MORMON TRAIL COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
November 9, 2015
Board Minutes
President Smiarowski called the regular meeting of the Mormon Trail Board of Directors to order at 7:33 p.m. in the Humeston Elementary Library. In addition to Smiarowski, board members Funk, Evans, Peasley and Lundahl were present. Also in attendance were Superintendent, Lorna Paxson, Principals Mike Snyder and Steve Hunt and Board Secretary, Peggy Rash. Lundahl made a motion to approve the agenda with Peasley seconding. All voted aye. Lundahl made a motion to approve the consent agenda which included approval of previous meeting minutes and open enrollment in/out that meet requirements. Peasley seconded the motion to approve with all present voting aye Peasley made a motion to close open session and enter closed session as provided in 21.5(1)(a) of the open meetings law to discuss records which are required or authorized by the state or federal law to be kept confidential or to be kept confidential as a condition for that governmental body’s possession or continued receipt of federal funds. Evans seconded the motion. With Lundahl voting aye; Peasley voting aye; Funk voting aye; Evans voting aye; and Smiarowski voting aye, the Board went into closed session at 7:50 pm. The board re-entered open session at 8:20pm. Lundahl motioned for a five-minute break with Evans seconding. All voted aye. The board left open session at 8:20. The Board returned to open session at 8:25 with Peasley, Lundahl, Funk, Evans and Smiarowski answering roll call. Lundahl made a motion to approve the month’s financial reports. The motion was seconded by Funk with all voting aye. After a brief discussion about the expenditures presented for payment, Funk motioned to approve the bills for the month of November. Lundahl seconded with all present voting aye. Teri Indorf was approved to fill a second Special Ed teaching position. Motion by Lundahl. Second by Peasley with all voting aye. There may be some movement of para-educators as Indorf has been a 1:1 in the district since August 2014. If other paras need to be hired the board will evaluate that in December. Uwe Stegmann and Dakota Stegmann were approved as part time evening custodians for the Humeston building. Funk motioned to approve stipulating that their combined hours per shift will not exceed 5 hours. Peasley seconded with all voting aye. No action on Item 6, open enrollment. Lundahl moved to approve the snow removal bid for the winter of 2015-16, submitted by Kar Knuts. Evans seconded with all present voting in favor. Superintendent Paxson shared progress on the District’s SINA Plan and the LAU Plan. The 2015-16 Annual Progress Report was submitted for Board approval by Paxson. Evans made a motion to approve the report with Funk seconding. All voted aye. Lundahl made a motion to apply to the SBRC for Modified Supplemental Amount for increasing enrollment. The amount the District qualifies for is $164,956. Mormon Trail’s enrollment has increased from 241.3 in FY2015 to 266.6 in FY2016. Peasley seconded the motion with all voting aye. Motion by Evans, Second by Peasley to approve the Corrective Action Plan to be submitted to the School Board Review Committee for filing the Certified Annual Report and Special Ed Supplement late. All voted A motion by Lundahl to approve the bus lease and service management agreements with Durham School Services was seconded by Evans. All present voted aye. Next on the Agenda was the approval of Lorna Paxson’s contract for the shared Curriculum position with Diagonal CSD. The position will pay $4650 plus IPERS and FICA. Diagonal will hold the contract. Lundahl made the motion with Peasley seconding. All vote aye. Funk made the motion to approve the amended Superintendent contract with Lorna Paxson. The original contracted amount of $33,000 plus IPERS and FICA was amended by decreasing the yearly salary by $4650 plus IPERS and FICA. Peasley seconded with all voting aye. Superintendent Paxson explained the adjustments made to the 2015-16 school calendar. Total student hours were adjusted down to 1115.5. Days were not affected. Student contact hours must equal 1080 or With no action required, roof leaks were next up for discussion. Both the Garden Grove and Humeston buildings have been leaking in various places. Caulking has not fixed the leaking areas. The matter will continue to be looked into. Lundahl made a motion to approve an emergency employee pay process. The motion was seconded by Funk with all voting aye. Under item 19, Paxson will check with the Iowa Association of School Boards and look into scheduling a board workshop in January. No action required. Hiring assistant coaches for all sports was brought up for discussion. Further action was tabled until a later board meeting. Contingent on the resignation of Joseph Parmer as JH boy’s basketball coach for the 2015-16 season, Bill Hoover was approved to assume the JH position. Motion was made by Funk. Seconded by Evans. All voted aye. Motion by Lundahl to allow this year’s senior football players to purchase their football helmets at replacement cost. The motion was second by Funk All voted aye. Administrative reports were given by Superintendent Paxson and Principals Steve Hunt and Mike Snyder. The Board did not enter into closed session, As provided in 21.5 (1) (j) of the open meetings law to discuss the purchase of real estate where premature disclosure could be reasonably expected to increase the price the school district would have to pay for that property. No further negotiations are planned at this time. Lundahl motioned that the meeting be adjourned. Funk seconded with all voting aye. The meeting adjourned at 11:10 pm. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Mormon Trail Board of Directors will be held December 14th 2015 @ 7:30 p.m. in the Elementary Library.
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President, Board of Education Secretary, Board of Education
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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