Mid-Prairie Community School District
Kalona, Wellman, West Chester
Mid-Prairie Central Office Community Room, Wellman, IA 52356
February 14, 2022 – 6:15 p.m.
President Jeremy Pickard called the meeting to order.
Board members present: Mary Allred, Denise Chittick, Gabrielle Frederick, Jeremy Pickard, Marianne Schlabach, Jed Seward, and Jake Snider.
Board members absent: None.
Also Present: Mark Schneider, Jeff Swartzentruber, Chuck Banks, Robin Foster, Rob Hruby, Greg Jergens, Rachel Kerns, Amy Shalla, and Frank Slabaugh.
Gabrielle Frederick moved to adopt the agenda as presented. Seconded by Mary Allred. Motion carried 7-0.
WORK SESSION
Home School Assistance Program Presentation
Rachel Kerns, Home School Assistance Program Director and her Assistant Director Molly Steinbrech provided a presentation to the Board. Currently there are 481 students from 21 different districts in the Mid-Prairie Home School Assistance Program. They shared the daily activities in the building ranging from 118 students to 50+ on any given day. There are 82 students in the Strings Program and 30+ students in the Band Program. There is a focus on parent directed learning within the HSAP program. There are parent led club programs as well in the building with emphasis on building community within the programs. A handout with the highlights of the program was provided by Kerns and Steinbrech. Graduates of the MP HSAP program will total between 20 to 22 students in 2022, compared to 27 in the class of 2021. The Board expressed appreciation for the work of the HSAP personnel and asked questions about the program and comparability to other districts with HSAP programs.
Bond Referendum
Superintendent Schneider reported on the status of the preparations for the March 1, 2022 election for the Bond Referendum. He reported on various speaking engagements and meetings with various groups to discuss the projects and to answer questions. He shared about upcoming meetings at the Middle School and High School. He discussed a mailing that will be released later this week to educate the constituencies. He also noted the various social media postings. The Board asked questions about the activities and discussed sentiments that are being heard on the projects and the two questions on the ballot.
Guidance Counselor and High School English Teacher Positions
Superintendent Schneider and High School Principal Chuck Banks discussed the proposal to increase the FTE for a High School English Teacher from 0.5 FTE to 1.0 FTE. This will provide opportunities for additional English Language Arts Courses to be offered while also allowing class sizes to remain as low as possible as our Student Population Increase. Current class sizes for English 9 and English 10 are approximately 18 students. In addition, finding a quality half-time teacher has proven to be extremely difficult from past experience.
Superintendent Schneider and High School Principal Banks and Middle School Principal Rob Hruby discussed the proposal to add a 1.0 FTE Grades 5 to 12 Guidance Counselor to be shared between the Middle School and High School. Due to the increased need for social emotional health support, transitional support, increasing class size, and other factors, the administrative team recommends this additional position. In the current situation, the High School and Middle School Counselors find themselves in a reactive mode. Adding this position would also allow the position currently shared between East Elementary and Middle School to support only elementary students. Roles, responsibilities and schedules with a new position and current staff would be determined later based upon needs and strengths. Both positions would be proposed to start in August of 2022.
300 Series, School Board Policies - Administration
Superintendent Schneider led the Board through a review of the 300 Series School Board Policies. He started the review by discussing the IASB model policies and comparing them to the current policies in place for the District. He started at the beginning of the section and progressed in numerical order. At 7pm, the Board transitioned to the Business portion of the meeting with intent to continue and complete this agenda item at the end of the Business portion of the meeting.
Board Development and Inservice Activities – Agenda item moved to the end of the meeting.
BUSINESS MEETING
Public Forum– 7:00 p.m.
No one spoke.
Consent Items
Gabrielle Frederick moved to approve the following consent items.
Minutes of Previous Meetings
The minutes of January 24, 2022;
Finance Report
The Finance Report for January 2022;
Payment of Bills
The bills as listed for February 14, 2022; and Prepaid Bills;
Open Enrollment Requests
Donny Kading requests Allison Kading (Grade 8), attend Mid-Prairie Virtual Academy from Benton Community School District for the 2021-22 School Year;
Denny and Marnie Schrader request Caroline Schrader (Grade 8), Holden Schrader (Grade 5), Madeline Schrader (Grade 11) and Gavin Schrader (Grade 4), attend Mid-Prairie from Keota Community School District for the 2021-22 School Year;
Crystal Carr requests Jackson Carr (Grade 3), Cameron Carr (Grade 7), and Weston Carr (Grade 5), attend Mid-Prairie Home School Assistance Program from Iowa City Community School District for the 2021-22 School Year;
Dawn Stultz requests Jesse Stultz (Grade 9), attend Mid-Prairie from Highland Community School District for the 2022-23 School Year;
Tamara Buchmayer requests Kristy Buchmayer (Kindergarten), attend Mid-Prairie from Iowa City Community School District for the 2022-23 School Year;
Marisa Tulliana-Holtz and Joseph Holtz request Benjamin Lopiccalo (Grade 6), attend Mid-Prairie from Tri-County Community School District for the 2022-23 School Year;
Michael Barr requests Josiah Barr (Grade 6) attend Mid-Prairie’s Home School Assistance Program from Iowa City Community School District for the 2022-23 School Year;
Hannah Liddell requests Ezekiel Liddell (Kindergarten) attend Mid-Prairie’s Home School Assistance Program from Iowa City Community School District for the 2022-23 School Year;
Kelly Nebel requests Clark Nebel (Kindergarten) attend Mid-Prairie’s Home School Assistance Program from Washington Community School District for the 2022-23 School Year;
Carla Seele requests Sophia Seele (Kindergarten) attend Mid-Prairie’s Home School Assistance Program from West Liberty Community School District for the 2022-23 School Year;
Justin and Shalee Slaubaugh request Maple Slaubaugh (Kindergarten) attend Mid-Prairie’s Home School Assistance Program from Williamsburg Community School District for the 2022-23 School Year;
Personnel Items
Contract issued to Kathryn Schneider, Middle School Softball Coach; $1,827.00 per annum;
Contract issued to Olivia Tucker, 8th Grade Boys Basketball Assistant Coach; $1,522.50 per annum;
Contract issued to Jamie Clark, 7t Grade Track Coach, $2,217 per season;
Contract issued to Beth Reeves, High School Math Teacher for 2022-2023 School Year, $62,101.00 per annum (2021-2022 Contract Equivalent);
Resignation of Jeff Murphy, High School Assistant Football Coach, $4,138.00 per annum, effective 1/27/2022;
Resignation of Norman Brooks, Middle School and HSAP Band Director, $64,729 per annum, effective end of the 2021-2022 Contract Year;
Resignation of Beth Spenler, East Elementary and Middle School Special Education Teacher, $64,729 per annum, effective end of the 2021-2022 Contract Year;
Resignation of Kurtis Broeg, High School Teacher; $65,834 per annum, effective end of the 2021-2022 Contract Year;
Resignation of Jessica Nafziger, Middle School Nurse, $43,437 per annum, effective end of the 2021-2022 Contract Year;
Resignation of Marian Marley, High School Science Teacher, $64,137 per annum, effective end of the 2021-2022 Contract Year;
Resignation of Katelynn Barthelman, East Elementary Second Grade Teacher, $43,437 per annum, effective end of the 2021-2022 Contract Year;
Caitlyn Carlson, West Elementary 4th Grade Teacher, $42,203 per annum, effective end of the 2021-2022 Contract Year;
Fundraising Requests
Mid-Prairie Dance Team requests approval to raise funds through sponsorship letters to raise funds for uniforms, costumes, poms, choreography fees, accessories, banquet items, and team awards;
Mid-Prairie Boys and Girls Golf Teams request approval to raise funds through a 1-day indoor golf clinic to purchase practice equipment, greens fees, driving range fees, coaches gear, and food for all day tournament plans;
FCCLA and the High School Student Leadership Team request approval to raise funds through the Mid-Prairie Mini Dance Marathon and related activities for helping children and families experiencing childhood cancer;
Synchrony Contract
Contract with Synchrony to renew the Employee Assistance Program Contract for a twelve-month time period.
Mary Allred seconded the consent items. Motion carried 7-0.
Student Learning
Guidance Counselor Position
Board President Pickard asked if there were any further questions on the recommendation to add a shared Guidance Counselor between the Middle School and High School.
Gabrielle Frederick moved to approve the recommendation to add a 1.0 FTE Position for Guidance Counselor to be shared by the Middle School and High School starting with the 2022-2023 School Year. Jake Snider seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0.
High School English Teacher
Board President Pickard asked if there were any further questions on the recommendation to add a full-time High School English Teacher position. The Board asked questions about the program and candidate qualifications.
Gabrielle Frederick moved to approve the recommendation to add a 1.0 FTE High School English Teacher from the current 0.5 FTE starting with the 2022-2023 School Year. Denise Chittick seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0.
2022 2023 School Calendar
Superintendent Schneider shared the 2022-2023 School Calendar and Calculation of Instructional Hours documents for the 2022-2023 School Year as recommended by the IBB Committee. There are an increased number of early outs due to a change in the schedule at the Middle School that shifts the shortest school day to East Elementary for next year. The shortest building school day increases by 10 minutes from the 2021-2022 School Year. Board members discussed the timing of certain days off before or after certain breaks and the impact upon student attendance.
Denise Chittick moved to approve 2022-2023 School Calendar as presented. Gabriella Frederick seconded the motion. Motion carried 6-1 with Pickard voting no.
Finance
HSEC Ventilation Bids
Superintendent Schneider and Shive-Hattery’s Tim Fehr reported on the February 8, 2022 bid document opening for the Home School Education Center Ventilation Project. There were three bidders for the project with bids ranging from $574,200 to $607,000. The low bid was roughly $200,000 over the initial estimate primarily due to the materials and mechanicals—inflation factors have a significant impact on HVAC trades. While it is believed that these prices could come down, though it is a matter of timing and when, there is also a concern by the Board that prices may not go down, but continue to trend up. While this project was projected to come from ESSER III, these bids exceed the amount planned from ESSER III. The overage would need to come out of SAVE or PPEL. It is recommended the bid be awarded to City Construction Newco LLC at the bid amount of $574,200 contingent on their written acknowledgement of the addendum and honoring their bid amount.
Gabrielle Frederick moved to award the bid to City Construction Newco LLC for the HSEC Ventilation Project in the amount of $574,200 contingent on receipt of their written acknowledgement of the addendum and verification of the bid. Mary Allred seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0.
Flexibility Account Spending Resolution
Superintendent Schneider noted that the Flexibility Transfer Account Resolution was passed at the January 24, 2002 Board Meeting. The resolution passed allowed for the transfer of $259,000 from Home School Assistance Program to the Flexibility Account. A resolution is also required to approve the spending and spending plan for the funds transferred to the Flexibility Account.
Marianne Schlabach moved to approve Resolution 021422 Directing Expenditures from the Flexibility Fund and read pertinent parts of the resolution. Gabrielle Frederick seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote: Gabrielle Frederick - yes Mary Allred - yes
Jed Seward - yes Jeremy Pickard - yes
Marianne Schlabach - yes Jake Snider - yes
Denise Chittick - yes
Motion carried 7-0.
Work Session
Completion of Unfinished Work Session Items
300 Series, School Board Policies - Administration
Superintendent Schneider continued the review of the 300 Series School Board Policies at the point in the policy series where the earlier Work Session agenda item was halted. The Series 300 School Board Policies review was completed. Next steps are to make the changes as noted in the review and bring the changes back to the Board for review of changes and approvals.
Board Development and Inservice Activities
The Colors activity would be something to be considered. IASB on-site Board orientation to on-board new board members.
Announcements and Suggestions for Next Agenda
The next regular Board meeting will be on Monday, February 28, 2022, at 6:15 p.m. at the Central Office Community Room. Agenda items to include: Transportation Report, Middle School Activities Report, and discussion about the first Board Meeting in March.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.