The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education Monday night, discussed their 5-year Capital Improvements Plan and student motivation during their work session. Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein told KJAN News today (Tuesday), he’ll be bringing his recommendations to the Board for action during their meeting in March, but he says they typically include replacement of normal, wear and tear items. That includes carpeting, furniture, tuck pointing of the brick buildings, and parking lot paving and/or line repainting.

But he’ll also recommend replacing the some of the heat pumps at the high school. He says they’ll look at a 3-to 4-year cycle of replacing the pumps in different parts of the building, as the current pumps are at or near their expected life span. Amstein said also, the district’s Building Leadership Team, Monday night, discussed how they can affect and improve student motivation. They also talked about the technology needs of the students and teachers are, following the implementation of the 1-to1 laptop computer initiative.”

Amstein says they also discussed taking another look at the budget for the 2015-16 school year, and moving ahead with plans despite not knowing again, what the Iowa Legislature will allow for Supplemental Aid. He says the legislature has already surpassed the 30-days required by law to set the percentage of Supplemental Aid. Therefore, the Board laid-out some scenarios with regard to the current levies and funding appropriations at varying percentages of Supplemental Aid and the effect each would have on the levy.

In addition, Amstein said he’s not sure the district could manage some of the legislative proposals for bullying when it comes to incidents that happen off campus. He said “It’s a fine line for them to walk,” and he’ll be interested in seeing how that plays out. An amendment discussed Monday would change some language on guidelines for educators looking at why a student might be bullied. It would also create a group of experts who would study the issue. The bill was proposed by Gov. Terry Branstad, who has made anti-bullying legislation a priority this session. Lawmakers failed to agree on a measure last year.