Even professionals can make mistakes.

In 2006, an accidental counting error occurred and was found by the auditors from Hunt, Kain & Associates. It showed a miscount of 75 students applied to the budget for the year. The students were open enrolled from out of town and were accidentally counted as residents. Now, the school has to pay back $401,250. However, that’s a large hit, and the superintendent and business manager were seeking permission from the board to approach the School Budget Review Committee in December, or March 2008, to request that the amount be spread over a number of years. Superintendent Dr. Dale Monroe believes that they’ll most likely get three years, but the time is negotiable.

Still, the board voted to get the process under way.

In the mean time, under the auditor’s suggestions, a new spreadsheet has been developed to take into account all categories of students and proper sorting. It will use double checks with building counts and better communication with outlying communities with open enrolled students in the Anamosa system. This should eliminate any future miscounts. The auditor and state department unofficially approved of the new process.

The rest of the board’s business went smoothly. With Aston Darrow and Erin Ridgeway of the student council in attendance, any voting went quickly, although it was specified that the first Ridgeway and Darrow to be called during a roll call meant the board members, to avoid any confusion.

Having one more opportunity to take action and appoint members to fill the three vacancies, again the board took no action. Instead, the board president read a prepared statement. In the statement, he acknowledged some of the issues behind the controversy, the main of which is the location for the new high school. With the help of DLR, the board plans to do a better job informing the Anamosa public on the ‘whys’ behind any decisions they make, as well as to find other solutions to any problems in site development. The board urges anyone concerned for the well being of the district to consider running for one of the vacant seats in the November 20 election.
(See box.)

The board approved the second reading of Board Policy 900.7 that clarified the rolls of volunteers and defined how they are to conduct themselves.

With the public hearing regarding the continuation of early start for classes 2008-2009, the board approved applying for the Early Star Waiver. This allows the school to start before the September 1 earliest time specified by the state.

The board approved the purchase of a Type A cutaway bus to be used for preschool and possibly for the Reading Academy and College for Kids over the summer. Matt English recommended going with a Blue Bird brand. The school uses Blue Birds already, so the parts would be interchangeable. The model they’ll be getting will have a no-spin rear axle, and air conditioning will be installed in time for summer use.

After hearing from instructors Cueno and Rinaldi, the French and Spanish teachers, the board voted to approve the two language class trips. Eleven senior French students will be touring France from June 2-16, and 12 Spanish Students will be going to Costa Rica.

Mary Bendixen did a presentation of the School’s new website. It’s still a work in progress, but they hope to take it “live” on November 1, even though it may not be fully complete. Carmel Lafave, Cathy Wehling, and Mary Bendixen found that it was easier to start from scratch when designing the new site. They went with the school colors this time.

They plan on many features, including three weekly articles on the home page. The displayed articles can be timed to show for a limited period, and then be replaced by something new automatically. There will be a translation feature, that will work once it‘s live, that translates the articles into other languages. The calendar system will be capable of sending event reminders to parents who sign up for it, and much, much more. Over all, it’s supposed to be more user friendly.

By the time it goes live, Bendixen hopes to have worked with all the principals and vice-principals and their secretaries on the project. Then it will be taken to teachers, and eventually students to get them involved in its development.

Tom Penney and Vice Ward appeared before the board and reported on their discussions with the community volunteer committee. They claimed that the information gathered from the meetings has helped establish more details pertaining to the schools for old and new facilities.

At the open forum on October 29, they plan on learning a bit more from the assembled committee, emphasizing obtaining information from the public about long-range needs. From this they can put together a list of criteria for fixing existing buildings and the construction of the new high school.

On a brighter note, as part of the Custodial and Maintenance Workers Day, the Board thanked the custodial staff by handing out gift bags to the staffers who came. Only two didn’t show up, and they would get their bags the next day.

Not on the agenda was the recognition for the cross country teams, who have school records this year.

Staff appointments:
• Anglela Schwendinger – Rainbow Associate
• Annette Schau – Assistant Middle School 8th Grade Girls’ Basketball Coach
• Rick Delagardelle – now Full Time Head Coach for the Varsity Softball team
• Dawn Hoyt – AHS Kitchen
Special Ed Drivers:
• Debra Henson – New Iowa City Route
• Jim Christianson – New Mt. Vernon Route
• Allen Conrad – New Lost Nation Route
Increased Hours – AHS Kitchen, by 3/4 hour:
• Darlene Georgie
• Norma Kaiser
• Darcy Jacobs
• Beth Thomas
Increased Hours – WMS Kitchen, by one hour:
• Jan Dole

Anamosa School Board Statement
October 15, 2007
As the community is well aware, the last month has been an eventful and tumultuous time for the Anamosa School Board. Following the September 11 election, in which the incumbent board president was defeated and a new member elected, three school board members chose to resign their seats. We are currently operating as a four-person school board with three vacancies, doing our best to carry on with our business and policymaking duties under unusual and challenging circumstances. Instead of filling the open positions by appointment within the statutory thirty days, this board is opting to let that period expire, thus allowing for a special election to be called, as provided for by Iowa law. The Jones County Auditor will set the special election for November 20, returning the School Board to its seven-member strength.
Much of the recent controversy surrounding the Anamosa School Board undoubtedly centers around decisions about the site of a new high school. It is clear that many citizens in the Anamosa community are not satisfied with the decision making process, the level of input gathered, and questions left unanswered in the selection and purchase of the Highway 64 site for our new high school. It is also clear that the community needs to be much more united if we are to successfully move ahead with major facilities planning.
We appreciate your patience with the school board as we work through the issues facing us. With the help of DLR Architects, we hope to find ways to take a fresh look at the questions and issues surrounding the new high school location, to inform and involve the public more meaningfully, and to ultimately unite the community behind a responsible facilities plan that will be exciting and positive for the education of our children.
In the meantime, we urge citizens who have concern for our local schools and a desire to serve the best interests of the students and the community to consider running for a school board seat in the November 20 election.
Respectfully,
Brian W. Darrow, Brian R. Bieber, Connie McKean and LeAnn Ridgeway

Rose Carson’s shoestrings kept coming untied and getting in her way. That was her motivation for inventing the Tied-Shoestring for the Strawberry Hill Invent Iowa competition last winter.

Last week, the Anamosa fourth grader received a Belin-Blank award for her invention. She was given a medal at the awards ceremony at the University of Iowa on October 6, along with about 50 other child inventors. Over 1,000 students were honored for various academic achievements the same day.

Carson explained how the Tied Shoestring works: a bow is tied in the end of the shoe; the shoe is laced; two, metal d-rings are attached to the shoe; the loose end of the shoestring is threaded through the d-rings like a belt.

Carson said the invention is for any age and could be helpful to the handicapped.

Students are asked how they can improve the invention, and Carson suggested a latch or Velcro to make it easier to put it on and take it off. She said it works with any kind of shoe that has strings and that her friends all want them.

She said she isn’t sure what she’ll invent this year. “I want to do it all over again,” she added.

In addition to receiving the award, Carson got to pick a teacher to be recognized at the ceremony.
She chose Ann Tiedt, who has coordinated Invent Iowa at Strawberry Hill for the past 15 years.
“I was extremely moved, it was quite an honor,” Tiedt commented on the award.

Tiedt, who received a plaque, said several Anamosa students have won Belin-Blank honors for their inventions, but it has been a number of years since the last invention won accolades.

She said students must identify a problem, solve the problem and create something that isn’t already on the market for Invent Iowa.

Problem solving is the main lesson students learn from Invent Iowa.

“It empowers them,” she said.