Change to Allowable Growth is Top Legislative Priority for Johnston School Board

The Johnston school board set its legislative priorities for the 2014 session of the Iowa legislature at the Aug. 12 school board meeting.

The Johnston board participated this year in the Iowa Association of School Boards' legislative policy process by talking about the impact of state policy on the district and voting on legislative resolutions for the next legislative session.

The school board determined that the following priorities for 2014 are critical to students and taxpayers in the district:

1. Supports setting allowable growth at a rate that encourages continuous school improvement and reflects actual cost increases experienced by the district. 

2. Supports predictable and timely state funding to serve students receiving special education services at a level that reflects the actual cost, including educational programming and health care costs.

3. Supports flexibility in the use of modified allowable growth for dropout prevention and the expansion of the definition of at-risk to also include low socio-economic status as a factor in determining a student’s at-risk status.

4. Supports implementation of the Iowa K-12 educational reform initiatives including the development of rigorous content, standards and benchmarks consistent with the Common Core Standards focused on improving student achievement.

5. Supports legislation that would increase district or financial flexibility by expanding allowable Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) expenditures.

6. Supports returning to three-year school board member terms with less than a majority of the school board elected in any one year.

The grassroots IASB legislative process involves all school board members in Iowa. Together, school leaders make a difference. Resolutions submitted by school districts will be reviewed by the IASB Board of Directors before being debated and adopted by the IASB Delegate Assembly at its annual meeting on Nov. 20 in Des Moines.