Newton
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Tuesday, April 1, 2014
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Newton, Iowa
Mary E. Belcher, 74 Gerald Robinson, 82 Clarence Stone Jr., 65 Etola Thielmann, 99
School district unveils website; discusses budget and calendar
INSIDE TODAY
By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer
OBITUARIES
PPEL Election
Don’t forget to vote today! Polls opens until 8 p.m.!
Local
Craft day at Newton Public Library Page 2A
Ty Rushing/Daily News Jason Webster is running as a Republican candidate for the Jasper County Board of Supervisors. As a barber, Webster says that he gets a lot of firsthand input from citizens and can bring that to the board. Here he cuts Alvin Swift’s hair at his station in E-Clips Salon in Newton.
‘Candidate for the everyday person’: Webster running for supervisors By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer
Sports
Tigerhawks ready for spring season Page 1B
Weather
Wednesday
High 44 Low 35
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High 45 Low 35 Weather Almanac
Mon., Mar. 31 High 73 Low 20 .12 inch of rain Also:
With the upcoming changes to making sure paraprofessionals, who work in the Newton Community School District and provide instruction, are “highly qualified” starting next school year, district officials pub-
Classifieds Page 4B Comics & Puzzles Page 6A Dear Abby Page 6A
Senior staff writer Ty Rushing may be contacted at (641) 792-3121, ext. 426, or at trushing@newtondailynews.com.
licly addressed the issue at Monday’s Board of Education meeting. There are a number of ways current and future paras can ensure they meet the qualifications for the 201415 school year. PARAPROS See Page 5A
Branstad to sign Iowa Speedway tax rebate bill Wednesday
Opinion Page 4A Obituaries Page 3A
By Daily News Staff
Police Page 5A Our 112th Year No. 221
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resides in Mingo. He is married with three daughters who attend classes in the ColfaxMingo Community School District. He clarified he feels the current board of supervisors is doing a good job and he has sat in on approximately 10 meetings. However, he feels he would make a great addition to the board and could carry the county’s current positive momentum forward. “As a Jasper County Supervisor, I would continue to apply my enthusiasm and positive attitude towards the future of our county with the best interest of the citizens at hand,” Webster said.
District discusses transition to ‘highly qualified’ paraprofessionals By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer
Astrograph Page 5B
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Jason Webster is best known for cutting the hair of Jasper County citizens, but now, the man who refers to himself as “The Barber” is seeking a new title: County Supervisor. “The fact is that I love being involved in the community,” Webster said on why he decided to run. “I feel that my (presence) would be a great addition to the county because I’m involved with the people and I love hearing what they have to say. I want to bring that back to the board and try to tap more into on what people are wanting.” Webster, 37, is running as a Republican and he feels that his age and his ability to communicate with a number of citizens through the community, thanks
to his job at E-Clips Hair Salon, would aide him as a supervisor. “I’m the candidate for the everyday person,” Webster said. “(I’d bring) a lot more enthusiasm and a lot more involvement with the community. Being here and being a barber, I’d hear a lot from people and I would be able to bring that input back. That’s what I want to bring most to the board.” Webster’s community involvement includes working to revitalize downtown Newton’s Trick or Treat festivities, helping create the E-Clips Haunted House, marching and volunteering in various parades and participating in events with the Greater Newton Area Chamber of Commerce. Webster is a Newton native who currently
“We’ve cussed and discussed and we’ve beat this horse bloody,” Newton Community School District Superintendent Bob Callaghan said during discussion on the district’s proposed 2014-15 fiscal year budget. Callaghan’s comments were made at Monday’s meeting of the NCSD Board of Education, where later on the board approved a public hearing date for further discussion and a vote on approving the budget. The hearing will take place at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, at Emerson Hough. Under the proposed budget, the district would take in more revenue, $37,343, 232, than it would have in expenditures, $36,928,988 and lower the tax rate to $14.57 per $1,000 of taxable evaluation. Callaghan said he, District Business Manager Gayle Isaac and the district’s administrative team looked for many ways to help trim the budget without directly affecting how students are educated. “Everybody has contributed to this and everybody feels the sting,” Elementary Educational Services Director Jim Gilbert said. Another aspect for next school year the board looked at was the proposed school calendar for 2014-15, which is still a work in progress. School would begin Aug. 19 in the current draft and the first semester would have 88 instructional days and there would be 92 in the second semester. The calendar would be based on the 1,080 instructional hours method, which the board previously approved on Feb. 24. The current draft would also have 34 hours for teacher professional development and collaboration time, 16 hours dedicated to early outs and factor in 40 hours for weather related issues such as late starts or cancelled days. Callaghan said he has heard commentary from some teachers saying the proposed calendar has too much professional development time and others saying it doesn’t have enough, but cautions that the calendar isn’t close to being final. “There’s a lot of production that goes into this school calendar, trying to develop everybody’s ideas, and although it’s not finalized, it’s a long way to address all the expectations from all of our staff and principals,” Callaghan said. As of March 31, the district’s new website, www.newtoncsd.org is up and running. The district’s current URL and staff emails will still be functional. NCSD Technology Supervisor Chris Beighler and his staff were able to activate the site a day earlier than their original goal of April 1. “I’m pretty happy with the final result. One of the main goals, for me, was when people come to the site was I wanted it to pop and people to immediately focus on kids, students and activities,” Beighler said. He also said he wanted users to be able to access whatever information they sought within three clicks. Board member Donna Cook had been pushing for the district to update its website for years and believes the new site can help serve as a recruiting tool for families looking to relocate. “I love it. You’ve done well, you’ve done well,” Cook said.
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During tomorrow’s visit to Newton for a town hall meeting, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad will sign into law Senate File 2341, which extends Iowa Speedway’s sales tax rebate incentive to 2026. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds
were previously scheduled to hold one of their “Iowa is Working” town hall meetings beginning at 10:30 a.m. Prior to the start of the event, Branstad will hold a bill-signing ceremony for SF 2341. The bill, which passed the Iowa Senate 36-9 and the Iowa House 8214, allows Iowa Speed-
way to receive a rebate of the state portion of the tax collected through retail sales. The remaining 2 cents per dollar will continue to be funnelled to local government and school districts. Since the incentive began in 2006, Iowa SPEEDWAY See Page 5A
Ty Rushing/Daily News The Newton Community School District launched its new website yesterday. NCSD Technology Supervisor Chris Bieghler gave the board a demonstration of its capabilities at Monday night’s school board meeting.