NEWTON
ENDING THE STREAK
Newton High tops Green County in tourney / 1B
DAILY NEWS TUESDAY, SEPT. 26, 2017 • WHERE TO GO WHEN YOU NEED TO KNOW
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Fire marshal concerned with housing disputes, subsidized housing By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News
bers Shari Benson and Andy Ebert were honored for their service to the board as the district welcomed new members Cody Muhs and Graham Sullivan to board during Monday night’s meeting.
The state of rental inspections and the status of the crime-free housing program were discussed during a city council workshop on Monday. Newton Fire Marshal Mike Knoll gave several figures to the council along with recommendations for future work. By the numbers, the city has Knoll 812 single-family rental homes and 155 multi-unit complexes totaling approximately 1,800 rental units. Knoll also reported that 20 rental properties have been shut down with about 100 units deemed unfit dwellings. Areas of concern, Knoll said, have primarily been in subsidized housing. The condition of the units, housekeeping issues and instances of landlords taking advantage of those with few options were among the top problems facing the department on a regular basis. Another problem taking up a large among of Knoll’s time are landlord/tenant disputes. He said frequently both parties come to him to figure out civil issues. While one method he has found to weed out small disputes has been to make the tenants put their names and complaints in writing, he would like to see the formation of a rental housing board to field the issues. “It’s an overwhelming task for me to handle them all,” Knoll said. “There are only two fire departments in the state that currently handle rental housing programs. All the rest are done through either an independent company or they have their own housing authority within the city.”
BOARD | 3A
COUNCIL | 3A
David Dolmage/Daily News Teachers, administrators and school board members met Monday night to discuss the needs of special education teachers in the Newton School District. Special education teachers are pushing for more paraprofessionals but school board members say funding deficits create a challenge.
Teachers want staffing increases, board says funding is lacking By David Dolmage Newton Daily News The message from special education teachers was clear Monday night — more paraprofessionals are needed at Newton schools. But faced with a sizable special education budget deficit, school administrators say staff increases would be difficult. During a special work session Monday night between the school board, administrators and special education teachers in the Newton School District, teachers had a chance to make their frustrations clear. For the past two years, administrators within the district have been working toward creating a new special education plan for the district. After creating a listening post, they’ve identified teachers’ top concerns, which they presented to board members on Monday night. Top among those priorities are helping teachers create additional time to complete Individualized Education Plan assessments. An IEP exists for each special edu-
cation student and is updated annually. It sets specific educational goals for the student and also determines the amount of funding the school receives for that student. The standard allotment the district receives from the state of Iowa is $6,664, and that funding is increased for special education students. Special education students are divided into three groups, with students in level 1 receiving funding 1.72 times above the $6,664, level 2 at 2.21 and level 3 students 3.74. The levels are determined for each student with an IEP, which is updated every year by school administrators. Currently, there are more than 350 special education students in the district. This additional funding helps, but superintendent Bob Callaghan said it doesn’t begin to cover all of the costs associated with special education. In past years, the overage has run as high as $1.2 million, and under Callaghan’s watch, costs have been steadily TEACHERS | 3A
Board welcomes new members, says farewell to Benson and Ebert
David Dolmage/Daily News Board treasurer Gayle Isaac congratulates new school board member Graham Sullivan, center, and Cody Muhs, left, during Monday night’s board meeting.
By David Dolmage Newton Daily News It was out with the old, and in with the new as the Newton Community School District board welcomed two new members on Monday night. Board mem-
Local artworks displayed on county building Newton Main Street alleyway project taking shape By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News Prints created by local artists with Newton and Jasper County themes are now on display on the brick county building on South Second Avenue. Eight works of art hang in old window wells that have been bricked up as a part of Newton Main Street’s vision to create a
small pocket park in the grassy area between the building and city parking lot. “I would like to thank the artists who won, Mia VanZante, Joanne Thomason, Margaret Caldwell with two, Kyra Hayber, Pam Krukow, Paula Zickmund and Karen King,” Newton Main Street Executive Director Graham Sullivan said. The prints feature subjects ranging from the Jasper County Courthouse during the holidays and an inside looking out view at P.J.’s Deli to very colorful renditions of area farming staples cows and corn.
Other Newton specific landmarks include Valle Drive-In, the entrance to Maytag Park and the Fred Maytag Bowl. All were created in a color scheme popular in the mid-20th century using three or more colors in the orange, yellow, avocado green, gold turquoise and brown families and using thick, bold lines that can be read well from a distance. The works of art were then printed on all weather material by Sign Pro and mounted on the building. “I would also like to thank Matt at Sign Pro for printing the artwork on all weather materi-
Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News Several works of art are now on display on the brick county building located on South Second Avenue as a part of a Newton Main Street project. The prints were created by local artists with Newton and Jasper County themes.
al and installing it and John Lee for taking the photos of the art work so Matt could print them,” Sullivan said. To continue the proj-
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Main Street planned for next spring. Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com
LOCAL
WHERE IT’S AT Astrograph......................5B Calendar..........................5A Classifieds......................4B
ect, the City of Newton will be installing sidewalks near the prints in the coming months with finishing touches to the alleyway by Newton
Comics & Puzzles...........6A Dear Abby........................6A Local Sports......................1B
Obituaries.......................5A Opinion............................4A State News......................7A
Centre for Arts & Artist grant
U.S. Bank awards local organization / 8A
Volume No. 116 No. 91 2 sections 14 pages
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