Cuts in programs and rearrangements of teaching assignments for the 2010-11 school year were approved in a host of personnel matters handled by the Mount Ayr Community school board at its regular meeting Monday night.
Efforts to make reductions in spending for the coming school year meant several programs -- especially the fine arts -- will see major changes for the coming year.
The number of music teachers will be cut from three full time teachers to two full time teachers while the number of art teachers will be cut from 1.6 equivalent teachers to one.
In addition the elementary guidance program, construction tech program and alternative school programs will see reductions for the coming year. Also effected will be the Talented and Gifted Programs in the district and the library program at the schools.
In addition, one physical education sharing arrangement with another district has been worked out for the coming year and a football coaching position may be cut.
Superintendent Reiter presented the list of proposed assignment changes to the board at the meeting after several weeks of work on the matter.
He noted that some hoped for sharing with other districts could not be arranged.
Four teachers will be retiring this year -- elementary music teacher Martha Landphair, librarian and media specialist Linda Pickering, second grade teacher Cheryl Taylor and elementary guidance counselor Joan Moore.
In addition, the district has had resignations from elementary and middle school band director Dana Morris and ag instructor Justin Akers.
Moore’s retirement was announced at the meeting Monday night.
The changes in the music program will see Carol Cason recalled to teach music as the only replacement for the two music instructors who have retired or resigned.
Cason will be in charge of the elementary vocal music program and the fifth and sixth grade band programs.
Greg Storhoff will handle the 7-12 instrumental and vocal music programs for the district under the new assignments.
The art department will see big changes as well. Aaron Riley will be the district’s only art teacher -- teaching art in kindergarten through 12th grade.
At the elementary school, this will mean a little more art time for kindergarten through second graders and 20 minutes less art time each session for third through sixth graders.
Meanwhile Riley will combine Art I and Art III classes in the same period and Art II and Art IV classes in the same period to cut down on his teaching time at the high school. He will teach a college level art appreciation course one semester and a digital media course the second semester, cutting down on the times these courses are available but not dropping classes altogether.
Jane Uhlenkamp, who has been the elementary art teacher, spoke during the communications portion the meeting to express the importance of art in the schools and a hope that at some point in the future more art could be offered.
In the industrial arts department, the construction tech three-hour afternoon course will not be taught at the school, but students will be encouraged to enroll in the Southwestern Community College course offering for high school students, Reiter told the board.
He said there were not enough students wanting to take the course to make it feasible for the district to have one teacher working three hours a day with the students.
The Talented and Gifted program will change with Mary K. Overholtzer being the K-12 coordinator for TAG programming. She will spend seventh and eight hours at the elementary school program to work with elementary students. She will work with TAG students at the secondary level and teach middle school science as well. TAG dollars will pay for her working the extra period.
What will happen with the elementary guidance program is up in the air following the retirement of elementary guidance counselor Joan Moore. Her contract has been cut to .625 from a full-time position and it was hoped that there could be some sharing with a surrounding district, but that has not materialized.
Now the district is looking for someone who will serve in a half-time position.
The librarian post had been cut from two people to one person in the past and with the retirement of Linda Pickering the district does not have a media specialist. Just how the position will be filled and for what time is still up in the air for the district.
The district is seeking to find a replacement for the ag department to replace Justin Akers there.
In the alternative school, the staff will now consist of one instructor -- Mike Still, who will also be the athletic director.
The football coaching staff will be cut from four to three coaches unless there are more than 38 or 39 students who go out for high school football next year. If the numbers go up, then a fourth coach would be needed, superintendent Reiter noted.
He has also left the door open for a fourth coach if other dollars can be brought in to pay the fourth salary.
Several new assignments for teachers not already mentioned will come with the changes.
Jane Uhlenkamp, who has been the elementary art teacher, TAG instructor and a Title I teacher will move to teach a third section of second grade for next year.
Deb Larsen will become a fulltime elementary physical education instructor after teaching business classes for several years along with her physical education duties. She will also teach keyboarding to 6th graders.
Eric Ehlen will spend half time as a middle school and high school physical education teacher in the district and half time as a shared teacher with the Creston district.
Sue Larsen will see her special education coordinator position move to one quarter time from half time.
Kurt Wallace, who has been the construction tech teacher, will pick up other math, Project Lead the Way and industrial arts courses to replace the course no longer offered in the district.
Ron Landphair, retired construction tech instructor, attended the meeting to express his disappointment that the construction class was being cut.
He noted that the automotive tech class, which has also been discontinued at the high school, and the construction tech class offered skills to students who might not plan to go on to further education.
“There are a number of productive people in the community who are graduates from these programs and I hate to see these students not have the opportunities available in our district.”
Superintendent Reiter noted that an effort was made to find surrounding districts who might want to share the construction tech program, but to no avail.
Following the presentation about the staff positions, the board approved them as well as approving the salary list and contracts for certified staff. Teacher salaries will remain at the same level as last year without an increase.
Changes in fifth, sixth grade
In an unrelated issue, elementary principal Lynn Wallace noted that fifth and sixth grades, while having the same instructors, will be departmentalized for the 2010-11 school year.
The change is to help make students accustomed to this system and make an easier transition to middle school.
Julie Stewart will teach two sections of fifth and two sections of sixth grade social studies. Marilyn Hawkins will teach one regular and one accelerated math class for each fifth and sixth grade.
Jessica Frost will teach a regular and an accelerated language arts class for each fifth and sixth grade. Regular and accelerated classes will cover the same curriculum with variations in pace and complexity. Determination of student placement in regular or accelerated classes will be based on various assessments given to students including Basic Reading Inventory, Iowa Test of Basic Skills, and other classroom assessments.
All four teachers will cooperate to teach leveled guided reading groups for the two class levels.
Administrative salaries
The board also set administrative salaries when it approved the list of salaries for the coming year.
For the third year the salaries of principals Lynne Wallace and Ken Harrison will be frozen.
Wallace is paid $72,500 as elementary principal while Harrison is paid $80,6050 as high school principal.
Other personnel items
The board handled several other personnel matters at the meeting.
The retirement of Joan Moore as elementary guidance counselor was approved with appreciation for her outstanding work the past two years.
Elementary teacher associate Amy Novak also resigned from her position to remain at home with her young family and her resignation was approved.
Thad Streit, who has coached summer baseball for several years, also is seeking to resign from this summer coaching responsibilities following coaching in the 2010-11 school year. Streit noted that he wanted to spend more time with his young family in the summer.
The resignation was accepted with the provision that he would coach again for the summer of 2011-12 if no replacement could be found.
Tara Hurst was hired as the co-cheerleading sponsor for the winter months. She will split the salary with Courtney Adams, who has handled all the cheerleading sponsor responsibilities this past year.