Received a report from Gina Spohnheimer from the Fine Arts Booster Club. Granted approval for the Music Boosters to provide concessions for the Junior High Honor Choir on April 3 and the State Large Group contest to be held at South Hamilton on May 9. The board will consider a spring fundraiser request from the Music Boosters at its February meeting.
                          
Approved a student and parents' request to accept credits from an alternative school program in order for the student to complete high school requirements. A diploma will be issued upon successful completion of the required credits.
                          
Approved a request for a possible Sunday practice for the cheer squad to prepare a special dance routine for a Winter Fest performance.

Tabled planned discussion on athletic recognition banners until a sample banner has arrived for board review.

Accepted the resignation of Kris Gustafson as junior high softball coach, effective for the summer 2003 season.

Amended the contract of Amy Barquist to reflect an increase in cheerleading coach responsibilities for the remainder of the school year.

Approved a request from senior Lacey Montgomery for early graduation.

Curriculum director Carroll McLuckie provided an overview of the district's school improvement efforts and an update on the implementation of the district's staff development efforts to address curriculum development and alignment, instruction, and assessment.
                      
Approved the implementation of the "No Apologies" human growth and development curriculum if the components of the program can be taught by a district instructor and appropriately integrated into the student and teacher class schedule.

Reviewed a summary of the PPEL projects that were identified a year ago and received an update on the status of each of those projects. Nearly all of them have been completed. The board discussed a number of potential projects that could be addressed in the coming year and beyond.
Some of the potential projects included:
  … Continuation with the student locker replacement project
  … Completion of reinforcing work at the track
  … Band room addition for storage purposes
  … Potential greenhouse project
  … Replace school sign in front of MS/HS
  … Acoustical Tile/Sound Proofing of the auditorium
  … Plasma Cam for Industrial Tech program
The board will revisit the list of potential projects in February to establish priorities and take action to address identified projects.
                     
Approved the specifications for a 65-passenger bus and directed transportation director Harold Anderson and Supt. Kinley to request bids for a 65, 77 and 84-passenger bus for comparison purposes. The board requested that undercarriage storage be considered an option in the bidding process. The board also requested that a cost analysis of athletic and field trips for the past year be developed to determine the potential cost/savings if a larger capacity bus were to be purchased. The board will receive this report and the bids at its February 10 meeting.                  

Approved the Superintendent's Annual Report for the 2001-02 school year 

Approved the annual district financial audit report for the 2001-02 fiscal year.

Approved the high school course offerings for 2003-04 as presented by high school principal Steve Gray. New course offerings include CISCO Web Design and an ICCC CAD Drafting class, both to be offered as early bird classes at 7:30 a.m.  Keyboarding I will now be required for graduation and students who enroll in ICCC English 101 and 102 will now be required to also take College Prep or A.P English.

Approved a resolution endorsing the vote for a Local Option Sales Tax in Boone County and requesting that the Boone County Board of Supervisors conduct such an election. A successful vote would result in the district receiving some sales tax receipts. The distribution of revenue is based on the number of students from each of the 14 school districts who live in Boone County.

Accepted a bid of $3200 from Maximus, Inc. to conduct a district-wide inventory of all district property for insurance purposes and set a dollar limit of $300 for use in the study. EMC Insurance will be funding part of the cost of conducting the inventory. The remainder of the fee will be paid from the district's management fund.

The board accepted an offer of $7,525 from St. Thomas Aquinas School in Webster City for the purchase of the portable classroom.
               
  Superintendent Kinley reported on the recent review of the Board Policy Manual by IASB. The district policy manual is in good shape and the board was complimented on its commitment to policy and ensuring the manual is current and easy to use and understand. Several suggestions were offered to address the duplication of several policies and to update a few policies due to changes in law.

  Supt. Kinley discussed a recent meeting involving area schools and the consideration of an Iowa Demonstration Grant Proposal received by Southeast Webster Schools. The grant would provide funds, on a matching basis, to procure and renovate a building to house vocational programs for students. The proposal would promote some additional sharing opportunities between districts and Iowa Central Community College, but could potentially relocate some of the district's vocational programs to a central location. Given the availability of existing vocational programs and potential program additions currently under discussion, the board did not feel the benefits for the district's students were sufficient to pursue this plan at this time.

  Mr. Kinley reported on a recent discussion with the South Hamilton Education Association chief
  negotiator John Lovell regarding distribution of the teacher compensations dollars for 2002-03.