The Atlantic School Board will meet in a regular session 6-p.m. Wednesday, April 14th. The meeting takes place in the High School Media Center, and will be streamed live on YouTube. During their session, the Board will act on numerous resignations, including:

• 7th Grade Middle School Special Education Teacher Ashley Coffman
• ESL Coordination/Teacher & TLC Facilitator Brielle Cerven
• Special Ed. Teacher Hannah Ridder
• Junior Varsity FB Coach/ MS Track Coach, Joe Brummer
• Special Ed. Paraeducators: Tesla Cleaver; Vanessa Proehl; Becky Kirchhoff, and Jordan Franken.
• and School Bus Route Driver Clair Acker.

The Board will also act on the Contract Recommendations for: Holly Esbeck, HS Social Studies Teacher; & Matthew Best, HS Physical Education & Weight Training Teacher/ JV Football Coach. And, HS Assistant Principal Andrew Mitchell will present to the Board his recommendations for the hiring of Winter Sports coaches, to include:

• Tim Duff: Head HS Wrestling
• Asst. HS Wrestling: (To be determined)
• Oran Perkins & Adam Smith: MS Wrestling
• Head HS Girls Basketball Coach: Dan Vargason
• JV Girls BB Coach: Shelby McCreedy
• Freshman Girls BB Coach: Katy Christensen
• MS Girls/Boys BB: Terry Hinzman & Trace Peterson
• Head HS Boys BB Coach: Jeff Ebling
• JV Boys BB: Jeremy Blake
• Freshman Boys BB: Derek Hall
• Boys/Girls Swimming: Dean Junker
• F/BB/WR Cheerleading: Michella Bartholomew.

Mitchell is also expected to recommend the Board re-approve sharing agreements for the 2021-22 school year, to include: Girls Swimming – Audubon & Clarinda (Atlantic will act as the host school); Boys Swimming – Audubon, Clarinda & Red Oak (Atlantic will host); Wrestling – CAM (Atlantic hosts); Girls Soccer – CAM, Exira-EHK (Atlantic hosts).

In other business the Atlantic School Board is expected to act on approving a sharing agreement with the Griswold CSD for the services of Transportation Director, with Griswold paying 20% of the costs. They will also discuss and act on Superintendent Steve Barber’s recommendation for the disposal of laptop computers by allowing the Senior class the opportunity to purchase their Apple computers they have used the past four-years, for $125. They will also act on setting May 12th at 6-p.m. as the date/time for a Public Hearing on the 2020-21 Certified Budget.

The Atlantic School Board is expected to receive an update, and discuss, the Facilities Project, and 2019-20 Audit report. The latter shows a discrepancy in the certified enrollment data, which was overstated by 1.00 student (which the District will correct by contacting the Iowa DOE), and instances the auditors detected where the District Board Policies did not appear to have been reviewed and/or updated within the past five-years. The District responded by saying it has created a schedule to review each Board Policy series in a timely manner, beginning in 2021 and continuing until all series are up-to-date.  Additional audit information: 

And, the ACSD Board will move to accept a donation of $120,000 from an anonymous contributor, the Washington Technology Upgrade. Superintendent Steve Barber says he received a call from an investment firm that had a person who desired to make the donation. The Board must approve any major donation, per District Policy.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican lawmakers have yet to decide what the 2021 legislature will do on tax policy. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds says the state can easily afford to speed up a series of income tax cuts. While Republicans in the Senate have endorsed that move, Republicans in the House are more cautious. Speaker Pat Grassley says Republicans in the House want to make a sound decision that can be sustained for the long term.

“We’ve been in the majority in the House for 10 years now and I think a lot of that is because of the decisions we’ve made on the budget,” Grassley says, “and the stability that we’ve brought to state government.” Under current law, the cascade of income tax cuts only take effect if state tax revenue is projected to increase at least a four percent — and total tax collections are above eight BILLION. Grassley refers to these requirements as “triggers.”

“The reason the triggers were put in there was that was one of the piece that House wanted to put in during negotiations back in 2018…to make sure that we can stair step our way into it, provide that tax relief we want, without having to put the state budget at risk,” Grassley says. Tax revenue is projected to grow at three-point-eight percent. Majority Leader Jack Whitver says Senate Republicans believe that’s sufficient and agree with the governor on income tax cuts. The Senate G-O-P also wants to reduce county property taxes by having STATE taxes cover mental health system costs.

“Most states across the country use state funds to pay for mental health,” Whitver says, “and we have a system that has locked in mental health funding for over 20 years on property taxes.” Whitver says Senate Republicans are not going to wait to find out if federal pandemic relief money being sent to the State of Iowa prevents the legislature from cutting taxes. “We want to reduce taxes and I don’t want another year. I mean, I don’t think Iowans want us to wait another,” Whitver says. “…We’re not going to let Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden tell us what we can do with taxes in the state of Iowa.”

Whitver and Grassley made their comments during separate appearances on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans and two Democrats in the Iowa House have voted to let any Iowa parent certify they’ve taught their child to drive, so the teenager can try to get a driver’s license. It would end required completion of driver’s ed courses at their local school, a commercial driving school or the D-O-T’s online courses before a teen is eligible for a driver’s license. Representative Joel Fry, a Republican from Osceola, says as a home schooling parent, a state law passed in 2013 has let him teach driver’s ed to four of his children.

“I can tell you the amount of time that I spent with that child in driver’s education far outweighs the amount of time I received when I went through driver’s education in the school system,” Fry says. Representative Sharon Steckman, a Democrat from Mason City, says licensed instructors teach defensive driving skills in challenging conditions parents often avoid — and driver’s ed vehicles are equipped with an extra brake.  “I’m not saying parents are bad teachers,” Steckman says. “I’m just saying they do not have the background and ‘the brake’ to teach their kids to drive.”

Fry says parents who choose this option would have a vested interest in teaching their child to be a safe driver. “Who’s going to pay the insurance and liability and all of the damages that would incur should they get in an accident? It’s me. It’s not the school,” Fry says. “It’s me as the parent.” Iowa is currently among the majority of states that still require completion of driver’s ed courses before student drivers may take the written exam and driving test in order to get their license.

Eight states, including Nebraska, let parents certify their child has completed a period of parent-led practice driving rather than a driver’s ed course.