The Carroll Community School District Board of Education is scheduled to meet at 5:00 p.m. on August 20 at the Adams Elementary Board Conference Room, 1026 N. Adams St. in Carroll, with Zoom joining information also included in the agenda. The packet combines back-to-school updates with policy work, agreements, personnel recommendations, financial reports and several action items.
Key Items on the Agenda
Transportation Facility Closeout
The board is scheduled to consider final completion and acceptance of the district's new Transportation Facility. DLR Group recommends final acceptance, stating that, to the best of its knowledge based on site visits and observations, the work has been completed in accordance with the contract documents.
District administration recommends approving final completion and acceptance along with a $249,699.94 retainage payment. Under the packet's description of Iowa Code Chapter 573, the retained funds would be held for 30 days following final completion and acceptance to allow for subcontractor claims before release.
2026-27 School Year Updates
Administrators are scheduled to provide an update on staffing, programs and schedules for the 2026-27 school year. Building and department reports show preparations underway ahead of the first day of school on August 24, with preschool beginning August 27.
Among the operational updates in the packet:
- Transportation plans to begin the year with 18 routes, three shuttles and seven noon-hour preschool routes.
- A new 14-passenger minibus with a wheelchair lift has been delivered.
- Chromebook distribution is prepared for students, with high school and Ar-We-Va students scheduled to pick up devices at Carroll High School and middle school students receiving devices in classrooms.
- Buildings and Grounds reports several summer projects nearing completion, including HVAC work and parking-lot painting.
- The Activities Department reports that high school practices have begun and the weight-room project is expected to be completed by the end of August.
Board Meeting Recording Procedures
The agenda includes an action item for the board to consider board meeting procedures for recording board meetings. The packet's agenda text does not provide a recommendation or additional details about the proposed procedures.
Policy and Governance
First Readings
The consent agenda includes first readings of several policy changes. The packet identifies:
- Policy 711.06 — Transportation of Nonschool Groups, a new policy.
- Policy 701.05 — Fiscal Management, along with a new fiscal-management regulation.
- Policy 802.04 — Capital Assets, revised based on an auditor recommendation.
The materials also include a draft regulation for Policy 503.04, Good Conduct Rule — Co-Curricular Activities and Competitions.
Second Readings
A much larger group of policies, regulations and exhibits is presented for second reading. The packet says these revisions are based on recommendations from the most recent Iowa Association of School Boards policy primer and that the updated language is consistent with Iowa Department of Education guidance and state and federal law.
Topics covered include board elections and meeting notices, equal employment opportunity, employee leave, student attendance and conduct, special education, graduation requirements, instructional programs, financial management, purchasing and bidding, transportation, technology and data security, medication supplies and public examination of district records. The packet specifically identifies Policy 712 — Technology and Data Security as a new board policy.
Annual Policy Review
The consent agenda also includes policies the board is expected to review annually. These address long-range needs assessment, parent and family engagement, education-record access, student directory information and student library circulation records.
Agreements and Partnerships
Several agreements are included in the consent agenda with a recommendation to approve them as presented.
- St. Anthony Regional Hospital: An athletic training services agreement calls for the hospital to provide an athletic trainer at home varsity events including football, volleyball, basketball, wrestling and track, as well as practices from 3:15 to 4:30 p.m. Compensation is listed at $13,500 for the 2026-27 school year, with the agreement running from June 30, 2026, through June 30, 2027.
- New Opportunities, Inc. Head Start: A memorandum of understanding for 2026-27 outlines cooperation on preschool programming, records transfers, kindergarten transition activities and transportation. The agreement provides for district transportation of children participating in both district preschool and Head Start programming.
- Des Moines Area Community College: An agreement would establish procedures allowing DMACC pre-education students to complete observation or job-shadow hours with district teachers. The agreement runs from August 1, 2025, through August 1, 2030.
- The consent agenda also lists a preschool agreement with Kuemper and an agreement with the Department of Natural Resources involving two areas on school grounds. The accompanying prairie-seeding map describes terminating existing vegetation and seeding native plants during the dormant season or spring.
Personnel and Staff Development
The board is scheduled to consider approval of the district personnel report. Recommendations include hiring Michael Cook for a contracted bus-driving position at three hours per day and $23.03 per hour, pending completion of a background check.
The report also includes recommended or reported transfers and contract modifications, including:
- Josh Lucken moving from middle school mathematics to the 9-12 Math Teaching position at Carroll High School.
- Amy Kohorst moving from a Tier III to Tier II teaching-assistant position at Carroll Middle School at $16.66 per hour.
- Tanya Jackson transferring from the middle school to the high school while remaining a Tier III teaching assistant.
- Jaben Hasbrouk's contract being modified to include a $25 monthly cell-phone reimbursement.
- Hannah Pettit's middle school cross-country coaching contract being revised to $2,228 to reflect a recently approved coaching index.
- Marty Vanderheiden and Caden Koch being recommended as volunteer high school football coaches.
Tuition Reimbursement
The board is also scheduled to consider tuition-reimbursement agreements with Macie Bock and Kelli Schultz related to work-based learning endorsements. The packet says Bock is working to obtain the endorsement and Schultz has obtained hers.
The reimbursement agreements provide for tuition reimbursement of up to $300 per credit hour, subject to available program funds. They also establish a declining repayment requirement if an employee leaves the district within five years of the last reimbursement payment.
Committees and Student Programs
The board is scheduled to consider approval of the School Improvement Advisory Committee (SIAC) and its meeting schedule. The packet notes that committee membership will be presented at the meeting because responses from several prospective members were still pending.
The proposed 2026-27 SIAC meetings are:
- September 9
- November 11
- January 27
- April 28
Meetings are scheduled for 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the Carroll High School Media Center.
The agenda also includes approval of the 2026-27 Teacher Quality Committee, with eight members identified in the packet: Jesse Strong, Linsey Pick, Kara Rowedder, Becky Boes, Ryan Simmelink, Amy Collison, Dean Lansman and Joe Blazevich.
Consent Agenda Highlights
Beyond policies and agreements, the consent agenda includes bill lists, minutes from the July 16 board meeting and August 6 work session, donations and foreign-exchange students.
Two donations are proposed for the PAWS dance team: $650 from Jodi Berlau and $50 from an anonymous individual.
The packet also identifies two foreign-exchange students and their host families:
- Selin Ostling of Norway, hosted by Terilyn and Michael Van Wey.
- Magnus Ulrich Deserault of Germany, hosted by Titus and Amber Casebear.
Financial Items
The Business Office is scheduled to provide budget updates, with no board action requested on that report. The packet contains preliminary FY2026 financial information as of August 20.
The preliminary General Fund report shows:
- $24,040,961 in year-to-date revenue, or 98.48% of the $24,412,260 budget.
- $24,987,267 in expenditures, or 98.97% of the $25,248,164 budget.
- An unspent authorized budget of $11,738,856 in the accompanying authorized-budget calculation.
The August FY2027 accounts-payable materials show $473,233.03 for the General Fund, $80,815.75 for the Management Levy Fund, $67,615.11 for PPEL, $76,988.40 for the School Nutrition Fund and $430,253.38 for the LOST/SAVE-related checking account shown in the report. A separate activity-fund accounts-payable report totals $24,989.06.
District and School Updates
Administrative reports from district leadership, principals, Student Services and departments are informational and carry no recommended board action.
Reports emphasize preparations for the new school year, including new staff orientation, professional learning, classroom setup and summer building projects. Carroll High School reports that its math position has been filled, while Carroll Middle School highlights work on student-centered building goals, MTSS, its ESSA plan and PLC leadership.
The packet also highlights the district's inaugural TigerFest, with reports from the board president, superintendent and Student Services describing strong participation and extensive support from staff, volunteers, student groups, local organizations and businesses.
Closed Session and Upcoming Dates
The agenda includes a closed session for staff evaluation under Iowa Code 21.5(1)(i). The packet describes the statutory basis as evaluating the professional competency of an individual when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that person's reputation and when the individual requests a closed session, while also maintaining personnel-record confidentiality.
Upcoming dates listed in the packet include:
- August 24: First day of school
- August 27: First day of preschool
- September 3: Board work session
- September 17: Board meeting
- November 18-20: IASB BoardCon 2026
What to Watch at the Meeting
The most consequential scheduled decisions include whether to accept the completed Transportation Facility and authorize the $249,699.94 retainage payment, how the board handles procedures for recording its meetings, and action on staff tuition-reimbursement agreements. The meeting also brings a substantial package of policy work, including new fiscal-management, transportation and technology/data-security provisions, alongside the district's operational transition into the 2026-27 school year.
