BEA notes 1-27-20 BCSD Board Meeting

BCSD Board of Directors Meeting January 27, 2020
(Two expulsion hearings prior to start)
Attending: Joel Sieren, Darven Kendell, Nancy Hoelzen, Tom Courtney, Dean Vickstrom, Deb
Hatteberg, Anika McVay
I. Call to Order – Welcome 6:11 p.m.
II. Pledge of Allegiance
III. Adoption of Agenda - passed
IV. Public Comments - Ryan Drew - SE Iowa Building. Referenced the career expo at National
Guard. Glad to have BHS students there. He spoke for Labor Alliance about School Nutrition
program brought up at the last board meeting. We value all good jobs in the community.
Privatization could cause the loss of jobs. Make sure the school retains employees on payroll
or keep the same contract with a private company if they go with a private company for food
service.
V. Consent Agenda Hoelzen motioned, McVay seconded. Kendell commented that $1.5
million was for open enrollment. While 2⁄3 is state funding, $500,00 is Burlington taxpayer
money. That’s wrong.
VI. District Positive Accomplishments BHS Engineering Students
Sanning presented Tom Buckman and students Spencer Brown and Samatha Potheitkis. The
students designed and manufactured light boxes for a 6th grade science unit. It was an
example of engineering students using their learning to solve a real life problem.
VII. Student Representative Report no report
VIII. Superintendent’s Report
Calendar committee meeting.
Senior swim night was great.
He has done walkthroughs and spoken to students in the hall. He said something about using
Panorama for teachers for data collection and analysis. He thanked Vickstrom for attending
MLK celebration. The speaker’s message was there are still social woes and challenges that
are brought to the school.
He reminded the board to look at the shared docs of the cabinet meeting notes. He met with
Vickstrom and Courtney this week. Cory and he spent time witha pastor about local reading
program for Stone Garden. He spent time coordinating with AEA on something. Sad note:
Steve Easton former custodian died. Tim Kesterke then said there are no planned services for
him but a celebration of life will be held at a later time. Mr. Easton worked at BHS.
Coen gave a copy(to board) of communication protocol used when starting to work on
processes in school to assure that people receive information in a timely manner.
Deb asked about make up days. She said digital days didn’t work for elementary but did for
middle school and maybe high school.

IX Items for Discussion
TLC Update
Cory introduced it. He referred to an article about the statewide gains due to TLC over three
years. Fortunate to have a great group of TLC people. He said he would be completely useless
without the TLC coaches. Monica then presented an overview of it. It began as grant in 2014.
Talked about success across the state. Three components coaching, mentoring, curriculum
leads. About 23% of all teachers are involved. There are 19 mentors who mentor 30
mentees. She explained how they match them. It’s most beneficial if they are in the same
building. She explained the program and gave examples of how mentors assisted. Currently,
11 mentees are graduates of BHS. She explained the change in coaching positions this year: 9
assigned to buildings, 1 stem, 1 ESSA, 3 behavior specialists, 1 coordinator. She explained
student- centered coaching cycles. This year 60% of all coaching cycles are with people who
had not done one before. 72% contacted coach to improve student learning or practice. The
two top benefits of doing a coaching cycle according to those who participated were:
70% said most beneficial are collaboration 75% analyzing student work. So far this year
33 completed coaching cycles, 19 in progress, 9 light coaching. There were 54 completed
cycles in 2018-19. She gave a few quotes from teachers who did cycles.
There are 35 curriculum. leads across the district (CL) 2 per grade level pre-6 , 2 for each
content 7-12. K-12, Art, Music, PE, TAG. She explained what they do.
Deb thanked her. Is there ever a time that an administrator might suggest a coach? Monica
said there has been an instance or two when that has happened. Siere - Funding? Monica -
now not a grant, fully funded for state. Cory - TLC pays for full release coaches and stipend.
Mentors get a stipend i and CL also get paid a stipend. Vick - how do you evaluate the
effectiveness? Monica - Pretest data and posttest data for each coaching cycle. Cory - report
to state new teacher retention (last year highest since this grant)report % teachers that meet
ITS standards for evaluation, and cycle completion. Vick - explained his first year of teaching
involved no support. Siere - how was the decision made to allocate money for positions?
Monica - TLC committee does it. Cory, administrator, teacher from each grade span and a
special, SPED,and Monica. Sieren - any changes ahead? Monica - having full release in each
building is very positive. I think we are good to go for awhile. Vick - funding continuing? Cory -
worked into a legislative funding stream so should continue. Need to make sure legislators
understand the value of it. Coen - Great that teachers get to the end of career and can share
with young teacher. Helps with IPERS and increases retirement pay. Monica - Thursday
February 27 - Family math night. Math interventionists organizing this. Free to everyone.
Asking people to register. PIzza 5-6:30 Math games and activities from 6-7. District wide.
McVay - where will it be held? Monica - cafeteria and throughout the buildings. There will be
more info coming.
Negotiations Committee
Coen - advised to appoint Nancy Hoelzen to negotiations committee. McVay motioned, Joel
seconded. Courtney asked about a second person be on it. Courtney amended motion to
nominate another person. Two people passed. Kendell - we haven’t had this before. We’ve let
negotiations to other. The Board just listens and not a part of it. Why this change? Asked if
this a common practice of districts our size? Coen - It was brought up by Courtney and

Vickstrom. School attorney said it was not out of the ordinary. Courtney said it was done in the
past. Kendell - What is the goal? Courtney - more informational than anything. Vick - agreed
with Courtney. He also said that they need someone in negotiations to have a better
perspective. Kendell - said state took over the give and take so not sure why we are doing this.
Coen - said something, not sure what. Board members should be able to speak up at the
meetings. Courtney said something. Vick - Hoelzen knows the contract better than anyone
else. Deb - reason she volunteered to be the second board member because she talked to
Nancy and thought it puts her in an awkward position. Deb has been out of it for a long time
and doesn’t make it awkward for her. So Deb and Nancy will be on it. Greg said there are four
different contract negotiations this year.
Certified Staff Substitutes Shortage and Pay
Coen - Went over sub pay around the area. We are two dollars above the average for the area.
There were about 5000 sub days. An increase of $10 a day for pay will be a lot of money. In
the past two year we have spent $ 602,000 subs and $ 512,000 on subs. Coen - discussion
about supersub. They are under contract and work every day, attend PD. Vick - Is more than
money the reason for lack of subs? Coen - super sub solve it all. McVay - Pay? Coen -
receive more pay. Vick - type of contract? Kendell - benefits? Deb - something to explore.
Kendell - not one at each building. Coen - tried to explain how it works financially and it benefits
the students. Sieren l - more accountability? Coen - talked to Iowa City about it. If no sub
needed, the supersub co-teachs. Kendell - glad the number of subs dropped. How many
absences are created by PD opportunities? Coen - hammered on it at the state level. AEA
should work in summer not so much in the winter. AEA should use more of a teacher
leadership model and less pullout. Money savings to be had. Kendell - PD is very important but
some teachers don’t want to be gone. Coen - good teacher doesn’t want to be gone. More
work to be gone . Courtney - bad subs create more work. Kendell - not enough subs.
Something has to be done. McVay - don’t send kids to the library because we have no subs.
We need to support our teachers. Joel - 180 days/ $20,000. Full time/benefits $150,000. We
could pay $140/day and not need a supersub. Coen - doesn’t think money would cover. Joel -
says that 9 supersubs won’t solve the problem. Still a lot of hours not covered. Coen - two
different problems - quality of instruction. Joel - still doesn’t think that it solves the problem. It
will only take 1⁄3 of the problem. Kendell - talked to other districts? Coen - they are all short
subs.
Deb - Can we come up with two or three long term subs for tri 3. Do an experiment and see
what happens? Laci Johnson came to mic. Deb - would this be a possibility for this? Laci - I
like all of these ideas. That’s only one person and you have multiple people gone. We are
short people. They don’t want to do it. Perhaps this would entice them. Long term sub up to
six months don’t have to pay IPERS/medical.
Deb - directed Coen to come up with a proposal.
Hoelzen - data on why they don’t want to sub?
Laci - We don’t have data. We want people who want to work with kids more than they want
money.
Coen - Talked about the preferences that adults have for different grade levels.

Courtney talked about people who retire and don't’ want to do more.
Coen - teachers are teaching longer.
McVay - take the stress of current staff. What was done before?
Deb - couple of subs hired for a year. Long time ago. Not sure how it worked.
McVay - form a committee to get this accomplished?
Coen will bring options.
Program of Studies Updates
Keane - couple of changes. Page 6 - Naviance used not counselors in pe
Page 13 - Policy on retaking a class. Want it so that anybody can retake a class no matter the
grade. Kendell - is it with the same teacher? Keane didn’t know. Keane - don’t get credit for the
class twice. McVay - how many times can it be retake it? Keane - said he didn’t care. He
wants the learning. Some classes are gatekeepers for other classes. Sieren - So you only want
D/F removed instead of the whole thing? Keane - correct.
Page 17- final cumulative GPA and points. The person with the highest GPA doesn’t become
the valedictorian/salutatorian. Points outrank GPA. Add a point to the concurrent enrollment
classes just like the AP classes. Kendell - would like to look at this and then vote at next time.
Page 29 (end of English) - Two classes that were taught but were not in the course. Kendell -
NCAA not approved? Keane - Has to be submitted for approval .
Page 33 - 5 kids in AP psych class. Want to get rid of AP psych. SCC staff would have to
teach this class. Kendell - open to students from other schools? Keane - maybe. We make
money on it.
Page 47 - Get rid of AP Calc. Add calc I and II through SCC use our own staff.
Kendell - not room to fit AP Calc because of schedule? SCC courses accepted? Keane -
accepted everywhere. Keane is against AP Calc.
Application of Calc and Career Geometry - Keane said these are geared to engineering
students (My note - this is not correct. Engineers have to take real math classes).
Business - Keyboarding 1, 2, 3. Wants to rename it computer apps 1, 2, 3. Consistent with
what most school call those. No change in the class, just a name change.
Moved toward creating capstone classes in all CTE classes. Capstone class in marketing would
do marketing for district and for the community..
Intro to nursing and patient care split into two trimesters.
Page 89 - Piloting circle of friends - students work with SPED students.
FACS - Add exploring teaching profession. Want to make Corse early childhood. Explore
teaching by working this.
Not all courses offered are taught.
Said trimesters are great. BHS offers rigorous classes.
Kendell said the opportunities are amazing. Graduation credits? Tweak it?
Keane - have a board policy committee meeting. He started talking about graduating with
honors and did not talk about graduation credits. He referenced cum laude etc.
Kendell - Let’s get a meeting. McVay - Email Kendell and her. Sieren - any action on this?
Keane - said policy must be voted on.
Kendell - something ??
Keane - don’t pull rug out from kids playing the game.

Coen - Keane cover the number of kids that take college classes and how impactful.
Keane - Currently 12 college classes are taught on BHS campus and will be offering 16 in
future ( most in CTE). Kids doing well in classes. Trimester gets more college classes. He tries
to encourage them not to drop elective so they can take SCC classes. (Are kids dropping
music, art, and other electives to take SCC?).
Community Action of Southeast Iowa Agreement
Reynolds - Moving programs out of JMEC and into Corse beginning in August next year.
Continuation of existing contract in a different building. Sieren - Is the library going to be Head
Start? Kesterke - May lose this in the future. Courtney - Where are they now? Kesterke -
JMEC. Contract is the same cost. Deb - gym still renting out? Kesterke will use it
Passed.
X. Board Communications
McVay- Condolences to Mr. Easton. He loved students and working with the district. Touring
the schools, Aldo, Grimes, and BH. Grimes and BH going well. Band concert at ES. Email
about art students. Three ES 8th graders, Macy, Mallori, and David made it to final round of a
contest. Thanks to the art teacher.
Hoelzen - none
Sieren - Tim Bolander told him a story about a 4th grade student whose mom who completed
Bridges out of Poverty heard about another kid that didn’t have cupcakes for his birthday so this
mom brought cupcakes for other kid.
Deb - ThankedRyan Drew for trying togt construction trades going. Thanked Brian Johnson for
stepping in and helping out.
Kendell - Thanked Kesterke for snow removal, building cleanup,, bus drivers for safety and
diligence, Mr. Coen for being prudent. Spent time in NH, Aldo, ES, BHS - saw really good
things. No concerns or problems. Aldo and ES staff are happy and pleased and things are
going well. These two buildings are fuller but class sizes are down. BHS - students not wearing
badges. Less than 10%.
Courtney - Not in many buildings. BH - surprised that discipline is very good. ES - discipline
being handled. Phones are in classrooms and phones are a problem. It was a board directive
to remove cells phones from classrooms and its not being enforced.
Vickstrom - Went with Kehoe’s TAG kids to mentor BH students. BILA - doing a very good job.
Recess: 7:56
XI Adjournment
Superintendent Evaluation Closed Session
XII Exempt Session Negotiations

BEA notes from 2-10-20 BCSD Board Meeting

fI. Call to Order – Welcome 6:00 p.m.

II. Pledge of Allegiance

III. Adoption of Agenda- swapping a couple things out- item 9- taking 4 and doing it last- moved by Kendell, 2nded by Hoelzen

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)- 

Jessica Irish- daughter goes to BH- talking about Richards passing. Friends w staff at BH- found out before her child did. Proud of district’s quick response- daughter’s teacher said didn’t know why they didn’t let school out on day he passed. Staff held crying children- following day she went to school as PTO member- Richards’ dad spoke to the school. School cancelled- was grateful. Had to get childcare. Glad BH staff had day off to mourn. Glad family let us all attend the funeral. Jan 13- Chris’s funeral would have to be made up- can’t lose $110,000. Staff shouldn’t have to make up that day. Students shouldn’t have to make up that day. This is not inclement weather- this was a death of a highly respected community member. Asking board not to have students and staff make up the day.

Jessica King- English teacher at BHS- she , Dan Kopping, and Thomas Boyd- took 18 students to WIU today. WIU had an opportunity for students to attend- had a writing contest- capture the essence of love in 100 words or less. BHS student Rebecca Armstrong won 1st, another student took 2nd, and another took 3rd. Also got an honorable mention. (I couldn’t keep up with the names.) Excited for the achievement

V. Consent Agenda

2. Minutes, Bills, Human Resources Report and Gifts- McVay- Hatteberg 2nd. Kendell making note of gifts- 700 gift from NL district- for buddy bench at BH in memory of Chris Richards. Passed.

VI. District Positive Accomplishments- Art Awards, Ed Stone Middle School- Tony Onesto- art teacher at Ed Stone. Adam Johnson and David King- a number of Onesto’s students are ill. Ed Stone now has the VAAP program- allows students to take their art to the next level. 7th and 8th graders get a whole day with a focus project once a month. Lion’s Club Peace poster project- Burlington has dominated- this is winner- Adam Johnson- response has been amazing- grateful for talent that Burlington has- student’s work has blown him away- Alana Yeager- goes to National next- doesn’t know when hear results. 4 pieces accepted at Juried art show. 3 were accepted - David King has one accepted for that. Art and writing competition- top 15% in order to be eligible- top 7% gets a silver key- 4 award winners- Adam johnson got 2nd last year, and 2nd this year- David King honorable mention last year and this year- but got a silver key. Still have one more art competition in the spring. Invite community to see his art room- with funding from BEF and grants- Hound town days 5 years ago- his group uses talent to enrich the community-  80 wooden paw prints- raisted 4800 2 years ago. May 14th silent auction 6-830- concert at 7. Art is at a high level. Onesto proud of the students. Thinks with grade levels students will produce a lot more. Courtney- you did a good job considering you said you were shy.

Kendell- what do you enjoy about this?

King- get to make art for everyone to see- nice to work with professional grade equipment.

VII. Student Representative Report- Bryn Casady- can’t top what Mrs. King presented. Boys swim qualified for state. Vice versa coming up at end of month. Prom is in april- starting to work on that. End of trimester is coming up- lots of people in library and cafeteria getting homework done. Boys and Girls basketball both doing well. NHS Klein Center tonight - senior prom. 

Courtney- she does a good job. 

VIII. Superintendent’s Report- Coen- another full week- two of relays in swimming going to state. Boys BB 2nd in conference. Having a lot more success now that we changed conferences. 3A school playing 3 A conference. We were a small 4A school. Pandemic response plan- worked with nurses. Will present to board next meeting. Cabinet has wrapped up building audits. April- need to move board meeting to the 6th- Greg has to certify the budget on the 15th. Want to get it on agenda. PE waiver- doesn’t have to come back to board they approved last year. Butler continues to work to assure good things that happen at aldo happen at ed stone. Reviewed work with teachers- wellness- johnson talking to admins. Contacted by mt p- want to do what we’re doing. (?) email- mother talked about make up day. If youre inclined to support- let Mr. Vickstrom know- he can let Coen and Reynolds know. Aldo leopold compensation for teachers- Mrs. Johnson on the radio- trying to recruit subs. Radio has higher effect than paper. Once we saturate that market it will no longer work. Bad news aldo leopold structural issues- we signed off on what was done. We will be holding a portion of the bag. Reserve that can be used for these types of the issues. We need to fix it- courtney asked. Will end up in court- 100ks of thousands or millions- we do hold obligation for that. Coen went in schools a lot this week. Highlight was Mr. McKee- kids reading in the library. Hoelzen told him to slow down. (it wasn’t my class- was Mrs. Zieglers). Coen went and sat in with Kehoe. Vickstrom and Sat Schools.

 Negotiations- district opened- 300 on base and all language taken out (permissables) back in. 

IASB- training on board- orientation (work session) . Grant Hank is coming. Memorial auditorium- placard at area- STEM- future jobs. Keane and Butler got students ready to go. Coens went to a remembrance thing for Richards.

Special Olympics held over weekend- family member wanted to recognize outstanding students who worked all day for the event.

Kids will learn if they are at school consistently.

?s- none.

IX. Items for Discussion

3. Early Childhood Center Principal Job Description & Proposed Project Overview-

Cory and Tasha Begtal- Early Childhood Iowa- job description - couple items- article from Dr. Wise- early childhood initiatives in the state- planning to undertake- early childhood at Corse- discussion has taken place # of years. Focusing on families birth to 5. Talked to Sieren and Kendell- facilities committee- job description is what’s on the agenda. That’s what’s in the packet. Large project- hope to open fall of 2021. Community Action Headstart- 4 year old preschools. Want to expand to 3 year olds. Provide a child care center of some sort. After school day care. Estimated at this point. All 4 year old preschools would be in one location. 60 students in half day programs. Draft of language of child care center. 

Coen- this is what our community needs for businesses, young families. 

Cory- had a meeting in november- some community members, SCC, - vision- is there a need for this? Agreement there is. Push down to infants- whole different licensing- to make this happen for fall of 2021- lots of leg work- its hard to make it not cost prohibitive- additional cost for staffing for 3 year olds- child care would be an additional piece- want to hire the principal for next year even though the building wouldn’t open until a year later. Grant writing and hoop jumping would need to happen a year early.

Cost sharing piece. Tasha Bechtel- early childhood board serves 4 county area. Doesn’t have anything specific to share. Funding opportunities- ECI Board- fund indirectly child care system- professional development- DHS regs- no cost. 3 year old scholarship for preschool- ECI cannot help out with 4 year old preschool. Have supported Danville in the past- ECI said yes to that- but they eventually stepped down after 50k in first year- salary support- 

Vickstrom- how solid is the funding- would this be cost effective for us-

Cory- we’ve looked at this a lot- partnerships and writing grants- many of our families can’t afford the tuition we would need to make this work- would need scholarships for families- have annual carryover in pre-school right now- over 573,000 carryover total in preschool volunteer fund. Sustaining costs become the issue.

Sieren- principal position would be paid for out of that money- if after 6-9 months- can we decide not to do it- yes- 

EIC- RFP- 19 renewal contracts- high quality childcare- hot topic- (this is Tasha again)- lots of projects- board 75-125k set aside for that- allowable growth isn’t there. It’s stagnant- they aren’t getting allowable growth for EIC

Vickstrom- success rate of other organizations- Tasha- there are many ways of doing it- are we going to have someone else run it for us? Non profit vs for profit- in our area- various models- Mediapolis, New London, Danville, Ottumwa, Council Bluffs, Marshalltown- all run differently- we have a lot of exploration to do if we want to make this a reality

Tasha- des moines is passing a lot of bills right now. Child care is a hot issue. 

Talking about pay for staff of different ways to be funded from the organization.

If you dive into childcare, it’s really about the director. Takes all of those factors to make it work. Hardest part of child care is that you can’t keep the staff- we don’t pay them well- child care needs to be about developing amazing early childhood staff.

Cory- moving it all to Corse- great opportunity for staff. Better opportunities for collaboration. 

Coen- college will be there. SCC has been at the table on this. Expanding education program. Wants to add early childhood education- dedicated classroom space- lab school at corse.

Tasha- the whole point- if you do it right at that age- it’s a ripple effect- 

Hatteberg- no problem with a non profit making income with tuition for daycare- Greg- depends on how it’s structured- it’s another proprietary fund. New programs.

Courtney- we’re not going to get rich. It would be a win if we break even.

Cory- lots of districts- might make money, might lose money- might save money by having to do less interventions. We lose some families because other districts offer day care. Coen- new london broadcasts to mount pleasant- having to buy building- now we have open rooms in other buildings. Systemic issues this corrects.

Cory- logistical dominoes- can’t move a program until space is empty- portables for some of those programs. Likely some logistical dominoes. Might have to move them out of Corse.

Sieren- carryover- can use for anything else? Flexibility fund- can transfer funds

Sieren- went through a couple years hearing Corse was in bad shape- now we’re hearing we’re going to build it up- 

Coen- had more to do with running schools at less capacity

BLDD- facilities assessment- was rated lowest- and size wise- it wasn’t lowest in quality

Coen- it’s in better shape than Aldo Leopold

Cory- building is still impressive.

Courtney- every penny that we spend here would be dollars saved when they’re older.

Kendell- philosophy is strong.  Will attract employees because of child care. Going to have to be patient- few years of bumps. Not going to be easy. 

McVay- looking at salary- 125k- is that highest of building principals- in line with other elementary principals- average for them- looked at where associate principals are at- need to be careful- Coen- African American female running building- making less than a white guy running the building- don’t want to say she’s worth less than an associate principal- this is more than an associate principal- it’s a tough job. 

Kendell- entry level principal 93k- salary is like 70 according to Greg- 

Sieren- 

Cory- this may be a lowball- may be where we end up at-

Board approving job description- can go ahead and search for a person- salary would depend on their experience and so on

Job description will also be a sign of board’s commitment to the project- 

Courtney moves approval- beat Dean to it

Hatteberg- thinks need to make motion they are in favor of doing it- she doesn’t recall ever passing that

Sieren- that’s a vote we take 9 months from now

Hiring a principal- in 9-12 months- they then approve the project at that time- they can cancel it at that time

Kendell- only reason he knows about it is facilities board- haven’t talked about it- delaying it to meeting in march- 

Does motion include 125k- 

Kendell- 

Reynolds- job description at this point

Cory- dollar amount is an estimate

Sieren 2nded- passed.

4. Closed Session- Expulsion Hearing

X. Board Communications

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

Hatteberg- 

Sieren- great things going on in district. Thrilled getting started on it. Thrilled reading article about 9th 10th BB in hawkeye. 

Kendell- echoes what Sieren said. Liked the news from Mrs. King and Onesto. 

Hoelzen- text from friend at Aldo- Coen is spending more time there- excited to go see STEM thing tomorrow.

McVay- buddy bench- NL money- 3 parents donated 1100 from cookie sales- Altemus and others, congrats to sports teams. McVay went to basketball game- energy JV and V team gave 9th graders was awesome. 3 teams- it was one group- recommend keeping up that energy. Work to do but making progress.

Kendell- musical coming up- dates? Play coming up soon. Pops concert Thursday friday night. 2 one act plays. Mr. Keane doesn’t remember. Pops concert at Ed Stone.

Courtney- remind people to get kids vaccinated. 

Vickstrom- nothing to add.

5 min recess before closed session.

XI. Adjournment

BEA notes 1-13-20 BCSD Board Meeting

5:00 p.m. Closed Session-

2. Expulsion Recommendation

5:20 p.m.

3. Expulsion Recommendation

5:40 p.m.

4. Expulsion Recommendation

The mission of the Burlington Community School District is:

Inspiring and challenging students through diverse opportunities

I. Call to Order – Welcome 6:00 p.m.- Hatteberg absent

II. Pledge of Allegiance

III. Adoption of Agenda- moved by Courtney 2nd by McVay

IV. Public Comments

The Board encourages citizens to attend its meetings. Citizens have this opportunity

to comment on issues and concerns (Policy 210.9 & 213)- Jerry Sherwood- Purple and Grey Foundation- rebranding of school district. Need to step back and look at this- been in contact with university of Indianapolis- continuing to use hound that we have now. Worth the effort- citizens of Burlington want to see. Purple and Gray spent a lot of money remodeling the stadium- stuff isn’t 5 years old. Nice venue- comfortable with the logo that we have. Dog in center of field- statue on central street side. A lot of money spent, especially on the statue. Don’t want other brands (symbols) to conflict with what we have. Coen approved Purple and Gray calling university of Indiana.  Item that will go before board of university to allow us to use the symbol. They are a division 2 school- we aren’t harming their brand by using the symbol. No one will get rich on the apparel. Wants board to be diligent on what they decide to do. Group will visit university if they need to.

No one else spoke.

V. Consent Agenda

5. Minutes, Bills, Financial Report, Human Resources Report and Gifts- approval moved by McVay- 2nded by Courtney- passed.

VI. District Positive Accomplishments- Grimes Student Council- Grimes principal- 3rd and 4th grade. Group of students. Helped with a couple activities- non-perishable food drive before thanksgiving. Bracelets. Collected 1698 food items for a food pantry. 3rd grade donated the most- 308 items. Students had overwhelming support. Lend a paw pantry. Fundraising for ice cream party with toppings. Selling bracelets that sell Grimes Grayhounds on them. Selling bracelets for $1 a piece. Grimes PTO purchased them for students to sell. Have sold over 100 at this time. Another activity they want to do is Pennies for Patients. Each board member is getting a bracelet from the students. Principal- students are trying to get stuco more active- principal sees great things coming from this group. Thanks the board for their support. 

Kendell- when do you meet and when is the ice cream party? Student- meet at 8 in library on Fridays. Student didn’t tell when the ice cream party is. Aurora Critser- Grimes is one of the best schools because it has the best people. Aurora was supposed to go to NH but she and her mom said NO. lol.

VII. Student Representative Report- busy year so far. Student council getting ready for dances. Beach night. Bake sale for junior class cabinet. Boys and Girls basketball are going well. Bowling girls have a winning record. Boys swimming is going well. NHS is collecting donations for animal shelter. 

VIII. Superintendent’s Report- Coen- icy weather- didn’t mess up weekend activities. Cory and Coen met. Efforts in reading. Exciting- Sarah McKee- systemic literacy in reading- going to be published. Daily 5. Afterschool at Aldo Leopold. Coen expressed gratitude to adults. Had parade of excellence. Highlight is teachers seeing former students as young adults. Cheyanne Phillips presented youth mentoring at Kiwanis. Greg and Coen had meeting with Vickstrom and Courtney. Talked about mid year evaluation, start times, Iowa sent out poverty data which wasn’t positive for Burlington. Grad rate going up dispite this issue. CTE leadership- Corse becoming early childhood center. James Madison decision still needs to be made. Health care costs- very little if any increase coming from Becker. Dr. Carlson- science club at middle and intermediate schools. Coen attended Grimshaw retirement. Will we make up funeral day- 1 day is about 110k dollars- we can’t give that away. We will make that up- Greg found that some things are going very well with budget- solvency rate is good. Work session is on Feb 10th. Hats off to kesterke- crew in on sunday to clear snow and ice. Didn’t want any work loss injuries.

Kendell- Daily 5- that is a big deal. District has been doing good things for quite some time. Previous board gets kudos for that. Any part of that video that can be shared for promotion of the district? 

Coen- yes, Cory Johnson has got online- we can make that available. To share on social media.

Vickstrom- anything else?

IX. Items for Discussion

6. Contracted Nutrition Services- Reynolds- Oopa- presenting to board about the company. Do we want to have a company manage our food service.

Oopa- Greg Frost- was an educator, principal and admin. Opaa family owned business. Chesterfield, Missouri. Homestyle cooking and baking. Majority of their districts in Missouri- 7 states. Only 20 or so districts in Iowa contract food service. Districts range from 300-1000. Saves money for district because they can buy food cheaper. This is a lot of stuff about food service which i can’t keep up with- about fed guidelines- employee management.

Sheila Frost- scratch cooking. Roast turkey. Homemade meatloaf- burritos made from scratch. Variety of freshly prepared items- salad bars. Can do individually made salads. Speciality bar- rotates daily- asian, south of the border, baked potato bar. A la carte- non-reimbursable. All their foods meet smart snack guidelines. Breakfast- biscuits and gravy. Coffee bars. Help district write grants to help pay for equipment. 2nd chance breakfast- for students who arrive close to first bell- staff special for adults at least once a week. Daily menu choices. Has nutritional and ingredients for food items- and carb counts. Can allow students, parents, and nurses to see what will be served. Brought samples of the bread.

Sieren- logistics of the service- Oopa uses existing staff- they handle the food purchasing. They train our staff how to make their recipes. We are charged on a per meal basis. Spend a lot of time selecting food products. Cereal comes from general mills. Chicken comes from Tyson. 

Farm to school- farm fresh products into the districts- fresh apples- all the rice is from a farmer owned rice mill. Fresh eggs. 

Got more into buying beef.

They partner on community gardens, learning gardens, farmer market days. Some of their schools serve 3 meals a day.

Health and wellness fairs. Catering provided as well. Got into logistics more. 

Catering for school related events. 

Bid process- takes 6-8 weeks. 5 year fixed pricing. Board of ed renews annually.

Very positive in terms of cost savings to district- 150k + savings. Oopa serves 40 mil meals a year. They get better deals and better quality food.

District sets meal prices. Study was based on present numbers. They think more kids would eat meals if we do this. 

Money comes to us as it usually does. District is in charge of new hires including director of nutrition services. District sets policies and procedures. This food program depends on our cooks and staff. If staff didn’t buy in, it would fail. We have plenty of staff to do this program. Our staff works a lot but doesn’t serve as many meals. We can do better with this service. Increasing food choice usually gets more kids to eat hot lunch. 2nd chance breakfast is a big hit.

Fruit and vegetable bar. Midland- sigourney- hudson in iowa. 8 districts in Iowa looking at it.  Coen has spoken with Sigourney superintedent- want to send some students and parents to a school where they have this food service.

Mr. Johnson comes up to the podium. He and kitchen manager create the menu currently. Waht does Johnson think of it- a lot of it is great- his issue is that he’s currently a half time food service director- he doesn’t have enough time in his day. Be interested to look at how the buying power thing works- they would have to bid the same way we do.  There are things on their that we could do if we had the resources.

Kendell likes if we can boost # kids eating- hungry kids aren’t productive- Kendell is hesitant- but would like to look into it more. More food options would be appealing. Johnson is surprised by take rate- we have expanded our menu a lot. We have spent more money on food in some places to try to make kids happier. 

Kendell- caveat- we have partnerhip with food pantry- our food pantry is all separate.  It’s a totally separate program. Kendell doesn’t want that affected.

Courtney- when things sound too good to be true- he’s unsure of it. He has a hard time losing part of control of our district. 

Sieren- one of the staffing options is we keep all of our staff- they just provide menu and purchasing. We still cook and prepare the food. 

Frost- best people to talk to are other board members and superintendents who have the service. District maintains control- Oopa partners with the district. Has to be viewed as a partnership.  We can vote them out at any given time. 

Sieren- didn’t want to lose staff or lose resources- he has been swayed somewhat- if it doesn’t work after a year, we could go away from it.

Frost- it’s an easy transition back if we decide not to keep doing it. Food service impacts more students than almost any other program in school. Courtney still can’t believe it. Frost is really selling it. More kids will eat and be happy with the food.

Its a food fight! 

Vickstrom- you’d be paying the food service?

Sieren-

Board is debating how the service would work

Reynolds- district is still required to employ food service.

Still talking about logistics- 

Cooks can claim unemployment in summer months- they like that.

Courtney asked about insurance if they’re the employer of the food service.

Cooks would be then in private sector- wouldn’t have seniority

Kendell- talking about different options

Board asking what they’re supposed to do

We are required to open ourselves up to bids

Coen- will get a list of board members from districts doing it. Will check it out. Extensive process through dept of ed- they have to know by feb we are going out for bids- Coen- we are thinking about it but not sure yet.

RFP process starts in Feb- 

Hoelzen moves to put out RFP

2nded by Kendell

Roll call vote- McVay- no

Hoelzen- yes

Courtney- no

Sieren- yes

Kendell- yes

Vicstrom- no

Sieren- what’s the hesitation

Courtney- no discussion- the vote occurred

7. Letterman Creative School Logo- Ruehs didn’t bring snacks or gifts. Started working on this a year ago. David Ruehs- went to graphic arts teacher. Logos are pixelated. Speedhound came from university of indianapolis. Our logo system isn’t cohesive. Vickstrom limiting him to 5 minutes.

Discussing team that looked at it. A lot of representation. Having team present- Junior student presenting- 791 responses. Feedback what liked and disliked. Full hound and half hound. 

Betsy Wolf- our consistency across the district- we don’t have. Colors and logos are different across the district and levels. Wants a guideline for when we go out to venders and suppliers. Change is hard. Was here when speed hound came in- it wasn’t liked at first- came in 2002- we are trying to hold on to it. Change won’t happen overnight- when things wear out- when things need to be updated- not like we will revamp everything all at once. Ruehs- letterman creative created two guides for us. We have official colors- purple and gray- we have an official typography. 

Kendell doesn’t agree with the five minutes. I protest this.

Vickstrom- i’m doing what i’ve been asked to do.

Ruehs- same lettering and look at all the schools- board approved it. Put in a year’s worth of our time.

Rules on what not to do- guidelines that we can follow. 

Ruehs super proud. 

Music come up there- music booster president- love the athletic counterpart- they held off on choir robes- wanted to wait until district made a decision. Music kids are excited. They think the symbology is awesome. Choir band and orchestra looking forward to it. 

Vickstrom- is there a legal problem?

Ruehs- we wanted a unified brand. The trademark was an issue- the speed hound isn’t under our control- companies were putting speed hounds on stuff and trying to con us. 

What we have now is ours. Trademark paper has been emailed to us. 

Vickstrom- we have all these things with the old logo- 

Ruehs- we have transitioned before- 

Vickstrom- how many times are we going to change

Kendell- was impressed with the company and committee

This is the right thing to do. He respects purple and gray- he’s very fond of it. He feels strongly we need this. Our staff needs this. We don’t have quality letterhead. 

Courtney- appreciates what they’ve done. Sherwood didn’t make an unreasonable request. They would like us to just wait a minute. Courtney makes a motion to table the issue.

Ruehs- pushes back.

Courtney motions they table it. Vickstrom 2nds it.

Kendell- we don’t have universal color font and so on. Like what.

Sherwood holds up a paper with his work.

Kendell-we approved the contract from lettermen- purple and gray didn’t complain at the time. If university of indiana doesn’t let us use it we are back where we were before. Things replaced as needed.

Sieren- if we weren’t to table, what motion are we considering

Hoelzen- reviews what the committee has done.

Motion would be to accept or reject the proposal.

Bothers Hoelzen to say we approved the proposal, but we don’t want to go through with it. After they have worked on it. 

Scott Zaiser- booster club- kept them informed. They’re 60-40 for it. 

Vickstrom- how much time do you need? Purple and Gray

Sherwood talks again. If this doesn’t happen for 30 days or 45 days, what does it hurt?

His company bids on stuff all the time- don’t always get it. Can’t tell you university will tell right away- 

Vickstrom- we can’t lag this out forever

Kendell- you’re addressing one part of the puzzle, not the whole thing

Sherwood didn’t get the RFP

Kendell wants to make a decision tonight. 

How long does it take to get the robes? Takes 8 weeks for the robes. Last concert is May 11.

Sieren- ISU has been through 2 logo changes.  It’s not popular when it changes. Kansas State did the same thing. Logo changes happen. It happens as often as needed. None of these decisions are permanent. Statues become part of history. 

Coen- has received an overwhelming amount of email about the logos. Everyone loves the grayhound they had when they were in high school.

Courtney- foundation spent a lot of money. He doesn’t care which logo we go with.

Kendell- wishes it would have come up 5 months ago. 

Sherwood- when did we get the final drawings.

Ruehs argues back.

McVay- we changed a few years ago away from logos. We need to be unified sooner than later. Move forward with the unity.

Sherwood- we’re adding a logo.

Courtney- communication gap- purple and gray has done a lot for this school. 

Kendell- motion to table

Tabling the issue- Vickstrom and Courtney voted to table. Kendell moved to make it our logo.

Sieren- not going to replace logos unless needed. Field turf- 

Amendment- 

Kendell- proceed with logos as official logos- any new products 

Passed.

Purple and gray is not happy. 

8. Resolution to Approve Revenue Purpose Statement- Reynolds tells vickstrom to read it. SAVE 1 cent sales tax. Voter approval to use the funds. Voters allowing district to spend money we have gotten from sales tax. Vickstrom introducing the resolution and a roll call vote will happen. 

Voted unanimously.

Dean read it. It was super long

It’s not a raise on taxes- it’s not an increase. It’s just an extension.

9. Bloodborne Exposure Control Plan 2nd Reading- Sieren asks Dean to read it. Dean threatens to throw a water at him.

Laci Johnson- recommends approving 2nd reading. Moved by Sieren 2nd by McVay.

Passed.

10. SBRC Request for Additional Allowable Growth for At-Risk Programs- Reynolds- drop out and at risk programs. Asking for additional allowable growth. 25% match from general fund which we do every year. Associates and coordinator, counselors, social workers, some teachers at BILA, Ed Stone, and one other- review and renewal

Sieren- # of students identified- what grades does that include- just high school.

Courtney moves approval- Sieren 2nd. Passes.

11. New Job Description, Director of Career and Technical Education- Cory Johnson- ask to change it to table for now. Talked to a lot of labor leaders. Dave Keane. Believe we need to pursue this at some point. Think there are options to share the position with other businesses. Also became aware of a grant. Want to explore before we move forward as it is written. Have a huge emphasis in our district and community around CTE- there is a lot of movement happening. This will be vitally important to move those programs forward.

Courtney- moved table, McVay 2nd. 

McVay- thanks, Cory.

Passed- tabled.

X. Board Communications

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

Sieren- encourage community to reach out to board as they have questions- someone who is good at websites- old board is still on the district website.

Sad that board didn’t move forward on RFP for food service. Could save 150k.

Shout out to 2 people who passed- Tatum Ross and Chris Richards.

Kendell- thank Mr. Ruehs and branding committee. Regret people didn’t take opportunity to provide feedback earlier on. Grimes kids were highlight. Get good things going. Deepest condolences to Mr. Richards family. Proud of southeast iowa for coming together. Kudos to Mr. Coen and his staff. No time to plan for such a catastrophe. Rough one. Admin handled it well. Thanks for professionalism.

McVay- attending basketball games, music program at Aldo. as a parent of a blackhawk student, amazing how quickly everything came together. Memorial service was wonderful. Shoutout to the custodial staff- kudos to them.

Blackhawk parade of excellence- her son really liked it. Important that all sports are represented- would be nice if choir was involved. Other school’s school councils should come present to the board.

Hoelzen- none

Courtney- nothing

Vickstrom- don’t forget about Mrs. Richards- 

Hearing better things about the school system. Uncontrollable variables we are up against. Hope everyone comes together about the logo. Just because you don’t get what you want hope we make things work.

XI. Closed Session

12. Readmission Hearing

XII. Adjournment- moved to adjourn at 831.

XIII. Exempt Session-Negotiations