As is usually the case, planning for the next school year begins before the current year is over. At their meeting this past Monday, the Eagle Grove Board of Education dealt with several items pertaining to the 2021-22 school year.
Teacher contracts were approved, and will now be issued soon for their signing. According to Superintendent Jess Toliver, the district is in the final year of the three-year contract and have agreed to a 2.75 percent increase. “This will add $750 to both the base and supplemental base, and will cover single insurance increases,” said Toliver. “We will also honor all steps and lane changes.”
Support staff contracts were approved, with the focus this year to raise the base salaries in hopes of both attracting and retaining employees. “Jon, Tracy and I met with the EGESA leadership and agreed to a three-year contract which adds .77 cents to the base the first year and then .75 cents to the base the following two years,” said Toliver. “We would also adjust the steps from .18 cents per year to .10 cents. The idea is that no one will lose money in this proposal, so for employees with 14 or more year’s of experience we will adjust their salary for one year so they do not lose money. It will all equal out by year two.”
For the non-bargaining employees, salaries will again increase by 2.75 percent with each getting one percent of their administrative salary contributed to an employer paid TSA for each year of service with a cap at 10 years or 10 percent. This is new for the building principals, but Toliver has already received one in the past. “It is the hope this will be an incentive for longevity in the district,” he said. With a recent retirement, one employee will take over the entire food service program and become salaried. A $100 monthly stipend will be given to administrators, athletic directors and the technology director as compensation for home and outside of school work time. It will be paid in a lump sum each June.
The school calendar for 21-22 was approved. Classes will begin August 23, with Winter break from December 23-31. Spring break is April 15-16 with the year ending (for now) on May 20. Commencement is scheduled for May 22.
In communications & celebrations with the three building administrators, Jared Carder at the elementary had a group of teachers take a training to help ELL students. “We had a third grade class go from 41 percent of the students meeting their benchmark in the fall to 76 percent for winter in the reading fluency FAST screener,” said Carder. The induction & instructional coaches accompanied him to the North Central Coaching Consortium meeting. “This focused on engaging in coaching cycles with our teachers to help them grow and reach more students,” said Carder. He concluded by informing the directors that preschool registration occurs later this month (watch for those dates and times in the Eagle).
RBMS principal Scott Jeske gave a report on another successful Aaron Eilerts Day. “It was a good day, and the kids were feeling positive about what they did,” he said (check last week’s Eagle for a full report on the activities). Conferences occur this week, and Jeske and his teaching staff are hoping for 95 percent parent participation. He feels the recent virtual concerts went well, and he closed by saying that Alana Alt took a group of teachers to learn more about intervention to improve those skills.
Heidi Garcia at the high school stated they recently kicked off their new responsive study hall idea. “It has three tiers that offer different support based on the students needs,” she explained. “The study hall assignment changes every two weeks to respond to student needs and changes in their choices.” ‘Diamonds are Forever’ has been chosen as the theme for this year’s Prom, with no grand march this year. Conferences will be March 23-24, so watch Facebook and emails to schedule a time to receive your phone call from teachers.
In other action the Board:
-approved resignations from Kyle Tesselink (TLC director), Sarah Teeselink (TAG teacher and teacher leader), Mariah Snyder (MS Special Ed), Amanda Willard (associate), Jim McLaughlin (MS girls basketball) and Luke Ascherl (MS wrestling);
-approved contracts for Emily Hansen (Special Ed), Ben Demuth (MS cross country)and Charles Mausser (MS Principal);
-approved open enrollments for two students in from Manson NW Webster, one student in from Humboldt, one student in from Fort Dodge, two students in from C-G-D, one student out to Iowa Connections Academy and four students out to Webster City;
-approved the certified employee handbook, with no changes made;
-approved the budget estimate and set the date on April 12 for a public hearing to take up the new budget for approval;
-approved a change order for $5,056.05 with Kingland Construction Services for masonry work in the Administration building renovation.
