At last night Board meeting, this item on the agenda had lengthy discussion and was ultimately passed:
Approval of Request for the Superintendent's Evaluations for 2022 and 2023 Including Supporting Documentation.
At tonight's board meeting President Dixon made the following statement regarding the state auditor speaking during time typically reserved for public comments.
During the vote to adjourn to closed session Wendy Baird asked to confirm they would be discussing Legal Items, Real Estate, and Personnel. She then voted against adjourning. While not the first time this has happened, it's a rare occurrence.
During a second reading of some board policies, and first of a couple others, Brandi Pruente voiced her surprise that her requests to extend the public speaking deadline to Monday and to be able to speak to items NOT on the agenda were denied by committee, and that there was no discussion with her regarding it.
It wasn't mentioned last night but last month the state auditor spoke for 18 minutes during the time for requests to speak by citizens and employees comment part about the audit, something that was NOT on the agenda.
Discussion regarding student handbooks. High school and middle school were voted on together while elementary was cited on separately.
Discussion and approval on Employee Manuals, including Dr. Herl confirming these were not made publicly available before the Board voted to approve them. Members Baird and Brandi Pruente voted against approval.
During Dr. Herl's Superintendent's Report he did announce that outsourcing sub services would end up costing about a 24% premium over current cost so the district will not be moving forward with that idea at this time but he noted it's possible in the future.
Please note Jill Esry attended remotely tonight. The laptop she was conferenced in with was in front of Carrie Dixon, but President Dixon was in attendance (and I probably should have moved where I was sitting).
At last night's Board meeting there was a first reading of 9 policy changes. Board Members Wendy Baird suggested changes to two of them, sending them back to committee before the board will vote on the first reading of them. Schedule permitting the first reading for those changes could be as early as next month, but that's not a guarantee.
The committee is made up of Board Members Carrie Dixon and Denise Fears, as well as Superintendent Dr. Dale Herl and Deputy Superintendent Dr. Lance Stout.
Note, it sounded like they were moving on to the next topic so I ended the recording. Then further discussion began so I started it back up.
This video is the Superintendent's report including discussion on the recent bill, Senate Bill 727, that will require a vote to continue the 4 day school week. It also has Dr. Herl's commentary on the survey itself that results recently went out for (and this page recently has posted about).
It has been stated by the district that ISD did not write the survey questions, but tonight Dr. Herl said that Missouri State provided a bank of questions and then ISD had input on additional questions regarding the 5th day. This means questions such as is having a "fully qualified teacher vs 5 day week" did have ISD input. Dr. Herl said this is the "absolute most important question. People say they shouldn't be mutually exclusive but that's what the 4 day is about."
Dr. Herl mentions 83% agreed that having a "fully qualified teacher" is more important than the 5 day week. A couple things with this: 1, it's 83% of respondents NOT 83% of the entire district as has been alluded too. Combined survey response rates was 35.9% (cumulative all 3 groups). Total respondents were significantly less than that.
Board member Brandi Pruente asked about reaching out to more disadvantaged populations, questioning how likely they were to respond to survey results. Dr. Herl requested proof of that claim. This evening I found a study from 2019 where the National Library of Medicine concluded "We found a significant difference among racial or ethnic groups as well as different education levels in Web-based survey participation. Survey researchers need to consider the SES and racial or ethnic differences in Web-based survey participation and develop strategies to address this bias in participation and completion in their research." You can read it here. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6479282/
Admin note: I continue to say that the question I've highlighted here is NOT the most important question. While I'm not accusing anyone of trying to skew the survey results, a question like
There were no district citizens or staff who requested to speak at tonight's Board meeting. However Todd Schuler of the Missouri State Auditor's office spoke during the time allotted for public comment. It's unclear why he wasn't on the Agenda itself.
The Independence School District will be undergoing a State Audit. Mr. Schuler stated that there is a Missouri law allowing the State to conduct Audits of school districts when they want to and ISD has been chosen. It did come out after Dr. Herl brought up the topic that at least part of the reason for the audit is the 4 day school week.
Mr. Schuler did say district citizens and staff are welcome to contact his office if they have any comments they'd like to make and gave his contact info.
Todd Schuler
816-889-3658
[email protected]
There is also an Anonymous Hotline based out of their Jefferson City office: 1800-347-8597
At last night's Board Meeting, Wendy Baird requested that Consent Agenda item 3, Approval to Let Bids for Temporary/Substitute Services, be moved to its own item.
Typically items that are in the Consent Agenda are approved in one motion by the Board. However at a Board Member's request an item can be pulled out from the Consent Agenda and moved under New Business where it will get its own discussion.
Here is video of that discussion.
Sheri Tindle on Consent Agenda item 3, Approval to Let Bids for Temporary/Substitute Services
Board Members Sworn In
Tonight at the Independence Board of Education meeting Carrie Dixon was sworn in to her second term and Wendy Baird and Brandi Pruente were sworn into their first as board members.
Lucy Young ISD Tax Levy Public Hearing Comments 09/12/2023
After some confusion yesterday, the ISD Board of Education did allow public comments during the ISD Tax Levy Public Hearing. Lucy Young spoke on the effects of taxes, particularly for seniors.
Ellen Cardwell ISD Tax Levy Public Hearing Comments 09/12/2023
After some confusion yesterday, the ISD Board of Education did allow public comments during the ISD Tax Levy Public Hearing. Ellen Cardwell spoke on the effects of taxes, particularly for seniors.
Wendy Baird ISD Tax Levy Public Hearing Comments 09/12/2023
After some confusion yesterday, the ISD Board of Education did allow public comments during the ISD Tax Levy Public Hearing. Wendy Baird (admin of this page and running for school board at Wendy Baird for ISD Board of Education) spoke on transparency.
Dr. Dale Herl gives the superintendent’s report during the Aug. 8 Board of Education Meeting. During his remarks, he noted that ISD is fully staffed with teachers, minus one position with an interview tomorrow.
Sarah Nelson: ISD BOE Meeting Public Comments 7/11/2023
At the July 11th Board of Education meeting, INEA President Sarah Nelson speaks during the public comment portion on the proposed new board policies, employee manual and student handbooks.
Wendy Baird: ISD BOE Meeting Public Comments 7/11/2023
At the July 11th Board of Education meeting, Wendy Baird (this page's admin) speaks during the public comment portion on the proposed new board policies and student handbooks.
ISD Board of Education Special Session (Budget) 6/29/2023
The Board of Education met June 29th regarding budget amendments and the approval of the FY2023-2024 budget. The itemized budget is not yet available to the public, but total anticipated revenues are $224,795,490 and total anticipated expenditures are $228,552,590.
You can find more (and this year’s budget) at https://www.isdschools.org/financials/.
