November 16, 2009 Board Meeting
MINUTES OF HEARING/REGULAR MEETING OF BOARD OF EDUCATION
C & M COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT – NOVEMBER 16, 2009
CALL TO ORDER: President Gary Dinkla read the mission statement of the C & M Community School District and called the hearing to order at 4:00 p.m. in the superintendent’s office in Massena.
ROLL CALL: Directors Present: Gary Dinkla, Jennifer Holste, Todd McKee, Rob Ticknor
Absent: Sean South
Superintendent: Steve Pelzer
Secretary: Linda Edwards
Visitor: Peg Hensley, Freda Scanlan
ACCEPTABLE USE INTERNET POLICY: The Acceptable Use Internet Policy 606.6E1 was updated to add the line “Students are not allowed unauthorized access to personal information or take part in any activities such as “hacking” under any circumstances as prohibited by law.” A motion to approve the Acceptable Use Internet Policy was made by Holste, seconded by McKee. Motion carried unanimously, voice vote 4-0. President Dinkla closed the hearing at 4:02, called the regular meeting to order, and welcomed the visitors.
AGENDA: Motion by Ticknor, seconded by Holste, to approve the agenda. Voice vote, motion carried unanimously 4-0.
MINUTES, BILLS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: Adding two bills, Holste moved, seconded by Ticknor, to approve the minutes of the October 19 board meeting, bills, and financial statements. Voice vote, motion carried unanimously 4-0.
COMMUNICATIONS: The C& M Education Association notified the Board of its intent to bargain and will present its initial proposal at the December meeting. Discussion was held on the upcoming IASB Conventions. No one from C & M plans to attend.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: One day of testing remains for ITBS, with makeups to follow because of illnesses. At the monthly AEA superintendent’s meeting, the IASB’s new Executive Director Maxine Kilcrease spoke to the group about the financial situation IASB is currently facing. Mr. Pelzer will attend ISFLC’s negotiations training in December. Certified enrollment for the district is 205.2, up 4.6 from last year. This does not include the additional weighting for the operational sharing (ten students). The Veterans’ Day program was very well presented by Ms. Booker and her eighth grade students.
The Iowa Core Curriculum leadership team consisting of Jennifer Berns, Sandy Booker, Mike Cormack, Peg Wheatley and Mr. Pelzer attended a half day training. The teachers then presented to the joint professional development held on Friday afternoon in Anita. Mr. Pelzer reported that they did an excellent job.
The January 18th professional development day in Atlantic has been changed to a half day with a keynote speaker planned. Guy Doud will be the speaker and then our district will go to Anita in the afternoon to continue professional development. We received a check from the Trinity Christian Church and will thank them for their generous donation.
DISCUSSION ITEMS: Reorganization was a topic of discussion. Gary Dinkla suggested setting a date for a reorganization vote and work backwards from that date. Discussion was held on when to have a joint board meeting with the SIAC committee to get things going. It was suggested to hold a meeting on our regularly scheduled date of January 11, 2010, with board members calling SIAC members to encourage them to attend.
The 10% across the board cut discussion was moved to the end of the meeting. Early retirement incentives were discussed and this will be on the agenda next month. An offer on the Cumberland vacant lot has been received and this will be finalized at the December meeting.
CONTRACT ADJUSTMENTS: Because of the number of students participating in basketball, the number of coaches needed to be increased. A motion to increase the contracts for Mike Cormack and Chelsey Lee was made by McKee, seconded by Ticknor and passed unanimously with a 4-0 voice vote.
RESOLUTION 06-10 AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF QUIT CLAIM DEED: A resolution to authorize execution of a quit claim deed to Ryan South for the purchase of the Cumberland building was approved on a motion by McKee, seconded by Ticknor. Voice vote, motion carried unanimously 4-0.
RESOLUTION 07-10 AUTHORIZING DELIVER OF QUIT CLAIM DEED: A resolution to authorize delivery of a quit claim deed to Ryan South for the purchase of the Cumberland building was approved on a motion by McKee, seconded by Ticknor. Voice vote, motion carried unanimously 4-0.
PUBLIC PRE-SCHOOL GRANT: This is the last year of funding for the public preschool grant. Corey Sebetka, our early childhood special education specialist, thinks we’d have an excellent chance in getting a grant and has agreed to help lead us through the grant-writing process. Four-year-old preschoolers count as .6 on certified enrollment. A motion to approve the writing of a public preschool grant and using Mrs. Sebetka’s services as needed was made by Ticknor, seconded by Holste. Voice vote, motion carried unanimously 4-0.
RESOLUTION 08-10 REQUEST TO SBRC FOR MODIFIED ALLOWABLE GROWTH FOR INCREASE IN ENROLLMENT: The board adopted a resolution to request modified allowable growth for an increase in enrollment. This gives the district an increase in spending authority. Motion to approve the resolution was made by McKee, seconded by Ticknor. Voice vote, motion carried unanimously 4-0.
BOARD REPORTS: Jennifer Holste brought up the issue of replacing the scoreboards. A part was not available to fix the north scoreboard so the plan was to take down the one on the north wall and just use the one on the south. Cost of a new scoreboard is approximately $7,500 and taking down the old and repainting the wall about $150. Gary Dinkla felt he would have more trouble justifying the PPEL tax rate if it were used for a scoreboard. Todd McKee commented that more people talked to him about replacing the scoreboard than about closing the Cumberland building. Rob Ticknor felt that the voting public would feel as strongly about replacing the scoreboards as they would about purchasing Promethean boards. Mr. Pelzer commented that the gym floor needs to be refinished this summer. The board consensus was for Mr. Pelzer to order a scoreboard.
The Board moved to Mrs. Lee’s room to watch a webinar on the 10% across-the-board cut.
ADJOURNMENT: Upon returning to the boardroom, a motion to adjourn was made by Holste, seconded by McKee. Voice vote, motion carried unanimously 4-0. President Dinkla adjourned the meeting at 5:39 p.m.
signed Gary Dinkla, Board President
signed Linda Edwards, Board Secretary
