Superintendent’sWeekly Report – Shane Ehresman

Lynnville-Sully Community School District

September 15 – September 19, 2014

SUPERINTENDENT ACTIVITIES

Monday, September 15

  • Facility scheduling meeting with Reggie Kaldenberg and Matt Rasmusson
  • Duane Rozendaal and I attended the SIAC meeting facilitated by Teri Bowlin (6 pm)
  • Participated in annual and regular school board meeting (7 pm)

Tuesday, September 16

  • Visited with special education associate about work hours
  • Met with Kyra Smith, LSCEF Executive Director, to discuss her office area and upcoming newsletter
  • Met with Reggie Kaldenberg to review custodial duties

Wednesday, September 17

  • Live “Let’s Talk” radio interview with Chris Johnson from KGRN radio. To listen to a recording of the broadcast, click on the following link:
  • Facilitated administrative team meeting
  • Matt Zylstra and I attended the Lynnville Chamber of Commerce meeting at Lynnville City Hall of Justice
  • School lock down practice with all staff and students

Thursday, September 18

  • Participated in District Leadership Team (DLT) meeting
  • Spent most of the day working on a personnel matter
  • Attended Sully Lions Club meeting at the Sully Community Center (6:30 pm)

Friday, September 19

  • Shelley Vander Molen and I met to discuss kitchen personnel
  • Attended FFA Safety Day for 5th graders at the Sully City Park
  • Attending varsity football game vs. Montezuma in Montezuma (7:00 pm)

MISCELLANOUS INFORMATION

  • L-S Job Openings:HS Wrestling Cheer Coach; Head Boys/Girls Golf Coach
  • I will be contacting school board members this weekend to find a date/time for special school board meeting to discuss a school employee.
  • The rubberized all-weather surface of the track will be finalized today. The track will need to set for 10 days before painting the lines and markings. For the next 10 days, people will not be permitted on the track; expect to cross on the plywood (Week of September 15 track photos attached)

UPCOMING MEETINGS & IMPORTANT DATES

  • Thursday, October 2 - 2:00 pm Early Dismissal for Teacher Professional Development
  • Thursday, October 23 – End of First Quarter
  • Friday, October 24 –No School for Students – Teacher Professional Development Day
  • Monday, October 20 - 7:00 pm @ HS Library – Regular School Board Meeting
  • Monday, November 17 - 7:00 pm @ HS Library – Regular School Board Meeting
  • Wednesday, November 19 – IASB Delegate Assembly in Des Moines - TBA
  • Thursday, November 20 – IASB State Convention in Des Moines (8 am – 4 pm)

SCHOOL BOARD

POLICY OF THE WEEK

Board Policy:212 – Closed Sessions

Superintendent’s Summary:Board Policy 12 outlines exceptions to the open meeting law. Point of emphasis directly from board policy –Final action on matters discussed in the closed session will be taken in an open meeting.

CodeNo.212

CLOSED SESSIONS

Generally, board meetings will be open meetings, unless a closed session or exempt meeting is provided for by law. The board will hold a closed session or exempt meeting in the situations stated below.

ExceptionstotheOpenMeetingsLaw

Closed sessions take place as part of an open meeting. The item for discussion in the closed session will be listed as part of the tentative agenda on the public notice. The motion for a closed session, stating the purpose for the closed session, will be made and seconded during the open meeting. A minimum of two-thirds of the board, or all of the board members present, must vote in favor of the motion on a roll call vote. Closed sessions will be tape recorded and have detailed minutes kept by the board secretary. Final action on matters discussed in the closed session will be taken in an open meeting.

The minutes and the tape recording will restate the motion made in the open meeting, the roll call vote, the members present, and the time the closed session began and ended. The tape recordings and the written minutes will be kept for one year from the date of the meeting. Real estate related minutes and tapes will be made public after the real estate transaction is completed.

The detailed minutes and tape recording will be sealed and will not be public records open to public inspection. The minutes and tape recording will only be opened upon court order in an action to enforce the requirements of the open meetings law. The board has complete discretion as to whom may be present at a closed session.

Reasons for the board entering into a closed session from an open meeting include, but are not limited to, the following:

1.To review or discuss records which are required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept confidential or to be kept confidential as a condition for the board's possession or receipt of federal funds.

2.To discuss strategy with legal counsel in matters presently in litigation, or where litigation is imminent, if disclosure would be likely to prejudice or disadvantage the board.

3.To discuss whether to conduct a hearing for suspension or expulsion of a student, unless an open meeting is requested by the student or the parent of the student.

4.To evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance, or discharge is being considered when a closed session is necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual's reputation and that individual requests a closed session.

5.To discuss the purchase or saleof particular real estate, but only when premature disclosure could be reasonably expected to increase the price the board would have to pay for the property, or in case of a sale reduce the price the board could receive for the property.

CodeNo.212

CLOSED SESSIONS

ExemptionstotheOpenMeetingsLaw

Board meetings at which a quorum is not present, or gatherings of the board for purely ministerial or social purposes when there is no discussion of policy or no intent to avoid the purposes of the open meetings law, are exempt from the open meetings law requirements. Since gatherings of this type are exempt from the open meetings requirements, they can be held without public notice, be separate from an open meeting, be held without taping the gathering or taking minutes, and be held without a vote or motion. The board may also hold an exempt session for the following:

1.negotiating sessions, strategy meetings of public employers or employee organizations, mediation and the deliberative process of arbitration;

2.to discuss strategy in matters relating to employment conditions of employees not covered by the collective bargaining law;

3.to conduct a private hearing relating to the recommended termination of a teacher's contract. However, the private hearing in the teacher's contract termination will be recorded verbatim by a court reporter; and

4.to conduct a private hearing relating to the termination of a probationary administrator's contract or to review the proposed decision of the administrative law judge regarding the termination of an administrator's contract.

Legal Reference:Iowa Code §§ 20.17; 21; 22.7; 279.15, .16, .24 (2003).

1982 Op. Att'y Gen. 162.

1980 Op. Att'y Gen. 167.

1976 Op. Att'y Gen. 384, 514, 765.

1972 Op. Att'y Gen. 158.

1970 Op. Att'y Gen. 287.

Cross Reference:208Ad Hoc Committees

211Open Meetings

Approved 1-21-04Reviewed 1-19-09Revised 02-18-13

SCHOOL BOARD

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY OF THE WEEK

Title: Red Oak school board case delayed over tape questions

Author:Jason Clayworth, Des Moines Register reporter

Source: Des Moines Register web site (September 18, 2014)

Web Link:

Red Oak school board case delayed over tape questions

A state board will continue investigating the actions of the Red Oak school board before deciding whether to seek fines against individual board members after the legitimacy of an audio tape was questioned Thursday.

The Iowa Public Information Board had been expected to decide Thursday whether to potentially designate a prosecutor to initiate charges against school board members for violating Iowa's open meetings law.A report issued last weekby Margaret Johnson, deputy director of the information board, found probable cause to conclude the district broke the law — a crime that could cost each board member up to $2,500 per violation. The school board was accused of holding meetings behind closed doors into an effort to fire Principal Jedd Sherman.Johnson's report said one of the board's meetings was improperly closed because it did not contain a roll call vote, so audio recordings of that meeting should be made public. The school objected, revising its minutes to show a proper vote was taken and resubmitting an audio tape that indicates the vote.

Johnson told the board Thursday that the vote could be heard on the new tape, unlike the first recording she heard.Margaret Stoldorf, one of three people to file meeting or record complaints against the school, questioned the new audio tape.

"I'm here to say audio files can be manipulated," she said.

Public information board members directed staff to compare the tapes. The board is expected to return to the matter at its Oct. 16 meeting."I've got to tell you, from day one this whole thing doesn't feel right to me," board member Gary Mohr of Bettendorf said of his concern that the public was shut out of the meetings.

In June, Sherman agreed to resign in exchange for a $100,000 settlement. He has said the school district retaliated against him for blowing the whistle on school bullying and handicapped accessibility problems.Iowa's open-meetings law says a government body can hold professional competency discussions in private if requested by the affected employee. But Sherman asked that the discussions be public.