School board sets public hearings for tuckpointing, new phone system

The Newton Community School District Board of Education ended its final meeting of the 2020-2021 school year setting public hearing dates for future tuckpointing projects and a district-wide telephone replacement system, increasing wages and purchasing various equipment, among other things.

During its May 17 meeting, the school board scheduled the public hearing to approve a district-wide telephone system replacement project at 5:35 p.m. on June 1. The hearings for the Newton High School and Emerson Hough Elementary School tuckpointing projects were set at 6:45 and 6:50 p.m. June 14.

Salaries for administrative staff were increased by 2 percent for fiscal year 2022. Adjustments were also made to the business services salary, an increase from $125,461 to $140,000; the special education salary was also increased from $99,694 to $118,319 in FY22. Both were the largest administrative raises.

The school board also recommend the approval of a 2.25 percent increase in licensed and classified groups, including supervisors, managers, head custodians, athletic trainers, specialists and secretaries for FY22. Altogether, the licensed and aforementioned salaries for FY22 total to more than $28 million.

Three kinds of technology equipment were purchased by the district, too:

• Data center servers from Heartland Business Systems for $60,962.33. The technology department said district network servers are in need of updates to operate efficiently. The school district originally budgeted $55,000 for the project. The overage will be covered by SAVE funds or savings from other projects.

• Clevertouch smart panels from Tierney for $148,824.82. The district had demo smart panels this year in elementary school classrooms. Two businesses were narrowed down and asked to present smart panel options via Zoom with teachers and staff. GEER and ESSER funds will pay for the smart panels.

• Berg Middle School staff laptops from Apple, Inc. for $68,770.24. Staff will receive new MacBooks, which was budgeted in the school district’s capital improvement plan for $100,000.

The NCSD Board of Education will hold a special board meeting at 5:30 p.m. June 1 in the E.J.H. Beard Administration, which will be broadcasted via Zoom. The school board will hold its regularly scheduled meeting 6:30 p.m. June 14.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com