CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9
REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
10 March 2022

MINUTES

I. Call to order. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen called the Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:02 a.m. The meeting was held in the gym. Present were Board Trustees Jessica Sandven-Sorensen, Twila Brenneman, Barry Farrell, Nevada Hafer, and Julie Horton. Also in attendance were Tami Ward, Principal, Tammy Bartos, District Clerk, Jennifer Johnson, Teacher and CEA President, Pauline Davidson, Teacher, Shanta Milne, Teacher, Cindi Conley, Teacher, and community members: Gloria Graves and Walter Graves.
II. Minutes of 10 February 2022, 1 March 2022, 8 March 2022. Nevada Hafer motioned to approve the minutes as presented. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
III. Public Participation / Correspondence. Gloria Graves of Friends of Creston Fire provided information regarding the upcoming Creston Fire Auction April 1st thru the 3rd.
IV. Information
A. Speed Sign Project. The Rotary Foundation of Bigfork has pursued installing “what’s your speed” signs on Highway 35 for our school. They applied and were awarded a grant from the Flathead Electric Roundup for Safety program. The Rotary Foundation is taking care of all the logistics. There is an additional $400 in costs that won’t be covered by the grant, so the school may be asked to assist in covering a portion of this cost. Additionally, there has been cooperation with Creston Fire, Creston Teacher’s Union, and Creston Boosters regarding additional funds that may be required to complete the project.
B. Lifting of mask mandate on buses or vans. The Centers for Disease Control announced that, effective February 25, 2022, it is exercising its enforcement discretion to not require people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems. This decision means that the January 29, 2021, order requiring masks be worn on public transportation no longer applies to school buses.
V. Reports:
A. Clerk. The monthly budget expenditure report was provided through 28 February 2022. General Fund is 53% committed and the Total of all Funds is 43% committed. Fund 115 Project Report was provided. Accounts are reconciled to the County Treasurer through January 2022. Quotes for Property & Liability Insurance for fiscal year 2023 have been requested.
B. Principal. Current Student Enrollment is 111. Monthly building inspections have been completed. Professional Development was held March 7 – 9 with Kelly Boswell; the focus of instruction was on teaching writing. Jen Johnson has volunteered to coordinate and supervise the 5th & 6th grade student volunteers to serve as Creston Auction runners. Creston students will also assist in setting up chairs and tables for a community meeting being held March 26th in our gymnasium. We had three confirmed positive coronavirus cases in our learning environment during the month of February and twenty total cases this school year.
C. Staff. Jen Johnson shared a positive review of the professional development with Kelly Boswell and then the staff report via a Google Slide presentation.
VI. Consideration of Action Items:
A. Principal Search & Hiring Process – with Kaleva Law. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen shared that the applicants were screened on March 8th and that on Tuesday, March 15th an interview will be held. The schedule includes a staff meet & greet, community meet & greet, and the interview.
B. Trustee Resolution – Notice of Intent to Increase/Decrease Non-Voted Levies – Estimating changes in revenues/mills from tuition, building reserve, transportation, and bus depreciation levies for 2022-2023. This is a required notice estimating changes in non-voted levies and the expected use of the Building Reserve State Major Maintenance levies. All funds were listed in the resolution to give a more complete overview of next year’s estimated levies. A preliminary General Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 and the OPI Pre-Session Budget Data Sheet were provided along with the Resolution itself. Julie Horton moved to approve the Resolution as presented. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
C. Collective Bargaining Agreement Negotiations with Creston Education Association. Jennifer Johnson, CEA President, presented the proposed CBA negotiation items. Items to consider included a date change for notice if advancing on the salary schedule from April 1 to February 1; remove section 4.2 as it does not reflect current law regarding non-association teachers and dues; add nieces/nephews to the list of immediate family members for sick leave; and a 3% increase to the base salary schedule. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the negotiation items as presented. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
D. Extra-Duty Teaching Contract for 2022 Summer Program. Barry Farrell moved to approve the extra-duty contract for D. Christiansen to teach for the 2022 summer program as presented. Julie Horton seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
E. Advertise a 1.0 FTE Teacher Position for the 2022/2023 School Year. This was presented in anticipation of possible teacher openings. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the request to advertise for K-6 elementary curriculum teacher for the 2022/2023 school year as presented. Julie Horton seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
F. Property Disposal Resolution. Julie Horton moved to approve the property disposal resolution as presented and approve the sale of a laptop to T. Ward following the required two-week notice. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
G. 2022 – 2023 School Calendar. Two options were presented, both were developed from the Kalispell Public Schools calendar. Option 1 has an April no school day the same as KPS; Option 2 has no days off in April and instead has the last day of school one day earlier than KPS. Twila Brenneman moved to approve Option 1 as presented. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
H. Student Handbook 2022/2023. Board Policy 3310 was recently revised and this created a change to the section regarding the Student Discipline Policy; all references to principal will need to be updated when we have a signed contract from the new principal; other minor clean up language. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the 2022/2023 Student Handbook as presented. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
I. Safe Return to School and Continuity of Services Plan Review. Input from stakeholders was requested ahead of time. The plan in its entirety was reviewed with no revisions submitted. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the plan as presented. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
J. Substitute List. Julie Horton moved to approve the addition to the substitute teacher list as presented for the 2021/2022 school year. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
K. Transportation Contracts – nil.
L. Before School Care Contracts – nil.
M. Out of District Requests. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the attendance agreements as presented. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
N. Gym & School Grounds Use Requests – nil.
O. District Clerk Personnel Evaluation – Executive Session. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen determined that the demands of individual privacy clearly exceed the merits of public disclosure and at 8:08 a.m. closed the meeting for an executive session to conduct the personnel evaluation of Tammy Bartos. The meeting was reconvened in open session at 8:52 a.m. and Nevada Hafer motioned to approve the personnel evaluation of Tammy Bartos and to approve the executive session minutes. Julie Horton seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
VII. Claims Approval. Julie Horton moved to approve the claims list as presented. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
VIII. Next Meeting Dates:
A. 14 April 2022, 7:00 am Regular Meeting
B. 12 May 2022, 7:00 am Regular Meeting
IX. Adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 8:53 a.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

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Tammy Bartos, District Clerk

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Jessica Sandven-Sorensen, Board Chair