March 18, 2024

Newton school board to discuss class sizes

Fundraiser, travel requests to be considered

One of the main driving forces behind the Newton Community School District’s recent reconfiguration has been trying to keep class sizes small in the lowest grades.

One of the items set to for discussion only at Monday’s regular NCSD Board of Education meeting will be consideration of adding a board policy regarding class and grade-level size goals within the district.

Monday’s meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. at the EJH Beard Administration Center.

Another item to be discussed will be campus and principal goals, along with an attendance and enrollment summary. Iowa determines annual certified enrollment for each district — the main factor in the state per-student funding formula — from an Oct. 1 “snapshot” of each district’s enrollment numbers.

The board will also acknowledge a recent financial donation from the Knights of Columbus and a lumber donation from Lenny Woythaler.

The board will consider fundraiser requests from the Newton High School Drama Club, the NHS Gay-Straight Alliance, NHS Special Olympics, Music Boosters and the NHS newspaper and yearbook program.

NHS yearbook and journalism students will also seek permission for out-of-state travel as they prepare to attend the National High School Journalism Convention in Indianapolis next month.

NCSD Director of Business Services Gayle Isaac will describe the 2016 certified budget fund balance.

Monday’s meeting will be preceded by a 5:30 p.m. work session with the Heartland AEA regarding the Denison Culture Survey recently conducted among district staff.

The board’s next regular meeting is set for Nov. 14.

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