Veteran substitute teacher Diane Kesl came before the board with her concerns on sub pay policy and the way in which she was talked about and treated by Superintendent John Cain. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

For the fourth meeting in a row, public comments were occupied by concerns brought before the STC school board regarding the superintendent, John Cain. This week, both Emily Chyma and Diane Kesl came forward.

Chyma, who has taught and coached in the district since 2006, spoke of the TrojanWay and the 2018 students that created the framework in a leadership class. One of those students was Skyler Steveson, who resigned her position as one of two agriculture teachers last week during a special board session.

“I know some of you sitting before me believe that the high school teachers are currently a problem. Currently people who want to stir up and create issues. That is not the truth. There are no sides here. We are, or we should be on the same team,” she said. “What happened to Skyler and how Skyler has been treated is not the TrojanWay. How she has been treated in meetings, how she has been spoken to and called immature, has forced her to make a decision she did not want to do and decided to resign from this district.”

With a reference to Cain’s “Do Better” speech from the April 28 meeting, Chyma concluded her comment.

“If the goal is to do better, then please remember, attitude reflects leadership,” she said.

Emily Chyma came before the board voicing her support for Skyler Steveson and condemning the way she was treated within the district. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

Steveson’s resignation comes after the district’s other Ag teacher, Taylor Brown, offered her resignation if a discrepancy with the extracurricular salary pay schedule was not resolved to keep her pay in a similar range.

The solution to the pay disagreement with Brown was moving her from the proposed level four lane on the pay scale which was listed on the agenda, to a level three. This came as Steveson was left on level four.

Next up was Diane Kesl, who is a substitute teacher working mainly in the STC district at the elementary school for the past 14 years. Kesl has filled three maternity leave substitute positions this year and feels like a valued member of the elementary staff.

“I am here due to the substitute pay policy that is currently in place for the district,” she said.

The wording of the policy of having to work 10 consecutive days to receive the increased pay of $155 per day was her issue. Criticising while doing maternity leave coverage she has to do the sub planning.

Edgar Tapia was hired as a middle school physical education teacher and will also be serving as the head cross country and track and field coach. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

“When I take a full day off my pay is reset to regular sub pay at 140 because I did not work consecutive days, even though I did all the planning and prepping to be gone, not the teacher on maternity leave,” she said.

Recently, Kesl attended her son’s college graduation and had her pay reset to the lower rate because of it. Kesl also brought up the conduct and actions she experienced from Cain.

“My other reason for speaking to you is to explain to you how I have been talked about by Mr. Cain since bringing the situation up. A rep from the elementary brought this topic up to the labor management team, not because I asked her to, but because she thought it was wrong,” she said. “First, Mr. Cain stated to her that if I speak to the school board about this request, he will turn all the board members against me. Second, he described me to the labor management team as being extremely rude in the way that I talked to him and his staff. If you don’t know me, rude is not who I am. Let me point out that all my interactions have been through email, not in person, even though I offered to come in and speak to Mr. Cain twice. He obviously didn’t think that was necessary. So with that, I will not be returning to the district to sub next year.”

Dixie Forcht also offered a public comment, leaving with a lighter feeling. Currently the president of the South Tama County Education Association, she thanked the board to cap off board appreciation month.

Eventually during superintendent updates, Cain thanked Kesl for her comments.

“Thank you to Diane for talking with us tonight. I have been in some correspondence with her over this. I do feel as I stated with her in an email, she does have a legitimate concern. We’re following the handbook. That’s probably something that we’ll bring to you in June as a part of the change,” he said.

The board accepted the resignation of Kelsea Anderson from her fourth grade position while also approving the hire of Edgar Tapia. Tapia was hired as a middle school physical education teacher and will also be serving as the head cross country and track and field coach, filling the vacancies left by Robert Tyynismaa’s retirement and Danny Mayo’s departure.

Mayo’s hire was approved by the Decorah Community School District on April 14, with his position listed as: Interim High School Science Teacher, noting the position is for one year only.

Tapia is currently listed on the UNI Track and Field roster page, with his specialty events being the 400 and 400 hurdles. Prior to being at UNI Tapia competed at Hawkeye Community College.

Holding 7 a.m. June meetings were approved by the board following discussion being held on them at the last regularly scheduled board meeting. Those meetings will be held on June 9 and 23.