School board members, superintendents meet with legislators

BROOKLYN — Nearly 30 school officials met with Iowa legislators Thursday in Brooklyn for an open discussion of school-related issues.

The BGM and HLV School districts hosts the school board in-service session annually so school superintendents and their board members can take part in an open discussion with legislators representing each district.

BGM, Belle Plaine, Clear Creek-Amana, English Valleys, Grinnell-Newburg, HLV, Iowa Valley, Montezuma, North Mahaska, Tri-County and Williamsburg school districts attended. Benton Community, Keota and Lynnville-Sully representatives were invited but did not attend.

Jon Dunwell, of House District 38; Thomas Gerhold, of House District 84; Dawn Driscoll, representing Senate District 46; and Judd Lawler, representing House District 91 attended.

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The forum began following a pork loin dinner served by the Brooklyn Ruritan Club. Property tax was one of the main topics of discussion.

All the legislators talked about making changes to the property tax system in Iowa. They all spoke of the need for changes but offered no specifics.

“This could have an impact on our schools, as much of our funding comes from property taxes,” said Montezuma Superintendent Rich Schulte.

A board member with the Clear Creek Amana School District encouraged the legislators to make sure that if bills impact the education system there is plenty of input sought from educators in the system.

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It was also noted that the Iowa Senate has proposed a 2% State Supplemental Assistance for education for fiscal year 2026, while the Iowa House is battling for at least 2.5% SSA.

Schulte said after the meeting that the proposed SSA still doesn’t keep up with inflation. He said that during 14 of the last 15 years, the SSA rate has been lower than the cost increase that schools have experienced.

There was also some discussion about the governor’s cell phone policy in schools. Gov. Kim Reynolds is asking that there be no cellphones used during instructional time.

Schulte said that Montezuma already has a policy in place that aligns with the governor’s wishes.

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The school start date was another topic of discussion. Current law requires schools to start on or after Aug. 23. School districts are looking for some flexibility in that law to allow the start date to be the Monday or Tuesday following the end of the Iowa State Fair.

This year, the state fair will end Sunday, Aug. 17.

Another topic of discussion was chronic absenteeism. School officials said that a revision of the law was needed to allow districts more flexibility in making decisions locally.

A final topic discussed was economic development, especially in small town Iowa. This includes new businesses, jobs, housing and available health care.

Legislators and school officials also discussed eminent domain, taking steps to protect children in the court system, bird flu, school choice, home schooling and fully funding preschool for four-year-olds.

In closing, Michelle Johnson, government relations director with the Iowa Association of School Boards, updated area board members and superintendents on the bills related to education that are currently being talked about in the house and senate.

“It is really helpful to have board members and superintendents gather in one place early in the session, particularly if they let us know what policies need to be tweaked,” said Lawler.

“For example, several school leaders talked about challenges they are facing with the new absenteeism policy, and they gave us some specific things that they think could improve. I have already reached out to other members of the House to advocate for our schools based on what they told us.”

(Editor’s note: Montezuma Superintendent Rich Schulte assisted with this article.)