Return to Learn likely to combine methods

     While a 2020-21 instruction plan for the Monticello Community School District is still in the works, Superintendent Brian Jaeger said it is likely to include a variety of methods for the coming school year.

     Districts across Iowa are required to have a Return to Learn plan in place by July 1. Jaeger discussed the issue during a regular meeting of the Monticello School Board May 26.

     The meeting was held online using Google Meet, and held on a Tuesday instead of the traditional Monday slot due to Memorial Day.

     Jaeger said the district’s administrative team was scheduled to meet May 28 to discuss this, and will take its ideas out to teacher teams and ask for feedback.

     Each district is required to submit a plan that includes brick-and-mortar traditional course work, online learning, and a hybrid of the two.

     “This is going to be really complicated,” Jaeger cautioned. “Right now the school districts in the state are all over the map, and I hear guidance coming out on this a couple of times a week.

     “We’ll continue to get more guidance as we go through this. The thing we have to do is look at what is going to be best for our kids and our staff and our community, and try to put something together that will keep everybody safe as we go forward.”

     Also at the meeting, the board approved the additional furniture and equipment bid of Wenger Corporation, based in Owatonna, Minn., at a cost of $112,456.

     The bid includes furniture, fixtures and equipment for gym, auditorium and music areas in the new middle school. Among the items approved as part of the bid are athletic storage equipment, auditorium storage equipment and shelving.

     Among the largest items are seated choral risers. These risers are three tiers, using 3-foot-by-8-foot decks, which will hold about 50 people using the floor as the first row.

     The total price includes delivery and installation, which includes unloading, assembling and removal of debris by Wenger.

     Board member Amanda Brennemann asked if the district had the option of doing its own hauling and unloading of the items, which she said could knock the freight/handling charge from $1,802 to about $500.

     Kristie Clark of OPN Architects said she would contact Wenger to inquire about delivery options.

In other board business

     • The board heard a report from Chad Schumacher of OPN Architects about change orders from Portzen Construction totaling $34,651.53.

     The district is still less than halfway through the contingency funding set aside as part of the middle school construction project.

     “I’m really happy with where we’re at,” Schumacher said.

     • The board approved adoption of curriculum for the 2020-21 school year.

     • The board announced its meeting schedule for June and July, including a work session June 10, a regular meeting June 22, and another regular meeting July 27. The work session that was scheduled for July 8 was cancelled.

     Starting in June, the board will conduct meetings from its new board room near the entrance of the high school, part of the high school entryway construction that is ongoing.

     • The board approved the fees schedule for the 2020-21 school year. The schedule includes a one-time, $50 instrumental rental fee that would be applied to school-owned band instruments, including oboes, bassoons, French horns, tenor and baritone saxophones, baritones, and tubas.

     The fee would cover the cost of cleaning at the end of the school year and help with potential repair needs.

     • As part of the consent agenda, the board approved the resignations of Larissa Holub as special education child specific associate at Carpenter, Becca Harvey as district-wide special education associate, Stephanie Pumphrey as Panther Academy associate, and Kerry Jackson as first grade teacher at Shannon.

     • As part of the consent agenda, the board approved the appointments of Heather Hansen and Morgan Murray-Zimmerman as district wide summer technology associates; Adam Prister as district-wide school social worker, and Gwen Guilford, Linda Kelly, Steph Pumphrey, Steph Leytem and Audrey Green as district-wide summer food service workers.

     Also approved was the list of summer coaches.

     • The board approved the bid of Prairie Farms Dairy to provide milk for the 2020-21 school year.