Board of Education Regular School Board Meeting
Southeast Webster-Grand Community School District Prairie Valley Community School District Wednesday, May 19, 2021
Southeast Valley Central Office
The joint regular meeting of the Boards of Education of Prairie Valley and Southeast Webster-Grand met in regular session. President Miller called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM, following the public hearing.
Roll Call: PV: Shannon Miller, Joni Hefley, Jim Carlson, Kathy Carlson, and Heidi McGuire Absent: Gary Welter and Joe Harrison
Roll Call: SWG: Alan Wicklein, Katie VanSickle, Sean Stewart, AJ Blair, Alison Swanson and Lindsay Eslick. Absent: Chad Lambert
Prairie Valley: Motion by Hefley, seconded by K. Carlson to approve the consent agenda items, including the agenda, minutes and bills.
Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, Hefley, McGuire Nays: None
Motion carries 5-0
SWG: Motion by Stewart, seconded by VanSickle, to approve the consent agenda items, including the agenda, minutes and bills.
Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Stewart, Blair, Swanson, Eslick Nays: None
Motion carried 6-0
Facilities and Grounds – Nothing to report at this time
Public Relations – Nothing to report at this time
SIAC – Nothing to report at this time.
Finance and Negotiations – Nothing to report at this time.
Prairie Valley: Motion by J. Carlson, seconded by McGuire to approve the financials as presented. Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, Hefley, McGuire
Nays: None Motion carries 5-0
SWG: Motion by Stewart, seconded by Swanson, to approve the financials as presented. Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Stewart, Blair, Swanson, Eslick
Nays: None Motion carried 6-0
Farnhamville Elementary – Principal Jim Duncan
The last week of school is upon us. Congratulations to all of our Southeast Valley Team on completing a journey truly like no other before it! As part of our Southeast Valley Team, our school board members are thanked and celebrated for your support for all of the efforts of our schools during this unique school-year! Thank you for your dedication, perseverance, collaboration, and support for our students & schools! GO JAGS! Accompanying this report is another jubilation. It is a success story of our PV Elem.’s 4th graders. It includes two pages of FAST Reading Assessments Data. PVE’s 3rd & 4th grade ISASP Tests materials have been packaged and shipped via UPS to be scored. 4-Year-Old Preschool Registration is currently open. Students must be 4 years old by Sept. 15th, 2021 to register for Four-Year-Old Preschool. PVE ‘s Spring Reading Challenge went well! Our students met the
challenge by meeting the school wide goal! Students enjoyed the accompanying celebrations! PVE’s 4th grade students went to our SV Middle School on May 4th, at 1:30 PM for a thirty-minute orientation. Thanks to the SVMS personnel and students who helped our 4th graders gain some more knowledge and familiarity with the 5th grade and our middle school! PVE’s 4th graders had their annual gathering with their SW-G 4th grade fellow Jags on May 17th. There was a slight change to this event this year as they gathered together outside at the SV Jags Track in Gowrie. Our 4 Year-Old Preschool held its graduation for the morning session and the afternoon session on Friday, May 14th. PVE held its annual A.M.P. Day on Wed. – May 19th. A.M.P. stands for Art, Music, & P.E. Theses specialists plan activities for each grade level TK/K through the 4th grade. It is a fun day with activities that
meet the wide variety of interests of all of our students! As has been our practice, PVE holds transition meetings to help next school year be successful for our students. This includes our 4th graders going to the fifth grade.
Dayton Elementary – Principal Dan Grandfield
Becky Davis has been notified that she has been selected as a PBIS Person of the Year in recognition to her leadership and efforts in making sure our PBIS program is running like it should. I have nominated Becky for this award for each of the past 4 years, and she was finally recognized this year. It is well deserved and long overdue. Melissa Wurth will be here next Friday, May 21 at 11:00 to present the award to Becky. Congratulations Becky! Without you, our PBIS the respected and well-run program that it is known for. Grades are due by the end of the day on Wednesday, May 19. Track and Field Day is next Tuesday, May 18 on the Burnside track. Buses will load and leave at 12:30 and should be back here no later that 3:15. As in the past, the kids’ parent/guardian will be allowed to sign them out with their classroom teachers. Be sure to have a clipboard and paper for parents to sign them out on. The remaining students will return to school for the remainder of the day. If it rains, the meet will be cancelled and not made up. There is rain in the forecast for that day. Our final Staff Meeting of the year will be at 8:30 on Monday, May 24 in the Library. I would like to take this time to thank EVERYONE for 15 fantastic years with SWG/Southeast Valley school district. I will take so many fond memories with me, as I drift off into life after a career in education. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing yet, but it will be full-time somewhere.
Southeast Valley Middle School – Principal Greg Slininger
What a school year! This has been a long, draining journey for all of us that started a year ago in April when we first shut down and started trying to educate students outside of the box! I want to publicly thank each and every one of our teachers and staff members for their creativity, flexibility, and perseverance through this most unusual of school years! Also, thank you so much for supporting us as a school board this year! We could not do our job without your support! Track season was very successful this year! We had middle school records fall on both the boys and girls side of things! The boys had an especially successful season, finishing second in their first meet (and it was close), then going on to win every other meet they had this year including the conference championship! It was truly a team effort, with scoring across the board from all athletes! Great job all boys and girls track athletes and coaches!! Since our last board meeting, two big out of the building learning activities happened in fifth and sixth grade. Fifth grade went on a field trip to the state capitol on April 30, and had a great learning day. Sixth grade had a whole week of outside learning with School to Wild, a joint program through the University of Iowa and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) of Iowa. We are the first school in Webster County to take advantage of this learning opportunity, and we hope to keep doing so in the future! Congratulations to all involved, especially our sixth grade staff, for planning and facilitating a great learning opportunity for our students!! Sixth grade also had Wax Museum on April 30 which was a huge success! We had grade level transition events with the fourth grade coming up and getting an orientation/tour of the middle school on May 4, and with the eighth grade going over to the HS on their Decision Day, May 12. Both experiences were good for the students, allowing them to get a head start on their school experiences coming next year. To finish off my report, here is a rundown of the last week here at the middle school for the 2020-2021 school year: Last day of with students: May 21
Southeast Valley High School – Principal Kerry Ketcham
At the State National History Day contest, Jubilee Cunigan's exhibit was chosen as the alternate for the National Contest. The top two exhibits in the state advance to the National Contest and the alternate is named in case one of the top two drop out.
Commencement went off without a hitch. Everyone I spoke to seemed happy with their students’ school experiences, this school year, and the ceremony. Congratulations to Coach Nuss and Coach Swieter for sending athletes to the boys’ and girls’ state track meets. Athletes making it to state are Tre Fisher, Oscar Hanson, Sam Hanson, Cooper Nuss and Kaleb Scott for the boys and Morgan Farnham and Kiersten Fisher for the girls. A big thank you to all of our news media outlets for their continued support and spotlighting of the great things happening in Southeast Valley Schools. As I went through and signed transcripts for our seniors, I had the opportunity to give thanks for each of those who graduated on Sunday and remember how they excelled or struggled through the process. I thought about the several students who came to us as juniors or seniors having struggled somewhere else, who were able to complete their path to graduation because of our system and the support of our staff. I also got to see the transcripts of those who moved to other districts or decided to take a different path and to consider what we might do differently to prevent some of those students from leaving us and not graduating. It’s so important that we never lose sight of how important our support is to student success, especially for those who may not have support at home.
May Term is under way. Students have a good mix of choices of activities to fit their interests and personalities. We always end the week with a survey to find out how well things went and what future offerings might be of interest to students. With 6 different teachers in the building next year, we have the opportunity to work ahead to adapt to next year’s interests.
Prairie Valley: Motion by J. Carlson, seconded by McGuire to approve the financials as presented. Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, Hefley, McGuire
Nays: None Motion carries 5-0
SWG: Motion by Stewart, seconded by Swanson, to approve the financials as presented. Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Stewart, Blair, Swanson, Eslick
Nays: None Motion carried 6-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by J. Carlson, seconded by Hefley to approve additional contract days for staff. Sara Borkowski will be allowed 10 additional days, and Alan Beving will be allowed 5 additional contract days. The days will be to address learning loss.
Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, Hefley, McGuire Nays: None
Motion carries 5-0
SWG: Motion by Blair, seconded by Eslick, to approve additional contract days for staff. Britney Geisler will be allowed 10 additional days, and Allie Slinker will be allowed 10 additional contract days. The days will be to address learning loss.
Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Stewart, Blair, Swanson, Eslick Nays: None
Motion carried 6-0
SWG: Motion by VanSickle, seconded by Blair, to approve hiring Brayden Peterson as IT to shadow Dan Fluckiger for the upcoming year.
Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Stewart, Blair, Swanson, Eslick Nays: None
Motion carried 6-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by Hefley, seconded by J. Carlson to approve the resignation of Christine Lavender as High School Nurse.
Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, Hefley, McGuire Nays: None
Motion carries 5-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by Hefley, seconded by K. Carlson to approve the hiring of Steve Mohr as cook at PV Elementary. Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, Hefley, McGuire
Nays: None Motion carries 5-0
SWG: Motion by Stewart, seconded by Swason, to approve the hiring of Jacinta Wenke as Middle School Teacher and Ashley Darling as 4th Grade teacher.
Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Stewart, Blair, Swanson, Eslick Nays: None
Motion carried 6-0
A conversation was held regarding the milk bids for 2021-2022. There have been some questions brought up about the difference in the way the vendors process the milk. More information will be gathered and bids will be revisited at the June meeting.
Prairie Valley: Motion by K. Carlson , seconded by McGuire to approve the list of graduates as presented. Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, Hefley, McGuire
Nays: None Motion carries 5-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by McGuire, seconded by J. Carlson to approve the 2021-2022 NCCS Agreement. Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, Hefley, McGuire
Nays: None Motion carries 5-0
SWG: Motion by VanSickle, seconded by Stewart, to approve the 2021-2022 NCCS Agreement. Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Stewart, Blair, Swanson, Eslick
Nays: None Motion carried 6-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by Hefley, seconded by K. Carlson to approve the AEA agreement for a shared Teacher Librarian, Christine Sturgeon.
Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, Hefley, McGuire Nays: None
Motion carries 5-0
SWG: Motion by Stewart, seconded by Eslick, to approve the AEA agreement for a shared Teacher Librarian, Christine Sturgeon.
Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Stewart, Blair, Swanson, Eslick Nays: None
Motion carried 6-0
The 2021-2022 Student Handbook was reviewed by board members. No changes were recommended.
Prairie Valley: Motion by K. Carlson, seconded by J. Carlson to approve the Iowa Central Community College Measures of College Readiness.
Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, Hefley, McGuire Nays: None
Motion carries 5-0
Prairie Valley: Motion by K. Carlson, seconded by J. Carlson to approve Bimbo Bakery as the bread vendor for 2021-2022. Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, Hefley, McGuire
Nays: None Motion carries 5-0
SWG: Motion by Swanson, seconded by VanSickle, to approve Bimbo Bakery as the bread vendor for 2021-2022. Ayes:, Wicklein, VanSickle, Stewart, Blair, Swanson, Eslick
Nays: None Motion carried 6-0
A conversation was held regarding the possibility of hiring a school social worker. The district will advertise and see what type of response is received.
Prairie Valley: Motion by J. Carlson, seconded by K. Carlson to approve the resignation of Joe Harrison as board member. Ayes: Miller, J. Carlson, K. Carlson, Hefley, McGuire
Nays: None Motion carries 5-0
The June meeting will be held June 16, 2021 in Burnside at 6:30PM.
Meeting Adjourned