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Created on Saturday, 02 March 2013 10:53

Last Updated on Saturday, 02 March 2013 11:56

Published on Saturday, 02 March 2013 10:53

Written by Editor

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Jean Eggemeyer compiled this report.

On Tuesday, February 26, 2013, Jim Prombo, Board President, called the meeting to order shortly after 6:30 p.m., ordered the roll call, and led the Pledge of Allegiance.  The agenda, with slight changes, and the minutes of several previous meetings were approved.

Landscape maintenance volunteer Robert Vegter proposed putting in a well to water the football field.  After researching City water costs and usage, he recommended that the board consider a well and pump, which, with installation, would cost approximately $7,800.  The district was billed more than $5,000 in the months of July, August, and September last year for water service to keep the football field in playable condition. The return on investment for the well was estimated to be two-to-four years.  Action on the proposal will be on the agenda for the March board meeting.

Angie VanderVinne, owner of Angie VanderVinne Insurance Agency, proposed implementing a financial literacy curriculum.  She would volunteer her time to teach students savings, budgeting, and consumer decision-making skills using free materials from Dave Ramsey and a local credit union.  The curriculum would be taught once a week beginning in the eighth grade this year and would possibly be expanded to the high school level.  Junior High School Principal Darryl Hogue explained that the curriculum would be worked into existing classes.  Action on the proposal will be on the agenda for the March board meeting.

District Director of Technology Ona Allison provided the board with a technology update.  She touched on several of the department's accomplishments and provided an update on the progress of the iFiber installation and the impact of moving to the faster Internet conduit.  She also described a proposal to share a technology staff person with the Prophetstown School District to realize cost savings and improve technology problem solving.

Committee Reports
Superintendent Suellen Girard reported for the Insurance Committee that rates for dental insurance have not risen and that health insurance rates for couples and families have risen slightly.  She also reported for the Citizens Advisory Committee, indicating the group discussed possible high school homeroom changes and incentives to help raise standardized test scores.  High School Principal Scott Vance will bring a formal proposal regarding testing incentives to the board at a later time.

Board member Doug Pannier reported for the Finance Committee, which, at its last meeting, discussed the football field well opportunity, other building needs, and an early retirement proposal.  He said the group also spent considerable time discussing the public budget reduction survey results.

"We talked about what we might be willing to cut, to do what's best for the district both financially and educationally," said Pannier.

Superintendent's Report
Superintendent Girard, in her report, touched on efforts to receive grants and donations to cover some needed facilities and material expenses. She also indicated she has been regularly communicating the district's financial position to the public.

Principals' Reports
Each of the school principals prepared written reports available on the district website.

Junior High Principal Darrel Hogue and High School Principal Scott Vance added recent successes by sports teams, Scholastic team, and music students at competitions to their written reports.

Discussion Items
Dr. Girard reported on the latest financial numbers, indicating that the district is performing as expected with respect to the budget.  Despite large reductions and the staff's efforts to keep costs down, she said there is a significant gap between revenue and expenses.

Enrollment is down, Dr. Girard reported, and Average Daily Attendance (ADA)--the figure by which State school funding is determined--has dropped considerably.

"This is really disturbing," she said, explaining that the 38-student ADA drop experienced last month could translate into a more than $350,000 cut in State School Aid Funding next year.

The board discussed possible reasons for the drop in the ADA, including more planned family vacations, increased prolonged illnesses, and more truancy.  Members discussed notifying parents about the impact of absences on funding.

"This is the biggest drop I've seen since I've been here, and it's really serious," added Girard.

She indicated that part of the year remained to try and rectify the problem since the district gets to pick the three most well-attended months to be used for the State computed per-pupil funding amount.

After comments indicating it was hard to know where to start, board members began discussion of the budget reduction survey results.  Dr. Girard commented on several of the cost-reduction proposals listed on the survey, including increasing class sizes, eliminating some courses, and reducing staff hours.

Nearly 100 staff members and 100 parents completed the survey, along with 42 other community members.

Dr. Girard noted that there was quite a bit of agreement between the three groups on where cuts should be focused.  Survey respondents indicated that, averaged, they'd support cuts in the low-to-high $400,000 range for next year, to begin addressing a $1.2 million budget shortfall.  She also reported that the majority of respondents would support a one-percent, County-wide sales tax increase to help shore up school funding.

After staff members had approached their union requesting an early retirement option, one was developed that the board discussed at length. Under the plan, Dr. Girard explained that teachers who retire earlier than planned would retain six-percent salary increases they've received and have been promised under the contract.  The district, in some cases, would have to pay a penalty amount to the teacher retirement fund to make up the amounts that would no longer be paid into the fund for each retiring teacher.

In the future, however, the reduction in staff expenses realized from the retirements would equate to a cost savings for the district and may protect jobs from being cut, Dr. Girard pointed out.

"I'm interested in getting at the structural deficit," commented board member Jim Ridley.  "If we can cut at it…the sooner the better."

Next on the agenda was discussion of the proposal to share a technology staff person with the Prophetstown School District.  The district would keep the technology support person, Steve Bechtel, on its payroll.  Prophetstown would reimburse Morrison for half of his salary and expenses.

Dr. Girard then updated the board about progress fighting the new Certified School Nurse regulations, which will mean higher costs for the district.  She will participate in a conference call to advocate for an extended timeframe for implementation.

The board took a brief moment from weightier issues to congratulate Principal Darryl Hogue, his staff, and students for achieving academic excellence status from the State Board of Education.  To earn the award, 90 percent of the students have to meet or exceed standards in reading and math.

Dr. Girard then briefly updated the board of progress on teacher evaluation systems and recent discussions with Police Chief Melton, concerning low-cost ways to improve safety at the schools.

Several routine Consent Agenda items were approved, including bills, financial reports and personnel changes.

Action Items
The board unanimously approved

• keeping closed session minutes closed, per attorney advice
• the annual health and dental insurance plans effective April 1, 2013
• Gorenz and Associates as auditors for the 2013-14 year at a price of $9,600
• the 2013-2014 bussing contract with R. C. Smith Transportation with no increase in costs.

Mike Vegter was the lone dissenter on a vote which approved the early retirement option discussed earlier and the vote which approved the retirements of Judith Deter, Melissa Nyboer, and Libby Glazier-Timmons.

The Board then went into closed session to evaluate the Superintendent.

Board meeting dates, agendas, minutes, reports, and financial documents are available on the Morrison Community School District website: http://www1.morrisonschools.org/board-meetings/board_meeting_dates_12-13.html.

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