Independence Community School Board Meeting Publice Hearing & Regular Meeting March 18, 2024
PUBLIC HEARING A public hearing for the Proposed 2024-2025 School Calendar started at 5:50 pm at the Administration Office, 1207 1st St West, Independence, Iowa on March 18, 2024. Board members present: Kim Hansen, Gina Trimble, Charlie McCardle, Audrey Hill and Mitch Barnett. Also attending: Supt. Phillips, Board Secretary Morine, Principals: Kleman, Hupke, Reed, and Reidy, Directors: Burmeister, Putz and Chesmore, along with some guests. No public comments were received. The public hearing ended at 5:56 pm. REGULAR MEETING A regular meeting of the Independence Community School Board was called to order by President Kim Hansen at 6:00 pm at the Administration Office, 1207 1st St West, Independence, Iowa on March 18, 2024. Board members present: Kim Hansen, Gina Trimble, Charlie McCardle, Audrey Hill and Mitch Barnett. Also attending: Supt. Phillips, Board Secretary Morine, Principals: Kleman, Hupke, Reed, and Reidy, Directors: Burmeister, Putz and Chesmore, along with some guests. President Hansen requested an amendment to the agenda to include changes to two policies and wave the second reading due to a compliance deadline. McCardle moved to amend the agenda to add these policy changes: 505.09 Parent and Family Engagement – change for the committee to review annually. 501.03 Compulsory Attendance – changed school days to hours. Trimble second, amendment passed 5-0. APPROVAL OF AGENDA – Hill moved to approve the amended agenda. Barnett second, motion carried 5-0. CONSIDERATION OF ACTION ON CONSENT ITEMS - Trimble moved to approve the consent times, McCardle second, motion carried 5-0. A. Approval of the minutes of the public hearing and regular meeting on February 20, 2024, the work session on February 26, 2024, the work session on March 8, 2024, and the special meeting on March 12, 2024. B. Approval of Board Policies (*changes noted) Second Readings: |
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First Readings: |
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C. Approval of Resignations |
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D. Approval of Transfers/Reassignments |
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E. Approval of New Hires (pending acceptable background checks)
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*Pending 2024-2025 Negotiations F. Approval of Financial Reports 1. Bills – Director Barnett reviewed the bills – McCardle will review in April 2. Budget Report G. Cooperative Agreement by and between University of Northern Iowa and Cooperating Educational Agencies for the 2024-2025 Academic Year H. Donations 1. Ace Hardware - Miscellaneous Items Due to the Transition from Hardware Hank – Thank you Ace Hardware for your donation to the Industrial Tech department as the students will use the donated items. ANNOUNCEMENTS, COMMUNICATIONS and PRESENTATIONS A. Comments from the Public - None B. Comments from the Board/Superintendent – All the board members have been busy attending meetings and activities. Compliments to the students and all involved in the spring musical, Little Women as it was a great production. Congratulations to the students participating in speech contests and to the students that made it to All State Speech. Supt. Phillips highlighted she is still advocating with our legislators to set SSA, increase and fund teacher pay, and the value of our AEAs. The new Facebook page is up and running promoting our district’s happenings and upcoming events. Next month, the new district website should be launched. On Friday, March 22 at 3:00 pm there will be the ribbon cutting for the FFA Chicken Coop. The baseball field project is progressing nicely and currently ahead of schedule. Supt. Phillips is waiting until the upcoming weather passes to announce the adjustments to the year end calendar. Five firms have been invited to review our facilities as the district continues to work on the Facility Master Plan. REPORTS A. Building Administrator Reports 1. Junior-Senior High School 2. West Elementary 3. East Elementary/Early Childhood Center B. District Director Reports 1. Activities Director Report 2. Director of School Improvement Report – Director Burmeister shared that since the first of the year, there have been a number of requests from schools, networks and companies to share our positive experiences, learning and knowledge regarding standards-based grading, math interventions, social emotional learning and the district’s growth with Conditions for Learning Data at West. Kudos to our hard-working staff. 3. Director of Technology Report 4. Director of Food Service Report 5. Director of Buildings & Grounds Report 6. Director of Transportation Report* – Director Chesmore reports on our fleet of vehicles. One of our buses didn’t pass inspections so it will need to be replaced. Having another 12-passenger van would help to cover our out of district activities. Director Chesmore is also looking at new software to enhance transporting our students. NEW BUSINESS
ADJOURNMENT – McCardle moved to adjourn the meeting, Hill second. Motion carried 5-0 and the meeting adjourned at 7:00 pm. A break was taken to clear the board room for an exempt session.
EXEMPT SESSION Negotiations Strategy Session The board discussed negotiation strategies and no official action was taken during the session. The exempt session ended at 8:45 pm.
___________________________________ ___________________________________ Kim Hansen, President Laura Morine, Board Secretary |