Meeting: 08/17/2026 - 06:30 PM Regular Meeting Board Meeting
The New Hampton Community School District Board is scheduled to consider a mix of contracts, policy updates, fuel bids, activity fundraisers, office furniture, and transportation purchases. The agenda also includes routine consent items, administrative reports, and board learning.
Key Items on the Agenda
NICC Concurrent Enrollment Contract
The board is scheduled to consider the district's 2026–2027 concurrent enrollment contract with Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC). Administration recommends approval.
The contract would run from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 and provides a framework for district students to earn both high school and college credit through eligible courses. For courses taught by qualifying district-employed instructors, the contract sets the district's payment to NICC at 34% of NICC tuition, or $74.80 per credit, per student per course. For certain individual Placement in College Credit enrollments, the district would pay 70% of full tuition plus a $6 technology fee per credit and applicable section fees.
Bus and Vehicle Purchases
The board is expected to revisit bus and vehicle needs, with lease-to-own options provided for either two or three used 2023 school buses.
The packet lists these options:
- Two buses — one gas and one propane: $184,500 sale price, with a three-year lease-purchase structure consisting of three annual advance payments of $65,432, a $1 balloon payment, and a 6.19% customer rate.
- Three buses — one gas and two propane: $279,500 sale price. A three-year option lists annual advance payments of $98,839 at a 5.99% customer rate.
- The packet also includes a four-year lease structure with annual advance payments of $76,140, a $1 balloon payment, and a 5.89% customer rate.
The agenda does not state a specific recommended bus option, leaving the alternatives for board consideration.
Office Furniture Purchase
Administration recommends approval of a quote to replace office furniture for the HR, School Business Official, Activities Director secretary, and superintendent work areas.
The attached proposal covers four workstations in the central office, superintendent's office, and activities office for $26,979, including delivery and installation. The agenda notes that a separate estimate for replacing only the superintendent's office furniture had been just over $12,000, while the current proposal includes three additional desk replacements.
Fuel and Propane Bids
Gas and Diesel
The district received three bids for gas and diesel for the 2026–2027 school year. Administration recommends Kwik Star for gas and Five Star for diesel.
The packet explains that the district split its gas and diesel awards the previous year, also using Kwik Star for gas and Five Star for diesel, because of diesel quality during the winter months. Fencl Oil submitted larger listed discounts in the comparison, but using that bid would require the district to place barrels at the bus barn; administration indicates work was underway to determine whether that could be accomplished.
Propane
The district received three propane bids. Administration recommends AgVantage FS as the district's propane provider.
The bid comparison lists AgVantage FS at $0.30 below the referenced normal price. The district's bid materials state that approximately 25,000 gallons of LPG were used during the 2025–2026 school year, while noting that prior-year usage is informational and does not represent guaranteed 2026–2027 consumption.
Policy and Governance Items
Second Reading of Board Policies
A substantial set of updated board policies is scheduled for a second reading, with administration recommending final approval. The agenda says the policies were changed or added in response to legislative changes.
Administration reports that the only change made since the July meeting is to Policy 705.01, Purchasing – Bidding, where purchasing and bidding thresholds were updated. The draft establishes proposed thresholds under which:
- The superintendent could authorize purchases of goods and services up to $20,000 without prior board approval or competitive proposals, quotations, or bids.
- Purchases from $20,000 through $50,000 would require proposals, quotations, or bids before board approval.
- Purchases exceeding $50,000 would use a formal competitive request-for-proposal or competitive-bid process before board approval.
The packet includes a broad collection of draft policies covering governance, student conduct and services, instructional programs, technology, purchasing and financial controls, records, and other district operations.
Disruptive Behavior and Building-Level Procedures
Among the proposed policies is Policy 503.11, Disruptive Behavior, addressing student removal from classrooms for violent or nonviolent disruptions. The draft calls for each attendance center to establish an oversight committee responsible for developing building-level procedures governing when students removed for disruptive behavior may return to class.
The agenda notes that Regulation 503.11-R(1) will receive additional changes after the building-level committees are created and have an opportunity to meet.
Regulation 504.06 — Student Activity Program
The board requested a regulation addressing eighth-grade participation in high school athletics. A draft is included for review, and administration recommends approval of its first reading.
The underlying draft student activity policy would permit an eighth-grade student, with parent or guardian permission, to participate in high school interscholastic athletics. An eighth-grade student participating at the high school level could not simultaneously compete on the eighth-grade team in the same sport during the same season.
The packet notes that implementation considerations may include student safety, roster and facility capacity, coaching capacity, eligibility requirements, and equitable access.
Financial and Consent Agenda Items
The consent agenda includes approval of the July 20, 2026 regular meeting minutes, monthly financial reports, the August bill listing, and personnel recommendations.
The July 2026 financial report shows:
- General Fund revenue: $1,872,564.84 year to date, representing 14.76% of the tentative budgeted revenue shown in the report.
- General Fund expenses: $334,622.13 year to date, representing 2.43% of the expenditure budget shown in the report.
- General Fund beginning cash balance: $3,456,732.50.
The August bill listing reports a $373,502.54 grand total across the funds included in the report. Fund totals include $215,094.14 from the General Fund, $88,481.04 from Capital Projects/SAVE, $29,747.04 from the Student Activity Fund, $27,680.14 from the Nutrition Fund, $11,900.18 from PPEL, and $600 from Debt Service.
Personnel Recommendations
The consent agenda includes recommendations for several positions:
- Logan Smith — 9/10 Assistant Football
- Sarah Dungy — Girls Soccer
- Erik Heeren — Assistant Musical Director
- Camryn Smith — Elementary Para
- Gayle Poncelet — High School Para
- Lisa Thiele — High School Para
- Michelle Moorman — Middle School Para
- Anthony Harrington — Custodian
Student Activities and District Operations
2026–2027 Fundraisers
Administration recommends approval of the district's planned activity fundraisers for 2026–2027. The packet says fundraising is intended to help groups offset costs for equipment, supplies, uniforms, trips, events, and related activities.
The schedule includes fundraising by athletics and student organizations throughout the year, including cross country, football, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, track and field, soccer, trapshooting, baseball, softball, cheerleading, dance, drama, FFA, music, National Honor Society, speech, Student Senate, and FCCLA. Fundraisers not included on the submitted list are expected to be considered individually.
Student Board Member
The packet reports that Brenna Throndson applied to serve as the student board member for the 2026–2027 school year. A meeting with the applicant was scheduled for 6:15 p.m. on August 17, before the regular board meeting.
Administrative and School Updates
Administrative reports provide a snapshot of preparations for the new school year.
High School
High school registration was approximately 76% complete as of August 12. Teachers were scheduled to return for in-service on August 18, followed by a freshman open house on August 19 and Meet the Team Night on August 20.
Professional development priorities for the year include Portrait of a Graduate, college and career readiness, course standards and benchmarks, school climate and culture, PBIS, and project-based learning integration.
Middle School
Middle school registration was reported at 83% complete, representing 258 students, as of August 13. An August 19 open house is planned from 4:00–6:00 p.m., with fifth-grade orientation from 5:00–6:00 p.m.
The report also highlights updated PBIS implementation, project-based learning, technology preparation, and community engagement as areas of focus for the coming school year.
Elementary School
The elementary report describes staff training and preparations for the new year, including Ukeru training for special education teachers and paraeducators and home visits by four-year-old preschool teachers. An elementary open house is scheduled for August 19 from 2:00–6:00 p.m.
Activities
The activities report highlights fall athletics, the fall musical, homecoming, and facility work. The football-soccer-track stadium shed project is reported as proceeding on schedule, with the New Hampton Lions Club working on the roof, entry doors, and siding.
Board Learning
The board is scheduled to participate in an “At the Board Table” learning module from the Iowa Association of School Boards. According to the packet, completing the module would bring all board members to 15 hours of learning for the year, the threshold identified for the Individual Achievement Award.
The packet also lists the IASB convention schedule:
- Pre-convention — Wednesday, November 18
- Convention — Thursday, November 19
- Post-convention/Board President's Workshop — Friday, November 20
What to Watch at the Meeting
Several agenda items leave meaningful choices or implementation details for board consideration:
- Whether to proceed with a two-bus or three-bus lease-purchase arrangement, and which financing structure to use.
- How the board approaches the fuel bids, particularly the tradeoff between the recommended vendors and Fencl Oil's bid, which would require barrels at the bus barn.
- Final consideration of the legislative policy updates, including the revised purchasing and bidding thresholds.
- The first reading of the regulation governing eighth-grade participation in high school athletics.
- Future development of building-level procedures under the disruptive-behavior policy after required committees are formed.
- Consideration of the $26,979 office furniture proposal.
The agenda lists the next regular meeting for Monday, September 21.
The official public-body source for this packet is the New Hampton Community School District meeting page provided through Simbli.
Civic Translator summarized publicly available meeting materials.
