UNOFFICIAL Board of Education Muscatine Community School District Minutes of April 13, 2015 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 13, 2015 at 7 p.m. at City Hall. President Nathan Mather called the meeting to order. Directors Tim Bower, Tammi Drawbaugh, Brenda Garcia (arrived at 7:10 p.m.), Tom Johanns, Randy Naber and Mary Wildermuth were present. Also present were Superintendent Jerry Riibe and Director of Finance Jean Garner. The board recited the Pledge of Allegiance. President Mather welcomed media representatives and visitors. Beverly Gerdts, 2825 Houser Street, spoke in favor of school librarians and voiced her concern regarding the proposed budget reduction to eliminate one elementary librarian. Daphne Donald, 1559 Washington, and Kristine Manjoine, 2460 Cattail Ridge, talked about the 3rd Annual Muscatine Community School District Race for the Schools. The 5K, 10K, and 1 mile fun run will be held on Saturday May 2nd. Both noted that the proceeds from the race is shared between the school buildings and the Muscatine School’s Foundation for scholarships. Julisa Pineda and Emilee Meyer, Senior Student Council Members, provided the board with a student council update. A motion was made by Director Naber and seconded by Director Wildermuth to approve the consent agenda to include: the minutes of the March 23, 2015 planning and regular meeting, the high school French student field trip to France on March 17-‐29, 2016; the bills and claims against the district dated April 13, 2015; the student teacher agreement with Iowa Wesleyan college; and the following employment recommendations: Resignations: Brooke Lodge – MHS Math, Allison Redman – Elementary Special Education, Charles Domer – District Accounts Payable, Angie Kulland – Muskie Pom, and Jen Keltner – middle school volleyball. New hires for 2015-‐16: Rebecca Sund – MHS Math, Eric Josupait – MHS Math, and Abby Goodale – MHS Business Education. Schedule C hires: Katie Golien – Assistant Softball and Jordan Walgren – Assistant Girls Soccer. All ayes; motion carried. Superintendent Riibe update the board on the Iowa Association of School Board’s review of the district’s policies. He noted that IASB recommended a complete re-‐write of the district’s policy book at a cost of approximately $6,250. This includes attorney costs of reviewing the policy updates and revisions and working with the board and administration on policies and language specific to our school district. A motion was made by Director Johanns and seconded by Director Bower to approve administration’s request to have Iowa Association of School Boards re-‐write the district’s policy manual. All ayes; motion carried.
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A motion was made by Director Bower and seconded by Director Drawbaugh to table the third reading of Policy 204.02 Regular Board Meetings until after the review and rewrite by IASB. All ayes; motion carried. A motion was made by Director Bower and seconded by Director Johanns to approve the levy rate of $15.9994 and certified budget amount of $78,681,716 for fiscal year 2015-‐16. Roll Call: Ayes: Directors Bower, Drawbaugh, Garcia, Johanns, Mather, Naber, and Wildermuth. There were no nays. Motion carried. The budget is adopted for the 2015-‐16 school year. Superintendent Riibe presented the recommendations for termination for the 2015-‐16 school year. He noted that one termination is due to the Foreign Language program being cut from the middle schools, and the other terminations are due to the uncertainty of funding from the state regarding the Shared Visions Grant. He also noted that two teachers, Kathleen Eichelberger and Mary Kisner, have asked for a hearing in front of the board regarding their termination. A motion was made by Director Wildermuth and seconded by Director Drawbaugh to approve the Superintendent’s Termination Recommendations of: Elimination of Program: Sarah McCormick – Middle School Spanish Unknown Funding Amount of Shared Visions Grant: Alison Daufeldt – Partners in Early Learning, and Megan Thompson – Preschool. All ayes; motion carried. A motion was made by Director Naber and seconded by Director Johanns to approve the Superintendent’s Contract with no salary increase (per Superintendent Riibe’s request due to the district’s financial situation) for the 2015-‐16 school year. All ayes; motion carried. Paul Brooks, director of Flickinger Learning Center, presented to the board a review of the Franklin Elementary/Flickinger Learning Center Partnership. This is an afterschool program in which Flickinger Learning Center provides two adult volunteers to help students with reading and homework. Currently there are twelve 2nd grade students and one 3rd grader attending the afterschool program. Data has shown that all students have made great strides in improving their reading comprehension. Superintendent Riibe shared with the board that the Iowa legislature and governor came to an agreement on the 2015-‐16 school calendar start date. School districts cannot start school before August 24, 2015. He shared that at this point it would be difficult to change the board-‐approved calendar with the start date of August 31, 2015 as there is needed professional development for elementary and middle school teachers that has already been set. He also noted that it might be possible to have an earlier start time for only the high school in order to have 1st semester testing done before the holiday break. The board agreed to have administration review this possibility and report back if this was something that administration felt could work. President Mather shared that the 2015 Excellence in Education Awards Program will be held on May 17th at 2 p.m. at Muscatine High School. The public is invited. He thanked the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust for providing the funding for the scholarships and the awards program, and congratulated the following 2015 Excellence in Education Scholarship Recipients: Muscatine High School Senior Award Recipients: Maximilia Akakpo, Tammi Anderson, Tyler Arnette, Whitney Baars, Talon Burke, Belicia Cabrera, Jenna Chance, Cassidy Conway, Sierra Duncan, Davonte Ellis, Maria Franco, Israel Gaytan, Angelica Ibanez Castillo, Hannah Lingle, Ben Mabiah, Sigredo Rojas, Allison Tood, Noryli Villada, Paige Wagler, Rylee Whittington.
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Central Middle School 8th Grade Recipients: Ian Chapman, Alexandria Jimenez, Yesenia Love Ibarra, Ethan Sherer, Tory Thompson. West Middle School 8th Grade Recipients: Angele Akakpo, Clifford Batteau, Jonah Koch, Ariel Spina, Sydney Weggen. Staff Recipients: Michelle Hampton, Monica Hopkins, Kathy McConnaha, Jamie Pugh, Aaron Smith. Director of Finance Jean Garner provided the board with a food service update. Superintendent Riibe presented possible budget reductions for the 2015-‐16 school year that approximate $1 million in savings. He noted that there are two unknown factors at this time that will determine the extent of budget reductions. Those two factors are: state aid and salary settlements. He shared that salaries and personnel costs make up 82% of the school district’s budget. He also stated that his first priority is to protect the classroom and limit the impact on class size during the school day. The proposed budget cuts include: • Reduce extra duty assignments and extended day contracts. • Reduce administrative costs through a new administrative pay scale. • Eliminate out-‐of-‐state travel for all staff and students. • Cancel the district/board’s membership to Iowa Association of School Boards. • Reduce building maintenance budget. • Reduce bus routes. • Delay filling elementary counselor positions. • Restructure elementary and middle school teacher librarians. • Restructure custodial assignments. Director of Finance Jean Garner reviewed the March financials with the board. President Mather provided the following announcements of meetings and events: April 15, 2015 – State Deadline for Budget Certification April 27, 2015 – Regular Board Meeting at 7 p.m. at the Administration Center April 29, 2015 – 2 hour early dismissal for teacher professional development April 30, 2015 – IASB Board Governance meeting in Fairfield May 2, 2015 – MHS Prom and the 3rd Annual Race for the Schools May 11, 2015 – Regular Board Meeting at 7 p.m. at City Hall May 17, 2015 – Excellence in Education Scholarship Program at 2 p.m. at MHS May 24, 2015 – Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2015 at 2 p.m. at MHS Gymnasium A motion was made by Director Garcia and seconded by Director Naber to adjourn the meeting. All ayes; motion carried. Time: 8:44 p.m. The board then went into an exempt session for negotiation strategy. Nathan Mather, President Lisa Mosier Bunn, Secretary
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