Sergeant Bluff-Luton Community Schools Regular Board Meeting

Mission Statement

In partnership with parents and the community, the SB-L Schools will challenge students to take personal responsibility for their education and to apply their learning to a diverse and changing world.

Attendees

Voting Members

Matt Britton, Board Director

Tammy Matthey, Board Director

Jeff Wright, President

Jason Gehling, Vice President

Absent:  Lillyann Rodriguez, Board Director

1.Call to Order

The regular January 2025 meeting of the Sergeant Bluff-Luton Board of Education was called to order by President Jeff Wright at 6:00 a.m. 

2.Approval of the Agenda

Motion made by: Tammy Matthey

Motion seconded by: Matt Britton

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

3.Welcome Visitors & Guests

President Wright welcomed the visitors and asked if anyone present wished to address the board.    No written or oral comments were given.

4.Hearing on the Proposed Instructional Support Levy Resolution

The President announced that this is the time, place and date to hold a hearing on the proposed Resolution to Continue Participation in the Instructional Support Program.   No public was present to provide any written or oral comments.

5.Approval of minutes from the previous meetings

The minutes of the meetings from December were reviewed by the board.

Motion made by: Tammy Matthey

Motion seconded by: Jason Gehling

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

6.Approval of the Secretary’s Monthly Reports

Motion made by: Matt Britton

Motion seconded by: Jason Gehling

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

7.Approval of Current Bills

Motion made by: Jason Gehling

Motion seconded by: Matt Britton

Voting:

Matt Britton - Yes

Tammy Matthey - Abstain

Jeff Wright - Yes

Jason Gehling - Yes

8.Recognition

The following staff and students were recognized:

  • High School welders competed at the ABC Iowa Welding Championships.  Carson Schroeder placed 3rd overall in the Advanced division.  Matt Zaber and Kameron Ash placed 2nd and 3rd overall in the Beginner Division.

•Zayvion Ellington was selected to play in the Iowa Shrine Bowl for football.

•High School Dance Team for competing at the State Dance Competition.

•High School and Middle School Music Directors and their students for their work in putting on the Winter Concerts.

•High School and Middle School Choir for caroling at the Pioneer Valley Living, Embassy Rehab, and Floyd Senior Living facilities.

•Congratulations to the following students for being selected for the Wayne State College Honor Band: Kara Andersen, Emma Capetta, Anna Pry, Zack Kloostra, Clint Heger.

9.SitelogIQ presentation on the East Campus Project

Ric D'Amico with SitelogIQ was unable to attend the board meeting.  Mr. Janzen shared written highlights provided by Mr. D'Amico. 

• Construction on site has come to a stopping point until the spring. This is because of the weather and the frozen ground. 

•Nelson completed everything they had scheduled to be completed in 2024 besides the softball backstop. This item had some longer lead times than expected. 

•Nelson also got more things completed than originally anticipated, including the parking lot area up to grade and the tennis courts halfway up to grade.

•Programmatic development of the pre-manufactured structures included significant input from leaders of SBL. Delivery of the components of the structures is still scheduled for mid-March of this year.

•Continue bi-weekly meetings to review project expenses and potential savings.

10.Administrative Reports

a.Dr. Brown

Dr. Brown provided information concerning grant dollars for the choir, Middle School enrollment numbers, attendance and truancy issues, the family newsletter, positive postcards sent to the students and the next Humanity Launch retreat date.

b.Mr. Klingensmith

Mr. Klingensmith provided the High School enrollment numbers.  He discussed Professional development for SEBH (Social Emotional Behavior Health) and two book studies taking place with the high school staff. He provided an update on the Therapeutic Classroom.  There are currently 49  EL (English Learning) students with 11 different languages.

11.Action Items

a.Resignations

Recommendation to approve the new resignations as presented: 

•VanHolland, Joyce - Elementary School Associate

•Niewenhuis, Abby - Primary School Associate

Motion made by: Jason Gehling

Motion seconded by: Tammy Matthey

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

b.New contracts

Recommendation to approve the new contracts as presented: 

•Ocampo, Marialy - Primary School EL Teacher BA 0 (prorated for remainder of FY25)

•Mendlik, Sean - Middle School Asst Wrestling Coach Step 1 $1,580

•Majors, Mackenzie - Elementary School Associate Level 6 $17.05 

•Milligan, Mirah - Elementary School Associate Level 5 $16.85 

Motion made by: Jason Gehling

Motion seconded by: Tammy Matthey

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

c.At-Risk Modifiable Allowable Growth for 2025-2026

Each year we can apply for modified allowable growth to help cover costs associated with at- risk students and dropout prevention. We use this money to help fund our guidance counselors, alternative school placements, before and after school homework completion programs, tutoring programs, summer school programs, and the police liaison officer. The SBL school board may request Modified Supplemental Amount and Supplemental Aid for 2025-2026 from the School Budget Review Committee in the amount of $444,548 for expenditures necessary to implement the at-risk and dropout prevention program plans.

Motion made by: Tammy Matthey

Motion seconded by: Jason Gehling

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

d.Open Enrollment

1.Open Enrollment

No action taken.

e.Resolution to Continue Participation in the Instructional Support Program

A motion was made to renew the Instructional Support Levy.    Mr. Janzen shared the purpose of the Instructional Support Levy:

Iowa Code 257.18

A school district may establish an Instructional Support Program to provide additional funding in the General Fund. The Program may be established by a board resolution up to five years or approved by the voters up to 10 years. The Program may be funded by all property tax or a combination of property tax and income surtax. The total Program may not exceed 10% of the district's regular program district cost. The revenues from the Instructional Support Program may be expended for any purpose allowed from the General Fund, but may not be used to supplant funding authorized to be received for returning dropout and dropout prevention programs, gifted and talented programs, PPEL levy, Management levy, or special education deficits.

Motion made by: Matt Britton

Motion seconded by: Tammy Matthey

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

f.2nd Reading Policy 401.07

The board approved to set the mileage reimbursement rate at the State mileage reimbursement rate.

Motion made by: Matt Britton

Motion seconded by: Jason Gehling

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

g.Board Policy 2nd Reading

Motion to approve the board policies as presented:

502.10 - Use of Motor Vehicles

603.01 - Basic Instruction Program

700 - Purpose of Noninstructional and Business Services

805 - Construction Field/Change Orders - As part of Policy 805, the Board authorizes the Superintendent or designee to approve field orders and allow a contractor to proceed with the change when waiting to receive Board approval may cause a delay in the project workflow, with the stipulation that the field orders will not:

● Exceed $10,000 on competitively quoted projects

● Exceed $75,000 on competitively bid projects 

Motion made by: Matt Britton

Motion seconded by: Jason Gehling

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

h.Approve updated 28E agreement with the City of Sergeant Bluff regarding the School Resource Officer (SRO) Program

The 28E agreement with the City of Sergeant Bluff regarding the School Resource Officer Program was first passed in 1995.  The city requested to update the language due to the renewal of a grant they applied for the program.  

Motion to approve the 28E agreement with the City of Sergeant Bluff for the School Resource Program.

Motion made by: Jason Gehling

Motion seconded by: Matt Britton

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

i.City Batting Cages Discussion

The City of Sergeant Bluff has approached the school district about taking over the city's batting cages.  He shared options the city was considering if the district was not interested.  The district has discussed how they could best utilize the space in addition to baseball and softball, if they were to take it over.  The expectation would be that Sergeant Bluff youth baseball and softball programs would still be able to utilize the facility.  The city would be ready to give a lease proposal to the district for the February board meeting, if the district was interested.  The board advised Mr. Janzen to proceed.

j.Consideration of a contract with Education Consultants.

Motion to approve an agreement with Education Consultants pending city agreement to pay for half. 

Motion made by: Tammy Matthey

Motion seconded by: Matt Britton

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

k.RFP for Chromebook Refresh for 6-12th Grades

Motion to approve the Chromebook RFP as presented.  The RFP is part of the annual Chromebook purchase cycle.  

Motion made by: Tammy Matthey

Motion seconded by: Matt Britton

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

l.Approve December 4, 2024 District Advisory Committee Minutes

Motion to approve the minutes from the December 4, 2024, District Advisory Committee Meeting.  The following recommendations were made by the committee. 

•The change to the homecoming parade was discussed. They also heard directly from students on the committee. As a result of the discussion, a recommendation was made to keep the changes to the parade. The group was happy to hear there was greater participation by students.

•As a result of the district facilities' conversation, questions arose regarding communication with students regarding the bond issue, particularly for those that are of voting age. A recommendation was made to encourage students to follow the district's Instagram account. Students on the committee stated they felt this was a good way to inform students about school-related matters.

•A recommendation was made to continue with the bond proposal for next year as presented in November 2024.

Motion made by: Jason Gehling

Motion seconded by: Tammy Matthey

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

m.Approve an additional boys' soccer coach

Motion to approve additional middle school and high school boys soccer coaches due to the large number of students participating.

Motion made by: Tammy Matthey

Motion seconded by: Matt Britton

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

n.Approve baseball/softball scoreboard bids

Bids were requested from three different companies.  Two submitted bids.  The scoreboards are for the new fields at the East Campus as part of the long-term facilities plan.

Approve the Daktronics bid as follows:

Baseball = $30,491

Softball = $22,798

Motion made by: Tammy Matthey

Motion seconded by: Jason Gehling

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

o.Farm Lease

Motion to approve the farm lease and termination agreement as presented subject to property modification.  The district is awaiting updates to the parcel description due to the East Campus project under construction.

Motion made by: Jason Gehling

Motion seconded by: Tammy Matthey

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

12.Superintendent Report

a.Year-End FY24 Financial Report

Mr. Janzen presented school finance information regarding the General Fund.  Data was shared from an historical perspective and a 5-year forecast.  Variables used in the forecast model were shared.  Data shared included fund balance, unspent authorized budget and solvency ratio, all related to district financial goals.  Based on the forecast model, the district remains in a strong financial position.

b.Point of Sale Pilot for Concessions and Student-Run Buinesses

Mr. Janzen gave a report on a point-of-sale pilot they are going to try this spring.  The pilot will occur in the student-run coffee shop and concessions for track and baseball/softball.  This would provide fans the option of purchasing concession items with a card, rather than cash.  If successful, the point-of-sale vendor will be used for all concessions and student-run businesses.  This would result in an increase to concession prices to offset the cost.

c.Rocket Manufacturing Visit and High School CTE Course changes

Mr. Janzen shared information about the trip that a number of SBL teachers, administrators and board members took to Rock Valley High School to visit their student-run business, Rock Manufacturing.  As a result of the visit, a planning meeting was held with the career and technical education teachers at SBL to establish a vision and plan.  As a result of that meeting, several curricular changes will occur in the 2025-2026 school year:

d.2024-2025 Board Goals Report

Mr. Janzen reviewed the 2024-2025 Board Goals Report.

13.Adjourn

Adjourn at 8:11 a.m.

Motion made by: Matt Britton

Motion seconded by: Tammy Matthey

Voting:

Unanimously Approved

Board President\

Board Secretary