Light agenda on tap for NCSD board

A somewhat light agenda has been set for Monday evening’s Newton Community School District board meeting.

The meeting, to be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Emerson Hough, won’t feature any major action items. In fact, there are only a handful of action items on the agenda at all.

Monday’s meeting will be the first full meeting for new board members Ann Leonard and Josh Cantu, who were sworn in to their four-year terms at the Sept. 14 meeting.

One item involves pre-approval to for Newton High School’s Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) to travel out of state. The annual DECA International Career Development Conference is slated for April 23-26, 2015 in Nashville, Tenn.

Discussion items include the professional development calendar for the remainder of the 2015-16 school year, to be presented by Director of K-8 Curriculum Jim Gilbert. The basic pattern of the district’s calendar for this year is to designate the final Monday of each month as a student-free day, to be used for professional development sessions.

Jasper County Conservation’s Greg Oldsen and Katie Cantu will discuss classroom and field-trip programs.

Director of Business Services Gayle Isaac will discuss the district’s Certified Annual Report. Superintendent Bob Callaghan will discuss a teacher survey report, finalization of the bond committee and the first-quarter enrollment summary. Callaghan mentioned at the Sept. 14 meeting that the “snapshot” date for helping to certify the district’s enrollment that determines 2016-17 funding will be Thursday, Oct. 1.

Several donations to the district will be acknowledged. The board will hear an update on the administration building remodeling project.

The 6 p.m. Board Learning Leadership session, which will take place before Monday’s meeting, will feature a presentation by teacher Deb Rose, chairperson of Newton’s Teacher Leadership & Compensation Grant Committee.

The board’s next regular meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 12 at Emerson Hough.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com