By Erin M. Gentz
Index Interim Editor
The West Liberty School Board has approved a language change to the district’s attendance policy to bring it in line with a new law passed during the last legislative session.
The change was approved during the Sept. 16 board meeting.
Superintendent Shaun Kruger explained the law is meant to address chronic absenteeism.
If a student misses 10 percent of scheduled school days, a certified letter will be sent to the parents informing them of the issue. At 15 percent, the district will call an in-person meeting with the parents and the students to discuss the issue and attempt to remedy the situation. At 20 percent of missed days, the student will officially be classified as truant, and the district can inform the county attorney’s office.
“Honestly, I don’t think a ton has changed here,” said Kruger. “This is legislation that was passed. I think the principals, counselors, administrators, resource navigators, et cetera, do a great job of trying to work with families on making sure they’re here in school so we can teach them. I feel like they have a very good grasp of who the students are that are absent and why they’re absent.
“I think the intent of this legislation was for certain situations where maybe people were abusing it or not following through with having their children in school, maybe it got lax for whatever reason. I think the intent here is just to give more teeth to schools, but also the county attorney on dealing with these situations. But again, I commend our principals and staff all around, just for the work that they have done prior to this year, with all the work that they do on attendance, trying to keep track of that and to work with our families getting children here. Providing them with resources, understanding why they’re not here and then working with people on what we can do to help them get here.”
Board member Rebecca Vargas commended the staff for working the families but expressed concern about an undue burden on the staff and administration in trying to stay in line with the legislation. Kruger agreed, saying administrators have had discussions about how to navigate the new processes.
“I feel like we have a pretty good plan in place. We’re going to do the best we can with the resources we have. The good thing is, like I said before, we’ve targeted attendance for our last two years. It’s one of our district goals. They’re already doing the work, so it isn’t really new. Maybe just a little bit more paperwork, a little more recordkeeping, a couple of other mandates here. I don’t want to speak for these guys, but I think we figured out a way that we can address this and navigate through this without it being too burdensome for our staff.”
Board member Edward Moreno asked approximately how many referrals the district had made to the county attorney over the last few years. High school principal Brenda Arthur-Miller said there were perhaps three referrals in the last year, adding it was probably a similar number at the junior high. She confirmed that sending referrals to the county attorney’s office for truancy was not a new policy. Kruger noted that some counties are also facing limited resources in dealing with the new legislation. “Just like anything, you do the best you can for what you’ve got.” He listed the various school districts just in Muscatine County as an example of how many possible cases a county could have to deal with in a year. “They don’t think about that when they’re making the legislation,” he said.
Kruger added that the district will be applying “common sense” to the new policy, saying as an example that a student who misses school for medical or religious reasons would not be penalized. “Now, maybe those two or three that have been abusing it in the past … I could see us moving forward with cases that the administrators feel, you know, we’ve got to get this kid to school. We’re trying everything we can, and we can’t get the parents to help us. We have all these factors in the way, maybe it is time to get the county attorney involved.
“I can’t speak for other districts, but I cannot see us just ramping that up and going full bore with all these referrals to the county attorney. I don’t think that will do anybody any good. I don’t think we have the time to manage all that. And most absences are truly legit absences.”
School resource officer
Kruger said district business manager Abby Ortiz was reviewing financials to determine the feasibility of hiring a district school resource officer on a long term basis.
“I feel pretty confident that we can afford this, we just want to have a very concrete financial plan moving forward if we are to bring this to the board. We will have that ready, I’m pretty confident, by our next board meeting.”
Kruger also thanked the West Liberty Police Department for their involvement in the wake of a threat on social media made by a high school student. High school principal Brenda Arthur-Miller and assistant principal Andrew Genz alerted Kruger and the police department to the threat once it was discovered. Kruger said that after meeting with the student and the parents, it was determined there was no active threat to the school. However, Kruger did ask for extra patrol at the school as a preventative measure.
“I just appreciate them being out there, the local police, as well as Ms. Arthur-Miller and Mr. Genz and the way that they handled the situation. You know, these are tough situations. They’re unfortunate, and any time our district is threatened, we’re going to take it extremely seriously. In this day and age, even joking around in this manner can lead to very serious police charges – terroristic threats – can lead to suspensions, expulsions of students, and various other consequences.
“I just want to add that I appreciate the students and parents that reported this social media post so that administrators could get to work taking care of that. You know, it definitely takes everybody in the community working together on these things.”
Board president Jacob Burroughs agreed with Kruger.
“As Shaun said, everyone takes this incredibly seriously when there is a threat to anyone within the district, so I appreciate the way that this has been handled. I think our district handled it perfectly, and I think it’s a learning experience, too.”
High school families were made aware of the threat through districtwide communications.
Financial report
Ortiz presented the annual financial report for the fiscal year running from July of 2023 through the end of June 2024.
She reported the district spent approximately $800,000 in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) money, which was allotted in the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic. That funding was largely spent on capital improvement projects at the elementary school, as well as some curriculum and staff funding. Those funds are required to be allocated by Sept. 30.
While the ESSER deadline is approaching, Ortiz said the district should see a slight increase in state money due to the new Teacher Salary Supplement (TSS), which will help with the new law requiring a minimum teacher salary that went into effect on July 1. The district will also receive the standard 2.5 percent in Supplemental State Aid (SSA) set at the end of the last legislative session.
She said the TSS funding will be helpful to the district in order to retain teachers, especially ones who might previously have only spent about a year at West Liberty before moving on to a bigger district that could afford to pay more. “This will help keep us on an even playing field, when we’re so close to some of the bigger districts.” She added that this is the first year the district has been fully staffed since she arrived in 2019.
Looking ahead, Ortiz said the district is making financial decisions with an eye towards conservative estimates on enrollment and future SSA. She said the district usually only estimates about 1 percent for SSA because “you never know what the state is going to do.” With an enrollment report due in October, the district should have a better understanding of what the budget might look like in the next school year.
Ortiz also reported that this school year there has been an increase in enrollment by about 15 students.
Special education funding
The board approved a request for Modifiable Allowable Growth and Supplemental Aid for special education funding in the amount of $899,680.03.
Ortiz explained that the district’s state aid funding was determined based on the number of special education students enrolled as of the official count determined in October of 2022. However, there has been an increase the number of special education students since then, particularly students with more complex needs. This, in combination with salary increases for special education teachers and paraprofessionals and costs associated with special education open enrollment, has led to a deficit in the district’s special education funding.
Student mental health
West Liberty High School students will be participating in a pilot program for virtual mental health care through Classroom Clinic. Kruger said that the district had met with the company before, and felt the price was right for this particular program, which will be free for students this year.
“It just provides us with another layer of support for our students,” he said.
Personnel
The board accepted the resignations of Christina Catherman, high school paraprofessional and Susan Cuello, food service worker.
New hires included: Amanda Ruiz, part-time ELC paraprofessional; Holly Pearl, full-time high school building substitute; Dan Miller, full-time middle school building substitute; Kelly Daufeldt, full-time elementary building substitute; Genesis Escareno, part-time ELC paraprofessional; Morgan Forbes, assistant dance coach; Andrew Lenz, assistant varsity boys’ wrestling coach; Ian Alke, assistant eighth grade football coach; Max Mashek, junior high head boys’ wrestling coach; Maya Garrido, high school paraprofessional; Ron Kline, bus driver; Maria Mojica Campos, full-time food service; Sherina Sackett, full-time food service; Leidygexi Fernandez Beltran, full-time food service; Andrea Martinez, assistant eighth grade volleyball coach; James Kiwala, seventh grade football coach; Samuel Morel, high school special education paraprofessional.
Board member Kira Achen said she was glad to see that the full-time building substitute positions had been filled so quickly, with the building principles noting they had been needed nearly every school day so far.
The next board meeting will be Oct. 7.