April 8, 2010 joint meeting
MINUTES OF JOINT BOARD MEETING
ANITA/C & M COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARDS
APRIL 8, 2010
The Anita and C & M Boards of Education met for a whole grade sharing session on April 8, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. in the Media Center of the CAM High School in Anita.
The meeting came to order at 7:03 p.m. Present from Anita were Directors Jeff Gregersen, Nick Kauffman, Randall J. Rabe, and Julie Williamson, Superintendent John Brazell, 4High School Principal Dominic Giegerich and Board Secretary Linda Edwards. Present from C & M were Directors Gary Dinkla, Todd McKee, Sean South, and Rob Ticknor, and Superintendent Steve Pelzer. Anita Director Chuck Kinzie and C & M Director Jennifer Holste were absent. Nineteen visitors were present. Members of the SIAC committee presented recommendations and asked questions.
AGENDA: A motion to approve the agenda by the Anita Board was made by Nick Kauffman, seconded by Julie Williamson. President Gary Dinkla read the C & M Mission Statement and a motion to approve the agenda by the C & M Board was made by Sean South, seconded by Rob Ticknor. Motion carried unanimously by both boards.
DISCUSSION was held on the following sharing topics: Reorganization/Sharing, Future Joint Meeting Dates, and Preschool Grant Update. Both board presidents welcomed the guests and thanked them for coming. Larry Sigel, director of Iowa School Finance Information Service was unable to attend due to illness.
REORGANIZATION/SHARING: Mr. Brazell discussed the reorganization property tax incentives. In the first year, the property tax rate drops $1, the second year is reduced by 50 cents, then 25 cents the last year. Mr. Pelzer reported that each district gets three years of supplemental weighting incentives for whole-grade sharing. For C & M, this is between $26,000-$28,000 and for Anita, slightly higher. If the third year of incentives is received in the year prior to reorganization, then there are three additional years of incentives for the newly reorganized district, approximately $200,000 over the four years. Reorganization must be prior to 2014.
Gary Dinkla: The petition process has been completed. They have been sent to the attorney who has filed them with the AEA. The AEA has met on these and the next step is an AEA hearing for objections. That will be held on June 7 at 7 p.m. at a site in Anita to be determined. Director districts have been set up with relatively equal populations. The entire new school district would vote on all directors.
Randy Rabe: The interim board will be appointed by the current boards with three directors from the Anita board and two from the C & M board. This interim board will be responsible for merging the two districts, board policy, master contracts, etc. From the date of the election to July 1, 2011 there would be three school boards.
Gary Dinkla: It takes a while to learn how a school board works. That’s why we would want experienced board members to be members of the interim board. At the first election following the vote, two seats would be up for election with the other three seats up two years after that.
Todd McKee asked who sends the information to the commissioner of elections. The answer is the AEA.
Gary Dinkla: If reorganization is passed prior to November, the new district can start the following school year. We didn’t want to delay this process.
Steve Pelzer: In a combined district, in C & M’s financial weak points, Anita is better off and vice versa. This creates a pretty good picture and gives us a better chance to survive.
Gary Dinkla: We are being pro-active instead of reactive to change because of financial considerations. We do not want the state to come in and tell us what to do.
Steve Pelzer: In the next three years, there will be more whole-grade sharing districts that will reorganize to take advantage of the incentives.
Gary Dinkla: We already have a lot of the controversial issues taken care of, such as where the high school will be, what school colors are, mascots, etc.
Jeff Carr asked if the students will notice anything. Mr. Pelzer replied that they wouldn’t even notice. There might be a choice for elementary students who live in between to decide which building to attend.
John Brazell: Both districts have seen a slight increase in enrollment. Numbers could be leveling off.
Jeff Carr asked how many jobs would be lost. There is obviously redundancy. Gary Dinkla replied that there would be only one superintendent. Teacher-wise, it would be the same educational offering. Randy Rabe commented that with one master contract, there would be better utilization of staff.
Steve Pelzer: Every student through the sixth grade will have the same background. Now, as they come into the middle school, there are differences in curriculum. For instance, the two elementary schools don’t have the same reading program. They are on the same math program.
Gary Dinkla: Possible reductions are all due to fiscal issues. Our hope is with consolidation, we will have less fiscal issues.
Steve Pelzer: If the merger doesn’t pass, we’ll have to cut staff. We haven’t had to do this yet. This will mean cutting programs. The state won’t allow you to go into the red with spending authority. Kids are #1. The financial situation has turned from what’s best for kids to what’s least harmful for kids.
Todd McKee: The state is cutting funds to us faster than we can cut expenses.
Randy Rabe: That’s why we’ll celebrate for a little while when it passes and then start looking again.
Kevin McCunn: If you wait for test results to tell you you need to make changes, it’s too late.
Dean Downer: This is the best possible step to educate our kids. There are nine schools in southwest Iowa that have a bigger enrollment than the CAM district that won’t be able to comply with Carl Perkins requirements because they don’t have enough vocational programs.
Tina Wahlert asked: You referred to one superintendent. Would you have an administrator in each building? Steve Pelzer replied it is important to have a principal who is an educational leader. It would be difficult to share a principal between buildings that are 15 miles apart.
Randy Rabe: That is why we are considering sharing at this time. If we share all four operational sharing positions, there are considerable sharing incentives.
Sean South: There are other benefits. The teachers’ contracts would be the same. Right now, sometimes one district gets a raise and the other doesn’t.
Tina Wahlert: the ISEA would help the teachers with the merger. Would there be an advisory group to help with the decision on the superintendent? Randy Rabe replied yes. When asked when, he replied as soon as possible. The budget is driving this. The fact that we need to cut $150,000 -$170,000 means we are looking at everything we can to save money.
Kevin McCunn: Look down the road three or four years at possibilities. What is the next step? Todd McKee replied that all options are on the table. Steve Pelzer: sharing staff between districts has great incentives. C &M is currently sharing two teachers with Griswold. A half-time teacher costs us about $3,000. If we share with a whole-grade sharing partner, there are no incentives available.
Dominic Giegerich: There are expanding opportunities to use technology to educate without teachers or students driving.
FUTURE JOINT BOARD MEETING DATES: A date for the next meeting will be set after the AEA hearing in June.
PRESCHOOL GRANT: Mr. Brazell reported that after a lot of time and effort and expense to write a grant that we thought would be competitive, the legislature has decided that any district that applies will get the grant and the amount available will be prorated to all the districts. The funding we originally thought we would receive has been reduced to possibly only $20,000, not enough to pay a teacher.
ADJOURNMENT: Todd McKee moved, seconded by Sean South, to adjourn the C & M portion of the joint board meeting. Motion carried unanimously 4-0. President Randall J. Rabe adjourned the meeting of the Anita board. The joint meeting of the Anita and C & M Boards was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
