The Perry Community School District Board of Education met in regular session Monday in the Brady Library at the Perry High School, with one member stepping aside while one new director and two incumbents were sworn in.
Outgoing Board President Dan Wilhelmi, who opted not to seek re-election, was thanked for his eight years of service to the board. New director Linda Andorf and re-elected incumbents Jim Lutmer and Kenia Alarcon were then sworn in, joining Marjean Gries and Kyle Baxter as the newly constituted board.
Board members elected Baxter as the new president while electing Lutmer to continue serving as vice-president. Baxter was chosen to represent the board as delegate to the Iowa Association of School Boards, with Lutmer to serve as the PSCD representative on the Dallas County Conference Board.
The board then received a report from EMC insurance agent Barry Bengtson, who reviewed the district’s policy and coverage. Bengtson noted the board faced a premium increase of 10 percent, or $25,000.
“We have been under continued pressure from workman’s compensation and that is most of the reason (for the increase),” he explained. “This is looked at as a three-year composite, going back one year, so what is effecting the current rate are the years 2011, 2012 and 2013. Next year it will be 2012, 2013 and 2014, so it is always a year back.”
Bengtson did have some good news, as he predicted less strain on workman’s compensation claims moving forward. He also announced that he had recently presented a check in the amount of $27,000 to the board, which effectively offsets the raise in the premium.
“This comes from the safety group program that all schools are in,” he explained. “The school’s all pool their resources, and from that our share is $27,000.”
Kevin Vidergar, Teaching and Learning Director for the district, shared an update on PCSD’s annual progress report, the Teacher Leadership application and No Child Left Behind.
Vidergar noted that some 85 percent or more of Iowa schools are listed as “in need of assistance” according to the NCLB standards, with Perry currently on the watch list.
“Things may change at the federal level,” Vidergar said. “The standards were supposed to have been reviewed years ago but they (Congress) did not want to touch it.
“Now, with an election year coming up, there is some hope they may make some adjustments, if for no other reason than to take credit for doing so,” he said, tongue-in-cheek. “Right now is it almost impossible for anyone to figure out the formulas, so hopefully there will be some changes or clarifications made.”
The board then gave their approval for a high school trip to France and Spain in the summer of 2016. Five female students are currently signed up for the trip and are busily raising funds to pay for the journey, which will begin July 7 and end July 16. The school does not pay for the trip; the board simply gave approval for any students wishing to go to be able to do so.
Elementary Principal Trevor Miller discussed Title I, with the first such meeting for the school year to be held Thursday evening. The board then approved a Title I application for the 2015-2016 school year.
In other action, the board approved annual improvement goals, the master form of contracts offered to game officials, authorized the activities director to use the Board President’s signature as necessary and gave approval for account signers on all Raccoon Valley Bank accounts held by the district.
The board also gave their concurrence to personnel changes and to several revisions of board policies as well as agreeing to participate in the Iowa Drug and Alcohol Testing Program.
The Perry Community School District Board of Education meets the second Monday of each month at 6 p.m. in the Brady Library at the Perry High School. All meetings are open to the public, which is encouraged to attend.
