The Perry Community School District Board of Education met in regular session last night.
At the meeting, the Board held a hearing in regards to the fiscal year 2016 budget. After hearing no comments from the public, the Board certified the budget with a zero percent State Supplemental Aid, at a tax rate of $18.12 per $1,000 of valuation.
Eddie Diaz, Brandon Weeks and Carla Wood then spoke on behalf of the Teacher Recruitment Team. Diaz said the group aims to recruit, retain and develop new teachers. They put together a list of the top five reasons why teachers should live and work in Perry. The seven teachers on the team, along with Teaching and Learning Director Kevin Vidergar, attended two college career fairs and handed out folders with literature about what Perry has to offer. Wood and Weeks talked about how they chose to work in Perry and take pride in the district. They both mentioned that there are great kids in Perry and want other prospective teachers to realize how great of a community this is to be in. Vidergar says they saw an increase of applicants after spreading the word at the teacher fairs and they plan to attend an additional one next year.
Vidergar then gave his Director of Teaching and Learning report. The Iowa Department of Education (DE) did an Accreditation and Equity site visit the middle of January and he shared results with the Board. The DE gave a list of recommendations in the seven areas of organization that they focused on. During the visit they found 17 areas of non-compliance, ranging from a lack of district-adopted definition of homelessness, the nondiscrimination notification is not written in major publications and there’s no evidence that the district provides 36 hours of practioner collaboration. You can view the full list in the document below.
Superintendent Lynn Ubben then shared a legislative update stating that there is still no news on setting State Supplemental aid for the upcoming school year
A food purchasing agreement with the Iowa Association for Educational Purchasing was then renewed for the upcoming school year. The 2015-2016 school calendar was also approved, starting on August 24th and ending on May 25th, pending any weather cancellations.
Next the Board approved a negotiated agreement with the Perry Education Association. As we previously reported, certified staff will receive a four percent increase for the next school year at a total cost of $401,607 to the district.
An amendment to the elementary school parking project was then approved, adding an additional $215,556 to the total project cost for alternates, design/construction documents and east driveway repairs/replacement. This brings the contract from $837,443.25 to $1,053,000.
Extra-curricular activity admission prices were then set at $4 for students and senior citizens. During the March meeting the Board discussed the topic but it was tabled after concern was expressed stating that this might deter spectators attending. Activities Director Tom Lipovac addressed the Board, as requested, to review rationale for increasing the prices. Lipovac says this $1 increase for students and senior citizens is in line with other schools in the Raccoon River Conference.
The Board then approved the purchase of new high school band uniforms at a cost of $52,272. Band director Brandon Weeks says the current uniforms were purchased for the 1994-1995 school year and the recommended life of a uniform is 10 to 15 years. Weeks says they do not currently have enough uniforms to outfit the expected growth of the band programs. He says they have been able to raise funds to purchase new concert band, pep band and other uniforms and this is the next, and final, step in outfitting the bands. The District plans to purchase 100 uniforms. Weeks says they plan to ask the Booster Club to help by purchasing the rain coat portion of the package, so they are only asking the district to contribute $45,872. His goal is to make some money back by disposing of the old uniforms, though how they will do that has not yet been determined.
A memorandum of understanding between the district and New Opportunities Inc. and Head Start in regards to the four year old preschool program was then approved. The district’s only cost for students attending these two programs will be transportation.
Next, the Board approved the addition of a full time Family and Consumer Science teaching position. Previously, this was a part time (0.6) position. The goal of the addition is to reach more students, particularly in the parenting, nutrition and culinary areas.
Personnel changes were then approved as presented, along with date changes to board policies.