Former STC board member Jackie Ellenbecker stands before the board on Monday night reading her letter of empowerment to the five elected directors. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

At Monday night’s South Tama County school board meeting, comments and responses were the highlights. Todd Anderson commented about a misunderstanding with Steve Chyma and the transportation department, while former board member Jackie Ellenbecker returned to the board room with concerns, echoing reasons she resigned in October. Later in the meeting Superintendent John Cain used his update time to respond to Deanna Zmoleks public comments from last week, titling his speech “Let’s do better STC.”

The meeting also had an increased presence of STC teachers, scattered throughout the room. In the first meeting she attended since her Oct. 14, 2024 resignation, Jackie Ellenbecker returned to “Empower our board members.”

Upon speaking, her three minutes began as Cain set the timer.

Ellenbecker’s points outlined influence, asking questions, and not accepting things the way they are.

“I want to remind each director of how important your thoughts and opinions are and that you are capable of thinking independently. Also that the design of a school board is to have the voices of community members leading, that is intentional. I ask you to step out of your comfort zone and start asking the hard questions. I ask that you keep asking questions and don’t stop until you have a full picture and understanding, even if that means seeking out information beyond what is presented or recommended,” she said.

Reminiscing on her own time at the board, she shared her vision.

“I wish someone had stood up here and encouraged me to speak up more when I was in your seat, I think I would have asked more questions and pushed harder when things weren’t adding up,” she said. “I know for a fact I would have spoke up more if there was less focus on how long the meetings were taking and more focus on having transparent discussions in the boardroom. I now recognize that this is yet another way to control the narrative during meetings.”

In her parting thoughts, Ellenbecker reminded the board of upcoming elections.

“You can choose to dismiss my words as many of you did when I was on the board, but remember, there’s a good chance you also then (that) you will not be sitting behind that table come election time,” she said.

With no more than five seconds to spare, the timer sounded as Ellenbecker returned to her seat, as she exclaimed “Under three!”

Many board members were writing while Ellenbecker delivered her comments, with noticeable silence afterwards. A tense mood loomed as staff, administration, community members, and the board moved on with the meeting.

High school principal Robert Boley gave a presentation, mainly detailing attendance for this school year in comparison to other recent years. Using the projector during his presentation, Boley turned the lights off, which remained off for a while into the meeting.

Once hitting the discussion items, good news was shared on the middle school with May 16 being listed as the target completion date. With furniture and classroom supplies still needing to be assembled and moved, a public open house will be held in August.

Shortly before Cain read his response to Deanna Zmolek’s comments last week, he said,

“I shared tonight’s schedule, so we’re still doing good on time.”

This refers to the district strategic planning meeting which was scheduled at 6:30 immediately following the board meeting.

Cain then moved to his comments.

“I wanted to take some time to respond to our public comments from last session. It’s a little long. If I were to give it a title I’d call it “Let’s get better” or “Let’s do better,” I believe we’re all on that same path of getting better, or at least I would hope we’re all on that path,” he said.

“I would like to thank our board members for their time, their dedication and the growth that we have made as a board. The board has consistently improved in better understanding their role through better boardsmanship activities with IASB. The goal is for the staff to continue to better understand the role of the board as well as their role.”

After his brief introduction, Cain addressed specific sections to respond to.

During his first section titled “The board,” Ellenbecker, visibly distraught, exited the meeting. Shortly after, Boley exited the meeting as well.

Other sections in his response included: Chain of command and employee code of conduct,

Communities, Staffing, TLC, Strategic Planning, Candidates, and Our end of year plan.

Cain directly addressed veteran teachers leaving the district and specifically those with administrative degrees.

“It was mentioned that eight veteran teachers have left the district over the past few years and some have administrative degrees. Let’s keep in mind three of our seven building level administrators are former teachers from the South Tama system,” he said. “That is close to 43 percent of our building leaders hired from a system in which they taught. That’s pretty impressive.”

When all was said and done, Cain’s response lasted 11 minutes and 10 seconds. Shortly after he finished, board president Elizabeth Dolezal turned the lights back on in the room.

In other news, the board accepted personnel which included the resignation of Danny Mayo, a high school science teacher and the head track and field coach. Samantha Cantonwine resigned her position as the varsity volleyball coach as well. Mayo has been the track coach for over a decade, while Cantonwine has served in the position for over five years.

At 6:20 p.m., the board entered a closed session to discuss property sales. The next board meeting is scheduled for May 12.