The North Tama County Community School District located at 605 Walnut Street in Traer, Iowa. TAMA-GRUNDY PUBLISHING FILE PHOTO

1. Representatives from the nonprofit organization iJAG (Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates) gave a presentation to the North Tama School Board as part of their rescheduled regular January meeting on Monday, Jan. 24 in the North Tama Jr. High Commons. Due to scheduling conflicts and lack of quorum, the meeting was postponed by one week. Superintendent David Hill invited Cara Rypka and Ashley Ross from iJAG to present to the board in order to determine if their services would be a “good fit” for North Tama High School next school year. No action was taken by the board in regards to iJAG. iJAG is the Iowa affiliate of the national organization. The nonprofit has been in Iowa for 23 years. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) is vice chair for the national organization which bills itself as “helping young people of truly great promise succeed in both school and on-the-job, leading to productive and rewarding careers.” Rypka told the board if the district contracted with iJAG next year, they would place a full time “education specialist” in the school who would teach about three periods a day, working with about 45 students total in the first year, getting them ready for graduation, teaching life skills, and connecting them to career paths including locally. Both GMG and South Tama County currently contract with iJAG. By working with area employers as well as the district’s own high school staff, an iJAG education specialist delivers services through project-based learning in a competency-based education format, Rypka said. The program wraps “extra supports” around students who qualify, giving them an extra advocate in the building. “We don’t have a set curriculum,” Rypka said, “nor set projects. Projects are built around the community.” The cost of iJAG for a district like North Tama, which would include one full time employee in the building, is $25,000. The full cost of an education specialist, however, is three times that amount, Rypka said, which is funded a third by the school district, a third by the state of Iowa through the education budget, and a third by public and private partnerships. Students receive elective credit recognized by the Iowa Dept. of Education for any iJAG classes they take. Board member David Calderwood inquired as to which students would qualify for the program, asking: “Do students need to have a deficit of some kind? Can all students take the classes as an elective?” Rypka described students in the iJAG program as being from “underrepresented areas” and with “high barriers to being successful” but said she can “pretty much qualify any student … every kid needs this … a lot of kids want it.” Supt. Hill told the board following the iJAG presentation there are “too many students taking study halls” at the high school who “need to be engaging.” No action was taken by the board following the presentation.

2. The board approved unanimously Supt. Hill’s request to replace isolation period guidance that is part of the district’s Return to Learn Plan with new language following a change in CDC guidance that was subsequently recommended by the Iowa Dept. of Public Health (IDPH). Supt. Hill said on Jan. 13, IDPH revised its guidance that an individual (staff member or student) with a COVID-19 infection must stay home for 10 days down to five days of isolation. After five days, the individual may return to school on Day 6 if their symptoms are resolving or they continue to have no symptoms if asymptomatic; if they wear a mask around others for an additional five days; if they are fever free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication. Supt. Hill told the board the district has recently had a number of mild COVID-19 cases among its staff members and he has been allowing those staff to come back after five days in light of the workforce shortage as long as they follow CDC isolation guidance. The change was approved unanimously.

3. During the Superintendent Report, Supt. Hill shared that the owners of the last remaining section of the block that the school district does not own – located at 606 S Main Street – approached the district with a right of first refusal document that would give the North Tama Community School District first right to buy their home when they are ready to sell in exchange for $100 from the district now. Such rights would follow the property, Supt. Hill said. No timeline was given nor asked for by the owners but Supt. Hill indicated they would ideally like to sell to the district in four to five years’ time. No action was taken on the offer but it will be placed on a future agenda, Supt. Hill said.

4. Also during the Superintendent Report, Supt. Hill asked the board to provide their thoughts following the special board work session held earlier in January that addressed the financial implications for the district in anticipation of future infrastructure projects. Supt. Hill also asked the board to provide guidance for the architects in terms of which of the remaining three facility study options they wanted to pursue further. Following a lengthy discussion, those board members present at the meeting including Haley Blaine, Val Bradley, David Boldt, David Calderwood, and Doug Dvorak – Board President Rod Zobel and Cheryl Popelka being absent – seemed to be in agreement that a general obligation school bond levy for the full $4.05 per thousand dollars assessed valuation on property owners in the district was the route they would have to go but that a bond referendum should not be undertaken until March 2023 at the earliest. “First we need to educate the public on what our needs are,” Calderwood said at one point. It was also decided by the board members present that a new gymnasium needed to be added to the first phase of all three facility options still being considered. Supt. Hill said he would relay the board’s feedback to both the architects and to the financial firm Piper Sandler that the district is working with as part of the facility study.