The Fort Dodge Community School District Board of Education heard about an important step being taken to improve training for current and new teachers in the area of spelling and reading now and into the future at its Monday meeting.

Teri Boezinger, the district director of curriculum and instruction, informed the board that current literacy teacher and advocate Jen Cordell will be attending a national training event in Dallas, Texas, next month.

“The state of Iowa recommends teachers for grades K-5 go through this process,” she said. “With what Jen will learn at this event, we can now onboard new staff, train new teachers and so forth.”

“I feel this will pay for itself over the next several years,” she added. “We can now move forward with our teachers in having them understand the how and why of literacy. The training for our staff won’t begin immediately as Jen’s complete learning will be the first step.”

Superintendent Josh Porter championed Cordell’s pick for the training trip.

“She has been a strong advocate since day one,” he said. “There is a lot of movement statewide in regards to this area, as there is a bill on the governor’s desk regarding the science of reading. What she gains from this training will be very important for the district.”

The board also announced it will be moving away from the district’s former motto of Together We Rise in the wake of a new vision and mission statement. Porter indicated it was time to update the statement and noted work has been done in each building toward this goal.

“The original plan was created 12 years ago, and honestly, we just weren’t living in it,” Porter said. “It was developed by a whole different group of people, so this was a good time to look at it. We want this new vision and mission statement to be something we live and breathe in each building.”

In other board action:

n Ryan Utley, district maintenance director, presented a bill from ISG, of Des Moines, of just over $17,000 for sidewalk improvements to the high school entrance that will fix cracks in high traffic areas for events. It was approved for payment.

n Approved a plan submitted by Porter to increase substitute custodian pay from $15 to $18 per hour to help develop stronger candidate pools.

n Approved a bid of $28,400 for copy paper for the 2024-25 school year submitted by OPC of Omaha, Nebraska.