Belle Plaine, Iowa Wednesday, September 16, 2016 The organizational meeting of the Belle Plaine Community School District Board of Education was held on Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 6:45 p.m. in the board room at Longfellow Elementary, Belle Plaine. Members Present: Members Absent: Administration Present: Board Secretary Present: Visitors Present: Press Representative: Marie Stratford, Mike Bachelder, Jon Garling, Brad Cook and Rima Johnson None Chad Straight, Heather Coover, Todd Werner Stacey Kolars Interested Patrons Jim Magdefrau, Star Press Union. The meeting was called to order by President Stratford at 6:45 p.m. AGENDA Motion Johnson, second Cook to approve the agenda. All voted, aye. Motion carried. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM AUGUST 17, 2016 MEETING Motion Cook, second Bachelder to approve the minutes from the August 17, 2016 board meeting. All voted, aye. Motion carried. CLOSING COMMENTS AND ADJOURNMENT OF CURRENT SCHOOL BOARD Motion Cook, second Garling to adjourn the meeting of the current school board. There were no closing comments. All voted, aye. Motion carried. ORGANIZATION OF NEW BOARD OF EDUCATION Meeting was turned over to Board Secretary Kolars who called the meeting to order. ROLL CALL AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM Board secretary Kolars took roll call. All board members were present and a quorum was declared. ELECTION OF PRESIDENT OF BOARD OF EDUCATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF OATH OF OFFICE TO BOARD PRESIDENT
There was motion by Cook, second by Garling to nominate Marie Stratford for the office board president. All voted, aye. Motion carried. Board Secretary Kolars administered the Oath of Office to newly elected Board President Stratford. ELECTION OF VICE-PRESIDENT OF BOARD OF EDUCATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF OATH OF OFFICE TO BOARD VICE-PRESIDENT There was motion by Bachelder, second by Garling to nominate Brad Cook for the office of board vice-president. All voted, aye. Motion carried. Board Secretary Kolars administered the Oath of Office to newly elected board vice-president, Brad Cook. The meeting was turned over to Board President Stratford. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion Johnson, second Cook to approve the agenda with the exception of moving Consent Agenda item 2b regarding the approval of fundraiser request to Business Item number one. All voted, aye. Motion carried. DELEGATIONS There were no delegations CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS The consent agenda items were considered. There was motion by Cook, second by Johnson to approve the consent agenda items. All voted, aye. Motion carried. The consent agenda items that were approved are listed below: 1. Approval of bills, payroll, financial statements 2. Personnel/Business Items: a. Acceptance of Resignations-There were no resignations. PRINCIPAL REPORTS Elementary Principal, Heather Coover and Secondary Principal, Todd Werner both gave reports to the board on the following topics: o Start of the school year. Thanks to entire school staff and the students for their hard work. o Opening day flag ceremony. Thanks to the Legion and Legionaries for being part of the ceremony. o Completion of fall testing. o Tour of Longfellow Elementary by the Belle Plaine Rotary Club. o 1:1 Roll-out nights were August 16 & 17, 2016. o Professional Development: Assessment training and Tech training. o Workplace Learning representatives visited on August 25. o Blood drive in band room on August 26. o TLC-Instructional Coaches, mentor teachers and model teachers. Year has started very well. Instructional Coaches to give presentation during the meeting.
SUPERINTENDENT S REPORT Superintendent Straight reported to the board on the following: o The roof to the picnic area at the football field/track by the concession stand should be finished within the next few weeks. We are waiting for additional materials to arrive. Many community members have given complimentary comments regarding the sidewalks that were added and the sitting area. o We are still waiting to hear from the City about the cost of the lights, etc. for the baseball project. o The school year is off to a good start. Thank you to all of the teachers and staff for their extra work this year to prepare for our 1:1 transition and their willingness to help with all the other improvements we have made in the district. COMMUNICATIONS President Stratford gave special recognition to teacher, Susan Mattmiller for receiving the KHAK Teacher of the Week award. Stratford read student comments nominating Mattmiller for this honor. Joe Leonard from the Belle Plaine Historical Museum accepted commemorative plaques that were taken out of the Lee Gym building. Leonard thanked the school for presenting the plaques to the historical museum and stated they would be displayed in the museum. Leonard also gave special thanks to Dennis Greenlee. BUSINESS ITEMS 1. Approval of Employment of Personnel- Superintendent Straight recommended the board approve the employment of the following personnel: Assistant Girls BB Coach (split position)-stew Timm JH 8 th Grade Girls VB Coach-Miranda Pope Transfer from.5 FTE associate to full-time associate-dawn Chekal There was motion by Cook, second by Johnson to approve Superintendent Straight s recommendations. All voted, aye. Motion carried. 2. Presentation by FFA Alumni- Sara Root, Tammy Kolash, Scott Frank, and Patti Henning were present at the meeting to represent the FFA Alumni. Sara Root, President and Tammy Kolash, Vice-President of the FFA Alumni organization gave a presentation and information to the board that included a power-point slide show and video.
3. Presentation by Instruction Coaches- Laura Ridout, Secondary Instructional Coach, Holly Vido, Elementary Instructional Coach and Mark Tegeler, Secondary Instructional Coach gave a presentation to the board regarding the new positions implemented in the school district as a result of the TLC grant received by the State. 4. Completion of the Annual Settlement with Board Secretary and Board Treasurer- Board Secretary/Treasurer, Stacey Kolars completed the annual settlement with the board for the fiscal year 2016 (July 1, 2015-June 30, 2016) and provided the board with ending fund balances from the district s completed Certified Annual Report (CAR). No motion was taken on this item. 5. Appointment of Firm to Provide Legal Representation for the School District for the Upcoming Year- There was motion by Bachelder, second by Garling to approve Lynch Dallas Law Firm out of Cedar Rapids, IA as the school s legal representation for the 2016-2017 school year. All voted, aye. Motion carried. 6. Action Regarding Selection of a Delegate to the Iowa Association of School Board Delegate Assembly- Each year, the board has the opportunity to select a delegate to represent the board at the IASB delegate assembly in November. After discussion took place, no selection was made. No action was taken on this item. 7. Discussion/Action Regarding SIAC Members- Superintendent Straight presented the board with a listing of SIAC (School Improvement Advisory Committee) members selected by school administrators. After review, there was motion by Johnson, second by Garling to approve the listing for the SIAC members. All voted, aye. Motion carried. 8. Approval of Equity Coordinator and Homeless Liaison- Superintendent Straight recommended the board approve him as the district s equity coordinator and homeless liaison for the 2016-2017 school year. There was motion by Garling, second by Bachelder to approve Superintendent Straight s recommendation. All voted, aye. Motion carried. 9. Approval of Level I Investigator- Superintendent Straight recommended the board approve naming high school principal, Todd Werner as the Level I investigator and elementary principal, Heather Coover as the alternate Level I investigator for the 2016-2017 school
year. There was motion by Johnson, second by Cook to approve Superintendent Straight s recommendation. All voted, aye. Motion carried. 10. Discussion of AP/Dual Credit Results and Information- Discussion took place regarding information presented to the board by Principal Werner regarding present Advanced Placement / Dual Credit course testing data. Discussion also took place regarding current course offerings through Kirkwood Community College and AP Courses at the secondary levels. 11. Discussion/Action on Old Building Access and Items- Superintendent Straight informed the board that he had received many questions from community members about the possibility of getting access to the old building to remove certain items. Straight suggested saving the cornerstones and possibly some bricks. Straight also stated he had been approached by the fire department asking whether they could host a training within the school prior to its demolition. After discussion took place, the board was in agreement that allowing community members into the building to salvage remnants would be a liability and instructed Superintendent Straight to obtain loss control signage from EMC Insurance warning people to stay out of the building and not to cross the safety tape along the perimeter of the building. After further discussion, there was a three-part motion by Garling, second by Johnson to have Superintendent Straight instruct Hatch Construction to save the cornerstones and set aside a limited amount of bricks, to obtain signage from EMC insurance, and to allow the Belle Plaine Fire Department to obtain access to the building for training purposes only as long as the training can be orchestrated prior to the demolition date. All voted, aye. Motion carried. 12. Discussion/Action on Drill Team Practices on Sunday Evening- Superintendent Straight informed the board the drill team girls have asked permission to practice on Sunday evening. Straight stressed that this is a local decision and wanted the board to know that this would be an exception for this group only, if one was made. Jess Henry, drill team instructor was present and the meeting. Henry stated that it has been very difficult to find quality practice time for the group since they have had to share practice times and space in the gym with cheerleading, volleyball and basketball teams. Discussion took place on whether the practice time was voluntary, and if the students would be excused for events such as church, family time, etc. Henry stated this Sunday practice time would be an option, and would not necessarily have to take place every Sunday; only if no other practice time was able to work. After further discussion, there was motion by Garling, second by Johnson to allow special exception for the drill team to practice on Sunday evenings as needed with documented permission from parents to do so. All voted, aye with the exception of Cook who voted, nay.
13. Discussion/Action on 28E Agreement with the City on Baseball Project- Superintendent Straight informed the board that he had met with Mayor Fish regarding the proposed 28E agreement with the City to make improvements to the baseball field at Franklin Park. Straight stated that a five-year timeline had been added to the agreement, and that the City had approved the agreement at their last meeting. The current agreement had been given to the board to review and discussion took place. There was motion by Johnson, second by Garling to approve the 28E agreement with the City. All voted, aye. Motion carried. 14. Approval of Modified Allowable Growth for Special Education Deficit- Superintendent Straight informed the board that the district had incurred a special education deficit of $156,774.98 during the 2015-2016 fiscal year. Straight explained that the district is allowed the opportunity to seek modified allowable growth for this deficit. There was motion by Garling, second by Cook to approve the application for modified allowable growth in the amount of $156,774.98. All voted, aye. Motion carried. There was motion by Johnson, second by Garling to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 p.m. All voted, aye. Motion carried. Marie Stratford President Stacey Kolars Board Secretary