The Greene County Schools board of education spent much of the July 17 meeting preparing for the 2024-25 school year, approving fees, student and staff handbooks, and more.
Greene County parents will see no increase in the fees they pay when they register their children for school for the coming year.
The board approved book fees, meal prices and activity pass prices, all the same as the previous school year. Student lunches will be $2.55 ($0.40 reduced), breakfast will be $1.20 ($0.30 reduced) and extra milk will be $0.40. Adults will pay $4.85 for lunch and $2.75 for breakfast.
Book fees will be $30 for kindergarten ($12 reduced), $40 for students grades 1-3 ($16 reduced), and $45 for students grades 4-12 ($18 reduced).
Student activity passes will be $50 for Greene County students or $25 for Paton-Churdan students (for shared sports only). Adults will pay $100 for all sports or $50 for sports shared with P-C. Senior citizen passes will be $25. A punch card for 20 admissions will be $110. Tickets at the gate will be $7 for football, $6 for all other high school sports, and $5 for middle school sports (adults only). There will be no charge for students to attend middle school sporting events.
The board also approved student handbooks for each of the schools. The biggest change for high school students will be a change to eight class periods due to the change from trimesters to semesters. The school day will be shorter – from 8:15 am to 3:23 pm. Classes at the Career Academy will start at 8 am and finish at 10:35.
High school principal Karen Shannon highlighted the school’s cell phone policy for the board. She noted that with the shorter class periods it is important to ensure students’ focus and engagement in class. Cell phones will still be allowed in school, but they can be used only between class periods or during lunch or a study hall. Cell phones are to be placed in a designated place at the start of each class. Students will receive a 30-minute detention for a second offence; one-half day detention for a third offense; a full day detention for a fourth offense; and after a fifth offense the phone will not be allowed in the school for the remainder of the school year. “Parents are encouraged to assist the schools in helping students make good decisions over cell phone use and take away their child’s cell phone if it is interfering with learning at school,” the handbook states.
Also, ninth graders will not be allowed to attend prom, and students with less than 75 percent attendance through the third marking period will also not be allowed.
At the middle school, students will be dismissed for the day at 3:30 pm, five minutes later than last year. Like last year, students must put their cell phones on airplane or silent mode and store them in their locker. They may be used only during passing time, not during lunch or recess. Other items were updated in the handbook to reflect current policies and practices.
The biggest change to the elementary school handbook is in the consequences for misbehavior on a school bus. The principal will enforce the policy for students “who fail to behave in an orderly manner.” Penalties range from a verbal warning and being assigned to a seat for a first offense, to have transportation privileges suspended for whatever remains of the school year for a fifth or severe offense. The count will be reset each quarter for pre-K and kindergarteners, and each semester for students in grades 1-2. There is no reset for students in grades 3-4.
The board approved a contract with 21st Century Rehab for sports medicine coverage for the year. Cost is $12,000, an increase of $2,500 over last school year. Coverage will be provided for all home high school sporting events except bowling, home and away high school football, and home middle school football games, wrestling meets and track meets. Coverage for volleyball and basketball will be for varsity only.
The board approved a bid from Anderson Erickson for dairy products and from Pan-O-Gold Baking Company for bread products. Those companies were the only bidders. The board approved depository limits as in previous years, using all three banks with offices in Jefferson and the Iowa School Joint Investment Trust. The board also reappointed Teresa Hoyle as treasurer, Laura Marshall as board secretary, and Mumma-Pedersen Law Firm as legal counsel.
Finally, the board approved a 28E agreement and a food service agreement with New Opportunities Head Start.
