The Camanche School District’s Board of Education held a special work session and their regular monthly meeting on Monday, March 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 conducted a work session at 6:00 p.m. before the regular monthly meeting. The purpose of the work session was to discuss the school board’s goal setting process and to review certified budget information for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year.
After the work session adjourned, the regular monthly meeting of the school board took place. This meeting included the following items:
- Superintendent Parker updated the Board about the school district’s response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The safety and well-being of the students, staff, and visitors to our school district is a priority. This priority drives decisions made during this Pandemic. The school district will follow the recommendations of the Iowa Department of Health, local Public Health Officials, the Governor’s Office, and the Iowa Department of Education to the best of our abilities to do so.
- President Weber adjusted committee assignments due to schedule conflicts. Director Wolf will now be on the Policy Committee and Director McManus will now be on the Planning Committee.
- Superintendent Parker shared with the Board the fact that our four-year graduation rate continues to increase. This past year, Camanche’s four-year graduation rate was 92.86% and is now over the state average. Mr. Parker also pointed out that Camanche continues to work with students who don’t graduate in four years and that after five years our graduation rate typically is a higher percentage than our four-year graduation rate.
- The school board recognized and congratulated the Boys’ Cross-Country team for being named “Distinguished in Academic Achievement,” which is the highest academic recognition from the Iowa High School Athletic Association.
- The Board congratulated the Boys’ Bowling team for winning the State Championship.
- The Board congratulated the Boys’ Basketball team for their Third Place Finish at the State Tournament.
- The Board also congratulated many of the athletes and coaches for their individual accomplishments and recognitions during this winter sports season.
- Business Director Aude presented the 2020-21 Budget Estimate. The end result will be a 2-cent per $1000 in taxable valuation decrease in next year’s levy. The Board set a public hearing for the 2020-21 Budget on April 8, 2020 at 6:30 p.m.
- Superintendent Parker presented the staffing plan for the upcoming school year. At this time he recommended leaving staffing the same with the addition of a secondary math position. This will allow us more time to provide students with math support and reduce the size of secondary math classes.
- The Board met with representatives from Bray Architects and Estes Construction to discuss Facilities Planning Options. The Board established that they would not want this project to exceed $12.9 million. This would mean that the maximum levy amount would be estimated at $2.70 per $1000 valuation. The Board discussed various options and Bray plans to present an option for the Board’s consideration at the regular April meeting. The Board is also considering the possibility of looking at a September 8, 2020 Bond election date.
- The Board took action to adopt the Budget Guarantee for the 2020-21 school year. As is usually the case, the school board completed the meeting by approving administrative recommendations regarding personnel and also approving open enrollment requests into the Camanche School District.