MORMON TRAIL COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
July 10, 2017
President Smiarowski called the regular meeting of the Mormon Trail Board of Directors to order at 7:39 p.m. in the Humeston Elementary Library. Answering roll call were board members Evans, Lundahl, Funk, Peasley and Smiarowski. Elementary Principal Becky Stripe and Board Secretary Peggy Rash were present. Linda Horton, Humeston New Era was also in attendance. Guest was Band and Vocal Music teacher, Steven Neilssen. First up, Neilssen updated the Board about the DEKKO Grant he has applied for. He’s advanced through two sets of interviews and has been getting estimates from several different companies for band instruments and storage cabinets. He is hopeful that his efforts will be successful and allow the purchase of several band instruments for the music program. He finds that many students are not able to purchase their own instruments because of the high costs. This grant would also allow students to try several different ones out to see if it’s something they might enjoy playing throughout their school years. Lundahl made a motion to approve the consent agenda which included agenda approval, the previous meeting’s minutes and open enrollments in/out of the District. There were no new open enrollment requests. Peasley seconded the motion to approve with all present voting ayes. Motion carried. Moving on to the action items on the agenda, Funk made a motion to approve the monthly financial reports. Lundahl seconded with all voting aye. Following a brief discussion, Funk motioned to approve the June bills for payment. Evans seconded with all present voting aye. A bid of $.849 per gallon from Agriland FS for propane was accepted with a motion by Peasley. Lundahl seconded followed by all ayes. There were no other bids received. A bid from Kohl’s was accepted for groceries and supplies for the Nutrition program with a motion by Funk and a second by Peasley. All present voted aye. There were no other bids received. A proposal for mowing and grounds maintenance was received from M3 Lawn Care LLC. The proposal of $200 for mowing both locations was accepted in a motion by Funk. Peasley seconded with all voting aye. Secretary Rash will notify them and ask them to mow on an as needed basis and also to ask them to mow before Humeston’s Water Melon Day celebration, July 15th. Evans made a motion to raise adult lunch prices to $3.75 at the recommendation of Sandy Moore, School Nutrition Program Supervisor. Lundahl seconded followed by all ayes. A resolution read by Pat Evans naming Great Western Bank and ISJIT (Iowa Schools Joint Investment Trust) as the District’s depositories for 2017-18 was passed with a motion by Lundahl, a second by Peasley and a vote of all ayes. No official action is needed right now concerning the District’s open teaching and administrative positions but the Board was told there are currently six teaching and one admin position that needs to be filled by the time school starts in August. These include Athletic Director, HS Science, TAG, JH Math, HS Secretary, Elem PE and Superintendent. Motion by Evans, seconded by Funk, the Board approved Becky Stripe as the contact person for applications and questions concerning these open positions. Stripe was told to keep track of her time and the Board would compensate her for the extra time she will be working over her 210 day contract. With a vote of all ayes the motion carries.
Several new hires were approved at the recommendation of Stripe, including:
Cody Enterline – day custodian, Humeston/ Motion by Evans, second by Lundahl all aye
Daniel Barker – summer custodial / Motion by Lundahl, second by Peasley all aye
Annette Hinebaugh – summer custodial / Motion by Lundahl second by Funk all aye
Madalynn Shelton – Elem Special Ed teacher /Motion by Funk second by Peasley all aye
Teela Waugh – 3-yr old preschool / Motion by Funk second by Evans. Peasley, Funk, Evans, and Smiarowski voted aye. Lundahl abstained. Motion carries.
Gina Savely – Special Ed floater / Motion by Evans second by Lundahl all aye
Sara Bethards – 6th grade / Motion by Lundahl second by Evans all aye
Additional Schedule B contracts were approved with a motion by Funk. Lundahl seconded followed by all aye votes. Lundahl motioned to offer Business Manager, Peggy Rash a contract for 2017-18. Funk seconded with all in attendance voting aye. Next on the agenda was sub pay. This includes both certified teacher subs and hourly subs. Evans made the motion to pay certified teacher subs at the rate of $95 per day and hourly subs $8.25 per hour. Funk seconded followed by all aye votes. Funk motioned to offer the Garden Grove Secretary position $8.25 an hour with an additional $.50 for each three years of experience up to $9.25 an hour. Lundahl seconded with all present voting aye. Technology problems continue to be looked into at the Humeston building. It is hoped that a solution is found soon. The final estimate of $9347.06 has come in on the fencing that will go around the Humeston athletic fields. The Langtry Foundation donated $8919.82 (based on the estimate at that time)towards the project. The Board voted to approve the expenditure for the difference of $427.24 to be paid from the PPEL fund. Smiarowski will look into adding additional footage to finish out the project also to be paid from the PPEL fund. Lundahl makes the motion to approve with Evans seconding. All present voted aye. Next up was the discussion of the Garden Grove project to connect the CTE (VO AG) classroom building to the main building. Additional renovations were needed to bring the area up to fire code and ADA compliance. Flooring was the main topic of discussion. With a motion by Lundahl to continue laying new flooring on into the main classroom to replace the broken flooring, a second by Evans and ayes from all present the motion passes. The PPEL fund will also be utilized to pay for the additional flooring. Peasley motioned to have the Business Manager replace the funds to the PPEL fund from the General fund as directed by the Department of Education for the bus lease payments made to Durham School Services for 2016-17. Funk seconded and with a vote of all ayes the motion carries. The DOE considers the District’s bus lease and driver services contracts with Durham to be a packaged purchased service for the District’s student transportation which has been split between two contracts. The Uniform Administrative Procedures Manual states “it would not be appropriate to deem a portion of a purchased services contract to be the equivalent of a lease agreement. This would be especially inappropriate if the district were deeming a portion of a purchased service contract to be a lease agreement to obtain buses, when that same service provider is actually the one using the buses to transport the district’s students” Upon review of an audit finding in 2015-16, The Dept of Education recommended that the District consult legal counsel for their opinion on this matter. The District did contact attorneys but because the District does not wish to enter litigation with the DOE on this issue, The Board, in this motion, has directed the Business Manager to replace funds in the amount of $71,724.42 from the General fund back to the PPEL fund as directed by the DOE. The DOE has directed the district to pay for the entire purchased service of student transportation from the general fund in the future. The District will be looking into hiring our own drivers to drive buses leased from Durham or another bus company in the future. While there is no action needed at this time, Secretary Rash reported she had turned the roof damage at Garden Grove into the insurance company. Peasley motioned, pending certification, to offer fall sport’s coaching contracts to the following: Josh Stiles, HS Varsity volleyball, Amy Horton, HS JV volleyball and JH volleyball. As there will not be a HS Varsity football team this year, the motion was to combine the salaries for JV and JH football co-coaches Travis Johnson and Sam Moore and pay each one-half of the total amount. Lundahl seconded with all voting aye. Johnson and Moore will each earn $1878 for the season. In May the Board had voted to cancel the Varsity season citing low numbers and the concern over potential injuries. Lundahl motioned that the meeting be adjourned. Funk seconded with all voting in favor of adjournment. Smiarowski closed the meeting at 10:45 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Mormon Trail Board of Directors will be held August 14,
2017 @ 7:30 p.m. in the Elementary Library.
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President, Board of Education Secretary, Board of Education
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Date Date
These minutes are written as recorded by the board secretary and subject to approval at the next regular board meeting. Peggy Rash, Board Secretary/Treasurer