LONE TREE

The Lone Tree School Board met on Wednesday, May 15, for their final regular meeting of the 2023-24 school year.

Here, the board talked to high school science teacher Hunter Luttrell and middle school science teacher Cody Tiesman about a proposed change to the district’s science curriculum.

The new curriculum is free of charge, but the materials to teach it are not. This is why the teachers needed board approval so that they could attain all the necessary tools for the curriculum in preparation for next school year.

Tiesman noted the current curriculum does not meet the state’s requirements. Thus, Tiesman introduced a portion of the new curriculum to gauge student interest in November of 2023.

The added unit, titled “Contact forces,” was a more interactive, student-led unit. Tiesman later asked the students which form of teaching they preferred, the new hands-on approach, or what they were used to.

Tiesman estimated that 19 of 20 students preferred the new approach.

“I think this is a good shift to try to go towards just because of how excited they are. That’s getting kids actually engaged, which I think is what we want for our students, to be more engaged in the classroom,” Tiesman said. “I enjoy teaching it because it’s more student led, and they really enjoy that.”

“They got to extract DNA from a strawberry yesterday. How many kids get to do that on a daily basis? Not very many,” Tiesman added.

After deliberation, the board approved the three different required charges, officially changing the middle school and high school science curriculum as well as the biology curriculum.

The charge makes sure the school is stocked with all the necessary tools to teach the curriculum adequately.

Wellness center as shelter

After approving a proposal set by Johnson County Emergency Management services to designate the Wellness Center as an emergency shelter in case of dangerous weather, the board received a bid to place a generator in the building, a necessary step so the building can indeed be an emergency shelter.

But the price is higher than JCEM, the Lone Tree Fire Department and the school board hoped for, setting back the project.

Lone Tree Superintendent Tyler Hotz will speak with both the fire department and JCEM to discuss what the next step may be.

Board action

The board approved a bid from Midwest Tennis and Track to repair the school’s track this summer. The bid is priced at $144,930 and is about $20,000 less than the other bid the school received.

The board approved certified and classified handbooks for the 2024-25 school year. They also approved of new technology purchases for staff along with a tuition reimbursement plan for employees.

The employee tuition reimbursement plan has a cap of $8,000, requires approval from Hotz and does not cover tuition accrued beforehand.

The board approved option B which covers 100% of the cost in year one, 80% in year two, 60% in year three, 40% in year four, and 20% in year five. Year six and beyond will not be covered by the district.

Finally, the board approved of the head cook position that Nutritional Director Erik Isenhour recommended at a previous meeting. Isenhour rallied for this new position to give one of the current kitchen staffers more responsibilities and a higher wage while still not needing to hire anyone new.

Summer meetings

As stated during the board’s workshop meeting at the beginning of May, they will only have one meeting a month during June and July. June’s date is set for Monday, June 10, and July’s date is set for Wednesday, July 10. Both meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the district office.

June 10 will feature representatives from the Iowa Association of School Boards to finalize the discussion on Lone Tree’s public purpose policies.