001Good evening. This regular meeting of August 11th, 2025 of the Debute Community School District Board of Education is called to order. Our mission is to develop worldclass learners and citizens of character in a safe and inclusive learning community. Roll call, please. Bradley Hamill, >> here. >> Jacobitzkazire, >> here. >> Jones, >> here. >> Parks, >> here. >> Sansancy, >> here. Whitman here. >> All right. We're excited that some uh familiar faces to us anyway are here to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. So, come on in, kids. We might be more excited than them. >> I think so. [laughter] I am Henry Park Smith from Prescott Elementary and I'm going into fifth grade. >> I'm Jame Park. I go to Washington and I'm going into seventh grade. >> My name is Aubrey Jones. I'm
002I'm going I I go to Washington and I'm going into sixth grade. >> My name is Henry Jones. >> What grade? [clears throat] Oh, I'm going into I'm going into third grade and I got to school at um >> My name is Leo Whitman. I am going into first grade and I go to Kennedy. >> My name is Aiden Sansancy and I'm going to be a sophomore at senior high school. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. >> You guys did a great job. I move the board of education approve the agenda as submitted. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded that the board of education approve the
003agenda as submitted. Is there any discussion? >> Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. I move that the board of education approve the minutes of the regular meeting of July 21st and the special meeting of July 23rd, 2025 as submitted. Second. >> It's been moved and seconded that the board of education approve the minutes of the regular meeting of July 21st and the special meeting of July 23rd, 2025 as submitted. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Any opposed? That motion also carries. >> All right. Um, that brings us to board salutes. And I don't know who has those. >> Or I have one. A board salute goes out to all involved in the
004district's mobile registration and employment fair outreach efforts. Over the past few weeks, teams of district representatives have been hitting the streets with our outreach bus to get families registered to share information about jobs that we have open in the district and to just connect in general with the community. from stops at various schools um during this weekend's Crescent Community Health Center Stepping It Up 5K. We loved reaching out to the community where they're at to help them provide support. We have one more stop tomorrow from 1 to 3 that's going to be at Kennedy Elementary School. So, thanks to all the district team members who are making this effort possible and to the DRRA which helped provide the funding to make our outreach vision a reality. Thank you. >> All right. I have one, too.
005So, a board salute goes goes out to all involved in the annual back to school bash. The back to school bash is an annual event that happens on the first uh Saturday in August at Ottoman Elementary where we have a variety of nonprofit organizations that come together to impact families to make sure that they have all of the resources that they need uh for the upcoming school year. Big shout out to the district who's a key sponsor for this event as well. um they made sure that families were registered for school, helping families to get um job opportunities. So, it's an amazing event. Over 600 families were were out there just getting connected to resources and also to each other, which is also very critical in our community. Just a great reminder what happens when
006a community comes together to help each and every single uh resident in our community. So, again, big shout out to the district and all those who are involved with the annual back to school bash. Thank you. Are there any other board salutes? >> Okay. Well, we'll have more once school gets started. So, it's coming up. >> Um, that brings us to the visitor and open forum. >> I move the board of education suspend the rules of order and go into open forum. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded that the board of education suspend the rules of order and go into open forum. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. Any opposed? That motion carries. So, we're now in open forum. If anyone wishes
007to address the board, they may do so at this time. We ask that you come to the podium, state your full name, your connection to the district, and to limit your remarks to three minutes. Please know that state code prevents us from engaging and responding, but we are listening. >> Hello. >> Good evening. uh Clark Slows 2925 Burlington Street and basically here is a taxpayer. I don't have any kids or grandkids in the school system but I'm kind of concerned about the proposed you know school bond that's being proposed. Um last week I was fortunate to meet with the superintendent chief financial officer because I sent you know a letter to be shared with all the board members and you know I wasn't expecting any contact from the superintendent. I was kind of surprised and
008grateful for the opportunity to hear their point of view and for them to hear my point of view. What it boils down to is I can't see myself or any senior voting yes for the bond issue. The reason why is for 2027 I looked at the new assessed values and if we keep the current tax system that we have because the legislature hasn't passed anything and we don't know what they're going to do the my school taxes the amount of dollars I would pay to the schools would go up 35%. The neighbor across the street from me kind of has I'd say one of the premier houses in our neighborhood. is would go up 24%. If you take Debuke's, the city of Debuke, what they say the median value of a home is, that would
009go up 19%. And I note, you know, on your website, you have what the committee looked at and that the majority would favor a slight increase in their taxes for, you know, adequate facilities. Well, it doesn't define what is a slight increase. The dollar is a 7.67% increase. Uh, is that reasonable or not? Apparently the school board feels it is. I do not because that's about three times the rate of inflation that seniors are going to get on their social security check. Um, I can see the pros of going to, you know, a new school system, going to two middle schools. I can see the pros of that. But when you list the cons, they may not be as many as the pros, but the size of those cons, I think, outweighs that benefit. The
010one thing we don't know if the bond issue fails. What would be the tax levy rate? Would it be a dollar and a half instead of, you know, a dollar if we went with bond? We don't know that between not knowing what the future tax system is going to be and what's the alternative if the bond fails. I can't see a senior voting yes. The only reason I could see why is that you have grandkids in the system and you're going to take one for the team. If I did, you know, if I had grandchildren in the system, I would take one for the team. If this pond issue would have been back in 2023, I probably would have voted yes. But under today's circumstances, there's too many unknowns for me to vote yes. And
011probably the end of September, I'm going to write a letter to the editor explaining why I believe you should vote no. Unless you got any questions. That's all I got. >> Thank you. >> Seeing no more um audience to come to the podium, I move the board of education reinstate the rules of order and return to regular session. >> Second. It's been moved and seconded that the board of education reinstate the rules of order and return to regular session. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. >> I move that the board of education approve those items listed in the consent agenda. >> Second. It's been moved and seconded that the board of [clears throat] education approve those items listed in the consent agenda.
012Is there any item a board member wishes to have pulled? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. All right, that brings us to our facilities and support services committee report from Mr. Hamill. >> Thank you very much. Uh so last Monday, yes, last month, sorry. Uh last Monday we had our facilities and support meeting. We got reports uh on a number of subjects. Uh the first item was a review of the district's liability and property insurance. Uh and that was from Dan Wellik of Assured Partners. Uh they are the ones that uh go out and price all the uh insurance options for us. Uh we also had some reports on a couple of much appreciated donations to the district. Uh over at Lincoln School,
013the Lincoln Elementary parent group and Lowe's Home Improvement donated a cabinet countertop and sink for the teachers lounge at Lincoln. And up at Himmstead, uh a ticket booth is being built as a donation uh at the Himmstead Timberman Field. And that's going to be very similar to the ticket booth up at Dell Zelfield and that's being done by Micah Fern as his Eagle Scout project. Uh, and that will be tremendous. Um, we also they ended up finding at Lincoln there's 10 bicycles that they don't quite know where they came from, but those bicycles are going to be used uh as contest prizes. uh up at Lincoln. Uh we got reports on the uh construction projects uh and uh the Eisenhower gym edition and the Eisenhower Keller roof replacement. They're going well at uh Irving Mechanical.
014Things are also going well. Uh there's going to be a number uh the Irving project is going to continue through the school year and it's going to uh require some movement of the students. So this coming year, the third and fourth graders from Irving are going to be at Hoover um all year. Um 10 of the classrooms are already done uh at Irving and uh the uh young grades are going to be in in there at the start of the year and there's going to be some movement as the construction goes through the year, but the plans are in place for all of that. Uh the Roosevelt bus new bus loop uh got uh yeah, it did get finished. Uh there was one final change order required uh more asphalt than uh had been foreseen
015and that was uh $12,880. The uh Marshall playground uh equipment uh replacement is uh just about done. I drove by that today. It looks fantastic. and uh they just need to uh put in mulch and put the fencing back up. And at Himstead High School uh down on the field there, there's going to be a shed replacement. Currently, there's just a very small uh shed with equipment in it. It's it's kind of a residential style uh shed. The new shed's going to be 40 by 50 ft. And uh it's going to be used for both track and football equipment. and that's going to go out for bid. And the uh final uh uh information we got related to some of the funding sources and Lisa Dimmer, our chief financial officer, uh gave us a report
016on the Pebble funds and the save funds. And uh we also got a report that uh uh it looks very positive for various IT projects that we we did. We're going to get $565,000 reimbursement from the United States government. Um unless something changes drastically on that. Uh so I have um a handful of motions. Then the first motion is I move the board of education approve the donation from the Lincoln Elementary parent group and Lowe's home improvement of a cabinet sink and countertop for the staff lounge at Lincoln Elementary School. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded that the board of education approve the donation from the Lincoln Elementary parent group and Lowe's home improvement of a cabinet sink and countertop for the staff lounge at Lincoln Elementary. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those
017in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. >> I move that the board of education approve the donation from Eagle Scout Micah Fern of labor for the construction of a ticket booth at Himmstead High School, Timberman Field. >> Second. It's been moved and seconded that the board of education approve the donation from Eagle Scout Micah Fern of labor for the construction of a ticket booth at Hemstead High School, Timberman Field. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. >> I move that the board of education approve the donation of used bicycles that are no longer of use to the to the district to people associated with Lincoln School. >> Second. It's been moved and seconded that the
018board of education approve the donation of used bicycles that are no longer of use to the district to people associated with Lincoln school. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. I move that the board of education approve change order number three to Valentine Construction Company on the Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School repave project in the increased amount of $12,880. >> Second. It's been moved and seconded that the board of education approve change order number three to Valentine Construction Company on the Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School repave project in the increased amount of $12,880. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. I move that the board of education approve final
019acceptance of the Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School repave project and authorize payment of final project cost to Valentine Construction Company in the amount of 90,6463 in accordance with the requirements of Iowa law and is more fully outlined in the submitted authorizing resolution. >> Second. It's been moved and seconded that the board of education approve final acceptance of the Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School repave project and authorize payment of final project costs to Valentine Construction Company in the amount of $90,646 in accordance with the requirements of Iowa law and as more fully outlined in the submitted authorizing resolution. Is there any discussion? >> Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Any opposed? That motion carries. I move that the board of education tent tentatively approve the plan, specifications, form of contract, and estimate
020of total cost for the Hemstead High School football field storage building project and set the date, time, and location as September 2, 2025 at 400 p.m. or immediately following the con conclusion of the facilities uh support services committee meeting at the Debuke Community School District, 2300 Cheney Road, Deuke, Iowa, for a hearing thereon and further authorize the advertisement for competitive bids. >> Second. It's been moved and seconded that the board of education tentatively approve the plan, specifications, form of contract, and estimate of total cost for the Hemstead High School football field storage building project and set the date, time, and location as September 2nd, 2025 at 4 p.m. or immediately following the conclusion of the facilities support services committee meeting at the Debuke Community School District, 2300 Cheney Road, Debuke, Iowa, for a hearing thereon
021and further authorize the advertisement for competitive bids. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> I. Any opposed? >> That motion carries. Right. Thank you, Mr. Hamill. And that last motion was a helpful reminder that our next facilities meeting is on September 2nd at 4:00 if you want to join us. >> Okay, >> that brings us to the educational programs and policy committee report from Miss Jones. Thank you. Um well, first of all, we heard from Superintendent Hawkins who shared um Iowa Association of School Boards legislative priorities with the committee. Um these priorities serve as uh guidance uh for all uh the IASB lobbyists and lawmakers. Um give some guidance while advocating for us during the next session um in De Moines. So these include student achievement,
022preschool, teacher recruitment and lensure, supplemental state aid, unfunded mandates, school funding policy, bond issues, and private school choice. um our president will also be using those right and take um them with you in November to the convention um to discuss those amongst all the other schools in the state. Um next we heard from Superintendent Hawkins on our five priority initiatives around the four pillars of the strategic plan for the 2025 2026 school year. Um these are used um throughout the year to just kind of make sure that we're meeting our goals um and the priorities that we set uh to keep moving the district forward. Um Superintendent Hawkins and her staff will continue to update us throughout the year on how these projects are going. Um priority number one is to strengthen the district's efforts
023to engage families, student, and staff in various areas in student success focused initiatives. Priority number two is to deepen support for educators in systematizing collaboration to analyze, plan, and implement best practice instructional methods. Priority number three is to provide an optimal learning environment throughout honing instructional knowledge of educators to engage students in their learning of skills and cont and content. Priority number four is study and implement strategies to streamline operations in ways focused on student success. And then the last one, priority number five, is to enhance staff development that bolsters leadership opportunities and supports staff retention and longevity. You guys got your work cut out for you? >> That's right. [laughter] >> Yes. So, um after that, we did review several policies. Um, two new ones that are going into place, uh, would be the
024employee use of electronic communication tools and also, um, a similar one for students as our new policy takes place this year. Um, and let's see, that wrapped us up. Our next meeting will be on September 3rd, right back here at the forum. Um, and that's at 4 o'clock. And I did a a motion tonight. All right. So, I move that the board of education approve the 2025 2026 IASB legislative priorities as presented. >> Second. It's been moved and seconded that the board of education approve the 2025 2026 IASB legislative priorities as presented. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> That motion carries. All right. Thank you, Miss Jones. That brings us to new business. Any new business, Superintendent Hawkins? >> Well, I
025think we're going to start a school year here shortly. So, [clears throat] um very excited. Our entire staff will return this Friday um the 15th. We will have our opening um on Friday at Senior High School. And then students will return for orientation day on Friday um August 22nd with our first official day of school being August 25th. So, I looked today and it looks like it's going to be 79 degrees on August 25th. So, should be a good start to the school year. So, we're excited. >> Awesome. >> Yeah. Teacher names of teachers came out today. So, that's always really exciting. >> Oh, that's exciting to see who's going to be >> home room. Check your check your infinite campus and see see who's your teacher. >> That's right. >> If you haven't already.
026>> And I would just encourage if anybody has not registered for school, there's still time to do so. So, we encourage you to get your students registered so we're ready to go by the 22nd. >> Thank you. Any board member or administrative issues? Just thanks for everyone um willing to bring your your kids to do the pledge tonight and for all of our work over the summer. The work continues for all of us over the summer, even if it's quieter. >> Yeah. >> All right. Well, um I think seeing nothing else, uh we are adjourned.