Wednesday evening the Gladbrook-Reinbeck School Board held their regular meeting in Gladbrook. Prior to the meeting several patrons in the district came to hear the District Financial Overview, given by Supt. Shawn Holloway. What is a concern to many districts in the state is ‘spending authority’. Spending Authority is based on enrollment numbers and the district receives from the state approximately $6,500/student. If expenses are higher – then the district has overspent their ‘spending authority’. This money from the state goes into the general fund. The general fund is the only fund the state has authority over. If a district overspends their spending authority for 2 years, the state will step in.

Holloway told those attending how the carryover money has decreased over the past 3 years. At one point the district had a carryover balance of $1.5 million and this past year it had decreased to $850,000. Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s decreasing enrollment has affected the spending authority.

Last spring the district reduced expenses by $350,000 by staff reduction, but then had a salary negotiation settlement of 2%, whereby the savings was reduced to approximately $225,000.

The board is working on assumptions on enrollment, allowable growth, negotiation settlement to help with making long term decisions.

Holloway said he plans to have these financial overviews prior to the meetings for the next couple of months.

At the regular meeting that followed at 7 p.m. Val Ehlers gave a FAST Assessment presentation. FAST is a formulated assessment for teachers and is a replacement for Dibbles. FAST was mandated by the Dept. of Education. Teachers are looking for growth and the assessment will be given again this winter.

Jackson Anderson and Megan Welter were hired under the consent agenda as junior high girl’s basketball coaches. The district is still in need of an assistant high school girl’s basketball coach.

Snow removal bids were opened during the meeting. Cooley Pumping was awarded the bid for snow removal at the Reinbeck campus of the parking area, horseshoe etc. for $150/plowing. Al’s Lawn Mowing & Snow Plowing was awarded the sidewalk, etc. area at the Reinbeck campus for $110/plowing. These were both 1-year bids. Dennis Smith was awarded the Gladbrook campus for sidewalks, parking and playground area for $249/plowing. Other bids were received from Scott Schmidt and S L Baumeier for the Gladbrook campus.

In his written report, Waylon Bern said he has been getting some numbers for a couple of different options to improve the condition of the football field. Bern is also concerned of the area north of the football field bleachers. This area is owned by the Tama County Fair Board but there is a low lying area that is nothing but mud directly to the east of the locker room. Also a concern is the leech beds from the concession stand and new locker rooms as the area is uneven and has a lot of standing water. He suggested that if any amount of dirt is moved in the near future that this would be a good place for it and also suggested doing some tiling.

Chad Bixby and Bern have begun the process of contacting different security companies to discuss different options for the high school building. A buzz system or a key fob system are being considered.

Bixby said map testing has been completed at the middle school and the Reinbeck Elementary and high school will be done with map testing this week.

It is time to start looking at devices to replace the current high school machines as the lease is up. Bixby’s recommendation would be Macbook Airs or Macbook Pro’s.

John Olson, athletic director, gave an update on various sports at various levels. He suggested ideas for the Buildings and Grounds committee to consider for future projects. They included the press box at the football field and high school sports/custodial storage. There are inside closets for small items but not many places for large items.

Transportation Director Mark Possehl said there were quite extensive repairs on Bus 21 as the square tube frame that supports the under bus storage was rusty and deteriorating. He felt that once this repair was done, the bus should be good for another 10-15 years and felt the repair would be worthwhile.

Principal Scot Aden said Mrs. Patton had taken 13 student leaders to the Ed Thomas Leadership Academy at the A-P High School recently where students learned different ways to be a leader and the general importance of being a leader. On October 29th the middle school will have National Theatre for Children come from 2:00-2:30. They will perform a program for students in grades 5-8 on “Cash Course (Learning about Earning”). Coach Jacobsen from UNI and two of his basketball players will be coming to the Gladbrook campus on November 6th to talk to students in grades 2-8 about study skills and character. UNI will be giving the school 50 tickets to go to a game this coming basketball season.

Parent-Teacher Conferences will be October 27th and 30th from 4-8 p.m. at both the Gladbrook campus and high school. The high school choir concert will be October 23rd at 7 p.m. in the G-R High School Auditorium.

Dean of Students Jason Strub said that recently G-R hosted a K-2 and 5/6 math night at the Gladbrook campus with 150 students and parents attending. The Rebel of the Month assembly took place on October 9th at the Reinbeck Elementary. 31 students were honored for their positive character and actions during the last month. Each month there will be a similar assembly, which will give the teachers and staff the opportunity to honor those students who are displaying the positive characteristics the district is looking for among the young students.

The motion made at the October 1st work session about forming a Community Committee was rescinded and the motion was to form a community committee to recommend the best solution to the two building scenarios (K-6 in Gladbrook & 7-12 in Reinbeck or K-6 in Reinbeck and 7-12 in Reinbeck) using the demographics of the Community Committee being 20 people, 60/40 male/female ratio or better if possible, with 10 from each community. Members will be as follows: 4 teachers, 4 business leaders/city leaders, 4 District Advisory Members, 2 elementary parents, 2 middle school parents, 2 high school parents and 2 high school students (from the District Advisory Committee or student council).

A new motion was made to form a community committee as discussed at the last board meeting to recommend the best solution to the two building scenarios (K-6 in Gladbrook & 7-12 in Reinbeck or K-6 in Reinbeck & 7-12 in Reinbeck). Members will be as follows: 4 teachers, 4 business leaders/city leaders, 1 mayor or council member from Gladbrook, 1 mayor or council member from Reinbeck, 4 District Advisory members and 6 parents. Board leadership and the superintendent, per board discussion at the October 1st special meeting, will select the final composition of the group with all board members giving input into the process by making recommendations to this leadership group.

Named to this community committee are: Darin Trunck, Deb Osborn, Erik Skovgard, Linda Goos, Jackie Stephenson, Kristy Giesking, Leslie McClintock, Jeremy Thesing, Barry Thede, Chris Frischmeyer, Cody Bystricky, Jill Gienger, Susan Boone Beichley, Tami Pierce, Brady Swenson, Kassi Nelson, Tom Boheman, Val Ehlers, mayor or council member from Gladbrook and mayor or council member from Reinbeck.

November 16-22 has been proclaimed as American Education Week.

A work session will be held in Reinbeck on Tuesday, November 4th at 7 p.m. and the regular meeting has been rescheduled for Monday, November 17th at 7 p.m. in Reinbeck as members will be attending the School Board Convention on their regular meeting night.