Board of Education Regular School Board Meeting
Southeast Webster-Grand Community School District Prairie Valley Community School District
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Southeast Valley Middle School
The joint regular meeting of the Boards of Education of Prairie Valley and Southeast Webster-Grand met in regular session. President Wicklein called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM.
Roll Call: SWG: Alan Wicklein, Katie VanSickle, Chad Lambert, Alison Swanson and Lindsay Eslick, Sean Stewart. Absent: AJ Blair
Roll Call: PV: Shannon Miller, Jim Carlson, Kathy Carlson and Heidi McGuire. Absent: Joe Harrison, Gary Welter, Joni Hefley
SWG: Motion by Stewart, seconded by VanSickle, to approve the consent agenda items, including the agenda, minutes and bills.
Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Lambert, Swanson, Eslick, Stewart Nays: None
Motion carried 6-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by McGuire, seconded by J. Carlson to approve the consent agenda items, including the agenda, minutes and bills.
Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, McGuire Nays: None
Motion carries 4-0
SWG: Motion by VanSickle, seconded by Stewart, to approve the financials as presented. Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Lambert, Swanson, Eslick, Stewart
Nays: None Motion carried 6-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by K. Carlson, seconded by J. Carlson to approve the financials as presented. Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, McGuire
Nays: None Motion carries 4-0
Dayton Elementary Report – Dan Grandfield, Principal
Jubilations-Christmas Program: In lieu of a live performance, during the week of December 14, Mrs. Scott and the Dayton
Elementary students are videotaping this year’s Christmas Program. A copy of the program will be sent to LVCTA, and they will be running it on the local channel; a copy of the program will also be sent to the Grandview Care Center; it will be shared on the Dayton Leader Facebook page; it will be shared on the School Facebook page; and the link to the video will be sent out by teachers to their parents. It looks like we will make it all the way to Christmas Break without having to shut down and go 100% Online or run an A/B Hybrid Schedule. The facemask mandate went into effect on November 11. We are averaging about 1 student per day, at present, who either forgot their masks or lost them. Having them on the buses has really helped bring the average down. It’s actually gone way better than expected by even the most ardent skeptic. Students wear masks as they go through the lunch line and while they are getting their silverware and napkins. Then they put them back on when they are finished eating and before they go dump their trays. Subs are at a premium, but we have managed fairly well so far. The addition of a couple of college students as Substitute Teachers (we have used Karrigan Mentzer and Eva Haub) has really helped. Likewise, the addition of other college students as Substitute Associates has enabled us to work around Associate absences. We will lose the services of the college students in January. I think the latest the Iowa State students can stay with us is January 22. Chris Lambert is also filling in as a long-term sub (since November 16) for Mrs. Vajgrt, who is out on medical leave. Chris’s services have been very much appreciated. The testing window for our next round for FAST testing is set for January 18. The window closes on February 26, but we plan to have all testing completed by January 29.
On Friday, December 18, we are having our School Wide PBIS Celebration. This time it’s going to be a Glow Necklace and Glow
Bracelet Dance Party. All of the necklaces and bracelets were donated by a parent, and there’s enough for every student. We will spread them out in the gym. The Student Council members will talk for 5 minutes with the students on how and why we are
having the School Wide Celebration, then we’ll turn the lights out and turn the music on for a 15 minute Dance Party for each grade level. Monday, December 21 is our Ugly Sweater/Christmas Bling Day. Tuesday, December 22 is our Christmas PJ (or just PJ’s) and Stuffed Animal Day. Tuesday is also the day for the Christmas Celebrations in the classrooms – after some Christmas/Holiday related classroom activities related to reading, math, and writing.
We ran a couple of Practice Virtual Days (with the kids still in school) on Monday and Tuesday, December 15 and 16. The teachers spent Monday talking the students through how to access SeeSaw and Zoom (via SeeSaw) on Monday. On Tuesday, they presented a 10-20 minute virtual lesson to the kids (to see how they would do). We encountered some glitches with the iPads (it seems some of the iPads had the Zoom app deleted from the iPad). Mr. Fluckiger came in on Monday afternoon and reinstalled the Zoom apps on those iPads. It’s amazing how a Kindergartener can figure out how to delete things, but the good news is that Mr. Fluckiger can reinstall things remotely. All in all, the practice virtual days were well received and much needed. On Wednesday afternoon, the teachers got together in the Library to discuss the pitfalls and the triumphs of our virtual practice days – and how they improvised, adapted, and overcame. In the event that we ever have to go virtual, we now have a very realistic idea of things may come up and how to address them.
Farnhamville Elementary Report – Jim Duncan, Principal
Jubilations - We are thankful that our weather has been good for December and we have been fortunate to be able to have students outside for most recess breaks! This helps with health, masks, exercise, social aspects, and spirits!
The three days in late November that were approved for staff to do professional development work were very much appreciated. Certified staff worked on a variety of things that were applicable to their grade level instruction, etc. Thank you for this time for our staff and students. PVE along with the rest of the Jaguar schools worked on Virtual Learning practice on Dec. 14th, 15th, & 16th. Teachers reviewed instruction and learning technology tools/strategies and had students practice with the teachers’ guidance on the first day. This was to make sure that students knew how to operate those tools. The second day was a reading and/or math lesson. Several teachers had additional practice with students to work out any concerns, etc. The third day was a time to share within each building and then follow up with sharing between the two elementary schools. These virtual learning days were simply to practice and discover and answer possible questions, concerns, needs, etc. Students and teachers already use many of the educational tools. Although it will be slightly different, the TK/Kindergarten classes will still be holding their annual “Reading is Rewarding” celebration this school year on December 18th. These celebrations honor our PVE students and families for their
hard work on progressing the students’ reading skills. TK/K students will receive a free book and a treat. Fun activities will take place in the Transitional Kindergarten & Kindergarten classrooms. We would like to thank the Palmer Foundation for their continued, generous support of the “Reading is Rewarding” effort at our school. The elementary principals, instructional coach, curriculum director, along with the elementary teacher leaders have been working on the upcoming Jan. 5th Professional Development Day. The two elementary schools are planning instructional technology learning and application for the day’s P.D. We plan to utilize the AEA as well as elementary teacher leaders in the day’s professional development. Teachers will be in their respective buildings. This last few days of December (14th to 22nd), PV Elem. will have themed dress-up days. All PVE preschool through 4th grade students provided input for the dress-up days’ themes. These days are intended to add a little extra fun to the week. The dress-up days are optional for all students and staff.
Southeast Valley High School Report – Kerry Ketcham, Principal
Jubilations Nolan Brand (SVHS Class of 2017) will graduate with a bachelor of science degree from the Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) majoring in Agricultural Business. We continue to move forward with classes every day and we are thankful to be in school. Students who are absent are really struggling to get caught up if they don’t or can’t do any work while they are out sick or quarantined. Teachers are working together and with the counselor, the interventionist, and me to help students plan their work and work their plan to get caught up.
Student behavior remains exemplary. There have been 25 office referrals to date this year. Last year during the same time period there were 89 office referrals and the year before there were 154. Staff interactions with students are much more positive and yet we still have room for improvement in some areas. As we have gotten more consistent and positive in teaching and reinforcing our expectations, students have responded by rising to meet the expectations. We are in the process of working to identify candidates to interview for positions that will be vacant due to retirements. We have had several candidates in and will have three more in before Christmas Break. Our first three interviews have been with students who will graduate in the spring. By starting this early we believe we are getting access to a wider selection and higher quality of candidates. We are running a practice for virtual learning on 12/18. I will share details at the Board meeting that evening. Gym construction continues to move forward, but delays in shipping some of the materials has resulted in a longer timeline. The timeline has been pushed into March at this point. Seeing the new space from the stage gives a great perspective on how much bigger the gym will be. The lighting is excellent and I’m excited to see the new floor and the bleachers. All the details will make this a space for our whole community to be proud of.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Southeast Valley Middle School Report – Greg Slininger, Principal
Boys and girls basketball has started, stopped, and now started again, with the new health proclamations in place! We have several games this week for both boys and girls. Mask requirement status: Students and staff have remained responsible and positive about the need for this new requirement. It is so nice that we have been able to stay face-to-face up to Christmas break! I did not think that was possible at the start of the year! We have had both staff and students absent, but have been able to successfully manage things. It is a positive testament to everyone involved that we have been able to not only stay “open for business”, but also to stay as positive as we have been. We will have Holiday dress up days at the middle school on Monday and Tuesday next week. Monday will be Ugly Sweater Day and Tuesday will be Winter Holiday Spirit Day. Wednesday Online Practice
Day: We had an online practice day at the middle school on Wednesday. We did this “practice” to set student expectations for what they would need to do at home if they were online, and to give both the teachers who create the online lessons, and the students who have to navigate through the online lessons a chance to see what it would be like.
Curriculum Report – Linda Hunecke
Over the extended Thanksgiving break, our teachers took advantage of the time to relax, recharge and engage in educational activities. Many of us already had some work-related meetings scheduled with AEA personnel so we kept those on our calendar to keep moving forward! Many teachers used this time to plan for the possibility of remote learning, additional blended learning experiences for students, and in the case of our fifth grade teachers, ongoing planning for social studies units with Brianna Maschman from the AEA. Our instructional coaches and I video conferenced with other area coaches and mentor teachers for those scheduled collaboration meetings. Please know that for a variety of reasons, this staff appreciates what you did in granting the additional time off so that we could use this for all the important parts of being there for our students! Education research in the last twenty years or so has emphasized the importance of stakeholder engagement, ensuring that we have the right people at the table and providing a venue for generating and implementing innovative ideas. I can’t think of a time when we’ve done more of any of that than this year! Events in 2020 have forced us to do many of the same things in different ways, many more things all at once and more things in ways we’ve never imagined: from the earliest discussions in March regarding instruction in the event we didn’t bring students back to finish the year, to planning for how and when we could safely reopen schools in the fall, to how we would meet the needs of all students and staff (social-emotionally, academically, health and safety) whether in an in-person, online or somewhere-in-between setting. For all of us, this has brought new learning and things to reflect on as we move forward. We’ve learned about new ways to communicate and conduct meetings, new educational technology tools and hardware, more technology infused instruction, effective ways to deliver online instruction, and we’ve collaborated with other districts as we strive to provide the best experiences possible. We have a scheduled professional development day for teachers on January 5 which will be a technology workshop. Teachers have been encouraged to share their experiences with their colleagues and demonstrate how technological tools have enhanced learning for students in their classrooms. Along with time to learn about some of these tools, teachers will have time to experiment with them and choose tools that will positively impact student learning. This might take the form of becoming more comfortable with using a tool and extending it to practical application in an upcoming lesson and collecting data on how effective it is in helping students reach learning targets. Even our youngest students are learning how to use online learning platforms to access and post their work! This generation of Southeast Valley students should be well-prepared for the world of technology because we remain committed to keep moving forward!
All of the Administration wanted to be sure to give a huge thank you to all of the substitutes that have really stepped up and helped out the school this year. We are very grateful.
Prairie Valley: Motion by J. Carlson, seconded by McGuire to approve the resignation of Kim Dosland as Junior Class Sponsor Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, McGuire
Nays: None Motion carries 4-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by J. Carlson, seconded by McGuire to approve Amber Sorenson as a volunteer HS Boys Basketball Coach.
Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, McGuire Nays: None
Motion carries 4-0
SWG: Motion by Lambert, seconded by Stewart, to approve the hiring of Deb Snyder as Large Group Speech coach. Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Lambert, Swanson, Eslick, Stewart
Nays: None Motion carried 6-0
SWG: Motion by VanSickle, seconded by Stewart, to approve the hiring of Sharmee McFarland as Middle School Associate. Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Lambert, Swanson, Eslick, Stewart
Nays: None Motion carried 6-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by J. Carlson, seconded by K. Carlson to approve the Special Education Deficit amount of $232,074.52. Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, McGuire
Nays: None Motion carries 4-0
SWG: Motion by VanSickle, seconded by Swanson, to approve the Special Education Deficit amount of $168,738.16. Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Lambert, Swanson, Eslick, Stewart
Nays: None Motion carried 6-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by J. Carlson, seconded by McGuire to approve the maximum Dropout Prevention/At-Risk Dollars the state allows of $135,798.
Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, McGuire Nays: None
Motion carries 4-0
SWG: Motion by Lambert, seconded by Eslick, to approve the maximum Dropout Prevention/At-Risk Dollars the state allows of $131,284.
Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Lambert, Swanson, Eslick, Stewart Nays: None
Motion carried 6-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by J. Carlson, seconded by McGuire to approve the maximum Dropout Prevention/At-Risk Dollars the state allows of $135,798.
Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, McGuire Nays: None
Motion carries 4-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by McGuire, seconded by J. Carlson to approve pay application #4 for $293,496.24 to Jensen Builders. Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, McGuire
Nays: None Motion carries 4-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by K. Carlson, seconded by McGuire to approve ordering Chromebooks for the 2021-2022 school year
$25,182.
Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, McGuire Nays: None
Motion carries 4-0
SWG: Motion by Lambert, seconded by VanSickle, to approve ordering Chromebooks for the 2021-2022 school year
$23,340.80.
Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Lambert, Swanson, Eslick, Stewart Nays: None
Motion carried 6-0
A conversation was held regarding transportation needs for the upcoming year. Conversation will continue at next meeting with possible quotes.
The Finance Committee met with both EMC and IPSIP Insurance. Both presented on their product. The consensus was to stay with IPSIP at this time.
The next meeting will be January 20, 2021 at the Gowrie Central Office. SWG: Motion by Lambert, seconded by VanSickle, to adjourn.
Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Lambert, Swanson, Eslick, Stewart Nays: None
Motion carried 6-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by McGuire, seconded by K. Carlson to adjourn. Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, McGuire
Nays: None Motion carries 4-0