BEA notes from 1-8-18 BCSD Board meeting

editor's note- I know i misspelled grey a bunch of times. I'm sorry.

I. Call to Order – Welcome 7:00 p.m.- Brueck absent, Bross coming late

II. Pledge of Allegiance

III. Adoption of Agenda-  moved by Kendell, 2nded by Hatteberg- 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, Financial Reports, Human Resources Report, and Gifts- moved by Vickstrom- 2nded by Courtney. Passed unanimously.

VI. District Positive Accomplishments- Edward Stone Leadership Club- group from stone- CBC wants to help school become more welcoming. Make impact on school personally and professionally. Opportunity to make diff in community. Students attesting it has made difference in their lives. Wants to help other students see ways they can be leaders. Kindness box- students put notes in box of acts that they see. Creativity box- allows students to be creative and share their creations with the building. Creativity box has winners that are drawn and shown on a bulletin board. Worked with salvation army. Penny wars for a family- raised over 1600 dollars. Walmart donated 100. Next project I couldn’t hear (sorry i went in hall due to crowd).

Butler- want to build up leaders, and want to work on culture in the building. Group will grow as it goes along. All 7th grade right now. Courtney- could a whole class be in it? Butler- want leaders in the group- there is responsibility that goes along with it- Courtney- are you trying to increase membership- Butler- they are, but seems they’re building slowly.

Butler wanted them to see how other leadership groups work.

Group meets every Friday during homeroom. Teachers recommended members.

Kindness box is dwindling.

VII. Student Representative Report- Rowland- thank you again. HS has a lot of clubs that can continue like CBC. week off to a slow start with late start. State wrestling, swimming, and bb coming up. Two freshmen starting on varsity. Program is on the upswing. Wrestling- Preston Terry 4th in state, Duncan Delzell ranked 8, Mason Hartman ranked 9th.

Swimming- 3 events ranked in top 24, so will hopefully go to state. Past Friday had bb game where students wore red to honor Michael Davis, who passed away.

VIII. Superintendent’s Report- Matt Rowland is ranked in swimming. He’s showing leadership Butler’s group is working on.

Coen reviewed engage website- may not be something we want to do at this time. Wrestling meet. Illinois buses pulling across highway. Coen can’t substantiate. It would be illegal- getting calls from public- we won’t let our busses do that. Continuing to make sure we handle stop arm violations swiftly. Hopefully weather will be behind us. Friday morning Alan Mehaffy and Coen handed out hats and gloves. Bus drivers have hats and gloves to give to kids- thanks to groups for donations.

Hs is doing a nice job. Round table positive.

Windchill with -20- Coen will meet with Dr. Ash- wants to maintain relationship with SCC. 9th graders by 11th grade will have a lot of credits- could reduce students college debt.

Supt discussion about bonuses- more discussion will occur. Very legal. (this came from cabinet, so we don’t know).

Kiwanis had a CPA present- discussion on numbers- negotiations 101- agree on numbers first- base of understanding. May have muddied things up a little bit. Kiwanis mission statement- time will tell if this fit.

Funeral and visitation was challenging. Community came out. Showed what burlington is made of.

Copy of slides from ISEA financial analysis- numbers different from what Greg will give. If board members have questions please ask.

Coen- data is accurate. Not same measurements that district may use. We are required to provide data- ISEA had data himself.

Harter- very active- excited about building trades.

Robberts- glad district was able to assist with funeral.

XIV. Items for Discussion

3. Early Retirement Applications- had 5 applications. Total 113k over 2 years. Cost of .06 per year. Moved by Hatteberg, 2nded by Kendell.

Robberts- had approved more, if there had been more applications. We could have had more applicants, but didnt.

Vickstrom- are these hard to replace?

Reynolds- yes. Coen- yes.

Courtney- is it a smart thing to offer this?

Coen- we talked about it- parity of paying experienced teachers to leave is not lost on cabinet.

Robberts- are we hoping we have more luck getting college applicants?

Tabor- yes, good to know what positions we will have at career fairs.

Courtney wasn’t clear on cost. Thought it was 500k.

Hatteberg- we could have had 10 or 12.

Robberts- years we haven’t offered it we have had considerable feedback that we should offer it.

Courtney- teachers love it.

Reynolds- average age is 64 years old of applicants.

Hatteberg- not sure these will be hard to fill. Teachers could apply to fill them.

Robberts filling Courtney in on what was discussed at a previous meeting.

Courtney- is there an estimated savings?

Coen- we don’t realize that until we hire a replacement.

Coen- math is hard to fill. We often don’t save. Right out of college we save more. District estimates but it has error. Estimate savings at 20k per person who retires.

Vickstrom- part time sharing positions?

Coen- no

Vickstrom- a teacher brought up going half time to him.

Coen- those discussion are often heard at round table.

Coen- days in contract- talking about teachers bringing up taking 2 days away? 250k savings.- (this isn’t true- we talked about it last year- they never offered it)

Coen hasn’t heard of anyone going to half time.  Unsure if it would work for district.

Passed unanimously.

4. Tap Assistant Job Description- Tabor- transitional alliance program- position paid for out of grant- no cost to general fund. Increases helping students transition from school to after school. How long is grant?

Tabor doesn’t know.

It’s state money.

2nd year we have had a coordinator.

Courtney- if money goes away, position goes away.

Coen- I tell people that.

Kendell- does this start this year? Yes.

Reynolds- it’s a fed grant.

35k for the assistant.

Vickstrom- is this off site or on site? This person helps facilitate supervisor doing that.

Coen- office area at James Madison- has been converted for vocational training.

Robberts- motion to approve?

Courtney moved, Bross 2nded. Bross- how have we been doing these services before? Coen- not well. Are we required to? Coen- no, but it’s better to do it with grant money.

Kendell- happy we found a grant.

Passed unanimously.

5. OCR Policy 2nd Reading- 604.3 R1- board policy number. Robberts- we are required to do this. Policy was drafted with legal council in DM.

Bross moved, Hatteberg 2nded.

Coen- Office of civil rights- have to make sure district is making website avail to blind and deaf.

Passed unanimously.

6. Facilities Update Information Only- Kesterke- maintenace team installed 5 preschool playgrounds. Remodeled and created 21st century classrooms. Computer labs remodeled. Remodeled and freshened up office area at James Madison. It’s a neat addition.

Art room at James Madison remodeled for Foss kits storage for Dentlinger.

Chiller project- going smoothly- all demo is complete. Pictures included. Chillers will be here in mid feb. electrical portion is waiting. 750k- 478k- 606k- moving along smoothly- want done by april 1st. Any questions? None.

Concrete projects- end of jan- transportation- engineering almost complete- installed concrete around buses- helps keep buses clean- need to expand out- goal is to do east portion as base bid, and west as alternate.

Budget is light- concrete and labor has gone up- 225k is budget- he thinks will be over that. Whole area will be concrete- nothing else to do. PPEL funds.

James Madison- looking at bidding Jan 25. Concrete poured out there will try to save.

HS RR remodel- west end of cafeteria- used during sports events. Very inadequate. Expansion will move into booster club and swimming office- 5 WC in womens, 4 urinals and 2 WC in mens. Will include ADAs. Concession stand will move by director office.

Courntey- HS built for 1500 students- we only have 1100- why do we need more rr?

Kesterke- he’s always gotten complaints about those RRs.

Coen- we were under #s when it was built.

Robberts- not ADA accessible.

Want more space?

Courntey- HS parking lot is in bad shape.

Kesterke- it’s on 5 year plan.

Kendell- booster club involved?

Kesterke- not really involved. Shay has talked to them about it.

Fridge and freezer will be saved. Coen has talked to Zaiser about it. Not beyond Zaiser.

Robberts- do we need to wait before we do it?

Coen- they will probably like not being right outside rr.

Kesterke- will attend meeting.

Kendell- just wanted to make sure doing it together.

Kesterke- any other questions?

Bross- smart reuse of space.

Robberts- main projects through end of year.

Kesterke- trying to be proactive with bid process.

Kesterke- tennis courts- some came to light after janet needed for agenda. Tennis courts are in bad shape. 4 court repair would be 152,500- premiere fix- 25 year warranty.. 3 court would be 35000. Band aid fix. Reason we haven’t done much is because rumors of another gym. Didn’t want to do repairs and then put the 2nd gym there. Greg and Kesterke have had meetings with city about tennis courts. Maybe a partnership with city- city has 7 courts. If we help city with this 50k- we would have priority for games to be played on courts- if they have games would practice on our courts. City asked if we would share tennis with ND. would have to be co-op like swimming.

700k budgeted for new tennis courts- could do 6 new courts.

Robberts- what about mid level repair-

Kesterke- if we don’t do premier-

Kendell- is there a budget for repairs?

Reynolds- no.

Kendell- if we have 200k in concrete in transportation area- some of that could go towards students and community. Questions that expense.

Is the court at Perkins usable? Kesterke- it’s in good shape- it has premiere.

Bross- likes partnering with city. Tennis courts may not be in best location. Partnering for mutual benefits makes sense.

5 at dankwardt are in good shape- 2 at crapo are weathered. The district would pay 50k to use those courts- helping city paying the court upkeep.

Robberts- we would want priority.

Reynolds- we would draft a usage agreement.

Coen- other districts could pay for usage too.

Hatteberg- do we use the ones at the park? No. The courts at the hs are in poor shape. Want to do something for this spring.

Board has put it off and put it off.

Coen- mentioned youngest daughter- track thing- lots of new facilities have indoor tennis. If we do building another gym, could build it into floor.

Robberts- explore working with city on partnership. Bids on concrete at bus barn will go forward.

Coen- subject brought up how we are spending- 225k- how much of a science room could you remodel. Then we are spending money closer to kids.

Kendell- not meaning to be disrespectful to transport- just wanted to think of students first.

Robberts- wants to see what bids are on concrete- general direction on partnership with city.

Vickstrom- science rooms- good to bring up

Courtney brought up age of building.

Courtney- 15 or 20 people on team? Can’t forget those people.

Kendell- attractive facilities attract students to teams and school.

Hatteberg doesn’t want to let it go.

Kesterke- Clark field house- Purple and Gray- locker rooms are going to be redone. Before that we have to separate storm and sewer separation- price is around 48k. Another meeting to talk to city engineer. Purple and Gray wants to discuss. Jerry Sherwood presenting.

Jerry Sherwood- mission statement of Purple and Gray. Reynolds presentation from P and G. Clark Field House.  Completed field and stands. Phase 1 fall of 14, fall of 15- clark field house is only thing left. Renovations got expensive quick. Adding a facility for visitors to dress and shower. Room for officials to congregate and shower after game. It’s a skeleton building right now. Locker rooms are same as when Mr. Sherwood went to school. This needs to be done. Purple and Gray is proposing that they do the work. It’s long overdue- completes their initial mission.  

Talk about sewer and water separation.

Fed government violations were in building. Clark field house was built as a WPA process- in the 30s.

Kendell- visitors rave about our facilities. This will make it even better.

Courtney- money?

Sherwood- 46,500 for sewer separation.

800k for building.

Purple and Gray would like approval- want to grant naming rights to building.

Bross- new building will be cement block.

Robberts- why do we call it clark field house? Would need to google it?

It was a superintendent at the time.

Bross- end of 2018- good facility for years to come.

Robberts- wants approval to move forward, naming rights for field house. Sewer separation done. Would come from PPEL fund. Got a little out of hand about the naming rights. Isn’t clarification about if board could say no to a name. Like if a business wanted to put their name.

Jerry Sherwood-

Robberts- thank you very much for your dedication to it.

Everything is paid for so far. Wanted to give rights to for example Millard.

7. Superintendent Evaluation Information Only- Coen- front document is a differentiation- doesn’t work. Intro to evaluation- editorial from the Hawkeye. I’m going to keep being wrong in 2018. Iowa teaching standards and criteria. Cabinet has had this and given Coen feedback. Take it home and digest it. This will be time consuming. Need to discuss work session. Mondays work best. 15th or 29th for budget work session.

22nd board meeting start at 6pm?

Bross and Courtney can’t meet on 15th.

29th work session will be budget at 6pm.

22nd start at 6pm for superintendent eval then reg session at 7.

Coen has 2 more years on his contract.

X. Board Communications-

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

Kendell- had a great crowd- leadership class is fantastic- was great families were with them. Really enjoyed seeing that. Congrats to athletes. Things moving in right direction in athletics. Kesterke did great. Staff members who have been enjoying iowa winter. Clearing sidewalks and so on. Thanks to retirees for all the years and hours they have given us.

Often hear BCSD is big- funeral was an example of small district feel to BCSD. way we responded ws humbling and admirable.

Hatteberg- darven covered it all.

Vickstrom- state legislature meeting today- dean has served over 45 years- worst year in education- spend money and time on education- we need money. Racing to the bottom. Have to decide if we are going to have employers come here if we have people come here. We need to create educated people. We have to create a workforce- we need to spend money on education. Legislation needs to recognize that school is economic development. Not shelling for anybody.

Courtney- my understanding- closing Corse- thinks we should invite public about why our enrollment is declining. Work session to get feedback on the system- why they think we have lost enrollment. Wants public feeback. Wants public input before we talk more about closing building.

Robberts- encourages public to email directors about that topic. Wants it before the 29th. Wants public input.

Bross- thankful good discussion and questions. Excited to see partnership with city and foundations like purple and grey. Lots of great things going on in our district- some things get all the headlines. Great students, staff, and administrators. Tough decisions regarding budget- all of our facilities need attention- that doesn’t reflect on the quality of the education we offer. We aren’t a small school, but we have a big heart. Looking forward to hearing public input.

Robberts- thanks to leadership class from ed stone. Few students now, but show great potential. Congrats to wrestlers and swimmers. Purple and Gray appreciate all their support. Has been wonderful for us. Thanks to all of our staff- Mr. Coen- other admins and teachers for help with the funeral- lots of people stepped up. Deepest sympathy on loss of Michael Davis.

XI. Adjournment

XII. Exempt Session-Negotiations

Notes from Mr. Coen's Roundtable at the HS 1-3-2018

Here are my notes fromt the January 3 Roundtable at the high school. The meeting started at 3:30 in the high school library.

Coen started by talking about the positives at the high school.  He said he had been tracking the drastically underachieving students.  He  explained what he considered that to be.  He said that if a student can't graduate before the age of 21, we need to find another avenue for them to meet the spirit of the Free and Appropriate Public Education Act.  He said its educational malpractice to keep students in high school that have no hope of graduating.  

Attendance and credit acquisitions are up according to Coen but he gave no data to support this statement.

He then opened the floor to the approximately 10 teachers in attendance.  No one spoke.

He then said the District is down 170 students.  According to him, most have moved out of Burlington because of the high crime rate and the high murder rate.  He said until the city gets a handle on this, we will continue to lose families.  (He gave no data to support his claim),

He then said that "thousands of cars are coming in in from Illinois each day".  He knows this because he can see them from his house in the morning.  This means that people work in the area but don't live here.  The school district is making an effort to attract families by trying to improve property values via the building trades classes.  By remodeling one house at a time we will increase the property values.  He's on a committee with the police chief and others and they want to get more cops in the streets.  Cops, however, are leaving Burlington for better paying jobs.  A teacher asked if we have volunteer police.  Coen said we have an auxiliary civilian program but you must be 18.  The police are heavily involved in our before/after school programs.  Coen was a guest cook at the Maple Street BBQ last summer hosted by the police department.

A teacher asked about the building trades program and why we can't have a welding program like the one in Keokuk and whether it was a money issue.  Coen said it wasn't a cost problem and he didn't know why kids weren't interested.  He then said  his nephew was/is in the welding program at SCC and said the kids from BHS were ahead of everyone else in the class.  He felt the Pat Pickford was doing a good job of preparing our kids for the SCC program.  He then said we have a robust economy with a number of opportunities for our students.  For example CNH is hiring approximately 100 people for primarily the line and as welders.  He said it's a good place to work.  He then again used his nephew as an example.  His nephew doesn' want to work at a factory and Coen felt this attitude was representative of a lot of young people.  Coen said there are approximately 1700 job openings in southeast Iowa.  He then talked about some canning factory where the workers wouldn't make eye contact with him and he told the personnel director that his "people are timid".  I'm not sure what the point of this was.

A teacher asked about budget cuts.  Coen said that cuts would begin at the Whitehouse but all facilities would be looked at.  He thinks that we will become a 3A school and that 3A schools generally just have a superintendent, curriculum director, and a business director.  But only the school board can make the decision on cuts.  He then proposed grade alike buildings.  When pressed, he admitted that the budget savings from this would be in reduction of teachers.  But again, he said it wouldn't be his fault if teachers get cut because he doesn't make that decision, the school board does.  When asked when grade alike buildings would happen, he said he wasn't sure, that it was up to the school board.  When asked if the buildings were large enough to handle what he was proposing and he said yes.  He said that Tim Keskerke has already mapped it all out and determined that the buildings are indeed large enough.

He then said that we can't run a negative balance and said the District is expecting a loss of over $1 million this year.  He was asked whether this was a cash shortfall or a spending authority issue.  He then said that we have 18% cash reserve and that we lost 170 students.  The budget guarantee for next year will be 101% but only for next year.  We need to get things in order before the funding cliff.  He said we need to start planning now.  He said the cash reserve is not there for a person to say we've lost 77 student per year for 20 years and let's keep spending the same way.   He will present courses of action to the board and the board will make the decision.  According to him, his job is to make sure that BCSD is healthy 10-20 years in the future.  He also said that 85% of Iowa school districts are shrinking.  BCSD has been hit hard because of "violent crime".  He said Iowa is going the way of the Dakotas.  Farmers are over the age of 50 and own large tracts of land that don't need many people to work on them.  The school funding formula needs to be be rewritten to maybe include an excise tax or an income surtax for education. 

 A teacher asked with this financial bind and the changes in Chapter 20, how does the District intend to keep and attract teachers and stay within budget?  Coen said he had talked to the head of the department of education about "the bad things they were doing to teachers".  He then talked about how the PRAXIS test is causing the teacher shortage in Iowa.  He said other states such as Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, and Nebraska required lower scores. (I haven't fact checked this).  He then talked about his meeting during the annual school board convention in Des Moines.  He met with a variety of groups in an ad hoc meeting but nobody from the legislative educational committees chose to attend. He talked to a superintendent who had no one apply for a third grade teaching position this year.  He said part of the problem is with baby boomers retiring.  He also praised UNI for reminding potential teachers of taking the PRAXIS and trying to go to a portfolio instead of the PRAXIS.  He thought people who do Americorps should be allowed teaching licenses in Iowa.  He then stated we (I don't know if he was talking about the district or the community) have violence, poverty, and drugs. A teacher asked what are human resources department was doing locally to attract people to our district.  He said there was going to be a Burlington job fair.  Then he said the bid day had always been a big problem in hiring.  He described it as being "stuck with bid day".  With this gone, he said the District would be able to offer jobs to potential employees sooner.  A teacher responded that Coen's description of bid day was incorrect.  The lateness of bid day was due to the District not getting its act together and determining employment. needs earlier.  Bid day occurred once the District made its determination of employment needs.  Coen said he was correct but bid day contributed to the problem.  He then said after the early retirements are accepted in February, the District will be ready to start hiring in March.  A teacher asked if the District was going to continue to hire people who didn't take/pass the PRAXIS.  Coen said that is was illegal to hire people without a PRAXIS score.  He then asked the teacher if they knew of anyone like that.  He then said the District should not be offering anyone a contract who hasn't passed the PRAXIS.  Then he said there are alternative licenses like the building trades teacher hired with 60,000 hour of field experience.  He said the District was aware of the teacher shortage and will try to mitigate the damage.  He then said something about "gnashing of teeth, pain, and suffering".

A teacher asked about getting more subs.  He said this was a problem locally and statewide.  He blamed the AEA for part of the problem because they won't do all there training during the summer instead of during the school year.  He said the state could save $20 million if they just stopped this but this didn't mean that money would make it to school district because it could be sent somewhere else.  He said people would come after it for wages and that it is "low hanging fruit".  A teacher asked wouldn't you have to pay teachers to get the training during the summer because it isn't during contract time.  He said that was correct.  He then said if the AEA fell under a community college that would save $10 million.  Then he talked about the money spent on subs and the number of days people are gone and it will come to a head.  He said something about there is a specific number of days listed in the handbook that you can be gone and wondered if people fell within those bounds.  He said we spend $250,000 on subs.  He said when he started teachers were given a letter if they were gone 10 days and he stopped that and told administrators to talk to the people instead.  He found that people usually had "damn good reasons" for being gone.  Then he said something about throwing stones when you live in a glass house.  He said kids learn best with their teachers and that there is a lot of good stuff happening at the high school and that we need to continue to move in that direction.

A teacher asked about having an early out due to the cold and he said he was probably going to cancel school but he needed to confer with others. He said the cold threshold was -20 below either windchill or actual temp.  He also said he got a call from a parent upset about the early out for the funeral and what to do.  He told them to  pick up their living child. 

He then said that three years ago lunch at the high school was utter chaos and it has improved a lot.  He hasn't had to chase kids with his truck across the high school grounds anymore.  He thanked the high school for the standard of behavior.  He meets with the high school administrators regularly about behavior issues but there are laws about special education students.  He believes the next DE report card will be better and we will move away from our  bad reputation.  He said 85% of our students due what they are supposed to do.

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