The Camanche School District’s Board of Education met on Tuesday, January 16th. Please note that these are not the official minutes. The official Agendas and Minutes from the Camanche Community School District school board are available and posted on our school district website (camanche.k12.ia.us).
Items to highlight from this school board meeting would include:
- The Board heard comments from three speakers. One speaker spoke about concerns with the Governor’s proposal to restructure the Area Education Agency (AEA) and possible legislative action regarding the same. Two speakers shared their thoughts about practices on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings.
- Superintendent Parker reminded the Board about the special board meeting on February 1st at 5:00 p.m. to hear a presentation from the Iowa Association of School Boards regarding conducting a superintendent’s search and discussion of the same. The school board also decided to set a special meeting on January 23rd at 6:30 p.m. to prepare for the February 1st meeting.
- The school board heard a presentation from Kristyl McDaniel representing the District’s auditing firm, Winkel, Parker, and Foster that indicated that the overall audit was of good standing and a clean report.
- Superintendent Parker presented a draft copy of the proposed school calendar for the 2024-2025 school year for the Board’s review. The main difference in this proposed calendar is having 176 student/teacher contact days instead of 180 days. The District would still be able to meet the state-required minimum of 1080 student contact hours with this proposed calendar. The four days would be used for teacher professional learning. Elementary teachers would be receiving training in LETRS, a state supported literacy program. The secondary teachers would be receiving training in Universal Constructs. The District’s Curriculum/Professional Learning Lead, Carolyn Petersen, provided the school board with information about the professional learning that would take place during these days. The Board plans to act upon next year’s school calendar during their regular February meeting.
- Business Director Aude informed the Board that she is exploring the possibility of using federal ESSER funds to provide yellow school bus drivers a “loyalty stipend” at the end of the year in response to a neighboring district making a significant mid-year pay increase for their bus drivers.
- The Board heard updates from representatives from Estes Construction and Bray Architects about the Facilities Enhancement Project and approved a Change Order for this project as we near its completion. They reported that the overall project should come in under budget. In her report, Business Director Aude informed the Board that she is gathering information regarding permissible uses for the funds that will be available because project was under budget.
- The principals informed the Board about ongoing and upcoming activities at each of their schools.
- The Board approved the administrative recommendation to conduct a districtwide Needs Assessment Survey. More information regarding and promoting participation in this survey will be shared with the public soon.
- The Board approved renewing the Early Retirement Incentive for the 2023-2024 school year as a continuation of the Corrective Action Plan submitted to the state’s School Budget Review Committee.
- The Board approved applying to the state for Modified Supplemental Amount to support the District’s At-Risk/Dropout prevention program. Superintendent Parker thanked the Board for supporting this over several years and pointed out the District’s very improved graduation rate, which is now usually above the state average.
- The Board approved the administrative recommendation to replace the dated technology equipment (servers) that support a significant portion of the District’s technology backbone.
- Superintendent Parker, Transportation Director Schnoor, and Tim Swamberger from River Valley Cooperative presented a proposal to the Board regarding an equipment lease for fueling stations for the District’s vehicles at the Administrative Center facility. The Board would like additional information regarding final costs to the District and insurance coverage. This topic will be brought back to the Board during the regular February meeting.
- The Board held a lengthy discussion regarding facility usage and practice times on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings. The Board moved to table this item until next month’s regular meeting in order to take some time to consider options with a goal of arriving at a solution for this concern.
As is usually the case, the school board completed the meeting by approving administrative recommendations regarding personnel.