One school board seat turns over ahead of new year

A new member joined the Monticello Community School Board while a former member said goodbye. 

Mark Rieken received a recognition of service at the Nov. 24 board meeting, as his four-year term on the board came to a close. Following that, J. Creighton Randolph, who was elected to the board in November’s election, took his place on the dais.

Randolph, along with Mandy Norton and Craig Stadtmueller, who were reelected to their seats, recited their oaths of office as they embark on their new four-year terms. 

The Nov. 24 meeting was largely procedural, with the board approving various measures to ensure its business is handled next year. At the meeting, the board: 

• Voted for and approved Stadtmueller as its president. 

• Voted for and approved Mandy Norton to serve as the board’s vice president. 

• Appointed Norton to the board’s negotiations/labor relations committee, board member John Schlarmann to the grounds and transportation committee, board member Tony Amsler to the education committee and Randolph to the finance committee. 

• Set the 2026 school board meeting calendar that includes holding school board meetings on the fourth Monday of each month and a work session on the second Wednesday of each month, with other work sessions as needed. 

• Approved the district’s official depository banks as Ohnward Bank & Trust (with a limit of $900,000), Citizens State Bank ($13,000,000), Iowa School Joint Investment Trust ($10,000) and UMB Bank ($1,400,000). 

• Designated the district’s legal counsel as Ahlers & Cooney, P.C. and Lynch Dallas, P.C. Law Firm. 

• Designated the Monticello Express as the district’s official publication for board minutes and other communication. 

• Approved a modified supplemental amount of $44,383 for open enrolled out students who were not included in the district’s previous year’s verified enrollment count. 

• Approved a modified supplemental amount of $7,109 for the school’s English Language Learning Program to cover students who have exceeded five years of weighting and are included in the fall 2025 certified enrollment head count. 

• Heard a report from Elementary principal Shannon Kehoe who reported that attendance for conferences was 99% at Shannon Elementary and 96% at Carpenter. 

“We had some teachers needing to do double conferences for families and they did that without hesitation,” Kehoe said. 

• Approved the first reading of a new board policy related to student substance abuse that aligns the district’s policy with that of the Iowa Association of School Boards. The mandatory policy puts the school in compliance with the Drug-Free Schools Act but is expanded to include tobacco products and minors, the policy states.