The Ames Community Schools board on Monday voted to adopt a resolution authorizing expenditures from the district’s flexibility account and carried several routine motions, including appointments for district officers and approvals of new course proposals.

Board member Bierbaum moved to adopt the resolution to expend funds from the district’s flexibility account, seconded by Ward; Director Rizick conducted a roll call and all voting members answered “aye,” approving the measure. The motion followed a public hearing on the resolution for which no members of the public registered to speak.

The board also approved the consent agenda and a set of policies for action earlier in the session. In organizational business after the retiring board adjourned and the newly constituted board took its seats, the board appointed Sherry Ruzek as secretary-treasurer and named Allers and Cooney as legal counsel; both motions passed unanimously. The Ames Tribune was designated the newspaper of record.

On gifts and classroom support, the board approved a list of cash and in-kind donations to multiple programs including the lunch-hero program and supplies for school art programs. The board also approved a package of new course proposals — from middle-school offerings such as a quarter-long executive-functioning course called Strive and a sixth-grade research-through-inquiry class to high-school options including Foods 1–2, Applied Math, Heritage Spanish II and several CTE expansions such as carpentry and wiring — with the superintendent’s office noting no additional staffing is required to offer the proposed courses if student enrollment supports them.

Board votes reported in the meeting record were unanimous for the items taken up in the organizational portion of the agenda (several votes recorded as 7–0 after the new board convened). The agenda, consent items and the policies for action carried earlier in the retiring-board portion of the meeting by a recorded 6–0 margin. Several business items were held for a future meeting where additional paperwork or state application windows apply.

The next regular board meeting is set for Dec. 8, when the board plans a work session and continued planning on committees and the board handbook.