A quartet of Union Board of Education directors took the oath of office during the Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, annual organizational meeting held in Dysart, including newly-elected District 2 Director Amanda Sheffler (pictured). PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

DYSART – Newly-elected Union school board director Amanda Sheffler took the oath of office alongside returning directors Reid Carlson, Lindsay Pipho, and Cady Schmidt during the Monday, Nov. 24, annual organizational meeting held in the media center at Union Middle School.

Sheffler won the open District 2 seat during the Nov. 4, 2025, city-school election by write-in vote. Out of the 590 write-in votes cast in the race, Sheffler received 339, according to the Iowa Secretary of State’s website. She replaces retiring director Maureen Hanson.

Incumbent Carlson, who did not file paperwork for his District 1 seat, also won by write-in vote; out of the 589 write-in votes cast, Carlson received 282. Incumbents Pipho and Schmidt ran unopposed for their seats.

Ahead of the organizational meeting, the board held its final meeting of the retiring board during which directors reviewed and accepted the Nov. 4, 2025, election results canvass. After adjourning, Hanson thanked the board and Superintendent John Howard.

“I’ll come back and visit sometime,” she said. “Thank you all. I wish you all the best. Thank you all for your service. It’s a labor of love, for sure.”

Union school board president Ben Schemmel, right, congratulates newly-elected District 2 Director Amanda Sheffler, left, on Monday, Nov. 24, in Dysart. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“You will be missed,” board president Ben Schemmel replied.

Organizational meeting

Following the final meeting of the retiring board, the annual organizational meeting was called to order. After swearing-in newly-elected and reelected board members, Schemmel was reelected board president and Brandon Paine was elected vice president, replacing Hanson. Both immediately took their respective oaths of office.

Diane Roberts and Crystal Coder – business manager for the Vinton-Shellsburg Community School District – were appointed to the role of board secretary. (Union has a sharing agreement with VSCSD.) Kim Lubbert was appointed board treasurer.

Board members were appointed to the following county conference boards: Carlson to Black Hawk, Pipho to Benton, and Carleen McGivern to Tama. McGivern was also reappointed to the Dysart Community Foundation for which she currently serves as board vice chair.

Reelected District 1 Director Reid Carlson. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Schmidt was appointed to the ELL Committee which addresses the instructional needs of English Language Learners (ELL); the committee is also referred to as the Lau Plan.

Schemmel, Paine, and Carlson (alternate) were appointed to the board’s negotiations team; Paine, Sheffler, and Schemmel (alternate) were appointed to the board’s insurance committee.

The board also approved the dates, times, and locations of upcoming meetings, including: Dec. 15 at LPC Elementary; Jan. 19, 2026, in the district office board room in La Porte City; Feb. 16 in La Porte City; March 9 or 23 in La Porte City; March 30 in La Porte City (budget meeting); April 20 in La Porte City; May 18 in La Porte City; and June 22 in La Porte City. All meetings begin at 6 p.m. The board will meet in Dysart in either July or August.

Following discussion, the North Tama Telegraph was approved as the newspaper of general circulation, replacing the Waterloo Courier.

Authorized bank signatories were approved with no change from past practice.

Reelected At-Large Director Cady Schmidt (to fill a vacancy). PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

The meeting was adjourned just before 6:30 p.m.

Regular meeting business

The board then rolled into the third meeting of the night, the regular November meeting.

As part of the consent agenda, Hannah Gates (high school assistant volleyball coach), Mike Schmidt (middle school girls track coach), and Erin Wittenburg (high school girls head tennis coach) were approved under resignations; under new hires, Ava Raub (Dysart-Geneseo Elementary special education associate), Roger Rosebury (high school head baseball coach), and Mike Schmidt (high school girls track coach) were approved.

There were no public comments.

As part of his report, Superintendent Howard shared the spring testing window for the district would run from mid-April to May 1, 2026. He also shared Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) terminology recently changed; the terms ‘advanced’, ‘proficient’, and ‘non-proficient’ would be replaced beginning spring 2026 with ‘below grade level’, ‘approaching grade level’, and ‘exceeding grade level’. The district will soon be advertising for a 6-12 math teacher for the 2026-27 school year. The calendar committee was set to meet this past week – a request has been made not to include as many professional development days as in years past. Howard also briefly mentioned a change to the middle school handbook regarding ‘small caffeine patches’ which are, per Howard, near-impossible to discern from similar patches that contain nicotine, THC, or other illegal substances. Going forward, caffeine patches will now be addressed in the same manner as nicotine patches following the third incident this school year of a student using a nicotine patch (but seemingly passing it off as a caffeine patch).

Presentations were then given by Andy Miller with Service Roofing Company of Waterloo, Union Middle School Principal Wayne Slack, and Kim Lubbert (school finance 101). Miller was invited to the meeting by Howard in order to assist the board in addressing the district’s roofing issues now that the bond referendum failed. Next month, the board will take action on some of Miller’s quotes/suggestions, Howard said.

As part of his presentation, Slack said, “It’s been a great year, off to a good start” at the middle school.

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 approved the purchase (using Nutrition funds) of a used lunch van with a lift from Jefferson Street Motors in Waterloo for $20,000. The van is six years old and has roughly 133,000 miles. It will be used primarily in Dysart.

The board approved an out-of-state trip for the high school baseball team to travel to St. Louis June 6-7, 2026. The team will play a game against Williamsburg at Busch Stadium. According to a social media post made by the Union Booster Club in the wake of the meeting, the St. Louis Cardinals will host the Cincinnati Reds while the Knights are in attendance for their own game.

A quote from D B Acoustics in Marion was approved to replace the sound panels in the high school band and choir rooms following mold damage. The quote – cheapest of three – was for $24,471.

The lone bid of $1,200 received by the district for a used weight room equipment package was approved.

A high bid of $2,526 for the sale of a district school bus (No. 14) was approved. The bid exceeded the minimum.