BOARD OF DIRECTORS
NORTH LINN COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Regular Meeting 7:00 PM
North Linn District Office
3033 Lynx Drive
Troy Mills, IA
Wednesday, April 17 , 2024
100: Call to Order and Determination of a Quorum
President, Jeffrey Boss, called the regular meeting to order at 7:00PM. Present were Directors J Benesh, R Benesch, Hoover, Krogmann, Michael and Price (via zoom), Superintendent Breitfelder, Secondary Principal Giegerich, Elementary Principal/Director of School Improvement Graven and Secretary Peyton. Also in attendance were Sarah Meyer, Emily Schulte, Tricia Williams, Crystal Manos, Mike Hilmer, Jaci Hilmer Brittany Rees, John Rees and Brendan Schott.
200: Adoption of the Agenda
It was moved by R Benesch, seconded by Michael to adopt the agenda as presented. Motion carried 7-0.
300: Consent Agenda
Secretary Peyton discussed the March financial reports. It was moved by R Benesch, seconded by Krogmann to approve the following consent items; Minutes of the March board meeting, bills, Secretary’s financial reports, Activity Fund report and Food Service report. Motion carried 7-0.
400: Audience Communications
Sarah Meyer addressed the board to share her support for Brian Wheatley, who interviewed for the Elementary Principal position.
500: Informational Reports, Discussions, and Presentations
Jaci Hilmer shared the District Career and Academic Plan with the board. This is a roadmap for everything related to career and academic planning for grades 8-12 and is reviewed and scored by the Grant Wood AEA team annually and that feedback helps to set goals and make improvements to the plan. As a result of evaluating the plan it was found that more students needed to take Algebra 2 in high school so that they were not needed to take it in college so the district will phase out the Business Math class and starting in 2028 all student will take Algebra 2 in high school. North Linn’s Post-Secondary readiness score is 28 out of a possible 36 (10 points higher than the average AEA score) and 92% of North Linn students who attend a 4 year school have already taken advanced composition. North Linn had 3 students attend the Linn Regional Center Academies in 22-23, 11 in 23-24 and 12 are signed up for 24-25 academies. The data also showed a need for students to complete higher level science classes before college, the enrollment in Chemistry is up 26 kids this year. The board thanked Mrs. Hilmer for sharing this information with the board and shared how important it is for the district to be able to offer these opportunities to students.
501: Superintendent Report
Superintendent Breitfelder shared an update on the posting for a secondary principal and shared the process that was followed for the interviews for elementary principal and that the same process would be followed to interview for the secondary principal position. The Superintendent asked the board how they wanted to proceed with allowing building principals to coach and if they felt board policy needed to be updated to reflect any changes. The board had discussion around not wanting to limit the candidate pool by restricting coaching, but also felt that candidate credentials for the principal job were the most important and the focus should be on the skills of the administrator during the interview and not their coaching ability. If coaching is allowed they would want to know that the evaluation process is strictly followed and if there were discipline issues that there would not be a conflict of interest if the student was also an athlete on the team of the principal. Ultimately, the board emphasized the importance of understanding that the principal role would need to come before the coaching role. The Superintendent also shared that the facilities committee meeting that was scheduled for April 16th was rescheduled to April 22nd due to the weather. The Superintendent share the open enrollment requests that will now be part of the report section of the meeting instead of an action item since there is not any action for the board to take on open enrollment requests unless the district is denying an application. This month there was one open enrollment request into the district and three open enrollment requests out of the district.
502: Elementary Report
Elementary Administrator, Kimberly Graven shared about the archery unit that has been completed across the district and how well it went this year, shared updates from the special education program and end of year meetings with teachers and wrapping up evaluations. She also shared she is working on evaluating the needs for special education associates for next year and assigning staff and she is working on transition documents and additional information to share with the new elementary principal.
503: Secondary Report
Middle School/High School Administrator, Dominic Giegerich shared appreciation for the IT team and Kim Graven for how smoothly the ISASP testing went and commended the students for giving their best effort. He also shared the list of FBLA students who placed in their events at the state leadership conference.
504: School Improvement Report
School Improvement Director, Kimberly Graven gave an update on the professional development plan she had been working on, shared the plans for Leadership Day on May 1st where 40 people will tour the school and see presentations from lighthouse teams. She also shared that the conditions for learning survey will be given to students on April 19th and the April 24th professional development day for staff will be a Core 3 training with the Leader in Me coach.
505: Buildings and Grounds Report
Buildings and Grounds Director, Dominic Giegerich shared an update on some roof repairs and plumbing repairs that have been completed. He has a list of spring clean up items and is making a list of priority items for the summer.
600: Old Business
601: Hold Hearing on Proposed 2024-2025 School Budget
It was moved by Michael, seconded by Hoover to open the public hearing for the proposed 2024-2025 school budget at 7:40 PM. Motion carried 7-0. President, Jeffrey Boss, announced that the public hearing was open for comments or questions regarding the proposed 24-25 school budget. Business Manager, Kerry Peyton, walked the board through the 24-25 budget and discussed several scenarios to fund the new wind/hail deductible in the Management Fund. There were no comments from the audience and no comments were submitted in writing to the Board Secretary. It was moved by J Benesh, seconded by Hoover to close the public hearing at 8:13 PM. Motion carried 7-0.
602: Consider Approval of the 2024-2025 School Budget
It was moved by Michael, seconded by Krogmann to approve the 2024-2025 School Budget as presented. Motion carried 7-0.
603: Hold Hearing on Amended 2023-2024 School Budget
It was moved by Hoover, seconded by J Benesh to open the public hearing for the amended 2023-2024 School Budget at 8:14 PM. Motion carried 7-0. President, Jeffrey Boss announced that the public hearing was open for comments or questions regarding the 2023-2024 amended school budget. Business Manager, Kerry Peyton, shared the amendment increasing the other expenditures line by $138,000 to $2,824,870 because of the playground equipment purchase. There were no comments from the audience and no comments were submitted in writing to the Board Secretary. It was moved by Hoover, seconded by J Benesh, seconded by Hoover close the public hearing at 8:16PM. Motion carried 7-0.
604: Consider Approval of the Amended 2023-2024 School Budget
It was moved by Hoover, seconded by R Benesch to adopt the amended 2023-2024 school budget as presented. Motion carried 7-0.
700: New Business
701: Receive Operational Sharing Contracts for 2024-2025 School Year
It was moved by R Benesch, seconded by J Benesh to approve the Operational Sharing Contracts for Superintendent, School Business Official, Curriculum Director, Special Education Director and HR Manager with Central City CSD and Transportation Director with Central City CSD and Center Point CSD. Motion carried 7-0.
800: Personnel
It was moved by J Benesh, seconded by Hoover to approve the following resignations: Dominic Giegerich, Secondary Principal; Kristen Miller, HS Spanish Teacher; and Melissa Traver, Assistant HS Volleyball coach all at the end of the 23-24 school year. Motion carried 7-0.
900: Board Communications and Calendar
901: Board Communications
902: Board Calendar
Leadership day will be held on May 1st at 8:30AM. Discussion was held regarding the May board meeting as it is scheduled for the same night as Senior Awards. The board agreed to move the meeting to May 6th at 7:00 in the District Office.
1000: Adjournment
The time being 8:26 PM it was moved by R Benesch, seconded by Hoover to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 7-0.
Upon Adjournment The Board of Directors met in Exempt session to consider district position negotiations as provided in Iowa Code 20.17(3).
_______________________________ ______________________________
Kerry Peyton, Board Secretary Jeffrey Boss, Board President
