A trio of North Tama Board of Education directors takes the oath of office during the Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, annual organizational meeting in Traer. From left, newly-elected District 1 Director Seth Seda, reelected District 2 Director David Calderwood, and newly-elected District 3 Director LeRoy Staker. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

TRAER – Newly-elected North Tama school board directors Seth Seda and LeRoy Staker took the oath of office alongside returning director David Calderwood during the Monday, Nov. 17, annual organizational meeting held in the junior high commons.

Seda defeated Jordan Hagedon on Nov. 4 for the District 1 seat to replace retiring director Rod Zobel, while Staker ran unopposed for the District 3 seat to replace retiring director Cheryl Popelka. Calderwood also ran unopposed for his District 2 seat. Incumbent Marty Dostal was also reelected to his District 4 seat – by defeating challengers Denny Berger and Jayme Roudabush – but was absent from the meeting.

Ahead of the organizational meeting, the board held its annual meeting during which the FY2025 ending fund balances (printed below) and outstanding checks (20 checks totaling $2,988.30) were both acknowledged and approved. The board also reviewed and approved the Nov. 4, 2025, election results. The final item on the brief annual meeting’s agenda was adjournment of the retiring board.

“I appreciate these last 12 years working with everybody,” retiring president Zobel said, addressing fellow board members Calderwood, Doug Dvorak, and Jenny Sniffin (David Boldt, Dostal, and Popelka were absent). “We’ve had challenges but we persevered, especially through COVID and everything. Phase I [of the four-phase facility master plan] is getting well established. Our (enrollment) numbers are staying solid, and I feel we’ll just keep moving forward.”

“I appreciate your leadership, your [positivity]. You’ve dedicated a lot of time to the district and [many] accomplishments were [acheived] during your tenure. [You’re] leaving the board in good hands,” Superintendent John Cain said. He then invited members of the board to also speak. Dvorak thanked Zobel for his “great service and leadership” and for the “positivity” he has brought to the board – comments that Sniffin echoed.

FY2025 ENDING FUND BALANCES (as of June 30, 2025)

-General Funds: $82,414.15

-Activity Funds: $166,843.48

-Management Funds: $718,526.53

-Capital Project Funds: $8,031,404.93

-SAVE Funds: $518,107.62

-Capital Projects-PK Playground: $9,791.31

-PPEL Funds: $21,265.38

-Debt Service Funds: (-$458.11)

-Nutrition Funds: $140,013.43

-Enterprise Funds: $5,320.42

-Trust Funds: $1,905.00

TOTAL FUND BALANCE: $9,695,134.14

Other business

Following an informal tour of the new high school addition, the regular organizational board meeting was called to order. After the swearing-in of the newly-elected and reelected board members, both Seda and Staker joined the board at the conference tables.

Calderwood was elected the board’s new president and Sniffin was elected vice president – both immediately took their respective oaths of office.

Sara Forrester was nominated and approved as board secretary/treasurer.

Approval of the dates and times for regular meetings of the board in 2026 was tabled to later in the meeting.

The North Tama Telegraph was approved as the official publication of the board.

District representatives (principal, assistant principal, director of curriculum) were appointed and approved to the Professional Development Committee. During discussion, Cain remarked that the district was looking to move from a master contract to an annual contract.

Authorized signatories for school checks and business transactions were approved, including Forrester, Cain, and Calderwood.

District depositories were approved with no change from past practice.

The board designated and approved Level I Investigator (Iowa Dept. of Health and Human Services), Alternate Level I Investigator (superintendent and PK-12 principal), and Level II Investigator (Tama County Sheriff).

Ahlers & Cooney of Des Moines was approved as the district’s legal counsel (no change from last year).

The board approved accepting up to two (2) foreign exchange students for the 2026-27 school year. The district currently has one (1) foreign exchange student for the current school year.

As part of the consent agenda, the board approved hiring Samantha Anderson as the 2026-27 K-12 music teacher. Anderson, a West Delaware Class of 2022 alumna, is from Dundee and is currently a student at Wartburg College where she plays tuba in the Wind Ensemble. Anderson will replace Christine McFate who recently resigned following an investigation into a social media post she made in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assasination. Assistant Principal Jordy Brown remarked that North Tama’s K-12 campus “appealed” to Anderson. The current long-term substitute for K-12 vocal music will finish out the school year.

After tabling the issue early in the meeting, the board later discussed moving next year’s regular meeting dates from Mondays to Wednesdays in order to better accommodate working parents’ schedules, including Forrester’s. “Sara is a very valuable member of this team but she’s also a very valuable member of her family and she believes there could be some coaching on the horizon as her family continues to grow and Monday nights are difficult for her,” Cain explained. Following discussion, the board agreed to take action next meeting on moving the regular meetings, beginning January 2026, to the third Wednesday of the month with a 6 p.m. start time; summer meetings (June and July) will move to 6:15 a.m.

Superintendent’s report

As part of his report to the board, Superintendent Cain gave an update on where wrestling practice had been taking place in light of ongoing construction – the girls practice was being held at AD/Coach Andrew Knaack’s heated pole shed east of town. Cain also shared, with boys practice beginning soon and wrestling participation numbers being so high this season, morning and afternoon practices will be necessary.

Cain said Monday, Dec. 8, is the target date for the renovated wrestling room to be finished and accessible. A community open house for the new high school addition is tentatively being planned for some night in early January 2026, he also said.

Highlighted action items

The board approved supporting Dr. Tony Reid of Cedar Falls as a candidate for Central Rivers AEA Board of Directors District 4.

The board addressed several Change Order Requests (COR), including COR 48 which was a request to increase the price of the new high school addition’s exterior sign located along the corner of the building. Expenses have surpassed $50,000 for the sign, Cain explained. The board approved a motion to deny the request and end Larson Construction’s design work for the sign. The board plans to seek other options.

The board tabled COR 56 over a question of costs. COR 56 pertains to installing carpet over cracks that have formed in the new addition’s concrete areas in the hallways. Since being poured, the floor has settled and subsequently cracked in multiple areas, some cracks being more than 24 inches long as observed by the newspaper during the tour earlier that evening. Larson has indicated to the district there are no structural issues associated with the cracking – cracking which has turned up at other project sites in Iowa, including on the Iowa State University campus. Cain said members of the North Tama administrative team plan to visit at least two of those other sites. Principal Taylor Howard has already visited the ISU site.