EMMETSBURG COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Regular Meeting
Board of Education
February 17, 2021 Minutes
All motions are unanimous unless otherwise noted.
The Board of Education of Emmetsburg Community School District met in a regular session on February 17, 2021 at 5:30pm in the HS Library.
Present: Jane Hoyman, Bill Huberty, Kathy Roethler, Aaron Dietrich, Val Morton (by Zoom), Katy Thomsen, Scott Kibbie
Absent: None.
Also Present: Darren Hanna, Lisa Chapman (by Zoom), Tracie Christensen, Tim Rodemeyer, Tyler Bjustrom, Sara Straw, Kelly Josephson, Joe Schany, Jill Schany, Arik Kerr, Erin Siefken, Julia Badenhope, Mike Dunlap
Jane Hoyman, President, called the session to order at 5:30pm, acknowledged the fact of a quorum.
Approval of Agenda: Roethler moved to approve the agenda. Seconded by Thomsen. Motion carried.
TEACHING & LEARNING: 2021 Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning Program
Julia Badenhope, an Iowa State University faculty member and a Community Planner and Designer works with the Living Roadways Visioning Program. Julia has developed a survey for 9th and 12th grade kids and their experiences in transportation. If the district decides to pursue the survey, packets will be sent home to these students. All surveys will be returned directly to Iowa State University. Julia presented the project to the board. Focus groups will include all types of users including the students. The survey will include maps, capture experiences and needs. The survey will also ask about what the kids will want. Recreation uses will also be asked. To find out more about the program, anyone can visit www.communityvisioning.org.
Badenhope exited at 5:50pm.
REGULAR MEETING
CONSENT ITEMS: Huberty moved to approve the consent items. Seconded by Kibbie. Motion carried.
OLD BUSINESS
Board Policies: Policies 501.04-501.11 were updated. Thomsen moved to approve the policies and Morton seconded. Motion carried.
EDUCATIONAL NEWS
High School: Christensen reviewed the HS Edify Data. This program was implemented to assess student understanding of the Iowa Core Standards. This data drives the conversations and decisions made. STEM Best Grant application was updated to incorporate K-12 classes. The University of Iowa will be working with our teachers in the STEM program. The Standards Based Grading Committee held lengthy conversations about the Grading Guidelines at the HS. Some changes are being made to the current grading processes.
Middle School: Rodemeyer reported FAST (reading and comprehension) data from the Middle School. Students of the week were listed. aMath is the assessment for tracking math scores. The MS PBIS team set a goal to reduce office referrals. Spring conferences will be here soon. Staff is working on a process to again include students. There will also be options for parents not comfortable with coming to the school building.
Elementary: Valentine’s celebration was a success. 100th day of school celebrations. All elementary grades are improving their FAST scores. Preschool signup is happening now as well as Kindergarten. Mr. Swanson used the VR goggles to take kids to Mt. Everest. Congratulations to Mr. Swanson on his Impossible to I’m Possible honor! Also, congratulations to Ryan Brennan, Cade Shirk, Matt Wirtz and Jordan Anderson for making it to state in wrestling! You can listen on KEMB or KICD. You can also purchase the entire tournament viewing through TrackWrestling for $19.99.
NEW BUSINESS
Personnel: Roethler moved to approve the resignation of Brett Hansen as Varsity Baseball Coach beginning the summer of 2022. Thomsen seconded. Motion carried.
Board Policies: Policies 501.13-501.17 were reviewed. They will be presented for a second reading in March.
Budget Guarantee: Moved to approve the following resolution:
RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors of Emmetsburg Community School District, will levy property taxes for the fiscal year 2021-2022 for the regular program budget adjustment as allowed under section 257.14, Code of Iowa. Roll call vote: Ayes-Dietrich, Huberty, Kibbie, Morton, Thomsen, Roethler, Hoyman. Nays-none. Motion carried.
Out of State Travel: The High School Show Choir would like to travel to Vermillion, SD on February 27, 2021 for competition and is asking for board approval to travel out of state. Due to COVID concerns the Pella competition had to be cancelled. There are restrictions in place for Vermillion. Those restrictions have been reviewed. If any issues would come up between now and February 27 regarding COVID, plans may change. Thomsen moved to approve the out of state trip and Kibbie seconded. Motion carried.
ADJOURNMENT: Kibbie moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:34pm. Seconded by Dietrich. Motion carried.
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Board President Board Secretary
