February 10, 2025 at 7:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting
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1. OPENING PROCEDURES
Rationale:
COPY OF OPEN MEETINGS ACT: The Board of Education makes available at least one current copy of the Open Meetings Act posted in the meeting room at a location accessible to members of the public. The Act is posted on the south wall of the meeting room. ORDER OF AGENDA ITEMS: The Arlington Board of Education reserves the right to adjust the order of items on this agenda.
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1.1. Call Meeting to Order
Discussion:
Chase Kratochvil called the meeting to order at 7:00pm
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1.2. Roll Call
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Discussion:
Jason Arp, Present: Cassie Flesner, Present: Chase Kratochvil, Present: Brian Laaker, Present: Shanon Willmott, Present:
Excused absence-Steve Slykhuis Also Present were Jacque Morgan and Aaron Pfingsten Elementary and Secondary Principals. Dawn Lewis Superintendent, and recording Secretary Jennifer Arp Athletic Director James Shada was absent due to athletic activity happening at home this evening. |
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1.3. Pledge of Allegiance
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1.4. Approval of Regular Meeting Agenda
Rationale:
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
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2. WELCOME TO GUESTS AND PUBLIC FORUM
Rationale:
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO SPEAK DURING PUBLIC FORUM: Getting Started: When it is your turn to speak during the public forum portion of the agenda, please come forward, sign your name and address on the sign-in sheet and state your name to the Board of Education. Personnel or Student Topic: If you are planning to speak about a personnel or student matter involving an individual, please understand that our policies require that such concerns initially be directed to the administration for consideration. Board members will generally not respond to any questions you ask or comments you make about individual staff members or students. You are cautioned that slanderous comments are not protected just because they are made at a board meeting. General Rules: Please remember that this is a meeting of the Board of Education held in public for conducting the business of the Board of Education. Disruptions, offensive language, personal attacks and hostile conduct will not be tolerated. |
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3. CONSENT AGENDA
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
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3.1. Minutes of the Previous Board Meeting(s)
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3.2. Monthly Financial Reports
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3.3.
Resignations:
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4. CURRICULUM/INSTRUCTION REPORTS
Discussion:
Mrs. Mackenzie Rhoads and Mrs Carla Kaup were present to highlight and report on 5th grade
Mr. Doug Hart was here to highlight and report on Family Consumer Science (FCS) |
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5. PRINCIPALS’ REPORTS
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5.1. Mr. Pfingsten's Secondary Report
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5.2. Dr. Morgan's Elementary Report
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5.3. Mr. Shada's Activity Report
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6. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
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6.1. Discussion of Community Engagement Meeting, Focus Group Conversations, and Strategic Planning Next Steps
Discussion:
The community engagement meeting was postponed due to icy weather on Feb 5th. The board is looking at alternate dates to host the meeting with NASB.
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6.2. NASB and NRCSA Reports
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6.3. Supt Leave Log Review
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6.4. Legislative Updates
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6.5. Update on Recent Title IX Changes
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6.6. Review Semi-Annual Arbor Family Usage Report
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6.7. Discussion of Final Payment on the Lease Purchase scheduled 2026
Discussion:
The final payment for the lease purchase will come due in February next year. We have enough money to make the payment, but we can also hold that money in the account and hope to make some money off the interest on the money in the bank.
The board discussed the options for the payment and/or trying to make some money on the interest. The total interest on the actual payment is low, but the interest on the account in the bank is about 3-4 % It would make sense to keep the money in the account at this time to try and make some money off it. |
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7. COMMITTEE AND REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS
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7.1. Committee for American Civics
Discussion:
The committee met this evening at 6:30 pm just prior to the board meeting and discussed the upcoming curriculum that will be in this year's cycle for the 2025-2026 school year.
Shanon Willmott reported on behalf of the committee. She spoke of the civic duties that are being covered by the school daily and quarterly. They also reported on the curriculum that is up for adoption for the 2025-2026 school year. |
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7.2. Negotiations Committee
Discussion:
Negotiations met January 28th, there will be action items later on this meeting.
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8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
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9. NEW BUSINESS
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9.1. Discuss, Consider, and Take Necessary Action to Approve Early Retirement Incentive Program Application and Agreement from Gail Barth
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
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9.2. Discuss, Consider, and Take Necessary Action to Approve Request for Leave of Absence by Certificated Staff Member
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
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9.3. Discuss, Consider, and Take Necessary Action to Purchase Tomcat Pro Rideable Floor Cleaner as Presented
Rationale:
Last purchased in 2019, used multiple times daily, includes trade in of the old machine
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Discussion:
Custodial staff have requested the purchase of a new rider floor cleaner. The need for a new one has now become needed. The current one is over 5 years old.
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9.4. Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary Action to Approve 2025-2027 Superintendent Contract with Dr. Dawn Lewis as discussed and publicized according to statute
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Discussion:
The board discussed the renewal of the contract for Dr Dawn Lewis. A negotiation committee met on January 28th and discussed the contract and went over, and took into consideration of years of service, other districts. One of the board requirements for the superintendent is the superintendent evaluation, and all board members received a copy of the current evaluation. The members felt that their was really good discussion with all contracts that are being proposed for this year.
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9.5. Discuss, Consider and Take Necessary Action to Approve Principal Contracts as Presented, with a 3.07% Total Package Increase:
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Discussion:
Along with the Superintendent's contract, the negotiations committee also discussed and went over the principals contracts, arrays and years of service. Again, the committee felt that all of our Administration was very good for our district and felt that they kept the budget in check. There was a lot of consideration for each of the contracts, and they wanted to make sure that the board members knew that they did not take anything lightly in presenting these contracts.
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9.6. Discuss, Consider, and Take Necessary Action to Approve Certificated Director Contracts for 2025-2026:
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Discussion:
The negotiations also made about these admin contracts for Mrs Sharp and Mrs. Wolf. These arrays were a little different, as we were quite a bit behind in the arrays and could not catch up anyone in one or two years and will need to be responsible for the districts' money. These contract percentages are a bit higher due to trying to catch them up in the array and among other districts.
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9.7. Discussion of Special Education Staffing Needs and Consideration of Adding Additional Staff
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Discussion:
Sarah Sharp was here to discuss and give background on our Special Education Department program. Mrs. Sharp is looking at our special education population growth over the last 5 years. Our students with IEP have jumped from around 70 in 2021 to anticipating over 100 for the 2025-2026 school year. Not only is the number of students increasing, the current needs of the students are becoming more demanding. We have had numerous students move into the district with highly significant needs in the 2023-2024 school year, and she foresees no decline in the future. Other schools are showing high numbers across the state.
Mrs Sharp is proposing hiring another special education teacher for the next school year. |
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9.8. Discuss, Consider, and Take Necessary Action to Adopt 2025-2026 School Year Calendar
Action(s):
No Action(s) have been added to this Agenda Item.
Discussion:
The calendar for the 2025-2026 school year looks similar to last year, the end and start dates are close to the same. The late start Fridays are not as effective as the district had hoped and the district will go back to the regular start for all days of the week. There have been 4 professional development days that were added into the calendar to make up for the late starts.
The committee also determined that best way to fulfill those professional developments is also during conferences, so that the 2nd day of PTC will be a professional development day with no students, and there will be an extra day built in around Thanksgiving break as well. They also felt that the last day of the school calendar would be a professional development day instead of ending the school year on a day with students. The breaks fell a bit differently different, having to move the spring/Easter break a week up, but it will fill in nicely with giving everyone equal amounts of breaks. 2 snow days are built into the calendar- if no snow days are used, finals will be on May 18 -19 and last day would be the 20th. Teachers would need to report on the 21. |
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10. ADJOURNMENT
Discussion:
Chase adjourned the meeting at 8:42 pm
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