LONE TREE

Lone Tree’s School Board will meet with the Iowa Association of School Boards – IASB – to receive training and guidance for policies 705.4 and 705.4 R1, “Expenditures for a Public Purpose,” during their July board workshop meeting.

This will cover memorial flowers, student fundraising and more to help tailor the policy to better suit school clubs such as FFA, whose members expressed a feeling of “unfair” treatment due to the public purpose policies.

The FFA chapter fundraised and then asked to use said funds for a rodeo which would have met curriculum requirements. Administration declined use of funds for the rodeo as they didn’t initially know the rodeo was a required event rather than a leisure activity for the club.

Additionally, the club was denied access to their funds for the purchase of memorial flowers, further making the public purpose policy an undesirable one for the chapter.

Administration intends to continue implementing the public purpose policy in regard to memorial flowers: they will only be purchased for the loss of immediate family members.

But the board may change the way public purpose is perceived after their meeting with IASB.

Before that meeting, Superintendent Tyler Hotz is meeting with FFA advisor Payton Lorack as well as the FFA officers to further discuss public purpose, implications and possible amendments.

Board Action

House Bill 2612 officially passed through the Iowa legislature on March 27 and will be fully implemented on July 1, 2024. This bill affects teacher salaries in Iowa along with myriad other regulations like those pertaining to AEA funding and implementation.

Once the bill passed, Lone Tree could move forward with contracts for the 2024-25 school year, which they did at their regular meeting on Wednesday, April 17.

Following House Bill 2612, Lone Tree teachers with 11 years or less of experience will start at $47,500. Teachers with 12 years or more of experience will start at $60,000. Next year, both salaries will rise to $50,000 and $62,000, respectively.

Seven Lone Tree teachers will see raises ranging from $50 to $2,400 a year.

The minimum starting salary for teachers in Iowa was previously set at $33,500.

Because of the increase in wages, the state is providing $22 million for experienced teacher pay increases and an additional $14 million for paraeducators and other non-salaried employees.

The board also approved their 2024-2025 budget and an agreement with Mid-Prairie CSD to share their Transportation Director for the 2024-25 school year.

Principal Report Highlight

Elementary Principal Amber Jacque and Middle School/ High School Principal Andrew Koshatka give principal reports at virtually every Lone Tree school board meeting, with most of their report available for review on the school website.

These reports give insight to what is happening in and around Lone Tree CSD.

At the April 17 meeting, Jacque gave a shoutout to fourth grade teacher Katherine Leibold.

Lone Tree welcomed a new student who only speaks Spanish. The student was placed in Leibold’s class as she holds a minor in Spanish.

After a quick turnaround from enrollment to being in class, Leibold wasted no time and labeled everything in her classroom in Spanish to help the student feel welcome.

“I feel like although that’s something we would think that people would do, I don’t think it’s like off the top of their head the next day to be completely prepared for him walking in,” Jacque said. “That was really nice. Being able to just step into that the next day was really great for him and her.”

Now, Leibold speaks with the student in English and Spanish. Additionally, the school’s math curriculum is provided in Spanish, ensuring the student can receive proper attention.

Next board meeting: The Lone Tree School Board will next meet on Wednesday, May 1, for a board workshop meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the district office.