PUBLIC HEARING AND REGULAR SESSION
OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE
The Board of Directors of the Community School District of South Tama County met on September 20, 2021 for a Public Hearing on the conveyance of school owned property at the Elementary School, 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: Penny Tyynismaa, Mandy Lekin, Alan Kline, Ronald Houghton, and Clint Werner. Absent: None. Quorum Present. Also present were: Jared Smith, Randy Denham and several members of the community.
Motion by Lekin second by Werner to approve the agenda. All Ayes.
Public Hearing – Conveyance of School Owned Property: President Tyynismaa opened the Public Hearing for the conveyance of school owned property located at 806 State Street, Tama, IA at 5:00 p.m. President Tyynismaa asked for public comments. Hearing none, President Tyynismaa asked for a motion to close the Public Hearing.
Motion by Lekin, second by Werner to close the Public Hearing at 5:03 p.m. All Ayes.
The Regular Session was called to order at 5:04 p.m.
On call of the roll the following were present: Penny Tyynismaa, Mandy Lekin, Alan Kline, Ron Houghton, and Clint Werner. Members Absent - None. Quorum Present. Also present were: Jared Smith, Randy Denham, and several members of the community.
Motion by Kline, second by Lekin to approve the agenda. All Ayes.
Motion by Kline, second by Lekin to approve the consent agenda approving the minutes from the August 30, 2021 work session and regular meeting, financial statements, and bills for payment as presented. All Ayes.
Public Comments – Nikki Kemper addressed the Board about the mask discussion topic that was on the agenda. Ms. Kemper stated that there were people in the community that were not aware this item was going to be on the agenda and that many parents were not able to make it to the meeting to share their views on the topic. Ms. Kemper stated that there are several people in the community that do not want a mask mandate and felt the Board should move this topic to a special meeting.
Motion by Lekin, second by Kline to approve the following personnel requests. All Ayes.
Resignations – Daniel Kass – Head 9th Baseball, Todd Dale – Head 8th Boys Track
Contracts – Kimi Benson – Dance Team Coach, Heather Garrett – Elementary Building Webmaster, Crystal Hass – Middle School Building Webmaster, Victoria Hamilton – High School Building Webmaster, Patricia Gomez – Full Time Special Ed Para, Brittani West – Part Time Special Ed Para
Volunteers – Nathan Babinat – Driver (suburban & trailer) band, Kristy Garber – Kindergarten Class, Nickolas Seitz – D&D Roleplaying Club, Gwenyth Upah – Help in Classroom
Officials – Amy Dolash – 8th Grade Volleyball, Eugene Ubben – 7th Grade Volleyball, Tom Kemper – 7th & 8th Grade Football, FR-SO Girls Basketball, Jeremy Weiermann – 7th & 8th Grade Football, Seth Koch – 7th & 8th Grade Football, Kory Staff – 7th & 8th Grade Football, David Nitz – 7th & 8th Grade Football, Kevin Cartier – 7th & 8th Grade Volleyball, Deidra Mohr – FR-SO Boys Basketball, Andrew May – HS Varsity Wrestling, David Lee – HS Varsity Boys Track, William Neal – HS Varsity Boys Track.
Motion by Lekin, second by Werner to approve the 2021-2022 High School Activity Department fundraisers as presented. All Ayes
Motion by Kline, second by Lekin to approve a five-year Student Teaching and Clinical Agreement with William Penn University as presented. All Ayes.
Motion by Lekin, second by Werner to approve the following IASB Legislative Priorities for the 2021-2022 school year: Support efforts to establish comprehensive community mental health systems to offer preventative and treatment services and comprehensive school mental health programs; Support additional tools for Teacher Recruitment and Licensure to attract individuals to the teaching profession, especially for teacher shortage areas; Support sufficient and on-time funding for English-Learners until the students reach proficiency; and Support predictable and timely state funding to serve students receiving special education services at a level that reflects the actual cost including educational programming and health care costs. All Ayes.
Motion by Lekin, second by Kline to approve the Resolution for a Conveyance of School Owned Property located at 806 State Street, Tama, IA. Roll Call Vote: Tyynismaa – Aye, Lekin – Aye, Kline – Aye, Werner – Aye, Houghton – Aye. The motion passed.
Motion by Houghton, second by Kline to approve the following individuals as Level I Student Abuse Investigators for the 2021-2022 school year: Brad Schweppe, Kris Collins, Melanie Kemper, Anita Townsley, Ben Adams, Scott Bolen, Crystal Hass, Blake Wedeking, Mark Groteluschen, Anthony Jahr, Dan Lopez, Dina Keahna, Samantha Peska, and Jared Smith. All Ayes.
The Board discussed the recent federal judge ruling that ordered the State of Iowa to immediately halt the enforcement of the law that prevents School Boards from ordering masks to be worn to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Dr. Smith shared feedback that was given by staff along with information that he gathered from other WAMAC schools. Dr. Smith shared the challenges the District faces if there is a large number of staff members that are gone. The Board discussed the different staffing issues that the District has had to manage over the last several months. The Board discussed positivity and vaccination rates and how closely they should be monitoring those numbers and how much that information should weigh in on any decisions that the Board would have to make. The Board shared and discussed the feedback that they had received from community patrons on the issue as well as the feedback from staff that was shared by Dr. Smith. The Board stated that they want to do what is best for the health and safety of all students and staff.
The Board discussed and gave administration the following mitigation strategies that they would like to see implemented going forward: Having surgical masks on hand and made readily available to all students, staff, and guests; Offer masks at every entrance during school activities; Ensure that all buildings and staff have ample cleaning supplies to clean all areas thoroughly; Have signage posted at all entry ways throughout the District stating the importance of masking; Send out separate parent feedback surveys to parents of students in PK through 4th grade and 5th through 12th grade; Update and resend out the FAQ document to all parents; Look for opportunities to change seating in the classrooms to help mitigate any potential spread of the virus.
The Board stated that they would like to see a COVID discussion item on each Board meeting going forward to get continuous updates on the mitigation strategies being implemented and to review up to date data. The Board stated they would like to continue to revisit this topic so that they can make any necessary adjustments if COVID cases get too high or if there are issues with staff shortages.
The Board encouraged community members to reach out to the Administration and the Board with any feedback or concerns that they have.
Motion by Lekin, second by Werner to continue the current practice of having masks be optional for all students and staff who are comfortable wearing them and for Administration to implement the mitigation strategies that were given. All Ayes.
The Board discussed the current process around how the consent agenda is handled each Board meeting and reviewed different options to the consent agenda process.
Dr. Smith provided an update to the Board regarding the communications firm for the Middle School project. Dr. Smith stated the Task Force met last week and will be leading and providing communication for the Middle School project at this time. The Task Force may look to use the Donovan Group as needed at a later date. Dr. Smith updated the Board that the Task Force will be having broader community meeting open forums in October and November.
Motion by Lekin, second by Werner to adjourn the meeting at 6:44 p.m. All Ayes.
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Penny Tyynismaa, Board President Randy Denham, Board Secretary