The Camanche School District’s Board of Education met on Monday, March 21st. 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 approved having the school district participate in the governor’s teacher retention program and also authorized using ESSER funds to provide equitable retention pay to teachers not eligible for the governor’s plan. Superintendent Parker also told the Board that the district is looking at the possibility of leveraging ESSER funds to provide some type of retention stipend to other employee groups. This will be revisited by the Board at a future meeting.
- A representative from the district’s Architect, Bray Architecture was present to discuss preparing for Phase III of the Facilities Enhancement Project. The initial stages of this phase will be to begin renovation of the old pool area into the new chorus room and the new wrestling area. Work will also begin this summer to place the footings for the new auxiliary gymnasium and expanded theater area. We still will need to be mindful of possible supply chain challenges that may impact this timeline.
- Superintendent Parker updated the Board that the COVID-19 infection rates in the district have been very low in recent weeks
- Superintendent Parker shared this year’s reported Graduation Rate for the Camanche School District. The four-year graduation rate for Camanche for 2020-21 was 91.14% which is above the state average. Mr. Parker thanked the district’s staff for their efforts in working with our at-risk students and also thanked the school board for providing the resources necessary to support our students in achieving the important goal of graduating from high school.
- The Board approved taking out a short-term operating loan to cover cash flow over the next few months, while the school district awaits receiving its state funds that will cover this loan.
- Business Director Aude presented the Budget Estimate for FY23. This will result in a proposed tax levy of $15.83 per $1000 in taxable valuation. The Board authorized publication of notice of a public hearing and meeting for the 2022-2023 Budget Estimate set for April 11th at 6:30 p.m. at the Camanche Schools Administration Center.
- The Board approved participating in the Budget Guarantee offered by the state to assure that the school district would receiving funding in the 2022-2023 school year at a minimum of 101% of the previous year’s budget.
- The Board voted to approve the staffing plan for the 2022-23 school year. There are no significant changes being proposed. The interim administrative structure at the high school and middle school will be continued for one more year. Due to increasing enrollment in Spanish classes, an additional position for a Spanish teacher was approved. The administration was given approval to adjust assistant coaching/sponsor positions as needed to meet the demand based upon student participation in various activities.
- The Board approved renewing the district’s participation in the Natural Gas Program Participation Pool that allows the school district to lock in natural gas prices for the upcoming year. This primarily impacts the high school as both the middle school and elementary school have geothermal heating and cooling.
- The Board is looking to schedule a learning workshop with the Iowa Association of School Boards on May 19th. This learning opportunity would be similar in nature to workshops school staff attend regarding various educational topics. The Board expressed an interest to use this workshop to generally identify characteristics of effective school boards and to enhance teamwork with the administrative team.
- The Board approved agreements that included continue partnerships with the Clinton School District to provide the Gateway Learning Center alternative for students; partnering with the Northeast School District and Clinton Community College to provide a College and Career Counselor for our students; and renewing our partnership with CAS to provide before and after school programming for our younger students.
As is usually the case, the school board completed the meeting by approving administrative recommendations regarding personnel.