Brandi Shay was chosen as a school board member and secondary principal Ken Harrison’s contract was set for a two-year term in a special meeting of the Mount Ayr Community school board Friday, May 28.
The 7 a.m. session also included a closed session to “discuss strategy in matter relating to employment conditions of employees of the governmental body who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement under Chapter 20.” Technology director Kurtis Christensen was present for the closed meeting.
School board member
Four people expressed interest in being appointed to fill the unexpired term of Larry Giles on the Mount Ayr Community school board. The at-large position was to be filled by the board until the September 2011 school elections.
Letters were received from Morgan Weeda, Martha Ricker, Brandi Shay and Carroll Taylor expressing interest in the board seat. In addition, board members reported receiving several letters and other communication in support of various of the candidates.
“I appreciate the level of interest we had in filling the position,” board member P. J. Munyon noted. “We had some great letters of application and strong letters of support for the candidates.”
“With the good candidates we have to consider, this will be a hard decision,” board member Duane Schafer noted.
Jim Uhlenkamp said some of the criteria he was looking for was someone who had shown a commitment to the district, someone who was familiar with how the district operates and someone with some accounting expertise, which would also be helpful.
It was noted that with the four board members, a majority of three would have to support one candidate to be able to make the decision.
Board member Jim Uhlenkamp noted that the board did have the option of holding a special election, but the expense and delay of that process was not what board members would support.
After some discussion, P. J. Munyon moved to name Brandi Shay to the position and Jim Uhlenkamp seconded the motion. The motion passed on a 3-1 vote with Duane Schafer voting against the motion.
He noted that all the candidates were good, but he was leaning toward Morgan Weeda as his choice from the candidates.
Munyon noted that the strong list of volunteers would suggest that there are people who may want to be involved on the board in the future and encouraged the involvement.
Two-year contract for pricipal
The second matter for discussion was the recommendation by superintendent Russ Reiter that secondary principal Ken Harrison be given a two-year contract, the same as elementary principal Lynne Wallace.
The board had approved freezing the salaries of administrators for a second year at its last meeting but had not dealt with the length of contract.
“I have no qualms in recommending a two-year contract for Ken,” superintendent Reiter noted.
The board approved the term of the contract on a 4-0 vote.
The board then went into closed session with technology director Kurtis Christensen to discuss terms of his contract under an exemption in Chapter 21.9 of the Code of Iowa.
Following the closed session, the board took no action in open session.