2022.09.19 Regular Session

 

REGULAR SESSION

OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE

SOUTH TAMA COUNTY COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

 

The Board of Directors of the Community School District of South Tama County met on September 19, 2022 for a Regular Session at the Partnership Center, Tama, Iowa at 5:00 p.m. with members of the community attending electronically through Google Hangouts.

On call of the roll the following were present:  Mandy Lekin, Penny Tyynismaa, Clint Werner, and Beth Wiese. Absent: Elizabeth Dolezal. Quorum Present. Also present were: Superintendent John Cain, Board Secretary Randy Denham, Principals Robert Boley, Scott Bolen, Brad Schweppe, and Kris Collins, Marilyn Rippy, and members of the community through Google Hangouts.

Motion by Tyynismaa, second by Wiese to approve the agenda as presented. All Ayes. The motion carried. 

Motion by Tyynismaa, second by Wiese to approve the following consent agenda items: Minutes from the September 7, 2022 regular session; bills for payment and financial statements as presented; rental agreement with the Reinig Center for PreACT testing; clinical training agreement with Iowa Valley Community College; and an agreement with Deaf Services Unlimited for sign language interpreting services.  

Public Comments – None. 

Motion by Wiese, second by Tyynismaa to approve the following personnel requests.  All Ayes. The motion carried. 

Resignations: Bailey Chyma – Middle School Assistant Baseball Coach

New Hires: Jerrod Bridgewater – High School Head Baseball Coach; Danny Elsbury – Assistant Girls Wrestling Coach

Motion by Tyynismaa, second by Wiese to approve the second and final reading of the following Board Policies: 410.01 Substitute Teachers; 504.5 Student Fundraising; 504.5 R1 Student Fundraising Regulations. All Ayes. The motion carried. 

Board member Dolezal arrived at 5:04 p.m. 

Superintendent Cain stated that ISG Architects recently shared initial schema designs of the new middle school with Administration. Mr. Cain will be setting up a meeting with the Task Force in the near future to share the schema designs with them to get their input. The District is still waiting to hear from the State and the City of Toledo on where they are at with the transfer of the Iowa Juvenile Home property. Mr. Cain and Mr. Denham met with the District financial advisors and bond counsel to discuss bond issuance for the Middle School project. The District will not be able to move forward with bond issuance proceedings until it is known exactly when the property transfer will occur. 

The Building Principals provided the Board with updates on how the first few weeks of school have gone in each of their buildings 

Mr. Cain provided an update on the Committee work that has been done. A survey will be sent out to staff and community in the near future. Mr. Cain stated that they will be looking to get 10-15 people for each committee and will be formally approving committees at a future meeting.  

Mr. Cain gave his Superintendent’s Report to the Board on the following items: School Resource Office conversations are continuing. Mr. Cain will be putting a survey out to the community in the near future; The Athletic Union has recommended not to have Waverly-Shellrock CSD join the WAMAC conference. Mr. Cain will continue to update the Board on this topic as more information becomes available; Mr. Cain is working with the buildings on a new walkthrough process. The process will work to get everyone to the same place and provide consistency throughout the District.  

The Board did an exercise reviewing roles and responsibilities. Conversation occurred around recent events at the high school and what the Board’s role is when situations such as that occur.  

The Board took a short break at 6:01 p.m. prior to entering into closed session. 

Motion by Tyynismaa, second by Dolezal to go into closed session at 6:07 p.m. pursuant to Iowa Code 21.5(1)(c) of the open meeting law to discuss strategy with counsel in matters that are presently in litigation or where litigation is imminent where its disclosure would be likely to prejudice or disadvantage the position of the governmental body in that litigation. Motion by Wiese, second by Dolezal to come out of closed session at 6:54 p.m.

Motion by Tyynismaa, second by Wiese to adjourn the meeting at 6:55 p.m.  All Ayes.

Following the regular session the Board entered into exempt session pursuant to Iowa Code 21.9 to discuss strategy in matters relating to employment conditions of employees of the governmental body who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement under Chapter 20. The exempt session ended at 7:34 p.m. 

Mandy Lekin, Board President                  

Randy Denham, Board Secretary