MPCSD Board members sworn in

Blint and Mullin will serve as school board president and vice president

MT. PLEASANT — During a special Mt. Pleasant Community School Board meeting Monday night board secretary Ed Chabal swore in newly elected board members who then chose specific appointments for members including president and vice president, approved many housekeeping items, and heard from Rep. Jeff Shipley and Curriculum Director Angie Butler.

New members Michael Hampton, Sarah Donnolly, and Andrew Williamson were sworn in.

Seasoned members Angie Blint, Josh Maher, Melinda Huisinga, and Derek Mullin returned for new terms after redistricting put all seats up for election.

Blint was chosen by the new board to serve in the role of president alongside Mullin as vice president.

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This is the first opportunity for these board members to officially take their seats for the new terms as Henry County Board of Supervisors finished the second required canvass of votes for the Nov. 7 election last Tuesday, Nov. 21.

According to Iowa Code 50.24 a second canvass is required before finalizing vote totals for school districts that provide for more than one county.

While MPCSD primarily serves Henry County, the Iowa Department of Education’s district boundaries map for MPCSD shows the district covers small portions in Jefferson, Van Buren, and Lee counties.

In addition to seating board with the official votes, the special session included other organizational items such as setting committee meeting times, approving school legal counsel, approving bank depositories, designating the Southeast Iowa Union as the official publication, and setting 2023-24 mileage reimbursement.

The finance committee meetings will be held the first Friday of each month at 12:30 p.m. The first meeting with the new board is set for Friday, Dec. 1.

The policy and site committee will meet on the first Thursday of each month at 5 p.m. The next meeting is set for Thursday, Dec. 7.

Finance, policy, and site committees will meet at central office.

The first School Improvement Advisory Committee (SIAC) meeting is Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. in the high school media room.

Additional SIAC meetings are scheduled for Dec. 6, Feb. 21, and May 8.

The school board will continue to meet the second Monday of every month at 6 p.m. and school board work sessions are scheduled for the fourth Monday of every month to include August, September, October, January, February, March, and April at 6 p.m.

New board member Donnolly took to Facebook following the meeting to share meeting times with the public and remind them, “They are open to the public.”

The board approved Ahlers and Cooney, LLC of Des Moines for the district’s legal counsel.

According to Superintendent John Henriksen, chapter 102.5 of the Iowa Administrative Rules requires all public schools to appoint a level 1 investigator and alternate to investigate complaints regarding abuse of student by school employees and volunteers annually.

At Monday’s organizational meeting, the board approved the appointment of Mike Wilson and Katie Sands for those positions.

Finally, the board approved a $0.50 mileage reimbursement for the 2023-24 school year.

In addition to all the housekeeping items at the special session, Rep. Jeff Shipley spoke about what the district could expect from the new legislative session concerning increasing teacher salaries and streamlining teacher licensing, though Henriksen expressed dissatisfaction with the proposed raises for teachers.

Per Henriksen’s request, Butler also walked the board, especially the new members, through the district’s approach for professional learning thus far on Friday afternoons and throughout each week.

According to Henriksen, this professional development has focused on building a “guaranteed and viable curriculum” with essential standards work through formative assessments.

“I just want to give the board an idea of what has been going on,” Henriksen said.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com