Marion Independent School District Packet Summary — 2026-08-10
Meeting: Board of Education Regular Meeting
Scheduled: August 10, 2026, 6:00 p.m.
Location: Administrative Board Room, 777 South 15th Street, Marion, Iowa
Key Items on the Agenda
The Marion Independent School District Board of Education is scheduled to consider a consent agenda covering previous meeting minutes, accounts payable, personnel changes, language-access services, fundraising, a school resource officer contract, an athletic trainer agreement, an amended Kirkwood Community College course contract, annual roof and building-envelope consulting, and a payment application for the high school air-handling-unit replacement project.
Separate action items include an open-enrollment request and two large groups of board policies: 30 policies, regulations, and exhibits listed for second reading and 22 items listed for first reading.
Major Financial and Contract Items
Accounts Payable
The consent agenda includes approval of accounts payable. The packet's board report lists $2,237,792.30 for one checking account across the General, Management, Local Option Sales, PPEL, Debt Service, and School Nutrition funds, plus $11,891.02 in the Activity Fund under a second checking account.
The largest fund totals shown in the report include:
- General Fund: $1,222,915.46
- Management Fund: $948,702.06
- PPEL: $64,014.66
- Activity Fund: $11,891.02
- Debt Service: $1,000.00
- Local Option Sales: $662.15
- School Nutrition Fund: $497.97
$35,000 Roof and Building-Envelope Consulting Agreement
The consent agenda includes a proposed professional-services agreement with Shive-Hattery for the district's July 2026–June 2027 Annual Roof/Building Envelope Management Program. The estimated annual fee is $35,000.
The scope includes general roof and building-envelope consulting, annual inspections of permanent-structure roofs, monitoring and coordination of repairs, roof-warranty assistance, maintenance of roof-management records, and a five-year roof-covering succession plan. The agreement also allows certain small-project design, bidding, and construction-related services on an as-needed basis; capital projects and other services outside the stated scope would require additional fees.
High School AHU Replacement — Payment Application #7
The board is scheduled to consider Pay Application #7 for the Marion ISD HS AHU Replacement project. The application shows:
- Original contract: $669,000.00
- Net change orders: $15,602.37
- Contract sum to date: $684,602.37
- Work completed and stored to date: $684,602.37
- Retainage: $34,230.12
- Current payment due: $34,230.11
- Balance to finish, plus retainage: $0.00
The continuation sheet identifies the contracted work as 100% complete while retaining $34,230.12.
Language-Access Services
The consent agenda includes a Hands Up Communications service agreement for 2026–27 covering interpreting and language-access services. The packet lists rates including $70 per hour for on-site interpreting, $90 per hour for virtual remote interpreting, and $97 per hour for legal on-site interpreting, along with separate on-demand video and telephone interpreting rates.
On-site assignments generally carry a two-hour minimum for ASL services and a 1.5-hour minimum for spoken-language services. The agreement also provides for after-hours charges, travel-time billing where applicable, cancellation and short-notice charges, and a 10% late fee on qualifying unpaid balances.
The consent agenda includes an amended 2026–27 concurrent-enrollment agreement with Kirkwood Community College. The packet outlines Regional Center, onsite, and alternative concurrent-enrollment opportunities through which high school students may earn both high school and college credit.
Under the proposed arrangement:
- Marion ISD would contract for all courses under Option 1 for Fall 2026.
- Beginning Spring 2027, the district would move to an Option 2 course list.
- Spring 2027 priority would go first to courses offered onsite at Marion High School and then to onsite offerings at Kirkwood.
- The packet identifies a broad approved course list spanning areas including health sciences, manufacturing and welding, automotive technology, business, education, criminal justice, computer science, construction, project management, and arts and sciences.
For Regional Center career and technical education courses, the district would pay 100% of Kirkwood's current $229-per-credit-hour tuition rate, plus associated fees. For Arts and Sciences courses, the stated rate is generally 80% of the $229-per-credit-hour tuition rate when enrollment reaches at least 15 students; courses below that enrollment threshold are charged at 100%.
Personnel and Fundraising
Personnel Report
The consent agenda includes a personnel report covering appointments, transfers, modified contracts, and resignations. Proposed appointments span associates, substitute employees, mentoring and PLC assignments, food service, transportation, coaching, and administrative-support positions.
Among the listed compensation amounts are a $52,000 Payroll Lead appointment, modified teaching contracts of $62,642 and $56,619, and several supplemental assignments ranging from $100 to $4,000.
Fundraising Requests
The board is also scheduled to consider fundraising activities, including:
- An MHS Girls Basketball online donation campaign scheduled for September 1–October 31, 2026, intended to support program needs such as jerseys, bags, and basketballs.
- An MHS Volleyball student-purchase opportunity for warm-up jackets scheduled for August 4–12, 2026.
- An FMI PBIS Amazon Wishlist planned from August 17 through the end of the school year.
- An FMI Art activity using Artsonia to display student artwork online and provide an opportunity to purchase artwork.
Open Enrollment
A late open-enrollment request is presented separately for board action. The packet states that the resident district board has approved the late open enrollment out, and Marion administration recommends approval of the open enrollment request.
The exhibit identifies one request for a student in grade 2.
Board Policy Review — Second Reading
The board is scheduled for a second reading of 30 policies, regulations, and exhibits. The packet covers a wide range of governance, student, instructional, health, technology, and records issues.
Student Discipline and Classroom Removal
Policies 503.1, 503.11, 503.11R1, and 503.11R2 address student conduct and procedures for violent and nonviolent classroom disruptions.
The proposed framework includes procedures governing removal and readmission, different minimum return timelines for K–5 and grades 6–12, additional responses to repeated removals, protections for students with IEPs and Section 504 plans, and requirements for building-level oversight. For repeated nonviolent disruptions involving a student with an IEP, the proposed regulation requires an IEP team meeting under specified circumstances.
Elementary Digital Instruction
Policy 605.4, Technology and Instructional Materials, would establish specific expectations for instructional technology. For kindergarten through grade 5, the policy states that digital instruction is limited to no more than 60 minutes per school day, subject to listed exceptions such as IEP or Section 504 requirements, assistive technology, certain assessments, computer-science curriculum, and specified instructional circumstances.
The policy also would prohibit student digital-device use during recess in those grades except when required by an IEP, Section 504 plan, or documented medical necessity. A companion checklist, 605.4E1, addresses board review of one-to-one device programs, including instructional purpose, age appropriateness, content filtering, and student-data practices.
Post-Secondary Coursework
Policy 604.6 addresses concurrent enrollment and other post-secondary instructional opportunities. It establishes a preferred delivery order for approved coursework: on the district high school campus, in person at the community college, and online when other options are not possible because of hardship, academic need, or course availability.
The policy also describes the Post-Secondary Enrollment Option program, including a district reimbursement of up to $250 per qualifying PSEO course and circumstances under which a student who fails a course may be responsible for reimbursement.
Eighth-Grade Participation in High School Athletics
Policy 504.6 would allow an eighth-grade student, with parent or guardian permission, to participate in high school interscholastic athletics instead of competing at the eighth-grade level.
District staff would make participation decisions case by case, considering factors such as safety, roster and facility capacity, coaching capacity, eligibility requirements, and applicable athletic-association rules. A student participating at the high school level could not also compete on an eighth-grade team in the same sport during the same season.
Student Expression and Demonstrations
Policy 502.3 addresses student expression and student publications. It states that students generally may express viewpoints while allowing regulation of speech under qualifying circumstances involving substantial disruption, infringement on others' rights, unlawful activity, or other legally recognized grounds.
The policy also authorizes development of procedures for student mass protests, including walk-ins and walk-outs, with stated goals of student safety, maintaining the educational environment, communication, and viewpoint neutrality.
Medication and Emergency Health Policies
Several second-reading items address medication administration and emergency health needs. Policy 507.2 covers administration and self-administration of student medication, while related forms address asthma, respiratory-distress medication, epinephrine, and independent medication administration.
Policy 804.5 addresses the district's stock supply of epinephrine delivery systems. It calls for at least one pediatric dose and one adult dose at each location in each school building, along with regular inventory checks, employee training, emergency response, and reporting requirements.
Policies Proposed for Rescission
The second-reading materials identify two policies as proposed for rescission effective August 10, 2026:
- 603.4 — Multicultural/Gender Fair Education
- 603.10 — Global Education
Other second-reading materials address elections and meeting notices, equal employment opportunity, employee leave, open enrollment, basic instruction, special education, gifted education, private instruction, religion-based exclusions, guidance and counseling, responsible technology use, and public examination of district records.
Board Policy Review — First Reading
A separate agenda item introduces 22 policies, regulations, and exhibits for first reading. These materials concentrate heavily on student records, governance, financial management, procurement, and district records.
Major subjects include:
- Board member conflicts of interest.
- Duties of the board secretary/treasurer.
- FERPA-related education-record requests, access, amendments, releases, subpoenas, and information sharing.
- Student directory information and parental opt-out procedures.
- Confidentiality of student library circulation records.
- Gifted-and-talented identification and programming.
- District financial records and fiscal management.
- Federal procurement, suspension and debarment requirements.
- Presentation and publication of district financial information.
- District records retention and disposal.
The proposed records-retention policy includes permanent retention for items such as board financial records, open-meeting minutes, annual audits, annual budgets, permanent student records, and school-election results. Other proposed periods include 20 years for records of judgments against the district, 11 years for written contracts, five years for specified financial records, seven years for non-payroll personnel records, and 30 days for surveillance video footage, subject to longer legal or audit requirements where applicable.
The agenda includes a public-comment period. District rules in the packet ask individuals to limit comments to three minutes and state that the board will not discuss or take action during public comment on matters raised there.
Administrator and board reports are also scheduled, with administrators and directors expected to provide summer updates and planning information.
What to Watch at the Meeting
- Whether the board approves the proposed $35,000 annual roof and building-envelope management agreement.
- Action on the $34,230.11 AHU replacement payment application.
- The amended Kirkwood concurrent-enrollment arrangement, particularly the planned transition from all-course contracting in Fall 2026 to a specified course list beginning Spring 2027.
- Second-reading action on the large policy package, including classroom-removal procedures, elementary digital-instruction limits, medication rules, post-secondary coursework, and the proposed rescission of Policies 603.4 and 603.10.
- Introduction of the separate first-reading policy package covering student records, district finances, procurement, governance, and records retention.
Upcoming Board Schedule
The packet's board calendar lists the next scheduled meeting as an August 24, 2026 work session at 4:30 p.m., followed by a September 14, 2026 regular meeting at 6:00 p.m.
The official public-body source used for this packet is the Marion Independent School District meeting document provided through Google Drive.
Official Meeting Source URL: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_13v0MF7DeVZrGvHyr_BN-BdjkeFShR1x5rlykMiDMM/edit
Meeting/Document Listing Page: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kW6nVp3bGb-55Z7t0oiHEntLDtfHnu0g45RhNKr1R-0/edit?tab=t.0
Provider: google-drive
Provider Meeting ID: 20260810-board-of-education-regular-meeting
Civic Translator summarized publicly available meeting materials.
