Joshua Heyer, Superintendent, Ogden Community School District, October 27, 2026

Joining us today on our program. We got Joshua higher Ogden super intended good to have you back. Well, thank you It's good to be here this morning. Here we are. We made it all the way to well almost done with October, but It's been it's been a strange kind of month. It has been yeah, we got No rain for a while then we had too much rain and September was definitely too much rain, but things at least on your projects Let's go there first because last time when we visited you had a few things left to do on the parking lot Yeah, and I don't know did did we get them done in the dry times? It did the light pole show up. Yeah. Yeah, it's actually dried up enough for us to be able to really hit a lot of those punch list items We are waiting for some light poles to get installed and it was really ultimately just the delivery of it It had nothing to do with the subcontractor. They've been fantastic We just simply we're waiting for the shipment Yeah, great thing is is that they did come in and mid-October and they've been installed and we got our cameras installed on them and Overall the project is all but done. We have maybe a little bit of landscaping some re reseeding of some grassy areas But no do that in the fall anyway. Yeah, so overall it's been a great project And you know when we've had some larger events either maybe a junior high volleyball paired with a varsity volleyball And or a Friday night home varsity football event. I think that additional parking space and the traffic flow I think people are just really appreciating the size and what we did So they're really seeing kind of that return on that investment if you will well, that's what we said in the beginning It's gonna be inconvenient for a while But it's good you're gonna appreciate it when it's done. So absolutely so overall I would say that we can kind of put put that Away that project is done and we are on to that elementary project that we've mentioned previously on the radio and Before school started we did a lot of the demolition aspect And we knew that we were gonna kind of just hit a standstill because people were Ratched wrapping up projects that maybe they were doing at other schools. Good news is is the month of October really we're starting to see some construction So they've transitioned from that demolition aspect of constructing and phase one of that portion is underneath our Gymnasium at our elementary campus and they're putting up some steel walls and putting in some new windows and variety of things and We think that that will be done maybe around April time frame. So we're excited. They're moving along kind of blocked off So again work that is not going to be disrupt the kind of way demolition would have been disruptive once school started So yeah, it was pretty good They could get in there early and get that knocked down and then get her cleaned out and get ready To start moving absolutely so hopefully they get that phase one done by April, you know early May and we will Move some areas down into that new space and create some vacated spaces. So that way when school is done You know in that end of May time right into the second phase move right in that second phase and let's cross our fingers for a Good project and we'll be able to start school next year at the elementary With some brand-new renovated spaces get that done and that's the other part too Everybody goes well the middle school that knew that was a new section. It was it while it was new quite a while ago and it does Does every once in a while takes a little? It's had a lot of traffic through there Let's just put it that way and anything under the gym of the old building was definitely been there a long time Correct. There was some spaces that were renovated. You know, I'd say relatively within recent But there are some spaces that it was created for the junior high Yeah, they shut it down how and they moved the elementary to the junior high campus And we needed to really create that spaces for that elementary campus that we're hoping to have for a long time north of those railroad tracks They're well anyway making progress on that and again a whole second phase for that. So it'll be interesting to watch as they Get it get it done man if they can move right along pretty timely and they don't run into any supply issues That seems to be the ones that will hold us up. That's correct And hopefully they have enough lee time, you know, they got the prince and they got everything ready to go So hopeful that that won't be an issue No, right. Well, we've got a lot of well that's moving forward then let's see We've got a few other things that are taking place Do you had your meeting and not a lot going on this time of the year for meetings? Yeah And our October meeting was a little bit lighter as far as business that needed to get completed But no, we were able to go ahead and we did a snow bid removal That's getting to be that time of year where we might be having some flurries here So we need to just approve that contract. We sent that out and we Awarded that contract to an individual that had previously worked in the district So they were the low bid and also we're really happy with the work that they have done So that was one thing that we did and then we also had just really allowable growth for special education deficit as well as our EL and really for our listeners there, it would be you're allocated certain amount of money and your Categoricals to be able to support the services and needs for our students and if those Expenses exceed what you have in your categorical You're able to request that allowable growth and our board took action on that to be able to do that So it wasn't too much a special ed. That's always one it seems where we're always seems to be running a little behind anyway, but Under two million one eight one one point say a hundred and six it was a hundred and sixty six thousand That we were a deficit and then our our EL was only allowing twenty eight hundred dollars Not bad. Yeah, and it depends on how many Individual plans you've got to work with and what you have to do for this. Yeah, we really ultimately need to follow IDA and meet the needs of the student and sometimes Those needs fluctuate where we might have an additional para with a student and maybe they have Substantial gains and growth so that maybe those services will fall off the IEP and we may not have that the previous year So it is just basically a little bit up and down. It's hard to really project exactly what that is But our responsibility is making sure that we are meeting the needs of those kids With no enrollment numbers we do know enrollment numbers So October is really busy for schools and it's really rears and seat on October 1 We've really that number really drives our budgets moving forward So we really kind of look at two things that would be your certified also known as your resident enrollment As well as your served students I so we have two numbers that are really important and please the report we had a high Graduating class so we were a bit nervous coming into this school year But our resident serve or excuse me our resident number was negative one so we lost one student And our served is down six So relatively speaking comparative to what we were kind of projecting and anticipating with a large graduating at a normal Kindergarten yeah, yeah, we were able to pick up some kids, you know grades one through eleven or eleven through twelve To be able to offset maybe that larger class that left off by one. That's not bad not bad at all We'll take that, you know, obviously we would be a rather be a positive But if we're gonna be a negative that negative one is much better than a a negative ten twenty thirty, etc. I just for listeners I you know You get the really fast growth, which is also not fun to deal with We've seen the schools down in Dallas County some of those have had the real fast growth and then Sizable losses that increase the other that's the other problem So you'd like to be kind of in the middle reasonably growing here So if we could grow ideally five kids a year, I think we would we would be ecstatic So that negative one more okay with that and we're doing some things that we're hopefully to Generate and increase some enrollment in the future. You got let's see Working with the YSS on the preschool after school and that did you have a contract on that? Or did they just have an update they had the update? So I think in September we had a renewal of that contract But then they always on an annual basis they come out and give an update on what their program is for after-school program and Just the value of that partnership that we have and paired with that I'd like to mention that last Friday we our elementary had a trunk or treat family engagement event YSS opened up their doors as well So it was nice for them to be able to be part of that Community involvement community event as well as for the families that they serve as well as for perspective families They're able to just learn a little bit more on what YSS is and what value it might be for that family still have a number of people It is Beneficial that do they do preschool and or the morning and the afternoon they do morning afternoon But they don't do our preschool program So they'll do before school and after school care for kindergarten students at least and they all did in campus So again that a lot of people had not for work early in the morning It's good to have that that option available for them. So Keep going that direction. You also Have joined with many others making use of what clinical our classroom clinic. It's an online Mental health service. Yeah, so they know I think it's a came out of central Iowa here I think out of Carol it is originally out of Carol I think that's where their home base is and they serve a number of schools actually in central Iowa So we've been looking for just some some counseling supports and services and I've openly have told the number of people. I ideally was looking for a school-based therapist that would be on site and Unfortunately, that's kind of a unicorn Jim Somebody to be able to support students in rural Iowa is a real challenge So what we are seeing is is some kids might be struggling and you need to go see a therapist And you really have two options a I'm not gonna do it because there's no services And I don't think that's a good option Where option B was mom or dad was taking them out of school and driving to Des Moines or Ames And before you know it, they're missing a half day or a full day And you know some of those families may continue to choose to do that because they have a relationship built with the therapists Etc. But we wanted just to give another option and a classroom clinic is an option where they provide telehealth services So the student is may be able to come down into the office. We'll have a computer ready for them They'll go into a private room and their therapist will be able to meet their needs And then they're ultimately missing 30 minutes to an hour of school rather than a full day and Conversely, the parents aren't missing time from work as well So we do think that this is a good option and classroom clinic comes to us with a good Recommendations from a number of other their schools that are doing it in the area It's just it fills that need like you said having a therapist that you can have on staff first of all is good luck and And then once you get one good luck keeping them too because the demand is high the demand is extremely high So yeah, they may come for a little bit and then just when your students start to get comfortable with them for whatever reason That rug a bit is kind of pulled out from underneath of them Well, I know that this program has been used before and we've had it around here as well too, you know I've done interviews with them when they were just starting and pretty amazing how they just kind of spread across the state when Everybody was I remember, you know, as superintendents would meet with the legislators and everybody go Yeah, I know all you want is funding and stuff. No, we we need some mental health assistance and and it which kind of shocked them and It was yeah, I still need that and that's still an important part. It is an important part You know, we have counselors, you know, we we employ and I kind of think of those as tier one levels You know our teacher or counselors are doing a great job But there's sometimes where students have needs that are beyond what their their expertise are We're hoping that that's what classroom clinic can kind of fill that gap Well, the second you had like two meetings because you had to sit through your job performance And they said you're doing good keeps stay here I'm guessing yeah, anyway add closed sessions for that but that's Have to do that. You got to go through that the board needs to Take that time out and Melissa got She go through a review too. Yeah, so in October, we do a mid-year review for myself So that would be a portion of my evaluation We do in in October and March go closed session for that and just be able to have the board give me some feedback And how am I doing and also am I meeting their goals? And what are the things that they're hoping for me to accomplish so a productive opportunity for me to gain some feedback? And I think anytime anybody can gain feedback. That's a great asset and then yes, the board actually evaluates Melissa Not in the SBO role, but as the board's secretary So they did go closed session in October to provide her feedback as well one thing you did in the beginning when you started was they have that strategic plan and it's Right, you do it's a big part of the every meeting when you start it. Where are we at? What's happening and? Do they are they really rolling into it keeping it updated because that's one of the things too once you have it Then you got to keep it updated as you're going forward Yeah, with that strategic plan We want to make sure that the decisions that are made on a day-to-day basis or even at the board table Are helping support and aligned with that strategic plan? So we do start our meetings really just discussing a little bit Maybe it might be the mission or vision or what the district priorities might be And then we really try and connect and say hey the decisions that you're making today at this meeting aligned to this district priority If we got things that are that we're doing and they are rogue or maybe not in alignment with that district strategic plan We may want to question why are we doing that work? So the board is really I think kind of embraced and supporting that work and as an administrative and director team We're also doing that as well Using that as our northern star. Mm-hmm. Have we had any test results or any of the tests that have been taken those that Everybody doesn't like to take but we have to do them So the state of Iowa is in a process right now the ICES tests were actually administered last well March April May Depending on what school wanted to do we did ours in April the last year But they're also going through our non-profession of transitioning are yeah They're in a bit of a transition going from basically three different performance levels to four different performance levels And with that transition they have not released data yet So we're able to see some raw scores on the back end, but we're not able to see those proficiency levels So I think yeah, it's just unfortunate. It's that transitional time frame We're eager to get that information But what we're doing on the back end is is we're really doing our either Benchmarking our diagnostic testing And we're really hoping that that data that we're receiving is informing the instruction that we provide for students So that's the big part Staff wants to know are we doing the right thing? Are we hitting the right areas and stuff like that? Are we showing those proficiency and you can show Students being proficient it might not be some of the standards, but you show the proficiency. Absolutely. So yeah I think that ice ass the assessment is important But that's really that summative that final assessment And we're able to move forward with our diagnostic benchmarking and our our teachers are doing that and having data days Analyzing that data and really addressing it. We do something What's called win time a lot of schools do it. We're not unique by doing this Uh when when stands for what I need So we're really looking at that data and we're saying hey this specific student is struggling with this skill So let's actually provide an intervention to fill up that gap Whereas somebody else in their class maybe isn't needing that they might need something else So that win time is really intentional And we're doing that at our elementary and the middle school high school campus as well First it was always reading and then it's reading and math and then Yeah We keep going. It's and we'll get there. Uh, I was going to say Activity wise that things have gone. We're kind of getting ready to shift out of one season into another here now that we're We got pretty good cross-country football team had a tough year Yeah, stay healthy. Yeah, we're wrapping up that fall season and going into the winter season It's hard to imagine that we're in that but uh, you know, overall just a recap of our fall events Volleyball set a school record for the most wins So they're doing a fantastic job. Uh, they did lose last last week to acgc football Boy, they went out there and they gave it their all represented themselves their school and their their family and their community But ultimately we were plagued with just a ton of injuries this year It seemed like uh, every every weekend I'd get a report and it'd be another two or three students and Boy, I bet we were down in single almost felt like single digits They're going Let's finish this thing. Yeah, everybody healthy enough for finishing the season. Yeah, you're not the only ones Who do we have left almost? Uh, but you know A good success beyond volleyball would be our cross-country boys They were up in south hamilton last week and they qualified for state again And I read somewhere that this was the 10th time in 12 years that the boys cross-country team in Ogden Is qualified for state so quite an accomplishment and they just continue to reload Which is so impressive They Got a trend got a thing going there. So got people that do like to run too Let's see coming up. Well, I'm guessing we're going to be looking at wrestling and everything else getting started here pretty quick We are in that transition where our our middle school Sports are starting to do some practice on ready for winter sports But yeah, we'll be transitioning here soon. I don't know exactly when that date is it usually seems to be the second week in november Where the state of Iowa allows you to start your practice for basketball and or wrestling season starting Well, you get busy you have both gyms will be pretty busy. They will be packed. They will be very busy too otherwise, uh Other facilities keep moving forward Staff activity and things like that doing your professional development. Uh still had that going on Continue with our professional development. Our teachers are really looking at their curriculum work and align it to standards And that's good work that we're continue to just reassess what we're teaching and making that's Making sure it's aligned to our benchmarks and standards that we're supposed to be doing So we'll be doing that work. Um, just a couple other things that may be be worth mentioning is as parent teacher conferences We'll be next week Some schools have already done that at the end of october and we've just always chose to do that first week in november So that'll be I believe it's the second and the fifth From 3 30 to 7 30 and then we Monday and thursday monday thursday And then we'll actually have no school on that friday the sixth So parents need to be aware of that and we'll send out information as well And then I do want to point out that augdan gives the entire week of thanksgiving for students off I know that's a little bit of ways away, but uh, kind of wanted to just remind our listeners that uh, we'll do teacher professional development on monday tuesday, uh, but no students for that entire week And of course, what was it last week didn't uh, ffa go to the national All our ffa's went ffa was out in indianapolis last week. So yeah, I actually I didn't uh find out results But I I know that we had a group of students that I qualified for a national competition out there and I'm sure they did extremely well So, uh, we'll find out they'll give the board an update I'm sure in november when they meet it's pretty standard that they come back and give a follow-up on that how to see travel All right Joshua higher our guest on our program today superintendent from the augdan school district. Thanks for joining us. Thanks. Have a good month, Jim