001Um, call to order this public hearing. >> Uh, roll call, please. Yep. >> Mark Porter, >> here. Ty Ward, >> you're here. >> Christy Kessle, >> here. >> Mead Robbins, >> here. >> Mark Thornton, here. Deborah Williamson absent. Davies for >> here. >> All right. Um, this public hearing uh is to um is this is the time or place for anyone to speak for or against the transfer of the homeschool assistance fund transfer in the amount of $54,6665. Uh these funds were unexpended and unobligated from the homeschool assistance program. >> No written comments. you know, written comments here to speak. All right. Um, do I hear a motion to adjurnn? >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Order. And Christie, all in favor? >> I adjourned at 6:31 p.m. Okay. One moment. All right. Um, I'll
002call to order our regular board meeting. Uh, it's 6:31 p.m. Monday, September 15th. The regular board meeting of the board of directors of the Fairfield Community School District, is 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. Um, roll call, please. >> Mark Porter, >> here. >> Ty Ward, >> here. >> Christy Castle, >> here. >> Megan Robbins >> here. >> Mark Thoren
003here. D Williamson absent. Davies here. >> All right. So, I have one perfection to the agenda um that I received um to add the homeschool assistant the addition of the home school assistance transfer uh to the flex fund resolution uh for 7.8. Do I is that the only one? >> Okay. Does anyone else? >> Um, do I hear a motion to approve the addition uh the agenda as amended? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Christie and Dave. All in favor? >> I. >> Agenda approved. All right. We get to move into our focus on learning which is exciting tonight. We have all the building principles here and we'll be hearing their plan on the page. Um, I don't know who I guess we'll have Pence up first or Washington. >> Yeah. >> Okay. All right.
004>> Hi. Thank you for letting me come and share a little bit. Um, we've had a really good start to our school year and I just want to say thank you for welcoming me back home and being at Washington. It's been a really good a great start. Um, to begin our plan on a page, this was something that I asked uh Mr. Wel for a little bit of time because I really felt like I wanted to really get to know our staff, really get to know the data, what um where we are instructionally and then together collaboratively make that plan on a page with my staff. Um the plan is really um based first on creating that culture of collaboration. We have to have that so that we can better serve our students and follow
005um our goals and initiatives for the year. Um the three want the three goals I have are really based around uh growing our math and reading scores as well as our social emotional uh well-being and making sure that every student feels connected within the building. Um I know that it's uh listed on how we're going to measure those things. So some of the things I just wanted to just quickly talk about is how our teachers are going to be responding to our our measurements. And uh we're going to be using a lot of targeted instruction based off of student uh deficit. Um, we'll be doing a lot of retaching. We'll be using researchbased strategies to really uh support the students with their needs. And then teachers will be doing a well uh check-in every single
006morning, making sure that our students feel connected, that they have a valued um adult that loves and cares about them. And and we hope that every child hears their name and is welcomed upon entering our school. Um, some of the other things that I wanted to talk a little bit about too for my plan is based on CKLA, uh, that is the adopted curriculum that we have at Washington and we're in year three of that implementation. Um, our teachers are are working really hard on trying to balance the needs of our students, using data to guide their instruction, but then also following that researchbased program so that our kids can get some um, really highly effective instruction each day. Um the word fidelity does come up in my plan and I wanted to just kind
007of talk a little bit about that. Um fidelity comes up because this program was a researchbased program um based off the science of reading that was endorsed by the state. And our team was talking about the importance of ensuring that we we trust that scope and sequence as it was written. Um, oftentimes programs when we skip things throughout a curriculum program, um, then we're missing key vocabulary or ideas, um, and those skills are based on what we what we teach. And so we don't want to see missing gaps. And so we're really trying to, um, teach it as the way it was written and then from there really try to evaluate are there holes and where are those gaps and then we can fully address it. So, uh, that word came up there within, uh,
008my plan and again, we just didn't want to see too many gaps there. So, we're we're trying to follow with fidelity this year. Um, with that though in mind, um, I know our admin team and Zach and I talked a lot about finding a cohesive ELA plan for the district. And so, we are really committed to looking at our data, finding where the deficits are, and then working together to really close that gap so we have a cohesive plan for kindergarten through 8th grade. Um, I know that we're really eager to collaborate on that plan throughout the year and we'll keep you updated on that. And then a lot of our CLT work that's on Fridays will really be built on addressing um what students needs, both their strengths, their weaknesses, and how we can
009cohesively um make each grade level transition a little smoother from building to building. So, you guys have any questions about that? >> Thank you. Yeah. So, I'll just I'm I like the numbers. So, take one pass around and take one pass around. So, um, at Pence, um, my first year coming in here, we had to put a school improvement plan together. So, my plan on the page started as a school improvement plan is something that we've continued every year. Um, and really bringing it to light this year was really this past year was looking at our wigs, um, our wildly important goals and that really is what drives our plan on the page. Um last year our wigs um we were climbing the mountain together and if you were able to see that and I've
010highlighted in yellow the data that you see for second grade um the students had made 100% growth in reading and in math um in all three of the tests that we do um with um fast testing CBMR that was had 100% growth for second, third, and fourth grade as well. So those are the big pieces that we want to continue on for this year with the 100% growth to be able to have all students be able to have the 100% growth. Um the other piece of that is when we start looking at the third one that's really about the family engagement. But there's another component that we added into that. The MRA is a major measurable results um assessment that we give out at the end of the school year to parents, students, and to
011staff. And really at the end of it, we start talking about um the perception that families have, the perceptions that students have and the perceptions that our staff have. The perception that really kind of came to light was the engagement piece. And it had to do that parents don't want to get engaged. Maybe that's what the survey said, but on the parent side, it says, >> I don't know. I could I'll put it in my own words. Um I'm not sure what opportunities are there for me to come into the classroom. So then it's like, okay, aha, we need to do something. So aside from having those family engagement nights, one of the wigs that we do have is that each trimester, each grade level will invite parents to come in. So that could mean
012that they're coming in for like the morning meetings. That can mean they're coming in for like a reading routine, a math routine, whatever. But then we have like an invited time for families to come in. I think co happened and we all of a sudden we didn't do anything and now it's like, yeah, we used to do those kinds of things. People used to come in. Um, but that's a really big piece because that's the piece where you want to be like, I want you to come in our door. I want you to see what's going on. So, as you come into Pence, our three main goals that we do have are up on the wall when you come into the main hallway. And really, what we're going to be having do students do is
013we're rolling out the red carpet and we want them to go up the aisle to the stage and reaching 100% pro 100% growth um in all three of those areas. But furthermore, one of the pieces that we are doing within each of the grade levels is we have pigs pretty important goals which is all about proficiency. And so those posters are in each of the second, third, and fourth grade hallways. And again, that has to do about the fast testing. Um, just so we can keep our eye on that proficiency because that's a piece where I know we talk about growth because we want to have everybody to be able to have that growth, but we need to be able to see that proficiency marker go up as well. Um, and so it's a big
014big piece for us this year and it's a big undertaking. Um, I have a great team, a leadership team that we kind of are keeping our fingers on this at all times. Um, and what are we doing each week and how are we going to be responding? Um, when I start talking about the plan on the page, when we start looking at the math part of it, we've added about 20 to 30 minutes of fluency work for math within the classroom Monday to Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. um the research is coming back that and it's kind of this piece like the pendulum is swinging. You know, kids should know these facts. Well, if we don't teach the facts, how are they going to know these facts? And so really working on that fluency piece and
015already within the fourth grade, I was up there today um covering a class and just the amount of automaticity that kids are having because, you know, we we have a phone, we have a calculator, why would I need to know these facts? But that helps you as you continue to grow within your math. Um the other pieces with the reading that we're really kind of running into is um the piece of thinking about like how do we build that foundation with the decoding and the fluency. Um and we've been really working with our reading consultant and looking at the work of like closing the ga gap quicker through stallers's work um and thinking about like how we group our kids and how are they going to be getting the same dose of something the same
016throughout the day by the same teacher and how we can make that work. So logistics but it makes sense. It's just a lot to wrap our heads around, but as a whole, it's exciting. So, any questions as I ramble? >> Zach gave me two minutes over two minutes, >> but I had to put a lot of stuff in there. >> Just one quick question. You brought it up last year in terms of how you were grouping for math and maybe it was third grade. I can't remember. You were doing something a little different. Is that part of the plan this year too to group? >> So, what we're looking at is some grouping that would happen during that skills time especially. That's a big piece because um some of the work that we work through
017is the basic math facts. Uh I'm not going to tell you the name of the books that we've gone through through PD with the math with J with Gary Jarmms. Um but a lot of it has to do with addition and subtraction and multiplication division. What we're really finding right now as we kind of dig deep into that data is really working on the addition and subtraction just to become automatic on it. That's really a big piece right now. So yeah. Okay. >> Thank you. >> Yes. Thanks. Oh, and this is what we took out into businesses um to kind of let them know what our goals were. Um sorry, one minute. Um Pence is actually going to be going for lighthouse status through leader and me. Um and one of those pieces is is
018be able to show our commitment out to the community. So, this went out to the community for them to be a part of our journey to follow us and if they want to partner up with um our school. So, it's a pretty exciting time for us to um hopefully potentially get lighthouse status. >> Did you get good feedback? >> Amazing feedback. >> That was really fun. So, the campus was great. Thanks, guys. >> Thank you. >> All right. Good evening, everyone. Um, so for the middle school, we are really continuing with those, you know, more level down goals of 100% growth on reading and math. Um, 100% connectedness for our first two goals. And so for middle school, that first one of 100% growth for students, you know, our teachers have been doing an amazing
019job of tracking our kiddos, whether they're growing or not. Um, and so something that I thought about this year that I really wanted to focus on was how are our students tracking whether they're growing or not? how do they know um you know if they are on target to make that growth throughout the year? And so one major thing that we'll be doing this year is um students will be goal setting before and after each round of testing. So many of you have middle schoolers, you know, we are in the thick of MAP testing right now. Um and so as we're finishing that up, students will be graphing their progress um consistently through our four grade levels. And then when we come to our next round of testing in the winter, they'll be able to
020look at that and set a goal for themselves. Um, again, a lot of our teachers have done that really informally over the last couple of years. And so now we'll make that consistent across the board. So our students are looking at here's where I am right now and I know that I can grow from there whether I'm proficient or not. Um, that way they know what is a reasonable goal for themselves. Another thing that we'll be starting this year is students will set wigs for themselves or wildly important goals for their academic progress. Um something we are seeing as our kiddos come out of that co era is not a lot of uh focus on timeliness with their work, late work, missing work. Um grades are just students aren't motivated by grades like we were
021when we were in school. And so just having again our students look at where am I at right now and what can I set a goal on um to make sure I'm growing and moving and doing the things that I need to do at school in order to be successful. So whether that be um you know reducing their number of missing assignments whether that be increasing their grades or maintaining grades to a certain place they'll be setting goals around that and have um an accountability partner to check in with just like we do um as staff through leader and me. Our student connectedness is the next one um and staff connectedness. you know, we want 100% of our people to feel like they are connected at school um at the middle school and within the
022district as a whole. So, one thing that we're going to kick off here in a couple of weeks is during our Trojan time um we are going to start what's called trust huddles which is a curriculum through leader and me um that our leader and me coach shared with me that's totally studentled. So our students for um you know times in our Trojan times that in those pockets will be leading this curriculum during a time where they're able to um really connect with one another, be the leaders in their classroom and have that voice within our Trojan time where they're able to check in with their peers and have that studentto student connectedness based on feedback that we got from um the MRA or the measurable uh results assessment that Angela talked about. So based
023on that, we're looking at that and seeing how we can get studentto student connectedness increased um and really help them feel like they have a voice at school to lead what we're doing at the middle school. Um I also will be starting a student advisory committee this year. Um that's something, you know, as we go through different things, you know, um like our assignment journal rewards and our field trips, I really want to get student input and student voice. um we found that some of our things, you know, our trips that we do, our rewards that we do, maybe um our students aren't really buying into as much as um they once did. And so I want their voice and their input on how we can keep those things fresh and really um keep them
024as good motivators for our students instead of saying, "Well, we've done this for a few years. You should want to have ice cream." Well, >> maybe this group isn't motivated by ice cream. Maybe, you know, they want a different treat instead or a different celebration. Um, so bringing in that student voice will be a big focus for me this year. Um, and then again continuing that goal that 100% of our students are going to be connected to an extra or co-curricular. That has been a mark that we have hit um, for the last few years. And so I just want to make sure that that continues because we all know if you're in a sport, if you're in music, if you are involved in something at school, it just matters so much more to you
025and it makes school a lot more fun. So we'll continue tracking that and make sure our kids are connected. The last piece is just making sure that we are continuing to know what we are teaching, what our students are supposed to be learning. And so in our Friday um professional development times, our big focus is making sure that we have um a guaranteed and viable curriculum where our standards are prioritized, our teachers know exactly what they are measuring for our students um as far as learning, and that we're vertically aligned. This is work that has been ongoing over time. Um, but as we've seen some shifts in personnel and and you know, departments turn over, we have to make sure that this is crystal clear as as staffing changes. And so that's a huge focus
026for us this year um to make sure that those things are prioritized um fifth through 8th grade and that there's that alignment so that we know when a student moves from fifth grade to to sixth grade, they have certain skills as a foundational learning and then the sixth grade teacher can continue to build on that and so on all the way through their middle school careers. So, um, every every week when we meet in those Fridays, that'll be a huge focus for what our content teams are doing. And then our grade level teams will really focus on, um, you know, students that are struggling across the board within all of their contents, whether that be attendance, behavior, grades, missing work, all of those things that we'll we'll track each week and make sure that we're
027supporting those students the best we know how. Any questions? Are you guys still doing homework club? >> Homework club. Yep. This week's the first week we're jumping in. So, yeah. Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Hi there. >> All right. So, um the high school still has two of the same 100% goals as we had last year. So, the first one is that um 100% of our graduates will graduate enrolled, enlisted, or employed. Um and really what we're looking at there is really still focusing on um our decap work and our IAP. So making sure that 100% of our students complete and are updating their IAP this year. We were able to welcome Amy Harris who's our new um college and career transition counselor to the building. She's with us Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and
028Friday. Um so she's been meeting a lot with seniors and juniors already and then um working on their employment plans and what their plans are for graduation. She's also been meeting with them um about FAFSA. She's sending home things to parents at this point and she's got a couple FAFSA nights throughout the year. Um we're also working on a career fair and that'll be in November and a college fair that will happen in the spring. So super excited to have those things. Um we have an increase amount of students that are participating in internships. I know some of your students are participating in some of those. So um this trimester we have around 25. um second trimester we've got over 30. So looking forward to continuing to increase that. Um part of leading that work
029in our student IAPS or those individual career academic plans is just making sure our staff have the training they need as well. So, our decap team is going to do a training just with Kate Navigator here in the next couple weeks just to make sure that we all know what it has to offer so that um when we present that in our seminar time that our seminar teachers are prepared to lead that work with students as well so that we can track that for our kids um over the course of the four years. Excuse me. Um our second goal that we have is still by our 100% of our students participating in athletic activity or club. Last year we were able to add a couple things. Um this year we've added key club which is
030uh connected to Kuanas. So we've been meeting uh they'll be helping a kids day this weekend. Also adding a chess club and a couple other things this year too. Um Mr. Courtright's working on a passport for kids um just in attendance to increase student attendance at athletics or music performances even if they're not involved in those things. So looking at some different ways we can um up that. And then big focus. So our new goal this year, our additional goal is that 100% of our teachers will identify and prioritize essential standards uh for their courses and will be able to clearly articulate the answer to that PLC question number one, which is what do we want students to learn. Um so really our CLT leads are going to be leading that work. Um our staff
031will make sure their IPs are directly connected to that. Um and then they'll all meet and make sure they've got their essential standards outlined in all their courses and making sure that we've got common common formative assessments as well um for those teachers who are teaching the same course as well. >> Any questions? >> Okay. >> Thank you. [Music] >> Yeah. I'd just like to again publicly thank the four of you for your leadership and hard work. um you know, aligning things to this broader picture can be challenging at times, but I know the teams that you've got in place um are the right ones to to do this work and it'll be exciting to see, you know, where we end um and celebrate along the way. So, thank you. >> Thank you guys. >>
032Thank you. >> You can say if you want, but you don't have to. >> Hold it against you. Uh we'll move into our committee reports. Each committee chair would share a two to three minute update connected to their work and start with policy. Mark here we did meet um a week ago, a week and a half ago, something like that. Um just went over uh several 700 series policies that were ready to be reviewed again. So nothing urgent on our list. So we went those. You'll see some of those on our agenda tonight. And then Evan and I are still working on a plan to get our full list up updated um from last leadership to make sure we have everything updated that needs to be and reviewed at the right time. So working on
033some different things in the background to get a new list pulled and verified and double checked and ready to go so we know where where we're at. So I think that's it. >> Ty strategic planning. Yeah. Um we met last Monday. Um the biggest thing was talking about the strategic planning document that uh is going to be on our table tonight. Um just going over some of the feedback. You know, we've gone through several versions of this and it's been an iterative iterative process for months now and uh yeah, getting to the point where uh finally have something to vote on which is awesome. Um, we went over the bond vote, uh, the signatures. I believe we got all the signatures turned in. Um, and, uh, you know, just marketing strategy, new website going out,
034um, our plan for, uh, you know, having our little town halls to, uh, get the information out for the bond vote. Um, and, you know, working with our, uh, yes committee to make sure they've got all the, uh, facts and figures they need. Um, and yeah, that's about it. >> Great. Thank you. Finance. >> Okay. Well, the finance committee me uh met on September 8, 2025, 8 a.m. And the first agenda item was to review the uh fiscal year 2025 financial health report. The committee reviewed and discussed the financial performance of the district and the committee approved the report for presentation to full board tonight. Uh the second agenda item was the proposal for an hour hourly wage adjustments for FY2027 and continuing into FY2028 with a total outlay of $223,000. The purpose of the
035proposal was to bring the employee cost ratio from the current 72% to the target 75 to 80% in support of student success as well as align wages and benefits with the district's mission and vision. Also, the adjustment would favorably compare Iowa uh Iowa lo with Iowa local wages. The committee evaluated the effect on FY 2027 and FY 2028. the final uh health metrics under the current forecast assumptions particularly the 80 student enroll 80 student enrollment in kindergarten and the 2% SSA state funding the FY2027 UAB is projected to be 17% with a 17.5% solveny ratio however the FY2028 UAB falls to 13% with a 9% solveny ratio um and the FY2028 UAB falls outside of the strategic plan financial health metrics. After discussing the effect on FY2028, the committee agreed to a ceiling of $223,000
036to be allocated to the hourly workforce categories. The committee considered the $223,000 in investment in the workforce to provide a return of a higher degree of academic and student success, greater enrollment retention with the possibility for an increase and alignment with the district's mission and vision statement. Additionally, the budget revenue and expense forecast for FY2028 are extremely variable. So, we agreed to uh uh an upper bound of $223,000 to make adjustments to our athlete workforce. So, that should be coming out in the future. So, that's the report. Any questions? >> Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Uh Christie, HR negotiations. >> Yeah. Um we met a couple weeks ago. A lot of what we went over kind of ties in with um what Dave was just talking about about increasing um rates for a lot of
037our hourly employees. Um I know Zach and Evan took the time to meet with a lot of the um hourly staff and get a lot of feedback on, you know, ways that we can um make them feel, you know, more included and more of a sense of belonging um as part of our district. Um and so a lot of what we talked about revolved around that. Um and we all kind of agreed that you know Fairfield right now is is behind where we should be for our hourly employees and that um it is something that we need to address. Obviously with our financial um constraints um you know we were all concerned as to how we were going to do that but Evan um you know had some good ideas and good plans and I'll
038let him kind of speak more specifically to that but um that was the gist of our our meeting. work >> facilities. Yes. So, we met on September 5th at noon. Um, really just had a brief meeting. Primarily just met Matt Tyler for the first time, which I look forward to all you guys getting the chance to meet him. Um, had a great first impression with him and sounds like he's hit the ground running and really getting the hang of the job. So, I think he's off to a good start from what I'm seeing and hearing. Um, the big thing that we went over is just the purchasing and bidding policy that we have. You know, one of the big things now I've really been pushing on them is just making sure we're doing our best
039to get, you know, multiple bids on projects when possible. You know, we have ran into some uh hiccups with that. You know, one thing has been like the asphalt for instance. You know, a lot of uh people throughout the state don't have the ability to come this far, so we've really had our hands tied with that a little bit, but um he is at least putting effort into trying to request bids from other locations. Um uh we also talked about the current transportation transitions. You know, I don't know. You know, I've gotten a few phone calls, you guys probably have as well. You know, obviously the the hub is no longer there. So, some people love it. There's been a few people that believe been growing on them, but it sounds like things are getting
040better as the weeks progress. Um, I look forward to seeing how that uh current transition continues to go. Um, we also talked about the conclusion of all the current projects that we've done. Um, the first thing was the the lighting project at the high school. Um, it sounds like that got finished and it sounds like everyone's been pretty pleased with that so far. Also talked about the finished gym floor. Um, I've received a lot of positive feedback on that. Um, they also got the new tables and pence that we talked about. So, this tables at previous ones were not working real good for the staff there and the students. So, they got those replaced. Um, as some of you remember, they are getting new high school tables at the high school, but that is not
041going to likely be completed until Christmas break. And, uh, correct me if I'm wrong, I think the plan is to replace those tables at Christmas and then move those tables to the middle school. Is that correct? >> Correct. >> Okay. Yep. So we won't have all the chairs and yeah >> that have to be moved every day. >> Yeah. Perfect. Perfect. Now is that going to create any hardships for like the the after school events like or like the church on Sunday? I mean is are those easily fold up and get out of the way then? Yep. Okay. Good. >> And then um also talked about you know there there is a small issue you know in the in the service department with the schools. But we don't currently have a mechanic in the school.
042As some of you guys remember, our current mechanic took a job in our location. So, um, unless something has changed, we don't currently have a mechanic there. So, I think that's one of the voting items tonight. I think they sent an RFP to actually get the mechanic work done from area businesses in town here. And that's, you know, one thing I request is to do our best to try to keep that business in town if possible. So, hopefully we can get the service that we need. And, uh, hopefully that will work at least until we get that position filled or um, whatever we do there. I guess that's up to the district on how they want to handle that. So that was basically the extent of it and Yep. So >> great. Thanks. >> All
043right. Um moving along. Do I hear a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? >> So move second. >> Dave and Mark Thornton. Uh any discussion? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. Public participation. >> Okay. No public participation this evening. Move along to new business. Um 7.1. Do I hear a motion to approve the five-year strategic plan as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. Mark Porter and Ty Ward. Um, so yeah, any discussion here? I know Ty brought this up and we have it all here, so looked at this a lot, but >> this has been a long time coming. You have any thoughts, Zach? >> No, I'm excited. Um, there's been a lot of just input and um, reflection um, adjustments to ensure that we've got what we want in
044there. And then, you know, from an accountability standpoint, just making sure that, you know, we do share at the board table, you know, three times a year for sure, progress and and what that looks like. We talked about that a little bit at strategic planning committee meeting as well, like what does that look like? What do we really want to make sure that we're getting to the board table so you feel like you have enough information to see whether or not we're making the right type of progress. So, that'll continue to be a work in progress. um hopeful we talked about this a little bit. Megan and I did just um maybe at the October board meeting that might be our first kind of just update as to to where we're at at some of
045these um these indicators. So um yeah, I I don't I don't have a whole lot else. Thank you for your patience. Um, I know that July when we were um without power, we were ready to to to create and go right there and um just kind of put the brakes on it to make sure we had a lot of voices um at the table um to give us feedback. So, yeah, I'm excited. >> Yeah, the document looks great. I think uh you know, the design of it and everything just did a really good job just making it pleasing to the eye. Good pictures. Yeah, it's nice to talk about this also in in light of the plans in the, you know, from the principles tonight and kind of hear that community input coming into their
046schools as well. You know, that on the back page here, partnering together with our community, you know, I think that is something that we really want to, you know, in addition to all the student success that we've been talking about, but really bridge bridge the community, bring them in. So, it's nice to see it kind of all together in one evening. So yeah, thank you guys for everyone the process, everyone everywhere on the process. It was definitely a group process. >> Well, I think that I've been I've been the biggest skeptic, so maybe I should eat some cro uh which I'll be happy to do. Um, I'm not real I'm not a real fan of bottomup strategic planning because a lot of times things get watered down. Um, I was pleasantly surprised and I think
047that goes to Zach's leadership and thanks to Tai and the committee um, and the leadership team we have. Um, I think that there's some really stretch goals here. Mhm. >> I mean, when you put yourself out as wanting to be a destination district in the state of Iowa, that's uh you're putting a marker down. We're all putting a marker down. And uh so I I was very pleased with that. And uh so yes, I think um you can quibble about things and and you know, definitions of mission and vision and all that stuff. I think that's that's just quibbling. Um so, uh I'm I'm really happy with the uh with the outcome particularly from from our leadership team and I'm anxious to participate and now uh destination district also means those of us on school
048board have to be as good as the uh leadership team and as good as the people that we're governing. So now I have to look myself in the mirror and say, "Okay, what can I do better?" So I hope we all do that and participate now to be competitive and to be that destination district, but also hold people accountable. We do need the reporting aspects of this, how we're going to report our progress and key metrics. So that's the next piece. But um so >> yeah, >> hats off to everyone and uh you know I was skeptical but I was uh I was wrong. >> So >> pleasantly surprised pleasantly good to be wrong. So thank you. >> Yeah, I just want to echo your last statement there. There's some good called actions here for
049accountability. So, I think as a board, we'll just have to kind of adapt to that as we get into the first few readouts to know what we can look at, what what does it actually mean to get that baseline so we can keep going and see that we're all in the right direction or if we're not, what do we need to adjust to where we steer the ship? So, good stuff. >> Great. All right. Um, so let's see. Motion to approve as presented. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Strategic plan is uh approved. Thank you. Uh 7.2. Do I hear a motion to approve the year-end financial health report as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Dave and Ty. >> There is a presentation. I'm not surprised. >> I asked Evan to create
050something just a little um >> this is a 42page document. There's a lot of an overview and caption for everybody. So >> that's your quiz. >> John, can you pull it up for me? Got it. >> All right, you can go ahead to the next slide. >> All right, so I just kind of wanted to start off by kind of reiterating what our board financial health goals are. So on um our unspent authorized budget ratio goal uh is to maintain the unspent authorized budget ratio within the 15 to 20% target range by closely monitoring budget expenditures throughout the fiscal year. So for those of you watching that don't know what unspent budget ratio is, it's kind of like our credit card. So every year they give us a credit card maximum limit of how much
051we spend and we want to carry over 15 to 20% of that from year to year. Um our second board goal was solveny ratio. So kind of think cash. We want to maintain that between 15 to 20%. Why? If you have a credit card, you also need the cash covered credit card. So that's why those two goals are the same. And our last one was days net cash ratio 90 to 120 days, 3 to four months worth of living. Um the main reason behind that board goal is during the month of July and August, we do not receive revenue as a school district. So we need to make sure we have a couple months of revenue in the bank to make payroll, pay bills, um and other expenses that may come out. Go ahead and
052move forward, John. >> And those are connected directly to board policy. >> Connected to board policy and the strategic plan and many other places. >> Um, so last year or the last couple years, we've had to make some very hard financial decisions. But in FY2025, we saw some major improvement, but I want to take a moment um to recognize the key contributors. Um so from our union representatives we had Vannon Crabtree also known as Russy Crabtree, Bruce Miller, Chris McCriedy and through their network FCA. Um they played a giant role in helping us um work through our financial improvement. Um district representatives had insurance committee. Um there was probably 20 21 of us that met when we were doing some insurance review along with um some work from the board there um to help us
053do some strategical um changes on the insurance side. our administrators and directors, you all who had to make some really tough decisions, our associate leaders or our associate mentor group. Last year, we didn't have the mentors yet, but we had a pilot group or a group that really helped us through some of these financial decisions. And there's a lot of other district staff out there that um provided feedback throughout the course. And then finally, our local banking partners, um, Iowa State Bank, Midwest One, but a special thanks to Carl Metaf, Aaron Kess, Scott Wilman, uh, Dena Morsy, Chrissy Grove, Ron Haynes, Wendy Anderson, and many more. Um, as you guys know or don't know, in FY24. Um, we had a struggle with balancing previous books that me and Zach were working through and these bank
054partners really helped us get it all reconciled along with their auditors. I just wanted to give them a shout out um for their support. Next slide. So in the world of um school finance, there's about 10point financial condition test ratio. So what you'll see on the board right now is FY2023, FY2024, and the far right column is FY2025. Red is bad, orange is ch uh trending in the right direction, and green is good that we metrics. So, as you can see in FY2024, there was a lot of red. And if you look at our 10 points that we measure for financial health as a school district, we're green across the board besides the employee cost ratio, which Dave highlighted briefly um within his finance committee update. So, we're aware of that. We're heading in the
055right direction. Previous year was 64%, we're now 72%. So, we're making progress, but there's still work to be done. >> Go ahead to the next one. >> So, have an employee cost ratio. what what exactly is that and what how will that how will you get that to improve? >> Yeah. So, um I'll get back to that because I think it's at the end of the presentation, but if I don't answer it then um I'll go ahead and acknowledge that. >> Um so, I just want to dive a little bit deeper into our um board metrics. So, day net cash ratio um we ended the year with $6,342,370 in the bank. You take that divided by our total expenditures um to get our daily expenditures. So currently the district cost $57,000 900 57 931 per
056day to run. So if you divide that 57,000 by that 6 million we had 109 days worth of cash in the bank at year end. Again our goal is 90 to 120 days. So there's no corrective action needed at this time and we met the board goal for the conclusion FY2025. Next slide please. Uh financial solveny ratio. Um again the board gold is a minimum of 8% but a target of 15 to 20%. As you can see um according to our balance sheet and once you take in the formula we end of the year at 17.23%. So we split the board gold right in the middle. Um so again there's no corrective action needed. Um and we met the board goal. Next one, unspent balance component. So there's two parts to this, but as a
057board, we really measure the regular program unspent um authorized budget or unspent balance. There's multiple phrases for that. So that's the orange column, yellow column on color blind. So if I said that wrong, I don't know why I color coded it. U but we ended the year at 18.38%. So think back to the previous slide, we had 17% cash or solveny, 18% credit. they almost mirror each other. It's about as close as you can get um in prediction. But the question we do get or what you'll see on the state websites is they also include the categorical unspent authorized budget which is 1.92% or a total UAB of 20%. That categorical portion is restricted funds which means it's locked in or tied into very specific items. So it's not free money to use on everything.
058So that's why we back it out. So an example of a categorical fund would be um like our preschool programming. you have to use that on preschool. So, we don't want to include that into our overall financial picture because it has to be used on preschool. That's just how the laws ran. Um, again, the board target was 15 to 20%. We're at 18.38. There's no corrective action and we met this board goal. Go ahead on to the next slide. Um, kind of new this year. I kind of want to paint a picture. um some by request but also some by kind of tying it back to that employee cost ratio is our wage distribution. So in a public school setting our funding should be about 75 to 82% of our cash or our money should
059be going to staffing. We're a labor intensive business. Our business model is people. But what this wage distribution does is it breaks it down by sector of how much of our 15 million of this portion of the general fund is going to each different sector of employees that we employ. So on the far right you'll see where we were at FY24. We're at 56.3% for teachers. We increase to 60.9%. We really want to see that around 65%. Um pair educators we're at 14. This past year we're at 14.3. That's a fluctuation um that I expect to see because every year our par needs are different because they're tied to those special education units as you know. So we probably had one or two more per last year than we probably did in FY24. So that's
060why fluctuated. Administrators, we went from 10% in FY24 to 8.7% in FY25. Why was there a drop there? Well, now we're seeing the work of the budget reduction two years ago. I know we did another one last year, but we should see that at year end. So now we're starting to see the ties of the work that had take place a couple years ago. Um and then we keep going down custodial decrease. We did a bunch of decentralization of some of that staff and get more money back towards our frontline workers. We even call that our teachers and our par educators. Um but this was to break down a percentage of what each group got out of the 15.3 million spent on wages last year. >> And that 15.3 million equates to the 72.44% 44%
061on that when you asked that question of the total general fund dollars. Does that make sense? >> Yep. Yep. >> So, let's jump into the next slide. >> Um, so every financial um health report isn't complete in my opinion without next steps or key indicators or what we're going to do move forward or thought process that might come to this um table at some point. So teacher salary distribution I already highlight high highlighted this but increase from 56.3% FY24 to 60.9% in FY25 4.6% increase that's nice to see but our goal is still 65% by FY27 um we're making progress if you remember we also approved a four or five year agreement with our um union last year that completely overhauled um their contract system. So, we're in year one of that implementation. FY27 is
062going to be year two of that implementation. And hopefully that gets us closer to that 65% goal or slightly above. >> It will not hopefully it should. It should wholeheartedly. >> Yeah. >> Um, a fun fact I want to throw in there, um, when you're thinking about making wage adjustments or wage moves is we started tracking staff retention rate last year. So, the first year we came in, um, Zach and I came in and started working together, we were about 72%. Um, this past year, we're projected to come out about 82%. So, we saw about a 10% increase in retention of our staff. Um, again, we'd like to probably see that closer than 90, if not 100%, because we want 100% of our people belong. But 10% growth is something I think to celebrate staff
063within place. Um, back to Mark's point on the employee cost ratio, we're at 64.55% FY24, 72.44% FY25. We're trending in the right direction, but we're still short in that target range, which is why it's orange, trending the white right away, but we did not meet the green indicator. >> And kind of what Chrissy was alluding to with the HR negotiations committee, that's definitely going to be something that we're looking at from the hourly wage um standpoint, where those gaps are. and then also our extra service contract for all of our coaches or sponsors um to really re um reimagine or redesign what that looks like. So, we're um again one of the the highest um I would say paid um within within the area if we want to meet um what what our vision is
064moving forward. So, last slide. >> I think Zach just alluded a lot of this. Um so, how are we going to address some of these um slight shortfalls in our target range? um continue the phase implementation of the teacher contract um hoping to revise our wage structure the finance committee set our boundary or our governance line so we have 223,000 to work with and Zach and I will go to work meeting with all those individual groups on and through the HR negotiations committee trying to develop what that overall package looks like. Um part of the contract last year was enhancing extracurricular and extra duty compensation. Um so we're going to start that work maybe month end starting October. So, we'll be meeting with our union representatives and see which direction we go with that. Um,
065we're going to align the FY26 budget with ongoing improvements and staffing indicators and we're going to monitor employee cost ratio to ensure sustainable growth. So, that's going back into making sure we're green in a lot of areas where we got to make sure it's sustainable for years to come. So that's kind of a quick synopsis of that 41page document that you guys are going to have to approve, but just really want to take a moment to highlight the main board indicators. And if there's any questions, I'd be happy to answer now and you can probably go to the last slide, John, and it will be posted on the website as soon as it's approved. So, >> thank you. It's really >> I'd just like to make a comment from the finance chair perspective. Um, I
066really think that I'd really like to uh thank Evan and Zach, particularly Evan. Um, we have a outstanding, very competent budget officer, CFO that's got us to this point. And uh from where we were, if you see in FY24 and after our $2.4 million adjustment in the general fund, um it we've reached financial health and it's become really a strength of our district and uh we need to sustain it. But I think that we can now make start making the uh compensation adjustments that need to be made to help our belonging goals and to help our becoming that destination district that that we have. So, um I just want to thank them publicly for their work and uh it's been been fun working with them in in this finance space. >> And I'll second everything
067he said too. It's uh it's been, you know, quite the ride to watch you guys uh, you know, work and clean this up and, you know, get us to the point where we're at, which is amazing. Um, you know, a lot of hard work by you guys, administrators, everybody. Um, a lot of hard work by the board. Also, thank you everybody. You know, the last couple years, all the reductions we've done, this is why we did it. You know, we're we're in the green on a bunch of stuff. So, kudos everybody. We >> we set the ship on a good path. So, it's awesome. I'll echo that as well. You know, for me and Ty have been on here for, you know, basically four years now or whatever. It's uh this is kind of an
068area where we were really lacking a few years ago. To see us getting to this point is uh really pleasing for me to see. So hopefully we can continue it and hopefully this will be a good big step in the right direction towards um getting the ship rided, you know. So I think I think we're headed in the right direction specifically here. So that's great. So, and I'd just like to say lastly, one last thing is that I think uh for our taxpayers who are I consider our investors, using a private sector term, I think that this can show them that we are good stewards of their taxpayer dollars. That's all of our goals. that that uh and that now uh with the other part of our student success goals, they'll get a return on
069net investment, but this shows that that we are being good stewards of their tax. >> Yeah, certainly good point. >> I just like to say thanks Dave for coming along these guys and uh using your expertise. I've been ahead of other p of of other committees and uh you know you guys are always talking shop of what's next in finance. So I think it's been good to have that good >> team bonding and learning uh off off each other and obviously from the results it's paying off. So thanks a lot. I'd just add too like to be able to see that dramatic of a difference in such a short period of time, you know, in the grand scheme of things is really impressive. So that really is a testament to how much uh hard work
070you guys have put in. And obviously um it's paying off and so hopefully, you know, we'll start seeing the fruits of all of these labors and our enrollment numbers and things like that, which will further help this mission. So, Right. Thank you. All right. All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. >> 7.3. Do I hear a motion to approve the request for allow allowable growth and supplemental aid for the special education deficit in the amount of $830,630.80. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Dave and Mark Thornton. Um any discussion questions? >> Does everyone remember what this is for? >> Um yeah, so every year um there's one category of school funding that you're allowed to go in the red for and it's special education. Um so you can't predict the needs of our special
071education students real time. Um and there historically is always a shortfall in every school district. So, what this allows us to do as a district is go back before the school budget review committee and ask for more that unspent authorized budget. Um, you guys do have the ability to say no to this item. It will change that UAV indicator that we just presented or approved um previously. Um, how do we get the funds back for this? This is what's showing up on that what's now become a more sustainable or stable um tax le11 and then now $12.73 is allowing us to cover our special education needs or our most vulnerable pop population. But you guys have to approve our request to go before the school budget review committee and get that additional authority to support
072those kiddos. >> If we didn't I mean obviously I mean if if we denied that, what would that do to you guys? Just so everyone understands that, >> we probably see a 4% sway in our UAB. So, we'd fall below our board metrics. Um, >> then we'd have to come back with probably some sort of financial recommendation to make sure. I mean, it's probably an $830,000 cut to make sure it was sustained that um individualized education plans are law. We have to abide by it. So, >> put you guys in a pretty big bind. >> Yeah, it wouldn't it wouldn't be ideal. 290 school districts run a deficit. So I know they're 331 or whatever it is. >> All right. Any other discussion, questions? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. Moving on
073to board policies at the first reading. >> I'll move 7.4. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I scrolling too fast. Thanks. Uh 7.4. Um do I hear a motion to approve the resolution ordering an election on the issuance of 39 million uh 500,000 general obligation schoolboard bonds? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. >> I want to do this by >> Okay. >> The documents in here. >> Uh any discussion before we vote? >> Yes. So, there are several things that I need to highlight um for you guys before we do this roll call vote. Now that we have a motion, a second. >> Um so, this petition was submitted to you guys. It's all right here. Would anyone like to review all the signatures? All right. So, if you don't want to look through all
074the signatures, um, what I plan on certifying pending you guys' approval is we know in the last election there was 2,993 eligible voters that turned out. So, that been the November 2023, >> the last school board election, >> school board election. We need 25% of that last election number and signatures for a petition to be eligible to put another issue on the ballot. So, we needed 748 signatures. Um, we received about 958 of them. After our preliminary walkthrough by myself as board secretary, I think 860 of them are eligible. Again, the auditor um the city or the county auditor has final say in that, but I do think we have enough signatures to turn this in to um the auditor probably tomorrow morning if you guys pass it. Um the request would be this would
075take place by a roll call um vote and any other questions amongst that. >> Do we have the wording that's going to be on there yet >> on the ballot? >> Yeah. >> Yes, >> it's ready. So it would be shall the board of directors of the Fairfield Community School District in the counties of Jefferson, Henry, Van Beern, Waplo, and Washington, state of Iowa, be authorized to contract indeess and issue general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed 39,500,000 to provide funds to build, furnish, and equip a new middle school building, including site improvements. So that's exactly what you would see on the ballot because that is what the petition >> was circulated for. Any other questions? [Music] >> All right. Um, we have roll call vote, please. >> Yep. Mark Porter, >> yes.
076>> Ty Ward, >> yes. >> Chrissy Kessle, >> yes. >> Mandel Robbins, >> yes. >> Mark Thornton, >> yes. >> Dave Easturn, >> yes. Everyone wants to send us up. So, >> all right. Motion carries. >> One second. Um, all right. Moving on to 7.5. Do I hear a motion to approve the board policies at the first reading? >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Porter and Dave Eastburn. uh discussion here. First reading 700 series. Mark, >> is there over overview of what the 700 series is for people? >> It is a lot of [Music] >> like cash, >> cash management, debt management, debt policy, >> and there really wasn't a lot. The only one I would call out, we did change to option two, which is just different wording. I'm trying to find which one
077that is. That was the biggest change for the most part. Um, some of these are really long. >> And the other one that we did call out was we added another Iowa code. uh 296.1 just to reference that it's tied to that as well. The 704 is that three is the one that we're switching to. Uh sorry, option one. We had option two, which is all for investments. And again, for the most part, that's just all wording. They go kind of some different phrases that we thought would meet our expectations. If you haven't if you haven't got if you haven't got to them, you can read through me. If you have specific questions, let us know. >> It's pretty wonky. >> It's not easy reading. >> It is not. We're trying to figure out how
078to best present it, but it's one of those if we just give it to you straight, it's hard to know what actually changed. But at the end, it's hard to read it if it's all together. So maybe next time we'll just give you both and let you figure out which one is best. >> Yeah, it could even just be what we are what the policy committee says is what we want to do and that's what we're presenting is just the the new policy whether it's the same, different, or whatever. This is what we've kind of identified. So then it may be a little bit easier. I don't know. >> Mhm. >> I like to see how they change though. >> Yeah. >> Maybe next time we'll do both. We'll get a finalized one that's straight
079up. This is what we're bringing to you to approve. And then the other one is if you want to go look and see which changes, it'll be some of this red line throughs. >> Yeah, we we can take that back. I appreciate you guys going through all these wonky 700 series. Some of us enjoy it. >> All right. Um, so there's a motion to approve these board policies at the first reading on the table. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. 7.6. Do I hear a motion to approve uh the contracts as presented for transportation maintenance contracts with local vendors? >> Second, >> Mark and Mark and this is what you were speaking to earlier with the transportation >> and uh Zach and Evans. So basically is Smithburg just going to be for
080the fleet of vehicles and then I repair is going to be for the buses. Is that kind of what this is looking like? >> Correct. So we had um Matt Tyler, our new director of operations, released about four or five RFPs out there. We've received these two um Smithburg um Smith only has the um capacity to do our non-fleet vehicles. So that's everything not buses, that's our BBS >> um all that stuff. And then Iowa Repair um had good reference checks. They can't really do peacin and cardinal. Um, but they have all the equipment to make sure we're compliant with the federal DOT standards. So, they'll service our buses. >> So, do they do they think they can take that on comfortably, take on our fleet of buses and get stuff done timely? >> I
081mean, they put in their RFP like within a timely they gave us kind of their time frame. So, I mean, >> we understand how triound works, but the I mean, they submitted it. So, I say yes, they felt capable of taking on some puzzles. What do you guys have for spare buses if you do have a couple buses going? >> Yeah, so we're running 12 route buses. Um, but we have currently 15 in our fleet. So we have about two um spare buses, you want to call that. One's a special education bus or mainly used for also activities. >> Um, so currently we actually have two buses. Well, one just came back, but we had two buses in the shop last week, so we just were able to swap them out. >> Do you guys
082have a backup plan if you would happen to go over that two that two reserve bus limit? We've had to do that a little bit either due to driver shortage or something else. Um we run vans. >> So a lot of our buses with our new um transportation system or our new um routing or how we're just implementing it. Some of our buses have less counts on them because they're not trying to support 70 kids. Some will have 20 to 30 kids. So we >> um thankfully the maintenance guys volunteered a couple weeks ago uh maybe a week ago and they each took a van and just loaded up those kids on those two vans and got them home. Not ideal, but >> yeah, and it's I mean volunteered, but they're they're also compensated for
083that as well in addition to what their you know their role is um in the maintenance department. The other piece of this is we're not going to stop, you know, actively trying to get a mechanic. So, if we can get one that's um qualified and within kind of the the scope of what we're able to to pay, then we'll definitely continue to go that route. I think just from a support standpoint. >> Yeah. If we do this contract all year, do we have an estimated total budget for it? >> Yeah. So, if we just taking a brief math of all servicing all the vehicles, it's about 20,000. Um, if it crosses a $2,500 threshold, it does become PEP eligible. Um, so it is actually a little bit of a >> it could be potentially be
084a little bit of a savings. So, if you think about a mechanic, they come out of the general fund. Um, some of these repairs, depending on what they are, can come out of the ple fund. So might actually free up our general fund. >> That would definitely be a savings on the general fund side. >> That's awesome. Yeah, >> but they said federal compliance 650 a bus. So just do the math times 15 buses. Um assuming body repair, broken windows, major engine things. I mean things happen from year to year. But >> when we have a mechanic, are they typically full-time? >> They are. They have been historically. Yeah. 20,000 is service related you expect and not like parts and and such or >> um so when I say service related so these contracts are
085mainly for the routine kind of maintenance these are the oil change so light replacements the fluid checks everything that you need to pass the federal DOT inspection um we do still have some RFPs out there with some um local vendors for our big body >> the body work like the body work um >> which we tires >> that went out left anyway when we had a mechanic. We didn't do that in house. So, >> and we retain the right in these to do any repairs that we want internally, too. So, it's not like >> Correct. So, it wasn't guaranteed that we're going to take every bus there. So, some examples, um, I mean, Matt's hopped on a bus and has done oil and changed a couple light bulbs already. Um, it's just based off our
086skill set, but we are gearing up for a inspection October 6. So, there's a couple buses rotating in and out as well. Okay. >> And both of these look at the second one real quick. Call out that they're for the basically a calendar year, right? >> They're one year agreement. >> Yeah. Yeah. Any other discussion? All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. 7.7. Do I hear a motion to move the March 16th, 2026 regular meeting to March 23rd, 2026? >> So, it's not back a week, it's up a week >> because it there's a conflict with spring break. Correct. >> Maybe from the 16th to the 23rd or the 23rd to the 16th. >> 16th to the 23rd. >> So, it'll be the 16th spring break. So >> so moved. >> Second. >> Thanks.
087>> Now discussion. >> Now the discussion. >> All right. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. 7.8. Uh, do I hear a motion to approve the transfer of the homeschool assistance funds in the amount of $54,6665 to the board flex fund as presented? >> So moved. >> Second, Ty and Christie. Just want to make sure for the record for the public that the the homeschool assistance program is fully funded and we have any intent of keeping 25,000 in that for a margin of safety. >> Correct. For resources that they would need. Yep. >> For resources that they need. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> And you can always transfer this money back. >> Yes. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. That's it for new business. Moving on to superintendent updates. >>
088Yeah. Uh obviously about a month month in um to school and uh a lot of positive things happening in all four buildings. I've been in all of them u many times been on buses. Um overall again the um the atmosphere and the vibe is very positive. So I'm thankful for that. Um our administrators, I'm meeting with them this week in our weekly one-on- ones um to look at their PD plans, their professional development plans, their leadership goals connected to how they're going to ensure that their plan on a page um is operationalized to the fullest. I'll be doing the same thing um with Megan and then sharing that with with the board um with the expectation that we have some type of of mid-year review again in December or January connected to that for me
089um and just my leadership. Um SCAK, our first uh meeting of this year is next next week um 6:30. It'll be at the middle school. Part of that SIAK meeting will be um going over our strategic plan, some of the feedback that they gave us um at our last meeting before the break. um before summer and then we'll kind of move into our um first forum just connected to the the middle school um bond. So some of them may stay, some of them may go, but um that'll be next next Monday. Evan kind of alluded to this already, number of signatures. So we'll um move forward with our press release and make sure that we get um all the information out to the people within the system. So, our staff, our families, parents, um but
090then also we're going to do a a mass communication to all residents within the district as well um with that information so they'll have it again. Uh be on the lookout. The Iowa school performance profile um should be released within a week, I'm guessing. Um some of the information was embargoed and sent to superintendent, so we were able to take a peek at that. Um but it should become public within the next um within the next week. So, a lot of positives that will come out of that when when we get it. Um, we had about 190 responses from our parents regarding the first week of school. Again, I've reviewed that with building principles, looked at things that we can tweak or change um specific to just the start of of school. It was right
091at 50/50 in regards to like literally 49 to 51 um with back to school nights being on the same night or different nights. So either way we go next year it'll um it'll be okay. So um yeah and once I get a I would say a little bit firmer kind of enrollment number I'll push that out so you kind of see where we think we're at from a number standpoint but obviously we won't know the official certified enrollment till after October um where the funding is is connected. So um yeah it's all that's all I got. >> Great. Thanks. >> Next question. I know you've been spending a lot of time on the busing and the new routes and all of that and there was a lot of complaints in the beginning. Has that gotten
092better? Do we feel like we have it? >> Yeah, from a um logistics logistical standpoint, the mornings are great. Um now that people have figured out kind of the drop off piece, it's that's hasn't been an issue. There's still some things in the afternoon that we need to to tweak. Um, we've been adjusting times, but I I think one of the things we talked about today actually with Matt was adding from Washington right now whenever when everybody leaves, that's really smooth, but we have too much idle time at um the middle school at Pence. And so we're thinking about potentially switching and having buses go right from Washington to the high school. Um because they get out at 317, the buses at Washington load at 3:14. they'd all be able to get over there and
093kids would maybe have to wait for five minutes. The not not the the worry is making sure that we can get those 12 buses then to six at the middle school and six at um Pence by 3:28 is the time that they need to be there. We're going to do it just um without anybody else during the day just to see what time looks like. Um but I don't know when we're going to actually try to do that like officially, but that's one big thing I think that will help. um significantly with with some of the the wait time. So yeah, and just so everyone knows too like the the the amount of minutes a student can be on a bus um it only counts it when the bus is moving. So when the buses
094are sitting waiting at the school that doesn't count whyever I don't know why I code reads that way but that's what it does. Um but we definitely have seen a huge decrease in the number of um behaviors. So that's been a positive thing for sure on the buses. >> Okay. >> And when the bus is doing like drop offs at other schools and homes and all that, how does that work? Does that count towards the travel time or not? >> When they stop at a home? >> Yeah. >> I'm not sure like the minute that it not probably takes 30 seconds for that you guys are open. >> You guys are factoring as travel time. >> We are. The only thing we're not is when they're at buildings waiting, >> but as of right now,
095all buses are staying within that hour. >> Correct. Well, it's an hour and um >> 15, right? >> 75. 75 minutes. >> So, what's the absolute maximum that a child is having to stay on the bus right now? >> That probably 75 minutes. >> Just under. >> Yeah. The other the other thing we talked about is really rerouting um to see if the system can reroute it better than what we've always done just based on what history has been. So, we have a system, but I'm not sure that it has fully been utilized to to route the most efficient or effective way. And partly because, you know, we have drivers that they keep the buses at their homes, which is a nice perk to have. Um, and so we haven't really pushed too hard through
096that either. >> Now, like in the part of the county that I live in or there was like a key bridge that was just uh open back up, that probably helped you guys out a little bit, I would assume. >> A little bit. The one that's really hard is the Pleasant Plane route. Um, that's a that's that's one that's takes a while. There's a fair amount of stops. >> Y, >> but from a complaint standpoint, um, yeah, there hasn't been any the last couple weeks. >> So, okay. Thanks. >> Yeah. >> All right. We'll move into highlights. Christie, you want to start? >> Sure. Um I would just say that uh to see how far we've come just even from the beginning of last year to this year and seeing you know our leadership team
097here and just the cohesiveness and you know then the tie in with our strategic plan like it just really feels like we are moving together as a group and um like we're really starting to see that momentum of moving forward. forward. Um, and then, you know, tying that in with the the significant improvement from a financial standpoint. Um, I mean, just I think we have a lot to celebrate. So, >> all right. No one else say that one. >> Okay. Um, I I thought that I I enjoy watching the leadership team we have, but also doing one of our values is collaboration and creating a coh coherent and cohesive academic performance is absolutely critical. something we haven't had. And I know we're using different uh curriculum at different buildings. Maybe that'll get sorted out in
098the future. But at least with uh you know collaboration between Pence and Washington, um I think that a cohesive program is is being developed. So I that's a big highlight for me. And um I just appreciate the I appreciate the leaders we have um and the support and Evans knowledge and uh I'm looking forward to being competitive instead of constantly retrenching and uh I think that that's going to be fun to watch. And uh like I said, if I'm going to participate in this, I got to I got to look at myself at the mirror and be as good as the uh people that uh we've we have now. So that's my challenge. >> Thanks, Steve. >> Mark, >> I'm going to probably echo everything they just said. You know, first and foremost most, it's
099been really fun to watch the strategic plan come to fruition. I mean, pretty much, you know, uh watching Zach do his thing and lead by example. It's been really fun to watch the leaders from all four of our buildings come in and basically echo um a lot of the things that the strategic plan uh was emphasizing and watch it come, you know, happen in the actual buildings. So, um the other thing is, you know, the financial health report, you know, the the first several years we were on this board, you know, it's uh that was a very sore subject on this board and um to watch that improve the last couple years has been fantastic. to see Evan come in and do the work that he has done. And then having Dave on the board
100has been a terrific addition. You know, like I said, he's been able to, you know, dive into things that previous board members were not able to effectively do and that's been great. So, and we I really appreciate that. And having his 40 plus years of expertise in the banking industry and finance world has been a great addition. So, it's been a a really fun several years on the board and uh I really look forward to seeing what the future of the district has. So, it's been going to be fun moving forward. So, Thanks, Mark. >> Did almost all of it. Um, lots of cool things in this meeting with what everybody else just mentioned of all the cool things moving the right direction, including our vote for the bond, getting all those signatures. So, good
101job to everybody for chowing down the last couple weeks, making sure we found enough. So, cool things on the on the horizon. >> Yeah. Ty. >> Yeah, just so I don't repeat everybody, I would just uh to sum up, I would just say that all of these things are kind of uh under the heading of investments. Um we've been making a lot of investments in our district. We've been doing cuts so that we could have money to do more things. You know, we we've been doing, you know, these bonds so that we can free up more funds for more teachers. You know, we're not spending a million dollars per year for buildings. We're trying to invest and make this a really great district. We've invested a lot in some really good people and I think
102that's what we've heard a lot tonight. Um, which is awesome just to watch these investments actually start to pay off. Um, so yeah, it's always great to watch your uh investments grow and uh I think we're doing that right now. >> Yeah. I remember when we when I first came on as a board member, I was kind of like, well, what are the goals? What's the plan? What do I what do I need to know? And there just really wasn't much of anything at that. But it was a big transition time, you know, just that's just what it was, you know, and now I feel like we've we've got it finally. It's really exciting to see it here. I feel like the foundation is really strong and um you you just we needed that. Um,
103and I'm really looking forward to, you know, all the things that the principles, the leaders said in terms of the students learning to invest in themselves, you know, and and and that student success. I think that's that's obviously the next big um, you know, metrics that we'll we'll be looking at and I'm really excited to see that take shape. So, thank thank you, Evan. Thank you, Zach, and and everybody. It's feeling really good right now. >> All right. Um, do I hear a motion to adjurnn? >> So, move. Second. >> Mark and Mark. All in favor? >> I oppose. Thanks.