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North Newton School Corporation board meeting, Feb 18, 2026

1 h 11 min · 0 public speakers

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 11 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

North Newton board approves second reads of policies 6140, 6144, 6250 and 8420 1:08:37

  • The board discussed a first reading of Policy 0165 on virtual meetings, including limits on how many meetings a board member may attend remotely; the policies on first reading were non-action items. 27:18
  • One board member said the state statute allows 50% of meetings and said the board should use the state minimums, while a policy committee speaker said the committee thought 50% was excessive and was making a recommendation the board could change. 30:57
  • The board approved the donations and tabled the Adult Education Board appointment. 1:03:53
  • The board also approved second reads of Policies 6140, 6144, 6250 and 8420. 1:08:37
Item by item (15)
  1. Opening and agenda approval 0:13
    • The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Tyson Bridgeman. 0:13
    • A motion was made and seconded to approve the agenda as submitted. 1:31
    • The motion to approve the agenda carried. 1:40
  2. Administrative reports from schools 1:40
    • A staff member reporting for Morocco said grades 2 and 3 were preparing for iREAD 3 on March 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, and grades 5 and 6 were preparing for BizTown on March 9th. 2:19
    • The high school's director of guidance said the school would host a College and Career Fair next Thursday and a whole-school assembly on Friday. 3:42
  3. Superintendent report 4:54
    • The superintendent said the district held its first annual State of the District luncheon with almost 50 attendees, and that sponsors covered the full cost so no tax dollars went toward it. 4:58
    • John Haas noted that a sponsor who provided dessert had been left out, and the superintendent then thanked the donors of the desserts and the caterer. 6:47
  4. Board member reports 7:11
    • Diane Gonczy said the community PR committee would meet to discuss goals based on the strategic plan, and asked whether the district needed to submit a waiver to the state for professional development days. 7:19
    • Samantha Hickel said the finance committee received a list of last year's vendors and asked how the district could determine which programs and subscriptions are being used and what has been paid for. 8:43
    • Tyson Bridgeman reported that the varsity boys basketball team defeated South Newton 55⁠-⁠47 to win the county trophy. 15:36
  5. Student and staff recognitions 18:11
    • Staff members presented Student Spotlight recognitions and a staff spotlight recognition for an employee in the treasurer's department. 19:14
  6. Unified employee handbook update 22:53
    • A staff member said the district was using another district's updated handbook as a model and would reference board policies throughout the unified handbook. 23:20
    • Diane Gonczy asked whether a working draft of the updates would be available for the policy meeting the following week. 24:27
    • A staff member said the employee handbook would be separate from the student handbook and would be a tabbed document with job descriptions at the end. 26:05
  7. First reading of policies 26:28
    • Policies 0165, 5540, 5540.01, 5540.02, 7300 and 8400 were listed for first reading, and discussion centered on Policy 0165 on virtual meetings. 26:28
    • A speaker from the policy committee said the draft sets limits on virtual attendance, including that a member may attend 2 meetings virtually in a row but must attend the 3rd in person, and that the advance notice requirement was cut to 2 hours. 28:14
    • A board member said the state statute is 50% of meetings and said the board should not adopt rules more stringent than the state minimum. 30:57
  8. LED lighting conversion at high school 46:13
    • A staff member said phase 2 of the high school LED conversion would cover areas including the library, IT room, maintenance and ag department, and would be brought for approval at the next meeting. 46:17
    • A speaker said the $18,000 was the first phase and a second proposal covered the second phase. 46:59
  9. Elementary choral director position 47:45
    • A staff member said the elementary music teacher was already serving as choral director but the position had not been brought forward for approval, and that it is paid when the year is complete. 48:20
  10. Employee longevity plan 48:39
    • A speaker said the plan would come as a first read and then be voted on at the last meeting of March. 50:14
    • A staff member described a plan with a base salary for each position that escalates over the first 5 years, followed by a longevity stipend beginning at 5 years that caps out at 35 years. 50:36
    • A staff member said the longevity amount would be a set amount rather than changing with percentage raises. 54:23
  11. Consent agenda 57:53
    • The consent agenda included executive and regular board meeting minutes from February 4th, 2026, and the financial claims and reports. 57:53
    • Speakers asked about a special education transfer tuition claim from Plymouth Community School and a Maverick Energy Consulting claim, which a staff member said was for natural gas. 59:03
    • The motion to approve the consent agenda carried. 1:02:48
  12. Donations 1:02:50
    • Samantha Hickel moved to approve donations A through F, including school supplies and clothing from Mount Air Methodist Church and $3,500 from Athletic Boosters for football helmets and repairs. 1:02:55
    • The motion to approve the donations carried. 1:04:09
  13. Personnel report 1:04:09
    • The personnel report included 2 hires, a full-time cook and a Title I aide classified as a para, and hourly increases for 2 employees due to job realignment. 1:04:20
    • The board then voted separately on a volunteer junior high girls basketball coach and a volunteer baseball coach. 1:06:12
    • The motions to approve the personnel report and both volunteer coaches carried. 1:05:22
  14. Adult education board and policy second reads 1:06:42
    • No appointment to the Adult Education Board was made, and a motion was made to table it. 1:08:00
    • A speaker said the new policy deals with Venmo and PayPal, and another speaker said approved policies are sent to Neola for website updates. 1:09:10
    • The Adult Education Board appointment was tabled, and the second reads of Policies 6140, 6144, 6250 and 8420 were approved. 1:08:06
  15. Public comment and adjournment 1:09:56
    • There was no public comment, and a motion to adjourn was made and seconded. 1:09:56

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “February 18th 2026, NNSC Regular School Board Meeting”