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002[music] >> Hey, hey, hey. >> [music] >> like to call the meeting to order. We'll start with roll call. Brett White >> here. >> Morgan Brown >> here. >> Brian Jones >> here. >> Becky Engel >> here. >> Christina Shark >> here. Dave Wer's here and Dusty Wear is absent this evening. Um, adoption of agenda and declaration of a quorum. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. I have a motion, a second. Further discussion? If not, all in favor? Raise your right hand? Opposed? Motion carries. And next is a public hearing on the school calendar. The following notice of public hearing was published in the Atomic Courier on February 21st, 2026. This is the time and place for the public hearing and meeting when interested individuals can express their views both orally or in
003writing regarding the following which is the 2026 calendar. Um do we have anyone that would like to speak to the calendar tonight? Okay. So we'll close that public hearing. Uh citizen speak. I don't have any green cards. Um so we'll move on to the consent agenda. >> Motion to adopt. >> Second. >> Thank you. Motion, a second. Any discussion on that? If not, all those in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries. Okay. Board priority. To be the best, we will create a positive learning and working culture for our stakeholders and embrace our community partners through communication and transparency. And anformational item to start, the proposed property tax rate review. >> Thanks, Dave. Uh we're excited tonight to be able to uh announce that we're looking at uh lowering our property tax rate u by
00450 cents. John's going to go through kind of the logistics of that uh and we'll open it up for any questions board members may have. >> Okay. Thanks, Mike. Uh as mentioned, uh we are looking, this is the time of year we set the property tax levy for next year, so certified budget season. Uh we've gone through all that. We finally got the figures from the legislature and 2% is is pretty poor. Uh but we're in a pretty decent financial position and uh when we've got all our metrics and numbers in there, uh last year our rate was 1466 and this year we're looking at uh reducing it down to 1416, a 50cent drop. Um there uh what goes along with this also is we submit uh kind of a proposed property tax levy to
005the Department of Management. So we sent that off to them. Uh we did that March 5th. Um by March 15th, the county will send out the statements, the property tax statements. They've gone the last couple years. Um they uh unfortunately are the same format. So they're a little misleading. Uh even though we're dropping our levy 3.4%. And the uh roll back actually increased. So uh the amount that people are taxed on actually is going to decrease. The statements show for a residential property a 29% increase. So, um, why that is is that they make the assumption that property tax values went up 10%. Um, some may, some may not. Um, I actually received the property tax information in general from the school and there was a 5% residential increase. So, figuring that if if we
006look at the $100,000 home example and say that the valuations went up 5%, uh, those taxpayers would be looking at a 4.8% decrease in their property tax dollars. Uh so the actual dollars collected for the school portion uh we always like to point out the school is not the only taxing entity. Um so the city and the school split I I want to believe say the city is about 40 um four I didn't write it down um approximately 40% and we're about 8% less. So uh the city is the largest taxing entity. We're second and then you've got the county and other people. Uh community college uh some random things like that. Uh we don't control any of that. We're just talking about the school part. So the school is is dropping our levy 50
007cents. Um and should be looking at a decrease for most residential uh taxpayers on the school part. Um also highlight is just um we'll have uh some information that comes out later about the the trend, but I've always talked to this group is our goal is to keep it steady. U property tax rate over the past 10 years. Uh the highest it's been is 1470 and the lowest it's been is 1410. and we've been in that range and we don't move much. Um the last couple years we've we've dropped it a little bit and just kind of maintain as stability. Uh the 50 cents is a nice bonus this year to be able to drop it. So we're happy with that. Um and uh outside of that, um what we're looking at timelinewise is that
008the board uh there'll be a publication that goes in the paper. The public hearing will be on April 6th. So, our next board meeting, um, that's when the board, uh, will get the kind of the full presentation. We'll have our first hearing. Um, that's what this notice goes out and and lets everybody know about. Um, the board will hear all that information. If anybody wants to comment, they're welcome to do so at that meeting. And then at the last meeting in April is when the formal approval happens. So, uh, overall pretty good news. Um, we're always happy with a drop. Uh, 50 cents is the largest drop we've had in quite some time. Um and yeah, we'll answer any questions. >> No. Okay. Thanks, Joey. Yep. Justformational. Thank you. >> Uh now we have some
009action items and we'll start with the first one which is the 2627 school calendar. >> Brad's going to join us for this. Um Brad's done and his committee's done a great job of kind of taking input from different groups. Uh I think they've come up with a really good calendar and he's going to kind of share out the changes we've made and and and give you an opportunity to ask any questions. >> Yes. So after the last board meeting we um took the feedback from the board. We took it to the committee. Um nothing major. We just shifted like for instance November parent teacher conferences. We shifted that back a week. Some committee members noticed there could be some conflicts with um election dates. Um we did not want to be in school on December
01023rd. We have an early out on December 22nd. Uh the committee wanted to add a work day and I believe this came up with the board as well, a work teacher work day in January and there's also one in February. Uh we adjusted spring break back a week to align better with our conference and some of our conference schools which also kicked then the March parent teacher conference back to the week of March 8th. Um and then all of that as it shakes out, we're still uh students last day is still uh May 27th. So, uh, with those changes, we did add one additional floating day just to get the teacher contract days in of 193, but other than that, yeah, the the committee, uh, really liked and is making the recommendation for the board
011to approve the calendar. So, with that, be happy to, um, answer any questions. >> Don't have any questions, but they look like nice changes. >> Yeah, it's a really nice calendar for the coming school year. >> Yeah. Any questions? This is an action item, so we do need to vote on it. >> I make a motion to approve the calendar. >> Second. >> Motion and a second. Any other discussion? All in favor, raise your right hand. Opposed? Motion carries. And move on to the 2627 employee handbook. Sarah from our HR department is going to join us for this. Um, this is Sarah's debut. So, uh, we're excited to hear from Sarah. I'm also very excited. [laughter] So, okay. Uh, as Mr. McGory mentioned, my name is Sarah Hopkins. I'm the HR manager. Uh, tonight I'm
012speaking to you about our employee handbook for the 2627 school year. Um, we meet as a committee. Our committee is made up of teachers, associates, secretaries, custodial and maintenance team, um, administrators, directors, all of all of the above come together to discuss um, some changes. The changes that you have in front of you are um additions rather than um edits just to get some more transparency to how we practice in HR um for um our employee um group. So with that, if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer. >> And I believe you all have a summary of the handbook changes that we did review with the committee a couple weeks ago. And there were a few questions, but um all were in favor of these changes. >> Anyone have any questions? >>
013It won't always go like this, sir. So, [laughter] >> I'm okay. >> Uh if not, we're looking for a motion. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Motion a second. Further discussion? All in favor, raise your right hand. opposed. Motion carries. Thank you. Now, we have a couple of board policy reviews, C and D. I think we can probably do these together. Um Brad, you going to talk about these? Okay. Yeah. Um item C is just an annual reading of uh the 300 series of policy. No changes there. Um and then D was just some minor changes to um the the flow process. If there are uh like the chain of command, I just added um the associate superintendent in there on a couple of them and then flipped um one. I think you have
014a highlight of those changes from uh principal and building and grounds if there were concerns or maybe AD and principal. >> So no major changes. >> I'll make a motion to approve items C and D. >> Second. >> Thank you. Motion a second. Any discussion? All in favor, raise your right hand. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Uh, next item, board priority. Through the board's financial stewardship, we will provide operations, technical, and curricular resources to staff, teachers, and administrators so that all students have consistent and sustained achievement. We do have a couple action items starting with the budget guarantee resolution. >> Yep. Thank you. So, uh, if you've been on the board before, you're familiar with this. um we have to come uh before the board or the board has to take action. So we talk
015about the budget guarantee. So if the district's finances are uh like we had some a declining enrollment this year, maybe SSA isn't real high and the district's looking at a decline, the state will guarantee for a year that they will give you 101% of your budget. Um and that is to help blunt years of decreasing enrollment or something like that. So, uh, it's typically funded by local property taxes and so the board has to take action to approve and you're just saying that yes, we will we maintain the right to levy that um, if we want to. Um, this year the legislature is actually going to pick this up. Uh, so it's it's kind of a bonus to us. Uh, normally we have to have an increase the levy to take care of this and
016this year we do not. So we're appreciative of that. But this is the formal step. uh you are just uh giving the district the authority to request uh request that spending authority to request to get that budget guarantee. So uh happy to answer any questions. >> What's the mechanism if we were to use that? How does that work? >> Um it's it actually automatically happens when we do our our budget calculation. uh they come up with the number and say it's this much money is the 101% and it gets added to your property tax levy. >> Okay. >> So it's kind of automatic but you have to you have to take action to give the authority to do so. >> So it would change that 1416 that we just talked about. >> Um right if
017we had to if we had to fully fund it that rate would probably be a little higher. >> Okay. But we're not planning on using this >> the budget guarantee. >> Yeah. >> We don't have to. Uh the state is going to do it. Um, but we we always do this as a just in case. The legislature is still in session, so it's kind of a >> Yeah, it's familiar. I remember doing this and we're not planning on using >> this doesn't obligate you to do anything. It just gives you the authority to do so. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Make a motion to approve. >> Second. >> Thank Thank you. Motion to second. Any other discussion, questions? If not, all those in favor raise your right hand. >> [snorts] >> Motion carries. Uh John,
018looks like you're going again with the Iowa Local Government Risk Pool for natural gas. >> Yep. This is uh this is I believe our third year going into this and this is um the uh we contract for our natural gas uh for the next school year and we uh do it through this local government risk pool. There's two benefits to it. The first is it kind of eliminates the risk of fluctuating natural gas prices during the year. So we kind of set in and we contract at the beginning of the year and we know our amounts. Um it also allows us to fund it through the management levy which is always preferred so we can get a little more authority a little more uh flexibility in the general fund. So um where this really comes
019in handy is the the big snowstorm that there was earlier this year down in Texas where natural gas rates uh spiked. Those kind of things. When weird stuff like that happens and the natural gas market spikes, we're insulated from it. It doesn't make any difference to us. Um, with this we're actually looking at a decrease from last year. Uh, the total so total natural gas for the whole year for the district. They're uh the contract is $197,493.90 and that is locked in. Uh, that's a decrease of a little over 20,000 from the prior year. So, um, it does change with the market, but once we are in this, we're good. And if it if it doubles during the course of the year, we're kind of insulated from it. know, a little bit of safety and
020uh consistency. >> John, you say that's down 20,000. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Make a motion to approve. >> Thank you. I have a motion and a second. Any other discussion? All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries. Thank you. Um, superintendent report. Mike, >> thanks a lot, Dave. Um, first thing I have is a hiring update. Brad is going to join us. Uh HR has been doing a wonderful job as far as uh filling our positions and we thought the board might be interested in an update. >> Yeah, thank you Mike. Um yeah, as Mike said, we are in really really good shape. Um applications continue to roll in. I have uh part of my HR team here tonight and Sarah Hopkins, Mackenzie Bomb, and um Kristen are Mason are the
021other um pieces of our HR team and they're just doing a great job of staying on top of those. Uh right after uh spring break, we'll our our plan is to tenatively hold our Pwick principal interviews. Um Maria is going to uh take the lead on putting those teams together. Uh they'll be mixed interview groups. Um and we'll have principal ledger involved in that as well. Um the following week after spring break, uh so two weeks after or the third week, um we're going to watch the applicant pool for the associate superintendent position. Um and uh it's ISAS season as well. So we'll kind of monitor make sure that we have a healthy applicant pool for that and also don't conflict with um Iowa assessments. So we'll monitor the applicant pool for that and either
022host uh interviews the uh second week after spring break or that um second week in April. Um other than that, we're we're hosting interviews um this week and then immediately after spring break for elementary openings, PE openings, and a few secondary openings. And we do those by committee. We have an elementary um committee, hiring committee. We have a secondary hiring committee that makes recommendations based on those interviews to um our HR team and to cabinet. So really, as as Mike said, we are uh very fortunate that we're getting quality applicants and we've put together several flyers uh for [clears throat] social media and um making making sure those get around in areas that we know are are making cuts potentially so we can recruit people down here to Atamwa. Um, other than that, I would
023uh entertain any questions you might have on any hiring updates or HR topics. >> I have a question. I saw in the Bulldog bulletin that we're hiring [clears throat] a special ed coordinator. Is that a new position? >> Correct. We have had similar positions in the past to support um director Mike Steamsma and that's it would be kind of a hybrid of uh a transitions coordinator, some workbased learning coordinator components, and also um just to support Mike and all of our special programs. Becky, we kind we kind of had that position one day a week this year, but we hired it through the AA and we decided costwise and so forth that made more sense for us because we could get more time and probably at a lower cost uh to hire it internally. >>
024Yeah. And we had that posted last year. We didn't have any real qualified applicants for it. So then we went the AEA route. Um but as we know, their costs are pretty u pricey per day. So we're going to look to hire that internally. Yeah. And then when you do um interviews for the associate superintendent, are board members invited to any of those interviews or not? >> Yeah, I mean I could talk with Mike and uh we absolutely can take that in consideration. Yeah, >> it is. It's Is it posted already? >> Correct. >> Yes, that's what I thought. Okay. >> Any other questions? Oh, thank [laughter] thank >> Thanks, [clears throat] Brad. Um, next thing I have is actually tomorrow uh our incredibly talented uh show choir. Some of our students are going to
025sing the national anthem at the state uh boys basketball tournament at 10:20. So, that's really exciting. It's a it's a huge honor to do that and we're really excited for them. Uh, I also next thing I have is this is more for probably the community, but um our dusty big dog challenge. Um, I'm excited to announce that uh it sounds like we have already over 60 animals uh been adopted. Um, and we're only halfway through. Um, so we're really excited about that. Uh, we have also raised quite a bit of money already. Uh our food drive is going really well as also uh I encourage our community uh to think about adopting uh again right now through March 30th. Um they all animals at the H Heartland shelter are free. Um you just have to
026uh fill out the application and qualify. Uh so we encourage you to to think about that. And then also we have a QR code. If if community members are more interested in maybe just donating money rather than um actually bringing in food, you certainly can do that as well. Um but we're just really excited where we're at with our our fundraising drive and uh it's been great so far. So um we're really pleased with it. Uh last thing I have is just uh wishing everybody a great spring break. Uh, it already seems like spring break weather. So, um, I hope the board has a good spring break and has a time to enjoy family and friends as well. So, that's all I have, Dave. >> Thanks, Mike. Uh, board member topics, anybody? >> I have
027one thing, Dave. I just want to say that uh I was able to slide through the the fundraiser for Chad Willis at the Elks a week or so ago and I would probably say in in 20ome years of of going to that place for different things. I don't know that um I don't know that I've ever seen a bigger crowd there uh in in the years I've gone there. So um there's a great turnout and it to me it just shows what this community can do when somebody when somebody needs something. So great turnout there. And I just want to commend our show choir for their successful season and also um the Evans play over the weekend was fantastic. >> Thank you both for that. Anybody else have anything? Well, if not, we'll move to
028adjournment. Looking for a motion? Motion to adjurnn. >> Second. Uh >> all those in favor, raise your right hand. We're adjourned. Thank you.