Highlights from the August 26th Board of Education Meeting

Below are highlights from the August 26th Board of Education meeting.
Please note, these are highlights and not the official meeting minutes.

During the work session, the Board of Education was provided updates on the Booster Club by President Pete King and on Community Relations by Coordinator Karla Terry.

The school board was also given an update of Student Achievement data from Associate Superintendent Nathan Wear. Wear outlined the Comprehensive School Improvement Goal of 85 percent of students in grades K-6 being at or above the benchmark on the FAST assessment and reviewed Lexia metrics showing progress made during the 2018-19 school year at the elementary level. Next steps Wear highlighted included:

• Increasing the number of general education teachers at the elementary and middle school level trained in the science of reading/literacy (200 teachers for training this year)
• Power Up – an extension of Lexia for grades 7-8
• Pilot of standards-based grading courses (Middle School/High School for Language and Math)
• Leveraging the work of our teacher leaders and instructional coaches to support effective instructional practices K-12

The district’s Revenue Purpose Statement (RPS) was also discussed during the work session. The district’s current RPS was passed in 2009 and states how tax funds from Iowa’s Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) are to be utilized by the district. With the state extending SAVE through 2050, school districts are planning to put new or amended Revenue Purpose Statements on the ballot. The earliest the RPS could go on the ballot is November 5, 2019.

During the regular meeting, Superintendent Bisgard led a discussion on current enrollment as of the first day of school, projections for when the intermediate schools open, and building capacity.

The work session exhibits and the complete agenda can be viewed on the school board website.

The school board will host their next meeting on Monday, September 9th in the boardroom of the Learning Resource Center. The work session will begin at 5:00 pm and be followed by the regular meeting at 7:00 pm.