The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education will hold a work session this evening in the High School Media Center, beginning at 7:30. During the meeting, the Board will hear a presentation on the Fiscal Year 2011 Audit. They’re also set to discuss the 2012-2013 Budget, and Middle School Renovation project. Any decisions made during the session will be acted upon during the Board’s regular meeting next month.

Iowa Secretary Matt Schultz has introduced a bill that would change the method in which county supervisor redistricting plans can be challenged if questions regarding the consideration improper political purposes are raised. 

An Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board order dismissing a complaint, filed November 8, 2011, said “The system motivates the supervisors to appoint political allies to the commission to safeguard the interest of their respective political parties.” The bill would require Legislative Services Agency to draw a map for county supervisor redistricting plan if a petition containing signatures equal to 2% of the total votes cast for the office of Governor in the preceding General Election, are collected.

Schultz said “I share the IECD Board’s frustrations with the process and the need to change the current system.   However, I believe that local control must remain a key element in creation of the redistricting plans. I believe this bill takes a necessary step to remove politics from redistricting at the local level while maintaining local control of the process.”

For more information please visit www.sos.iowa.gov<http://www.sos.iowa.gov>

Last week, members of the Atlantic Education Association met with a team representing the District’s administration, and proposed a 6.9% salary package increase for the 2012-2013 Contract Year. Monday afternoon, those same entities met again, to hear the District’s opening proposal during the Collective Bargaining process. The Atlantic School District’s counter to last week’s salary and benefit proposal included no increase in the base salary rate, which was markedly different than the 5 percent increase in base pay presented by the union.

Atlantic School District Superintendent Mike Amstein proposed several changes in language to the current contract. Amstein says the proposed changes in particular, focused on parts of the contract that either are “permissive,” with no history of how the language was presented, or simply needed clarification. He says the proposed contract is not as long as the current version, and is more understandable.

Some of the language which was considered redundant, or “permissive,” were included in the following sections of the contract: Employee hours; Vacations and Holidays; Leaves; Transfer procedures; Staff reduction procedures; Professional Development; Salaries and Benefits; and Insurance. The Education Association will review the proposed language changes and meet again, most likely next week, with District officials. Both sides are still waiting for the district’s insurance rates to become known, before they can proceed with further, meaningful talks on salaries and benefits packages.