VSCSD Board Reviews Student Progress and Sets Budget Hearing at February Meeting

The Vinton-Shellsburg Community School District Board of Education met Monday, February 9, in the Central Office Board Room.

Student Achievement & Building Updates

Administrators shared winter academic screening data and building celebrations. At the elementary level, staff continue to monitor literacy and math growth from fall to winter. While benchmarks increase throughout the year, overall performance is holding steady or slightly ahead of last year in many areas. A major bright spot is kindergarten literacy. District data shows about 90% of kindergarten students are proficient, with most students knowing their letters and sounds and already blending words at mid-year. Teachers credited the CKLA Amplify curriculum and strong instructional practices.

Report cards and required persistently at-risk notifications were recently sent to families. Students identified for additional support receive frequent progress monitoring and daily intervention.

Preschool registration for next year is underway, with numbers expected to be similar to this year. Recent Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT) reviews found high implementation of social-emotional and PBIS practices across classrooms.

At the middle school, staff recently completed data meetings to adjust interventions. Students celebrated the end of the first semester with an assembly recognizing participation in activities and academics, along with some friendly “Winter Olympic” competitions.

Both the 6th- and 8th-grade Lego League teams competed at state. The 6th-grade team set a new school robot game record with 250 points and earned the Breakthrough Award.

The high school reported completion of winter FAST assessments, which will serve as baseline data. Juniors will take the ACT on March 10 using paper/pencil testing.

Students continue to excel in activities. Five large group speech entries advanced to state, with four earning straight Division I ratings. In girls wrestling, Chloe Sanders captured the first ever school girls wrestling state individual championship, and Kaeylnn Roster finished runner-up. Additional students have qualified for state competition in bowling, and eight FFA members earned approval for their State Degrees.

The high school will also host a mental health awareness assembly later this month featuring a presentation from Emma Benoit, provided through a grant partnership.

Legislative Update

Superintendent Kyle Koeppen provided an overview of the fast-moving legislative session. Lawmakers continue to debate Supplemental State Aid increases, property tax reforms, preschool programming, student behavior proposals, and potential changes affecting charter school funding and district operations. Koeppen noted that many bills remain in flux, and the district will continue monitoring developments and updating the board as more details emerge.

Consent Agenda

The board approved the consent agenda, including financial reports, contracts, personnel items, open enrollment requests, and fundraisers.

As of January 31, total district balances across all funds were approximately $13.9 million.

Among the contracts approved were:

A three-year agreement for transportation routing software and support.
Construction consulting services for summer projects.
A districtwide GoGuardian subscription for student device monitoring and web filtering.
Staff computer replacements as part of the technology refresh cycle.
DJ services for Prom 2027.
Training support from Behavior Moxie for elementary staff.

Personnel: Substitutes: Brenna Trinkle - Associate and Separations: Miranda Fiene - Kindergarten Teacher at Shellsburg Elementary

Three separate fundraisers: National Honor Society's Rochambeau, FCCLA's Pie Auction, and FFA's Valentine's Day candy gram

The board also approved the early retirement request as presented. Congratulations to Dee Jeray!

Budget Planning & Tax Notice

The board held a budget workshop to begin planning for the 2026-27 fiscal year. Topics included projected expenditures, enrollment trends, levy impacts, and technology needs. The board used the assumption of a 2% Student Supplemental Aid (SSA) increase.

Board members set a public hearing for March 23 at 5:00 p.m. and established a proposed published maximum levy rate of $14.98034, which would represent a mill rate decrease from the current year ($15.10372). The board is allowed to lower this rate, but may not raise it above the published rate. Because valuations increased in the district, and the percentage of income surtax used is proposed to change by -1% (this increases the amount of property tax used), the amount of tax funds generated would increase +$212,343, which is a 2.1% increase. The consumer price index was +2.7% for the last year. The consumer price index is a key economic indicator that measures the average change in prices paid by consumers for goods and services, including food, housing, transportation, and medical care.

The board also approved a resolution to utilize the budget guarantee, as allowed by Iowa law, unless the state ultimately sets Supplemental State Aid above 2.55%.

Policy Updates

Directors reviewed a series of policy updates, most of which involved legal references and technical changes rather than substantive revisions.

Looking Ahead

Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for March 17 and 18.

The next regular meeting of the Vinton-Shellsburg Board of Education will be held on Monday, March 23 at 5:00 p.m.

Government : VSCSD Board Reviews Student Progress and Sets Budget Hearing at February Meeting