EMMETSBURG COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Regular Annual Meeting
Board of Education
November 18, 2020 Minutes
All motions are unanimous unless otherwise noted.
The Board of Education of Emmetsburg Community School District met in a regular annual session on November 18, 2020 at 5:30pm in the HS Library.
Present: Jane Hoyman, Bill Huberty, Kathy Roethler, Aaron Dietrich, Val Morton, Katy Thomsen (by Zoom), Scott Kibbie (by Zoom), Aaron Dietrich-arrived 5:40pm
Absent: None.
Also Present: Darren Hanna, Lisa Chapman, Tracie Christensen, Tim Rodemeyer, Tyler Bjustrom, Sara Straw, Kelly Josephson, Darca Saxton, Jill Schany, Joe Schany, Rhonda
McCartan, Sue Rouse, Mike Dunlap
Jane Hoyman, President, called the session to order at 5:30pm, acknowledged the fact of a quorum.
EDUCATIONAL NEWS
Hybrid Model Update-.The current goal is to make it to Christmas break by attending in person or the hybrid model. Currently the county is at a 24.7% positivity rate. The district is working with Palo Alto County Public Health. Tracking of cases in the buildings and numbers of those quarantined is recorded. The original state guidelines were a 10% absentee rate and a 15% county positivity rate. These are guidelines and the district works with those in mind. The concern is making sure we have enough staff on hand to fill all roles.
Approval of Agenda: Roethler moved to approve the agenda. Seconded by Dietrich. Motion carried.
REGULAR MEETING
CONSENT ITEMS: Dietrich moved to approve the consent items except for the Student Activity Funds reports and was seconded by Morton. Dietrich moved to table the Student Activity Fund Reports to next month. Seconded by Morton. Motion carried.
OLD BUSINESS
Board Policies: Updated Policies 408.1-408.3 dealing with licensed employees were presented for approval. Huberty moved to approve the policies and was seconded by Thomsen. Motion carried.
ADJOURNMENT OF RETIRING BOARD: Roethler moved to adjourn the meeting with the retiring board at 5:50pm. Dietrich seconded. Motion carried.
ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
CALL TO ORDER-5:50pm
OATH OF OFFICE FOR NEWLY ELECTED: School election is not held until 2021 so we have no new board members this year.
ELECTION OF PRESIDENT: Secretary Chapman called the meeting to order and called for nominations of president. Dietrich and Roethler nominated Hoyman. Roethler called for nominations to cease. By ballot vote Hoyman was declared president by a 7-0 vote.
ELECTION OF VICE-PRESIDENT: Newly elected President Hoyman called for nominations of the Vice-President. Dietrich nominated Roethler and Huberty called for nominations to cease. By ballot vote Roethler was declared vice president by a 7-0 vote.
OATH OF OFFICE FOR NEWLY ELECTED OFFICERS: Chapman administered the oath of office for president to Hoyman and for vice president to Roethler.
TIME & PLACE OF MONTHLY MEETINGS: Hoyman moved to have the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 5:30 in the High School Library as the regular meeting time and place. Morton seconded the motion. Motion carried.
ROLL CALL: Huberty, Morton, Roethler, Hoyman, Kibbie (by Zoom), Thomsen (by Zoom), Dietrich-Here. Absent-none.
NEW BUSINESS
PERSONNEL: There were no resignations. Dietrich moved to approve Bruce Nelson as a Volunteer 7th Grade Girls Basketball Coach, Dave Walters as a Volunteer Boys Basketball Coach and April Buss as a 7th Grade Girls Basketball Coach at $1,976 and as an 8th Grade Girls Track Coach at $2,268.00. Thomsen seconded. Motion carried.
BOARD POLICIES: The board presented the first reading of board policies 409-409.2 and 803.1, Handbook Title IX and Remote Learning.
GAMING GRANTS: Hanna informed the board that the district intends to use the Palo Alto County Gaming and Development Corporation grant on technology in the classrooms. There will not be a shared school award this cycle. Morton moved to approve the application for the PACGDC award in the 2020 cycle. Seconded by Dietrich. Motion carried.
APPOINTMENTS/COMMITTEES: Huberty moved to approve the committee assignments as they were in the previous year. Negotiations & Finance-Morton, Hoyman, Dietrich. Facilities & Transportation-Huberty, Kibbie, Dietrich. Education & Policy Development-Hoyman, Roethler, Thomsen. School Improvement Advisory-Kibbie, Roethler, Morton. Emmetsburg Education Foundation-Thomsen. IASB Delegate-Huberty. Palo Alto County-Dietrich.
BOARD SECRETARY/TREASURER: Dietrich moved to approve Lisa Chapman as the District Secretary/Treasurer. Morton seconded. Motion carried.
LEGAL COUNSEL: Morton moved to approve Steve Avery as legal counsel for the district. Dietrich seconded. Motion carried.
PUBLISHER: Huberty moved to approve Emmetsburg Publishing as the local publisher. Seconded by Roethler. Motion carried.
K-12 DESK AUDIT: Hanna reviewed the enrollment of students in all courses with attention drawn to specific classes as well as the gender, race and ethnicity of students in courses. Morton moved to approve the desk audit and Roethler seconded. Motion carried.
ADDITIONAL EARLY GRADUATION: Huberty moved to approve the early graduates. Morton seconded. Motion carried.
SBRC APPLICATION: Morton moved to approve the SBRC Application for Open Enrollment in the amount of $20,640. Thomsen seconded. Motion carried 7-0 vote. Morton also moved to approve the SBRC Application for ELL Beyond 5 Years in the amount of $3,146.44. Thomsen seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0 vote.
DISTRICT DEVELOPED SERVICE DELIVERY PLAN: THE DDSDP plan was reviewed by Tracie Christensen. The delivery system was developed in accordance with Iowa Administrative Code Rule 41.408(2)”c”. The group that developed the system included parents of eligible children, special education teachers, general education teachers, administrators, and at least one representative of the AEA. The plan discusses how students will be served, caseload determinations and assurances. Roethler moved to approve the plan and Hoyman seconded. Motion carried.
HUDL AGREEMENT: Kibbie moved to approve the agreement with Hudl. This package will allow the district to live stream events. The program is non-instructional and can be paid from PPEL. Dietrich seconded the motion. Motion carried.
LARGE GROUP RISK POOL for NATURAL GAS: In fiscal year 2020 the board approved the become a part of the Large Group Risk Pool Consortium for Natural Gas, but did not actually participate in the program. Hanna presented an agreement to participate in order to alleviate some of the burden of natural gas costs in the general fund. The program is a type of insurance plan that is paid from the Management Fund. The district would pay a premium for the insurance of the natural gas costs. The premium would include an historical figure based on past natural gas usage with an included amount of insurance. The advantage of the program is the saved costs in the general fund. The disadvantage would be the increased cost to include the premium. Over the span of 1 ½ years the increased cost would equate to approximately $18,659. The board weighed the pros and cons, but ultimately did not make a decision. Kibbie moved to table the discussion until the December meeting in order to research the possibility further. Huberty Seconded. Motion carried.
ADJOURNMENT: Kibbie moved adjourn at 6:37pm. Roethler seconded. Motion carried.
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Board President Board Secretary
