By Steve Van Kooten

The Clayton Ridge Board of Directors met on Thursday, July 9, to discuss numerous topics, including next year's student fees, agreements with the colleges and daycares and ongoing maintenance and construction.

One of the most talked about topics was the district's weekend practice schedule.

"I don't want to bring a recommendation to the Board tonight," said Superintendent Jay Marley. "I need more time to collect some data and provide information to you."

Marley said he'd discussed the topic with Adam Radcliffe, the district's athletic director, and some of the district's coaches.

The administration also fielded input from neighboring school districts. Most limit Sunday practices to postseason preparation, with many prohibiting activities before 1 p.m. Others only allow voluntary open gym and workouts.

"The tricky part is we're not a five-day school like the majority of the schools in the Upper Iowa [Conference]; our structures are different," said Marley.

He added that he wanted to seek input from parents and families to "honor their time" in the schedule.

"Hearing the reason why we did the four-day week, I want to make sure we're protecting their family time as well," he said.

Marley suggested allowing practices to begin earlier than 4 p.m. on Mondays as a possible solution. "I think we can find a sweet spot, and maybe instead of starting at four, we can start at 2 p.m."

Radcliffe said, "We kind of promised the community we wouldn't have Mondays be filled with anything school to pass the four-day [week], and I feel like we shouldn't go back on that."

He also pointed out that other districts have some kind of "activity opportunities" for students on the weekends.

"We did promise that, but I don't think it makes any sense, in my mind, to promise Monday off, but you've got to be there on Sunday," said board member Dan Kregel.

Kregel suggested opening up the entire day on Monday for practices as a possible solution.

Marley said there may be a special board meeting before the scheduled August meeting to address this issue.

Student fees

The Board approved student fees for the upcoming school year during the meeting. The Board conducts an annual review of the district's fees for students, meals and activities.

The administration recommended that fees largely remain the same for the 2026-27 school year. The only change was an increase to adult lunches from $4.97 to $5.14. Marley said the district has to increase the price to follow state-mandated minimum pricing guidelines.

"In conversation with Logan and previous administration on where we are at with these, we feel good that we don't need to put an extra burden on our families, so we would like to keep all of these as is," said Marley.

Student meals stayed at $4.40 for lunch and $2.80 for breakfast. Adult breakfasts also remained at $3.00. Reduced prices didn't change.

The mandated change in adult meal prices also affected their district's cooperative agreement with Garnavillo Daycare Center. Adult meal prices at the Center will also increase to $5.14.

The Board approved the cooperative agreement with Garnavillo Daycare Center for the school year.

Project updates

Marley updated the Board on current and prospective construction/maintenance projects throughout the district.

According to information provided by Marley, the crew working on the Lynch roofing project has one seam remaining on the gym roof, and metal flashing will be completed thereafter. The project should be completed by the end of this week.

The district is eyeing the transformers at the front of the campus as one of its next major projects.

Marley said he had spoken to the City's maintenance director and school personnel, and the project may require a three-day shutdown.

"We'd like to get this done sooner rather than later because we all know in projects—if you need to order a part or there's a weather situation—the sooner that we're able to identify that timeline of completing that project, the better," he said.

Marley added that he hoped the project would be done by August and the work could be completed during Dead Week.

The district also had a buildings and grounds assessment on both the Guttenberg and Garnavillo campuses.

"I'll be curious to know what report comes out of that in terms of identifying priorities," said Marley.

Hires

Catherine Dean, assistant soccer coach; Eric Barnhart, part-time p.m. school bus driver.

Other business

- Marley said board meetings will continue to include spotlights in education; however, it will expand to other departments of the district, including food service and facilities management. In August, the Board will tour Clayton Ridge's bus barn.

- Marley told the Board the virtual school has received close to 40 admittance requests from prospective students in the previous nine days before the meeting.

- the Board tabled the 2026-27 contract with Northeast Iowa Community College. The district was still waiting on a finalized contract from the college. Marley noted that the expectation is tuition rates and program costs will likely stay "similar" to the previous year.