Changes to the Waterloo High School student handbook and a lease proposal for district Chromebooks were big discussion topics for the Waterloo School Board on Monday night, with a temporary board member also making his debut.

Following the resignation of former Waterloo School Board Secretary Kim Ahne in May, Nathan Mifflin began serving as a board member at the latest meeting, having run for a seat on the board in the last election.

Waterloo Superintendent of Schools Brian Charron said the board had advertised for the position, with 16 members of the community expressing interest. Several of these individuals were ruled out, however, due to restrictions on how many board members can live in certain townships and ranges in the community.

The board interviewed six individuals, ultimately selecting Mifflin, who will serve for the rest of the year but will be required to file and run in the next spring election should he wish to remain in the position.

Along with Mifflin being properly seated as a board member following his previous approval, board member Amanda Propst served as board secretary.

The largest topic of conversation through the meeting concerned revisions to the WHS handbook, with the primary change being the addition of an exemption for semester exams as an incentive for good behavior and academic performance.

WHS Principal Tim McDermott addressed the board to offer additional insight into the proposal, noting the idea had been developed with the help of several teachers at the school.

McDermott also said the school previously had an exam exemption policy which was phased out as a trend with other schools. Currently, WHS stands out as one of few schools in the area that doesn’t provide strong-performing students the opportunity to opt out of exams.

He further explained the policy is meant to provide an incentive for students to improve in the areas of academic performance, attendance and discipline.

“Our focus of what we’re hoping to do is three things and that’s encourage students to do their normal coursework – to improve their academic standing in the class – incentivize attendance – to reward those kids who are coming every day and some of those who are kind of on the borderline of attendance to encourage them to be here more often – and then to focus on discipline and have some checkpoints that, if there’s limited discipline infractions that they can be eligible for that incentive,” McDermott said.

Board vice president Neil Giffhorn suggested a hypothetical to McDermott concerning an eligible student with a B in a class.

McDermott said an eligible student would be able to determine whether or not they took an exam on a class-by-class basis.

Additionally, their grade on the exam would only be included if it improved their final grade, otherwise the final grade would simply be based on their regular coursework grade as if they had not taken the exam at all.

An additional revision to the handbook concerned cell phone violations, with a major change being the addition of school communication with parents for every violation after the first.

“We’re trying to find ways to not completely take that device away from a student but to focus that 45 minutes to maximize learning time that we have in the classroom,” McDermott said. “So, passing periods and lunchtime, students can still, if they need to text mom and dad, check Snapchat – because we know that’s really what they’re doing. Trying to help kids learn how to use that technology effectively and when it’s appropriate, and not just a ‘no’ altogether.”

Following a question from Mifflin about classroom phone policies, McDermott indicated that school administration has been working with teachers to develop a universal phone policy for the sake of consistency.

The board ultimately approved the handbook revisions.

An item that received attention earlier in the meeting concerned a lease agreement for the rental rather than purchase of Chromebooks for grades 1-5. 

Charron spoke about a particular levy which is meant to be used specifically on leases, with district technology seeming to be a good opportunity to make use of these funds.

Waterloo School District Director of Technology Nick Hergenroeder also spoke briefly about this item, offering some perspective on the life cycle of the district’s Chromebooks given how updates can leave them incompatible with certain testing software over time.

The board approved this four-year lease agreement for four payments of $77,893.

Other items approved by the board included the acceptance of $1,750 donations, one for the WHS Boys Basketball Activity Account and one for the WHS Girls Basketball Activity Account, both from the Waterloo Basketball Association.

The board also approved the adjustment of district stipends and extra-duty assignments – Mifflin abstained on both items – as well as a contract agreement with Sydenstricker Nobbe Partners for $2,264.74 for a 2024 John Deere Gator with the trade-in of a 2010 John Deere Tractor and 2014 John Deere Gator.

Two elementary teachers and one high school English teacher were also approved, as was the beginning of a tentative budget set to be put on display Aug. 15.

The first reading of new district board policies from Press Plus were also approved.

At the start of the meeting, Waterloo Classroom Teacher’s Association President Renee Koeneman addressed the board briefly, thanking all involved with the latest round of negotiations for their contributions and their willingness to negotiate in good faith.

“I wanted to take this second to thank my negotiation team that is helping to negotiating our new contract,” Koeneman said. “Each of these members has been an asset to our team, and each one of us has a different strength that was needed and appreciated. We’ve worked very hard on this contract negotiation, and we appreciate the time your negotiation team has dedicated to listening to our proposal.”