BEA notes 7-15-19 BCSDS Board Meeting

I. Call to Order – Welcome 7:00 p.m.- Brueck and Hatteberg absent.

II. Pledge of Allegiance

III. Adoption of Agenda- moved robberts, 2nd courtney. passed.

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)

None.

V. Public Hearing

2. Instructional Support Program- If anyone wants to address continued participation, they can do so. 

None.

VI. Consent Agenda

3. Minutes, Bills, Human Resources Report and Gifts- Moved for approval by Courtney, 2nded by Robberts. Kendell pulling Hr report for one question.

HR assistant- was cut- adding back in. does the budget support this? Reynolds- reduced 4 in central office- they are falling behind in the work- want to expand HR- need additional support. 

Bross- certified staff- English teacher BA/O3- how did that work

Keane in the audience- Kehoe was being paid for a position - he moved in to co-teach with math- the English teacher applied. Luke Johnson- he applied. Aron still wants to teach an adult ed at BILA- he wants to help get the special ed math program back where it needs to be. Want to move back to the co-teaching model. 5 staff in chicago now for training. Spec ed teacher with gen ed teacher. Too hard to differentiate without additional help. 

Person hired going through RAPIL program (?)- go through a series of courses over the course of a year- 1st year teaching is like an internship. Keane is comfortable with it. M. Bishop has gone through that. 

Vickstrom- has sat in on Kehoe-

Robberts- why are we hiring him at a BA/03?- Coen- he taught 5 years at a JUCO. 

Keane- English is a highly sought after position

Kendell- the report says this is due to Hayes moving over.

Keane- we have a Science opening- that’s why he moved her over- he said that may have been an error on Johnson’s part. We are reducing FTE’s at hs- didn’t replace a math teacher. Bross- is it harder to find teachers?

Keane- lack of teachers statewide in areas. Had a hard time hiring english last year. Young kids are looking at urban areas- or go back to home towns. Teacher shortage is a big deal.

Coen- right sizing- IWU about tanking. Small colleges on verge of going under. Causing less teachers. 

Keane- lucky that we found a spanish teacher again- called a person and interviewed him. Everyone super interested. Keane still needs a science teacher- something about another position at BILA.

Shifting some staff around. Reducing costs at BHS- hiring less expensive teachers to replace exiting staff.

Kendell opposed, seemed to be over the ELA teacher hiring. passed.

VII. District Positive Accomplishments- Club M and Pieces Afterschool Program Highlights- Cassie Gerst- district got an award. After school alliance awarded the honor. Implementation and innovative practice- conscious discipline. Emotions and stress. How can they better understand what is going on. Reduced after school office referrals. By 89.5%. Hired about 85-100 staff for after school. Bross or Kendell asked her to describe conscious discipline. 

There will be a board discussion time later this month so board can learn more about it.

Highlights of report- served over 1000 students. Broken down by grades and buildings. Pleased to say next year will over 5 days a week. Activities will also take place on weekends. 

Club M mentoring. Place to have a positive relationship with students. Seeing continuation of student mentors. Mentoring seems to be having positive outcomes due to survey results. Had 5 GR Christian students come over and mentor. Had 92 HS students mentor, but dropped down to around 72 students. 

Coen- it will grow once kids who have been mentored can mentor. Kendell thinks it’s fantastic. So many good things. Gets the 5th graders to the hs so they don’t see it as scary. Small things we do are gigantic in scope- he says. Pieces, too. Really pumped by these 2 things.

Gerst- we love what we do. 

Pieces had 45 partners this school year. Supported 266 students through a special act- for homeless students. I don’t know if this means we had 266 homeless students- it was unclear. Bross asked- these students fit the definition of homeless youth. So if they live with a grandparent- “doubled up”. Courtney- do we have any really truly homeless? Gerst- we had 8. Courtney- what do they do in the winter? Gerst- working with transitions DMC. finding places for these kids. Don’t have a lot of place just for the youth.

Bross- fully funded with grants- Gerst- yes. Bross- if you had more homeless? Gerst- always wants to cover what is going to happen in the next year. Some cuts occurred- some sponsors step up. Try to make things last. Staffing is the most expensive portion.

Courtney- why doesn’t DHS get involved with homeless students?

Gerst- will talk to you about it outside of the meeting. Lots of reasons. Too much to go into. 

Coen- homeless- some people trade food for drugs. Choose to be homeless even if offered a place to live. Robberts is going to mentor. Other board members could do so, too, she points out. 

Gerst- need more mentors.

Bross- great news. So important to our mission.

VIII. Student Representative Report- absent.

IX. Superintendent’s Report- spent time getting ready for school year. Went to NH for summer school. Sat in on classes. Lot of reading writing connectivity. Sat through a ready classroom mathematics training. This does a lot of prep for you. Cory Johnson went to a meeting- HS File 2456 (?). Cory thinks will become a good thing, but a lot to sort through. Attended Kiwanis meeting. IASB teacher shortage Keane talked about. Coen foresaw that issue. Attended to a couple staff issues. Exciting- GMA brought in grandaughter- got her enrolled in summer school- will most likely come in with 3 credits already done. Summer school is directly correlated with increased hs graduation. 

Annual campaign notice- YMCA- if any board member wishes to contribute. Coen gives to United Way. consider that.

X. Items for Discussion

4. Branding Information Only- David Ruehs- gave a preview in March. We don’t have a clear brand. A banner club M made. We have a bridge, a grayhound, and it’s not very cohesive. Want everything to be cohesive- want to attract more families. Marketing and branding. Process has already started. Moved all elem schools to grayhound. We are all purple and gray. Kind of a sales pitch- plethora of classes that the hs offers that other schools don’t. TAP program recognized nationally. We have all of those things, but we don’t have a unified symbol that brings them all together. Type Font and image- color scheme. 

Right sizing process. Wants to tighten it up. Many districts hire PR directors. Our district has tried that- Ruehs is recommending someone do this process with us. Collective ownership. Gives community a voice. 

3 schools he has presented on before- Charles City, Okoboji, West Des Moines Valley. He called them and asked them why they did it and what they thought of it. Okoboji got a letter for Oregon- they were using the same type font and logo as Oregon. It wasn’t a fun process for them, at first. Now they are happier. Valley- Clemson tiger paw and Virginia Tech VT. wanted to fix their logos before in legal trouble. Super pleased with Lettermen creative. Showed an example of a style guide from Charles City. went into a sales pitch for why we need this. 

Gave an example of Solon- Mrs. Tabor. All of our schools have different letterhead. Gave another example from Dubuque. 

Won’t vote until next time. This is for information only. Ruehs is recommending Lettermen creative. Some of the companies had worked with schools, but was short term. All 3 schools that he talked to that had worked with that company were pleased with the results. Ruehs has found them easy to work with. 7500- not the most expensive, not the cheapest. This would come out of the general fund. Dr. Mohammad- talked about culture- symbols are powerful. 

Outlined the proposal that the company will work through. Not advocating to replace everything- just as we replace, we update.

Questions- Courtney- 7500 for the company? How much would it be to do it all through? No big hurry to change over. 

Kendell- likes it. Very important that we do it. It is a brand. Don’t have to change over all at once. Wants one logo district wide. Appreciates Ruehs’ work with it. Firmly believes in it. 

Keane- we have a vinyl cutter at the hs- several of our images aren’t good quality. They aren’t professional symbols. Any of our logos aren’t easy to manipulate digitally. 

Put up for vote on next meeting.

5. Ft. Madison Swimming 28E- Reynolds- same as we have with WB and other districts. Same for other districts. Notre dame pays taxes, so their cost is diff. Robberts motions for approval, Courtney 2nd. Passes.

6. Shoquoquon Choir 28E Agreement with Notre Dame- same thing- continuation. Moved by Robberts, 2nded by Courtney. Cost hasn’t changed in the next 10 years. Maybe we should look at an increase for next year. Passed.

7. IASB Legislative Priorities- working from a list- go around room and lay out top 4. Bross- drop out and mental health. Sharing and reorganization. Franchise fees- opposes. 

Kendell- mental health, special education, school funding, franchise fees. 

Robberts- mental health, special ed, funding formula, supp state aid.

Vickstrom- 3, 7, 18, 19. He didn’t say what they were.

Hatteberg’s- 7,8, 19, 20.

Courtney- agreed with Bross. They’re all good, but won’t get acted on. 

School funding policy, 24 was in 3. 8 and 9 relatively the same. 

Board ranks them. 

Robberts moved, Courtney 2nded. Courtney offered to stand up and talk. Robberts- push for mental health. Need to give more than lip service. 

8. Resolution to Participate in the Instructional Support Program- Courtney moved to waive the reading. Courtney moved passing, Robberts 2nded. Greg called a roll call vote. Passed.

9. Superintendent Evaluation – Closed Session- went to closed session at 8:19.

XI. Board Communications

The members will have the opportunity to share items and events.

Vickstrom- commend coach Webb- orientation for track. Neat situation. Article- What’s going on in our school classrooms. Recommended read. 

Robberts- congrats to Gerst. Registration happening. She’s already emailing teachers.

Courtney- none.

Kendell- echoes Robberts congrats to Gerst. Ragbrai is coming. Week from Friday- lots of ways to sign up to help. Drop off tomorrow with supplies that they need. 

Bross- doubling the population in one evening. Glad to hear more details on branding- great thing. Part of making sure we are establishing good culture and identity. Janet wrote a card- thanking board for their retirement gift and card. 

XII. Adjournment

BEA notes 6-24-19 BCSD Board Meeting

June 24, 2019, BSCS Board of Directors Meeting

I. Call to Order – Welcome 7:20 p.m.

Vicksrom, Robberts, Kendell, Bross, Courtney, Hatteberg  in attendance

Brueck absent.

II. Pledge of Allegiance

III. Adoption of Agenda

Motion to adopt by Robberts, second by Kendell.  Motion carried.

IV. Public Comments

At student, Kemper Woodsmall spoke.  He is a student in the summer school program and talked about free lunch and breakfast program.  He explained what the program was about. He was doing this as a requirement of the Understanding Social Systems class he was taking this summer.  He gave some stats of while we qualify for it. He said that all kids should get free breakfast and lunch. Kids who have food do better in school.  

Keith (Didn’t get the last name) he spoke very, very briefly about school safety and discipline.  He is running for school board.

V. Consent Agenda

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

Robberts moved,  Hatteberg seconded.  Vickstrom said something about a veteran teacher leaving (TAG teacher).  Courtney asked about the transfer of Mrs. Ziegler. Mr. Sayre is going to stay at 4th grade in North HIl.  Kendell commented about 2 million dollars in open enroll payment to WBHS. It’s about 600 students. Passed.

VI. District Positive Accomplishments- BHS Science Fair Students

Abby Wittkamp and Sara Dodge spoke about how their project and how they were the overall grand champion of the State Science Fair.  This qualified them for the International Science and Engineering Fair. At that fair they were invited to another international fair, invited to the Sigma Xi conference (a scientific research honor society), and also asked to publish their work.  Since Kylie Wolf could not attend the meeting, Liz Sanning describe how Kylie qualified to go as an observer and what Kylie did at ISEF.

VII. Student Representative Report - none.

VIII. Superintendent’s Report

GPAEA can do some program about listening.  He worked on evaluations. He said Greg Reynolds was looking into kids eating free (thing the student brought up).  ISBA legislative stuff is coming due. He gave the board copies of possible resolutions. Board members need to pick out their priorities from those given by the next board meeting.  The ones picked by the board will be submitted to ISBA. He gave them a copy of his evaluation. It takes place in July during the July board meeting. He was an opening speaker at some leadership academy.  He instructed the board to go the shared file to view the minutes of the administrative team meetings. He met with the vp, pres of the school board . There will be a wall of fame at Bracewell stadium. Purple and Gray are in charge.  He talked to a bunch of different people. He is working on the RFP for the high school. He visited summer school this past week. Good stuff going on. He spoke with the city about Memorial Auditorium for start of school and it won’t be available.  He reached out to Pzazz and Comfort Inn and Suites about it. There will be a speaker - Trevor Reagan. Courtney suggested Howard Johnson as a place to have it. Hatteberg asked about something that is July 29.   

IX. Items for Discussion

5. RAGBRAI Update Information Only

Tim Kesterke started out. Aldo is being used by a special needs group. At the high school,  all the ground are being used even the parking lots. The inside areas such as the cafeteria, gym, pool, music, and safe rooms are being used as well.  ES will have 1500 people camping there. Some will camp inside. There will be two custodians for HS 24 hrs, ES will have 1 custodian on shift at all times.  None at Aldo. This is a really great opportunity for the booster groups. Bross asked if any of the semis hauling stuff will make ruts in the grounds. Kesterke said that there is only one area where there might be some.  Kendell - showers at HS? HS 2500 people. Kay Breuer gave background on RAGBRAI. It will bring about 20-30,000 people into the community. The theme is Rally to the Alley. There will be a pep rally and our cheerleaders will help with the welcome.  Additional campgrounds about the community. Great working with Kesterke. Ragbrai has people that haul stuff in semis. There are about 2000 in that group. They will be staying on the north of the HS. There are charters that also do this. There are opportunities to charge for food and showers but not camping except for indoor camping.  There is an event in the downtown area 2-11:30 PM. There are shuttles for this. Scott Zaiser,athletic booster club,said there will be a lot of hungry people. They are working with the music booster and hope to make a lot of money for both groups. They have a great crew ready to do this. Stephanie and Cheryl are leads on this? Stephanie said they have a contract with 1500 to serve in the cafeteria at ES.  Kendell asked how to volunteer. The best is the Facebook page set up for this or the music booster page or the athletic page. They are having a free will donation bake sale. People needed to donate items. The groups planning this stuff meet every Wed at 6 PM. This week it is at Huck C, Pzazz. RAGRAI is here July 26, 27. They do need volunteers July 25 to set up and prepare. BHS will have about 2500-3000. The pool will be open.  All lifeguards will be certified. They will use the school walkies because cell service will be spotty. They talked about the logistics and materials needed to pull this off. They asked to post stuff on district facebook page and webpage to get the information out. Kendell was blown away by the amount of work coming together community wide. He felt it was a fantastic way to show off community. Courtney asked how are we handling beer.  Kesterke said alcohol can’t be sold. Our policy is just like any normal time. No alcohol. ND can and will have it. Bross asked if we are we taking care of neighbors. Breuer said the city is taking care of it. The board thanked them.

6. Handbooks: Clerical, Custodians, Food Service and Transportation

Lacy Johnson presented and said that minimal changes were made  Salary info changed. Robberts moved to approve, Hatteberg seconded.  Vickstrom asked if there was grievance procedure. Lacy said there was the open door policy.  Courtney said he wasn’t happy about that but he had expressed that multiple times. All but Vicktrom and Courtney voted yes.

7. Meet & Confer Groups

Reynolds said typically salary increased follow the same wage as the teacher group.  The exceptions were Butler and Hatten who got more than that. Hatteberg moved, Robberts seconded.  No discussion or questions. All approved. Vickstrom and Kendell abstained.

8. Meet & Confer Groups Handbook

Johnson presented and said there were minimal changes.  Insurance costs changed. Robberts moved, Kendell seconded.  Vickstrom asked about a grievance policy again and Lacy said no.   All in favor except Courtney and Vickstrom.

9. Resolution to Consider Continued Participation in the Instructional Support Levy

Bross read the resolution.  Its for five years. Courtney moved July 15 public hearing on it, Hatteberg seconded.  Then a roll call vote was done. All said yes. Courtney said this is vital for the district.  

10. Piper Jaffray Engagement Letter

Asking to continue services with this group.  Courtney moved, Robberts seconded. Courtney said they are a reputable firm. Robberts said they have used them for a long time.  Bross said the fees are a set percentage of bonding. All agreed.

X. Board Communications

Courtney is looking forward to RAGBRAI.  He is hosting 19 people in his yard. It's fun to be a pass through town.  Hatteberg acknowledged the gifts of $99,000+ given this year. She thanked the community for supporting our programs.  She also said the work session that occurred earlier in the month was very beneficial with great discussion. She looks forward to phase 2 of that same meeting.  

Vickstrom said that summer school was a prison sentence when he was in school.  He participated in a field trip with summer school and enjoyed it. He said that summer school was enjoyable and not a have to.  He hoped it continues to have the creative people doing it.

Robberts gave a thank you to transitional alliance program.  She thought it was a neat opportunity and is glad our district has it.  Thanks to all volunteering for RAGBRAI.

Kendell  thanked the guy who said something about school safety and that there are board elections this year.  RAGBRAI is a big deal. It’s an opportunity to raise money. He congratulated the science fair participants.  He said we should brag about the accomplishments of our students. He mentioned that the baseball team went to the college world series. He thought it would be great if the other sports could find something like this to do during their season. 

Bross said everyone stole everything he had to say. He was impressed with science fair kids.  

XI. Adjournment  Courtney moved and  Robberts seconded - 8:13.

BEA notes from 4-23-19 BCSD Board meeting

Agenda adoption 735

Moved by robberts and courtney

Public comment

Steven Vandt (sp?)- 2 children in public system. Concerns- violence in schools. HS- concern w grade schools. 1st grader- she comes home 1 or 2x a week with stories about boy pushing her waiting to get on bus. Lunch room- punching kicking karate chopping- talks about teachers give children prizes- other kids demand them. Who? Kid is a rule follower. Teachers tell her to stay in line. She’s afraid to tell teachers what’s happening. She tells at playground what happened. She’s told playground monitor says “i don’t want to hear it”. Parent is concerned system wide- need to address violence in our schools. If we train them in 1st grade, maybe we won’t have issues later on. Consider options of what is going on. His wife is considering home schooling or moving out of burlington. Son is in a wonderful program- he is special needs. Both kids are small. His children cannot defend themselves. He takes her to therapy. Therapist hears from other kids about how bad the bullying is at that school. Going to have to work hard to make public changes.

Mike Wilson- rebranding issue- couple years ago went from old logo to new logo. Thinks we have other more important things to spend money on. Took away elementary mascots and made them grayhounds and greypups- think we can spend money elsewhere other than rebranding.

Consent agenda- moved by Hatteberg, 2nded by Robberts. Passed unanimously.

Positive accomplishments- US Map- Josh Wyatt- painted the map. Bross- how hard was that. Hard part was to cut it out. His mom did while he was in colorado. 10 feet wide. Bross- why’d you do it? Wyatt- used to be there. Robberts- how long? Wyatt- took about a week. Kendell- was this your eagle scout project? Congrats. Wyatt is a man of few words. Wyatt- old map was also an eagle scout project. Coen- community loved that it was back. Mother- spoke to history. Former teacher from blackhawk. Original was freehand. It matched pulldown maps in classrooms. Troops present helped paint it. Was re-touched by Ralphs.

Kendell- is anything going to be added to it? Mother- yes.

Student rep report-  girls soccer won. Played keokuk. Boys tennis meet friday at dankwardt. Girls sat. last night track meet idd well. Last tuesday band concert. Dreamcatchers- new project coming up. Play on Friday and Saturday at Ed Stone. Tickets sold at the door- Cheaper by the Dozen. 7pm.

Coen- afternoon pd thursday. Cabinet meeting. Chamber meeting. Normal flow of student staff issues. Stuff starts to ratchet up. NAACP meeting. Conflicted with duties of IWU education board. Thank you to ministers coming back to schools and working with students. April call in show on KBUR- no calls. Purple and grey with Greg- need steps from locker room. Took half personal day. Met with kendell and Bross. Attended YMCA board meeting. Rector announced he is retiring. Flake Manjoine wil not be back. Vida long coming back. Guy from davenport got a job at a diff district as head principal. Mrs. Johnson working to take care of those issues. Cory coming up explaining math coach need to move quickly.

Johnson- another coach position- funded through ESSA- new math instructional materials at elem level. Hire another coaching position to focus on elementary math- use ESSA funds. Has to be board approved- didn’t get on agenda this week.  Posting as anticipated position.

Hatteberg- will this be similar to what we used to have? Johnson- focus will have to be on GRimes, sunnyside, and blackhawk. Coen- moving ahead with that. Passed new law in iowa- exec admin cost- per gen fund can be no greater than 5%. We are lower than that. Good law- keeps us focused on teachers in the classroom.

Reynolds- we are one of the lowest in the state. We are at 1%. This is Coen, Cory- that’s all we have. Made reductions this year. 9 districts that are above 5%. Will force districts to share superintendents.

Johnson- card from hope haven. Cushman’s class did bird feeders and wind chimes with Hope Haven. Great group of students. Wonderful morning for all of them.

Board appreciative of that. Coen- not 100% of our students are hooligans.

Kendell sent him an article- gave to board. Speaks to empathy and how things are changing in that area. The End of Empathy- on NPR website by Hannah Rosen.

Items for discussion- Calendar- Mark Taylor- committee met 3 times. Couple big items- survey- Spring Break- concerns that there wasn’t one this year. 69% wanted a full week. PDs on Fridays or do early outs. That was more split- 50.4% wanted current model. Something we may want to consider- things we will want to be aware of for next year. Lots of people wanted snow make up days planned in calendar. Concern- about wording of PD in survey- growth piece for next year. 150 respondents. 180 parents.  Parent survey- many people listed they didn’t have concerns. Concerns about april 10- removed it. Concerns about school going in to june- state not allowing earlier start.

Bross- 1st trimester shorter- will plan for 56 days 2nd and 3rd tri-

Courtney- can’t start until state fair is over.

23rd earliest we can start.

Hatteberg motion- 2nd Robberts. Passed unanimously.

Information only- 2019- start times- C. Johnson- right sizing process- talk about specific times. Transportation- all buses will run double routes. Worked with mehaffy.

Brueck- discussion about hs needing more sleep- elem - why no change?

Coen- hs athletics do that. If we do later hs athletes won’t get home until 9pm.

Fine arts.

C johnson- when you get in winter sports season- students often miss last period. Unfortunate. Looked hard at that.

Kendell- day?

C. Johnson- same.

Kendell- hs is 5 minutes longer.

Coen- we’re still going by hours. We exceed by about 7 or 8 days.

C. Johnson- at least.

Coen- we contract with teachers 189 days.

Bross- put a lot of work in it.

2019-2020 fees- no substantial changes. HS yearbook increased about 5. Cost of product. Lumped intermediate and ms fees. Slight increase in one of the music fees. Hs went up around 5. Brought hs in line with ms.

Motion by Robberts, 2nd by Hatteberg.

Bross- continuing to no longer issue parking passes at hs? Courtney- lots of parking there.

Passed unanimously.

Notre Dame swimming agreement- Reynolds- continuation of agreement. Moved by Hatteberg, 2nd by Brueck. Kendell- don’t understand why there is a swimming agreement- they want to come to us for swimming- frustrated by that. Kendell- is that the only reason? Kendell- they should come to do other sports than that. Doesn’t seem right. Taking advantage cause we have a pool.

Passed with Kendell opposed.

Other districts swimming- Danville, WB, Central Lee, Holy Trinity, Mt. P also asking to join. Moved by Hatteberg, 2nd by Brueck.

No discussion- Kendell opposed. Passed.

BEA contract- Reynolds- reached tent agreement- 2% increase- 11--(couldn’t hear think 1125). Courtney asked about logo.

Robberts moved, 2nded by Hatteberg

Vickstrom- was in education- been on board 10 years. 2 years ago governor took away our rights. Would like to have a formal grievance procedure back in- wants that like what was in contract. Won’t vote for another contract if we don’t have that.

Robberts- multiyear contract. Reynolds- this is the 2nd year of that.

Courtney- we could have a contract if we wanted one.

Bross- i’m not an attorney.

Courtney- we could add it back whenever we wanted to. Glad they got 2%.

Bross- motion is 2%.

Vote- passed, with Courtney and kendell abstaining.

Branding- Coen- not in a position to address. Table. Courtney moved. Tabled until further date.

Board Communications-

Vickstrom- none

Hatteberg- Schulte recital was wonderful. Incredibly talented. Blessed and district has helped him. Was a judge for Ed Stone presentations. Very impressed by solutions. Article in Hawk Eye. impressed with behavior- kids did exactly what needed to do- were very impressive. Coen- student spotlight. Aldo will have one.

Hatteberg- 8th grade social problems. Kudos for that too. Aldos is Thursday- 4-7.

Robberts- congrats to BHS music. Vocal and band. Play this weekend.

Courtney- don’t have anything. Thanks for compliment on Sam. Going to Lawrence college. Prestigious school.  Bragging.

Brueck- thanks to community member- hope that won’t be forgotten.

Kendell- enjoyed the eagle scout project. Map. nice thing to have. Come to the play this weekend. Dreamcatchers at hs. Knows someone involved with it. They do amazing things. Uplifting. Truly amazing students at schools.

Bross- thank Coen. Reynolds. Kesterke- round tables. Courtney and Vickstrom have attended some. Appreciate it. Appreciate comments from community. We need to hear those things. From his vantage point there are a lot of things we are doing- some have more impact than others- aldo- concern for our society- what we have coming in to our schools. We have a lot of heart. Need to keep working on that.  Did get to see a boys soccer game. They played hard.

Kendell- next board meeting is on a Tuesday as well, because of music.

Went to closed session at 821.

BEA notes from 4-8-19 BCSD Board meeting

BEA notes 4-8-19 BCSD Board meeting




I. Call to Order – Welcome 7:00 p.m.

II. Pledge of Allegiance

III. Adoption of Agenda- moved by Robberts, 2nded by Courtney.




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)- none.




V. Public Hearing

2. Aid & Levy-Budget- Greg Reynolds- document filed with county auditor- amount taxes levied each fund- revenues and expenditures- has to be certified by april 15- max amount funds can be spent for next year. Directing auditor to levy taxes on behalf of the district. Property tax valuation went up from last year. State gives relief- it’s 88c- it’s been coming down from previous years- our property values are increasing a little so the relief is going down a little.

Our property taxes are going to be a little less for next year.

Property tax valuations went up mostly except for industrial.

Diff funds certifying- we have 10- most important is general fund. Management levy- insurance, early retirements, and workman’s comp. PPEL, SAVE(1c property tax), Student construction fund, capital project/sales tax bond, activity fund, nutrition fund, special revenue/fiduciary funds.

Student enrollment- 4137.4- 6880 per pupil- 2.06% allowable growth

Enrollment trends- dropped 125 students- losing students along with community- state projects loss of 70 kids per year. Open enrollment trends- 676 went up to 705- went from 74 open enroll in to 91. As we lose students, new money is a -2.56%.

Allowable growth isn’t keeping pace with declines in enrollment.

Not levying any cash reserves for next year.Management levy went from 1.3-2 mill. Moving some things from general fund into management fund.

We get budget adjustment- will get 539,000 in budget guarantee. Supplemental weighting- we have 762 spec ed students- also get extra money for At risk and ELL- 43 students- that’s an extra 5.5 mil dollars

He started talking about the Iowa Funding Formula- General fund property tax projections- we are down 886,000 from last year in general fund.

#s published all funds for next year- think these #s are in the board packet posted on the website.

Expenditure side- they certify maximum- costs go up around 2% each year-

Certifying max amount can spend for next year. We are taxing less next year than we did this year.




?s in regard to presentation- Vickstrom- is legislature equalizing transportation- they did, but we don’t qualify.

Robberts- enterprise funds p 24-25- student construction funds.

Courtney- limit local governments 2% proposed bill- Bross says not going anywhere. Courtney doesn’t want Des Moines controlling the board here.

Bross- public can comment at this time. None.




VI. Consent Agenda

3. Minutes, Bills, Human Resources Report, Out of District Travel and Gifts- moved approval by Robberts, 2nded by Hatteberg.

Kendell-?- asked Reynolds about 150k for aldo 1-1 expenditure- purchasing 650 chromebooks for next year- getting carts for each of classroom with 28 cbs for each room. All corse cbs will come to aldo. Just going to use cbs when they’re there. Cory- cbs for next year- makes most sense to have carts in school. Not taking them home until 7th grade.

Passed unanimously.




VII. District Positive Accomplishments- Professional Learning Communities (Mrs. Butler)- Grimm and Steahr. Butler went to a conference about PLCs. piloting at Ed Stone this year. Meeting weekly. Eduplanet modules. Guided work. Built knowledge base. PLCs are ongoing around student data. Action research- better ways to educate students. 4 ?S PLCs ask- what do we want kids to learn, how will we know, how will we respond when they don’t learn it, how will we respond when they already know it.

Want same expectations for curriculum no matter the teacher. Power standards.

Grimm- PLCs in the classroom- energized and excited to get back into classroom. Student data notebooks. Weekly to biweekly conferencing. Increased collaboration. Conferencing has made a difference in student teacher relationships- support system within the class- students supporting each other.

Steahr- fall conference- Oct- hard to implement during school year- student grading practices and feedback- want to give helpful feedback to students. Wrote great job- need to offer more specific guidance. Want grades to relate directly to stated learning goals.

Butler- continuing to build capacity by taking teachers to training. Building common assessments- doing a lot of heavy lifting right now- going to be a way to build for next year. Exciting work.

Bross- student achievement- have perenially struggling students been pulled up- Butler- interventions haven’t really started yet because targets weren’t the same- next year will come together better.

Kendell- is this across the building? Butler- both middle schools.affects all the staff.

Butler- cradic will take some teachers this summer.

Brueck- so does every english teacher give same test?

Butler- could be summative, could be formative- want teachers looking at same kind of information- want teachers to create.

Cory Johnson- middle schools taking lead on this. We have collab built in- wanted to strengthen at elem this year. HS conversations around grading. All admins and TLs will be attending one of the institutes.

Bross- kudos to ed stone student spotlight- amazed by breadth and depth of topics- students did a great job. Digital learning and pt conference.





VIII. Student Representative Report- today boys varsity and jv game in davenport. Girls have soccer tomorrow. Girls tennis has a meet tomorrow at danquardt. Dream catchers working on 2 projects. Older person wants son to graduate- going to do a graduation party combo anniverary party. Other project is catering lobster to a gentleman who used to eat at fancy restaurants. Testing this week- really cool to how it used to be- nice to be on CBs. Saturday is prom and post prom.

?s- none.




IX. Superintendent’s Report- April- child abuse awareness month- nothing more gut wrenching than an abused child. Gave each board member a pinwheel. Child abuse doesn’t just happen in poverty- far reaching negative repercussions. Mitigate as much as can. Kendell- can take many forms. Courtney- abused become abusers. Coen- testing last week. Met with bross and Kendell. Met with Shay and Butler- MS baseball. Club like clayhounds. GP superintendent meeting. Psychology focus. Thought it would be better for interventionists. Greg works his magic with insurance. ACA taken care of- round tables. Mayor’s volunteer dinner. Vickstrom recognized. He goes to saturday school and is at BILA quite a bit. Greatly appreciate him. PTO people are carrying the system- they do so much for us. Kent Lewis- working at ed stone drama club. Josef and Elijah Kirby volunteered with club m. National volunteer month. Lunch meeting with IWU president Titus- discussed regional partnership Alliant energy lunch. Turned into a Q and A. Hawkeye did a nice job on the nurse situation. Coen- highlight Butler’s student spotlight night. Students were enthusiastic. Mrs. Giehl’s classroom- kids showed him a faster way. Butler thank you. Example of ingenuity. Being brave. Bross and Reynolds- WB firefighter- proposed water safety course for autistic children. They are more likely to drown. Excited to support initiative. How to teach kids to stay away from the water. Robberts- autistic children- don’t give off signals that they are having trouble. Coen quite shocked. Thanks to firefighter. Thanks to voted ppl passing. Good to see unity behind effort. Don't forget have cabinet notes posted. Derrick Murphy- Keokuk jazz festival- derrick did a great job. Great to see people from here performing. Courtney- you guys should push furniture and dance. Welk is still on.

Coen- we don’t have to move furniture. Coen- Sunnyside- lady stopped him- my son graduated from BHS- just finished PhD in math- has a fellowship- he owes everything to our math department (she said). He’s going to be a Rhodes scholar, apparently.

?s- none.




X. Items for Discussion

4. Volunteer Proclamation- Bross reading. Recognition of volunteers. Goes back to fall of 1833. Our district started 1849. April volunteer recognition month. Recognizing Fred Chandler, Mr. Fred- started volunteering in 1972. Was a bus driver for 30 years. Worked in many schools in the district. Awarded Mr. Chandler a challenge coin. Kids gave him more than he gave them, he feels. One more to give out- gave Courtney one. His grandkids will cherish someday. Thank you for service.take that out of his pay. (Lol)




5. Aid & Levy Budget Proposal- Had public hearing. Reynolds ready to answer ?s. Bross- people paying less per thousand, but if valuation went up, taxes will go up.

Robberts moved approval, Courtney 2nded. Passed unanimously.




6. Amendment to Juvenile Court Services Agreement- last spring approved 5 year agreement, year 2 renewal. 26,968 budget. Hatteberg moved approval, Robberts 2nded. Passed with Brueck abstaining.




XI. Board Communications

The members will have the opportunity to share items and events.

Vickstrom- travesty that so few voted for PPEL. would hope more people would vote. It’s economic development.

Standardized tests- worthless- get them thrown down our throats. Parents paying people to take tests for their children. Need to test on something that people can use. It’s a control issue. Bugs him. Courtney- how do you really feel about it? LOL. Vickstrom- it’s worthless.

Brueck- thank voters who did turn out. Hope kids have fun at prom.

Hatteberg- Ed Stone spotlight. Wonderful event. Got more parents than normal. Got a kick out of 8th grade classroom- pictoramas- book reports- interesting to see old techniques still being used. Thank all the school personnel dealing with challenges. Appreciated all that staff do.

Courtney- more should vote. Hubert Humphrey in interview- hardest job was local school board- people should take more seriously on election day. 18 states have declared emergencies over measles. People need to go and get shots. It’s going to be a huge issue- do right by your kids. Get a vaccination before you kill somebody.

Robberts- congrats to Dean and Mr. Chandler- his wonderful service to our district. Stay safe this weekend with prom- Choir concert Thursday night, play April 26-27.

Kendell- echo on PPEL- Mr. Chandler- 47 years of volunteerism. Many volunteers- PTOs- we are so appreciative of their work.

Thanks to greg for work. Appreciated two positive social media posts this week. Exceptional posts. Headed into home stretch- 6-7 weeks left of school.

Bross- appreciates work Reynolds and Kesterke put into PPEL video. Thank board for service. Encourage you to get in to schools. Saw a lot of teachers at Student spotlight night. Some of the problems are hard to solve- we have the best people on the job right in the classroom. Adjorn at 812.



XII. Adjournment- went to exempt session.