Board approves amended budget, dozens of contracts, bonds and school purchases

The Clear Creek Amana Community School District Board on Monday approved a slate of fiscal and facilities actions including a 2024–25 amended budget, a memorandum of understanding with the City of Tiffin over a detention/retention facility adjacent to district property, and multiple construction contracts and curriculum purchases.

The actions, taken after discussion in committee and at the meeting, included approvals of general obligation bond documents for a 2025 refunding, the award of construction and playground contracts, several curriculum renewals and software subscriptions, and routine personnel and vendor approvals. Superintendent Denise (last name not stated) summarized the board’s outlook, saying the district is “preparing for the end of the year” and reminding the board that “we do our best every day, and then we go home.”

Why it matters: The approvals give district administrators authority to proceed with planned projects and purchases that affect buildings, instructional materials and operations for the next school year. The Tiffin MOU clarifies stormwater detention responsibilities for new development next to district property, which the board and staff said is necessary for both the district’s and the developer’s site plans to move forward.

Key items approved - Detention/retention facility MOU with the City of Tiffin: Board approved an MOU that allows the city and the developer to complete stormwater work while assigning ownership/maintenance responsibilities in a way the district found acceptable. Board discussion flagged a future question: if the district later needs to expand transportation or paving on adjacent parcels, will the detention capacity still be adequate? District and city staff said they would confirm the stormwater calculations and, if needed, add language to future agreements. - 2024–25 amended budget: The board voted to approve the amended budget as presented at the prior work session. - General obligation school refunding bonds, series 2025: The board adopted resolutions and related tax-exemption and continuing-disclosure certificates to permit a planned refunding sale. - Construction and site contracts: The board awarded multiple construction contracts including Phase 2 work for the new baseball/softball complex to Tricon General Construction (base + alternates 1 and 3 accepted, alternate 2 rejected); Pro Platinum Construction for Clear Creek Elementary playground work; Park Associates / Park Planet for Oak Hill playground; and approved a substantial-completion date and a pay application for the baseball/softball complex’s Phase 1 work. - Curriculum & software purchases: The board approved multi-year purchases and renewals, including IXL learning ($57,037.50), Illustrative Math renewal ($68,096), NWEA MAP testing renewal (about $52,910), and Open Up Resources for fifth-grade reading ($37,069). Members discussed K–2 technical issues with MAP fluency recordings and asked staff to continue training and to reconvene building teachers to evaluate the tool after another year’s data. - Other operational approvals: HIPAA/HIPARA classroom-management contract for three years ($46,208.25), summer program wages, Clear Creek Elementary furniture purchase ($32,684.07), meal pricing for 2025–26, extra-curricular advertising approval for a football practice shirt (see discussion below), multiple interdistrict sharing agreements with Mid Prairie for shared staff positions, and a number of donations and facility-use agreements.

Discussion highlights and conditions Board members and staff raised several recurring implementation questions: whether stormwater capacity near the bus barn will allow future expansion without additional cost; how to handle newly donated or vendor-provided materials when families have already purchased similar items (a coach asked about donated team T-shirts already ordered by some families); and continuing technology/training issues around MAP fluency testing for grades K–2. The board asked staff to document tech failures vs. user/setup problems and to convene K–2 teachers for a collective review. The board also directed staff to follow up on the Tiffin detention calculations and to include any necessary contingencies in future legal documents.

A note on advertising on practice shirts The board approved a request to place the district name/logo on summer practice shirts that an outside donor offered to supply, after a policy review and discussion about timing. Several members said they support donations to athletics but asked staff and the policy committee to streamline the district’s review process so future small donations can be processed faster. The board emphasized it must follow state law requiring board review where a donor’s logo or district identifiers are used.

What passed and how: motions on the agenda carried on voice votes; where individual roll-call tallies were not read into the record the meeting minutes show unanimous voice approval ("Aye") on the listed motions. The board scheduled follow-up work on policy wording about fundraising/advertising and agreed to revisit MAP implementation with teachers after further use.

What’s next: Several items require implementation steps by staff (contracts executed, construction mobilization, vendor invoices paid). The board also flagged a facilities-planning process they intend to restart in fall and said it will review additional legal language connecting district expansion options to local stormwater capacity.

Ending: The board finished the business portion of the meeting and moved into routine consent items and reports. The board’s next public meeting is scheduled for June; administrators said they will circulate updates on the Tiffin MOU follow-ups and curriculum-implementation notes before then.