CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9
REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
8 FEBRUARY 2024
MINUTES
I. Call to Order. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen called the Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:06 a.m. The meeting was held in the gym. Present were Board Trustees Jessica Sandven-Sorensen, Twila Brenneman, Megan Derrington, Barry Farrell, and Nevada Hafer. Also in attendance were Rachel Stevens, Principal, Tammy Bartos, District Clerk, Cindi Conley, Special Education Teacher, Jen Johnson, 2nd Grade Teacher and CEA President, and Melissa Potts, Title Teacher.
II. Minutes of 11 January 2024. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the minutes as presented. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
III. Public Participation / Correspondence – nil.
IV. Information
A. Strategic Planning Process Update. The Strategic Planning Committee held the final meeting on January 16th. The Comprehensive Needs Assessment was reviewed, and a GAP Analysis was completed to determine areas of need. Based on the areas of need, the committee determined goals for the strategic plan. The team also determined the competencies for the Graduate Profile. The following documents were provided as information:
1. Comprehensive Needs Assessment Results
2. Draft Gap Analysis
3. Draft Strategic Plan
4. Proposed Graduate Profile
B. Custodian Hiring Update. The hiring committee held interviews on February 5th; and candidates are in the process of obtaining screenings needed prior to presenting a recommendation to the Board.
V. Reports:
A. Clerk. The monthly budget expenditure report was provided through 31 January 2024. The General Fund is 42% committed and the Total of all Funds is 36% committed. Miscellaneous Funds and Eastside Interlocal accounts were also reported. Accounts are reconciled to the County Treasurer through December 2023. Attended a meeting with the County Election Department on January 23rd; also, OPI/MASBO election webinars on January 19th and February 2nd. The auditor conducted the on-site portion of the 2021/2022 & 2022/2023 audit on January 26th.
B. Principal. Student enrollment is 102. Teachers participated in peer observation sessions related to district ELA and math goals on January 15th and 16th. Teachers also participated in a professional development /workday on January 19th where they debriefed the peer observation sessions and held discussions and research time related to math curriculum and a new assessment tool, information related to the strategic plan, and the Social Studies Alive! curriculum. Mrs. Stevens attended a Zoom training regarding the new accreditation tool for the Integrated Strategic Action Plan (ISAP) by OPI on February 2nd. Mrs. Johnson has written and received two math grants: one from The Karen Cox Memorial Grant for math stackers and another from The Montana Space Grant for STEM Lego sets. Mrs. Visnovske has written and received a grant for archery equipment for grades 4 thru 6 from the National Archery in Schools Program in conjunction with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. A summary of the Early Literacy Targeted Interventions options available to a school district through Montana House Bill 352 was provided. Bus service will not be available on March 21st and 22nd – families who use the bus will be given advance notification. There is a mandatory Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) which both Mrs. Stevens and Mrs. Bartos will work on together to submit by February 26th. The second required bus evacuation drill was completed on January 26th. Monthly building inspections have been completed with no recommendations for repairs. The facilities inventory report was provided. Math and ELA benchmark assessment data was presented.
C. Staff. Mrs. Johnson was present to share the staff report via a Google Slide presentation.
VI. Policies – Consideration of Action:
A. Second Reading of MTSBA Policy Services Updates: 1400, 1511, 2320, 3410, 3600F1, 3600F2, 3600P, 5121, 7320, 8110, 8125, 5231. Barry Farrell moved to approve the policy updates as presented. Megan Derrington seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
B. First Reading of MTSBA Policy Services Updates: 2151F, 3431, 5223, 5330, 8132, 1240, 1520. A continuation of policies the MTSBA Policy Services team has prepared in response to legislation approved during the 2023 Legislative Session in addition to amendments to Chapter 55 as adopted by the Board of Public Education. First Read only. No Action.
VII. Consideration of Action Items:
A. Collective Bargaining Agreement Negotiations with Creston Education Association. Discussion continued on the three items under consideration for the 2024/2025 CBA: 1) a 2% increase to the base salary schedule – a preliminary budget will be presented next month; 2) an increase in sick days from 12 to 15 days – a comparison chart of other schools in our valley was provided; 3) addition of language regarding coaching leave for out of district extracurricular coaching – expanded language was provided and it will be forwarded for review by legal counsel. No action.
B. Teacher Resignation & Begin Hiring Process for a 1.0 Teacher Position for 2024/2025. The resignation of C. Nutt effective at the conclusion of the 2023/2024 school year was accepted and acknowledged by Mrs. Stevens. Megan Derrington moved to begin the hiring process of a teacher position for the 2024/2025 school year and appoint two trustees to the hiring committee as presented. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Megan Derrington and Barry Farrell will serve on the hiring committee.
C. School Closure 1/12 & 1/18 & Calendar Revision. Due to extreme weather conditions, there were two unforeseen emergency school closure days in January. Nevada Hafer moved to approve a resolution declaring an unforeseen emergency cancelling school on January 12, 2024, this day will not be made up under the provision of MCA 20-9-806(2). Megan Derrington seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Nevada Hafer moved to approve a resolution cancelling school on January 18, 2024, due to an unforeseen emergency. A reasonable effort to make up the lost hours has been made by advance planning of 15.33 excess hours in the calendar, which more than covers 75% of the hours lost, and the day will not be made up under the provision of MCA 20-9-806(1)(b). Megan Derrington seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
D. Election Resolution. A regular school election for the purpose of electing one trustee to a three-year term will be conducted on the 7th day of May 2024. The election will be conducted by mail ballot. Approval of additional levies to operate and maintain the Creston School general fund, technology fund and building reserve fund for fiscal year 2024-2025 will also be requested. If it is later determined that any portion of the election is not required, the election administrator is authorized to cancel that portion of the election. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the Election Resolution by mail ballot as presented. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
E. FY 2021/2022 – 2022/2023 Audit Contract Amendment. A change to the date of completion from December 31, 2023, to June 30, 2024. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the audit contract amendment as presented. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
F. Transportation Contracts – nil.
G. Before School Care Contracts – nil.
H. Out-of-District Requests- nil.
I. Gym & School Grounds Use Requests. The Creston Fire Fighter’s Association requested an amendment on April 4, 2024 to access the field at 12:30 instead of 1:30 and access to the gym on the same day at 3:00. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the request as presented. Megan Derrington seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
J. Principal Evaluation – Executive Session. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen determined that the demands of individual privacy clearly exceed the merits of public disclosure and at 8:16am closed the meeting for an executive session to conduct the personnel evaluation of Rachel Stevens. The meeting was reconvened in open session at 8:58am and Nevada Hafer moved to approve the personnel evaluation of Rachel Stevens and to approve the executive session minutes. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
VIII. Claims Approval – Consideration of Action. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the claims list as presented. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
IX. Board Work Session
A. Handling Threatening and Unsolicited Communications. A discussion as to protocol on what do if you receive these types of communications on behalf of the school.
X. Next Meeting Dates:
A. 8 February 2024, 7:00 am, Regular Meeting
B. 14 March 2024, 7:00 am, Regular Meeting
XI. Adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 9:04 a.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
/s/Tammy Bartos, District Clerk
/s/Jessica Sandven-Sorensen, Board Chair