EMMETSBURG COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Regular Meeting
Board of Education
October 21, 2020 Minutes
All motions are unanimous unless otherwise noted.
The Board of Education of Emmetsburg Community School District met in a regular session on October 21, 2020 at 5:30pm in the HS Library.
Present: Jane Hoyman, Bill Huberty, Kathy Roethler, Aaron Dietrich, Val Morton, Katy Thomsen
Absent: Scott Kibbie
Also Present: Darren Hanna, Lisa Chapman, Tracie Christensen, Tim Rodemeyer, Tyler Bjustrom, Sara Straw, Kelly Josephson, Darca Saxton, Jill Schany, Joe Schany
Jane Hoyman, President, called the session to order at 5:30pm, acknowledged the fact of a quorum.
Approval of Agenda: Morton moved to approve the agenda. Seconded by Thomsen. Motion carried.
EDUCATIONAL NEWS
Instructional Framework-Kelly Josephson and Jill Schany presented the Standards Based Grading/Standards Based Learning (SBG/SBL) program. Teachers work with four essential questions. Those questions include, what do the students need to know, what do they already know, what do we do if they don’t know and what do we do if we already know. Teachers use feedback, reteaching/reassessing and multi-tiered interventions. The teachers’ job is to make sure the students know the material and are reaching the standards. If students already know it, extension activities are utilized and students are pushed to learn. Learning is pushed to all students. The focus is to continue to learn and not a grade. Grading guidelines that were adopted were shared with the board and audience. There are a few points that are non-negotiable. Those include grading on a 4.0 scale and all assessed work must be tied to a course or grade level standard. It was enforced that feedback is important in learning. Teachers must allow re-take assessments. Homework is allowed, but not graded. The grading must be communicated to the students. Staff has been doing self audits which showed growth.
Josephson and Schany exited at 5:45pm.
REGULAR MEETING
CONSENT ITEMS: Roethler moved to approve the consent items and was seconded by Morton. Motion carried.
OLD BUSINESS
Board Policies: Updated Policies 407.1-407.5 dealing with licensed employees were presented for approval. Thomsen moved to approve the policies and was seconded by Huberty. Motion carried.
Elementary Report- PBIS winners were celebrated at West. Some events at the elementary school include a new TV in the lunchroom for educational viewing, conference sign up (either in person or virtual) is out and there will be a Fall Party October 29.They will begin a board review meeting in the morning following board meetings for staff. Mr. Bjustrom will facilitate more face to face time with staff and coordinate face to face time between staff members. He thanked his staff especially for the extra time and efforts due to COVID. Mr. Bjustrom also gave a shout out to Mr. Carpenter and his secretarial staff for their extra work. Staff is excited for the promotion of our school through the community partnerships.
Secondary Report-Mr. Rodemeyer, Assistant Secondary Principal, celebrated the Students of the Week for Middle School. Homework camp is starting up again. TRIO is helping to help with the program both in instruction and funding. October goals include less tardies. Rewards will include a tech day with games and/or phones. The students would like to put together a middle school volleyball tournament through the WIN group. Students require that participants must have 3 or less missing assignments to participate. Brackets have been created by the kids. Retraining was discussed. A food bank drive is being coordinated by Kate Schiek, K-7 Guidance Counselor, and the middle school student council.
Mrs. Christensen, Secondary Principal, will be working with parents and students that are doing online schooling. She will have conversations with those students that are not doing the work required to pass the course. It is the district responsibility to keep contacting the students and parents. Online learning has been difficult. Christensen spoke about the Quail Project in the Agriculture classroom. Friday, October 23rd, will be a “practice day”. This day will allow students to catch up on any missing assignments. A doughnut day through PBIS will be on Friday for all those that have no outstanding assignments. New lunchroom tables have arrived. These tables were purchased to improve seating and spacing due to COVID rules.
NEW BUSINESS
Personnel: Roethler moved to approve the resignation of Jessica Biddle as a Middle School para-educator. Seconded by Huberty. Motion carried unanimously. Thomsen moved to approve the volunteer coach for wrestling, Mark Saxton. Seconded by Dietrich. Motion carried.
Board Policies (First Reading): 408-408.3 policies were reviewed by committee. First reading was submitted to the entire board.
Sale of 2003 Chevy Mid-Size Bus: Morton moved to approve the only bid received from Keith Whittington of Spirit Lake in the amount of $501. Seconded by Dietrich. Motion carried.
LEP Allowable Cost: The district has overspent the allowed amount of funding for English Language Learners due to the increased need for the students. In this case, the state has allowed for districts to ask for the allowable growth back. The district is requesting the maximum amount of $13,968.48. Morton moved to approve the LEP Allowable Cost authority at the maximum amount $13,968.48 and seconded by Roethler. Motion carried.
Middle School Football Field: Hanna has been having conversations with Kim Kibbie, City Clerk. At one point the school deeded the property to the city for the recreation department. That has changed. At this time only middle school football is using the property. Kibbie has offered to deed the property back to the district. Hanna recommends accepting that offer. Dietrich moved to approve the acceptance of the offer of deeding the property back to the district. Thomsen seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Pepsi Contract: A five (5) year contract was offered with new lower pricing. They have also offered $2,000 cash per year. This funding will help with any future expenses for athletics or the board’s choosing. Hanna recommends that the board approve the contract. Morton moved to approve the contract. Huberty seconded. Motion carried.
Dietrich moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:34pm. Seconded by Roethler. Motion carried.
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Board President Board Secretary
