Tutoring policy draws discussion at meeting

     Several of the Monticello Community School District’s policies were discussed as part  of the regular meeting of the Monticello School board June 22, but the one that generated the most discussion had to do mostly with tutoring.

     The board reviewed the district’s past policy regarding tutoring. Superintendent Brian Jaeger recommended changing the school policy to align with the Licensed Employee Tutoring policy written by the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB).

     Jaeger suggested there are two sides to the issue of tutoring that pertain to school district’s of Monticello’s size.

     “On one side, there are considerations regarding a conflict of interest,” Jaeger said, referring to a situation in which a teacher might tutor his or her own student.

     “On the flip side, we live in a small community,” he added. “There’s not a whole lot of tutoring options out there. To be able to have professionals who are teachers in our district to be tutors, is to our kids’ advantage.”

     Board member Bud Johnson said he didn’t believe a teacher should also be a tutor to a student he or she teaches, and that he would have a problem with tutoring during school hours.

     Board member Mandy Norton said she didn’t believe teachers should solicit tutoring opportunities for their own students; it should be a parent coming to the teacher to request help.

     Jaeger also pointed out that tutors should seek out their own resources to use, rather than using resources that the district purchases for the school.

     In the end, Jaeger said he would rewrite the policy to reflect some of the discussion topics that came up at the June 22 meeting. Included were teachers not approaching families for tutoring, not using school resources for tutoring, making the requirements clear, making sure the district is aware of any tutoring arrangement, that a licensed employee of the district may tutor students other than their own, and that tutoring may not take place in school facilities during school hours, unless approved by the superintendent.

     The board then approved that policy with those noted changes as a first reading. Jaeger will present the rewritten policy as a second and final reading at the July 27 board meeting.

     Other policies discussed June 22 had to do with community use of school facilities, and the fee schedule for such usage.

     There were seven of these policies in all. Three of them were deleted, and the remaining four were combined into two policies to improve clarity and efficiency.

     Regarding the fee schedule, Johnson suggested the cost of renting school gyms, $50 per hour was too low. He said that is the same rental fee for any classroom, and that there is considerably more cost to the district in terms of lighting, etc. to have a gym open for an hour than a single classroom.

     The board approved the first reading of these policies, with the change made of renting a school gym for $100 per hour.