EACSD Board of Directors approves proposed agreement with support staff, sets public hearing for budget
by Susan Cantine-Maxson
The Eastern Allamakee Community School District (EACSD) Board of Directors meeting was held at the Kee High School Superintendent’s Office Monday, February 18 at 12 noon instead of its usual evening time due to Superintendent Dr. Dale Crozier not being available for an evening session. The meeting was called to order by Heather Schulte, Board President, and board members Kelli Mudderman, Bruce Palmborg and Heather Schulte were present. Members Bobbie Goetzinger and Melanie Mauss were absent.
After the agenda was adopted, the public hearing for the 2019-2020 school year calendar was opened. Since there were no public comments, the board approved next year’s calendar later in the meeting.
The board then authorized the February consent items, minutes of the January meeting, bills for February, Secretary’s Financial Report for January, and the Student Activity and Food Service January Reports. The board approved a performance of the school musical “Fiddler on the Roof” for Sunday, March 31 at 2 p.m.
The board also approved a tentative agreement with the chauffeurs and teamsters which includes staff such as bus drivers, custodians, associates, secretaries and cooks. The agreement states that all permissive and excluded items be removed from the contract and placed into a handbook with no loss of benefits. The agreement also established that the grievance procedure will have the final decision lying with the school board. Article 6 - Seniority Section 6.3 of the agreement changes the laid off period from 36 weeks to 12 months.
The agreement also increases the base wage for associates, secretaries and cooks to $9.00, custodians to $10.25 and bus drivers to $25.50, and increases employee wages $.25 per hour for the 2019-20 school year and $.30 for the 2020-2021 school year, and the activity route wage will increase to $12.70 and will be placed in the handbook. Bus drivers will receive nine hours per day for overnight trips unless actual driving time exceeds nine hours. The agreement will be in effect for two years.
The next item on the agenda included approval of the Employment Handbook for non-certified employees. The board then approved the budget adjustment guarantee resolution. The date of March 18 at 7 p.m. was approved for the FY20 budget hearing.
In administrative reports, Dr. Crozier presented different ideas to the board on how to make up the missed school days and hours due to inclement weather. The next board meeting is scheduled for March 18 at 7 p.m. at Kee High School.
