DMPS School Board Meeting 10/16/2007

At the third meeting of the 2007-2008 Des Moines Public Schools School Board, new Board President Dick Murphy and new board members Jonathon Narcisse and Patty Link were basically settled into their roles. Narcisse requested that the list of bills for approval be removed from the consent agenda. He wanted to express his concern about the project for which Taylor Ohde Kitchell is receiving management fees and his general consternation over what he considers a lack of time to review bills before voting upon them. These are issues he has raised before. Other board members stated, again, that they have time to review bills and that the project payments are being made under a signed contract.

In regard to another consent agenda item, Teree Caldwell-Johnson asked about the limited number of schools receiving money from an Iowa Department of Education grant for after-school and Saturday tutoring programs. Superintendent Dr. Nancy Sebring said the district is required by law to provide extra service to those underperforming schools as defined by No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Nonetheless, Sebring acknowledged that there are other schools with students who could benefit from tutoring and the district is working on providing general tutoring opportunities. The schools benefitting from the $247,695 grant are Brubaker, Cattell, Garton, McKinley, and Willard.

No member of the public spoke on general school issues before the start of the regular meeting. At the request of Dr. Sebring, Phil Roeder talked about the 100th anniversary of the Des Moines Public Schools as part of the superintendent’s report. Roeder also announced additional options for e-mail alerts available from the district. In addition to e-mails about school closings throughout the school year, the public can request e-mails on school news and information and on the school board meeting agenda.

Liaison and committee assignments were voted upon. Former school board member Suzette Jensen offered her opinion about the policy committee. Jensen said when she served on the board, there were six members on the committee. That was all the board members except the president, who had other duties. Half of the members looked at changes to policies and procedures required by new laws. The other half reviewed a third of the manual each year. Jensen thought that having only three members on the committee, as is now the case, would create too much work for those three. Board Vice President Ginny Strong said there is a person assigned to keep up with the policies and that a vote to adopt the policies was being looked at for the November 6 board meeting. Strong also said there are numerous people advising the board, including counsel who is reviewing changes in laws. According to Strong, the board “will have more input from all concerned” under the current committee approach.

The last items on the agenda related to Schools First, building renovations, and vacant properties. This included a closed session to discuss the possible purchase of the Pappajohn Center. See the related post for more information.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa and covers school board meetings for AroundDesMoines.com.