Meeting: 08/19/2026 - 07:00 AM Regular Board Meeting-August 19, 2026 Board Meeting-Regular Session
The Van Meter Community School District Board is scheduled to meet for its regular session on August 19, 2026. The packet includes district and building reports, a consent agenda with bills and personnel transactions, annual organizational approvals, consideration of an early retirement policy, and a stadium discussion.
Key Items on the Agenda
Early Retirement Policy Under Consideration
The board is scheduled to consider a draft early retirement policy for certified employees. The packet says the policy committee has reviewed the proposal and it has been sent to district attorneys, but the attorney-reviewed version was still pending when the packet was prepared. The board could approve the draft at this meeting or make changes and consider approval the following month.
The draft would establish a voluntary early retirement program for the 2026–2027 school year. Key provisions include:
- Eligibility beginning at age 55 for regular certified employees with at least 15 consecutive years of service to the district.
- An application deadline of noon on January 4, 2027, with retirement generally effective by June 30, 2027.
- A maximum of three employees receiving the benefit for the 2026–2027 school year; if more than three apply, recipients would be selected based on total years of service to the district.
- A benefit equal to 50% of the employee's previous contract year's base salary, excluding TLC, coaching and other stipends, capped at $50,000.
- An optional unused-sick-leave buyback of $50 per day for up to 150 days, or a maximum of $7,500.
- Payment of the primary benefit in relatively equal annual installments over three years beginning in July 2027.
- The draft plan would terminate June 30, 2027, while continuing payments already granted under the program.
The draft also provides for employer contributions to either a 403(b) retirement account or Health Reimbursement Arrangement, as selected by the employee, and permits qualifying retirees to continue district group insurance at their own expense subject to specified conditions.
Major Financial Items
August Bills
Bills for payment are included on the consent agenda. The packet separately identifies a $7,495.10 Wells Fargo credit card bill for approval and notes that individual credit-card items had not yet been entered into the accounting system when the agenda information was prepared.
The regular August 19 invoice report totals $2,055,285.30. Significant entries include construction-related payments, insurance, employee benefits, instructional materials, technology, utilities and other district operating expenses.
Among the larger individual invoices listed are:
- $328,420.46 to Phillips' Floors, Inc. for Pay Application #29.
- $290,367.50 to All Star Concrete LLC for Pay Application #29.
- $244,115.00 to EMC Insurance Companies for insurance covering July 1, 2026 through July 1, 2027.
- $198,052.19 to Keystone Construction Services LLC for Pay Application #29.
- $148,226.73 to GTG Construction, LLC for playground construction.
- $108,412.93 to Van Maanen Electric, Inc. for Pay Application #29.
- $97,606.96 to Story Construction Co. for June construction billing.
- $90,521.47 to Hilsabeck Schacht, Inc. for Pay Application #29.
An additional-bills report totals $200,038.89, including $86,723.25 to Story Construction Co. for July construction work, $18,976.07 to Larson Engineering for athletic construction administration and $13,807.50 to Heartland Business Systems for server updates.
New School Bus Planned for Next Month
The superintendent's report says the district is preparing to purchase another bus within its PPEL/SAVE bus budget to upgrade the fleet. The attached quote is $159,500, including delivery, for a 2026 Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner C2 school bus with a listed passenger capacity of 77.
The packet specifically states that no action on the bus is planned for the August meeting and that action is expected next month.
PPEL Renewal Election
A special election is scheduled for September 8, 2026 on renewal of the district's voter-approved Physical Plant & Equipment Levy, or PPEL.
District materials describe the proposal as a renewal rather than a new tax. Voters will be asked to renew the voted PPEL at its existing rate of $1.34 per $1,000 of taxable property value. The district's fact sheet says the levy generated more than $700,000 in the previous fiscal year.
PPEL revenue may be used for infrastructure and equipment needs including:
- School infrastructure improvements.
- Computers and technology.
- Roof repairs and replacement.
- Athletic facilities and equipment.
- HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems.
- School buses and vehicles.
The superintendent's report says the district has had a voter-approved PPEL since the late 1990s and that the September measure would extend it through 2039.
Construction and Facilities
New Addition
The superintendent's report schedules an update from Story Construction on the district's new addition. The August bills include substantial construction expenditures associated with the district's ongoing building work.
A ribbon cutting is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on August 19.
Stadium Planning
The agenda includes a stadium discussion, but no action is scheduled for August. The packet says Michael Murphy from Larson is expected to attend next month's meeting to discuss approval of next steps for the stadium project.
Consent Agenda
Staff recommends approval of the consent agenda. Items include:
- Minutes from the July 15, 2026 regular board meeting.
- Bills for payment.
- Personnel transactions.
- Contracts.
- Annual approvals.
- Open-enrollment requests.
The financial statements section notes that the district is working to close out FY2026 and that no financial statements are included this month.
Personnel Transactions
The personnel section lists proposed hirings and volunteer coaching assignments. Hirings include coaching, custodial and teacher-associate positions, with two coaching appointments identified as conditional upon completion of authorization.
The packet lists no resignations under the resignation heading.
Annual Approvals
The board is also being asked to make recurring annual approvals covering district operations and governance. Items listed in the packet include:
- Ahlers Law Firm as legal counsel.
- Earlham Savings Bank, Wells Fargo, UMB-CorpTrust and the Iowa Schools Joint Investment Trust as school depositories, with a $25 million limit for each fund.
- Dallas County News as the official newspaper.
- Participation in specified federal programs.
- Use of signature stamps for the board president and board secretary upon approval.
- District authorization for certain purchases that require checks before a board meeting, with subsequent board review and publication with bills.
- A school-day schedule of 8:15 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:15 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Friday, unless unusual circumstances exist.
- Designated child-abuse investigators, equal-opportunity coordinator and fundraising designee.
Open Enrollment
The packet identifies two incoming and two outgoing open-enrollment requests:
- Two students seeking enrollment into Van Meter, from Waukee and West Des Moines.
- Two students seeking enrollment out to Clarinda for online school.
District and School Reports
Elementary Priorities
The elementary principal's report identifies two major building goals for 2026–2027. By May 2027, the school aims for 65% of PK–5 students who begin below grade-level benchmarks in both reading and math to finish at grade-level benchmark, based on district-adopted FAST/ELQA screeners.
The second goal is for all teachers to implement the Illustrative Math curriculum with fidelity. All-day Illustrative Math professional development is scheduled for August 19, with an outside trainer supporting staff from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
The district is also beginning to explore the L.E.A.D. Program as a possible alternative to programs such as D.A.R.E. and Code 411. The report characterizes this as an early-stage review, including plans to learn from other Iowa schools using the curriculum.
Secondary Academic Goals
The secondary principal's report sets a goal that, by the end of the 2026–2027 school year, 95% of students will achieve proficiency and/or expected grade-level growth and 30% will achieve advanced proficiency on ISASP.
A second goal focuses on students demonstrating college, career and life readiness through communication, collaboration, creativity and innovation, problem-solving, perseverance and global thinking.
The secondary school is also beginning work with 3DE for ninth-grade students, while NWEA MAP testing for grades 6–9 is scheduled to begin during the second week of September.
New Teachers
The district report introduces six teachers for the 2026–2027 school year in physical education/strength and conditioning, secondary agriculture/FFA, secondary mathematics, middle-school choir, fourth grade and ELP/TAG.
Activities Funding
The superintendent's report provides an update on Bulldog Edge, the district's organized effort to generate additional revenue for activities programs.
The report says the effort formalized advertising revenue that the district had previously generated less systematically. Revenue and donations are intended to support activities as expenses increase for trainers, video, free livestreaming, equipment and related needs, although the revenue is recorded in the general fund as miscellaneous income.
Purchases are reported to the board, and expenditures above $10,000 require board approval.
Back-to-School Schedule
The packet highlights several events surrounding the beginning of the 2026–2027 school year:
- August 19: Ribbon cutting at 9:00 a.m.
- August 20: Back to School Night.
- August 21: Fan Fest.
- August 24: First day of school for students.
What to Watch at the Meeting
The most consequential potential action is the proposed early retirement policy, particularly whether the board proceeds with the current draft while the attorney-reviewed version remains pending or waits until a later meeting.
Other items to watch include the construction update, discussion of the stadium project ahead of anticipated next steps in September, and information about the September 8 PPEL renewal election. The planned $159,500 school bus purchase is also on the district's horizon, although the packet explicitly says action is not expected until next month.
Civic Translator summarized publicly available meeting materials from the Van Meter Community School District.
