Postville CSD
Board of Education Meeting
January 9, 2023
Superintendent’s Notes
Consent Agenda
5 a/b. Minutes, Bills, and Financial Reports
5 c. Transfers: Heather Staley/Elementary Positive Behavior Support Teacher
5 d. Acceptance of Donations/Gifts to the District
5 e. Field Trips
i. Mrs. Kruckman is requesting to take four high school students to the Meistersinger Honor Choir at Wartburg College on January 22 and 23, 2023.
ii. Senior overnight music trip to St. Louis, MO from 4/27/23-329/23. It will be paid through music fundraising activities and student contributions.
5 f. Volunteers: Todd Neal/Assistant Girls’ and Boys’ Wrestling Coach, Mac Hughes/Assistant Girls’ and Boys’ Wrestling Coach
New Business
7. The board will consider a School Budget Review Committee modified supplemental amount request for the 2023-2024 school year. The request is for $256,898, which will pay for the at-risk/dropout prevention programs.
Background Summary
Iowa Code and Iowa Administrative Code define at-risk language in the following ways:
281–Iowa Administrative Code 12.2(256) Definition of At-Risk
“At-risk student” means any identified student who needs additional support and who is not meeting or not expected to meet the established goals of the educational program (academic, personal/social, career/vocational). At-risk students include but are not limited to students in the following groups: homeless children and youth, dropouts, returning dropouts, and potential dropouts.
281–Iowa Administrative Code 12.5(13) Provisions for at-risk students
Each school district shall include in its comprehensive school improvement plan the following provisions for meeting the needs of at-risk students:
1. Valid and systematic procedures and criteria to identify at-risk students throughout the school district’s school-age population,
2. Determination of appropriate ongoing educational strategies for alternative options education programs as required in Iowa Code section 280.19A, and
3. Review and evaluation of the effectiveness of provisions for at-risk students. This subrule does not apply to accredited nonpublic schools.
Each school district using additional allowable growth for provisions for at-risk students shall incorporate educational program goals for at-risk students into its comprehensive school improvement plan. Provisions for at-risk students shall align with the student learning goals and content standards established by the school district or by school districts participating in a consortium. The comprehensive school improvement plan shall also include objectives, activities, cooperative arrangements with other service agencies and service groups, and strategies for parental involvement to meet the needs of at-risk children. The incorporation of these requirements into a school district’s comprehensive school improvement plan shall serve as the annual application for additional allowable growth designated in Iowa Code section 257.38.
In addition, the dropout prevention portion of the application focuses on the following goals: staying in school, progressing in school, and completing school.
The modified supplemental amount will fund the at-risk/dropout prevention programs through a combination of state aid and local property taxes.
Postville School District Program Components
1. 50% K-12 Guidance Counselors’ Salary and Benefits
a. Denise Mauss
b. Mannon Bushman
c. Rachel Sandhorst
2. 100% 7-12 At-Risk/Athletic Director Position Salary and Benefits
a. Zach Corsbie
3. 100% Alternative School at the RISE Academy
a. Amy Norby
b. Online Curriculum
4. 70% Elementary Positive Behavior Support Teacher
a. Not Currently Filled
5. 10% Principal Salary and Benefits
a. Brendan Knudtson
b. Jennifer Schutte