THURSDAY, DEC. 19, 2024 • VOLUME N0. 124 • ISSUE NO. 14 • 1 SECTION • 10 PAGES
Serving Colfax • Mingo • Baxter • Western Jasper County
Colfax city administrator leaves with praise for council, scorn for legislators Fears of consolidation and property tax laws negatively affecting small towns partially prompts departure By Christopher Braunschweig Jasper County Tribune Colfax City Administrator Wade Wagoner could not finish reading aloud his goodbye letter to city council members last week without getting choked up, but he spared no tears for the lawmakers at the State Capitol that he partially blames for his difficult decision to leave and take a job at a bigger city. For the past six years, Wagoner has served as head of the City of Colfax. He embraced the community and took joy in celebrating the city’s accomplishments. Oftentimes he thought Colfax would
be the final job. The one he would carry on through retirement. He has a dozen or so years left to go before that happens. So when it came time to say farewell to his elected officials at his final council meeting, he had to have city clerk Nancy Earles finish his praises for council members Karla Jones, Brad Magg, Bryan Poulter, Curtis Small and Wes Snyder, and mayor David Mast. Wagoner had a personal story to tell for each one. These positive sentiments toward the city and its staff, council and mayor were echoed in Wagoner’s exit interview that obtained by Newton News. In it, he speaks
highly of his council, who treated him “unbelievably well” especially when he was confined to a wheelchair for six months after a MRSA infection. “The way I’ve been treated and my love of Colfax could have easily made it my last stop,” he said. “I’m just afraid it won’t last another decade and I need to work at least that long. “Indianola should be large enough to give me the protection I need to get to the finish line in spite of the state legislature’s onslaught.” Another reason he wanted to leave was because the city would be losing a number of key employees within the next few years, including the city clerk and two individuals in public works. Coupled with a council member moving outside city limits and the ADMIN | 3
Colfax City Council to name pocket park after mayor David Mast surprised by outgoing city administrator and council in gesture that acknowledges his lifetime of service
Provided by the City of Colfax An image of the City of Colfax’s pocket park shows what it would look like with a new sign that would be named after Mayor David Mast.
By Christopher Braunschweig Jasper County Tribune Colfax Mayor David Mast is not one to wear his emotions on his sleeve, but if he did they would be
short sleeves. Very short sleeves. Perhaps his subdued emotions come from the few years he spent in the PARK | 3
Baxter CSD exploring 4-day school week Parent and community feedback requested by district on the topic By Jamee A. Pierson Jasper County Tribune Following a growing trend in the State of Iowa, the Baxter Community School District is exploring moving to a four-day school week. The district held an informational meeting Dec. 11 to help educate the community about what a four-day instructional week would look like, the rationale for making the move, benefits and concerns, along with research done on the topic. “To this point, what we have been doing as a
district is spending about seven to 10 weeks doing research and meeting with districts already in the four-day instructional week,” superintendent Chris Peterson said. “We have issued a teacher survey, we are having our meeting and following the meeting we will issue a parent and community member survey. What we want our community to know is ultimately this decision will be determined by the data we receive from our parents and community members.” When starting the process of determining if Baxter would be a candi-
date for a four-day school week, district leaders looked at teacher retention as a strong factor for the move. By retaining staff, the district can continue to move forward with implementing high level initiatives without having to retrain new teachers each year, slowing the progress. “The top answer you’re going to get is teacher attraction and retention. We are no different in this is one of our major rationales into looking into this move,” Peterson said. “I would also argue that teacher attraction and retention really ties back in to the quality of academics we provide to our kids.” In the past three years, Baxter has seen the num-
ber of vacancies increase, with 2024 having 14 openings. During that time, the turnover rate has hit 24 percent for the district. “What we have noticed recently is a high level of turnover rate at Baxter,” Peterson said. “One of the reasons that came up over and over is teachers can get higher paying jobs in the Des Moines metro, Ankeny area.” By implementing a four-day instruction week, research has found it reduces burnout, creates a greater work/life balance, improves student and staff mental health and creates a more positive culture. To implement the fourday week, the district has looked at extending the
school day by 40 minutes. It would run from 7:55 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. “The bulk of the schools have found Mondays seem to work best or at least they are the most predominate,” Peterson said. With such a big change being considered, research on major concerns districts have had prior to the move were also presented. The topics most brought up by other districts prior to transitioning included academic performance, daycare/child care, length of the school day, extracurricular activities and change. The impact of the fourday school week varies depending on a number of factors such as the num-
ber of student contact hours each week, the daily schedule and the demographics of the community. ACADEMIC IMPACT Research has found there is little to no negative impact on academic achievement. Districts that operate with 30 or more student hours per week showed no significant impact on student achievement. The only real changes were found in urban districts, but in rural districts it has little no effect. Other districts in Iowa have had no setbacks or decline academically but also cannot credit any gains to the change. “That is important BAXTER | 3
Veterans affairs administrator fired following investigation by Jasper County a relatively packed conference • Unauthorized extensions of break Supporters denounce the commission’s decision inside room at the Jasper County Adminis- and/or lunch periods. tration Building. Since Wilson was not Jasper County also alleged Wilson viafter heated exchanges present to request a closed session, the olated Class II rules, which are of a more By Christopher Braunschweig Jasper County Tribune
Alyssa Wilson said she did not have enough time in the day to do her job, but the findings from an internal investigation into the veterans affairs administrator’s working habits say that is because she often arrived late, left early, had extended lunch periods and other breaks and even falsified her timesheets. In addition to a number of other alleged poliWilson cy violations that Jasper County uncovered within the past three-and-a-half months — including insubordination and failure to
follow proper procedures during home visits — the veterans affairs commission decided in a 4-1 vote to fire Wilson, effective immediately. Wilson was placed on paid administrative leave on Dec. 5, less than a week before the commission meeting. She had to turn in her keys and remove all personal items from her office. In the meantime, shared benefits coordinator Josh Price answered calls to the veterans affairs office and handled any walk-ins. The internal investigation report from human resources showed more than 60 instances of Wilson not working a full work day or taking time off. INTERNAL INVESTIGATION REPORT MADE PUBLIC Information about the investigation was shared publicly during the veterans affairs commission meeting on Dec. 11
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findings were discussed in an open meet- serious nature than Class I. Any violaing. tion of Class II rules will result in more According to a copy of the internal serious disciplinary measures, up to and investigation obtained by Newton News, including discharge. Here are the Class the county alleged Wilson violated a II rules the county alleged were violated number of working rules, which are di- by Wilson: vided into classes. If an employee vio• Dishonesty, theft. lates Class I rules for the first time, it will • Deliberately falsifying, altering or not usually result in a discharge. Here supplying false information on county are the Class I rules the county alleged records. were violated: • Failure to notify supervisor that the • Failure to begin work at start time. employee will be absent from work. • Frequent tardiness, absenteeism or • Failure to follow the proper proceleaving work early without authorized or dures or policies of the county. Shaw Media • Absolute disobedience, insubordinajust cause. • Working unauthorized hours or vi- tion or refusal to comply with reasonable olation of working hours, rest periods or instructors or authorized supervision. lunch periods. From Aug. 19 until Dec. 5, human • Leaving employee’s workplace resources documented a timeline of during work hours without authorization. FIRED | 5 est. 1851
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