At the July 15, 2024 board meeting, Dr. Theron Schutte and the board explored the legislative priorities selected for the upcoming Iowa Legislative session. The selected priorities is sent to the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) and are used as a framework when speaking to area legislators. The following priorities were approved by the MCSD School Board:

The school aid formula is the biggest driver in providing resources for a high-quality education that translates to a successful future for our students and economic growth in our state. A school’s general fund supports a high-quality teacher workforce, critical for student achievement. We support state policies on supplemental state aid rate that:

• Sufficiently supports the ability of local districts to meet parent and community

  expectations and provide a world-class education for all students.

• Provide the resources to recruit and retain a high-quality teacher and staff

  workforce.

• Incorporate inflation and cost-of-living increases to minimize the negative impact

  on a district’s general fund from these increased costs.

A highly skilled teacher workforce is essential to student achievement and can be supported by state policies that:

• Ensure high-quality teacher preparation programs, including alternative licensure

  programs for individuals with non-traditional or international education

  backgrounds.

• Provide research-based pedagogy training in addition to content knowledge in a

  curricular area.

• Encourage initiatives and programs that diversify Iowa’s teaching profession to

  better match our student demographic makeup.

• Expand programs such as Teach Iowa Scholar, Teacher Intern Program, and others

  as approved by the Board of Educational Examiners.

• Create programs for student teaching grants and stipends and expand teacher

  apprenticeship programs to make education careers a more attractive and

  affordable option.

• Use the management fund to offer recruitment incentives to attract high-quality

  teachers.

• Create reciprocity agreements with other states that have high-quality teacher

  preparation programs to increase diversity among certified teachers and

  administrators.

Student mental health issues are increasing and impacting student achievement. To address these concerns, we support state policies that would establish comprehensive school and community mental health systems to offer preventative and treatment services to:

• Increase access to in-school and telehealth services.

• Increase access to mental health professionals via in-person or telehealth visits.

• Improve awareness and understanding of child emotional and mental health

  needs through ongoing teacher, administrator, and support staff training.

• Integrate suicide prevention and coping skills into existing curriculum.

• Support the mental health needs of educators and staff.

• Provide a comprehensive mental health resources clearinghouse for schools and

  community providers.

• Expand training that includes a referral plan for continuing action provided by

  mental health professionals outside of the school district.

• Designate a categorical funding stream for mental health professionals serving

  students and ongoing teacher, administrator, and support staff mental health

  training.

• Support development of a mental health workforce to provide services to children.

Research demonstrates that children who take part in early childhood education are more likely to succeed in school. We support state policies to:

• Ensure all school districts have the capacity to serve all 4- and 5-year-olds.

• Provide resources for districts to provide services such as full-day programming,

  transportation and wraparound care.

• Provide support and resources to support the behavioral and educational services for

  preschool-aged students.