Ottumwa school board certifies 2526 budget, approves multiple contracts and settlements

The Ottumwa Comm School District Board of Education certified its 2526 budget and approved a suite of contracts, waivers and labor settlements during a regular meeting; the board also tabled one agenda item for later consideration.

The most consequential formal action was certification of the 2526 budget. The board approved the budget by roll call, with Morgan Brown, Dave Walbrenner, Becky Engel, Brian Jones, Jeremy Weller, Jan Weichirk and Christina Shark all voting yes. District staff told the board the district will submit the levy “no higher than 14.66907,” and that final state adjustments could lower that amount slightly.

In other formal actions the board: - Approved a three-year HSFS 3 waiver to allow Gateway High School to continue operating a competency-based high school model (motion passed). - Approved travel for an Odyssey of the Mind team to attend world finals (motion passed). - Approved bargaining settlements for associate staff (2.24% increase, roughly $0.38 per hour in conversion cited by staff) and secretarial staff (about 2.25%, roughly $0.55 per hour) (motion…