Monticello school district shares data portal on website

Monticello school officials recently updated the district’s website to include data that shares enrollment, attendance, graduation rate and other metrics. 

“It’s a snapshot of some data in our district,” said Robyn Ponder, Monticello School District curriculum and special programs director. “We worked on it with the AEA (area education agency).” 

The data can be found at the district’s website, www.monticello.k12.ia.us. To find it, hover over the “academics” tab at the top of the page and select “data dashboard.”

The data includes sources and is presented in colorful graphs. The data is updated intermittently as new numbers are available, Ponder said. Attendance data, though, will be refreshed monthly. 

Technology purchases

Ponder said the district will save around $120,000 on a technology purchase for the new elementary school.

The board-approved purchase is through Infrastructure Technology Solutions, of Monticello, to furnish the new school with telecom services, which includes internet access points, switches and the infrastructure needed to connect to systems already in place at the middle school and high school. 

The total cost is an estimated $212,973, but thanks to a discount through the federal Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Program, the district will pay 40% -- or around $85,000 -- of the cost. The discount percentage is determined based on the district’s free-and-reduced lunch count. 

Ponder said the new tech will add some future proofing to the school campus as well, as it will increase the district’s internet speed from 1 GB to 10 GB. 

Other business

• The board approved a $70,000 allowance that the district’s transportation director, Mike Wink, can use to purchase an all-wheel-drive 12-passenger van for the district. Monticello Superintendent Brian Jaeger said Wink has in the past located several of the vans for purchase, but by the time a board meeting takes place so the board can approve the expenditure, the van is off the market. The allowance will allow Wink to spend up to $70,000 on a van without additional board approval. The vans, Wink said, are useful for sports teams and other out-of-district activities for small groups, as a coach can drive them without special licensing, which removes the need for the district to find and pay a driver. The vans are also used for regular before and after school routes. The district currently has two 12-passenger vans as well as some vehicles with less capacity, Wink said. 

• The board approved the implementation of new science curriculum called OpenSciEd. 

• The board approved a $24,273 expenditure for new teacher computers. The price was for 27 Macbooks, but Ponder said ultimately, not all of the new computers will be Apple devices, as 11 teachers run programs that require a Microsoft device instead. Due to the timing of new PCs being released close to the start of next school year, Ponder requested the spending allowance now but assured the board that since PCs are cheaper than Macbooks, the total cost for all the computer purchases would be less than $24,273. Ponder said there will be additional savings on the Apple devices when they are purchased in bundles of five or ten at a time. 

• The board approved the personnel report, which included the hiring of Angela Boysen on a 190-day contract for the 2026-27 school year as district-wide English learner teacher and coordinator for $62,000. Boysen has 19 years of experience as a teacher and her salary is half the cost the district was paying the Grant Wood Area Education Agency for the same service, Jaeger said. The personnel report also included the transfer of Chance Manternach from high school special education teacher to middle school physical education teacher and the retirement of Carpenter custodian Shawn Green, who has worked for the district for 9.5 years.