UNOFFICIAL MINUTES MUSCATINE SCHOOL BOARD OF EDUCATION REGULAR MEETING April 8, 2013
The Board of Education of the Muscatine Community School District, in the County of Muscatine, State of Iowa, met in regular session on Monday, April 8, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall. President Penny Jones called the meeting to order. Directors Tim Bower, Tammi Drawbaugh, Brenda Garcia-‐Van Auken, Nathan Mather, and Mary Wildermuth were present. Director Dennis Fox was present via conference phone from Cleveland, Ohio. Also present was Superintendent Bill Decker and Director of Finance Jean Garner. The board recited the Pledge of Allegiance. President Jones welcomed visitors and media representatives. Connie Fuller, 2562 Pettibone Avenue, spoke to the board concerning the substitute teachers. She also handed out a paper regarding how substitute teachers are chosen and other issues. Ali Moss reported on student council activities. She stated that since they had last reported to the board, most of their work has been on their leadership project and working with the elementary schools on the reading challenge. Ninety-‐one hours of volunteer service have been logged between Franklin, Grant, and Colorado. Combined, students in these three schools have read just under 1,000 books. She noted that the competition ends on April 25th. A motion was made by Director Mather and seconded by Director Bower to approve the consent agenda which includes the following: the minutes of the February 25, 2013 planning meeting, the March 18 regular meeting, and the March 26 special session; the renewal of the sharing agreement with Durant for boys and girls swimming and diving and boys and girls soccer; the student teacher agreements with Iowa Wesleyan College and Luther College, bills and claims against the district dated April 8, 2012, the personnel recommendations of: the resignations of Amelia Kibbie – WMS Language Arts, Valerie Ahmann – CMS Family & Consumer Science, and Tanise Colvin – CMS Social Studies; the field trips of: MHS/East Campus to Monsanto Headquarters & St. Louis Science Museum on May 6, 2013 as submitted by Josh Hanna and Middle School Rock Orchestra to Music in the Parks Six Flags in Gurnee, Illinois on May 11, 2013 as submitted by Jessica Blanchard. All ayes; motion carried. Superintendent Decker talked about the state law that states the start day for school districts should begin the week of August 30. If districts want to begin school at an earlier time, they need to ask for a waiver. He shared that most districts do not start that week as it is not conducive to their district. He reviewed the reasons for asking for the waiver. They are: Facilitating dual credit courses for high school students, ensuring they are equipped with post-‐secondary and career ready skills, with post-‐secondary institutions by having the calendars aligned. Completion of the semester after winter break will require teachers to spend a week in January refreshing students’ memories, effectively adding days of instruction.
Allowing those students graduating at semester to attend post-‐secondary instruction starting in January. Avoiding the delay of the end of school, due to weather, going into mid-‐June when students are significantly less likely to be learning than they are in late August. Allowing for effective and evidence-‐based professional development to be spread throughout the school year, rather than front-‐ or end-‐loaded, in order to improve instruction. Giving teachers and other staff, a small break between the end of the school year and the beginning of summer coursework in June.
A motion was made by Director Bower and seconded by Director Drawbaugh to approve the School Start Date Waiver Resolution. All ayes; motion carried. A motion was made by Director Wildermuth and seconded by Director Bower to approve the District Developed Service Delivery Plan. All ayes; motion carried. President Jones stated that the public hearing for the budget would now begin and that the budget documents were published in the Muscatine Journal per Iowa Code. A motion was made by Director Drawbaugh and seconded by Director Bower to open the public hearing for the purpose of certifying the 2013-‐14 school budget. All ayes; motion carried. Director of Finance Jean Garner reviewed the proposed budget. She noted that she has not received any written or oral comments. She apologized for not being at the March 26 special session as she was in Des Moines at a conference on school finance. She shared that the budget was set with the assumption of a 2% allowable growth figure which is the minimum percentage that the legislators have talked about; however, this is still an unknown. She stated that the maximum levy rate the district is asking is $15.27597 per thousand dollar evaluation. This is an $0.08 drop and does include ISL and 1% income surtax on the ISL. She stated that the district is also asking for total expenses at $68,050,823. Director Garcia-‐Van Auken noted that at the last meeting she asked regarding the .7 multiplier and wanted to know what that was. Mrs. Garner noted that the district does not receive 100% of the ISL because part of it is funded through property tax, state aid, and income surtax. She noted that it has never been funded 100%. She shared that last year the state only funded 73% and this will change each year unless the state funds their portion of the ISL which has never happened. A motion was made by Director Mather and seconded by Director Wildermuth to close the public hearing. All ayes; motion carried. A motion was made by Director Bower and seconded by Director Wildermuth to approve the budget for 2013-‐2014 of $68,050,823 with a levy rate of $15.27597. All ayes; motion carried.
President Jones shared the recommendations for school fees for the 2013-‐14 school year. The recommendation includes a $6.00 increase to the yearbook fee due to the actual cost of the yearbook has increased by $6.00. Also the following increases are recommended in school meal prices in order to meet the federal equity in school lunch guidelines: breakfast prices to increase $0.05 from $1.20 to $1.25; adult breakfast to increase $0.20 from $2.00 to $2.20; elementary lunches will increase $0.25 from $1.75 to $2.00; juice and milk will be increased by $0.05; and adult lunches will increase $0.05 from $3.15 to $3.20. She also shared that eventually all student lunches will need to be at $2.59; however, the federal government is allowing school districts to incremently increase the amount to ease the cost burden for parents. A motion was made by Director Garcia-‐Van Auken and seconded by Director Mather to increase the price of the yearbook to its actual price (an increase of $6.00). All ayes; motion carried. A motion was made by Director Drawbaugh and seconded by Director Bower to increase the breakfast, lunches, and milk/juice costs as detailed above. Director Bower thanked Alisha Eggers and Jean Garner for their due diligence. Director Mather re-‐emphasized that this is something that the district is required to do by the federal government. Director Jones noted that she is thankful for the incremental increases so it is not such a large affect on the community at one time. All ayes; motion carried. The board heard a second reading on the following policies: 501.02 Attendance Policies with Administrative Procedures 502.04 Student Activity Program 506.01 Student Records with Administrative Procedures 506.06 Requirements for Graduation 600.05 Conditions of Instruction 600.06 Class Size with Administrative Procedures 601.02 Curriculum Adoption and Evaluation 601.04 Elementary Curriculum 601.09 Health Education 701.01 Planning the Budget 704.06 Inventory Board members are to get any changes or questions to Superintendent Decker before the final reading at the next meeting. President Jones updated the board and public on the superintendent search. She reviewed the process at this point. On April 3rd the board approved soliciting employment search firms for proposals. The district received proposals from Ray and Associates and McPherson and Jacobson. She noted that Gaylord Tryon respectfully declined the invitation. She noted that both
companies are national search firms. She also noted that the two firms will be presenting proposals to the board on April 10th at a special meeting starting at 5:30 p.m. She stated that both companies come highly recommended and have assisted numerous other districts in their search for a superintendent. The board will continue to update the community as the search unfolds and with important dates as they become known. Superintendent Decker shared with the board the 100,000 Strong Initiative between the school district and China. Within the next week, the application process will unfold for students to apply to visit China this summer. Any student who desires the ability to learn the Chinese language, participate in STEM projects, who is willing to do public speaking, and is outgoing is encouraged to apply. Students are expected to interact with the Chinese culture and when they return will need to present on their experiences. He noted that eventually he will be bringing back a group of students names for the board’s information. Director Garcia-‐Van Auken asked if this was open to high school students. Superintendent Decker stated that approximately 18 students will be chosen with six students from MCC and 12 from the high school in grades 9-‐11. The students will the be matched with someone in China that is their peer. The group of students is limited to the number of peers available in China. Director of Special Programs Jan Collinson provided the board with names of this year’s Excellence in Education Recipients. The award ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 5th at 2 p.m. at the Rendezvous followed by a reception. The public is invited. Student scholarship recipients are: 8th graders: Chase Beverlin-‐ CMS Megan Church – CMS JoAnna Lopez – CMS Scott Schafer – CMS Mary Amerine – WMS Cassie Hendrix – WMS Josue Oyervides-‐Vasquez – WMS Lillian Terry – WMS Hannah Whitworth – WMS Seniors: Oscar Alvarez Tyler Brooks Marina Calzaretta Miquel Carrillo Karina Ceniceros Micahel Cox Dick Duo Nocholas Escalante Noah Garcia Marvin Josue Guzman
Allison Hartman Josh Jaramillo Elijah Kahnplaye Bryce Keeler Abby Lange Marlon Javier Mejia Jonathan Meyer Michaela Meyer Josh Montoya Jerson Neda Adult Recipients: Jessica Blanchard Melissa Henderson Troy Kulland Andrew Prinsen Steve Preston President Jones thanked the Excellence in Education Committee for their time in reading the applications and selection of the recipients and also the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust for funding the awards. Director Bower also thanked Jan Collinson for her coordination of the scholarships and event. Superintendent Decker updated the board on the status of negotiations. He noted that state law requires that negotiations be held in closed session. He noted that a session will be held tomorrow. He also noted that it is hard to make progress because allowable growth has not been passed yet by the legislature. President Jones also shared that the date for the budget workshop is also on hold due to allowable growth not being set. Director Mather asked if is it the intent of the budget workshop to review a line item budget. Superintendent Decker stated that the board talked about bringing in ISFIS with the idea of looking at our budget and giving the board a process of how our budget looks as well as a five-‐ year projection. He stated that the line item budget is very extensive and is a much different conversation. He further stated that this (the line item budget) is not something that is generally reviewed by boards and was not reviewed last year. President Jones announced the following meeting dates, times, and events. She shared that last week, the district was honored by the Greater Chamber of Commerce of Muscatine for a being 35-‐year member of the Chamber. Several board members attended the ABLE II training in Mt. Pleasant. She noted that once the district hires a consulting firm, the board will be adding several special meetings to the calendar in order to keep the process moving forward. Other meetings include: April 10, 2013 – School Improvement Advisory Committee – 4:30 p.m. – Administration Center
April 10, 2013 – Special Session of the Board – 5:30 p.m. – Administration Center April 11 – FFA Banquet at the Ag Learning Center April 16 – AEA Board/Administrator Banquet in Bettendorf April 22, 2013 – Board Work Session, Planning Meeting, and Regular Meeting – 5:30/6:30/7:30 p.m. – Administration Center April 29 – School Law Conference May 5 – Excellence in Education Awards Ceremony A motion was made by Director Garcia Van Auken and seconded by Director Wildermuth to adjourn the meeting. All ayes; motion carried. Time: 7:40 p.m. Penny Jones, President Lisa Mosier, Secretary
