CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9
SPECIAL SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
19 JANUARY 2023

MINUTES

I. Call to order. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen called the Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:31 a.m. The meeting was held remotely, via a Zoom meeting platform. Present were Board Trustees Jessica Sandven-Sorensen, Twila Brenneman, Megan Derrington, Barry Farrell, and Nevada Hafer. Also in attendance were Rachel Stevens, Principal, and Tammy Bartos, District Clerk.
II. Public Participation / Correspondence – nil.
III. Consideration of Action Items:
A. Network, Phone, and Intercom System Proposal with MontanaSky Networks. A revised proposal that includes a description of Support and Maintenance and Equipment Ownership was reviewed. The costs of the proposal remain the same as the one presented on 12 January 2023. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the MontanaSky Proposal #Rev1.5 as presented. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
B. Safe Return to School and Continuity of Services Plan. No changes or updates. No action taken.
IV. Adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 7:40 a.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

/s/Tammy Bartos, District Clerk
/s/Jessica Sandven-Sorensen, Board Chair

CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9
REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
12 JANUARY 2023

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, Barry Farrell and Nevada Hafer; also, Megan Derrington was present after taking the oath of office. Also in attendance were Rachel Stevens, Principal, Tammy Bartos, District Clerk, Cal Ketchum, Flathead County Superintendent of Schools, Cindi Conley, Special Education Teacher, Jen Johnson, 2nd Grade Teacher and CEA President, Shanta Milne, Kindergarten Teacher, and several community members.
II. Minutes of 8 December 2022. Barry Farrell moved to approve the minutes as presented. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
III. Appoint & Swear In Trustee to Vacant Position. Twila Brenneman moved to appoint Megan Derrington to fill the vacant trustee position. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Cal Ketchum administered the oath of office and Megan Derrington joined the other trustees at the table for the remainder of the meeting.
IV. Public Participation / Correspondence. Taaylr Claridge addressed the trustees regarding trustee emails on the website, requested board meeting times in the evenings and agendas emailed to parents.
V. Information
A. Candidates for the May 2023 Trustee Election May File a Declaration of Intent. Candidates for Trustee may file a Declaration of Intent and Oath of Candidacy between Thursday, December 8, 2022, and Thursday, March 23, 2023. There are two three-year terms and one two-year term subject to election in May 2023.
B. Flathead County Election Office Response to Request to Conduct School Election 2023. A letter was received from the Flathead County Election Office stating that “At this time, Flathead County is unable to administer school district elections…” Several reasons were given including limited staff resources, there are twenty-three school districts and three hundred district splits in the county, many special district elections are during the same timeframe, a new voter database software conversion occurring in 2023, and in 2024 the presidential election cycle will require all available county election resources. They will review the status again for 2025 or after.
C. Policy Manual Conversion to New MTSBA / Simbli Policy Hosting Platform. The Creston School District’s online policy manual has been converted and uploaded to the new MTSBA / Simbli policy hosting platform. The manual is accessible on our website as before, under the School Board heading. Policy 3140 was renumbered to 2105P, and job descriptions were moved from the appendix to a numbered series of 5900.
D. Teacher Resignation. The resignation of Deborah Christiansen, Title Teacher was accepted by Principal Stevens. Mrs. Christiansen is retiring the end of this school year.
E. Status of Social Security Participation and PERS Referendum. The referendum held 12/21/2022 passed with at least 50% yes votes. This means social security will continue to be deducted as usual for PERS members. The Montana State Social Security Administration will take care of the remaining steps needed to secure a signature by the Commissioner of Social Security on the “modification”; this could take up to a couple of years to complete.
F. December Unforeseen Emergency School Closure. Due to extreme weather conditions school was cancelled on 12/21/2022. This cancellation does affect the school calendar; however, we have built in excess hours and will still meet the minimum aggregate number of hours required. No make-up day is required due to this closure.
VI. Reports:
A. Clerk. The monthly budget expenditure report was provided through 31 December 2022. General Fund is 41% committed and the Total of all Funds is 33% committed. Accounts are reconciled to the County Treasurer through December 2022. Mrs. Stevens and Mrs. Bartos are in the process of working with Paladin Cyber to set up an account, receive access to their online training site and phishing simulations and set up routine scans of our web domain. A desk audit of our transportation claims for Fiscal Year 2022 was conducted by OPI with no findings. The 2021 Census data used to calculate school year 2023-2024 allocations under Title 1, Part A has been released – the data was provided. An updated Education Donation Tax Credit Letter for 2023 has been posted to the website – Mrs. Stevens will also send an email to the school community with the information.
B. Principal. Student Enrollment is 118. Monthly building maintenance inspections were completed with no recommendations for repairs. The teachers will receive professional development in literacy instruction on January 23 from Tammy Elser, an education faculty member of Salish Kootenai College. Mrs. Stevens is attending the MTSBA Accommodating Individuals with Disabilities training, which consist of several Zoom sessions during January. Mid-year benchmark assessments of students in reading and math are taking place in January. The school facility conditions report was provided with no updates.
C. Staff. Jen Johnson, CEA President and 2nd Grade Teacher shared the staff report via a Google Slide presentation.
VII. Policies – Consideration of Action:
A. Policy 2335- Health Enhancement – Update per MTSBA – 2nd read. Barry Farrell moved to approve the policy as presented. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
B. Review Weapons Policies: 3310, 3311, 4315, 5223. As per 20-5-202 (2) (a) MCA, the trustees shall annually review the districts weapons policy. These policies were reviewed, no changes were suggested. No action taken.
C. Substitute Custodian Job Description. An update to remove the hourly wage, add header information and the universal obligations section was recommended. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the changes to the job description as presented. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
VIII. Consideration of Action Items:
A. Collective Bargaining Agreement Negotiations with Creston Education Association. Cindi Conley, Special Education Teacher, spoke on behalf of the CEA. She presented various changes for consideration to the 2023-2024 CBA: 1) Salary Schedule Increase of 2% to the base; 2) Personal leave increase – roll over increase from 2 days to 4 days for a maximum accumulation of 8 personal days instead of 6 days; 3) Annuity/employee benefit cafeteria plan increase of $20 per month, from $630 to $650 per month; 4) add language to section 7.1 to clarify the definition of a tenured teacher; 5) addition of a longevity stipend of $500 after completing increments of 5 years of continuous service; and 6) the CEA accepted the changes approved by the school board on December 8, 2022. Discussion only as a preliminary budget gets put together (this is also dependent on the state legislative session process). Negotiations will continue. No action.
B. Intercom/Phone Committee Report and Recommendation. The committee has met with several companies and reviewed their proposals; they recommend purchasing the intercom/speakers, VoIP phone system and network upgrade from MontanaSky as per the submitted documents. The committee also recommended purchasing the cell communicator module from Federal Protection as part of the project as this will ensure the fire alarm works properly with the VoIP system. This is a safety project, and the one-time equipment and labor costs will be paid using safety funds. Barry Farrell moved to approve the option 1 proposal from MontanaSky for speakers, VoIP and network upgrade equipment and labor costs as presented and to approve the Federal Protections proposal for cell communication as presented. Megan Derrington seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
C. Clerk/Business & Office Manager Job Opening. Job Posting updates to include the closing date as open until filled, removing the start date, the addition of a salary range and an equal opportunity employer statement. Barry Farrell moved to approve the changes to the job posting as presented. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

D. Safe Return to School and Continuity of Services Plan. No changes or updates. No action.
E. Substitute List 2022/2023. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the addition to the substitute list as presented for the 2022/2023 school year. Megan Derrington 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. One request by the Many Lakes HOA to use the gym on Saturday, March 4, 2023, from 8:30 am to 1:30pm for an association meeting. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the gym use request. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
IX. Claims Approval. Barry Farrell moved to approve the claims list as presented. Megan Derrington seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
X. Next Meeting Dates:
A. 9 February 2023, 7:00 am
B. 9 March 2023, 7:00 am
XI. Board Work Session – Training and Discussion for Board Professional Development
1. Hiring Considerations. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen led a discussion covering the topic of the hiring process.
XII. Adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 8:44 a.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

/s/Tammy Bartos, District Clerk
/s/Jessica Sandven-Sorensen, Board Chair

CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9
REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
8 DECEMBER 2022

MINUTES
I. Call to order. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen called the Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:04 a.m. The meeting was held in the gym. Present were Board Trustees Jessica Sandven-Sorensen, Twila Brenneman, Barry Farrell and Nevada Hafer. Also in attendance were Rachel Stevens, Principal, Tammy Bartos, District Clerk, Cindi Conley, Special Education Teacher and one community member.
II. Minutes of 10 November 2022. Nevada Hafer moved to approve the minutes as presented. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
III. Public Participation / Correspondence. A notice regarding a community and legislative event held by Superintendent Arntzen at Sykes Diner in Kalispell on December 12, 2022 was shared. An email from a community member regarding board meeting times was also shared.
IV. Information
A. Intercom/Phone Committee. The committee held a meeting on November 10 and met with Systems Northwest. Once that quote is received another meeting will be scheduled.
B. Flathead County – Statistical Report of Schools 2022. The report was shared with the trustees it contains a variety of pupil enrollment and school financial data for schools in Flathead County.
C. Flathead County Planning & Zoning – FSR-22-08 Flathead River Retreat. A copy of a request for a preliminary plat approval of a 4 lot subdivision on Riverside Road was shared.
D. ARP Plan Review – Call for Stakeholder Input. Due to the last submission date of November 23, 2022, the next review and submission will be scheduled for May 2023 – a call for stakeholder input will be sent out prior to that.
E. MSPLIP Cyber Risk Mitigation Campaign. An update from our business liability company was shared regarding the services they have engaged from Paladin Cyber, a cybersecurity company that specializes in helping entities without large IT teams and budgets to deploy effective security controls. One of the benefits of this is the help they may provide to lower our cyber insurance retentions (deductibles) and increase insurance coverage by deploying controls to meet the insurance carrier’s requirements.
V. Reports:
A. Clerk. The monthly budget expenditure report was provided through 30 November 2022. General Fund is 26% committed and the Total of all Funds is 21% committed. Accounts are reconciled to the County Treasurer through November 2022. On November 16th employees who are part of PERS participated in an information session with the Montana State Social Security Administrator regarding the Referendum to be held December 21, 2022.
B. Principal. Student Enrollment is 120. The November service project of the Bobcats/Grizzlies food drive brought in 448 items – they were delivered to the Bigfork Food Bank. The formal evaluations for tenured teachers are complete. The non-tenured teachers will receive a second evaluation in either January or February. An awards assembly was held on November 18. The position of District Clerk & Business/Office Manager has been posted. Monthly building maintenance inspections were completed with no recommendations for repairs. The School Facility Conditions Report was provided. Mrs. Stevens attended and completed Title IX and Gifted & Talented Education training; she serves as the coordinator for our district in these two roles. Mrs. Stevens and Mrs. Sandven-Sorensen attended the Education and Legislative Summit on November 30, which was hosted by NWMASS; topics included funding, school safety, student wellness and mental health, and recruitment and retention of staff – “an informative and worthwhile event”.
C. Staff. Cindi Conley, Special Education Teacher, was present to share the staff report via a Google Slide presentation.
VI. Policies – Consideration of Action:
A. Policy 2335- Health Enhancement – Update per MTSBA – 1st read. An update to this policy is under consideration due to new legislation requiring all districts to adopt a policy on the issue if the district offers any instruction on the topic of human sexuality; currently the school offers puberty instruction to 5th and 6th grade students every other year. No action taken on this first read of the policy.
VII. Consideration of Action Items:
A. Trustee Resignation & Declare Vacant Trustee Position. Nevada Hafer moved to declare a vacant trustee position due to the resignation of Walter Graves and to fill the vacancy by appointment. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
B. Substitute Contracts. A recommendation to use the provided template when employing substitute personnel. Barry Farrell moved to approve the substitute employment agreement template as presented. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
C. Substitute List 2022/2023. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the addition to the substitute list as presented for 2022/2023 school year. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
D. Substitute Bus Driver 2022/2023. Barry Farrell moved to approve the addition of Robert Tracy as a substitute bus driver at an hourly rate of $22.00 per hour as presented for the 2022/2023 school year. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
E. Safe Return to School and Continuity of Services Plan Review. The plan was provided for review. Dates will be updated. No other revisions were submitted. Nevada Hafer moved to approve the Safe Return to School and Continuity of Services Plan as presented. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
F. Review Collective Bargaining Agreement with Creston Education Association. Three provisions were recommended for the trustees to reopen with the CEA: 1) Change the sick leave bank total maximum cap in section 10.2.3 from $2,500 to $3,000 per school year; 2) Change the total cash value of sick leave in section 10.2.4 from $800 to $1,000; and 3) add wording to section 10.5 to clarify the practice that a teacher may apply to use the sick leave bank when on maternity leave. Barry Farrell moved to approve presenting the changes to the CEA as presented. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
G. Transportation Contracts – nil.
H. Before School Care Contracts – nil.
I. Out-of-District Requests. Attendance agreement requests for seventeen students that reside in our district, attending another district. Twila Brenneman moved to acknowledge receipt of these attendance agreements. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Attendance agreement for one student that resides outside of our district, requesting Creston School as their school of choice. Barry Farrell moved to approve this attendance agreement. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
J. Gym & School Grounds Use Requests. One request by Jerimy & Sara Edmondson to use the gym on Friday’s and Sundays from December 9, 2022, through the end of February 2023 to have basketball practice with family and friends. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the gym use request. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
K. Board Work Session – Training and Discussion for Board Professional Development
1. Nepotism Policy and Procedures. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen led a discussion covering this topic.
VIII. Claims Approval. Nevada Hafer moved to approve the claims list as presented. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
IX. Next Meeting Dates:
A. 12 January 2023, 7:00 am
B. 9 February 2023, 7:00 am
X. Adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 8:14 a.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

/s/Tammy Bartos, District Clerk
/s/Jessica Sandven-Sorensen, Board Chair