Daily Reporter Staff

The Spencer Community Schools Board of Education will convene its regular monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 25 in the board room of the central administrative offices, located at 23 E. Seventh St. The evening will begin with public hearings on the amended 2007-08 and the 2008-09 budgets. Approval of consent items, including minutes from the Feb. 21, Feb. 29 and March 4 board meetings, bills, open enrollment requests, a May 9 -10 trip to Louisville, Ky. for student participation in the National Archery Tournament, and personnel recommendations will then be sought.

In personnel recommendations, board members will consider the resignations of Brian Webb, Central Academy instructor, football and middle school wrestling coach, and Betty Brennan, Johnson teacher associate, as well as the hiring of Brett Eilts as the freshmen baseball coach.

During the time in which visitors may address the board, Spencer High School (SHS) student Justin McCormick has asked to speak on behalf of the SHS Excellence Center and Ken Bress plans to talk about the district's German program.

A representative from Positively Spencer Youth is scheduled to present an update to board members. Principals from the district's buildings will then offer reports detailing past and future activities.

Board members will conduct a second reading of the 300 series of board policies. These encompass: the superintendent's evaluation, the building principals' function, evaluations of building principals and administrator professional development.

In other anticipated action Tuesday, board members will receive information from Superintendent Greg Ebeling regarding his March 11 - 12 delivery of contract termination notices to five certified staff within the district. The board is anticipated to act on the terminations of: Katie Plucker, Spencer Middle School (SMS) art teacher; Sue Leuer, Spencer Elementary coordinating teacher; Sarah Riedemann, SHS math instructor; Justin Spieker, SHS vocational agriculture teacher and FFA leader; and Dianne Fikkert, SMS and SHS German instructor. According to the notices delivered by Ebeling, Plucker and Riedemann will be offered 2008-09 contracts for one-half time; Leuer's, Fikkert's and Spieker's positions will be eliminated, with Spencer to explore a sharing agreement for vocational agriculture and FFA with Clay Central-Everly.

The board is also anticipated to act on a request from the Northwest Iowa Youth Soccer Alliance to pay the approximately $3,000 salary of Girls Assistant Soccer Coach Rick Kaiser and a recommendation to approve girls swimming sharing agreements for 2008-09 with Okoboji, Spirit Lake, Ruthven-Ayrshire and Clay Central-Everly.

In other requested action, Spencer school board members will be presented with a 2008-09 recommendation for an elementary administrative restructuring. In his written recommendation, Ebeling states, "The need for this change is brought about because of the budget reductions in the elementary of the coordinating teacher and elementary school administrative manager. Both of these positions offered support to students, teachers and the lead elementary principal. ... (My recommendation would be to) create two positions that would each serve as half-time assistant principal and half-time reading teacher. These positions would each be placed in one building and provide the administrative coverage for that building. The third elementary building would be covered by Lead Elementary Principal (Lucas DeWitt). ... Assistant principals would be initially trained to focus on literacy improvements in their building and be mentored to handle the day-to-day administrative issues that arise."

Additional topics listed under Tuesday's "information/discussion" agenda item include: a possible state audit for the district for the school year ending June 30, 2009; a timeline for the superintendent's evaluation; certified staff negotiations; certified enrollment information from the fall of 1970 until the fall of 2007; and a special April 1 Lighthouse Project meeting.