WACO close to filling employment roster

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News

CRAWFORDSVILLE ? With nearly two months remaining before the bell rings to signal the beginning of the 2017-18 school year, WACO has nearly completed its faculty roster.

As is the case each year, school board members met for their June session June 15 at the elementary school media center in Crawfordsville.

During the meeting, directors approved contracts for Skyler Rodgers and Brittany Kinzler, elementary teachers, and Jordyn Dingman, secondary teacher and volleyball coach.

With those hires, the district needs approximately three para-professionals to complete the roster. Superintendent Jeff Dicks said the district will begin the interview process with para-professionals this week.

Rodgers is a May Iowa Wesleyan University graduate. Rodgers said he enjoys helping students learn and making learning enjoyable. In addition to a degree in elementary education and education foundations, Rodgers also has a K-8 reading endorsement. Rodgers was a second- and fifth-grade teacher while a student instructor.

Kinzler also earned her degree in elementary education in May from the University of Iowa. She has endorsements in reading, and middle school language arts, social studies and science.

She did her student teaching in the Clear Creek-Amana Middle School as a sixth-grade language arts instructor. Kinzler is a native of North English.

Dingman, a rural Mt. Pleasant resident, will be the family and consumer science (FACS) instructor at the secondary school. She also is certified to teach physical education and health. She will also be the head junior-high volleyball coach at the school and coached middle school volleyball at Mt. Pleasant for two years.

In other business, directors accepted the employee handbook under the recommendation of Dicks.

?I went through the (handbook) draft with both unions,? the superintendent said. ?There were not a lot of objections and the conversation was very amicable. I would advise you not to approve it, but accept it.

?It is a fluid document and we can change it at any time,? he continued. ?The possible changes could affect either party.?

Board President Tim Graber asked if other school districts have employee handbooks. Dicks said all schools have handbooks of some form.

?Both parties would have to agree to change it (the handbook),? Dicks explained. ?I would hope they would come to us during the year if they find something they don?t like.?

In accordance with federal and state law, WACO adopted a nutrition negative account policy.

Dicks said that delinquent hot-lunch account balances are not prevalent at WACO. ?The principals and secretaries will work with the people who are behind on their lunch account,? he said. ?The bigger issue is that people get behind and then we give them a free- and reduced-price application and they qualify. After they qualify, they don?t think they have to pay the delinquent account balance.?

Regarding negative account balances the policy says the district will make reasonable efforts to notify families when account balances are low. Additionally, the district will make reasonable efforts to collect unpaid meal charges classified as delinquent debt. Families will be notified of an outstanding negative balance once the negative balance reaches five meals. Families can also sign up to receive low account balance notifications.

Negative balances not paid prior to the last day of the school year will be turned over to the superintendent or superintendent?s designee for collection, which could be the following options ? collection agencies, small claims court or any other legal method permitted by law.

Dicks, during his report, also briefed the board on legislative policies encouraged by the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB). He said operational sharing (school districts sharing a superintendent) passed the Iowa House during the recent session by a 99-0 vote. The Senate, however, did not have time to act on it. The superintendent said about one-third (52) of Iowa?s school districts currently share a superintendent. When the law was implemented, it had a five-year sunset clause and next year is the fifth year, Dicks noted.

He is fairly optimistic the measure will be passed by the Legislature and said it could be effective for another five years or the cap could be removed.

Action on the penny sales tax for school districts ?will get some traction? next session, Dicks predicted. ?The guy who went to China (former Gov. Terry Branstad) wanted to take some of the penny for water quality and later wanted it for the (state?s) general fund.?

There was some talk in the Iowa Legislature about addressing inequities in education funding by the state. Rural school districts spend considerably more money on transportation but that is not reflected in school funding.

Currently, home-school parents have a very powerful voice in the legislature, he added.

In other action, the board:

? Approved the student handbook.

? Accepted a bid from Bruty Carpet Corner of Washington for removal of carpeting and installation of new carpeting in various rooms in both the elementary and secondary schools. Bruty, the only bidder on the project, will be paid $13,463.76.

? Was told by Amy McLauglin, school board vice president, that WACO eighth-grade student Ben Schlatter recently won first place in the intermediate beginner handicapped division at the Iowa State Trapshooting Tournament.

WACO board members meet again in regular session Monday, July 17, at 6:30 p.m., at the secondary building in Wayland.