Public Hearing onProposed School Budget Fiscal Year July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027Of the Board of Education of theNorth Tama County Community School DistrictThe Board of Directors of the Community School District of North Tama County met on April 22, 2026, for a public hearing on the Proposed School Budget Fiscal Year July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027, at the North Tama County School, Junior High Commons, Traer, Iowa at 6:00 P.M. The public hearing was called to order by President Calderwood.On roll call the following board members were present: Wilson, Seda, Sniffin, Dostal, Calderwood and Dvorak. Staker was absent. Quorum Present. Also present were: Superintendent Cain, Board Secretary Forrester, Principal Brown, Activities Director Knaack, Technology Director LaRue, and members of the public.Public comments regarding the proposed school budget for fiscal year July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027, were called for by President Calderwood. No individuals requested to make a public comment in writing nor in person.Hearing no public comments, Sniffin motioned to adjourn the hearing at 6:02 P.M. Dvorak seconded the motion. Motion carried 6-0 (Staker absent).
Regular Meetingof the Board of Education of theNorth Tama County Community School DistrictThe Board of Directors of the Community School District of North Tama County met on April 22, 2026, for a regular open meeting at the North Tama County School, Junior High Commons, Traer, Iowa at 6:05 P.M. The meeting was called to order by President Calderwood.On roll call the following board members were present: Sniffin, Seda, Staker, Dostal, Calderwood, Wilson and Dvorak. Quorum Present. Also present were: Superintendent Cain, Board Secretary Forrester, Principal Brown, Activities Director Knaack, Technology Director LaRue, and members of the public and staff.Public comments were asked for and received by two. Judy Morrison recommended the board consider the continuation of the master contract for teachers noting her historical experience at North Tama as a teacher and union member with regards to the negotiation process. Heather Cooper asked the board to dig deeper into the decisions and bring more transparency to the internal teacher classroom transfers being made by administration in the elementary for the 2026-2027 school year noting her concerns as two of her children will be affected by these grade level transfers.Sniffin moved to approve the agenda as presented. Wilson seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0.Dvorak made the motion to approve the consent agenda, which included: the board minutes for North Tama County Community School District's hearing on the proposed property tax levy for fiscal year July 1, 2026, - June 30, 2027 which took place on March 25, 2026 and the regular board meeting on March 25, 2026, the approval of the financial documents (expenditures to date, approval of bills, monthly balances and expenses compared to the published budget), the hiring of Angela Hambly as Spanish Teacher, Angie Hallet as TAG Teacher and Raina Brown as Agricultural Teacher and FFA advisor (all three for the 2026-2027 school year) and Todd Harmsen as the Assistant High School Baseball Coach, the resignation of Greg Criswell as teacher, FFA sponsor and Head Girls Basketball Coach for the 2026-2027 school year, the approval of fundraisers include the art club for May Day baskets, Class of 2027 chocolate sales in the fall, Spanish trip coffee/tea sales, football discount card sales, iJAG medical donation drive, FCCLA concession stand "Food Truck" at a baseball game, art club face painting at the art show and the United Kingdom trip for online individual trip fundraising, the interagency agreement with Central Rivers AEA for interpretation services, and open enrollment/special education bills payable to Waverly-Shell Rock CSD (Lied Center) for $8,883.00 and the out of state trip for iJAG to the national competition in Salt Lake City, Utah. Seda second the motion. Motion carried 7-0.Student Representative Cluts gave her final report as she graduates in May. She gave an update on school club happenings and thanked the board for their time and commitment to North Tama. The board, in turn, gave thanks to Miss Cluts for her knowledge, comments and help the past year, and congratulated her on her upcoming high school graduation.Principal Brown reported to the board regarding ISASPs taking place this week at the district, presented the DCAP report which focuses on work base learning initiatives being completed by students, and shared the anticipated 2026-2027 junior high schedule changes moving to a modified block schedule to give more time to core instruction class time.Superintendent Cain's report included a call for volunteers to hand out diplomas at graduation, a note about potential special meeting before the regularly scheduled May meeting, an update on the weather related decisions made on April 17th to keep students on school buses safe during the storm, discussed the need to modify the 2026-2027 school calendar at a future meeting and a discussion with board members regarding the internal transfer decisions made to move teachers to different grade levels for the 2026-2027 school year.No public hearings were conducted as the proposed school budget for fiscal year 2027 hearing took place prior to the meeting at 6:00 P.M.Discussion items included: the revised bond rating being issued by S&P Global moving from an A rating to a BBB+ rating due to the historical spending of the district in fiscal years 2023, 2024 and 2025, an update on was given on fiscal year 2027 maintenance and custodial needs of the district including bids received from potential custodial company services for night cleaning verse the internal hiring of a full or part time in-house position and a potential amended 2026- 2027 school year calendar was shared and discussed.After a review of the proposed North Tama County CSD Fiscal Year 2027 Budget, Staker motioned to adopt the proposed budget as published. Sniffin seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0.Sniffin made the motion for conditional approval of the Class of 2026 graduates. Staker seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0.Dvorak made the motion to approve the annual contract and subscription renewal with Bluum for the Quicklert system at an expense of $21,000.00. Seda seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0.Dvorak made the motion to approve the amended 28E agreement dated effective June 1, 2026, subject to any additional edits required by the Iowa Insurance Division in connection with the Trust's certificate of registration application. Staker seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0.Bids were reviewed for the sidewalk and drainage repairs prioritized by the board. Dvorak made the motion to accept the sidewalk bid from JRF Concrete for $81,708.25. Staker seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0. Dvorak made the motion to accept the drainage bid from Champion Enterprises for $27,458.00. Staker seconded the motion. Motion carried 6-0 (Seda abstained).Bids were reviewed for the multi-purpose room (MPR) updates prioritized by the board. Staker made the motion to accept the flooring bid from H21 for $73,661.00. Sniffin seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0. Staker made the motion to accept the wall mat bid from Sports Graphics for $18,958.00. Sniffin seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0. Staker made the motion to accept the 4-row manual bleacher bid from Townsend for $20,544.00. Dvorak seconded the motion. A roll call vote was asked for, Secretary Forrester completed the roll call vote: Seda-no, Dvorak-yes, Sniffin-no, Staker-yes, Wilson-no, Dostal-no, Calderwood-yes. Motion failed 4-3. Seda made the motion to take the decision on the scoreboard quote from H21 for $7,911.00. Sniffin seconded. Motion carried 7-0.Bids were reviewed for the playground upgrades including a new pre-k playground prioritized by the board. Dvorak made the motion to accept the lot clearing, grading and seeding bid from Hatch Grading & Contracting, Inc. for $11,605.00. Sniffin seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0.A third reading was completed and motion made by Dvorak for policy 507.09-R(1) to move to a fourth reading. Seda seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0.A second reading was completed, followed by a motion by Sniffin to approve the following policies: 800, 801.01, 801.02, 801.03, 801.04, 802.01, 802.03, 802.04, 802.04-R(1), 802.04-R(2), 802.05, 802.06, 802.07, 803.01, 803.02, 804.01 804.04, 804.06 and 804.06-R(1) and decline policies 804.05 and 804.05-E(1). Dvorak seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0.A first reading was completed for board policies: 507.03, 900, 902.01, 902.02, 902.03, 903.01, 903.03, 903.04, 903.05, 903.05-R(1), 904.01, 904.02, 905.01, 905.01-E(1), 905.01-E(2), 905.01-R(1), 905.01-R(2), 905.02, 905.03, 906, 907 and 907-R(1).Upcoming events were noted, including shoutouts for the two students traveling and competing in the upcoming National iJAG competition.No closed sessions took place.Sniffin made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:03 P.M. Dvorak seconded the motion. Motion carried 7-0.After adjourning the board went into an exempt session with Superintendent Cain, Secretary Forrester and Principal Brown for the discussion of contract negotiations. Under Iowa Code Chapter 20.17.[3], a public body such as a school board can meet in exempt session for negotiating sessions, strategy meetings of public employers or employee organizations, mediations, and the deliberation process of arbitration. The exempt session ended at 10:39 P.M.The next regular North Tama County Community School District board meeting is planned for 6:00 P.M. Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in the North Tama Junior High Commons located at 605 Walnut St, Traer, Iowa.Published in the North Tama Telegraph May 8, 2026 L80046
