Allamakee Community School District Board holds July meeting
by Jennyanne Hager
A small contingent of staff members gathered for the July meeting of the Allamakee Community School Board Monday night.
Early in the meeting's reports, Board Secretary Janice Rea reported that the district's fuel costs has been a major change throughout the past school year, with bus fuel costs up about 29.2 percent from the 2007-08 year, while natural gas costs were up by a larger margin of 47.2 percent over the previous year. Rea pointed out that the district was heating an extra building most of the winter as the new school was completed, and the upcoming year should see natural gas costs move back to a steadier cost.
The board was also given year-end reports on the breakfast and lunch programs, as well as total building usage. Over 200,000 lunches were served in 2007-08, a total which does not include additional lunch items such as extra portions, a la carte, or extra milk. The district served over 42,000 breakfasts, and a number of a la carte options as well. Building usage was also tremendous as various school and non-school groups kept the district facilities busy year-round.
Superintendent Dave Herold was pleased to report that progress is being made at East Elementary. Asbestos abatement begins in mid-August, but the perma-pipe project is already nearing completion. A small complication was brought to the school's attention earlier Monday, regarding a drain that has been connected to the city's sanitary sewer, which is no longer allowed under city code.
Herold wrapped up his report by clarifying the district's stance on the parking situation near the Wellness Center. Herold stated that the school would recommend that the proposed 90-minutes spaces extend no farther than the east edge of the Wellness Center and continue west to the end of Third Ave. NW. The district does not support timed spaces in front of homes located along the street.
Dr. Bill Withers was on hand for an informational brief as a member of the Keystone AEA Board. Withers mentioned a couple of legislative actions taken this past year that have resulted in more funds being returned to AEAs. He did caution that this summer's floods could possibly result in some of those AEA funds being pulled back to help the state recover.
Herold reminded board members that nomination papers for the Sept. 9, 2008, school board elections are now available in the superintendent's office.
In a final informational item, Herold gave a summary of this year's Education Site Visit Report. In short, the report noted that the district has no areas of non-compliance, giving the school another five years of accreditation. The report indicated that ACSD is a "pretty darn good school system," Herold said, adding that there are areas the district needs to be critical of and improve upon, but he is nonetheless pleased with the findings. "These are experts that know what stones to turn over," he added. "This is a report to be proud of." The school will continue to look into the report and plans on releasing the findings to staff and the general public in the near future.
In new business items, the board awarded several bids for the upcoming year. Jim's Appliance was awarded the appliance bid while Interstate Brands and Swiss Valley received the bread and milk bids, respectively.
Staff changes included the resignation of Karen Barnard from her junior high special education position. High school special education instructor Ann Hagensick requested to transfer to Barnard's vacated position, and the board also okayed that motion.
Also in personnel items, a 4.35 percent package increase was approved for Safe Schools/Healthy Students coordinators Barbara Winters, Deb Kubitz, Virginia Kurth, Sue Pederson, and Jean Bossom.
The Free and Reduced Lunch Policy was approved, as was the Nutrition Service Handbook.
The board okayed the request for a German foreign exchange student, who will stay in the district for a semester.
Sunday usage of the football field was approved for the Youth Sports Foundation football league. Specific dates have not yet been announced, and the request was approved pending suitable field conditions.
Board members then approved their choices for IASB Legislative Action Priorities and Resolutions for 2009, a motion that was followed by the annual recommendation to join the Iowa Association of School Boards for the next year.
A superintendent evaluation model was approved, and Midwest Group Benefits was named as third party administrator for new 403 B rules and regulations.
Late in the meeting, board members discussed making the final payment to Dean Snyder for the construction project. With a number of small issues still needing to be worked out, including some problems with tiling, lighting, and some concrete cracks, the board wanted to hold off on paying the entire remaining balance of $480,749.24. The board instead voted to pay 85 percent of that amount, with the remaining 15 percent being paid after all remaining issues have been ironed out.
Last on the agenda were three change orders for East Elementary. The first order, to move the site's transformer, was approved. The project will cost just over $5,600 to complete.
The second change order involved a trip to that school before decisions could be made. Solving the earlier-mentioned drain problem resulted in some discussion as the board viewed the area in question. The drain, located on the north side of the building outside of the new boiler room (the former shop area) is in the middle of an area that needs new concrete work. After inspecting the site, the board agreed that the most cost effective alternative to the current drain system would be to put a sump pump in the new boiler room. With that decision made, the board voted to remove and replace the retaining walls and concrete slab outside the boiler room entrance, a project estimated at $15,400. Finally, the board approved the third change order to replace another concrete slab, this one located on higher ground above the boiler room entrance. The board added that they would like this slab to be poured last as there will be more truck traffic on this area until the new boiler room is completed.
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