The Board Report

Lonnie Hogeland, left,  and David Adland were recognized at the school board meeting on September 16 for donating vests to the school district for use by staff outside of schools.

Local business leaders donate safety vests

Lonnie Hogeland from L. Hogeland Auto Plaza and David Adland from Adland Engraving and Screen Printing were recognized for donating new safety vests for our staff serving as crossing guards at our schools.

Superintendent Dr. Theron Schutte thanked them as we continue to look at ways to increase safety around our schools. Handheld stop signs have been purchased by the district for those helping at school crossings as well.

Personnel items
Click here for personnel items approved by the board.

Student School Board Representatives
School board representatives, from left, Carmen Araiza, Mia Barajas and Diana Sanchez presented their report on upcoming Homecoming week activities, band information and an athletics recap from the past week.

Superintendent Dr. Theron Schutte

Reconstruction and Expansion of MHS Tennis/Pickleball Facilities
Dr. Theron Schutte presented this future proposed project which includes the  reconstruction and expansion of MHS tennis facility.  The courts have outlived their standard life time and are cracking in several places.

There is a need for quality courts in the future for not only MHS tennis programs, but for youth and community use.

The proposal would take the complex from an 8 court location to 12 courts plus the addition of pickleball courts, a restroom and parking. It would also make the facility ADA accessible.

The total preliminary cost of the project is at $2.2 million, which Dr. Schutte hopes can be split three ways between the school district, the city and a Martha-Ellen Tye Foundation grant. Sales tax funds would pay the district’s share of the project. There is a hope that half of the 12 courts can begin construction in the spring.

Dr. Schutte said he realizes there are more pressing facility needs in the district such as Miller auditorium and MHS air conditioning.  He said those are significantly higher priced projects and the reason why this tennis court project is coming before the board is the possibility of sharing the cost.

He will be presenting to the Marshalltown City Council on September 23. This was an information item only, no action was taken by the board on Monday.

Board Policies
Initial Review
102.E.6 Disposition of Disclosure Form –  Marked as reviewed
104 Anti-Bullying/Anti-Harrassment Policy – Marked as reviewed
104-R1 Anti-Bullying/Anti-Harrassment Policy (Investigation Procedures) – Marked as reviewed

The next regular meeting of the school board will be at 5 p.m. on October 7.

From Board President Bea Niblock
“The student board representatives gave their first presentation at Monday’s meeting.  Carmen Araiza, Mia Barajas, and Diana Sanchez shared a power point presentation with the board and audience.

The presentation included photos and information about Homecoming Week and sporting events.  The student reps have set a high bar for themselves in sharing high school news. We look forward to their participation in future meetings and sharing of presentations.” – Bea Niblock

Click here for the video of this meeting.

Junior Achievement of Central Iowa presented the Marshalltown Community School District with the School District of the Year award. Pictured from left are Erica Finders and Pam Brewer- Michael receiving the award from Collin Lane of Junior Achievement.

MCSD awarded Junior Achievement School District of the Year

Junior Achievement Director of Central Iowa Programs Collin Lane presented Curriculum and Professional Development Teacher Leaders Erica Finders and Pam Brewer-Michael the recognition of the Marshalltown Community School District being awarded their 2019 School District of the Year Award.

In 2018-19, Marshalltown Schools had 150 classrooms participate in Junior Achievement, where community members present the curriculum and provide a taste of their career to the students. There were also special programs such as Junior Achievement BizTown attended by Lenihan students and other JA programs utilized by the district.

“That impacted 3,352 students in your district,” Lane said.

Finders said she has received positive feedback from community members, teachers and students involved in Junior Achievement.

“We’re really excited to get this award,” Finders said. “We have worked really hard in Marshalltown to implement this program.”

Pictured from left are Nicole Critchfield, Sue Cahill and Deirdre Murphy

MCSD staff earn Computer Science endorsement
MCSD staff who earned a Computer Science endorsement from the State of Iowa through the Computer Science grant were recognized at the meeting. Teachers include Sue Cahill, Tessa Cohen (not present), Nicole Critchfield, Deirdre Murphy, Anne Sellers (not present) and Alicia Patten (not present).  The program was through Northwestern College in Orange City.
“I think this will greatly enhance our understanding that all students need to be involved in computer science,” Cahill said.

Apgar Family donates $15,000 to MHS volleyball
Tom Apgar presented a donation to MHS Athletic Director Ryan Isgrig and Miller Athletic Director Jeff Tice in the amount of $15,000 in recognition of his father, the late Pat Apgar. The donation will help the middle school and high school volleyball programs.
The Apgars have been strong supporters of Marshalltown volleyball and the school district.
Click here to learn more about the donation.

Personnel items
For personnel items approved by the school board, click here.

Student School Board Representatives
MHS seniors Carmen Araiza, Mia Barajas and Diana Sanchez have been selected as the student school board representatives this school year. This is the second year the board has had student representatives. The board approved them as representatives. Learn more about them here.

Art Trip Out-of-State Travel Request to Chicago, Illinois
MHS art teachers Kirk Niehouse, Rebecca Erickson and Wade Judge made this request as they plan to take students on a trip to Chicago on October 4. They plan to take a chartered bus to Chicago to visit The National Museum of Mexican Art, the Contemporary Museum of Art, the Chicago Art Institute, Millennium Park and Navy Pier. The board approved the out of state field trip request.

2019 Summer Teacher Externship Recap
Dee Burt, Curriculum Professional Development Leader, gave this report on the summer Teacher Externship program.
“Four days of intense tours, panel discussions and conversations with business leaders in our community,” Burt said.
A total of 36 businesses and 48 teachers participated. The plans are for this to continue next year. Dr. Schutte commended Dee for leading this program and all of her hard work.

End-of-Year Report
Dr. Lisa Stevenson, Director of Instruction, presented this report. These are all data indicators we collected last school year.

• Chronic Absenteeism went up to 20.8 percent of students overall. These are students who miss more than 10 percent of the total school days.

“It is a concern,” Dr. Stevenson said of the chronic absenteeism percentage. “We really are digging into this.”

• Bullying/Harassment- Data-  stayed steady-
•  Did reach the goal of decrease in major behavior referrals. 87 percent of students had 0-1 referrals.
• Preschool- met goal of students of 58 percent not at risk-
• Reading goals- “We are inching forward” Stevenson said, but goals were not met= though FAST is more rigorous than the previous Iowa Assessments.
• Math- FAST system used currently- goals were based on previous Iowa Assessments- and were not met.
• Graduation Rate- Goal was 90 percent graduation rate not met, but 87.9 percent is something to celebrate in our district.
• Drop outs –  met the drop out goal of no more than 75- as drop outs last year were 64

Sale of Surplus Technology
The board approved this sale of surplus technology equipment after a public hearing was held on this earlier in the meeting.

Security Management System Phase 3 Project
This project is to further enhance our existing security entrance systems, add additional elementary school cameras and other upgrades. Bids will be let out and received by October 3. A public hearing was held earlier in the meeting. The board approved the plans specifications, form of contract and estimates of total cost for Phase 3. The bids will be considered at the October 7 board meeting.

Board Policies
102.E3 Notice of Section 504 Student and Parental Rights – Marked as reviewed
102.E4 Discrimination, Anti-Bullying, and Anti Harassment Complaint Form – Marked as reviewed
102.E5 Witness Disclosure Form -Marked as reviewed

The next regular meeting of the school board will be at 5 p.m. on September 16 in the district board room at district offices, 1002 S. 3rd. Ave.

From Board President Bea Niblock
“September has arrived and we look forward to another great year for the MCSD.  We welcomed 3 new student representatives to the board, accepted donations to programs, heard from school district employees and received an award for the district’s participation in the Junior Achievement program.

But, a very significant part of the agenda for the evening was the approval of plans to upgrade the school district security management system.  This topic has been the subject of multiple meetings and a public hearing was held at last night’s meeting. The board approved the distribution of the RFP for the project.  This is a great step forward in securing our buildings and providing a safe environment for students and staff.” – Bea Niblock

Click here for video of this meeting