School Board Elects Carl Drost As New President
By Eduardo Zamarripa, CRI Weekly News
Oskaloosa, Iowa – On Tuesday night, the Oskaloosa School Board elected Carl Drost as the new president of the board on a 5-2 vote.
Drost, Shelly Herr, Shaun Moyer and Neal Hadden are all newly elected members of the School Board. Because of the addition of these four members, the meeting was split into two meetings: the regular session and the organizational meeting.
In its regular session, the board received a presentation from Treasurer Chad Vink on the 2012-2013 certified annual report and depository balances. Along with that, the board unanimously approved a request for the School Budget Review Committee for allowable growth and supplemental aid for a negative special education balance in the amount of $329,256.37.
Lastly, Vink read the official results from the School Board election on Sept. 10. The results were the following:
At-Large (Four-year term):
- Carl Drost (341 votes)
- Lin Yoder (318 votes)
- Kraig Van Hulzen (238 votes)
District Three: (Unexpired, two-year term)
- Neal Hadden (459 votes)
- Susan Boxler (419 votes)
District Two: (Uncontested, four-year term)
- Shelly Herr (670 votes)
District Five: (Uncontested, four-year term)
- Tom Richardson (676 votes)
District Six: (Uncontested, two-year term)
- Shawn Moyer (636 votes)
- Yes (594 votes)
- No (237 votes)
After announcing the results, Superintendent Russ Reiter proceeded to recognize the retiring board members, which included: Susan Boxler, Lin Yoder, Anne Whitis and David Meinert, who volunteered to fill the position that Laurie Fiscella vacated over the summer.
That concluded the regular session.
In the organizational meeting, the new board members took their seat, as well as the “Oath to Office.” After that, the board voted on electing a new president and vice president. Drost was elected on a 5-2 vote, and Tom Richardson was elected as vice president on a 4-3 vote.
As the president, Drost then proposed having School Board meetings twice a month, instead of once a month. All members of the board agreed with the proposal. For the time being, School Board meetings will now occur on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m.
The board received presentations from the District Leadership Team, the Professional Learning Community, and the Elementary Educational Coaches. Along with that, the board also unanimously appointed the following representatives:
- District Legal Counsel: Greg Life
- Negotiations Attorney: James Hanks
- Iowa Association of School Boards Assembly Delegate: Charlie Comfort
- Mahaska County Conference Board Representative: Tom Richardson
In addition to that, the board unanimously approved a resolution to maintain the district’s depositories. Midwest One Bank holds $6 million and TruBank holds $5 million.
“This resolution just identifies the capacity that we’re allowing each bank to hold of our funds,” Vink said.
The board also unanimously approved the membership of the District Advisory Council.
Before adjourning, the board went into closed session under Iowa Code 21.5.1(C) to discuss matters that are in litigation.
