Mid-Prairie Community School District
Kalona, Wellman, West Chester
Mid-Prairie Central Office Community Room, Wellman, IA 52356
November 13, 2023 – 6:15 p.m.
Vice-President Gabrielle Frederick called the meeting to order in the absence of President Jeremy Pickard.
Board members present: Mary Allred, Denise Chittick, Gabrielle Frederick, Marianne Schlabach, Jed Seward, Jake Snider.
Board members absent: Jeremy Pickard.
Also Present: Brian Stone, Jeff Swartzentruber, Chuck Banks, Rob Hruby, Rachel Kerns, Amy Shalla, and Frank Slabaugh.
Mary Allred moved to adopt the agenda as presented. Seconded by Marianne Schlabach. Motion carried 6-0.
Hawk Highlight – Kristan Hunter, Curriculum Coordinator/Instructional Leader and the Instructional Coaches Team of Erin Cavanagh, High School; Sarah Ihde, East Elementary, Kelsi Tebockhorst, Middle School; and Emily Zehr, West Elementary; presented information on the TLC program and the work of the TLC Instructional Coaches for the District. This is the first year that there has been a full-time instructional coach in each building. They shared their goals and whys in their work as instructional coaches. They provided details and examples of their approach to their work. The Board asked questions for clarification and thanked the instructional coaches for their work.
Public Forum
A parent spoke of their opinions and concerns about how District Policies are being followed, or not followed, by Administrators and Staff.
WORK SESSION
Administrator Reports – The Board reviewed the Administrators’ written reports to the Board. Time was allotted to ask questions and to discuss the reports. No questions were asked.
Audit Fieldwork Report – Audit fieldwork was conducted on October 24th and 25th by Nolte Cornman and Johnson from their offices, or remotely for the 3rd year in a row. Superintendent Stone and School Business Official Swartzentruber participated in the exit interview on October 25th. The fieldwork went well with segregation of duties in the Central Office as the main comment, which is a continuing comment. Some minor adjustments to Certified Enrollment and to Supplementary Weighting. The Pending Item has been resolved as there is no tax abatement letter from the City of Wellman.
Board Election and Bond Information – The Canvas of Votes for each county—Washington, Johnson, Iowa—is to be completed November 13th and 14th. A second, Tier 2, Canvas of Votes will be completed by November 20th or 21st. Once these are completed and filed, the results for the election will be final. Persons elected to the board in the unofficial results are: Mary Allred (incumbent), Randy Billups, Denise Chittick (incumbent), and Ryan Schlabaugh. There were 4,343 votes cast for 5 candidates, including 40 votes cast for write-in candidates. Plans are to have the Organizational Meeting on November 27, 2023.
The General Obligation Bond Referendum for the $8.7million bond passed by with 943 yes votes (68.43%) versus 435 no votes (31.57%)--1,378 total votes cast. The next steps to the process will be to determine the timeline for the letting of bids, which will also determine when the bonds may be sold, and how to determine the needed Debt Service requirements for the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Certified Budget. Also, of consideration is the Debt Pre-Levy on the existing 2014 Bond Issue and its effect on the new Debt Service with the goal to stay at the current maximum debt levy of $2.70—the District has been reaching the maximum with the pre-levy over the last number of years. There will be Bond Resolutions in January and February 2024. The Work to be done on the above items will also help determine the view of the Amortization/Payment schedule for the new General Obligation Bonds.
2024-2025 Certified Budget Schedule Process Changes – The Iowa Legislature has changed the process and the schedule for the Certified Budget. The process has added an additional Public Hearing and a March 20th mailer to property taxpayers. While this complicates the schedule, work has commenced on understanding the various interim due dates and the correlation to Board Meeting Dates.
ISASP Data Presentation – Kristan Hunter, District Curriculum Coordinator, reported on the ISASP Data from the 2022-2023 School Year. It measures mathematics and English Language reading and writing for grades 4 through 12. Science assessments are completed for 5th, 8th, and 10th grade. She then showed the data and reminded the board to view it as one piece of information in a larger picture. She showed charts for the District versus the State of Iowa data by grade and by subject—Mathematics, English, and Science. Growth is measured based upon a predictive model to work towards students’ expected scores. Hunter summarized the slides and stated that the District continues to track with State of Iowa data overall. There are areas where growth was well above, average, and below or well below average, and this was noted by Hunter and Board members in conversation and questions to Hunter and to administrators who were present. Hunter discussed the Professional Learning Communities on-going work and the focus on teaching methods and curriculum that addresses educational needs in the areas seen as below or well below average.
BUSINESS MEETING
Consent Items
Superintendent Stone noted two transfers. High School Custodian Dirk Rich has transferred to High School Lead Custodian. High School Custodian Rob Benge is transferred to second shift at the High School Custodian. A third shift custodian position is now open.
Mary Allred moved to approve the following consent items.
Minutes of Previous Meetings
The minutes of October 23, 2023;
Finance Report
The Finance Report for October 2023;
Payment of Bills
The bills as listed for October 23, 2023; Prepaid Bills;
Open Enrollment Requests
Open Enrollment In Requests total 3 students;
Open Enrolled Out Requests total 3 students;
Personnel Items
Contract issued to Teresa Coleman, High School Computer Science Teacher, $66,025 per annum;
Contract issued to James Cayton, High School Assistant Wrestling Coach, $4,248 per season;
Work Agreement issued to Stacy McCoy, East Elementary Paraprofessional; $14.98 per hour;
Resignation of Grace Beatty, Middle School General Cook, $15.00 per hour, effective November 3, 2023;
Fundraising Requests – No fundraising requests presented for approval;
Marianne Schlabach second the motion. Motion carried 6-0.
Student Learning
IASB Policy Primer Review Update
Superintendent Stone reported on the most recent IASB Policy Primer. It included a recommendation to review policies: 401.1 Equal Employment Opportunity; 503.1 Student Conduct; and 503.2 Expulsion. Stone reported that he reviewed the IASB model policies, named above, and compared them to the Mid-Prairie Policies. The Mid-Prairie Policies follow the model policies for the three policies. There is no recommendation to amend or change the Mid-Prairie policies.
Finance
Budget Guarantee Resolution for FY2024-2025
School Business Official Jeff Swartzentruber provided the Regular Program Budget Adjustment Resolution #111323 and recommended approval of the resolution. Due to the District’s Resident Student Count on October 1, 2023, reported as 33.79 students down from the previous October 1, 2022 Student Count, it is very likely that increased funding by the State of Iowa for schools will not meet last year’s budget funding. The resolution allows for the District to receive at least 101% of the 2023-2024 Fiscal Year Revenue. Open Enrolled In students were up 19.20 students from the October 1, 2022 Student Count. While the Open Enrolled In students offset smooths the net trend, the District is still down 24.9 students served compared to the 2022 count, the loss of students is greater than last year’s net loss of 1.0 students. This makes it even less likely that an increase in per student funding will offset the loss of students. Again, the funds from Open Enrolled Students come from semi-annual bills to the districts from which the Open Enrolled In students come.
Denise Chittick moved to approve Resolution #111323 Regular Program Budget Adjustment for the 2024-2025 School Year as presented. Marianne Schlabach seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote: Gabrielle Frederick - yes Mary Allred - yes
Jed Seward - yes Jeremy Pickard - absent
Marianne Schlabach - yes Jake Snider - yes
Denise Chittick - yes
Motion carried 6-0.
Board Development and Inservice Activities
IASB Convention is November 15 to 17, 2023. Attendance by Board Members is set.
Announcements and Suggestions for Next Agenda
The next regular Board meeting will be on Monday, November 27, 2023, at 6:15 p.m. at the Central Office Community Room. Agenda items to include: Organizational Meeting of the Board after the election results are Canvassed, Re-approval of the SBRC Resolution from the October 23rd meeting; and the mid-year Superintendent Evaluation in Closed Session; Select IBB Board Representatives. The Board is considering Denise Chittick and Mary Allred.
Board Highlights
Snider, Schlabach, Seward, Allred, Chittick – Appreciated the Instructional Coaches presentation;
Frederick – Look forward to hearing about the IASB Convention this week;
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 7:32 p.m.
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President, Jeremy PIckard Date
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Secretary, Jeffrey C. Swartzentruber Date