NORTH FAYETTE VALLEY COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOARD OF EDUCATION 

 

Minutes, Work Session of the North Fayette Valley Community School District Board of Education, Monday, December 19, 2022, in the NFV HS PAC, 600 N Pine Street, West Union, IA  52175

 

NFV Board of Education: Julie Ahrens (by phone), Amanda Rodgers, Eileen 

Schlawin, Stacy Cummings, Emily Koch, LaCreasha Schultz, & Richard Klosterman    

Others: Superintendent: Joe Griffith, Business Manager: Sue 

Thoms; Superintendent Secretary:  Susan Winter; Principals: Travis Elliott, Lori Westhoff, Chris Miller;  Curriculum Director: Betsy Nefzger; Media:  Mike Vansickle; Staff: Angie Boehm, Donna Bausch, Brittinae Nelson, Barb Schroeder, Kelli Lau, Dawn Halverson, Mallory Meyer, Morgan Johnson, Stephanie Vagts, Royale Torkelson, Annette Weber, Kirk Jacobsen, Rachael Strong, Lisa Schneider, Kris Wickham, Holli Cannon, Molly J Holthaus, & Mickey Weidemann; Patrons: Heather Staley, Kate Miller, Faye Miller, Kirstin Lerch, Mala Erickson, Robbie Kerr, Andrea Scott, & Chelsey Durnan.

 

President Koch called the Work Session of the NFV Board of Education to order at 5:30 pm and   Rich Klosterman led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Roll Call of Board members: Ahrens (by phone), Rodgers, Klosterman, Cummings, Koch, Schultz, & Schlawin.  

 

Motion to Approve Agenda.  Schlawin/Schultz  Motion Carried 7-0

 

President Koch welcomed those in attendance and thanked everyone for their thoughts and concerns over the past few weeks.  Not everyone will agree with everything that is said.  She asked the patrons to give the board the opportunity to speak their minds tonight in order to come to the best solution for the students.

 

Supt Griffith reviewed with the Board the NFV District Mission, school district funding, revenue sources and allowable expenditures, unspent balance authority, and various budget projections.  The projections show that a general fund balance can be found with the closing of Fayette Elementary and moving 4th and 5th to Valley.  

 

The Board discussed why they wanted to join the school board.  Stacy felt that she needed to be involved when they moved back to the area.  Rich has 2 grandsons that are attending the district – he is concerned about what is being pushed onto districts across the nation and wants to be involved locally.  LaCreasha saw the merger and closing of Hawkeye and felt it was time for her to join the board.  Julie became a board member when her husband retired from teaching and had 3 grandsons attending.  Amanda became a board member after some confrontations with previous administrators.  Eileen became a board member after many years of working at NICC and wants to continue what is best for the kids.  Emily became a board member when asked to run by prior administration.  

 

The Board was asked to share how they see their role as a Board member. Emily said the Board is a voice for all children, parents, and teachers.  The Board objectively figures out the best decisions to make.  Stacy responded that the role also includes following policies as well as meeting our goals that we set.  Children are the most important along with being fiscally responsible.  We want kids coming out of school with the best education they can and to become involved in the community.  

 

Last August, the Board had training with the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB).  They reviewed comments regarding what the public will say about this Board in the future.  The comments included the following:  listened and took action, provided a better culture and school pride at NFV, worked through tough times and came out stronger, did what’s in the best interest of staff and students, put children’s best interest first,  represented the community and their values well, provided safe, updated, modern facilities, many sleepless nights when making hard and uncomfortable decisions, and were transparent.  

 

The Board also reviewed the comments on what one big contribution has the board made.  The comments included the following: long term sustainable stability for academics and community, made the community better, brought families to the district, increased college courses, increased graduation rates, made wise decisions about facility usage, welcomed community concerns and opinions at meetings, were fiscally responsible, become more cohesive as one school district and not 2 districts that combined, and not lose teachers due to budgetary decisions.

 

The Board then discussed the roadblocks to learning at NFV right now.  Rich brought up that class sizes are too large, the challenges of hiring teachers and support staff, and the difference in services at each building.  Amanda acknowledged the same things as well as the behavior students that are transported to other buildings.  Eileen responded with support staffing and busing the kids to the school to learn.  Emily also brought up the large class sizes and teachers questioning their ability to teach.  NFV has great teachers and we want to make their job easier.  

 

The Board reviewed the community input.  Stacy appreciated the conversation during the meetings.  There are concerns about behavior students that have to travel and the need for lower class sizes in the lower elementary.  She feels that busing is not the top priority – students will travel with siblings and kids in their class, church groups, etc.  Emily heard alot about busing conversations and has also heard from teachers that have not felt comfortable speaking up at the meetings that support K-3 together.  

 

The questions in front of the Board are as follows:  Is the district well served by continuing to utilize the Fayette Elementary building? And Which grade alignment model best serves the needs of the district?  Emily felt that the passion about busing did not give as much attention to the closing of Fayette Elementary.  Once you close a school, you can’t reopen it.  Fiscally, it does make sense.  Julie responded that she wants to do what is best financially for the kids and the district.  We need to look at the good of the students and the good of the whole entire district.  

 

Supt Griffith reviewed what the projections show and what goes into them.  We have righted our  budget going from a negative solvency ratio to a positive 8%+.  This was done with ESSER money – federal funds – and increased enrollment, as well as multiple retirement packages.  There will still have to be some fixes in the future even with closing Fayette Elementary.  NFV will need to make cuts in the future but not as quickly if we keep Fayette Elementary open.  

 

The Board reviewed the building maps that were handed out for each alignment configuration.  It was noted that with all options, there were no classes placed in the hallways.  Discussion followed on where the kids would be placed in the buildings, special ed classes and what they look like, as well as possible structural changes.  The maps were put together to maximize the space – some classrooms may not be used for the same things all of the time every day.  

 

The Board reviewed the options and listed the pros and cons for each.

 

No change Option:  

Pros: no community conflicts, Fayette keeps a school, extra gym space

Cons: more spending, roof and boiler repairs, passing this onto a new board in the future with their own agenda 

 

K-3 all at WUE – 4 & 5 at Valley Option: 

Pros:  special services will be a plus, getting all kids together right away as NFV, collaboration between teachers, easier to achieve vertical and horizontal alignment  

Cons:  space, still sharing with some specials, bussing kids to WU, bus & shuttle drivers, increase in busing costs, more open classrooms at Valley Elementary 

 

K-3 in each building and 4&5 at Valley Option:

Pros: specials services will be a plus, paras riding the bus, having Principal Elliott in charge of all K-3 at each building which will help with horizontal alignment 

Cons: multi aging – very teacher intensive, add more staff to keep class sizes down, still could involve moving kids, teacher collaboration, administration making sure there is collaboration and follow through. 

   

K-4 in each building and 5 at Valley Option:

Pros: savings financially, better use of space if not adding teaching staff,  save on bussing, Cons:  will not get students together as soon   

 

Additional discussion included open classrooms, addressing changes again in the future to keep K-3 at current buildings, being reactive rather than proactive in the decision making, kids are resilient and we don’t give them enough credit, recommendation to go away from multiage classrooms, an offer to repair the boiler at Fayette Elementary, reviewing PD – all day vs early outs, and how the closing will affect real estate prices in Fayette.  

 

Stacy asked what other information is needed before a decision is made.  Emily expressed interest in riding a bus route, and Rich would like to tour the buildings.

 

The consensus of the Board is to place consideration of closing the Fayette Elementary and consideration of grade alignment as agenda items on the February 20th agenda.  Both will have roll call votes.     

 

No action was taken during this work session.

 

Motion to adjourn at 7:58 pm. Cummings/Schultz  Motion Carried 7-0

 

______________________________ _____________________________

Emily Koch, President Sue Thoms, Business Manager