Mother’s attempt to get on agenda reveals policy muddle
~by GreeneCountyNewsOnline
The Greene County Schools board of education worked through a lengthy agenda at its regular meeting April 13. Much of the business was financial, but the board also listened to students wanting permits to drive to school and the mother of a student concerned about the content in a high school English class.
The meeting opened with a public hearing on the budget for the 2022-23 school year. No comments were voiced and the board approved the budget as published. Total expenditures, transfers out and other uses are set at $21,589,892. Total revenues are $22,870,042. The property tax levy will be $14.42 (per $1,000 of taxable valuation), decreased from $14.55 in the current year.
The board also held a public hearing and then amended the 2021-22 budget.
The board finalized the contract for incoming school superintendent Bret Abbotts. His salary was set at $165,000 in the first year, which is just slightly less than the salary of retiring superintendent Tim Christensen. The board had set a salary range of $160-$175,000 when it began the search process. Abbots will receive full family medical, dental and vision insurance. He was given a two-year contract.
At the March meeting the board approved a contract with the Greene County Education Association for 2022-23 that includes an increase of 3.68 percent in the base salary.
At the April meeting, the board approved the same increase for classified staff – classroom associates, custodians and maintenance, food service, bus drivers, and secretaries. Like the teaching staff, the district will cover an increase in insurance costs.
The board also adopted a plan to provide associates and secretaries opportunities for wage increases of up to $2/hour over the course of the next school year. They can participate in up to four days of professional development throughout the year, with those sessions based on the needs of the district. Those who then implement what they’ve learned will receive a 50-cent raise. There will be a similar plan for custodians.
“We want our employees to be as good as possible and do the things they need to do,” Christensen said.
The plan won’t be in place every year, but it will allow the district to increase wages for deserving employees.
Superintendent Christensen singled out six employees for larger wage increases. Activities secretary Misty Bettey will see a 14.95 percent increase, secretary to the superintendent Jill Lamoureux will see a 10 percent increase, and assistant business manager Laura Marshall will get a 7.49 percent increase. Christensen cited added responsibilities as the reason for the increases.
Custodian Christine Louk will receive a 13.33 percent increase and custodian Anthony Perry will get a 10 percent increase. Christensen called both of them ‘go-to” people who have taken on added responsibilities and demonstrated flexibility.
At-risk liaison/equity coordinator/student information coordinator Emily Gannon will receive a 9.74 percent increase. Christensen also called her a “go-to” person who fills whatever roles are needed.
Administrators will receive a 3.0 percent salary increase with the district covering the insurance cost increase, for a total package increase of 3.68 percent.
“It’s a challenging employment market and we’ got to stay competitive and give people the incentive to improve themselves at their job,” board president Steve Fisher said. “We felt these were all justified.”
Christensen recommended a 10 percent increase for business manager Brenda Muir, whose position is considered administrative, saying she is “very deserving” of the increase and will have added responsibilities next year with a new superintendent.
In financial matters not pertaining to wages, the board approved spending $47,500 to add to a $100,000 grant from Grow Greene County for a video scoreboard for Linduska Field. Activities director Todd Gordon said the scoreboard will be one of the largest at a high school field in the state. It will provide a platform for student-produced media content like what’s shown on the scoreboard in the high school gym. It will also be able to show lane positions and results at track and field meets.
The board approved summer projects including installing new switches in the computer network, a portion of a new fire sprinkler system at the middle schools, and security cameras at the elementary school at a cost of $229,632. Approved on the same motion was the purchase of two 77-passenger buses at $113,000 each, and another $63,180 to complete the middle school sprinkler system in 2023.
Earlier this year the board approved replacing the irrigation system and resurfacing Linduska Field, asbestos removal at the middle school and lighting at the high school south parking lot. Those projects total $149,520.
The board approved spending $190,975 of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to replace heat pumps at the elementary school. The heat pumps scheduled for replacement are original to the building which is now 30 years old. Drees Company of Carroll will do the work.
The board approved a contract with Raccoon Valley Lawn Care for four fertilizer applications at a cost of $20,884. Grounds director Shawn DeMoss said he cut back on some areas to be fertilized to avoid an increase in cost to the district.
In business not pertaining to finances, the board approved the first reading of Board Policy 505.5 – Graduation Requirements. It was the third “first” reading of the policy, as there were minor revisions after the February and March readings. The board waived the second reading. The policy requires 50 credits for graduation and eliminates the basic diploma.
Building trades instructor Kirk Davis told the board he hopes to build a house with the construction class next school year. The class did not do a large project the last two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Davis said he’s considering a home of about 1,400 square-feet and a cost of about $250,000. Students haven’t registered yet for classes but he thinks he’ll have enough students. He will have more information and ask the board for a decision at the May meeting.
During the winter the board changed the process for students getting the Department of Transportation application for a school permit signed. Previously, the high school principal or school superintendent signed the applications. The change requires students to attend a board meeting and explain their need for a permit. The board then approves or disapproves the request and the application is signed by the board president.
The first six students went through the process at the April meeting. Board member Bonnie Silbaugh was board spokesperson during that portion of the meeting. After hearing their requests, she reminded them of the rules for school permits and concluded with a reminder to “Be safe and be smart.”
During the open forum portion of the meeting, Heather Ruzicka, whose son is in 10th grade, spoke to the board encouraging better communication between the district and parents. She was concerned about a short story her son was assigned to read for an English class, the response she received when she questioned the teacher about her choice of content, and the process of getting on the board agenda.
She said she was advised by someone in the district to get on the April 13 board agenda. She followed the process as she was told to do, but was told April 8 that she was not on the agenda and would need 500 signatures to be on the agenda. She said hurdles had been put in front of her as she tried to get on the agenda.
She said the teacher “does not care where boundaries are, and if you guys as a board are fine with that, I need to know that as a parent. If you guys aren’t going to make sure that our teachers have boundaries, my child is not going to stay here.”
“I don’t think this problem is going to solved, and I think that’s a huge breakdown between a school and a parent,” Ruzicka said.
Brenda Muir and Tim Christensen explained the Iowa legislature last year passed a bill setting a procedure constituents can use to place an item on an agenda. The threshold for signatures is 10 percent of the number of total voters in the most recent school election or 500, whichever is less.
Christensen explained that prior to the new law, the board president had total control over the agenda. The change was to prevent “stonewalling” to keep items off the agenda. “With this policy, if you get the required number of signatures, no matter what it is, nobody on the board can say, ‘No, you can’t be on the agenda’,” Christensen said.
The matter came up again an hour later when the board came to an agenda item calling for review of Policies 208.2 through 209.4. Those policies deal with board procedures and meetings. Policy 208.8, “Board Meeting Agenda” was last reviewed in December 2018; suggested revisions were provided to the board for consideration.
BP 208.11, “Public Participation in Board Meetings,” was revised in September 2021 to include the petition process.
The revised 208.11 also requires persons to notify the board secretary prior to a meeting if he or she wishes to speak at the meeting. However, the printed agenda each month includes a statement that the open forum is to allow patrons to communicate with the entire board without mention of prior notification. Donna Sutton, in attendance at the meeting, was recognized by president Fisher and pointed out that discrepancy.
Ruzicka joined the discussion again, saying the board needed to be approachable by parents.
Christensen apologized for the confusion, saying there were three different issues and policies involved. The first would be the process of getting on the agenda, BP 208.8. The second, BP 208.11A, provides the process the public should use to make a complaint about a school employee. The third policy, BP 605.3A, deals with reconsideration of instructional materials.
In the end, the agenda item calling for review of 208.2 through 209.4 was tabled to the May 18 meeting, with a committee set to review policy and rewrite the information about the open forum at the bottom of the agenda.
During his report to the board, Christensen announced the district received a $25,000 bequest from 1952 Jefferson High School graduate Jone Anderson Jensen. He proposed using the money to fund five grants of up to $5,000 each for teachers to implement “innovations” in their classrooms. The grants would be awarded based on written proposals that would be evaluated by the administrative team. The board approved that use of the bequest.
He also said he plans to seek bids for demolition of the former south grade school so demo can be done soon after the Greene County Early Learning Center moves from that building into its new location this summer.
Demolition of the 1956 gymnasium has been delayed at the request of developer Nate Adams, Christensen said, pending approval of historic tax credits for his repurposing of the three-story school as apartments.
