Rural Garwin resident Rod Claassen, right, speaks to members of the Green Mountain-Garwin school board including (l-r) Ann Jackson, Kristine Kienzle, and Doug Dieleman while secondary principal Clyde Tarrence listens during Monday’s regular board meeting held in the Green Mountain Elementary School library. Claassen was appointed during the meeting by the board to fill an at-large seat that became vacant following Jill Roberts’ resignation last month. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

GREEN MOUNTAIN – The Green Mountain-Garwin Board of Education appointed and promptly swore in its newest member this week, rural Garwin resident Rod Claassen.

While Claassen was the only interested individual to show up at the regular board meeting held in Green Mountain on Monday, five people had contacted board secretary Betsy Spaur with an interest in serving, school board member Justin Hornberg said.

The at-large seat became vacant following former school board president Jill Roberts’ resignation on Aug. 4. Prior to her resignation, Roberts, a retired GMG math teacher, had been board president since Nov. of 2023 and was in her fifth year as a member of the board.

“With deep regret, I am writing to inform the GMG School Board that, for health and age-related reasons, I am resigning from the board effective immediately,” Roberts wrote in her resignation letter. “I wish all of you the wisdom and the courage to continue to do what is best for the students of GMG.”

After introducing Claassen, 57, as the only candidate for the vacant seat – those interested in the appointment were required to attend the Sept. 9 meeting – Hornberg invited him to speak for no more than three minutes to members of the board. Claassen began with a brief bio: his wife Angie Claassen is currently GMG’s secondary school office manager while his adult children, son Bridger and daughter Josie, both graduated from GMG.

Green Mountain-Garwin school board secretary Betsy Spaur, right, administers the oath of office to Rod Claassen during the Monday, Sept. 9 regular meeting held in Green Mountain. Claassen will serve in the at-large seat for the next two months; the seat will then be part of the Nov. 5 general election ballot and will be filled by write-in vote. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“I believe [GMG] served them well,” Claassen said of his children. “I think it really prepared them. I feel they really received a well rounded education as well as extracurricular activities. They both went on to get college degrees.”

He then said while he did not “fully know” the expectations of serving on the school board he thought the responsibility centered on providing “the best academic and extracurricular avenues for all of our students.” He added that his top priority if he were appointed would be to “provide teachers that are excited to teach and students that are excited to learn.”

Claassen also mentioned providing “modern and up to date facilities” as the responsibility of the school board.

“I try to be quick to listen, and I try to be slow to speak,” Claassen continued. “I will try to live up to these standards the best that I can. I have always had an inquiring kind of mind and I enjoy learning new things. … I don’t come with any hidden agendas. I just basically want what’s best for (the) GMG school district.”

After retaking his seat in the audience, school board member David Collins asked about the list of other candidates to which school board member Jackie Stonewall said, “We just have one.”

“We had one that came tonight. So I guess the decision is probably pretty simple,” Hornberg said.

The board then unanimously approved Claassen’s appointment to serve until November 2024. Claassen was immediately sworn in by Spaur and afterwards took his seat at the table beside Petersen.

November election

While Claassen’ at-large seat will be on the ballot this fall as part of the Tuesday, Nov. 5 General Election, due to delayed communication from the Iowa Secretary of State to the Marshall County Auditor’s office, there will be no names attached to the election.

“We are where we are,” Petersen said of the mixup. “The biggest thing is informing the public [the seat] is on [the ballot].”

The election for Claassen’s seat will be done by write-in; whoever is elected will then serve through 2027.

The most important thing, Petersen said, is that the public spell any write-in candidate’s name correctly.

“If the name is spelled incorrectly, they won’t count it as the same vote.”

Registered voters in Iowa can currently request an absentee ballot (vote by mail) for the November election by either visiting their county auditor’s office or by contacting the office and asking that a form be mailed. Once completed, the form needs to be returned to the county auditor.

Printable absentee ballot request forms are also available from the Iowa Secretary of State’s website: https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/pdf/absenteeballotapp.pdf.

Other business

School board member Kristine Kienzle provided an update from the Referendum Planning Committee in regard to the district’s school bond referendum on Nov. 5, 2024. Kienzle said the committee met with SitelogIQ and Petersen three weeks ago to identify “supporters in the community who are good advocates for the right reasons we’re pursuing [the bond referendum].” SitelogIQ then set up interviews with those people to film “public-facing content” for the district’s awareness campaign. She also said the committee was working to plan at least two and possibly three public information sessions in both Garwin and Green Mountain ahead of the Nov. vote.

As part of the consent agenda, a contract (to fill a vacancy) for Kelly Rogers as an elementary special education associate was approved.

A business services sharing agreement with Central Rivers AEA in the amount of $31,304 was approved. The agreement provides operational sharing for Spaur’s position “as she learns the ropes,” Petersen explained. He said he believes this will be the final year for the agreement while also stating the agreement “is extremely valuable.”

A bid from Midwest Foundation Repair for $6,778.16 was approved to repair a sinking corner in the secondary building’s kitchen in Garwin. There is nothing to support the building underneath the six-inch sink as there is a tunnel (a void) beneath it. Work was expected to begin on the foundation on Sept. 11.

The board approved using the Des Moines firm Ahlers & Cooney, P.C as the district’s law firm – a firm GMG along with most school districts in Iowa already use. “They’re standard across the state,” Petersen said. “There’s not a lot of choice anymore.”

Three open enrollment requests were approved including open enrollment-in for both a kindergartener and a 10th grader, as well as an open enrollment-out to South Tama County CSD for a student. All three were for ‘good cause,’ Petersen said, as the open enrollment deadline set by the Iowa legislature has already passed for the current school year.

Principal Clyde Tarrence gave an update on fall sports numbers at the secondary including cross country with six, high school volleyball with 22, high school football with 17, and high school cheer with 16. Hornberg asked for an update on the three secondary classrooms that were damaged by water last spring. Tarrence said construction was finished with just a few minor details remaining.

As part of his report, Petersen discussed the new chronic absenteeism policy changes that are affecting every school district in Iowa this school year due to recent legislation. The most immediate change being once a student reaches 10% (9 days/semester) in non-exempt absences, the district must send a certified letter to parents and contact the county attorney as a courtesy. Once a student reaches 15% (13 days/semester) in non-exempt absences, the district must schedule a prevention meeting with parents and teachers. At 20% (18 days/semester), the county attorney must be contacted in order to pursue truancy charges,

“I covered that in about 60 seconds and it’s a two-hour topic,” Petersen quipped following his brief explanation of the new policy.

Board member Ann Jackson asked if it was a requirement to file charges to which Petersen replied affirmatively. He then explained that school districts across the state have been experiencing large numbers of chronically absent students in recent years.

GMG will be sending a letter home to families soon about the new policy.