Fort Dodge Community School District Superintendent Dr. Jesse Ulrich announced the goals he plans to accomplish as superintendent for the 2019-2020 school year during the FDCSD Board of Education meeting on Monday evening.

Ulrich’s goals for this school year are:

• Build capacity of staff as leaders and learners.

• Create an effective multi-tiered system of supports for behavioral and academic support of students.

• Ensure implementation of curriculum and District initiatives with fidelity.

• Begin implementation of FDCSD Facility Plan for building upgrades.

The board voted to accept Ulrich’s goals and will receive progress updates throughout the school year, Ulrich said.

The centerpiece of Monday’s meeting, however, was the recognition of Fort Dodge native Rick Ishmael, a Marine Corps veteran who left school at Fort Dodge Senior High to enlist to serve in the Vietnam War in 1971. The board presented Ishmael with an honorary high school diploma during the meeting.

“It is with great honor that I thank Mr. Ishmael for his service to our country and to the Fort Dodge Community School District,” Ulrich said during the presentation.

During the meeting, the board also elected board member Matt Wagner to be the district’s delegate representative for the Iowa Association of School Boards for 2019.

Ulrich also presented the board with the first reading of revisions to several board policies. The revisions are still in progress, and the board will vote to approve them at a later date. The revisions and reviews of board policies are on an annual rotation, the superintendent said.

To wrap up the meeting, Ulrich gave an update on events happening in the schools this week.

“Yes, it will be Homecoming Friday and a full moon and Friday the 13th, all balled up into one day,” he joked. “This is Homecoming week and we just wanted to show appreciation to all of our alumni coming back throughout the week and hopefully coming to support our student athletes and performers.”

“We wish our students a happy, safe Homecoming and having fun at the dance,” Ulrich concluded.