Board members, along with district employees and community members, listen as Chelsea Naniot reads her comment off her phone. Naniot is the owner of Elysian Spa and Salon, as well as a parent of students in the district. PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

This week’s South Tama County school board meeting was akin to the drama of soap opera. With highs and lows, tied voting, and appearances from fresh faces in the audience, the meeting was packed full of information.

Starting off the meeting in the usual way, a community member spoke during public comment. Chelsea Naniot, who in recent weeks has started a Facebook group called: Our School – The Trojan Way, took the floor and offered her input. Before she began speaking, she left the board with a printed version of her speech which included more, something she attributed to the three minute time limit that is enforced.

“Good morning, I come before you today not as one voice, but as the voice of many – educators, support staff, students, and community members who have committed themselves to this district but now feel deeply unheard, undervalued, and in too many cases, afraid,” Naniot said.

Through her comments, she raised concerns about a culture of fear, a lack of support and respect, declining morale and rising turnover, making retention a priority, and leadership concerns.

Near the end of her remarks, Naniot mentioned an incident involving Superintendent John Cain. “Even more concerning, the superintendent recently held a meeting with high school students, required them to surrender their phones, brought in a police officer, deflected most student questions, and belittled an educator in front of students. This is not leadership. This is not transparency. How can we reward this behavior with a raise? We should be building up educators, not tearing them down. We should be empowering students to speak, not silencing them,” she said.

PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER

In a statement to the News Chronicle, Cain confirmed that the meeting in fact took place, and phones were left outside the door.

“We did have a group of HS students request a meeting this spring similar to a meeting that was held in the fall. In the fall meeting, some of the HS students used their phones and recorded parts of the conversation without my knowledge. So, this Spring, when I met with a different group of HS students, I asked them to leave all of their phones at the door and we collected them in a basket. This is a practice all HS students should be accustomed to,” he said.

In a separate statement directed to the News Chronicle, Cain responded to Naniot’s comments during the meeting.

“When students visit the administration center, we always want their experience to be a positive one. The conversation that took place at the administration center with a group of students in May was structured to be a safe and positive experience for all,” he said. “In my opinion, it was not accurately depicted by a community member who was not present at the meeting when it was referenced at our board meeting on Monday. The students came with some questions that a board member, a parent, our SRO and I listened to, processed and appropriately responded to. It was a good discussion. As a group, we discussed next steps and opportunities we have to better involve more student voices in our District. It was a positive experience for the four adults in the room as well as the four students.”

A list of questions regarding the incident was sent by the News Chronicle to Cain, which he declined to respond to.

In a return from the previous board meeting, Seth Koch’s request to receive compensation for four family sick leave days he used last year, before he was aware they had monetary value as a part of the early retirement package, was under action items. After a few comments, no motion was made, and his request was not honored.

The board moved to deciding on the superintendent’s contract, which included the carryover of two vacation days, which Cain did not want to use before July 1 — thus, he requested the board honor his wishes of carrying them over.

Beth Wiese made a motion to approve a two-year contract for the superintendent, including a capped salary increase of $2,000, and the ability to carry over two unused vacation days from this school year to the next. Rick Hopper provided the second, and both Wiese and Hopper said Aye. Opposed were Joe Hanus and Megan Thiessen, leaving the tie-breaking vote to Board President Elizabeth Dolezal.

With a look of shock and the comment “I don’t have to do this very often,” Dolezal said “Umm…Aye” very quietly, and moving on to the next item, Board Secretary Katie Mathern confirmed the vote with Dolezal, who stated “Yep, I voted Aye.”

With the approval, Cain’s salary was raised to $187,000, and he is contracted for another two years in a shared position, with 60 percent paid by South Tama County and 40 percent paid by North Tama.

The board then approved the operational sharing contracts for another year, with Hanus being the lone nay. Approved for another year of sharing was: Superintendent, Curriculum director, maintenance director, and a business manager.

Steve Chyma’s transfer from Transportation Director to Industrial Tech teacher was approved by the board, filling the position that had been left open for a number of years with the departure of Jeff Niedermann.

Directly after the meeting was adjourned, Heidi Steveson, the mother of recently resigned Ag Teacher and FFA co-sponsor Skyler Steveson, directed her frustrations at the board.

“Yeah, thank you for ignoring all the community’s concerns about our superintendent. Appreciate it,” she said.

While no board members responded to the comment, Cain responded with “They weren’t ignored.”

In July, the board will only meet once. That date is set for July 28.