Aplington-Parkersburg board approves roof and track work, holds fees steady and plans free breakfast for all students

Mr. Fleschner, a district official with the Aplington-Parkersburg Comm School District, summarized actions taken across two May school board meetings, saying the board amended its FY26 budget, approved a re-roofing project and track resurfacing, kept student fees unchanged and substitute pay at $130 per day, and plans to offer free breakfast to all students beginning this fall.

The board approved an amendment to the FY26 budget to address facility project costs, which Mr. Fleschner described as routine. "Amending budgets is not necessarily a bad thing," he said, adding the change was driven largely by ongoing facility work and the need to align financing with the projects.

Mr. Fleschner said the board had initially tabled a full roofing project for the Aplington building and track resurfacing at the May 18 meeting to reassess after recent property tax reform. "There's been a pretty sizable property tax reform finalized with the legislators," he said, and noted the district expects penny sales tax calculations for schools to be handled differently going forward, with an expected decrease in funds that required staff to rework projections.

At the May 21 meeting the board moved forward on several facility and procurement items. The district accepted bids and approved moving forward with a re-roofing project for the Aplington building after receiving seven bids; Mr. Fleschner said the winning bid came in under the district's estimate and the goal is to start work this summer so the building is ready by fall. The board also approved resurfacing the high school track and, when asked about color, Mr. Fleschner said, "the one we're going to put down right now is going to be black." He said some work may be scheduled into the fall to avoid conflicts with the football season.

Board members approved routine end-of-year contracts, including teacher leadership and Western outreach agreements, and a service agreement with Central Rivers AEA for technology support and professional development. The board issued a request for proposals to area banks to manage bond proceeds and approved bread and dairy bids; the district decided to delay contracting diesel fuel due to market volatility and will hold off on fuel contracting for now.

On fees and food service, the board set school fees with no increases to student fees, kept substitute teacher pay at $130 per day and approved only a minimal increase to adult lunch prices. Mr. Fleschner announced a plan to start free breakfast for all students in the fall, calling it "something pretty exciting that we're looking forward to starting." The board also approved a copy release agreement and several end-of-year hirings.

The board approved a community-sharing arrangement to share librarian services with the City of Aplington; Mr. Fleschner noted the arrangement still requires approval by the city before it takes effect. The board also confirmed continuing a shared guidance counselor arrangement and that Mr. Flanigan will be shared with neighboring Grundy Center to provide counseling support across districts.

In personnel moves, the board approved administrative reassignments for the coming school year: Emily Williamson will move from a 3–5 role into a 3–6 principal position, and Mr. Fleschner said he will take on responsibility for 7th- and 8th-grade students in Aplington while continuing his district-level duties. Mr. Fleschner framed the changes as part of longer-term planning and greater flexibility for the district.

Several items the transcript did not specify remain without formal roll-call vote tallies or mover/second names. The board-approved items described here were presented in the update; where the transcript did not provide explicit vote counts or proposers, the article notes that information as not specified.

Next steps noted by district staff include awaiting final approval from the City of Aplington for the librarian-sharing agreement, scheduling roof work for summer, and coordinating track work around fall athletics. Mr. Fleschner closed the update by inviting community questions and signing off, "go Falcons."