ACSD Board of Directors hires Jennifer Garin as Waukon High School Principal among personnel and other matters
by Brianne Eilers
The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Education met Thursday morning, May 9 for a special meeting. Board members approved hiring Jennifer Garin as the Waukon High School Principal, replacing retiring principal Dr. Mike Hardy. The board also accepted Garin’s resignation from her position as Waukon Middle School Principal and Activities Director.
The board also approved the transfer of teacher Angela Adney from kindergarten to second grade while also approving the realignment of the elementary section to four sections of kindergarten and five sections of first grade at West Elementary due to enrollment numbers. Via telephone, Jon Muller of Iowa School Finance Information Services (ISFIS) gave an overview of financing options for the proposed solar energy project.
The board then met Monday, May 20 for its regular monthly meeting. Prior to the meeting, a tour of the Construction class house was available. Board member Patty Nordheim was absent.
Under personnel matters, the board approved staff for After School Programming. Mariah Hesse was approved as high school English teacher and assistant speech advisor. Quinn Brennan was approved as middle school special education teacher and Caleb Ferring was approved as middle school assistant football coach. Joanne Ericson was approved as assistant FBLA Advisor. The patrol officer and stop sign agreements were also approved and Lauren Allison was approved as a first grade teacher.
The board accepted the resignation of Cody Lamb from his elementary paraprofessional position and also approved the termination of a full-time administrator contract (reduced to .60 full-time equivalency). Under open enrollments, the board approved one enrollment out and one enrollment in. The board also approved a student expulsion agreement.
Two out-of-state field trips were approved, including FBLA members to San Antonio, TX for the National FBLA Conference and the Middle School After School Program to the Mall of America. Student teaching agreements were approved with Luther College and Buena Vista University. Memberships to the Iowa Association of School Boards and Iowa School Finance Information Services (ISFIS) were approved.
The board also approved the Freedom Bank school logo check program. There is no cost to the school and for every box of school logo checks sold to their customers, Freedom Bank will donate $5 to benefit the Allamakee Scholarship Fund program (formerly Dollars for Scholars).
Under the Communications time of the meeting, the ACSD School Board members were recognized. They received a note pad from the Allamakee Educators Association and a certificate from the school district. The ACSD employee recognition luncheon will be held June 3. Corey Snitker of Allamakee County Emergency Management presented the board members with the Allamakee County Hazard Mitigation Plan. He also gave them a handout with some recommendations for the school district to consider. The plan is a five-year plan that is required by FEMA to be eligible for FEMA funds.
Kelli Olson, Ciara Snitker and Peyton Lapel gave a brief presentation on the Hack-a-Thon that ACSD students attended. Students worked in pairs or groups to help solve problems. The event was through the Iowa Big North school consortium. The hope is to be able to provide an elective class that will give students an opportunity to collaborate, communicate, and use critical thinking and creativity to solve problems.
In his Superintendent’s Report, Jay Mathis noted that the board would be voting on some change orders for the East Elementary project. He also noted that he had communicated with Atwood Solar and would be providing them usage information from Alliant Energy. Mathis is also working with the City of Waukon on a 28E agreement for student usage of the tennis courts.
In the Principals’ Reports, Waukon High School Principal Dr. Mike Hardy noted that an offer has been made on the Construction class house. He also noted that the Keystone Area Education Agency (AEA) Perkins consultant had noted Waukon High School did “very well on the desk audit monitoring” for its Perkins money and projects, falling in the low-risk category. Sunday, May 19 was graduation for high school seniors and the ninth-11th grade students have semester tests scheduled for May 29, 30 and 31.
Waukon High School Assistant Principal and Activities Director Brian Hilsabeck noted that spring concerts and Prom went well. He thanked those involved in the Senior Awards night. Spring sports are wrapping up and the first baseball and softball games are May 21.
Middle School Principal Jennifer Garin noted that Statewide assessment and FAST testing are completed, as well as the Conditions for Learning survey. She updated the board on orientation for fifth grade students from East Elementary and sixth grade students from St. Patrick School. Spring activities are also wrapping up.
East and West Elementary Principal Joe Griffith noted that they have been busy. Mrs. Sara Retallick’s class read poetry to several West Elementary classes. A Fraction Stations activity was held at East Elementary for third graders and activities are wrapping up for the elementary students as well. Griffith noted that he has spoken with the PSST parent group to discuss the aging playground at West Elementary and possible replacement. He will keep the board updated.
In the Curriculum Report, Gretchen DeVore noted that they are waiting for the scoring information from the Iowa Assessments. They are working on the final days of school with staff and gearing up for next fall.
Buildings and Grounds Director Bill Hennessy noted that they will be turning on the irrigation system soon. He is also preparing for summer projects and the East Elementary upgrade project. They are continuing to look at and address problems with water leaking into the hallway by the high school locker rooms.
Technology Director Shawn Gordon noted in his report that new staff laptops have arrived. The virtual desktop infrastructure server project has started. ERATE has committed $17,900.40 to the district for internet bills.
Food Service Director Julie Magner noted that they are making lots of sack lunches for field trips and getting ready for the Summer Feeding Program. Staff will also be attending the SNAI Conference for training.
In the Transportation report, Director Andrew Eberling noted that Traversa is gathering GIS maps of the county. Student, employee and vehicle information will have to be loaded into the system and there will be some training involved as well.
Under new business, the board approved the bid from Nolte, Cornman & Johnson for the financial audit bids. The cost for three years is $12,500 for the first year, $13,000 for the second year and $13,500 for the third year. The board also approved the following summer projects: 24’x30’ storage shed at East Elementary (including building, heating and plumbing, concrete and electrical work), $52,604.42; Strub Blacktopping to fill in cracks and patch the parking lots, $7,950; and carpeting in the East Elementary Library, office area and band room with a total of $10,396.08.
The board approved several change authorization requests for the East Elementary HVAC/Window Replacement project. Mathis noted that some of the changes would result in credits and some in additional cost. After all the changes were approved, it was noted that the additional cost came to a $1,961 increase.
The board approved an additional $5,040 from the At-Risk funding to West and East Elementary in order to extend the after school programming to include Fridays as well. Griffith noted that the program currently runs Monday through Thursday, but students and parents have been requesting to have it on Fridays as well. Griffith noted that the ACSD after school programming is a model of how the 21st Century Grant should work. He explained that schools are supposed to be able to find their own way of continuing to fund the program after the grants run out.
The board approved the fundraising calendar for the 2019-2020 school years, and then went into closed session for the superintendent’s evaluation.
