EACSD School Board meets in regular session

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

The regular monthly Eastern Allamakee Community School District (EACSD) Board of Directors meeting was held Monday, November 16 at Kee High School in Lansing. Board Members Bruce Palmborg, Bobbie Goetzinger, Kelli Mudderman, Melanie Mauss and Board President Heather Schulte were present, along with Board Secretary/Business Manager Marian Verdon, Kee High School and Middle School Principal Mary Hogan, New Albin Elementary Principal Chad Steckel and EACSD Superintendent Dr. Dale Crozier.

FFA CONVENTION REPORT
During the audience comment portion of the meeting, four Kee High School FFA students, Nick Boland, Aaron Bilicki, Kasi Curtin and Nicki Wood, reported on their recent trip to the National FFA Convention. The group traveled with 108 FFA students from area schools, which presented many opportunities for networking with students. The PowerPoint the group presented emphasized the significant experiences of the trip, which included the actual FFA Convention in Louisville, KY, where approximately 60,000 FFA students from across the United States gathered.
Other experiences included visiting the Louisville Slugger factory and museum; a Jake Owens concert; the Churchill Downs Race Track where the Kentucky Derby is held; a visit to a horse farm which raises gypsy horses, an unusual breed which is like a miniature draft horse; the Cummins Technical Center and the Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge. The convention also offered a Career Expo where many colleges and businesses displayed information about themselves for students to consider; this included numerous displays by FFA groups as well. The students culminated their presentation by stating that this was the best school trip they had ever taken. Next year’s Convention will be held in Indianapolis, IN.
After the presentation, Kee High School FFA Advisor Ray Rankin reported that the Yellow River Forestry Service donated $1,000 worth of wood, including walnut, oak, pine, aspen and maple so that district students could work with different types of wood in their projects throughout the school district. He thanked the Forest Service for this donation.
 
AUTHORIZATIONS
The usual and customary authorizations were approved. Superintendent Crozier noted the expenditure of approximately $4,500 for repairs to the New Albin Elementary School boiler, which included putting a new control unit in the system.
In new business, the Board approved the disposal of old computer equipment, approximately 151 items which will be disposed of through Allamakee Recycling. The Board also approved an SBRC application for MSA for open enrollment not on the prior year’s count. Crozier explained that this sometimes happens when students move to a district after the official count for the year has been submitted to the State.
The final approval was also given for the sale of special education vehicles to the General Fund. The district will transfer funds from the General Fund to the Special Education Fund so that the vehicles, which were originally purchased with special education funds, can now be used for any general need in the district. The amount transferred will be the Kelly Blue Book vehicle valuation.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
Superintendent Crozier reported that he and several members of the Board were leaving this week for meetings in Des Moines at the State School Board Convention. He briefly reported on the open meeting about the possible relocation of Lansing City Hall to the former Lansing Middle School building. Results of that meeting were not available since it had just begun prior to Monday’s school board regular session. He said it was the district’s objective to collaborate with the City if the district could be helpful. Dr. Crozier also distributed an AEA information sheet about EACSD’s use of the Keystone Area Education Agency (AEA).
Principal Hogan reported that the first trimester of the school year had ended. She stated that the student support group which meets weekly has been successful in assisting with student success. The professional development meeting held November 16 with MFL/MarMac faculty provided networking opportunities to share experiences using the 1-to-1 technology with student laptop computers. The MFL/MarMac district has been using this technology for approximately five years.
In addition, Jarod Bormann, Keystone AEA Instructional Technology Integration Specialist, worked with faculty on moving students on to higher order thinking skills using teaching methods such as flipped classrooms, where the teacher presents short video lessons that students watch before class and then use the classroom time as a time to practice that instruction.
Hogan and Principal Steckel reported that Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) district assessments start this week. Steckel informed the Board that the elementary level professional development concentrated on writing skills such as narrative and persuasive writing. Steckel concluded that winter activities had begun, with the basketball seasons getting underway.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board will be December 21 at 7 p.m.