Update: The agenda item for the purchase of property has been removed, and the Newton Community School Board of Education won't vote on the item at Monday's meeting as originally scheduled.
Monday’s meeting of the Newton Community School District Board of Education will shed more light on the district’s recent decision to purchase property.
At a work session Tuesday, the board gave Superintendent Bob Callaghan permission to secure the purchase of property on behalf of the district. No details on the price or location of the property have been provided, but at Monday’s meeting the board will vote on whether or not to purchase it.
Callaghan initially began investigating the purchase of property after the board gave him permission to do so in September. The reason the district has begun looking into the purchase of property because there have been a number of discussions on possibly reconfiguring the district’s buildings.
No one plan has emerged as the front runner in the talks. Suggestions have included reopening Emerson Hough as an elementary school, to spending almost $18 million to renovate the Berg Complex. Another suggestion is completely rebuilding Berg at a cost of more than $35 million.
Monday’s vote could signal what the district is leaning toward with its future configuration plans. The last time the district underwent a major configuration was the in 2009-2010 school year, when the board at the time elected to close Emerson Hough as an elementary school.
This decision ended the neighborhood schools concept in Newton, and transformed the four remaining elementary school building from K-6 into two K-3 facilities and two 4-6 grade facilities.
Feedback from the School Improvement Advisory Committee prompted the board to investigate the possibility of going through another reconfiguration. Results gathered from a teacher survey last school year, and a parent survey conducted at the beginning of this school year, have also been a factor.
In other business:
• During his report, Callaghan will discuss the district’s enrollment figures and free and reduced lunch percentages.
• Jim Gilbert, associated director of elementary services, and Scott Bauer, BMS principal, will discuss the School in Need of Assistance plan for that building. BMS made it off the SINA list for math this year, but was SINA-9 in reading.
• Bauer will give a presentation on instructional leadership.
• This year the district implemented the School Administration Manager model at Berg and Thomas Jefferson Elementary schools, and Gilbert will discuss that model versus the instructional coach model used at Aurora Heights and Woodrow Wilson elementary schools.
• Tina Ross, associate director of secondary education and director of special programs, will present a report on the district’s special education counts for the current school year.
• The board will vote on setting two public hearings. Both hearings will take place at the Nov. 10 meeting and one will pertain to a food service truck purchase and the other for an upgrade to the communication system for the transportation department.
• Cristy Croson, district food service supervisor, will give a report on the district’s wellness policy.
• Gayle Isaac, district business services director, will ask the board to approve an upgrade to the district’s camera systems.
Monday’s meeting will take place 6:30 p.m. at Berg Middle School.
Contact Senior Staff Writer Ty Rushing at (641) 792-3121 Ext. 6532 or trushing@newtondailynews.com