After more than a year of discussion and one negated attempt, the Clay Central/Everly school board on Nov. 30 finally changed the way members are elected.

"This will give our district more opportunity for people to run at large," said Superintendent Kevin Wood.

Under the new arrangement, two members (Districts 1 and 2) must reside north of county road B24 while two must reside south of B24 (Districts 4 and 5). District 3 will now be an at-large spot, and the seat holder can reside anywhere inside the district.

Previously, CC/E constituents elected each board member from the director district in which the candidate resided. Members were required to live in the district they represented. The setup made it difficult to find candidates in recent years.

"I think it's a great idea," Board Member Allyn Heikens said of the change.

The board last March tried to change residency requirements for director districts and approved a similar resolution that was OK'd last week. However, the move was in vain, as the board was legally required to wait until the November meeting to make the change.

Under the new setup, current board members Allison Goyette and Barb Trierweiler would represent the south side of the district while Allyn Heikens and Denny Dalen would represent the north. Board Member Brian Schmidt would hold the at-large seat. Heikens and Schmidt will be on the ballot in November 2023.

• Instructional Support Levy Program

In other business, the board unanimously approved an extension of the Instructional Support Levy Program. The five-year extension begins at the end of the fiscal year in 2024.

According to the Iowa Department of Education, a school district may establish an Instructional Support Program to provide additional funding in the General Fund. The program may be established by a board resolution up to five years or approved by the voters up to 10 years.

The program may be funded by all property tax or a combination of property tax and income surtax. The total program may not exceed 10 percent of the district's regular program district cost. The revenues from the Instructional Support Program may be expended for any purpose allowed from the General Fund, but may not be used to supplant funding authorized to be received for returning dropout and dropout prevention programs, gifted and talented programs, PPEL levy, Management levy, or special education deficits.

Wood said the Instructional Support Program has generated $198,000 for CC/E since its most recent extension.

"We would definitely feel the crunch if we didn't have this," he said.

• Tunnel issues to be investigated

Dalen provided an update on the tunnels that run underneath the elementary school. Various plumbing issues have developed in recent years, which will need to be addressed pending an inspection by SwiftAir.

"This will be a pretty lengthy project worth a lot of money," Dalen said. "There are pretty significant plumbing problems."

According to discussion, issues center on steam lines for the boiler and water lines.

"What needs to be replaced and what doesn't need to be replaced needs to be looked at," said Wood. "They're going to have to get in there."

Work is hoped to take place possibly this summer.

• Appointments

Last week's meeting also served as the board's annual re-organizational meeting. Dalen was re-elected president and Goyette accepted the vice presidency.

Home State Bank, of Royal, and State Bank & Insurance, of Everly, were named the district's bank depositories. The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News was once again named official newspaper.

Steve Avery of Cornwall, Avery, Bjornstad, Scott & Davis, of Spencer, was appointed main legal counsel with Ahlers and Cooney, of Des Moines, listed as a secondary option for specific circumstances. Additionally, the board agreed to keep the monthly meeting date as the Wednesday after the fourth Monday of the month at 6 p.m.