July 18, 2022
The Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Community School District Board of Directors met at the district office on Monday, July 18, 2022 for a regular board meeting. Visitors in attendance: April Glosser, Tammy Davis, Cathy Williamson, Steve Noble, Michele Ratliff and others not signed in.
Regular Board Meeting: Call to Order – Establish Quorum: President Brinegar called the regular board meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Roll call: Eric Klyn, present; Rena Shepherd, absent; Lara Vandello, present; Micah Van Mersbergen, present; Curt Houk, present; Mark Haselhuhn, present; and Doug Brinegar, present. Quorum established.
Public Forum: none
Correspondence: none.
Approve/Amend Agenda: Vandello motioned and Houk seconded to approve the agenda. Motion carried unanimously.
Reports: Superintendent Williamson went over current financial balances, staffing updates, revenue purpose statement and the Keep Kids Fed Act. April Glosser, Curriculum Director went over curriculum purchases for the 2022-23 school year and Summer School attendance. Steve Noble, principal at the Jr/Sr High school gave the board an update on how current open positions will be covered for the first semester, explained what the Learning Walk Program is and what the Jr/Sr High Leadership team will be will be working on in August. Tammy Davis, principal at Blakesburg Elementary gave the combined elementary principal’s board report and updated the board on summer school and staffing changes. Handbooks have been updated, building cleaning is still in process and the Eddyville elementary has new bathroom partitions, walls have been repainted and the North wing restrooms have new flooring. Cathy Williamson, Director of Special Services, updated the board on four active grants that she is working on: Therapeutic Classroom Grant, STOP Grant, TPRA Grant and COPS Grant, as well as personnel updates for para educators and behavior interventionists. Other reports submitted, but not read, were from the Childcare and Maintenance directors.
Consent Items: Vandello motioned and Houk seconded to approve the Consent Items 6a to 6e: June 20, 2022 Board Meeting Minutes; Financial Reports as of June 30, 2022; July’s Bills; the Review of School Board Policies: 501 Resident Student, 502 Non-Resident and Foreign Exchange Students, 503 Compulsory Attendance and 504 Attendance Cooperation Process; Contracts & Agreements: 2022-23 Wm Penn Nurse Clinical Agreement, Technology with TF Technology, Bus Mechanic with K Repair, Sign Language Interpreter with CodaHands Interpreting, Dell Lease Agreement, STOP Grant Contracts: Nikki Thomas, EBF Individual Threat Assessment Coordinator, Marla Wilfawn, Davis County Individual Threat Assessment Coordinator, Heather Severson, EBF Safety Audit Coordinator, and Greg Gordy, Davis County Safety Audit Coordinator; and Open Enrollment for 2022-2023: IN: Mireya Thomas, Kindergarten from Moulton-Udell to HSAP. Motion carried unanimously.
Personnel: Van Mersbergen motioned and Klyn seconded to approve Cassandra Holdsworth, Para Educator at Blakesburg Elementary, Sydney Guiter, Para Educator at Fremont Elementary; Cami Grubb, Para Educator at Jr/Sr High; Lillie Pierce, Para Educator at Jr/Sr High; Cindy Molyneux, Para Educator for Jr/Sr High; Tiffany Roozeboom, 6th Grade Teacher at Fremont Elementary; Macy Brown, Behavior Interventionist; Gladys Genskow, Head Girls Track Coach; Micheal Pilcher, Head Boys Track Coach; Ryan Jackson, Assistant Boys Track Coach; Whitley Alexander, Assistant Girls Track Coach; Alexis Kauzlarich, Jr High Track Coach; Hannah Koellner, Jr High Track Coach; Tyler Ford; Jr High Football Coach; Torie Alexander, Assistant Volleyball Coach; Kiley Lobberecht, Jr High Volleyball Coach. Motion carried unanimously. Vandello motioned and Houk seconded to accept the resignations of Ashleigh Sammons, Cook at Eddyville Elementary and Barry Yarnell, Sign Language Interpreter. Motion carried unanimously.
Action Items: Secretary McCrea restated the tabled motion from the June 20, 2022 meeting Set the substitute teacher pay rate for the 2022-2023 to $140.00/day or $70/half day. Discussion was held. Area schools were asked what they are paying. Amounts ranged from $115/day to $140/day. Motion carried to take motion off table. Motion carried unanimously. Houk motioned and Van Mersbergen seconded to set the 2022-2023 fees for breakfast & lunch, book rent, instrument rental, FFA membership, activity cards, admission fees and preschool tuition. No changes were made to any amounts but to breakfast & lunch costs and the 4-year old preschool annual amount. The 4-year old preschool fees were approved at the April 11, 2022 board meeting. Motion carried unanimously. Van Mersbergen motioned and Houk seconded to approve the 2022-23 Handbooks for Preschool, Elementary, Jr/Sr High and a new Staff Handbook. Small discussion on why the paragraph of parental notification of health screenings was removed from the elementary handbook. Superintendent will find out and let the board know why in a board update. Motion carried unanimously. Van Mersbergen motioned and Vandello seconded to approve the Emergency Operations Plan Review. Discussion was held regarding what the Emergency Operations Plan was and the process for the review. Board has concerns regarding the number of new staff and would like to have training for all staff done as soon as possible, but new staff have some training prior to students first day. Motion was tabled to the August 15th board meeting to allow board members a chance to review plan. Motion carried unanimously. Houk motioned and Klyn seconded to approve the purchase of the firewall upgrade. Motion carried unanimously. Vandello motioned and Houk seconded to approve the purchase of the preschool curriculum for $20,712.00 for five years. Motion carried unanimously.
Capital Projects: Superintendent Williamson told that board that the quote for the outdoor storage building that was discussed at the June 20th meeting came in at $116,000 and this does not include electricity. Superintendent Williamson will check with the district’s lawyer regarding bid process to make sure that proper procedures are followed since the project is close to the bid threshold.
Discussion Items: Discussion was held on the need for an Open Enrollment policy since the open enrollment deadline has been removed from the application, the RSAI Legislative Survey was reviewed and will be completed for the board as a group, and school security was again discussed. Superintendent Williamson is going to research liability issues of having volunteered retired servicemen being present at school buildings. Prior to Covid the board would visit the school buildings once a year and the board would like to resume this. Prior to the August board meeting the board will visit the Jr/Sr High, in September they will visit the Eddyville Elementary and daycare, in October they will visit the Fremont Elementary and in November the Blakesburg Elementary. October’s board meeting will be held at Fremont and November’s board meeting will be held at Blakesburg. Open positons: Home School Assistance Teacher, Regular Route Driver, Junior High English Language Arts Teacher - Jr/Sr High, Senior High English Language Arts Teacher - Jr/Sr High, Senior High Math Teacher - Jr/Sr High, Custodian - Fremont Elementary, Substitutes for all positions and Coaching positons: 9th Grade Volleyball Coach, Junior High Volleyball Coach, Junior High Girls Basketball Coach, Assistant Boys Basketball Coach, Junior High Boys Basketball Coach (2), Assistant Wrestling Coach, Junior High Wrestling Coach & Golf Coach.
Board took a break at 7:59 p.m. Board resumed meeting at 8:06 p.m.
Closed Session- per Iowa Code Section 21.5 {1}(c) Discuss strategy with legal counsel in matters regarding litigation: Houk motioned and Vandello seconded to go into closed session for the discussion with legal counsel. Roll Call Vote: Klyn, aye; Shepherd, absent; Vandello, aye; Van Mersbergen, aye; Houk, aye; Haselhuhn, aye; and Brinegar, aye. Motion carried unanimously. Board went into closed session at 8:06 p.m. Board exited closed session at 8:57 p.m.
Adjourn: Vandello motioned and Van Mersbergen seconded to adjourn board meeting. Motion carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 8:57 p.m.
Doug Brinegar Mary McCrea
Board President Board Secretary
