Board of Education Meeting Highlights from January 23
Below are highlights from the January 23rd Linn-Mar Board of Education meeting.
Please remember these are just highlights and should not be considered the official minutes.
The evening started with the annual State of the District address shared by Superintendent Quintin Shepherd. Dr. Shepherd spoke about the talented staff, students, and leadership of the district; student pathways focusing on career development; the partnership with Iowa BIG; Blended Learning; district restructuring; the upcoming bond campaign; and #LMConnections including the announcement that the new Linn-Mar website would debut today! The State of the District address will be available via the district website soon.
The Board then moved into a learning session focusing on updating their current Board Operations Manual. Their discussion included items currently in the manual, some history as to why certain items were included, and suggestions for additions and/or changes.
During the regular session updates were shared on the BrightBytes technology survey and budget projections. Check out the Board Book for additional details.
Associate Superintendent Shannon Bisgard shared an overview of the Iowa School Report Card published by the Iowa Department of Education. The report assigns one of six overall ratings (exceptional, high-performing, commendable, acceptable, needs improvement, and priority) to each individual building. The ratings are based on each school’s performance for a two-year period. This is only the second year the Iowa School Report Card has been used by the State. For more information visit the Iowa Department of Education website.
The Board approved the resolution fixing the date of sale of approximately $16,090,000 General Obligation School Refunding Bonds, Series 2017. The date of sale is set for February 6, 2017.
The Board also approved 14 early separation requests for 2017-18. The district offered 15 packages, received 20 requests for information, and had 14 employees submit their official letter of intent by the required deadline. Employee breakdown: High School (4), middle school (6), and elementary (4); three of the 14 are from Special Education.
For more information on the board meeting and to view the exhibits, be sure to visit the new Board/policy website.