ACSD Board meets in several sessions during recent weeks; Options for graduation discussed, other updates provided

by Brianne Eilers

The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Directors met in a series of meetings over the past several weeks to discuss a variety of items. Coverage of each meeting is provided below.

The ACSD Board met Thursday, March 26 for a special meeting to conduct interviews in closed session for the position of Elementary Principal to replace long-time principal Joe Griffith, who will be moving on at the end of this school year to the position of Superintendent of Schools in the North Fayette Valley School District. When the meeting entered open session, the board voted to offer the position to Samantha Thornton at a salary of $87,000. The board also voted to hire Jason LaPage as  a secondary math teacher and to transfer Daneshia Snitker from fifth grade to elementary physical education.

Board members met for another special meeting Tuesday, March 31. The board voted to hire Samantha Thornton as Elementary Principal at a salary of $90,000.

The board met for another special meeting Tuesday, April 7 for two public hearings. One was on the proposed budget for the 2020-2021 school year and the other for amending the 2019-2020 budget. There were no written or oral objections for either hearing and both were approved. The board also approved to update the pandemic response resolution in accordance with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ extension of the school closure to April 30 at the time of that special meeting.

The ACSD Board met for its regular meeting Monday, April 20, with members and visitors being present through Zoom online conferencing software. Board member Scott Melcher was absent from the meeting.

The board approved the consent agenda items. Under personnel matters, Jessica Colsch was hired as transitional kindergarten teacher and Cody Snitker was hired as fifth grade teacher. The following resignations were approved: Scott Iverson’s retirement at the end of the 2019-2020 school year from his elementary guidance counselor position; Angela Adney from her teaching and coaching contracts; Jacob Ronan from his freshman boys basketball coaching position; and Jamie Weiss from her multi-categorical position in the elementary school system.

One open enrollment in was approved. The Area Education Agency (AEA) Purchasing Agreement for 2020-2021 was approved, as was the Timberline Service Agreement for 2020-2021. The Fields of Faith event scheduled for October 7, 2020 was approved, with the stipulation that should Cornonavirus concerns still exist at that scheduled time that the event will have to follow any guidelines in place then. The board also approved the 403(b) plan.

Under Communications, Waukon High School Principal Jennifer Garin noted that instructors Caleb Ferring and Jed Hemann have continued to work on the Construction class house in order to ensure it is completed on schedule. She has been meeting, via Zoom, three times a week with AEA directors, principals and curriculum directors to keep abreast of updates on COVID-19-related matters, as well as weekly with Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) principals. She and Brian Hilsabeck also Zoom weekly with their staff on the voluntary online education opportunities. She noted that participation rate by students in those online opportunities is anywhere from 10% to 100%, depending on the class.

Garin noted that staff also checks on students to make sure that they are physically and emotionally all right during this time via phone calls, emails or physical visits. She noted that there have been some questions as to when students and parents can come and get students’ belongings from locker rooms, etc. and they will have to wait until the restrictions are lessened. She noted that during the Zoom sessions with principals, graduation is a big topic and they are looking at options. This was discussed later in the meeting as well. Graduation is currently scheduled for May 17.

Waukon Middle School Principal Luke Steege noted that his staff is also reaching out to students and presented numbers for online participation. He noted that numbers go up and down, but that the teachers are sharing what is working and that they look for numbers to increase as they move forward.

Elementary Principal Joe Griffith noted that his staff members are also working to provide online education opportunities and reaching out to their students. The West Elementary staff has been packing up belongings and getting classrooms ready for moving things out for the start of the West remodel and HVAC project. Parents will also be able to pick up students’ belongings from their desks and lockers at that school. A letter was sent out to inform parents that the items will be bagged up and ready to go. Parents will be met at the door with their student’s belongings. The West project is already underway.

Waukon High School Assistant Principal/Activities Director Brian Hilsabeck noted that he and Principal Garin continue to monitor grades on a daily basis and hope that students will participate in the voluntary online learning. He thanked the custodial staff and teachers for their work during these uncharted times. The 2020 football schedule is out, and Homecoming is scheduled for October 2, 2020. Spring sports and events have been canceled and they are waiting for June 1 to decide on summer sports. Board member Brent Beyer asked if it would be possible to award letters for spring sports based on any past performance or coaches recommendations. Hilsabeck noted that he would bring that up and see what other districts are doing about that.

Building and Maintenance Director Bill Hennessy noted that buildings have been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. The West Elementary project is underway. They are running pipes in the hallways and the asbestos contractor has taken the asbestos out of the old cooler. They are working on the fields for spring maintenance and getting them ready for summer sports.

Technology Director Shawn Gordon noted that the security camera system installment is nearly finished. They have been able to get a jump on their summer projects. East Elementary Chromebooks were issued to families that wanted to have a device at home for school work during the pandemic.

Transportation Director Andrew Eberling noted that they are also getting started on summer projects. He spoke with School Bus Sales to see if the pandemic is affecting the new buses being built for the district and was told that at this time production is shut down.

Food Service Director Julie Magner reported that they are serving sack lunches and breakfasts during the ongoing school meal program, and are serving over 400 of both meals per day. They have a packing and serving system smoothly in place, and she thanked her staff for their work on that ongoing project.

ACSD Superintendent Jay Mathis noted that with the closure of school for the rest of the year, there is a “laundry list” of things that they are working on. He also noted that they have to get a Return to Learn plan submitted to the State by July 1.

Board President Al Rissman thanked the administrators and all the staff of ACSD for everything they are doing during the current situation.

Under new business, the board approved an amendment to the 2020-2021 school calendar. The board also approved the following sharing agreements: a director of transportation and a director of building and grounds with Eastern Allamakee Community School District; a human resource director with Postville Community School District; a curriculum director with MFL/MarMac School District; and a social worker with Keystone AEA.

The board approved a bid from Wilson Restaurant Supply in the amount of $57,135 for West Elementary kitchen equipment. Superintendent Mathis noted that the funds will come from the nutrition account. The board then approved the 2020-2021 milk request for proposals, as well as change authorization requests for the East HVAC project and the West HVAC project.

The list of 2020 Waukon High School graduates was approved. The board then discussed possible graduation scenarios should there still be restrictions on the scheduled graduation date of May 17. Principal Garin noted that grades had been cut off March 13, but that staff had been working with students who were not passing a class prior to the March 13 date to get the grade up. Students who had been passing also had opportunities to improve grades. They are also working with NICC so students can know when they can drop their classes through the college, if needed.

Diplomas will be ready by May 17. Several options and scenarios were discussed for graduation, with the board members agreeing that an alternative date in mid- to late June would be something they were comfortable with. There was also discussion of having a graduation ceremony with the students, following social distancing guidelines, that could be streamed online so parents and family could watch it. There were also discussions of having a parade with the graduates or virtual graduation.

Garin noted that the students liked the idea of virtual graduation least. She also noted that she felt it was important to have some kind of ceremony or recognition so that this year’s seniors can have some kind of closure on that chapter of their life. A lot of what they can or can’t do is going to depend on what kind of restrictions are in place and how long they last.

Garin also noted that some schools are considering having the 2020 graduation in conjunction with their 2020 Homecoming, but she felt that fall would be too late and many students will have moved on to college or on with a job by then. They are still looking for options to be able to do something either May 17 or this summer for this year’s graduates.