School board changes graduation date for next year

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

After hearing no comment at a public hearing, the Charles City School District Board of Directors approved a recommended calendar change for the 2021-2022 school year, which will move graduation up from May 29 to May 22.

The date change passed 4-1, with director Scott Dight dissenting.

Commencement ceremonies have been held Memorial Day Weekend in recent years, and board members and administrators have heard comments from the public indicating that this is a difficult time to hold the ceremonies.

The new timeline for graduating seniors will now designate May 17 as the last day of school for seniors, with graduation walk-through on May 18 and commencement ceremonies to take place May 22.

Charles City High School Principal Bryan Jurrens said he made the recommendation for the date change based on feedback from multiple stakeholders this year.

“Our initial perception was that it was a long-standing tradition for commencement to occur on Memorial Day weekend,” Jurrens told the board in a written statement. “After conversations with multiple stakeholders, this was not a long-standing tradition and was adopted by the prior administration under the assumption that our seniors needed to remain in classes as long as possible.”

Iowa Code allows graduating seniors to be excused from up to five school days, which does not include any additional snow make-up days acquired throughout the year. This school year, graduating seniors at CCHS were only granted 1½ days of excused days compared with all other students.

Jurrens said the date change will allow adequate time for graduating seniors to finalize grades, provide graduates attending the armed forces adequate time to transition to basic training, provide time for graduating seniors to focus on transitioning to college/career and separate the finalizing of graduating senior transcripts and finalizing grades for 9-11 students.

He said the earlier graduation date would allow for class recognition and awards to take place the week prior to commencement, and it would allow 11th grade students to transition into school leadership roles and aide in the 8th-grade students’ transition to high school.

Jurrens added that the date change would also allow the district to focus an entire weekend on the successes of the graduating class as well as allow families of graduating students more time to plan graduation parties.

Also Monday, the board held a public hearing and — upon receiving no comments — voted to approve a resolution to expend funds from the district’s flexibility account for expenses listed in the amount of $24,742.17 which were unexpended and non-obligated from the 2017-2018 transfer from the Home School Assistance Program (HSAP) Funds.

Expenses include Washington Elementary landscaping, at a cost of $14,616.97, district wide signage, at a cost of $8,430.20, and photography for the signage at a cost of $1,695, for a total cost is $24,742.17.

The board also approved school fees for the 2021-22 school year. The only fees that will change from the previous school year are the drivers education fee, which increased by $15 to $380 (through StreetSmarts), and the breakfast and lunch fees for adults, which increased 10 cents to $2 and $3.95.

Dight pointed out that the drivers education fee doesn’t apply to students who qualify for free lunches, and that the small increase in meal fees applied to adults only, and not to students.

All other fees remained the same, including K-4 textbooks ($30), middle school textbooks ($45), high school textbooks ($50) and the technology fee for grades 5-12 ($30).

The high school graduation fee remained at $40, while the high school yearbook fee remained at $50. The middle school yearbook fee remained at $6. Breakfast fees remained at $1.50 and lunch fees remained at $2.70.

And the board approved a construction contract and bond for the high school track improvement project. The board unanimously approved $1 million worth of facility improvements in March, including $250,000 for track resurfacing.

The track resurfacing contractor is Woodruff Construction, and the bond surety agency is Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. As of June 28, the track will be closed until Aug. 15 for the resurfacing project.

In other action on Monday, the board:
— Approved the resignation of Elizabeth Platte, 5th grade reading teacher, effective June 28
— Approved the personnel transfer of Ann Prichard, from Lincoln Elementary Talented and Gifted Teacher to 5th grade reading teacher, at a salary of $58,489, effective Aug. 19..
— Approved the retirement of Todd Forsyth, business education teacher, effective at the end of the school year.
— Approved the appointment of Marcia DeVore as district health and pandemic coordinator, at a salary of $3,000, starting July 1.
— Approved the appointment of Samantha Jacobs, kindergarten teacher, at a salary of $50,445, starting Aug. 12.
— Approved the appointment of Elizabeth Vonhagen, math/special education teacher, at a salary of $47,521, starting Aug 12.
— Approved the appointment of Alesha Dean, 6th-grade English/language arts teacher, at a salary of $38,746, starting Aug. 12.