Charles City school board approves interim superintendent contract with Lundquist

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City School District Board of Directors approved a contract for Anne Lundquist as the district’s interim superintendent for one year at Monday’s regular meeting.

The contract goes into effect on July 1 and ends June 30, 2023, with the salary of $170,000, and benefits to “match the established senior leadership package.”

School Board President Pat Rottinghaus and Director of Finance Evan Marten established the contract, which was agreed upon by Lundquist, for the 2022-23 school year.

She will replace Mike Fisher, who has resigned after four years in Charles City in order to take the position of superintendent in his home town of Oskaloosa. His employment in Charles City will officially end on June 30.

The initial search to hire a full-time ongoing superintendent came to a halt last month when the board learned that three out of the four finalists it selected had accepted other jobs before even interviewing in Charles City. This prompted the board to search for interim candidates.

The board will re-open the process of searching for the next permanent district superintendent in November or December of this year.

Lundquist is currently a second-grade teacher at Immaculate Conception, where she started in 2020. She recently served as chief officer of academic services for the Ankeny Community School District (2017-2020). She also was superintendent of the Red Lake School District in Minnesota (2014-2017).

In other business on Monday, the board approved resolutions established by legal counsel on administering a retention incentive bonus for substitute para-educators, bus drivers and teachers.

For every 30 days worked, a substitute para-educator, teacher or bus driver would be eligible for a $500 bonus, with an annual school year cap per employee of $1,000, payable in two installments.

Marten explained that the retention incentives are necessary because school districts across the state are experiencing staffing shortages during the 2021-2022 school year due in large part to the pandemic and its residual effects. Staffing shortages have also impacted the operations of the Charles City Community School District.

The district anticipates staffing for substitute issues will continue into the 2022-23 school year and will make hiring and retention for these positions next year increasingly challenging.

In other action on Monday, the board approved a bid from School Bus Sales for a special education 65-passenger lift bus at cost of $120,339. Director of Operations Jerry Mitchell told the board he had received two bids for the bus, with the higher bid coming from Hoglund Bus Co. at $121,889.

Mitchell said an additional $350 will be added to the price of the bus from School Bus Sales for a larger alternator. The money for the bus will come from special education funding.

The board also approved a bid from Hillegas Flooring for $76,894.08 to purchase additional flooring for the Washington Elementary kindergarten room, as part of the five-year strategic plan. Mitchell received one other bid for the flooring, for $79,650 from L and C Builders. The money for the flooring will come out of ESSER III funding.

In other action on Monday, the board:
— Approved the list of graduating seniors as presented for the 2021-22 school year. Graduation will be on Sunday, May 22, at Comet Gym starting at 1:30 p.m.
— Approved a 2.5% salary increase for all senior leaders, a $1 per hour increase for administrative support staff and a 3% increase in salary for non-union licensed employees for the 2022-23 school year.
— Heard a presentation from Lincoln Elementary Principal Marcia DeVore on the Teacher Leadership Compensation grant and how the school district utilizes this program.
— Approved the resignations of high school special education teachers Sherri Meza, Jessica Nelson and Abby Wolf, effective at the end of the 2021-22 school year.
— Approved the appointment of Albert Rogotzke, 9th grade baseball coach, at a salary of $3,735, effective immediately.
— Approved the appointment of Caitlin Peters, Lincoln Elementary special education para-educator, at a wage of $16.39 per hour for the 2022-23 school year.
— Approved the appointment of Melanie Van Soelen, middle school language arts teacher, at a salary of $65,939, for the 2022-23 school year.
— Approved the appointment of Jeremy Heyer, volunteer varsity softball coach, effective immediately.
— Approved the appointment of Keira Krueger, 1st grade Washington Elementary teacher, at a salary of $40,959, for the 2022-23 school year.
— Approved the appointment of Mattie Maloy, high school special education teacher, at a salary of $40,959, for the 2022-23 school year.