Atlantic School District Superintendent Mike Amstein received permission from the School Board Monday night, to apply for an early start waiver, with regard to the 2015-2016 school year. The request must be received by the Dept. of Education no later than March 15th. He says without the waiver, Atlantic would be starting its school year on or about Sept. 1st.

The school calendar for next year is currently under development and it’s doubtful it could be approved in-time for the deadline. For that reason, the Board approved filing of a waiver, which can be amended if the calendar shows the district can start on Sept. 1st.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the education committee in the Iowa House believes he’s got a compromise that could end the controversy over when Iowa schools should start classes in August. Representative Ron Jorgensen, a Republican from Sioux City, has drafted a proposal that would require Iowa’s K-through-12 schools to start the fall semester on or after August 23rd. Jorgensen says there’s been of lot of discussion about the issue.

“Just going back and forth and talking to some school district officials on what’s still doable for them and taking into consideration the State Fair issue and the tourism issue and those type of things,” Jorgensen says. Governor Terry Branstad has been a critic of having schools start earlier and earlier in August, complaining it hurts the state’s tourism industry and makes it impossible for families to go to the Iowa State Fair. Two months ago Branstad’s Department of Education put schools on notice that no more automatic waivers would be granted, so schools would have to start in the week in which September 1st falls. Brian Johnson is a lobbyist for the Iowa State Fair, the Iowa Lodging Association and the trade group for Iowa’s restaurant industry. He says August 23rd seems better than August 11th, the date on which some schools started classes last year.

“It’s an issue that the State Fair has worked on for a long time,” Johnson says. “I know not all the tourism people are happy with that date, but it’s one that we believe we can support and hope we can get the issue behind us.” Margaret Buckton is a lobbyist for the Rural School Association of Iowa and the Urban Education Network.

“For us, school boards being able to set when school starts is a core belief,” Buckton says. “And it’s one that, frankly, we wouldn’t compromise on because we think the priority of children trumps all other things.” Schools say they need to start early in order to conclude the fall semester before the long holiday break, plus many high school students take community college courses and community colleges start earlier than the last week of August, too. The House Education Committee’s chairman says setting August 23rd as the start date accommodates those two concerns from schools. Republicans and Democrats on the committee met privately for about an hour yesterday to discuss Jorgensen’s compromise. A committee vote on the idea could come Wednesday.

(Radio Iowa)

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors, Monday, discussed the preliminary site plan prepared by Snyder and Associates Engineers, for the Kiddie Korral shelter, at Sunnyside Park. Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring said once they started tossing about ideas, Herring’s main concern was the location of the new shelter.

Site plan for Kiddie Korral

He feels it needs to be moved 10 to 15-feet south of the current location, and change the orientation of the building to a more southwesterly direction. Herring said the building also needs to be handicapped accessible, and there needs to be some kind of a service road.)

Other plans call for replacing the current fire pit with one similar to that which was recently installed at the Camblin Addition Shelter, a walkway to the shelter and other features for the surrounding area. The Board gave Herring the go-ahead to pursue the purchase of a pre-fabricated arch-beamed, metal roofed 30-by-50-foot shelter, that simply needs to be assembled on a concrete pad.

Snapshot of the proposal shelter for the Kiddie Korral at Sunnyside Park.

The shelter’s pad and electrical systems are not included in the $30,000 cost of the building, which will likely be paid for through the Local Option Sales Tax. A commitment from the Kiwanis and other sources of fundraising will help to defer the remainder of the costs.

In other business, the Atlantic Parks and Rec Board approve the filing of an application for a TAP (Transportation Alternatives Program) grant for the Schildberg Recreation Area Lake number 2 Trail.  There is a little more than $300,000 available for the grant period ending Feb. 27th. Herring says they hope to get $153,000, with a 20-percent local match, which he intends to seek during the next meeting of the Atlantic City Council.

The Nishna Valley Trails group is seeking funds from the City, County and other entities as well as through grants, to bring build a connector trail from the Rec Area to the Atlantic Municipal Utilities’ well heads near the Atlantic Little League Diamonds across from KJAN.

Proposed additional trail around Lake #2 at the Schildberg Rec Area.

Herring said the Lake #2 trail is critical to fulfilling the goal of bringing in hikers and bicyclists to the Rec Area, which can be a destination focal point for outdoor enthusiasts and bring more traffic into downtown Atlantic.

Police in Red Oak made an arrest following a traffic stop Monday afternoon. Officials say 31-year old Aaron Duwayne Childs, of Stanton, was arrested for Driving While Revoked. Childs was being held in the Montgomery County Jail Monday evening, on a $1,000 cash bond.

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education Monday night approved nearly $1-million in cuts for the 2015-16 School Year.

A large crowd packs the Atlantic High School Media Center.

Their action came before a large crowd who gathered in the High School Media Center to learn where the previously announced but unspecified cuts would be made. Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein said the Board gave the administrative team a target of $650,000 to make in the form of cuts from the budget. The amount he recommended was $682,616, but Amstein said there were some additional items they are looking at.

The other factors include: Utilizing breakdown insurance to lower the liability to the General Fund; Considering the addition of a Public Education and Recreation Levy (PERL) for playground equipment and other activities (from a voter approved 13.5-cents per thousand dollars valuation); Reducing a full-time TAG (Talented and Gifted) program teaching position, and the reduction of one Special Education Teacher’s position and condensing Special Education Loads.

Recommended budget cuts for the 2015-16 School Year.

Amstein said on top the proposed cuts, there is already announced elimination of the Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) Planning positions, which amounts to $305,256, for a total of $987,872. He said that amount is above the targeted amount because it’s the amount they’d have to cut out of the budget if it stayed exactly the same as it was for the 2014-2015 school year.

Amstein said there are still some inherent, unknown costs of business that will affect the budget, such as allowable growth from the Iowa Legislature, which is now called “State Supplemental Aid,” that officials are guessing may amount to1.25-percent. He says at 1.25, with a three-percent increase in the district’s cost of operations – $350,00 – they would have about $21,000 less than they would have if the amount were higher. There also have not yet been contract settlements with the certified and non-certified staff, and potential insurance increases for the upcoming year.

Amstein said they recently received their insurance increase for the upcoming year from the districts current vendor, which amounts to 19-percent, which he says means an increase of about $200,000. The biggest cuts in the budget include $100,000 from the High School Curricular Learning Teams, $92,056 through Teacher Attrition (including a Washington Elementary Phys. Ed position with transfer), and Sharing with the High School an FCS (Family and Consumer Science) position for two periods, which amounts to a savings of $73,602. In addition, reducing the substitute budget by limiting the number of conferences and training session during the school day, results in a savings of $50,000. Amstein confirmed the Head Dance Team Coaches position would be eliminated, which essentially also means the elimination of the Dance Team.

Anyone with an interest in tourism in Cass County is invited to attend the annual meeting of the
Cass County Tourism Committee. It will be held at the American Legion Memorial Building
(Atlantic Armory) on Monday, February 16. Light appetizers and networking begins at 5:30 p.m. in
the remodeled meeting room, with a short business meeting at 6:00 p.m.

The highlight of the evening will be a tour of the ground level of the building, featuring several
remodeled areas including the Military Museum, updated restrooms, and the future library and
kitchen areas.

After the First World War the veterans in Cass County were quick to organize an American
Legion Post on June 19, 1919. An Auxiliary followed in May of 1925. Discussions were underway in
1927 to find a place for the Legion to meet. A fund-raising campaign began September, 1928.
Work began May, 1929 even though all funds had not been raised. The plans now called for a banquet
hall seating 450 persons at tables, store rooms, offices and a rifle range for the National Guard,
a gymnasium equipped for basketball, volleyball, handball, boxing, wrestling, indoor baseball and
seating for 900 people at basketball games. The American Legion Memorial Building was ready for
use by February, 1930.

Planners of the Atlantic American Legion Memorial Building intended that the community could
put it to a variety of uses. Over the years it has been used by the public, by the school system,
organized groups and businesses.

The Legion Memorial Building was a popular place for regular and holiday dances with local
groups providing music. Lawrence Welk played for a dance and concert on December 9, 1936. The
admission price was 35 cents for women and 65 cents for men. The Harlem Globe Trotters played an
exhibition game there in 1937. An annual Christmas dance was a tradition by 1948.

Boy Scouts of Atlantic were granted use of the building and gymnasium in the original plans.
They continued to use the Building for many years including annual spring “lock downs”. Another
youth group, AWANA, met there for many years. Atlantic Archers practiced and held competitions
during winter months.

The Building was used for Works Progress Administration (WPA) training classes during the late
1930’s. According to some sources, it was the preferred place for settling bar disputes. An incident
would be resolved by having the involved parties report to the drill room the next Saturday for a
resolution.

Offices and meeting space for the Legion and Auxiliary were on the upper floor. Veterans began
meeting in other places in the 1950s. Current use includes a special room just for veterans’ groups
meetings. They also have storage space for their equipment. The space is also used by owners of the
building Atlantic Rock Island Society Enterprise (ARISE) for monthly meetings.

Police in Atlantic report the arrest on Saturday of 19-year old Matthew Paulsen, of Atlantic. Paulsen was taken into custody on a warrant for Failure to Appear. He was booked into the Cass County Jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Firefighters say they found a Sioux City man dead inside a burning car near a Des Moines church. According to a police report, 51-year-old Patrick James Murphy, II, was found dead Sunday night inside a Nissan Altima in the back of a church parking lot.

Fire officials say they found the car with the engine compartment on fire. They say they opened the driver’s door as the fire was being extinguished, where they discovered Murphy and determined he was dead. KCCI-TV reports a witness says she was watching TV when she heard a pop and whooshing sound outside. She says she saw the entire front of the vehicle engulfed in flames.

Police say the incident is being investigated. An autopsy has been planned.

A woman from Kansas was arrested Sunday night, after deputies responded a reported burglary in progress.

Misty Ann Whetstine

33-year old Misty Ann Whetstine, of Wathena, KS, was arrested at around 9-p.m. on a charge of Burglary in the 3rd Degree, and Tampering with a motor vehicle. She was taken into custody at 3285 316th Street in Page County, where Whetstine was allegedly attempting to start the resident’s vehicle without the keys.Whetstine was transported to the Page County Jail where she was being held on $2,000 bond.

A man from northern Iowa was arrested early Saturday morning, in Audubon County. Sheriff’s officials say 38-year old Judson Douglas Ollinger, of Humboldt, was arrested following  a traffic stop at around 12:30-a.m. on Highway 71. He’s been charged with OWI. Ollinger was later released from the Audubon County Jail, and ordered to appear in court on Feb. 12th.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – A middle school boy in Waterloo is showing his community how to give by celebrating his birthday at the Northeast Iowa Food Bank. Ben Crandall, a Kingsley Elementary fifth-grader, will have his 11th birthday party at the food bank, where guests will bring donations of food and money in lieu of gifts. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that party guests will also help clean and organize the donations that will be distributed.

Crandall got the idea of a food bank birthday party after driving with his mother past a billboard that stated that one in five children does not know where his or her next meal is coming from. The message resonated with the young boy, who decided to give to others. Crandall’s classmates, his teacher, and his principal will be in attendance.