BEA notes BCSD 12-18-17

I. Call to Order – Welcome 7:00 p.m.

II. Pledge of Allegiance

III. Adoption of Agenda- moved by hatteberg and 2nded by Bross- passed unanimously

IV. Public Comments

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

to comment on issues and concerns (Policy 210.9 & 213)---

None.

V. Consent Agenda

2. Minutes, Bills, Human Resources Report, and Gifts-

Moved for approval by Kendell, 2nded by Hatteberg.

Robberts thanked all for gifts- over 114k in gifts this year.

Passed unanimously.

VI. District Positive Accomplishments- BHS Play-Drama Dept.- Mr. Moffitt and Ms. Gobble- Matt and Emma - Matt started as drama coordinator- knew Emma would be a good fit- Matt pulled back during the year. Drama had first musical in 5 years- went stunningly well- Mr. Flaherty wanted to get it going.

Drama started auditions sept 12 and 14- call backs the 18th- 6-8 pm rehearsals. Rehearsals started at BHS, then went to Ed Stone which was where performances would take place. Drama dept got parent support- parents built the set- huge support from parents. Sept 25-late Oct- Oct 30-Nov 3- 6-930 rehearsals- parent volunteers provided food. Art club also helped. Performers- 45 auditioned, 30-35 involved in final show. 2 performances- went really well. Thanks to board for support.

Planning a spring play in April- announcing play selection right after Xmas break- musical selection for next fall at Maury Wright concert.

Drama had phenomenal help from admin and custodians of all buildings. Moffitt would like drama to thrive. Moffitt would like a paid position for Gobble and Flaherty’s roles- Moffitt would be like a technical director. Would be nice to have in place so wouldn’t have to rely on volunteers. Show went really well. Would like the program to keep growing. Would like to add another show and increase ticket price. Need to advertise and market better, and fundraise- more solidity would help with that. This year was very good- would like next year to be better.

Gobble- was able to incorporate a lot of elementary students- lit a fire in them to build the program. Exciting that younger kids could be involved. A lot of great feedback from the public. Hope we can give them something to talk about.

Bross- is there room to store props- Moffitt- trying to find that. Bross- thank you for initiative. Kendell- thrilled to see it come back. Very enjoyable. Large cast and crew. Everyone did well. Better sound would be better. (A student ran the sound). Solid start excited to see and hear the future.

Gobble- did an elem school tour. Kids were excited.

Kendell- very good start- board will try to help.

Robberts- excellent example of mission statement.

Coen- show choir- we don’t have it and should.

Moffitt- Flaherty is receptive to changes.

Coen- singing and dancing was not a far cry from show choir.

Hatteberg- something i didn’t catch.

VII. Student Representative Report- Matt Rowland- went to concert last night. Really good- impressed by band and orchestra. Great to see them. Tomorrow night basketball game at Clinton- they haven’t won. Hoping boys will win. Doubleheader with girls.

Also a game Friday- ugly sweater themed Friday night. Kennel will be packed. Bowling meet coming up- 5 pm Thursday. Angel Tree- ton of presents came in. Great to see HS supporting community. Jan 4- swim team- Jace race. Swim member who passed away- would be nice to have a big presence in support of him.

Robberts- a lot going on, wish all teams best of luck.

VIII. Superintendent’s Report- Coen- busiest weeks of year- holiday season- non stop action. SE IA regional orchestra- so fortunate to have them here. Don’t forget fine arts. Planning for next school year- majority of conversations are in cabinet- more will be coming. GRMC meeting- lots of positives coming out of burlington. 100 jobs at Case. Met with board pres and vice president- copy of last year’s early retirement documents- to refamiliarize with it. Courtney wasn’t on board last year so needs to be brought up to speed.

Kendell- request- future planning discussions w cabinet- keep board and public informed- so whispers in community don’t come out. Lots of anxiety in community about things discussed so far.

Coen- good point duly noted.

Dentlinger- Greg and Sharon- facilities long range plan- don’t have academic long range plan. Will have a planning session- initial discussion about long range planning. If there’s no clear discussion about what we want to happen. More we can plan for changes the better. For not only this year, but 5 years down the road. Jan 19? Not sure i got the right date.

Robberts- one of the items is future work sessions- things that we publish for community and public input. Board has time to get community feedback.

Coen- 75% goes to wages and benefits- paying people who work here- it’s all based on enrollment. Enrollment drives everything. SBRC system determines against running negative cash. It's not a mystery.

XIV. Items for Discussion

3. PE Waiver Application- renewal of exemption from last year. State asks what program will be. Exemption we had last year we just renew it. The state requires PE classes for grad requirements- we offer it all 3 trimesters but they don’t have to take it. This allows students to not take PE all year.

Hatteberg- they are required to take 1 tri?

Coen- a lot knock it out during summer school.

Bross moved, Kendell 2nded. Passed unanimously.

4. Board Policy 404.6 2nd Reading- Tabor asked for board approval. Updating language. Robberts- job descriptions are sent out.

Moved by hatteberg, 2nded by Bross.

Vickstrom- what need?

Tabor- wants people to be able to return to work physically.

Vickstrom- is this separated by position?

Tabor- it would be costly to look at.  Most safe environment for everyone.

Vickstrom- do we have it broken down now?

Tabor- no, it’s just by teachers.

Robberts- is the exception by superintendent or hr director still in there.

Tabor- yes- there’s a lot of variation that can come into play.

Vickstrom- who’s the arbitor if there’s a disagreement

Coen- we don’t want to put the school at risk. Sigorney teacher only has 1 arm. Still teaches.

We have identified members of LMC set- some of the things we will have to talk about are these types of things.

Vickstrom- if person disagrees- where do they go?

Coen- district court

Robberts- licensed physician

Coen- we can’t over ride a dr- if a dr says they’re coming back to work, they’re coming back to work.

Passed unanimously.

5. OCR Policy Draft- amend to Online Content and functionality- don’t know where it will go (Tabor)- lawyers looking at place where it should go.

Robberts- we had to enter an agreement that our website was not in compliance with fed law. Didn’t want to face sanctions. Admin agency was making sure we were in compliance. Keeps us from getting fined.

Office of Civil rights has approved policy.

Bross- this requires a 2nd reading too? Tabor- yes

Vickstrom moved, Hatteberg 2nded.

Bross- hired a company to monitor our website to make sure compliant.

Tabor- first audit due by March 1st. District is going to improve communication.

Robberts- will this have a number soon? Tabor- yes

Passed unanimously

6. Early Retirement- Reynolds and Tabor- Reynolds- asking board to approve a policy similar to last year’s. In order to keep management levee consistent, want in line with what we’ve spent in previous years. Would pay out over 2 years. 10 staff members- to keep managment levy with last years. Cap of 10 fair- looking at last 3 years. About the average number we are getting anyway.

Robberts- why is it necessary to put a number on the cap- you can do money instead- trying to manage turnover with staff.

Not knowing who is going to go you could just do money.

Reynolds- 10 is to manage turnover.

Robberts- didn’t was start with 10 last year, went up to 12.

Greg- felt we could take 12. We don’t know until we get applications.

Robberts- does it then come back before the board?

Reynolds- absolutely. Let’s see what we get for applicants. We would absolutely do the same thing this year.

Management levy is a separate pot of money- not general fund- replacing a more expensive staff member with a less expensive staff member.

If we were to dip in to reserves, would that be more general fund? Does that defeat the purpose? Reynolds- we pay out of management- could we use general fund- yes- always need to protect general fund best we can. We could have a 3 mil cut to general fund very easily. Good possibility we will be dipping into general fund. We may recommend to use general fund to smooth the transition.

$1 per thousand tax increase is a possiblity- we are going to be trying to manage levy as best we can.

Robberts- is the number as close as we can get to not increasing management fund levy.

Kendell- dollars versus numbers- don’t see difference. It’s all seniority based? Yes.

Kendell- if we do have someone who retires at 68k, we might not need to replace that person at all. That’s a good thing for the district. But if it’s a hard to fill spot- special ed teacher hired over 50k- can prevent savings.

Reynolds- based on average numbers.

Robberts- don’t want to adopt a motion that will prevent someone from turning in. If there’s more savings to have don’t want to prevent.

Hatteberg- use dollar amount.

Tabor- wide range of people eligible. Number could fluctuate.

Hatteberg- we’re talking teaching staff only?

Coen- we are facing a teacher shortage in the state of iowa. We are going to struggle to fill the positions. Board has to decide quickly so we can hire at job fairs.

Kendell- meet again jan 8 to finalize

Hatteberg-

Tabor- wants people to turn in Jan 3

Hatteberg moved- 242,500 for early retirement- 121,250 per year for 2 years

Will come back to board jan 8.

Bross- 2nded

Passed unanimously.

7. Rand Trust Nominee/Appointment- Coen- trust for author visits to community. Brought in professor from illinois. Local church gets a nominee, and the district gets to nominate one. Meet twice a year to discuss programming- not very time intensive. Coen- outstanding organization. Does the board know of anyone interested? Hatteberg volunteered.

Passed unanimously.

8. Summer School Speaker-Trevor Ragan Agreement- Dentlinger- contract- speaker spends 50% of time- train ugly website- works with corporations and major league teams. Growth mindset- sharon has seen him speak- he relates to a lot of people. District wants to use him for ms summer school. HS and Shay want to have him visit. Athletic fitness camp. 3 days. 2 extra days for cost of hotel. Comes out of at risk, professional development- doesn’t come out of general fund. Categorical fund that doesn’t come from elsewhere.

June 11-13.

TL one night, coaches,

Bross moved, Hatteberg 2nded. $7,000.

Passed unanimously.

9. Trimester Updates Information only- Keane- gave board a packet they can look at. Board will be updated each term. Attendance data- up 1.49% from last year. Diff number of kids- but stats don’t change that much. Sig improvment. Over 90% for term. Addressed some of attendance issues and hallway monitors and shipp. 9th grade grade distribution- more opportunities to earn grades in semesters- down significantly in D’s and F’s- increased in A’s.  has to do with hard work by 9th grade team- reduction in D’s in core classes. Overall failures have been reduced in total and in just core area. Hard work by teachers to reduce F’s. cant attribute all to trimesters. Teachers are provided a collaboration period- contract with eduplanet- 12 of 84 have completed understanding by design- 20 in the process- lots of positive feedback from staff. Improvements in curriculum- UbD’s- transfer goals. 9th grade initiative possible because of tri’s- come up with expectations and executive functions. Spent a lot of time aligning curriculum. Started to engage in authentic intellectual work-

Feedback from co-workers on instruction. Risky. Like Keane does (he said). Also have increased parent contacts.

Allowed for transitioning to hs course. Teachers gave a survey- it scored well.

Discipline referrals- keane hasn’t run that data- doesn’t seem like it’s been changed. Drawbacks- less time, but longer periods. Fewer opportunities for ind practice. Some teachers are teaching sem 1 and sem 2 during trimesters. Gaps during 3 trimesters- teachers have done a nice job of prioritizing learning objectives. Shifted some courses away from jeopardy type courses to skills. Some teachers have done collaborative work- ruehs and johnson are seeing changing gears during class periods. Role of homework- more guided practice-

Teachers can make immediate revisions- 9th grade group can adjust by 2nd trimester.

Students can keep same teacher- might have to change an elective to make that work. Pushed math and modern languages at 9th and 10th grade levels. Forced students to take consecutively. Students like having 1 fewer clas. Teachers, too. Skills activity focus classes- ind tech benefits from it. Eligibility issue- shay and chavers- coincides with seasons. Gives them another chance for eligibility. Students are happy with increased electives. Arts teachers are happy offerings expanded.

Some classes are 3 terms- honors levels. Students have more class time than they did before.

Negs- french over polycom. Thinned out ranks a little bit. Alignment w semesters- for schools that send students to us for project lead the way. Increase in preps for a few of our teachers. 2nd trimester is when that hit. Had an overall increase in SCC course credits.

Fewer F’s, but haven’t had standardized tests. Some teachers weren’t able to fit curriculum.

Grad rate- several demographics will hopefully be addressed.

Grad requirement changes. Keane would like a financial literacy requirement.

Robberts-

Uptick in SCC credits- how does that impact budget

Med terms class- weighted dollars- made money on that class.

Other classes we don’t.

Bross- we will know later.

Will increase our costs- we lose money on the book.

Vickstrom- how has this impacted students taking SCC courses. Not really.

Hatteberg- what will be done to catch kids up that missed curriculum in core course- those weren’t classes where content was missed

Keane- as a teacher, didn’t always get through same amount from group to group

Coen- curriculum map- Dentlinger’s map is more open- drives where it fits in

Kendell appreciates report. Encouraged. Looks positive. Concerned because of scheduling issues at beginning of year. Concerned about students changing teachers- knows it’s an upper class versus lower class. Good things happening- things to tweak.

10. Future Work Sessions- Coen- close to january- new year- close to 3 board meetings a month. Lots going on. Maybe allow board flexibilty by having a work session spring, summer, and fall- look at long term planning. Gives board more opportunity to select options. Might need more board- 5-6 building 7-8 building- better prep them for high school. Not saying we’re doing that- but purely for discussion of work sessions.

Robberts- january meeting- lots of community concern. Would like one in january- lots of stuff financially

Wants to let public know where the board is. Need time for public hearings- Budget cuts in an hour?

Better board members if on same page. Info at jan 8 meeting- jan 8 and 22nd- work session on a meeting night other than monday

Want to convey direness of finances- panic- hatteberg not avail on wednesday nights- other mondays in january- one in jan and one in march and over the summer

X. Board Communications

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

Kendell- awesome swim team reaching out for lost teammate. Concert fantastic and break. HS has to work on Friday

Bross- decisions will seem odd and irrational- have to spend money in different ways- if we have to close a school, we might have to build at same time- we might cut teachers- we have to follow rules and do what we’re told to do. Going to get a lot of input from public.

Hatteberg- community gifts- tremendous support from community- fantastic staff and students- need public input and support

Vickstrom- merry xmas and safe new year

Robberts- thank you to Coen- for musical and drama dept- have a lot of great parents and staff in district. Public input- we appreciate input, Robberts- 4 to 5 emailing- lots more concern than that- some of them have generated questions- anonymous letter concerns- challenging for her to respond to that. Robberts wants to know who is writing. Encourage those writing to sign their letters. Encourages public to be part of work sessions and get information.

XI. Adjournment

XII. Exempt Session-Negotiations

POV 2

Agenda

Public Comments- none

Consent agenda- approved

Received 144,000 dollars in gifts from July to now

Drama club- middle school play- Emma Gobble and Matt Moffitt

• Very pleased with the musical and excited about how the play came out
• 1st musical in five years- Mr. Flaherty started and Moffitt and Gobble took it on
• Sept- auditions and call backs, practices twice a week started at end of Sept
• Practices were at BHS and then moved to Ed Stone where the musical would be
• Parent meeting was held and parent support was phenomenal- parent offered to build the set, provide meals, help with the musical
• Students in Art Club and other students
• 45 students audition; 30-35 students including elementary were in musical
• November 4 & 5- musical
• Spring play planned in April
• Play selection will be announced after break
• Planning another musical for next year
• Custodians, staff and board support was well appreciated
• Matt Moffitt would like to see the program thrive by adding a paid position to Emma and Tim’s roles
• Matt would like to be an extra person to help with getting sets ready ahead of time instead of relying on volunteers at the last minute
• Increase ticket prices and add a show for next year
• Better advertising and marketing to promote the shows
• Elementary parents were very excited to be part of the musical with their kids and also got excited that they were part of building the program
• Questions: Where are you storing your props? Darven Kendell was pleased to see the program come back- he also added that the sound needs to be better- excited to see how the program will do.
• Took the musical on elementary tour to show part of the musical to all of the elementary students.
• Coen- would like to see show choir come back and Moffitt and Gobble are supportive of that

Student Rep report

• Went to the BHS concert- enjoyed it
• B-ball game against Clinton tomorrow 12/19/17
• B-ball game on Friday 12/22/17
• Bowling meet on Thursday 12/21/17- King pins
• Giving tree- tons of presents donated by students
• Jace race- 1/4/18- Event to honor Jace on the swim team that died in vehicle accident- 6pm

Superintendent report

• Busy time of the year
• SEISO in our community
• 18/19/20 school year conversations
• Gregg and Coen met with
• Early retirement documents
• Going to and from schools, attending events,
• Request from Greg- keep board and public informed so that we don’t have a lot of anxiety and gossip throughout the community
• Sharon- extension of Coen’s report- created a long range plan for the district, invited administrators, initial discussions on long range planning, need clear communication, allow people to contribute. Meeting January 15 at high school.
• Robberts indicated that we need to publish work meetings in order to better get community feedback.
• 75% money goes to wages and school funding

PE Waiver

• Renewal of exemption from last year
• Required to teach pe for graduation
• We offer pe all 3 trimesters but you don’t have to take one all 3 trimesters
• How we move from semester to trimester
• Required to at least take 1 trimester pe class a year
• Approved

Jeremy Tabor

• Board’s approval for second reading for family medical leave- 404.6
• Individual’s ability to come back to their position after medical leave
• Do we have specific descriptions for each certified positions? No Ex: English teacher vs. industrial ed teacher
• We are willing to make exceptions case by case
• Who is the arbitrator when there is a dispute? Coen and Tabor
• Identified a labor management committee which is an advisory committee- Vickstrom
• Employees can go to district’s court and employees must come back with a doctor’s signature saying that employee is capable of returning to their position
• Approved

Jeremy Tabor

• Online Content Functionality- OCR Policy
• Determining where to put this policy in the handbook
• Enter an agreement bc our district is not in internet compliance to avoid fines and financial penalties
• Offices of rights has approved- still needs second reading and board approval
• Website monitoring, website auditing- due March 1, statement on website indicating accessibility and contact info and audit compliance
• Second reading in January with policy number and location in handbook
• Approval of first reading

Jeremy Tabor and Greg Reynolds

• Early retirement policy for this year
• Over 55
• Total payout would be split over 2 years- $242,500
• 10 staff members
• Questions:  Robberts: Why is there a cap and not a dollar amount cap?  Depends on who applies for retirement.
• Question: Robberts: Last year we started with 10 and went up to 12. Yes because we didn’t know exactly who applied.  Could we come back to this after people apply and see if we’re able to take more.
• Question: Funds come out of the management funds not the general funds so we pay retirees out of the management funds and replace that person with lower salaried person from the general funds.
• Question: What if we dip into cash reserves?
• Question:  Do you think we will be dipping into our cash reserves in the future? Yes based on our loss to open enrollment.
• Increase property tax
• Dollars vs numbers: How is early retirement determined? Seniority based
• If we have someone who retires that does not need to be replaced, woohoo
• However, if we have to replace someone that retires that is a specialized position, we won’t save that much
• 57 individuals that are eligible- teaching staff only
• Suggestion: Link it to dollar amount until we can further see who might apply
• We’re paying good teachers to leave but know there is a teacher shortage in Iowa- job fairs so we need to approve the early retirement plan soon
• Motion to get the process started: Notifications to staff tomorrow, responses back from staff on Jan. 3, approval on Jan. 8
• Motion to limit the dollar amount regardless of number of staff and then board will finalize from there with the recommended total tonight
• Motion approved

Coen- Rand trust appointment

• Trust available to bring authors, artists, etc. to the community and schools
• Structured that one church gets one nominee and school district gets a nominee
• Meet twice a year
• Proposals submitted with criteria- Hatterburg
• Approved

Sharon- Trevor Regan summer school agreement

• Trevor Regan works on website and athletics and growth mindset
• Wanting to have Trevor Regan come in to work with middle school summer school program
• Three days- giving us 2 extra days for the price of 1 day
• Funding is coming from multiple sources but not general funds
• Coming June 11-13- middle school summer school, athletic coaches, professional coaches
• $7,000 which covers the cost of Trevor Regan coming to speak to various members of the school district and hotel stay
• Contract written for 3 days but only being charged for 1 day
• Approved

Caine- trimester update

• Attendance is up 1.49% same number of days as last year at this time
• Over 90% at the high school
• Grades- down significantly in D’s and F’s in the 9th grade and up in A’s and B’s
• Overall failures substantially reduced
• Combination of trimester and staff effort
• Teachers at high school are provided collaboration period embedded into their day
• Staff participating in EduPlanet and UBD planning
• 9th grade initiative is possible bc of the trimester- collaboration time to for students to learn organization and time management skills
• Students engaging in peer review
• Teachers are engaging in peer review as well
• Trimester allows the transitions class seven habits
• ODR’s data not finalized yet
• Concerns- less overall time but longer class time- kids not engaged during longer class times; additional prep for teachers, students encountering new teachers every 12 weeks
• Teachers doing a good job prioritizing planning and clarifying standards
• Shifted away from content focus and moving towards skill building
• Teachers doing collaboration work and teachers changing practice to better meet the needs of their classes
• More guided practice
• Students have opportunity to stay with the same teacher for the next trimester but may have to give up an elective
• Pushed math and modern languages at the 9th and 10th grade levels- huge advantage of students taking them consecutively
• Skills activity focus learning is benefiting students
• Fine arts teachers have indicated that they enjoy the extra time during the classes in trimesters
• Easier for ineligible athletes to become eligible faster
• Students have provided positive feedback on trimesters
• More time is provided through trimesters in core areas
• Alignment issues
• Increase in preps for some teachers
• Increase in SCC credits earned
• How will this impact the overall achievement of students, curriculum, graduation rate, demographics?
• What do we need to increase graduation requirements?

Coen- future work sessions

• set spring, summer, and fall work sessions
• Give board more flexibility for cabinet meeting
• Work sessions to better discuss and provide more specific information to the community
• Puts school district and board in a better position to better communicate to the public
• Robberts: look at calendars and see if work session can be planned for January to take a look at any financial decisions that need to be made
• Work sessions would be separate meetings from regular board meetings
• January 8 and 22, 2018- regular board meetings
• Have Janet Johns email board members to set a work meeting for January 2018
• Have another work session in March, summer, fall- Robberts
• Wait to schedule when able to contact missing board members from tonight’s meeting

Board communications- board members

• Swim team reaching out to a lost teammate
• Concert fantastic
• Have a fantastic Christmas break
• Community gifts appreciated
• Continued community and staff support as we move forward
• Difficult decisions to be made
• Positive accomplishments with the renewing of drama program
• Winter sports support
• Public input; parental concerns, questions, anonymous letter concerns- challenging for board to address your concerns and follow up with you, encourage all concerns to have contact info so board is able to follow up and address concerns
• Public encouraged to be part of work sessions
• Thank you to the board for their hard work

Motion to adjourn 8:46 pm