Board President Elizabeth Dolezal swears in Joe Hanus to serve as District Two Director. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

At last Monday’s STC school board meeting, Joe Hanus was appointed to serve as District Two director after Jackie Ellenbecker’s resignation last month. Hanus is a parent of three and cited his desire to serve as a reason he is taking on this position. Hanus also cited the budget as his number one issue facing the school district.

The first hour of the meeting was dominated by presentations and some recognitions. Five active high school students were brought before the board to talk about their fall activities ranging from allstate band to football and the play.

Afterwards, Elementary Principal Brad Schweppe and Assistant Principal Jon Huebner presented to the board followed by Middle School Principal Ben Adams.

In both presentations, Curriculum Director Janelle Pirkl was praised as an excellent addition to the school district, citing her knowledge and expertise on various curriculum and instructional topics.

Chelsea Ahrens gave an update on high school activities. Boy golf will remain in the spring after the IHSAA received pushback from many schools. ESports will see a new game being played this winter season as Overwatch will be replacing Rocket League.

A discussion on whether to offer early retirement was initiated. Board member Rick Hopper commented on the practice and how it has evolved.

“It’s not as effective as it used to be,” he said.

Hopper was speaking in regards to paying starting teachers at a higher rate now, after legislation out of Des Moines earlier this year. A calendar change was made to fit hour requirements after the canceling of school in September to honor the life of Sydney Culbertson. School will now take place on May 30 to account for all hours.

The board also opted to not approve a request to record and post meetings online. Board President Elizabeth Dolezal mentioned many online clips of things being taken out of context and the Google Meet form of the meeting being publicly available while the meetings are in session.

The meeting ended with a closed session to discuss the potential purchase or sale of real estate. The next board meeting will be held on Nov. 25.