South Tama School Board members finalized a number of personnel contracts Monday night, Aug. 15, as the school year is set to begin today – Aug. 24.

Contracts approved were: Deb Lenhart elementary kitchen manager, $15.76 per hour; middle school special education aides- Heidi Purk, $12.17 per hour, Stephanie Ehlers, $12.12 hourly, Laura Taylor, $11.02 hourly, Lindsay DeGrado and Chad Buck, both at 10.62 hourly and Courtney Rivers, $10.22 per hour; Tracy Glockl, elementary special education aide, $10.22 hourly; high school special education aides- Brenda Young $10.57 hourly and Brittany West, $11.77 hourly; Lindsay Johnson, elementary half-time preschool aide salary, $10.97 hourly; Marissa Cozine, 7th grade volleyball, $1,982 for season; Jessica St. John will be Middle School Soccer Club Sponsor, $991; and Jerry Vaske school bus driver, $29.77 per route.

One resignation was received from Heather Stanley, third grade teacher, effective Aug. 5.

Board members voting to approve were Michelle Yuska, Mark McFate, Jackie Dvorak and Allan Kline. Member Penny Tyynismaa was absent.

Policies

The second reading of Policy 402.01 on Equal Educational Opportunity and second reading of Policy 500 on objectives for Equal Educational Opportunities for Students, both approved with minor changes.

The Anti-Bullying/Anti-Harassment and Hazing and Discrimination Polices and Forms Handbook for 2016-2017 was discussed and approved.

“Offer vs. Serve” A for Elementary

The Food Service Application has been submitted to the Department of Education for approval as is done each year. South Tama requested to be able to offer the “Offer vs Serve” at the Elementary school this year for the first time. This will allow the students to choose three of four items offered on the Breakfast menu with one of those choices being a fruit or vegetable.

For lunch they will be able to choose three of the five foods offered at lunch, with one of them being a fruit or a vegetable. It is the hope of the School Nutrition program to cut down on the waste of food students take but do not eat. The program hopes to cut down a large amount of wasted food.

Each year the South Tama County Community food Service program prepares meals for Mid-Iowa Community Action’s (MICA) Tama Head Start program, and invoices the program accordingly.

This years agreement is identical to years past, except the price has been increased to $2.60 per meal for each enrolled child and $4 per meal for personnel. The Board voted to approve this contract.

Also discussed was the calendar for Board Meetings through August 2017 Meetings will mostly be held the first and third Mondays of each month, with the first Monday of the month being a work session and third Monday of the month a regular meeting.

These meetings will be held in the Professional Learning Room at the Partnership Center, 215 West 9th Street, Tama, Iowa, at 5:30 p.m.