Council Bluffs board praises 'save dollars' vote, honors student and staff musicians
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Summary
The Council Bluffs Community School District superintendent thanked voters for approving a revenue purpose statement and the board recognized students selected for state music honors and staff members of the month.
The Council Bluffs Community School District Board of Education opened its meeting by thanking the community for approving a revenue purpose statement that will allow the district to continue using so-called "save dollars" for facilities and other priorities. "The purpose of this statement was to continue allowing us to utilize the save dollars that we get on spending on facilities and other things that we would like to use them for," the board president said.
Superintendent Dr. Merrell said the "save dollars have really been instrumental in us being able to keep our facilities at where they are," and thanked staff who participated in the election. The board also observed American Education Week by presenting teacher-made note cards to trustees.
The board then recognized student musicians selected for statewide honors. Staff identified students chosen for the Opus Honor Choir and the Iowa Junior Honors Orchestra Festival and listed recipients from district schools, including Raylyn Clark (freshman, Thomas Jefferson High School), Bristol Chase (eighth grade, Wilson Middle School), Evan Veidt (freshman, Abraham Lincoln High School) and others. The board also recognized All-State selections such as Matthew Wagner and Dutch Smith from Abraham Lincoln High School and named additional students who served as alternates or chorus members.
Leaders highlighted the district's music educators and celebrated the district's receipt of the Best Communities for Music Education award from the NAMM Foundation, a national recognition awarded to fewer than 500 districts each year. Curriculum specialist Elmer Elvsen and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Tracy Matthews were singled out during the presentation.
Julie Foster introduced employee recognitions. Lucas Jarecki, trade works instructor at Thomas Jefferson High School, was named licensed staff member of the month for his work on career-ready programming; Missy Rowe, Wilson administrative assistant, was named support staff member of the month. Foster credited the Council Bluffs Schools Foundation for support of the awards.
The meeting then took a brief recess to accommodate a temporarily absent board member before returning to the evening’s business.