CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9

REGULAR BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING

10 October 2018

MINUTES

I. Call to order. Joanna Massie called the Board of Trustees Meeting to order at 7:01 a.m. in the Creston School Library with the following members present: Shawn McDonough and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen. Matt Hartle was out of town and Julie Tikka was out with medical concerns. Also in attendance were: Tami Ward – Principal, Tammy Bartos – District Clerk, Jen Johnson – 2ndgrade teacher.

II. Minutes. Shawn McDonough moved and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen seconded approval of the minutes of the 6 September 2018 – Regular Meeting and the 6 September 2018 – Special Meeting. Motion passed unanimously.

III. Public Participation / Correspondence– nil.

IV. Information Items:

A. Lawsuit filed by William Rogers re. Wi-Fi Tower Installation – Update. 1.) October 1, 2018 Mr. Rogers filed a motion for a temporary injunction to stop construction of the tower. Our attorney, Jean E. Faure of Faure Holden Attorneys at Law, P.C. is handling the matter and will keep us informed as this moves forward; 2.) Also, on October 1, 2018 Mr. Rogers contacted our attorney and forwarded a draft of an amendment to his original lawsuit.  On October 4, 2018 she sent a response for him to consider before he actually files the amendment.  We are still waiting for a counter response.

B. Lawsuit filed by Hana & Petr Kukla re. Wi-Fi Tower Installation – Update. September 14, 2018 Hana & Petr Kukla filed a voluntary dismissal of their lawsuit.

C. Evergreen Disposal Update re. Container. Last week Evergreen Disposal delivered a container to us that has a locking mechanism on it. Also, the pick up schedule has been changed to once every other week.  Our cost is currently $60.10 per month, a change from $96.20 per month.

D. Major Bus Repair Invoice Review. At the July 23, 2018 Special Board Meeting the Board approved the needed engine overhaul bus repair at an estimated cost of $28,000.00. The bus was returned to us on September 4, 2018 and the final invoice was $23,920.42.

E. Smarter Balance Assessment Comparison (SBAC) 2017-2018. Combined 2017-2018 Advanced or Proficient Scores 3rd– 6thgrades: 1) English Language Arts (ELA) – 66%; 2) Math 54%. Principal Ward shared the challenges with taking this test, new ideas teachers will implement this year, school-wide goals and interventions.

F. School Theme for 2018/2019. Teachers collaborated to come up with this year’s theme: Show good character ~ Be your own superhero!

G. Principal Professional Responsibilities and Goals. Principal Ward presented the 2018/2019 Principal Professional Responsibilities and Goals Form, from the approved Montana-EPAS Evaluation Tool. This form will be used later in the year for the Principal Evaluation.

H. Continuous School Improvement Program School & District Plan. This report, required by the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) was completed and submitted by Principal Ward on October 5, 2018.Topics covered in the plan include School Climate, Math Goals, ELA Goals, Title III, and Homeless.

V. Reports:

A. Clerk. Statement of Expenditure through 8 October 2018 was submitted. General Fund is at 18% committed and Grand Total of all funds is at 16%.

B. Principal. Student Enrollment is 101; The Easement Agreement with MontanaSky has been signed by all parties; 3rd– 6thgrade students are working on an art project with an artist to fulfill the $1,499 art grant we received; September 26 early out time was used for a productive teacher professional development time; Tami Ward received a travel grant to attend the National Small Schools Alliance convention this month – a conference which brings together rural educators who learn about issues small schools encounter and seek viable solutions collaboratively; Updates on the Education Cooperative, Special Education Cooperative and Crossroads were given; Safety Committee reviewed the role of being a committee member and assigned a mentor to new employees on safety practices; in the beginning stages of investigating what needs to be done to update the 2008 School Facility Inventory Report; Before School Care Program is running smoothly with nine families currently using the program.

C. Staff. Jen Johnson reported on the various classroom topics and events happening throughout the school.

VI. Policies:

A. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve policy 4350 COMMUNITY RELATIONS – Website Accessibility and Nondiscrimination, with two grammatical corrections on line 30 (change “which” to “with”) and line 31 (delete a duplicate “or”). Motion passed unanimously.

B. Shawn McDonough moved and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen seconded to approve policy 3224 STUDENTS – Student Dress as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

C. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve policy 1014FE – BOARD OF TRUSTEES – Intent to Increase Non-Voted Levy as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

D. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve policy 1014FE-FI – BOARD OF TRUSTEES – Notice of Intent to Impose an Increase in Levies Form as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

E. Shawn McDonough moved and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen seconded to approve 3124 STUDENTS – Military Compact Waiver as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

F. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve policy 5000A PERSONNEL – Aide Job Description as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

G. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve policy 5000C PERSONNEL – Custodian Job Description as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

H. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve policy 5000LA PERSONNEL – Library Assistant Job Description as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

I. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve policy 5000SC PERSONNEL – School Clerk Job Description as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

J. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve policy 5000ST PERSONNEL – Substitute Teacher Job Description as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

K. 2000 INSTRUCTION – Goals.This was the first reading of a revision to this policy. No motion.

VII. Consideration of Action Items:

A. The MTSBA Board has authorized distribution of a contingent ballot for all pending association business, as there is concern they will lack a quorum at the October 19th Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded voting “yes” to all items on the Contingent Ballot for Conducting MTSBA Business. Motion passed unanimously.

B. Shawn McDonough moved and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen seconded to approve the Fiscal Year 2018 – Fiscal Year 2020 Audit Contract with Nicole M. Noonan, CPA, PC.Motion passed unanimously.

C. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve both the in-house Substitute Teacher List and the use of the Flathead County Superintendent of Schools Substitute list as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

D. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve the Before School Care Program – Teacher Fee Waiver as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

E. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve the Before School Care Contracts as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

F. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve the Transportation Contracts as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

G. Shawn McDonough moved and Jessica Sandven-Sorenson seconded to acknowledge receipt of the attendance agreements for students residing in Creston School District, choosing to attend another district. Motion passed unanimously.  Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve the attendance agreements for out-of-district students who request attendance at Creston School.  Motion passed unanimously.

H. Two gym use requests were presented: 1) 4thgrade girls Rotary Club Basketball practice, Thursday’s 6:30 – 8:00 pm through 8 November 2018 and; 2) S. Uskoski family for basketball, Monday’s 7:00 – 10:00 pm through 6 June 2019.Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve the gym use requests as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

VIII. Claims.Board approved all Claims for October 2018.

IX. Next Meeting Dates:

A. 7 November 2018 7:00am, Regular Meeting

X. Meeting adjourned at 8:21 a.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Tammy Bartos, District Clerk                               Matt Hartle, Chairman