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District Committees & Involvement

Board members sit on several district committees and are involved in community activities and organizations as a way of dividing work and bringing greater understanding of specialized areas to the board table.

2024-25 District/Board Committee/Advisory Representatives
The representatives listed will serve through November 2025.

  • Finance/Audit Committee (F/AC): Barry Buchholz, Justin Foss, and Brittania Morey
  • Policy/Governance Committee: Katie Lowe Lancaster, Laura Thomas, and Melissa Walker
  • Career & Technical Education Advisory (CTE): Midhat Mansoor, Brittania Morey, and Laura Thomas
  • School Improvement Advisory Council (SIAC): Katie Lowe Lancaster Midhat Mansoor, and Brittania Morey
  • Diversity/Equity/Inclusion Committee (DEI): Katie Lowe Lancaster and Laura Thomas
  • Facilities Advisory Committee: Justin Foss, Midhat Mansoor, and Brittania Morey
  • Venture Academics Advisory (VAA): Brittania Morey and Melissa Walker
  • LMHS School Counselors Advisory: Midhat Mansoor and Melissa Walker
  • MEDCO Community Promise Advisory: Barry Buchholz
  • Linn County Conference Board: Barry Buchholz
  • Legislative Liaisons: Justin Foss and Laura Thomas

Required Board Committees

  1. Finance/Audit Committee: The purpose of the Finance/Audit Committee is to assist the board in discharging its responsibilities relating to financial oversight, budget, internal controls, financial policies, capital structure, and other related financial matters while helping to achieve the mission and vision of the Linn-Mar Community School District. The Finance/Audit Committee shall serve the following purposes for the district:

    1) Financial Role: Oversee the financial affairs of the district and review/make recommendations to the board regarding district financial affairs and policies.

    2) Audit Role: Oversight of the external and internal audit processes.

  2. Policy/Governance Committee: The Board of Directors for the Linn-Mar Community School District calls for the board to appoint a Policy/Governance Committee to review and enact board policy which provide broad rules and guidelines that govern district operations, that are developed within the overall framework of state laws and regulations, that assist in achieving the mission and vision of the district, and to train board members in their work and the work of the district.
     
  3. School Improvement Advisory Council: Code of Iowa (280.12) calls for the board to appoint a School Improvement Advisory Committee (SIAC) to make recommendations to the board. The SIAC committee is charged to make recommendations to the board in several areas based on analysis of the needs assessment data. The board will use the committee's recommendations to adopt annual improvement goals that will help to achieve the mission and vision of the district.
     
  4. Career & Technical Education Advisory Committee: The Board of Directors for the Linn-Mar Community School District calls for the board to appoint a Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee (CTE) to make recommendations in the areas of career and technical education. The expected outcomes of the CTE committee are to ensure that students are exposed to a well-rounded experience in the career and technical education fields as well as to help achieve the mission and vision of the Linn-Mar Community School District.

Additional District Committees/Advisories

  1. Diversity/Equity/Inclusion Committee:  The Linn-Mar Diversity/Equity/Inclusion Committee (DEI) was established during the 2021-22 school year to support the district's focus on equity for all students. The committee is made up of community members, students, staff, and a board member. The committee developed the following themes to focus and guide its work: 
  • Enhance the role of the educational program to give context, support, and tools to enable students to handle those that are different from them;
  • Increase allies and support systems across the district;
  • Build a strong communication system;
  • Align families with the most appropriate and most critical resources within the community;
  • Investigate restorative discipline policies for discrimination; and
  • Celebrate the beliefs and values of the district in regard to diversity and equity.
  1. Venture Academics Advisory Committee: Venture Academics is an innovative, project-based learning model which allows students to earn high school credits by meeting Iowa core standards and applying knowledge to real-world projects.  The Venture Academics Advisory Committee is made up of community members, students, staff, and board members to influence and provide feedback on the growth of the program.
     
  2. Linn-Mar High School Counselors Advisory: The LMHS school counseling team formed a community advisory group to assist in outlining the goals and growth for the school counseling program. A board member serves as part of this advisory as suggested in the national model for school counseling. This advisory meets at least once a year.
     
  3. Facilities Advisory Committee: The district has a running 10-year facilities plan that includes small- and large-scale projects. The Facilities Advisory Committee is made up of community members, staff, students, and board members and is convened every 3-5 years, when the need arises in the facilities planning calendar, to discuss large-scale needs of the district.

Additional Board Representation

  1. Marion Economic Development Corporation: MEDCO works to create opportunities in the Marion community and Linn-Mar is honored to work in partnership with MEDCO to offer these learning opportunities to the students. Through initiatives like Community Promise and Community Build, Linn-Mar and MEDCO create programs and unique learning environments for the students that transcend the traditional classroom setting and bring career education and the working world to the students’ fingertips.
     
  2. Marion City Council: A member of the school board attends the Marion City Council meetings and reports to the board on any city business that impacts the district. Board members rotate this representative responsibility.
     
  3. Urban Education Network: The Urban Education Network (UEN) keeps the state’s lawmakers, the media, and the public informed about the progress and problems in the state’s largest and most diverse public school districts through advocacy, legislation, communications, and research. Linn-Mar is a member of the UEN and is represented by the superintendent. Board members receive UEN newsletters and advocacy updates throughout the year.

  4. Iowa Association of School Boards: IASB represents school boards at the state level. IASB provides professional development and trainings for board members on the role of board members, school finance, governance and policy. IASB also advocates on behalf of its members for public education. The Linn-Mar Board of Directors is a member of IASB and all board members are encouraged to take part
    in the IASB annual convention, webinars, and board development opportunities.
     
  5. Linn-County Conference Board: The Linn County Conference Board serves as the governing board for the office of the Linn County assessor. This board has the responsibility of appointing members of the Examining Board, the Board of Review, and the assessor. This  board also establishes and adopts an annual budget, approves the position of deputy assessor and the number of deputy assessors, reappoints the assessor, and employs the appraisers and other technical help.
     
  6. Legislative Advocacy Representation: The board sets legislative priorities on an annual basis from a slate of recommendations by the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB). The school board has two members that monitor legislative work surrounding education and work with the superintendent on advocacy letters, meetings with state legislators, and provide legislative updates to the entire board.