001We'll call this meeting to order. Monday, April 20th, 6:30 p.m. at the ACT building. >> Can I get a roll call? >> Christy Kessle >> here. >> Dave Eastburn >> here. >> Mark Porter here. Mark Thornton >> here. >> Mangal Robbins absent. Terry Wells >> here. >> Cody Freeman >> here. >> Christy Castle will be taken. Mandal Robins seat as vice president. And this is the public hearing. >> This is the time where anyone may speak to the board in support or against of any portion of the 2026 2027 proposed school budget. Written comments will also be considered if anyone if received prior to the closing of the public hearing. I think we have one guest who would like to speak. Joe the quadrant. As you all remember me last month, tonight I'm here begging
002for your forgiveness because I come in with the wrong information and I apologize for it. But I also want to commend you. You held the line on your tax levies. I really appreciate that. It's tough to do, but I do appreciate it. Once again, I apologize with my screw up. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Joe. Please. >> Is there anyone else wishing to speak on behalf of the public hearing? >> You can go ahead and close the hearing. >> Okay. Uh, this public hearing is closed. Do we have a motion to adjurnn? >> Second. Porter and >> Wells. >> Well, those in favor say I. >> All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Meeting adjourned at 6:31 p.m. I'll just jump right into the next one. Right. Yep. >> Just give
003me a second here. >> Okay. Go ahead. >> I now call to order our regular board meeting the regular board meeting of the board of directors of 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. >> Can read those mission and vision. The mission of the Fairfield Community School School Board of Directors is we empower all students to achieve their highest potential through strong relationships, collaboration, and accountability. The vision of Fairfield Community School Board of Directors is a destination district where we all belong, learn, and grow. I now call the meeting to order. Can we get a roll call? >> Christy Kessle >> here.
004>> Davies >> here. >> Mark Porter here. >> Mark Thornton >> here. Megan Robbins absent. Terry Wells >> here. >> Cody Freeman >> here. >> Christy Castle will be taking Megan Dell Robbins placing in the president's seat as vice president. >> Are there any perfections to the agenda? >> I have none. >> Nor do I. >> Uh, is there a motion to approve the agenda as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Mark, second by Terry. Any discussion? >> Any discussion? Seeing none, uh, the motion passes. >> All those in favor? >> I I >> opposed. The motion carries. Uh, we will now move to the focus on learning. Mallerie Man. All right. I brought um Carla Stewart with as well who is um one of our guidance counselors at the high school.
005So we're going to talk to you guys about the DECAP which is our district career and academic plan as a requirement um that we present what that looks like from this school year um to you every year. Carl share with it. So this is basically like it says it's a road map for us to have kids start looking at what they want to do and how to get there and to help them make it realistic. So it's more about like talking to kids like what do you want to become and what classes are you taking? What classes could you take to help you achieve those goals down the road? All right. So um our goal for this year so the district goal for year 26 27 and thereafter is that by the end of the
006academic year 100% of students will demonstrate measurable growth in ELA and math assessments. Um you know our district goals um to also share so our big focus so if you look down the bottom of this DECAP goal so last year we had a pretty low percentage of um incoming freshmen complete uh their four-year plan. So, a goal for us for this year uh and this year's DECAP was to make sure that all incoming freshmen um have completed that four-year plan and that IAP. So, that's really been um our focus this spring. Um and then Carl, do you want to talk about who completes that? >> So, our administrators on it is Mrs. Van and Mrs. Martin, myself, Mark Eperson, Molly Mazinski, all work on it. Our secondary teachers, Mrs. Granald, Miss Tyler, Miss P, and
007Mr. Shank. Amy Harris, who is our college career transition counselor, works on it. So does Mr. Eperson and Summer Bradfield working with our workbased learning in our Jig. And then Bethany LaRose can too. And the students get to work on it by actually stopping and thinking and taking interest inventories and tests to figure out what they would like to do. So there's five essential components within that decap that we're looking at. Um, and what we're going to do is we're going to break down each of those components. Um, both at the high school level and the middle school level. Previously, middle school has not had a decap requirement or has been grades 8 through 12. Um, for next year, it's going to be graded on grades 5 through 12. So, while it wasn't graded on
008that this year, um, that was something that we wanted to make sure our team implemented just so we kind of had a better understanding of what that would look like. So those five components that we're going to look at are self-standing, career information, career exploration experiences, post-secary exploration, and then career post-secondary decision. So we're going to take you through is what each of those components look like at each of the different grade levels. Um we'll kind of we'll try and be brief and kind of just give an overarching view for you. >> So that self-standing includes them taking assessments. It could be the MyersBriggs or we've been using Navigator. Next year we're moving to >> Zillow. And in there there's assessments that the kids can take to start to see what are their interests. What
009are their values? And what are they good at? I might like something but I might not be good at it. So where do those all overlap? Because that's where you're going to be happiest in a career. And just starting to think about what do I want to do and what am I interested in doing? So, I'd also share as you progress from each grade level, you're going to see more of the exploration kind of component in grades 9 10 um as you get to those 11th and 12th grade, it's more like, okay, what is the plan? Um how are what steps are you taking and are you meeting those checkpoints to be able to reach that plan? So, kind of notice that as we work through each of the five components. career information like what
010are we doing to get information out to our kids and in what classes are they getting this um 11th grade they do a lot of things and beyond high school including some career research and taking time to look at things and you know looking at wages and even like having to follow a budget so they begin to understand how realistic that is. um seniors, it's again more just looking at things. Sometimes it's even just looking at the cost of colleges and sitting down with them and comparing this college versus that college and your financial aid office offers and what's more reasonable for you. I would also share in that beyond high school co um course, one of the projects that Miss Vampelt does is they play the game of life and what they're doing is
011um they look at what their you know future career at that point is. um they pick in couple of locations that they think they may want to live in at that time. So they're pulling in what cost of living in and what uh a person in that um employment would make in that area. Um they're looking at education, all of those things. And then essentially it's like a board game, right? So they're playing the game of life through that. Um making family planning, um different road bumps that happen across the way, different bells, housing, all that type of stuff. So they spend a pretty good chunk of time um doing that. their junior year. We also have JAG, which is primarily juniors and seniors. Um we do have some 10th graders who take it. Um
012but they're doing a lot of um career explor exploration there as well. Um and then we do have some job shadow opportunities as well. Career exploration, what are we giving it to our kids? What kind of things can they go to? This year we had a career fair that all of them went to. Um we had a lot of different speakers in and out of our buildings to talk about different things. We have different college reps in all the time to talk. This year we even had um Columbia University come and talk to interested students. So sometimes it's bigger and wider than what even I think that we're doing. But Columbia reached out to me this year saying can we talk to interested student? I said sure. And we had a room full. Um same
013thing for the 12th grade. And then speakers that get brought in sometimes those are fantastic like local people coming in to talk about their careers and what is offered here in town for kids. >> And I'd say for both 11 and 12, we've had over 30 different community members coming in and meet with kids this year, which has been which has been great. And we have large amount of kids doing internships throughout the year at different job sites. I had a student ask me today, can I just see the list of where I can go? And my answer was you tell us and then we find a place. So you have to tell us what you're interested in first. I can't just give you a list for you to pick from. >> We have reached
014out to chamber to hope that we can make some sort of list um a possibility just for us just because you know we may know there may be some employers that we know have a very specific type of engineering but what we don't necessarily know is are there finance opportunities within there? are there insurance opportunities? Uh what other careers exist with each within each of those employers? So that's something um that one of our committees has done um within our school is to try and reach out and see what all employers have to offer so that we can widen what that looks like for kids. What are they doing to look at post ex post postsecary me? Did they go to the career fair? Are they taking career surveys? Are they going on college tours
015this year? RCCTC, we went to William Penn, we went to Central, we've gone to the University of Iowa, um those are the ones Indian Hills, Southeastern Community College, Kirkwood have all been visited this year by students. Um what are they taking part in with that? When the military recruiters come, who are they talking to? How are we getting the kids in front of them if they want to do that? um Indian Hills scholarship day. You know, we even had one this year where they came in and helped the kids fill out all the scholarships for Indian Hills and then randomly drew one of our students to receive a $1,200 scholarship for showing up that day. Um again, our career fair and Jag is another big class where kids get to sort of explore a lot
016of different careers and what they might like to do. Oh, and we've done tours of JobCore this year, too. More than one. And then number five is career and post-secondary decision. What are you doing for the next step? Did you take all the classes you needed to be able to go to the University of Iowa? What does the University of Iowa look like versus Columbia University? Since I brought that one up, what classes have to be different? And those kind of conversations. I tell students, you think you're going to an elite college, you better be talking to Mr. person and I from the get-go because your classes are going to look a lot different than even if you're going to the University of Iowa. And those classes are going to look different than if you're
017going to Indian Hills. Not that you can't go to Indian Hills first and then go, but what way are you going to get there? Okay, so let's say you now can't go straight to Iowa State. How could you get there? Could you go to Kirkwood for two years and then transfer? It's a little setback. How do we still get you where you want to go? And I would share. So the biggest change that we're really working on and we'll continue to working on um next year too is just making sure we're being more individualized um and kind more customer service to tailoring it to the individual students um because everybody's got a different path and a different area that they're interested in. Um so again, just really making sure we're helping them and their families
018make sure that they've got all the checkpoints needed to help them um get to where they need to go after they graduate um from high school as well. Um, I'm going to speak a little bit later about IRC's. You'll see that up there. Um, and I'll we'll talk a little bit more about what Amy Harris, our RCCTC, does too. I know she came in December, but we'll talk about kind of her role in here as well. Um, we do for juniors and seniors also have that workplace communications class. Um, employability skills, those will look a little different next year. Um, and some different opportunities for kids, too. We've also had Greater Jefferson County Foundation uh came in several times to meet with kids to assist with scholarship writing. We've had a we'll talk FAFSA a
019little bit later too, but have really been really pleased with how many community members have really stepped in um to help run those events too so that we can serve as many families as we need. >> And starting last year and this year, we've started bringing in Indian Hills adviserss for the kids who are telling me I want to graduate with my AA. So rather than just me trying to help them through it, we're actually bringing over the Indian Hills adviser to tell them what classes they should be taking and what steps they still have to do to get there. And we do I'll have them do credit audits and all of that kind of stuff with them. And then I'm going to give kind of just brief overview of middle school. I'm obviously not
020there um every day, but if you'll look, so their career explorations really starting in that fifth grade. Um so they do in um with Miss Mazinski in their guidance courses is where they're doing that career cluster inventory and career assessments. You'll look as that kind of moves forward. Then they're looking at um with their leader and me class. I think they can take a leadership class um as one of their exploration classes and they're doing a career pathways project there and setting different leadership goals. Um then seventh grade kind of same thing. In eighth grade then they're mapping their future out. uh again in that leadership course um they do a passion project just to kind of figure out you know applying what they love to their you know future um and give a presentation
021on that as well. Then career information see uh again is that career researcher largely doing that with Molly. Um I think for the most part it doesn't change a ton. When you get to 8th grade you'll see they're adding that financial literacy component uh with Aaron Countryman there. And then for career exploration experiences in fifth grade they're doing pen pals. Uh sixth grade they have a non-fiction novel unit and they're doing social studies projects about famous people and colleges. In seventh grade, uh they're doing a pro they do a project in math and they're bringing in guest speakers for that. They also attend um the my future field trip at SEC. And then eighth grade they're doing that Indian Hills career day. Um at that event students choose three careers of their choice and they're
022put in different groups and they can meet with those um different areas there. And then they're also bringing career speakers or guest speakers in PLTW. Um and then that component four post-secary exploration. Um a lot of a lot of this as you're seeing a lot of it is similar but a lot of the activities apply in different spots. So it's still that career research for fifth grade and then as they work through that eighth grade that's where that passion project is coming into play in their leadership courses. And then component number five, um, again, that career exploratory with Miss Mazinski. And sixth grade, they're doing those career pathway projects. In seventh grade, that's choosing a best fit. And they get that intro to KAV. And then in eighth grade is that passion passion project, mapping
023their future. Um, and then that is when Miss Stewart actually comes over and she's there for several days and they're looking at different um, courses that we offer at the high school. They're making their four-year plan. they're talking about, they start talking about FAFSA at that point, they start talking about scholarships. Um, they get a whole bunch of information at that point in time. Um, and then counselors then, um, meet with parents and students within like the week after that, um, to go over that course plan and just kind of give them an overview of what the next four years is going to look like for them. So, Amy Harris is our college and career transitions coach. Um she did individual meeting with all of our seniors this year. She's helping students with college applications
024and scholarship forms. Um she has organized a lot of college and industry tours. She has hosted several FASA nights. She did the career fair. Um she's helping us with registration for the Indian Hills classes, which is an ongoing thing all the time anymore. And she even set up a fair where all of our juniors had to do a mock interview and they all had to sit down and interview with somebody and that was also with uh community members. >> Yep. >> She teaching a class next year too. >> She is. So next year she's actually going to be teaching our how to be successful in college course which will be awesome. Um I mentioned earlier so just talked about IRC. So this is a part that's not assessed on our DAP um this year but
025is a section that is looked at for next year. Um but what that is so industry recognized credentials and what those are those are certifications that students can receive um based on a holding value within a specific industry or field. So we've had several students um we were fairly deficient in this previously but to be honest we really didn't know much about them. Um so we've really kind of stepped up this year. Um so some of the IRC's our students have received um we have a student who's who will be doing finance this summer. our youth quality assurance program. Um that's all majority of our a students have completed that. Uh CPR, we have several students um receiving their uh state FFA degree this week. Um food handling, they're doing that in advanced foods. And
026then employability skills competencies. So any of those students who took um that employability skills course through Indian Hills, there are several competencies in there. The students receive viruses for those. So all of those then get transcripted um for them. so that they can use them either on resumes, college applications, all of the things. >> And those cost money. >> They cost money. They >> So we're currently >> we're currently paying for those. Yes. Um and the the cost varies. Some of them are more expensive than others. >> And then so the big thing, so this isn't on our 2526 decap, but moving into next year. Um so we're adding Zello, which houses a whole bunch of really cool stuff. So we're currently a handful of us are currently getting different trainings on that. So um
027what it can do. So that's where all of our students I cap so those individual career academic plans all of those will be housed them there for them. Um there's several courses within there. We'll be able to pull financial literacy things. Um a lot of things connected to leader and me will be able to use um part of our TQ day in the community. you know, community employers identified what they need employees to look like in the workforce or skills that they need. So, we're actually able to then take um all of those things community members listed and kind of talked about as a need in the community and we can actually tailor courses um that are available through that connected to what employers are hoping to see. Um, in terms of like colleges, there
028you can explore different colleges, you can do virtual tours, you can see all of the costs, breakdown, what that will look like. Um, you can also upload your letters of recommendation. It's connected to common app as well, which is really exciting. Um, so students will be actually be able to apply for colleges through Zello as well or connected to it. there's resume building on there, student goal setting, um, and it's just going to allow for more in-depth opportunities for all of our students at all different grade levels. So, there's actually different competencies that students have to get in grade 9, 10, and 11, and 12, and they get more in-depth as they go. So, um, we will largely use this in our seminar time next year. Um, but there's also been a lot of things
029that we've been able to pull that we've noticed we'll be able to use in a lot of different places, too. So, we're really excited about that. Um the other thing we're going to add, so we had, you know, most of the seniors had individual meetings um this year either with Amy Harris or one of our guidance counselors, but we'll be doing that with all juniors and seniors next year um just to and plan and ensure that students are hitting all those checkpoints. Um we had we had a handful it was right around 50% of students who have completed FASA at this point. So we're hoping that that we can bump those up too. under. We're always willing to have families come in and do all that as well. But so that's those are things that
030we're looking forward to next year that we'll talk about again at this time. >> Any questions for us? I know that's a lot of information. >> What is the percentage of students that are either taking Indian Hills classes or actually getting their AA degree before they graduate high school? >> The percentage of students who get their AA degree before they graduate high school is pretty low. And to be honest, that's um when we've talked with Indian Hills, I think that was a bigger push was to try and get students to complete the AA degree. But really now the bigger, you know, the push is making sure, okay, is what you're doing connected to what you're planning to do after you graduate instead of putting so much is the free college credit? Yes, 100%. Um, but
031we want to make sure that's actually tied to what the student is planning to do. So, I would say the percentage of and Carla, you can correct me if I'm wrong, that percentage has dropped um but we have a huge percentage of students um it's right around 80%. Is that right? >> Something that >> um who take advantage of concurrent opportunities. >> I do have two seniors this year who will be able to finish their AA degree within two terms next year. >> Great. >> Because of all the classes they have taken. But I'd say that's been, you know, our biggest push and biggest focus is just making sure all the things are aligned and connected instead of just doing it just because >> I've noticed there's a lot of kids that graduate Fairfield that
032are getting out of college in three years. I I attribute that primarily to this, I would assume. So, >> and I've been asking questions like, okay, you want to be successful in college. That's great. Are you going to Indian Hills or are you just going to take these and transfer to another college? Because that is a specific class you need for Indian Hills. And if you're not going to get your AA degree, let's have you look at another class. >> So it's not just you taking a class to take a class. Let's make this valuable for you and your time. >> Thank you. >> So I was curious, and you may not know cuz it was at the middle school, um, but like what uh is part of that financial literacy that they're learning at
033the 8th grade level and then does that continue at the high school currently or is that something you're going to be Now adding >> you mean through Zello or >> Well, I saw you adding it. I just didn't know. >> So just adding the Zello component of it. So financial litery literacy occurs in both places. It just looks different. >> Gotcha. And so what is the what does that entail? Like what are the kids learning about in financial literacy? >> In financial literacy. So right now um so Miss Vampel takes them through so it's a one of her units in that beyond high school class. Um so they're looking at budgeting. Um, they're learning how to do their taxes. They're learning how to check credit and all of those things. Um, amendments in there. >>
034That's a lot of >> questions. Any other questions? >> Do you see much pivot from starting early to like people kind of like flowing and changing their minds as they're going? not as I mean some but you would think it would be a lot more but um it depends on the the student and how serious they are in a certain area if we have some students that like they change every week and that's just the way it is >> and then we have others who are like I'm this is what I'm doing this is what I'm doing and >> I would say the ones we've seen shifts in more of are the ones who maybe weren't connected to things that are incredibly tied to what it was they thought they were planning to do. Um
035so they're not really doing those job shadow experiences or not doing those internship experiences or um different times we've seen some pivoting this year is uh you know they've gone and done an internship or gone and done a job sh like oh that's that job is not what I thought it was. Um so we've seen some pivot there but still generally in the same field just not the specific career path. >> Any other questions? Thank you ladies. Great. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We will now move on to committee reports. Each committee chair will share a 2 to three minute update connected to their work. We'll start with policy. Mark Thornton. >> Yeah, I will keep this one short. We met the first week of April, Friday, April 3rd. Um we took another stab
036at doing a whole another series which the team did great at. We accomplished the 100 series. So, you'll see all of those on tonight's board agenda. And we deleted or are proposing to delete what is there five or six of them, I think, that were regulations um that we're going to get rid of as well. Um and we plan to go to the 600 series next. So, we're going to take another stab and do another whole series for next month. So, >> great. That's it. >> Thank you. We'll move on to strategic planning. Uh we met April 13th uh and we talked about uh the middle school project and how to get information out to the public um regarding uh the bond info. Um of course we're going to include it in the church and
037times but um talked about other ways that we want to um reach out and reach people that are you know maybe not as connected to the schools. Um, we talked about contacting Jefferson County Democrats, Jefferson County Republicans, Manufacturing Association, Farm Bureau, Rotary. Um, we talked about having Andy do another article, um, some sort of a ledger insert, um, just highlighting like a one-page flyer, um, talking about, uh, the Bond project and how it's different this time from last time. um highlight the additional ways that we have identified to move forward. Um communication with all stakeholders by early May. Um touching base again with our bond ambassadors um that helped us last time, city and county leaders, staff, all families, and the entire community. Uh then we talked about uh updates on our athletic programs. We
038still have some openings um I think mostly for assistant uh volleyball, football, baseball, and head middle school football I believe, right? >> Uh we also talked about Indian Hills. Zach met with um them again about uh setting up a partnership with them and moving forward on developing like an A or a business or a construction academy. Um we again talked about uh sending out a survey to the kids to see where their interests really lie and which one we feel like will be um you know most impactful for the students. So, uh, we discussed a possible career academy grant, um, that Pathfinders could potentially look into for us. Um, Pathfinders is also looking into potential grants, uh, with the capital campaign. And I might have Zach expand just a little bit on this for you
039guys, um, because he met with them. >> Yeah. So they essentially come alongside whatever project, whatever um you know we whatever we want to do or or build or create. And since we have a significant amount of money already um essentially uh raised or we've got it based on the save bond um she's confident that she'll be able to write um quite a few different grants that have some substantial matching if you already have money that's going towards it. So that's really going to be the focus I think for her over the next um year to see what we can get from a matching standpoint. Doesn't really have to coincide with a capital campaign that we would do locally, but um it would be something that we could again contribute towards the project as a
040whole. So um she was out of town all last week, but we're meeting again um later this week. I think >> I think it's really helpful too just from a community perspective to show that we're you know really exploring all resources and not just relying on you know taxpayers or businesses or um private donors as well. So, um we discussed also touching base with education foundation again, making sure that they're on board with us using them as a pass through for um the raising money for the gym project. And um also, well, that's done later. I'll wait for that. Um the playground pitch idea. Can you also talk a little bit about that, Zach? >> Yeah, that was just another um it could be a potential option for adding some type of um space for
041kids to to use and play both during recess and just for community, you know, during different times of of the day. Um this is something that Musco has partnered with them um with different school districts to uh help fund. It's a it's got basketball, it's got soccer, it's got I mean there's a gaga ball component. there's just a lot of different pieces that may be something that we want to look at for middle school and it'd fit nicely where that um could potentially be the the playground area. So, we'll see. We haven't explored it too much other than just bringing up the idea. Uh then we also talked about the geo bond and um you know getting marketing ideas going um for part of that funding stream and creating an ad hoc committee. Um so
042that is I believe on the agenda for later discussion. Right. Uh who's up next? Finance Dave. >> Yes. So we met on uh April 1st. Um it is budget season. So, we delved into the FY2027 budget, the assumptions, any uh expense additions that might be prevalent coming forward. Um, we also looked at the uh budget amendment that I believe is coming up in May. uh our current budget, where we stand, variances uh and any reallocations that we will have to uh have to be made or any additions that'll have to be made particularly surrounding our um save bond payoff. There'll be a a budget amendment for that. That will be the large one. So we reviewed those and we also delved into the uh health insurance renewal for our workforce and two options that we
043looked at. Um both of them were actuarily sound. So we talked uh talk through that and uh what what also would be driving costs for our employees and utilization. Um so and that was our meeting. >> Thank you. and operations Mark. >> Yep. Um the operations committee met a couple weeks ago. I was actually unfortunately unable to be there, but I did have a conversation with Evan this morning. Was able to get the gist of what the bulk of the meeting was about. The bulk of it you're going to see in the board packet here later on. It's going to be for the capital improvement project. There's going to be quite a few bids that I think we're going to be asked to approve there. Um kind of the bulk of it was uh there
044was a new sign at Washington um which yeah um basically put up a new new sign there. There's was three asphalt bids in there. One was for the Pence playground. Once one was for Pence Elementary track asphalt and one was for the bus barn lot asphalt. All very extensive bids, but I think Evan told me that they got either two or three bids for all of these to kind of help try to keep th those in line. Um, one thing I do want to note is that the Pence Elementary track asphalt, I think they told me that um, I think the total cost of that was around $77,000, but like 50,000 of that was going to be covered from Angela's cookie dough sales. Was that correct, Evan? >> For fundraiser budget. >> Yeah, for for
045the fundraiser budget. So, that'll help get that down a little bit. Um, there was also a couple things on there for the Washington and Pence elementary school doors. Um, and then there was also a roofing project need at the high school and Pence Elementary. Um uh also there was a purchase of a new van. Ev kind of mentioned that you guys have been pretty short in vehicles. Um but specifically you guys were needing a van I think uh um basically to to to kind of help assist kind of special ed program. I think specifically was what he was thinking there. Um, there was also a concrete bid in there, I think, uh, from Winger for, uh, the Southside of the High School and, uh, in the parking lot. And then there was also a bid
046in there for, uh, uh, the concession door or the kind of a garage door, I think, at the concession stand. Is that correct? Is it like Yeah, something like that. So, I think everything is uh, part of the bid later on. Um, all very extensive in price. Um, and we can dig into those prices a little bit closer when we get to the to those bids if you guys like to. So, and then is there anything else I missed Mark or Christie since I wasn't actually at the meeting? Just a little update on the building, but >> Yeah, that's okay. >> Yep. >> All right. HR Cody Freeman. >> All right. So, we met on Thursday, April 2nd at 3 p.m. Uh, we reviewed the middle school project update, the school design and layout that
047that everybody has seen. Um we discussed knowing vacancies on the update that Zach will probably touch on in uh in his recap. Um we talked about interviews and hiring that has taken place in the district for uh for updates or for vacancies that we had as well as the assistant principal hiring process, the timeline and candidates for that and how we'll uh get through those. Um uh we discussed the an update with the initial steps for the extracurricular alignment on the district's vision. So there was a meeting held with the head coaches. Uh Zach was present as well as AD Courtright and all head coaches were invited to meet and uh discuss how our sports sports came aligned for the destination district that we uh desire to be. Uh it was a good good turnout.
048Um I think a majority of our well over a majority of our head coaches were there and um they all supported that and uh are requesting to meet again um and have another additional meeting. So all good news coming out. >> Thank you. We'll move on to the approval of the consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve? >> So moved. Second. >> Moved by Mark, second by Cody. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? >> I >> oppose. Motion carries. We'll now move on to public participation. >> Janice, did you want to speak tonight? >> Pardon? >> Did you want to speak tonight? >> Nope. >> We have no public participation. >> So, you can not read that. Okay, we'll move on to new business. Uh, budget approval. Do I have a motion
049to approve the budget for 2026 27? >> So moved. Second. >> Moved by Dave, second by Terry. Any discussion? >> Just one comment on there. um you'll probably see an increase, but most of that is accounting for a future agenda item if we were to pass this same bond. So that's included in that payment. So that's why there's a difference in the expenses. It's for that new bond payment. Any other discussion? All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carries. We'll move on to the approval of capital improvement bids for summer projects. Do I have a motion to approve? >> So moved. Thank >> moved by Mark, seconded by Mark Thornton. Any discussion? So this is everything that I was discussing from the operations committee. Does anyone have any questions about any of the pricing or
050anything like that? Or >> who handles the back fill and the seating? I guess the finalization of the once the project's done, how do we we put the project to bed with the I noticed that on the bibs that those are the types of things that that weren't handled or going to be handling those in-house. >> I guess I'm Can you reward that? So, uh, like when we pour concrete, we pour the track at Pence, um, or put the the sign in at Washington, we're going to pour concrete. And in the bid, I noticed that there wasn't any, uh, seating or sawing or back filling of the >> Yeah. >> of the the dirt work or the grading. And so, is that going to be handled inhouse or how's that? >> Yeah. So, we have
051uh, one of our maintenance guys is a licensed applicator and groundskeeper. Um, so he handles a lot of that, but it's also part of our recurring expenses is we have a landscaping budget every year. Okay. >> So, how we plan on handling it? >> Just was kind of looking like we don't have a another >> Yeah. >> cost associated what I was kind of looking at. >> Question. >> Any other questions? Seeing none, uh, all in favor? >> I >> oppose. Motion to approve the capital improvement bids for the summer. Passed. Uh, moving on to bond documents. >> Would you like me to guide you through these? >> That would be great. >> All right. So, there's going to be several items here. Um, so the first one is going to be, do I have
052a board member who would like to introduce the following resolution entitled resolution appointing paying agent, bond register, and transfer agent approving the paying agent, bond register, and transfer agent agreement and authorizing the execution of same So move. >> Is there a second? >> Second >> by Dave, second by Terry. >> Does it have to go roll call or no? >> Has to go roll call. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Can you ask for the roll call, please? >> Can I get a roll call vote? >> Yep. >> Kessle, >> yes. >> Wells, >> yes. >> Freeman, >> yes. >> East, >> yes. >> Porter, >> yes. >> Thorman, >> yes. >> The vice president declare the resolution. Do we need to have Megan as absent at all on that? Do you think? >> It's going
053to be in the notes. Yeah. And then you have to say vice president declares it adopted. >> Vice President declares it adopted. Thanks. >> All right. Do I have a board member to move that the move that the form of tax exemption certificate be placed on file and approved? >> So move. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. Move >> by Dave. Second by Terry. Roll call vote, please. >> Castle, >> yes. >> Wells, >> yes. >> Freeman, >> yes. >> Eastman, >> yes. >> Porter, >> yes. >> Thornton, >> yes. >> Motion approved. >> Do I have a motion that to form to approve the form of continuing disclosure certificate be placed on file and approved? >> So move. Second. Move >> by Dave, second by Cody. Can I get a roll call
054vote? Kessle, >> yes. >> Wells, >> yes. >> Freeman, >> yes. >> Easturn, >> yes. >> Porter, >> yes. >> Thornton, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Awesome. And then, do I have a board member who'd like to introduce the following resolution? Resolution authorizing and providing for the terms of issuance and securing the payment of 22,290,000 school infrastructure sales, services, and use tax revenue bonds series 2026 of the Fairfield Community School District, state of Iowa, under the provisions of chapter 423F of the code of Iowa and providing for a method of payment of said bonds. >> So moved. >> Second. Moved by Dave, second by Mark Thorton. Can I get a roll call vote? >> Kessle, >> yes. >> Wells, >> yes. >> Freeman, >> yes. >> Easturn, >> yes. >> Porter, >> yes. >>
055Thor, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> That was all. >> All right, we'll move on to board policies. Do we have a motion to approve approve board policies at the first reading? >> So moved. Second. Moved by Terry, second by Cody. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. Do I get a motion to approve board policies at the second reading? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Terry, second by Cody. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. Can I get a motion to approve board policies for deletion and wave second reading? >> Second. >> Moved by Cody, second by Terry. All in favor? >> I >> oppose. Motion carries. I'll just add when we look at our board um committee meeting connected to policy this next month, we're going to
056bring Heather Buckley in just because we're going to be looking at I think the 600 series that connects to um a lot of the the curriculum um policies. So, she'll be there just so everybody's at work. >> Uh health insurance. Can I get a motion to authorize the superintendent and chief financial officer to adjust employer health insurance contribution rates as necessary to maintain actuarial soundness of the district's self-funded health plan for the remainder of the 2526 plan year consistent with plan documents and applicable law. >> So move second. >> Moved by Dave, second by Mark Porter. >> All in favor? opposed. Motion carries. Ad hoc committee. Can I get a motion to direct the superintendent to create an ad hoc committee for the phase two of the middle school project? >> So moved. >> Oh,
057any discussion? Yeah, I just want to um Christy alluded to this with the strategic planning update, but we thought it would be beneficial to create a new subcommittee or you know ad hoc committee um with three board members, myself and then whomever else we end up bringing in to really focus and maybe it's a once a month meeting once every six weeks to focus on um specifically raising funds um through the ED Foundation to contribute towards um the phase two of the project. This would be coupled with um you know dollars that we have you know that may come in from Pathfinders that may come in through the geo bond vote if that passes. So u we just thought it would be better to have a specific group that's really focused on just that and
058not add it to one of the other committees that we currently have. So this would essentially run until that um is over I guess right. >> Would you go for three again? >> What's that? >> Would you have three on that one as well? >> Yeah I mean we could have four if we want. I mean, if we had more, we'd just have to post it, which isn't a bad thing, and it would be public. But, um, I would say if if you guys vote to do that, then I would probably just say, "Hey, who's who wants to be on that or who's passionate about being a part of that?" And if we have more than three, we do, and we'll just post it every time we meet. If that makes sense to you guys.
059>> Yeah. I think it's just really key to have a solid um plan in place so that before we go out and start talking to community members that you know we know what we're asking for and how we're going to get you know to the completion of the final project. So um I think that we'll be a lot more successful in getting yeses if we have a clear vision. So, uh, any other questions or discussion around that? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. >> So, be on the lookout. I'll be sending some out. Can I get a motion to set a public hearing for May 18th, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. in the boardroom for the 2526 budget amendment? The district will have to amend the budget to account for the early payoff
060of save bonds, the issuance of new save bonds, and to account for the services provided to students for the increased enrollment in special education, general education. Reminder, school funding is a year in the rear. So moved. Second. >> Moved by Dave, second by Cody. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. >> Seconded by Terry. >> Sorry about this. >> And superintendent updates. >> Yeah, a lot of things going on with the middle school project. It's exciting uh to see just where we're at, what next steps look like. We're continuing to uh meet every other week with FE and Cano from the board table. Megan's been a part of that. Um I'll send out I think I sent out the most recent kind of renderings just where we're at. We've pretty much solidified all
061the spaces like where things are going to be. Again, this is with input from uh four different sessions with middle school staff. Had another one today after school. Um there's there's a lot of excitement around just um seeing what it's actually going to look like. So that's been really fun. this upcoming um meeting on Wednesday, we're gonna iron iron out the timeline a little bit more. Um I do have a commitment of August 2nd as a occupancy date of 2028. So we've been able to continue to move that that up. Um right now what the only thing really happening is a bunch of surveying. So we've had multiple um people out there surveying. We do have um the official report back from um the envelope specialist in CanCo. We're going to go over that a
062little bit more in depth on Wednesday with them and then I'll share a report with the board as a whole. Um most likely I don't know if I'll I mean I think I'll send it to all of you. Um so you can see that as well. But there's definitely some good things in there that we can um prioritize as far as what we're going to spend that $700,000 on of the current, you know, money that we're going to have for this this project. Um yeah, not a whole lot else there right now. So um early May is when we're going to have that communication go out. I think Christy had alluded to that already in strategic planning update, but um from there it's going to just we're going to have to really start working through
063um the bond the bond vote again come come November. So Evan and I met with um Jerry from the Donovan group last week. Um he he's supposed to get us something by the end of this week from a roadmap standpoint. So we have all of the the timelines built in as to what needs to happen when. Um yeah, associate principal that closed Friday. We had um 24 total applications um of which um some of them have many years of administrative experience. Some of them have none. Um pretty equal as far as female male. Um there's a couple from out of state. Uh but we're going to screen uh we're we're going to screen six. We had seven that we were going to screen, but it's going to be six on Wednesday. And from there, we're
064hoping to bring it down to two that we would bring in on April 28th. And we've got two teams that'll be kind of a hybrid of um employees, certified classified staff, and parents as well. So, um they'll meet with each um each group. We have a performance task that we'll ask them to do as well. They'll be part of that process. Um and then ultimately we hope to have a decision finalized by the end of that week which would be um I think May 1st is that Friday. Current vacancies Washington um we still have music which is shared between Washington and Pence. Um we did interview um didn't get a commitment from the the person we offered it to. So we're kind of back to the drawing board right now u with that one. Uh
065at Pence, it's we have a couple of openings, but we're waiting on some inner um potential transfers within uh the district between buildings. So, we're not final there yet. Uh middle school, we still have math. Um seventh grade math, I believe, as it as it sits. And then high school, in addition to the assistant principal of the high school, we still have uh special ed. Um we're interviewing for science this week. We've interviewed for industrial tech. We have one more industrial tech interview still. Um, but we've had multiple applications for that, so that's been good. Um, science, we've only had two applicants and we have math open, still with no applicants for math as it currently sits. Um, June PLC conference, we've got almost 20, I think it's 24 um staff members that are going
066down to St. Louis for um a three-day conference all around um the professional learning community model and what that means for us as a district. So, we'll come back from that and we're actually going to meet again on the 23rd of June. Um, our CLT leads that couldn't go or for whatever reason didn't want to go, we're going to have kind of a just a a mini lunch and learn. It's from noon to 3 um the afternoon of June 23rd because we want to bring them up to speed and just um you you gain a lot of momentum and excitement when you're at those conferences, but we we don't want it to fade too quickly. So, we want to have a another kind of make sure that people see how important it is to keep
067that at the forefront. uh ISAS results. Those um should be in our inbox hopefully by early June. It was pretty quick turnaround um last year. Uh we have gotten some of the math um cut scores already, but they haven't been normed yet, so it doesn't really mean anything. Um another thing just to keep on on the on the radar, add to your calendar, August 18th, we've secured um the convention center. We're going to have a really um unique kickoff to the school year. Uh it's going to entail um multiple community partners, multiple speakers um really themed around just Fairfield um as a great place to to educate your kids and and be a part of a community. So that's how we're going to kick off the school year. So we're in the works uh planning
068that. Um I did give you all a copy of uh this book which really is kind of a 25 year anniversary of the lighthouse study which was back in early I think it was 2000, right? Um, again, this I think would be something that maybe we could commit to reading over the summer just as a team. Maybe have a couple highlights um in the board meetings just to um kind of showcase again that we're continuing um to learn and and build on best practice, which is really what this lays out. So, I'll probably have um something in my update every week throughout the summer that connects to maybe a chapter, a few pages just um so we can kind of yeah, keep keep diving in. And if you don't like to read, that's okay. You
069probably could listen to it on a a podcast or a CD. Um, yeah, Oscaloosa, they're going to be joining our conference, the Southeast Conference. This is something, uh, they officially requested. Um, sent something to all the ads and superintendent. I talked with Megan. We sent out a survey to all of our head coaches who were all in favor of it. Um, this will bring us to seven. U, Central Lee has expressed some interest as well, which would be awesome. Now that their superintendent's leaving though, I I don't know if there's going to be as big of a push. Um Megan and I have also talked about reaching out to a couple other districts potentially because if we could get 10 or 12, I mean that would just be awesome for a lot of scheduling um
070things. Um it could be yeah be really good. So but for sure Oscaloosa is coming. Wouldn't be until the fall of 208. So we're still two years out. Um but so yeah, Central Lee was one we had talked about. Minneapolis was one we had talked about. Uh there was one other one. I can't remember which one it was, but um so yeah. And then finally, uh graduation. Just a reminder, it is moved up from kind of what it what it had been in the past. So, Sunday, May 17th at 2 p.m., you guys are more than welcome to join. Um always a nice nice event. So, that's all I got. >> Thank you. All right, we will move on to highlights. Dave, would you like to kick us off? Oh, that's absolutely. Um, I just
071like everybody to um really want to congratulate Zach and Evan and everyone. the uh there's been a lot of I'm sure you've noticed a lot of uh press in the newspaper about public school financing and some of the uh bumps in the road for some school districts uh particularly larger ones who would you would seem to think that they would have the expertise not to get there but um Fairfield Community School District is uh has really achieved their financial health goals goals more than achieve them and particularly coming up in this budget year. Um, so I'm very very pleased with that and and we are not one of those school districts that would be in the in the press. In fact, maybe they should come down and >> take a take a just an editorial
072comment from the public. So I but I think that that shows that we're being good stewards of uh taxpayer dollars and investing for the highest return for to meet our vision state. So >> thank you Dave >> Cody. >> Uh I enjoyed listening to uh the focus on learning and uh the goals that they have. Um sounded like they were short on a uh last year on what they wanted to accomplish and this year that It's uh got some goals in place and I'm excited to to hear an update on that. And I like how we're going uh down into fifth grade and not just focusing on the high school students and letting those uh middle school age kids kind of explore what what careers or what college paths they like to go down. >>
073Planning for the future is always good. >> Thanks Gary. Uh we didn't really talk about it a lot, but that uh structural design as a middle school that we sent out and all got to view was really happy to see the additional classroom space and being able to with the funds that we have include the fifth grade wing. Um I think overall it's it's a really good bang for our buck on the square footage and what we're going to get out of it. >> Great, Mark. >> Yeah, I'd like to echo everything you guys just said. Uh especially with the financial goals that uh Dave was talking about. You know, it's really been fun to watch that kind of uh transpire the last couple years. There was a few years ago where I felt like
074that was kind of maybe not our strong suit here in the district and I feel like we've really improved there. So, really appreciate all Evan and Dave and Zach's hard work uh when it comes to that. I'm also want to say that I really enjoy the district career and academic plan. Um you know, they uh that was a great presentation and I very impressed with the work that they're doing with students with helping them, you know, align their goals and figure out what they want to do after high school. um really also appreciate the relationship that they have with uh Indian Hills Community College. Um uh what you know a lot what a lot of these students are able to do you know before they even get into college is very impressive. You know it's
075really set them on a path to get out of college faster and really figure out what it is that they're wanting to do after high school and I really appreciate all the hard work that they're doing there. It's kind of fun to watch all everything come to fruition when it comes to that because ultimately, you know, our goal at the school is to, you know, get kids either uh employed or enrolled or uh um you know, and that that's great. So, so really enjoyed that. So, >> thank you, Mark Thornton. >> It's getting exciting time middle school, so it's always good to hear back and finally got some things rolling on that. So, that's fun to get through. And um Zach, I like you in the book. It's a good idea. Um, I've done a
076lot of reading in the lighthouse study over the last two years or so. So, I think it'd be good for the whole board to dive in and see what that's about and see if we can learn from it and continue to grow. >> All right. Uh, my highlight is surviving my first running my first meeting. >> We should have called that out for CC. It was almost under an hour. >> Wow. >> So close. >> Impressive. Um, no, also really enjoyed hearing from uh Mallerie and Carla. Um, I think it's great that they're honing in um the focus on, you know, the kids and their paths forward. I think that's really important. Um, also excited about the Lighthouse uh book and delving into that. I think there's a lot of great information around that that
077um we can definitely continue to use to improve our district. So, um, that's exciting. Um, I also think it's exciting that you have your, uh, kickoff for next school year planned. And, um, >> it's not fully planned, but the vision is there >> in the works. >> Um, I just love to see like the vision and the, you know, the the planning and the creation of the excitement for our staff and, um, you know, just kicking off the year in a good way. So I think that's great as well. So do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> So second move >> by Cody, second by Mark. All in favor? >> I oppose. Motion car. 7:30.