001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> All right, good. Today is Monday, May 18th. The time is 6:30 p.m. I call this public hearing of the Fairfield Community School Board of Directors to order. Roll call, please. Chris Kessel. Here. Dave Eads Burton. Here. Mark Porter. Here. Mark Thornton. Here. Megan O'Robbins. >> Here. Terry Wells. Here. Cody Freeman. Here. All present. All right. Uh, this is the time or place for people to speak for or against the proposed budget amendment. I received no written. There's no one here to speak. Um, do I hear a motion to adjourn? So moved. Second. Moved by Dave, seconded by Mark. All in favor? Aye. >> Aye. Aye. We are adjourned at 6:30 p.m. All right, moving into our meeting. Um, one second. All right, uh, it's 6:31 p.m. Monday, May 18th. Um, this
002is the regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Fairfield Community School District to be held at 6:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month. The meeting is open to the public and the public is encouraged to attend. Time is provided in the meeting for public input. The mission of the Fairfield Community School Board of Directors is, "We empower all students to achieve their highest potential through strong relationships, collaboration, and accountability. The vision of the Fairfield Community School Board of Directors is a destination district where we all belong, learn, and grow. Roll call, please. Christie Castle Here. Davey Spurgeon Here. Mark Porter Here. Mark Thornburg Here. Lena Robbins >> Here. Terry Wells Here. Cody Freeman Here. All present. Thanks. Right, are there any um uh amendments to the agenda? Yes, we have
003one. Um under the certified uh staff, I'd like to add Carla Taylor. Um she's currently teaching science in Linmar. We interviewed her last week and didn't get it um on this agenda in time on Friday. We were waiting on the approval stuff, so I'd like to get that added um as a science teacher at the high school. Okay. Furthermore, the 75,906. Okay. Do I hear a motion to approve the amend uh the agenda as amended? So moved. Second. Moved by Terry, seconded by Christie. Any discussion? All in favor. Aye. All right, so the agenda is amended and approved. All right, we'll move into our focus on learning. We have [clears throat] Katie here to speak on the Explorers program. Happy to. Hello, Katie Boatright. I am the director of the Explorers program, which is our
004before-and-after-school program, and we have a grant, a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant. This is our third year of this grant cycle. Previously, we had um a grant just at Penn and then we applied for a grant 3 years ago for both Penn and Washington. So that's the where we're at right at there. I'm just going to do a real quick thing here for you guys. >> [laughter] >> Um program information for those of you who don't know. We have before school program that starts at 7:15 and it goes until 8:15. The kids uh get to go to breakfast then and we pay for their breakfast if they want to eat. And then after school program starts at 3:30. I say 3:30, but at Washington it's actually like 3:15 cuz they get out earlier. So,
005after end of the school day until 5:30 on Monday through Thursday and then on Fridays we start at 1:30 when the kids get out and go until 4:30. And this includes a snack every day. Um so far we've had had a lot of kids come through the program. Um our daily average attendance was 92 back in the first year of this grant cycle and now we're up to 105. So, um problem is kind of becoming that we are running out of space and staff. So, um we are probably going to have to knock that back down closer to 100 for this grant for next school year cuz we're going to be at less funding. So, but um as you can see at the bottom there we've served 336 individual students over the past [clears throat]
0063 years, which I think is a lot of kids. Um so, our biggest focus is building a sense of belonging. There's some pictures there that you can see the kids working together. We do um activities that have building team team building activities once a week um in small groups. We also go on field trips. We have activities throughout the week that are all different and they're always in groups of like 10 to 15 kids. So, they're kind of building that camaraderie in the group. We also have Girls Who Code club that um Andrea Talbot leads and that's for third and fourth [clears throat] grade girls and the kids seem to really enjoy that program. So, we're hoping that can continue. Um some of our field trips and partnerships this year. Everybody got to go to
007O'Brien Olsen Park. Easy for the Penn kids, they just walked, but we did have to bus the Washington kids over there. Um bussing has kind of been an issue this year with a lack of drivers. So, um when we can, we use the vans and take groups, but if our groups are too big, then we've had to kind of think outside the box on how to get us to our field trips. Sometimes we hop in with the regular uh a regular school route, and sometimes we have to make multiple trips. Just kind of depends on where we're at. Our buildings for 2 days each month and does activities with the kids. Um Fair Hill Public Library, the children's librarian came and did activities at both buildings in the during the winter. Um Cambridge was just
008at um Penn's on Friday, this past Friday, and they did some financial literacy activities with the kids, and everybody had a good time with that. Um Jefferson County Park and the Jefferson County Conservation, we actually were able to take every grade level to the park um at some point during the year, and then Austin also came to us a couple different times throughout the winter to do some programming with the kids in our buildings. Um and park park and rec, everybody loves that field trip. We get to go swimming and play on the basketball courts and all things. All grade levels were able to do that also this year. Uh and then we always do our bike safety program, which was just a couple weeks ago, and the Chamber of Commerce does that with their
009bike safety committee, and everyone really enjoys getting to ride bikes and get new helmets, and you'll see some pictures of the kids in the lineup with that. So, here's when the librarian came to visit. Uh she did rockets with the kids, but she also did like read a book with them first and then related it to the activity. The kids thought it was a great time, so you can see they had a good time. Um here's when we went to park and rec. We got to play in the little playground room for the younger kids, and then swimming and basketball and dodgeball other things. Uh pickleball, too. That was a big hit this year. Uh Jefferson County Park, here's a couple different snapshots from our trip. The bridge is always the favorite. One of our
010groups got to go fishing, and one group was doing um building building what they call survival huts. You can see them all working together there to move a really big branch. Uh here's our bike rodeo. You'll see working in groups. Smiles everywhere. Everyone had a really good time with that. Um every student who was there was able to get a free helmet. And then they they also gave away seven bikes this year. I think it keeps the number keeps going up every year. We They have more bikes to give away to kids. It was great. They spent time learning bike safety. You can see the girl doing hand signals there and then the adult. And then um picture down in the corner is Amy Better from the hospital came and did um there's kind of
011a demo on what it would be like if you your brain was dropped without a helmet and with a helmet. So, kind of a talk about how it's helmet safety is really important. And then over there um that is Someone's dad. Tommy Tommy, thank you. Tommy Brower. Um and he's working with the kids on bike maintenance. So, that was a good time, too. >> [clears throat and cough] >> Uh here's some pictures of Cambridge when they were just here on Friday. They had a lot to share with the kids, and they asked a lot of good questions. It was great. Um so, grant funding um we get $150,000 each year for the first 3 years of the program. First 2 years we were just under budget. This year I'm planning on spending the majority of
012our funds. And 85% of the budget has been spent on staffing. And that's just because we have more kids. So, we've added some so many more kids that we need to add more staff. And um I'm sure you all know the kids are pretty needy. They like a lot of attention. So, the more adults we can have the better. Um it's been great to be able to use the funds for staffing instead of other things this year. Um unfortunately, next year we go into our first year of decreased funding. So, we're going to drop down to 75% of the original grant amount for the next 2 years. Where my board works every time that we meet on trying to come up with ideas to fund the program. Um one of the things that the district
013has done this year, well, for next year is that my role is kind of changed and I'm going to be taking on some administrative duties here at the ACT building um as well as doing the after school programming. So, only part of my salary will be coming out of the after school funds now. So, that kind of will help with the funding a little bit for the program. So, but if you have any suggestions about ways to make money for our program, let me know. Um I have some pictures of some smiling faces. Just thought you'd like to see just how the kids are having a good time. Um do a lot of different activities and they really enjoy being together and just hanging out. This is like my favorite picture ever. >> [laughter] >>
014The shaving cream. So, I was told I had 6 minutes. So, hopefully I'm under that. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them. Okay. >> Did you have more kids who wanted to be in it than you were able to this year or >> Um not very many. We did have a few on the waiting list, but um a lot of them when I reached out to them later in the year when we had open spots, didn't had already found something else and didn't need to come. So. And is it usually kind of the same kids year after the last 3 years? They kind of keep doing it. We have like our core kids who come every year and you know the family. Um but then we've been able to add some new
015ones each year too. So, we had a really small kindergarten group this year and I think it's just cuz the kindergarten class is smaller. Um but we only had like 10 kindergarteners. Um so, I ended up adding more first graders. So, I have like 30 first-graders and 10 kindergarteners instead. How many do you have for staff? Um so, each day we have I mean, my total staff is obviously different, but each day there are um four staff at Washington and five at Pence. And then some days we are able to add an extra like high school kid in there. So, we have six at Pence and five at Washington. So, Now, when I was still on your committee, uh Frank was working on trying to raise funds essentially, you know, uh trying to basically get
016a big pot of money put together and be essentially be able to still fund the program on the interest rate of that uh from that money. Have you guys had any success with that at all or not? >> Not yet. Um I'm we're going to be meeting when school gets out and hopefully we will be able to push that a little more this year since we are nearing the end. Although, I do have good news. I found out that they have gotten rid of the 10-year max of grant funding. So, we can apply again when this grant cycle runs out. So, that was good news when I just found that out. Yeah, and like Katie said, the next two fiscal years, we already have a plan to to make sure that we can continue to
017to run and fully staff it um as it as it currently is. But, in two years if that grant money goes completely away, how much money do you have to have annually to keep it going? I mean, I think we could probably get by with 100,000 for both buildings at the capacity we're at. I mean, obviously if we had less students or whatever, we could we could do it for less, but Luckily, a lot of the supplies that we use are things that >> [clears throat] >> you know, I have now that we've purchased over the years that we've had the program. And so, we just can reduce those games and things Okay. Yeah. What percent Do you know what how many kids are on like free and reduced lunch who are part of this?
018Is there um >> Um so we do every year we do a local evaluation and that number is included in there. You can find that on the website on our link. It'll tell you those numbers specifically each year. But I feel like we're right around 45 to 50. And we're about half. So about the same as we are as a district. >> Yeah, probably. Yeah, that's pretty close. And when you do the uh Girls Who Code program, is that just Is it a short period of time, right? Or is it all year? >> So they She started earlier this year. I think we started in October. Terry, does that sound right? I know it was partway through the year from that. >> Okay. November maybe? And she started early. Usually she doesn't start till January,
019but this year she started a little bit early because she's focusing a little bit more on the um beginning curriculum, which is like friendship building. And that's the part before they actually get into the coding. So usually she does that for a couple months and then gets into the actual coding stuff. So that's usually like a different group. So she does a has a group of third graders and a group of fourth graders. Some of them are kids who come to the after school program also, but some kids just come for that. Yeah. Other questions? That would be us. Okay. Thank you for your time. All right, we'll move into our committee reports. Each committee chair will share two to three minute update connected with their work and we'll begin with policy and Mark Thornton.
020[clears throat] Yes, we met in May. We moved it because It I'm sure you're saying. Um and went again through another series. So we started in the 600 series, which has a lot of education um policies in it. Um we got >> [snorts] >> about halfway through that uh in the time that that we had. So, you'll see all those policies on the board tonight for approvals. We also added Heather to that meeting this uh this meeting to make sure we had her expertise in there to get as we went through those policies well for curriculum. Yeah, it's more of just attacking each other series as we go through them. So, nothing crazy. Uh Christie, you want to speak on strategic planning? >> [clears throat] >> Um Evan brought up our flex funding. We have
021some extra funding in that account. And we talked about some possible ways to use that. Ultimately, I think that we all agreed that the best use would be um >> [clears throat] >> to put it towards a playground at the new middle school because that was something that was not included in the budgeting that was going to be cut otherwise. Uh discussed Trojan Times going out again in the beginning of June. Um we talked about adding a top 10 highlights from the year to kind of summarize uh some of the good things that have happened this year. Um Zach is planning a back to school kickoff called Destination Fairfield for all the staff uh before we start the following school year. Um the bond website should be up and running by May 25th. Is that
022still accurate, Zach? 26th. 26th. Yep. I haven't seen any drafts yet, but that's what says on that track calendar. Uh we talked again about the Career Academy and creating a survey to send out to all students and possibly parents and some community members about what type of academies they would like to see. Um Discuss possibly business, ag, construction, industrial maintenance. Um And then we talked about potentially some sort of culinary program partnering with Indian Hills the way that I think it's Pekin does. They do like an Iron Chef competition with the Indian Hills culinary program. So, we thought that could be something potentially for our high school as well. Um our Spanish teachers are not going to have full classes at the high school next year. So, we are going to be adding some Spanish
023at the middle school level. And Uh, we discussed the geo bond uh, would be 1.60 which is equal to 24 million um for the bond vote in November. Yeah, so the the most we would go up to on a levy um change would be a dollar 60-ish um which would still remain at that flat $12.70 when it drops off. When it would drop off. So, then that would give us like you said between 24 25 million dollars. And where are we currently sitting at? Zack? Where are we currently sitting at in comparison to that if it gets approved for the levy? That's where we're at. That's where we're currently sitting. So, we'll stay where we're currently at. Okay, that's what I was trying to get at. Yeah, it won't go up. Yeah. Well, is that
024it? That's it. Okay, great. Thanks. Uh, Dave Eastbrook Finance. Okay, finance. Uh, we met on Wednesday, May 6th at 8:00 a.m. We reviewed the consolidated budget amendment, which indicates the largest budget item is the is the $2 million expenditure to pay off our current bonds. The committee would by unanimous consent recommends approval to the full board for that item. The committee also reviewed the investment plan for bond proceeds received when the save revenue bonds to fund phase one of the middle school project was issued on May 13th. The committee approved the investment plan. And I need to note that I abstained from that due to a conflict of interest. In addition, the board reviewed the district's contingency funding plan, which can be triggered should there be a shortage of cash in the general fund to
025meet expenses. The district can borrow from other categorical funds with a formal plan of repayment and the board and board approval to meet short-term cash shortages. The committee approved the contingency funding plan and finally the committee discussed the use of excess funds in the district's flex fund and deferred to your committee, the strategic plan. So. That's it. Thank you. Operations did not meet last month, so we will move on to HR and negotiations. Cody. All right, so we met Thursday, May 7th. Um >> [clears throat] >> Some of the things that we discussed, the handbook committee is reducing the handbook size for the district from 60 pages down to 40 pages. Adjusting for state laws as well as policies and procedures. The extracurricular activities leadership coaches and sponsors are going to have another meeting June
0263rd and all coaches and sponsors will be in attendance for that. They're going to discuss district foundation how coaches can build their programs to drive our destination district. So, pretty exciting things there. Um The other thing we talked about is is exit interviews and gathering informative data on what our district does well and what we can do better from uh employees. And um I still have a couple openings for next year. Um two middle school and one high school math teacher. Is what we're looking at right now. So, we're doing a good job getting that wrapped up. Great. Thanks. All right, that's it for committee reports. Um we have uh an informational note on the bond petition. Yeah, so um we should have the final language [snorts] um from our attorneys by the end of
027this week as to what that GO bond um vote is going to be on the ballot come November. Um there will be signatures obviously that get uh collected. Uh the number is Just over 980 signatures. So, um that again that's based off the prior elections um vote um in specifically the school the school board election. >> So, um yeah, there'll be quite a few that have to come in. Um I do think uh we'll have those ready to go before school gets out. So, we'll have access to that. But, it's similar to what's been done in the past. Had a question about um whether or not we can do it electronically or through some type of form or pushing it out there. But, unfortunately, it has to be done by hand um in written form.
028So, we can't we can't do that. Like, you know, you could push that out over social media, but say it you have to come sign this, but it's not something that um yeah, can get done electronically. What else, Evan? Is there anything else there you wanted to make sure? Nope. I'm set. Okay. Yep. All right, consent agenda. Do I hear a a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? As amended. As amended. Thanks. I knew it was. So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? It carries. All right, moving on to public participation. On behalf of fellow board members, at this time I would like to invite any member of the audience that has filled out the form to step to the microphone with comments about items of interest or concern. Although
029we meet in public, we do not meet with public, and as such, the board cannot comment or answer questions. Please begin by stating your name and relationship to the school. It would be appreciated if you would limit your comments to 5 minutes. Uh there are not 10 or more people here, so um just remember that law Iowa law prohibits us from discussing specific employees or their job performance. Um Janice? Good evening. My name is Janice Kaufman. I'm the secretary of the middle school. I have been here for 26 years. I'm born and raised in Fairfield. My father, Pete Nelson, as some of you will know, was on the school board when I was growing up. I've been to multiple uh board meetings, and I've noticed changes through the years. The one that stands out the
030most is the length of time that we have to talk to you. Um I don't like that idea, but it's something that you guys have done. Um I was going to have all my secretaries with me today, but it just didn't work out, so I'm basically talking about what us secretaries uh have have going on right now. There are six of us, and that's a a total of 118 years of experience you have in the six of us. And I would like to speak to you tonight about the changes in pay and the number of the days we will be working in the next school year as secretaries. We are glad the district is updating pay to its employees. It would be nice if this pay went into effect for all the staff at the
031same time. We would not know would not have known about the associates new pay scale, but as secretaries we have incoming mail that we put into mailboxes. The letter of employment we were given five days as secretaries to make the decision on if we wanted to work 200 or 215 days, and I normally work 261 days. This will affect the way that we do been doing for the years. We did not really understand some of the considerations as the associates were having face-to-face meetings, and we have not had any of those really. Amy and I were called to have a meeting with Evan, which we appreciated having, but I don't really think we felt we knew anything about cutting our hours at that time. He basically wanted to know what we did during the month
032of July. We told him I would like to use Kim Wislow as my example of the pay difference between secretaries and associates. At the end of the school year 2025-26 she will have been with the district for 22 years. Her secretary pay is $20.25 an hour, which is $4.25 more than a first-year associate. The same pay as a nine-year associate, and $7.25 less than a 22-year year associate. Associates have a pay scale that is every 30 years, and the secretaries are every five, and ends at year 24. The secretary pay scale has always been higher than the associates, but the next year we will be underpaid. I feel I should have stayed as an associate, as the next year I'll be making $30.25 an hour, and right now I'll only be making $20.25. I'm stuck
033on level six because the secretaries only have six levels, and it ends at year 24. Obviously, I'm on year 26. I did start out as an associate with $5 an hour, but I was not considered any It was not giving any consideration of having a four-year college degree, which by the way, I could run the park and rec with what I've done through my schooling. The secretaries were never told about this, or the fact that the leadership team, the admin staff, had made changes to the days we'll be working in the year 2026 and 27 school year. Heidi and Kim have been given five to 20 extra days. Stacy and Don will have five to 20 less days. Amy and I have lost our full-time status, and 45 days less work, plus our 15 uh
034days of vacation. Amy and I did not know about the insurance for the month of July, and when I asked Mr. Weigel, he said, "You have enough time. Make arrangements." He also did not understand why we need a head secretary. I would think you would need someone to take charge, so head secretary, team leader. And when I was uh when I was actually um given the secretary position, I was told I was the head secretary. How much money would be saved if all the admin were cut 45 days of pay and their vacation taken away from them? What would happen? What would What would it ever happen? And who is over them to to make this happen? Due to the changes in the days, you have basically demoted all of the secretaries in the building.
035Our letter of employment calls us secretaries, but you need to know that we don't just sit at our desk and answer the phone, let people enter our building, and file paperwork. We also work one-on-one with students every single day. Our role constantly pulls us in multiple directions. We're not only secretaries, we often serve as nurse, counselor, and sometimes even principal. Like last Friday, we had nobody in our building except Don and I, and that's it, cuz we had no other principals to talk to. The secretaries were sent an email an email from Mr. Weigel on March 20th to apologize for the frustration and uncertainty that came with the shift from having two 12-month secretaries positions to none at the building level. I want to give you an expert excerpt from Mr. Weigel's email. I've come
036to understand that without that communication, it may have felt that like your group would be treated the same or similar to the para group. That misunderstanding is on me. I should have shared earlier that we had been meeting with the para leadership team over several months working collaboratively through different options to arrive at a plan, and that our intention is to follow the same thoughtful, collaborative process for your team next year. Having spent 14 years as a building administrator across multiple levels, I know how critical you are to the heartbeat of the school. You are often the first face people see, the steady presence in moments of chaos, the rock that keeps principals sane, and the key part of creative culture where students, staff, and family feel supported. Over the past weeks, I know some
037of you have not felt valued or appreciated and that I am truly sorry. I The apology is great, but we kind of like want to have action to fix this problem. Why wait a year and bring the secretaries up to the same level as everybody else? We feel the difference in pay between associates and secretaries is in in adequate. The removal of work days and adding days should been a discussed with all the secretaries. We are often the first people to greet parents, field calls, provide daily support to students and staff. We show up every day and take pride in our many roles we fill. I will leave you with this thought. Associate letters were dated and approved by the board in February of and the secretaries are dated and approved 4 to 9 months
038later. You have enough time to make arrangements. To have had meetings and updated our pay scale in time to put the effect the effect into effect the same as the associates. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Janice. All right. Um we'll move into new business. 8.1. Do I hear a motion to approve the city of Fairfield and the Fairfield Community School District with respect to a real estate transfer involving city owned right of way between the city and the district, the agreement. I'll move. Second. Moved by Cody, seconded by Dave. Any discussion? So, this is just that little strip of driveway? Correct. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And the council approved it at their meeting last week. Are we actually going to pay the city anything for that or is it It's a dollar. Second.
039Yep. Any other discussion? All in favor? I. >> I. Opposed? [clears throat] Motion carries. 8.2, uh our budget amendment. Do I hear a motion to approve the budget amendment as presented? So moved. Second. Moved by Dave, seconded by Terry. Any additional discussion? All in favor? I. >> I. Opposed? Motion carries. 8.3, Spanish curriculum. Do I hear a motion to approve the Spanish curriculum as presented? So moved. Second. Moved by Christie, seconded by Mark Thorton. Any discussion? Um is there any specific change to this, or is this pretty standard? Like when I opened it, I couldn't read it. Yeah, so >> [clears throat] >> they're on cycle for their curriculum review this year, so they've been working with Heather since um after Christmas looking at different options um in regards to what best aligns with their
040priority standards, and this is um really what they went went through what went with. Um they use a rubric to kind of identify whether or not it checks the right boxes. Yep. All in favor? I. I. Opposed? Motion carries. 8.4, do I hear a motion to approve board policies at the first reading? So moved. Second. Moved by Terry, seconded by Cody. Any discussion on these 600s? All in favor? I. I. Opposed? Motion carries. Do I hear a motion to approve board policies at the second reading? So moved. Second. Moved by Terry, seconded by Mark Porter. Any discussion here? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Do I hear a motion to approve board policies for deletion? So, moved. Second. Moved by Mark Porter, seconded by Christie Castle. Any discussion? These were all optional for
041ISB. Um so, I didn't think we needed them and if the majority are Yeah, we kept the required ones and these we had talked to both again Heather and Zach and everybody there to make sure that things in here were already covered by law, so it's not like duplicated uh or were covered in a handbook or something else or just were not really needed for us to enforce. Okay. Any other discussion? Questions? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. All right. Do I hear a motion to go into closed session pursuant to Iowa Code Section 21.51I? So, moved. Second. Moved by Mark, seconded by Dave. Roll call vote. Christie Castle. Yes. Dave Spurgeon. Yes. Mark Porter. Yes. Mark Theron. Yes. >> Angelina Robbins. Yes. Terry Wells. Yep. Corey Freeman. Yes. I recommend we take
042a two or three minute break just so we can get a little walk up there. We'll take a short recess. >> Mhm.