

Adjourn: Vick, Hatteberg - 8:26

Notes from 5-22-18 BCSD Work Session

Welcome: Mr. Coen


Review:


(Missed notes for the first few minutes - near full attendance)


Coen - Need frequent clear communication to all people involved. As long as we follow the communication protocol we should be fine. Greg - something - person moving near me made it hard to hear and Greg has a soft voice. Coen - passed out a copy of the boards policy on class to board members. The board has said we have size no more than 24 students in K-2, 26 in 3rd, 28 in 4-5th, and I think the same up? Robberts - these numbers did not come out of thin air, this was decided with discussion years ago. Courtney - November 2005 about. Coen passed out number of class size paper. Coen - we will continue to lose enrollment, Siemens has already closed and people moved. Only general education was accounted. The sheet had the following.







The following data is based on the enrollment number as of May 22, 2018, with acknowledgement that it appears BCSD will continue to lose in excess of 70 students per year in the foreseeable future. Is is important to note that only classrooms capable of holding general educations were counted as smaller rooms with student capacity under 15 were not included.


Attendance Center: Maximum Capacity




Black Hawk: 756

63% capacity (-37%)

69% capacity (-31%)


Corse: 504

60% capacity (-40%)

66% capacity (-34%)


Grimes: 644

56% capacity (-44%)

62% capacity (-38%)


North Hill: 616

54% capacity (-46%)

60% capacity (-40%)


Sunnyside:756

59% capacity (-41%)

65% capacity (-35%)


Aldo Leopold: 784

48% capacity (-52%)

48% capacity (-52%)


Edward Stone: 784

57% capacity (-43%)

57% capacity (-43%)


BHS: 1500

83% (with freshman added)

83% capacity (-17%)


The percentage difference between the columns for elementary and secondary capacities is due to board policy requiring K-2 grades maximum class size of 24 and third grade and up to 26 students. Policy 605.1 states a maximum class size of 28 for grades 4-12.


All Elementary Schools Combined


Column One - 208%


Column Two - 148%

Both Middle Schools combined


Column One and Two -95%

High School:


Column One and Two - 17%. However, how often are the roomes used? Do all teachers have their own rooms? Does each department have its own lounge?

Overall/District Wide:


Column One All Schools- 321%


Column Two All Schools - 290%






Coen - Shows the capacity or the architect per square footing it is law. Next column shows board policy this is how many children. Based on the floor plan of each building. We did not count classrooms like reading recovery or special ed with 5 kids. Enrollment numbers are 479 BH, 301 Course, 362 at Grimes, 331 NH, 448 SS, AL 375, ES 445, HS 1090. He read his sheet comparing board to. Coen - Data is skewed at the high school, 519 in 1980 (but 3 grades at the time). 90 student last year graduated . Four classes now and doesn't add up to what it was years ago. Bross - could you give us the first year number of students in each of those building to compare? Coen - Newer and Fewer something. Hatteberg - she was there at some point, Courtney mentioning his time there. Kendell - Aldo, ed stone, BHS - High school does not have a class size, there are some classes over 30. Coen - Decided to follow board policy vs. architect for the paper. He talked about the emptiness at th bottom of the sheet over 100 %. Not sure at the high school since they don’t know what are lounges. Robberts called on his % 200% being odd logic She is trying to put it into a fraction, the over 100% doesn’t make sense. Coen is calling 100% = 1 building. Kendell - what has changed in education to account for those rooms? Are the rooms being used for another purpose. He was a freshman the first year it had freshman at BHS. Robberts - you’re old (to Kendell). Coen has heard rumors that there are teacher lounges, or classes are only being used for 2 periods. Concerns are noted. Robberts- we have added special ed rooms. She doesn’t see unused space. She is not saying we are wasting space, but maybe we could get rid of a book room or move a preschool. Bross - We are maybe down a building but not 2. Coen - He gets lots of letters and one says we please listen to our concerns and those comments weighs heavy on his heart. 500 students to less than 200 (BHS), we have to account to 300 students x 13 grades. We have good teachers otherwise we wouldn’t be here. Demographics have changed The average woman is 39 years. 42 - 63% free and reduced lunch. Free lunch went up - poverty increased exponentially. Great school but the baby boomers are gone, people are moving away. We are trying to save students 50% of their college cost. 20% of Burlington people have a BA so people who go away don’t come back. We need to have students be ontime, be respectful and do their work - it is a 20 year plan. It is not easy and is daunting, but it is good that you all are at the table. Burlington is one of the poorest districts in the state. We will likely have to close a building, but it might not be Corse. Parent told him- Pat, you have our children in our hands. What are we doing, why, how and where do we go from there? Do nothing is very seldom a good option SPRC something. State will tell us to close a specific building if we don’t do it first. JMEC is making us money because we are keeping kids here and not sending them away, we need to do something like that. Turned over to people in audience - ask - do any one of you have questions about the current situation? Nothing. Coen - Pressure would not be as bad if state allocated more money. Brueck - we have to do something to save stuff. Robberts - we would have to raise property tax to help with the huge shortfalls. Kendell - Greg's budget is thorough. Next year will be a big hit, we will need to raise tax, double class size, etc. Coen - with Siemens closing, multiple families are moving away, and tells people we can’t hire people them because of declining enrollment.


Iowa Construction Advocate Team (ICAT) (Two gentlemen and one lady)


Any district who has facility needs, they call us to help out. They travel all around to over 180 districts. You are not alone, we are not talking about solutions today, but this is more of an informal meeting and the board can ask any questions when you need to. We will to give you solutions at some point in the future. We will share some examples. You need to engage every stakeholder in the community. You need to know where your baseline. If you don’t know where you are starting from, you don’t know which road to take.


First they assess where we are today with the facilities - standards, codes to make uptodate


Physical Needs assessment


A lot of buildings are old and need to be changed and there are no plans or pictures anymore. Can make a model of the buildings to see to help identify existing conditions. It can identify stuff to help to find age and so forth. They do full assessments on the buildings that have the greatest needs. Other schools they do a simple one that they are not going to majorly address. Places the needs into different categories, health and safety, priority and the cost for each. Money for urgent issues first, then divate the other money for near future projects and then further out projects.


Functional Needs Assessment


This measures the value of the building. Compares to state and what we need. What is importance? What is the space there for? What is the function of each room? Ability to support curriculum and instructions. Break this down to 6 factors.


Scenarios


What are the What if scenarios after you have done the assessments. There will be tears and frustration, sometimes the loudest idea gets pushed, but it is not always the best. They use financial models. Looks at the costs first and compares to functional suitability. When you look at both it looks for the greatest return for the problem. This reduces emotion. They collect data about the schools. Asks questions and put data into the program and compare life cycle costs and educational instruction.


Looks at other schools - St. Joseph MO. Starts to talk, then...


Robberts - I have seen your numbers - our middle schools are new so I am not on the same page. Elementary and the high school are not new, what schools are we looking at? ICAT - we looked at the three (Aldo, Ed Stone, and BHS). Coen - We are sitting very pretty in our district. Kesterke has a great plan, when you listen to hired people. Robberts - why looking at the middle schools? Coen - They could be a 5-6 school. Bross - we may need to relook at what you have given us. JMEC is not on there. ICAT - we can look at a different school as other purpose. We can look at the other buildings for you too. Board confused why the middle school chosen, talking about the age of the other buildings for a few moments. Robberts - Grimes was remodeled 06-7ish. Corse is oldest, then BH, Sunnyside, Grimes, then NH


Back to scenarios - St Joseph


Historic town, don’t want to lose that- what to do? People there gravitated towards Scenario 6 - retiring 6 buildings then building 3 new buildings. There were people who wanted to contribute to the solution, but didn’t participate into the day to day function of the schools. The ICAT gives a status quo as a baseline of the cost to construction compared to function. 90% is 21st century level building. 70-90% is relatively new, 50-70% is borderline, need comprehensive upgrades. 30-50% - poor, using more resources than getting out of the building. 30% or less should be gone. Then they give a lifecycle cost over 30 years with details on what year do they need to replace stuff, cost of replacement of stuff and estimate when things need to be done for them. Want to make sure we look at older buildings to see the greater financial info. Look at districts historical data to drive numbers. Look for changes in transportation, and other stuff . Cost benefit ratio for the baseline. Use this when they come up with their scenarios to see compare to the other scenarios that come up. Basically it is the cost if they do nothing.


Charles City


50% occupancy - should they merge or make two buildings? 2 campus scenario was worse than status quo (than doing nothing).


They do this for 30 years so it is not too speculative, but shorter is not long enough. Engagement process needs to be transparent, Uses data to make informed decisions. We need to give good information, have citizen leadership, and planning principles (what is our desired outcome - and compare what if scenario to this). Quantitative and Qualitative (left brain vs right brain) battle - Where do we go from here?


Assessment BHS, AL and ES - we can choose different building. Need 4 to 6 weeks. Physical and functional assessments go on at the same time. They sit down for 4 hours with principle, curriculum people, and building engineer people. Could do this early June. Scenario discussion starts with district goals, then come scenarios. Doing nothing is an option. One of the biggest issues is utilization and capacity. At the high school they would look at every class and every room. Look at educational capacity, then color code - red means not used, green is used , orange is middle (showed a spreadsheet of another district). Coen - Can this data be used for add-ons? Science Wing - do we rebuild and cause a lot of red (or unused space)? Bross - capacity based on functionality? And this is the first step? Hired people - yes. ICAT - When the board has 2-3 real scenarios that show promise, then we begin phase 2. If the board does not have the time to ask questions, it all goes out of order and doesn’t work. Board makes the decisions, then the public needs to be involved.


Phase 2 - broader community engagement. They create a road map and then let the district decide. Many districts are concern when they go with this project that they might lose relationships with existing architects. Strength of this approach - identifies optimal configuration, data driven, creates road map, builds community support, helps districts move forward. Hatteberg or Brueck - Do you help with the engagement? ICAT - yep, that is part of our job. We have done a lot of smaller district and have brought smaller districts together. Coen - Harmony school district is gone, Mt Union city is gone. Robberts - I don’t know if I would focus on the middle schools, BHS needs it, maybe JMEC move, shouldn't we look at all five elementary schools to make sure we are using them functionally,? Admin building is it modern and functional?. James madison has stuff, but could we move it. Can these funds not come from the general fund so we can keep teachers? -Greg - yes something in his soft voice. Robberts - sweet! - Should we look at the elementaries, BHS and JMEC? ICAT - There will be a smaller increase to do the functional part of of all the buildings. Someone - Do we look at JMEC? Kendell - We did an evaluation years ago and found out moving to JMEC would be costly compared to keeping it ($11 million ?). Coen - when you look at his sheet with % maybe we should do the whole evaluation on all buildings. ICAT - maybe we just do the physical assessment on the oldest building and functional on the rest. Coen asked Kesterke to come up and asked which elementaries he would check. Kesterke - Check NH, Corse and… Board - Why NH? Kesterke - Mudjacking on NH. It was on a ravine and they didn't compact the foundation right doors are already not closing right. Corse was a remodeled building. Courtney, - Why don’t you do them all? Yeahs around. Robberts - JMEC remodel idea in 2011-12 came from a different superintendent was $11 million and fancy and Robberts was shocked by that. Brueck - Do an assessment on all and then find where the admin could go. Someone brought up water issue on ES. Kesterke - have a bandaid on it right now, but it is working, we know the problem and will fix it in the next few years. Robberts - Is it okay to get a new proposal after talking to Kesterke and then make a special meeting to meet sooner than June 18? Greg- Functional check on Aldo and other schools. Robberts and other joking when trying to meet. Meet at Maintenance building - 2:15 on June 3rd before graduation to approve cost for doing all the evaluation (current proposal is at $32,000). Look at the proposal, see if we will take it (can go with other people, but ICAT has a discount for some reason), then the 4-6 weeks for the assessment, and sit down with the team. Maybe get done by July 16, but if not have a special meeting. We need to do this soon so we can get all people involved as soon as possible to move forward with this. Bross - First change needs to happen by August 2019, we are losing the money next year we need to do the change as soon as possible. Hatteberg - we need to involve the public and we need to be transparent. Robberts - The plan - 2:15 - Around bracewell or BHS if ran with rain, maybe accept proposal. Let me know if you are going to be gone so we can try to have all of you involved. Kendall- thank you public for coming out.




Side conversation after - A few people were confused on how the district got the max capacity numbers. They thought Sunnyside and Black Hawk were built for 500.

BEA notes 5-21-18 BCSD Board Meeting

BCSD Board of Directors Meeting May 21, 2018

I. Call to order - 7:00 P.M.

II. Pledge of allegiance

Robberts had a moment of silence for victims of Santa Fe, Texas shooting.

III. Adoption of agenda - Motion Hatteberg, second Bross. Passed.

IV. Public Comments - Andrea Walz Hartman,PTO President and parent, spoke about Corse closing. She knows her opinion will not sway anyone on the board. Her daughter said she should tell them about her, Kaylie, and what she wants to do and then they won’t close the school. She asked that they think about whether this is a short term fix to a long term problem. Is repositioning these students and closing down a building putting a bandage on a gaping wound? What have we done to avoid this? It’s a traumatic event for students. Will the receiving schools of the Corse students be overwhelmed?

Robberts - Please give appreciation to your mother who taught for 44 years and is the longest tenured teacher we have.

Kelly Mason spoke about the Corse closing. She taught at Corse and her kids go there. They love the neighborhood school. It’s a shame to close it.

V. Consent Agenda - Kendell moved to approve. Bross second. Vickstrom wanted to ask a question about the HR report about the nurse position going from a nurse to a science teacher. Tabor addressed. The old salary schedule was used and the $1200 was not added to the salary. It will be added at the next board meeting. Approved.

VI. District Positive Accomplishments - Hound Town Day VAAP Video

Coen presented a video of Hound Town Day. This was produced by the Aldo Leopold Visual Arts Achievement Program. It showed a variety of drawings about police done by students. Coen spoke about the BPD moving into the new building. These drawing are all shown in the new building. Tony Onesto is responsible for this program. Robberts was struck that half of the police officers were depicted as female probably because we have a female SRO. Someone asked to put this on our Facebook page.

VII. Student Representative Report - Matt Rowland wasn’t in attendance.

VII. Superintendent’s Report - Coen started by saying he was bearing gifts. He gave them the packet for the work session tomorrow and asked them to review it for tomorrow. He also gave them a copy of their October 22 update. In it there was a legal opinion about conflict of interest for the board. He didn’t expand on what it was about. Ramping up for graduation and some students are taking it down to the wire. Cabinet meeting was held. He spoke to Greater Burlington Leadership class. He met with a student about school safety and a Senate file. He attended the Maurice Wright music show and commented on problems with the microphones. There are kids going on into music in college. Working through issues in social media and has an article he can use with parents. No reason to give the training document and revamp the 400 series until negotiations were completed. These should be written so that these policies can work in the handbook or in the master contract. He had an opportunity to talk to a dad about teachers not contacting him about bad grades. He checked the contact log and saw that multiple teachers had contacted him and he addressed the situation differently. It was nice to go to the high school and thank the teachers that made the contact and show how important the contact log is. Teachers are reaching out to parents. He watched jv softball practice and attended the SCC steps to success thing. He went to the track send off and worked on evaluations. There are some questions about the effectiveness of the local screeners. There are some local screeners that do good, but a discrepancy when compared to standardized tests. Bross - Were local screeners developed by us? Sharon - The other thing that we moved was the testing window and the test is normed. Next year all schools will test in the late March and May window. We found a week in April to do this (one year early). Coen usually the scores go up in the spring. Sharon - But they are normed for the length of time that has elapsed. Sharon - We did the local screener and the tiered system from the state. 92% of Sunnyside kindergarten teachers were successful (I dont’ know what it was). The state has incorporated multiple data points not just the Iowa Assessment. Bross - No time to fix anything when we do IA so late. Sharon - It’s not to be used to fix things. It’s to be used for the big picture. One test doesn’t define us. Bross - Do this help to align curriculum and decide what happens next year? Sharon - It’s one piece of the puzzle. Coen said don’t be shocked when we get the scores and they are low. The retirement ceremony went well and he messed up his piece of the ceremony a little bit. He didn’t go to the state track meet. Many people were gone Friday and so he needed to be here. He went to Blackhawk field day. Teachers were awesome. He talked to a kid that had broken his leg three weeks earlier. He talked the kid about following the doctors advice. The kid was getting kicked out of the Y because he kept sneaking in, He got some things set up for the kid in terms of mentoring the kid. There is a lot of stuff to wrap up at the end of the year.

IX. Items For Discussion

4. Juvenile Court Services Agreement - Coen said they provide social workers for students that have been adjudicated. It’s a positive impact on students. Motion to approve - Courtney and second Hatteberg. The duration is one year. It’s one or more social workers. It depends on the need. Brueck abstained. Passed.

5. Labor Management Committee Memorandum of Understanding - For information

Only - Sharon presented the MOU. It was developed by the BEA and some of the administrative team. One thing changed from the original document was the second to last bullet was to change from side to any member can call a meeting. This will be attached to the contract. It can be looked at every year and see it works. The LMC portion in the handbook will come out instead of having it in two different places. It will be attached to the Master agreement. Hatteberg - Every year new people? Sharon - It can vary. Four are appointed by the BEA and four from District.

Sharon then listed who was in the committee. Kendell - Non Certified staff in here? Sharon - No. Theirs is addressed in their handbook. This is for information. Bross - Does this require action on our part? Sharon - No. Coen - Doing so opens the contract? Sharon - No. But we can check with the District lawyer. Robberts asked when feedback was needed (June 13th).

6. Certified Staff Handbook - For information only Sharon presented this. An errata sheet was created and attached to the handbook. It’s a document that is kept over the course of the year about suggestions. The result and communication on that is included. She included a sample of it. She gave the full sheet to the school board. She took that and went through the handbook and created the new handbook. She gave the board a crosswalk sheet of these changes. They will approve the changes at the June 18th meeting. There are some things that haven’t been finalized. Leave of absences - Funeral leave was accidently left out but will be in the final one. Rules of work section - It is something given to all staff members. It has been several years since any updates have been done (2010 last). Asked the board to make any changes to that. The 400 series is being looked at by the lawyers. Some technology terms were updated. She would like any suggestions by June 13th. Bross - There is a lot of redundancy. Coen - We only need one binder and can go full digital. Sharon - It’s all online now. Bross was glad Sharon provided the changes. Hatteberg asked about change on page 50 in reference to vacancies. If it as hard to fill position, the position will be posted on Tuesday of each week, so teachers know when updates are posted. It’s different than having a bid day. Voluntary transfer - a group met to work on how this would be handled. It lists the criteria for getting to transfer. Interview is worth 50 pts and years of seniority is added to complete the score. Bross asked about when on Tuesday it is posted. Sharon said we don’t notify staff because it is posted for five days. Coen mentioned that there are two days board meetings are on Tuesday. Sharon said wanted to get a routine so teachers don’t have to guess when it is posted. Hatteberg - voluntary can’t change more than once every two years. But what about involuntary transfers? Why can’t it be the same for both? Sharon - Involuntary transfers are usually lowest seniority. Then Sharon explained the difference between voluntary and involuntary transfers. Coen - said something about a pull out(?). Robberts said they are to give feedback by June 13th to Sharon. Bross - The process with the errata sheet….something about living document.

7. Handbooks: Clerical, custodians, food service, and transportation - for

Information only - Tabor presented. The same process that was used for certified staff used with these groups. The most significant change was the pay structure for transportation. Trying to encourage them to work more hours. Bross - moved most of the contract language to the handbook. Is the bonus program working? Tabor - It is now. Everyone is hitting the minimum hours. The will use the errata sheet process for next year. This is the first handbook. Robberts looking for approval for the June 18 meeting. They are to provide feedback by June 13th. Robberts - All groups received a draft? Tabor - All groups have received a draft and are comfortable with it.

8. Board Policy 903.5 - Second reading - Tabor presented this. Motion to approve second reading Bross, second Brueck. This policy is about distributing non curricular materials at schools and who approves it. Approved.

9. Notre Dame Meals Agreement 2018-19 - Brian Johnson presented. Robberts - why are these meals cheaper than ours? Johnson - That is not what they charge the students. This price doesn’t include milk. We don’t provide milk. Notre Dame does most of the preparation of meals. Bross asked about the costing. They are 45 cents less than ours. Bross moved, Hatteberg seconded. Courtney - questioned it. Johnson explained how Notre Dame has to do some preparatory work and so we give them food cost. Coen are you hearing anything about the farm bill be vetoed? Johnson hadn’t hear anything. Courtney - Impact? Coen said it could cause produce to go up. Johnson explained where we get our produce. It comes from a Dept. of Defense program so farm bill probably won’t impact. Courtney will it impact free and reduced? Coen said that it will. Passed.

10. 2018-19 Meals Prices - We can only raise prices so much per the federal government. He explained how the increases are calculated. Courtney moved, Bross seconded, approved.

X. Board Communications Brueck - none. Courtney - none. Vickstrom - Nice to go to the retirement dinner and we are seeing all kinds of openings statewide and having problem retaining people. Platitudes will not feed people. Coen - article on doing away with early retirements and trying to keep people around. Vickstrom - talked to retirees wouldn’t do it again if they had to do it over again. Kendell - Congratulate track participants. It will lead to more success at state. Congratulate the retirees. Bid farewell to class of 2018. The last day is Friday. Asks for handicap seating at concerts. It is the 4th time he has asked for this. Hatteberg - Echo Mr. Kendell’s comment. Wish Brenda Mitchell well in her retirement. Bross - Thank to Andrea Walz for speaking on behalf of Corse. They will get the best information they can to make the best decisions. Maurice Wright concert was very warm. Longs for an auditorium. Vickstrom - story about Maurice Wright and his inability to stay still on the stage at the old high school. Robberts - Congrats to retirees and thanks to Vickstrom for attending the dinner with her. Thanks to Sandy Walz. Thanks to Janet John for making a good retirement dinner and for your work behind the scenes. There is a band concert at Aldo, one at Stone, and vocal concerts. The last day of school is June 1. There is a 8th grade promotion ceremony at BHS at 10 AM that day. A final reminder, thanks to all that came and there is a work session tomorrow. It is information gathering and not an outright vote.

XI. Recess at 8:13.

BEA notes from 5-8-18 BCSD Board meeting

BCSD Board of Directors Meeting

May 8,  2018

6:30 - Closed session for expulsion hearing.

I. Call to Order - 7:15 PM

II. Pledge of Allegiance

III. Adoption of Agenda - Motion Hatteberg, Kendell second, approved

IV. Public Comments - none

V. Consent Agenda - Bross moved to approve, Kendell second, approved, Vickstrom abstained

VI. District Positive Accomplishments - Girls Track Drake Experience

Maddie Tucker coach of track presented girls that went to Drake.  Larger group of girls out this year. Talent, discipline, motivated.  Ally Bivens ,Madison Bunton, -, Angel Baylark, Ariana Baylark, and Callie Anderson (I think I correct names) spoke about what their events were.  The spring medley was 4th place. Coach Tucker said the team was young. Each girl then spoke about what they liked about the Drake Relays. Callie liked running at Drake around the blue oval and found it fun seeing a lot of competition and colleges while thinking that it could her out there.  Maddie found it really inspiring. Ariana was the only BHS freshman and found it a really cool experience and environment and great to watch. Angel liked running the 400 and the competeition inspired her to be faster. She caught three girls and felt great. Coach Tucker said it was a great experience and really exciting to have BHS on the board.

Kendell asked the girls what other sports they participated in.  Included were; basketball, volleyball, softball, and cheer.

Courtney comment on how young  the coach looked.

VII. Student Representative Report

Matt Rowland was inspired to see how well the girls did  as a track runner who usually got last. Inspiring to see women doing and well represented.  Dragon boats was fun, no thunderstorms, beautiful weather and thanks to the National Guard for what they brought and did.  Matt’s team won and beat the Sunnyside staff boat. Senior awards night was Monday and he thanked BEF and BEA for contributions.  About $720,000 was awarded that night and the seniors have landed over $1 million and counting. MAC conference meet tonight. Boys and girls track district Thursday.  Soccer still going strong. Come see the teams do well. Matt’s second to last board meeting. Kendell congratulated Matt for awards at senior awards night.

VIII. Superintendent Report

May takes on a life of its own. Cabinet meeting held.  First LMC professional development meeting held and appeared to go well.  Met with board president and vp. Talked about how well combining middle school sports teams is working.  He attended last GPAEA superintendent meeting. He mentioned that insurance concerns came up as a possible agenda item for the LMC.  Mr. McKee instead would reachout to local insurance provider for more information and then maybe propose the item again to the LMC.  He met with social worker that will take over Mr. Wagner’s position. Lot going on. Evaluations, art shows, track meets, tennis meets, lots of stuff to do.  

IX Items for Discussion

4. School Board Recognition

Mr. Coen gave Iowa Association of School Board recognition certificates to each of the board members.  Joked about giving them all a raise. Vickstrom - Isn’t this teacher recognition day? Yes. Coen - Sent email and let teachers out early today.  Can’t give them a ham and turkey, what can you give them? Time.

5. Board Policy 403.5 Second Reading

Jeremy out of state.  This is the pass for events for employees.  No changes since the last reading. Motion to approve Bross, Brueck second.  Approved.

6. Board Policy 903.5 First Reading

This policy is to allow  building principals with guidance by superintendent to make decisions about posting stuff in  their school instead of having the assistant superintendent do it. Coen - good move and allows building admin to have control of it.  Hatteberg - What if you got something that would be district wide? Coen - go to superintendent’s. Doesn’t happen very often. Motion to approve first reading Hatteberg, second Vickstrom.  Bross - Apply to yard signs? Yes. Bross - are there administrative regulations related to this policy? Coen - no. Something about inappropriate or political signs. Approved first reading.

X Board Communications

Kendell - Dragon boats great, commended stucco and Des Moines County Conservation for how it was run.  Awards night is always fun. Teacher appreciation day - owe huge debt of gratitude to teachers. Hatteberg - congrats to seniors awards, congrats to students of renaissance assembly, Friday 5th grade track meet,  noticed gifts of $162,000 amazing. Thanks community. Congrats to all teachers that works so hard that these talented students can reach their potential Vickstrom - awards assembly is a testament to work of teachers.  Zach Shay needs to know how to pronounce names. Courtney - in UI hospital last week. He received a text from Janet about BEA contract vote going to take place last Thursday. He couldn’t be there. He understoodd that some board members  allowed to vote by phone but he wasn’t given that as an option. Greg - didn’t know he didn’t get to do it. Courtney - is it legal? Greg - yes. Coen - I can run a copy of the policy off. Courtney - would like to have been able to vote on the phone.  Robberts - very sorry. Didn’t know he was in the hospital. Courtney - legislature can’t vote by phone. He said they all knew how he felt about the contract. He wished he had been given the opportunity to vote. Brueck - wish students and teachers good last of the year and thanks teachers.  Bross - appreciated what Courtney said. He had asked if Courtney was going to be here and thought he had declined to vote by phone. First time at dragon boats. Neat and thought schools worked well together. Proud of students for all their achievements at the seniors award nights. Couldn't do it without the teachers.  Thank you to everybody and to the board for volunteering. Courtney - Big Hollow or go back to Geode? Bross - really don't know or the timeline on Geode repairs. Plan to spend the entire day at Dragon Boats next year. Coen - its had been only two years allowed teachers to be teams. Brought a whole new level of camaraderie.  Bross - kind of wish I was in a boat. Matt - Big Hollow pushing for it to be there. Brueck - like to see stay Big Hollow. Robberts - Teacher appreciation day. Favorite quote - teacher nourishes the soul for lifetime. Thank you for being teachers in our district. Kurth receive national speech and debate recognition. Congrats to Mr. Kurth in all he does in speech and debate.  Couple things that show us how wonderful our students are senior awards and renaissance assembly. May 17 teacher retirement dinner 6:30. Hatteberg - Teacher of the year was from Ed Stone - didn’t catch the name of the teacher (sorry). Robberts asked for this and Kurth to be put on Facebook. Bross - participated in Grimes PTO. Energetic group of teachers and parents. Other schools need to follow.

XI Adjournment  7:46

7. Closed Session Expulsion GS 050818

Notes from 4-9-18 BCSD Board Meeting

Mrs. Sanning's notes from the meeting can be read here.

Notes from 3-26-18 BCSD Board Meeting

Here's a link to my notes from tonight's board meeting. It was a loooooong meeting. Happy Spring Break!

Notes from 3-12-18 Board Meeting

BCSD Board of Directors Meeting


March 12, 2018


6:30 - 7:18 Closed session for expulsion hearing kendell not here.


I. Call to Order - 7:25


II. Pledge of Allegiance


III. Adoption of Agenda


Motion to accept Bross second Brueck


IV. Public Comments


Lorie Gillis - 18 yrs AFSCME president. She spoke of the importance of a binding contract. Her union has worked with district without ever moving past level 1. Concerns were handled fairly and contractually. She is concerned with the staff contract ending in June. She is concerned the Board won’t allow the contract to continue in its present formed based on what happened to certified staff. She has been told moving to a handbook was because the District wanted to control health benefits and have the ability to move staff around the district. However, most of her members don’t get health benefits. Employees want a binding contract and to be able to mutually agree to fix the problems as needed. If there is a reason to move to handbook that can be changed at any time, any reasons, pleasing explain why it is needed to community and employees. She can’t explain it. She stated that keeping the same employees in one place keeps a state of security that all need. Do board members want students, employees, or family members bounced around the district? Is a handbook really what we need?


Dan Holman,president of AFSCME council 61, who represents three groups custodial, food service, and support staff spoke about how his members are the first faces that the kids see outside of the bus driver. They are the ones that keep the school running everyday, feed the kids, taking care of the kids. They are an integral part of school system. They try to provide the best learning environment for kids. He’s a vet and his son is a disabled vet and he noted the motto on the flag : “These liberties we prize and our rights we will defend.” The right to bargain a contract was ripped away last year. We still want liberties and rights. We have gone through this in a lot of places. Chaos has erupted. Just because you the board have the right to rip up the contract doesn’t mean you have to. He asked what is wrong with the contract? Certain things are now excluded from the bargaining. Many things in the contract have served this district well. Why does the district want to rip them from staff? Why not talk? This is a significant opportunity to prove the level of commitment to employees - hard working men and women who provide for students and for their families. Do the right thing. Take the high road and show them the respect they deserve. Don’t follow the legislature in Des Moines. He took a picture of strategic plan. One of the goals was to develop and reward positive work habits. How are we developing and rewarding employees when we are gutting the contract?


Carrie Duncan - machinist shop steward member local 1010. She asked the board reflect on the things you are ready to say and do. Maintaining the contract would be very admirable. All hold important jobs on the board. The handbook isn’t legally binding. Why tempt the fate of the unknown? A contract abides, a handbook doesn’t. Why disrupt the relationship between management and employees? She read a poem she keeps on her refrigerator about setting an example for all children.





V. Consent Agenda


Brueck moved to accept. Hatteberg seconded. Passed. Roberts opposed?


VI. District Positive Accomplishments - BILA Graduates 17-18 (Mr. Coen)


BiLA staff couldn’t make it. Two years ago BILA moved to BHS. This year 18 people graduated. There may be 10 more later this year. There are 76 students in BILA and .39 additional students that are part time at BILA. Grads plan to SCC, Kirkwood, workforce, . Read off all the plans for the kids who graduated. BILA is working. Brueck asked about walk notation on paper? Coen - didn’t exactly know, said some stuff. Robberts - most will walk across the stage this May. Robberts - thanks for the update. Vickstrom - pleasantly surprised with what is going on. 20% better attendance than prior to BILA.


VII. Student Representative Report


Rowland - walkout well attended to support both causes and very civil. Well articulated. Wednesday is the health fair at BHS. Dream Catchers is doing a dream at the community center on Wednesday. Friday is trivia night at BHS. Funds go to post prom. There is a prize. Get a team and come on out. Courtney - will there will be old people categories? Rowland - something. Robberts How many players? Rowland - 8 players.


Brueck was at a Kiwanis meeting where Matt represented the the Dream Catchers at the meeting and did it well.





VIII. Superintendent Report


Health fair very critical because all is lost without good health. Dying faster than we are having children. Des Moines County has a big task with this challenge. He started working on the handbook training guide. The cabinet gave input and Coen sent it to the board president and vp. Made changes. He sent to legal counsel for review and revision and then sent it to the board. It has a comparative analysis between handbook and master agreement. Said something about BEA. He made a chart. He also attended GPAEA superintendents meeting about special ed numbers. We have 8 of Danville’s children here.


Brightbytes presentation attended. The presenter came from San Francisco. Teachers doing tremendous job on attendance and some community program.


He started discussions about a BCSD once a trimester magazine using the prison print shop. He talked to someone about SAM training and continuing SAM training. He be egan reaching out about replacing Sharon. He received a letter from Senator Tom Greene about a senate bill that concerns 12.5% of school funding from property tax. That money could stay in the district that a student open enrolls out of. He sent a letter to the leadership in the legislature and the schools across Iowa that open enroll out. He received angry mail from Mepo and Danville residents about this. He then rambled about taxation and no representation. 50% of WB comes from other districts. Penny tax hasn’t cleared yet. Davenport bill kind of fizzled. Davenport superintendent license is at risk. We get 175 less than other districts per kid. Something about we got $5 more for kids. Keane, Coen, Reynolds in Des Moines tomorrow for green light on building trades class financing. Coen may not be taking vacation days in the next few days. Students handled themselves well in the walkout. Courtney asked about the comparison of handbook and contract. He asked if there were items that could be moved back into the contract. Coen said yes and then on to say that PERB had made rulings on things that are a part of base wage.





Items for Discussion


3. Steff 7 Solutions Contract


Coen - This is a data collection agency that has a plan to turn open enrollment around. Coen met with him. It’s $4000 to do data collection and try to bring students back. Vickstrom - Track record?


Coen - none we are the first. Robberts - Benchmarks? Coen - talked about flatlining and gain in enrollment. Courtney - they do phone surveys? Coen - no. They look at DE report card and way at looking at reporting and improve report card. Courtney then read from documents given to the board that clearly stated that the organization did phone surveys using phone numbers from district. Coen then said that every time some open enrolls out they leave a phone number. Courtney - might be cell phones? Coen - yes Courtny -Does this firm call everyone that open enrolled? Coen - don’t know. We called many of them. Coen then said that open enrollment was a small part of our enrollment problem. Courtney suggested it was due to fewer jobs. . Coen didn’t think it was a job thing because he see scars streaming into Burlington from Illinois when he takes his wife’s dog out in the morning. Courtney said we have always had cars streaming in from Illinois the difference is the drops in factory jobs. Vickstrom asked what fund this was coming from. Coen - General. Robberts - motion? Courtney motioned and Brueck seconded. Vickstrom asked how long will this run? Coen said it takes a couple of months. Hatteberg not convinced. Courtney nothing ventured, nothing gained. Hatteberg - give us a plan? Coen - correct. Robberts - small cost one time expense, it’s worth it so that we leave no stone unturned. Hatteberg - concerned particularly year in this tough financial year. Hatteberg and Bross voted no and the rest yes.


4. Budget Guarantee Resolution


Reynolds presented for certified budget. The budget guarantee is about $21,000 less than previous presented. Bross motioned to accept and Courtney seconded. All voted yes on this.





IX Board Communications


Hatteberg mentioned March is music in your schools month. Musical events tomorrow night , 20th, 22nd, and April 5th all music events. She was privileged to attend student activities at Aldo. Impressed with what students have come up with.


Vickstrom spoke about how the walkout was not a them against us event. Every one out for the same thing and moved barriers. Interesting to watch. He asked Reynolds if the battles over insurance were getting some place? Reynolds - yes. Looking at some alternatives.


Vickstrom was glad to see BILA graduates.


Courtney thanked everyone for coming tonight and it was nice to see room full. He said he didn’t take offense when people leave early. He asked about a better location for meetings. Coen said something about a tv in and fire marshall and stated that only 3 or 4 been to packed. The he pointed out that the board wasn’t keen on spending $4000 for looking into the open enrollment problem and wouldn’t want to spend the money to make a board room at James Madison. Dump a bunch of money not in our best interest. Courtney pointed out that many boards don’t televise there meetings and if we didn’t, we could go anywhere. Vickstrom asked if their were portable electronics we could use.


Coen asked if he was being directed to look into it. Robberts said it was not an agenda item but it could be placed on an agenda if needed. Courtney - I know, just asking about it. Coen - The board established the meeting place at the beginning of the year and it may not be appropriate to change. Courtney - like to see us talking about it. Coen - heater busted in the band room. What is he talking about? James Madison? Courtney - didn’t not discuss this.


Brueck stated that the walk out handled well and it was a learning experience for students and the incident at Aldo was handled well.


Bross thanked Coen for the work on handbook and contract comparison and found it to be a nice training tool. He listened to the radio about senate bill Greene presented. Most conversation stated that it was about choosing good school over bad school. Bross thought is more like choosing smaller schools over larger schools. Coen said an angur guy called him and said people leave the District because of what goes on in our schools. Coen refrained himself from listing all the bad things that happened in that guy’s district. (He did mention them at the board meeting though). All sizes have issues. Bross asked Coen if it is really good vs bad.? Coen no its not. Coen then rambled about funding stuff and other stuff that may or may not have addressed anything. Taxes, new building, blah. Read this document and all will be clear. (I don’t know what document he was talking about).


Bross said another metric people talk about is graduation rates. This metric not universally apples to apples. He lauded trimester system as increasing the graduation rate. He thinks it not about bad schools, other reasons more than bad school. He mentioned he was pleasantly pleased in the calmness and effectiveness of the walkout and those that stayed in school. Vast majority of teachers that stayed in school. (My Question: Did any teacher walk out? )


Robberts - thankful to you Mr. Coen and staff that it was a peaceful organized event. She was concerned about security in schools and requested a future agenda item include the school resource officer giving the general public an update on what is effective in security. She appreciated how the district handled the Aldo incident Coen - teachers helped during clearing the building. She then asked Reynolds if he kept a record of how many people attend board meeting and he said no. Robberts asked if we could start and Courtney suggested having people sign in. Coen said it isn’t our problem its theirs (teachers/staff?). He said they (teachers/staff) were worried about peer retribution. Courtney said that it’s on TV.


X Adjournment Courtney motioned and Bross seconded. Recess 8:27


5. Expulsion #JC031218 Closed Session


6. Expulsion #AG031218 Closed Session


7. Expulsion #KS031218 Closed Session

XI. Exempt Session - Negotiations