CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9
REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
9 MARCH 2023, 7:00 AM

MINUTES

I. Call to order. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen called the Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:01 a.m. The meeting was held in the gym. Present were Board Trustees Jessica Sandven-Sorensen, Twila Brenneman, Megan Derrington and Nevada Hafer. Absent: Barry Farrell. Also in attendance were Rachel Stevens, Principal, Tammy Bartos, District Clerk, Shanta Bisch-Milne, Kindergarten Teacher, Cindi Conley, Special Education Teacher, and Jen Johnson, 2nd Grade Teacher and CEA President.
II. Minutes of 9 February 2023, 1 March 2023. Nevada Hafer moved to approve the minutes as presented. Megan Derrington seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
III. Public Participation / Correspondence – nil.
IV. Reports:
A. Clerk. The monthly budget expenditure report was provided through 28 February 2023. General Fund is 49% committed and the Total of all Funds is 39% committed. Accounts are reconciled to the County Treasurer through January 2023. Mail ballot plans for the 2023 Election were sent to and approved by the Secretary of State on March 2nd.
B. Principal. Student Enrollment is 111. The K-2 teachers will participate in a phonics professional development day on Friday, March 10. Mrs. Johnson has volunteered to coordinate and supervise 5th and 6th grade student volunteers to serve as Creston Auction runners. The fourth-grade class assisted Miss Johnson in taking down the Book Swap materials and setting up the gym for the Many Lakes Homeowners Association meeting. The catalytic converter was stolen from the bus in January; a police report was filed, the insurance company contacted, the parts were ordered, and repairs have been completed. Monthly building maintenance inspections were completed. The office cadet heater was installed in February. The network portion of the intercom & phone system installation and most of the wiring for the phones and speakers is scheduled for later this month.
C. Staff. Jen Johnson, CEA President and 2nd Grade Teacher was present to share the staff report via a Google Slide presentation.
V. Consideration of Action Items:
A. 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 2023/2024. This is a required notice estimating changes in non-voted levies and listing 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 2023/2024 and the OPI Pre-Session Budget Data Sheet were provided and discussed along with the Resolution itself. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the Resolution as presented. Megan Derrington seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
B. Collective Bargaining Agreement Negotiations with Creston Education Association. Negotiations continued from the January 12, 2023, board meeting. Note that at the January 12, 2023 board meeting the CEA accepted the changes presented to them by the Creston School Board on December 8th, 2022. Megan Derrington moved as follows: 1) agree to the request for a salary schedule increase of 2% to the base; 2) decline the request for an increase to personal leave days; 3) agree to the request to increase the annuity/employee benefit cafeteria plan by $20 per month, from $630 to $650 per month; 4) agree to adding language to section 7.1 regarding the definition of a tenured teacher; however, instead of adding a sentence in the middle of the paragraph a counter-proposal for a new section 7.1 which defines a tenured-teacher as per 20-4-203, MCA and the current section 7.1 becomes section 7.2; 5) agree to the request for a $500 longevity stipend after completing increments of 5 years of continuous service. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The negotiated items will be presented in writing to the CEA for their response.
C. Property Disposal Resolution. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the property disposal resolution as presented. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
D. School Calendar 2023/2024. Two options were presented, both were developed from the Kalispell Public Schools calendar and meet the state required instructional hours. Option 1 has no school for a Creston Auction prep day which differs from the KPS calendar, there are 173 full instruction days and 7 early out’s (2 of those are for teacher professional development); Option 2 differs in that there are 172 full instruction days and 8 early out’s (3 for teacher professional development). Megan Derrington moved to approve Option 2 as presented. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
E. Student Handbook 2023/2024. Various revision and updates were reviewed. Nevada Hafer moved to approve the Student Handbook for 2023/2024 as presented with one change to section 15 to add “on school premises or as any part of the school’s activities” after “prohibited from …controlled substances”. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
F. 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. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the Safe Return to School and Continuity of Services Plan as presented. Megan Derrington seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
G. Extra-Duty Teaching Contract for 2023 Summer Program. Nevada Hafer moved to approve the extra-duty contract for Deborah Christiansen to teach for the 2023 Summer Program as presented. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
H. Transportation Contracts – nil.
I. Before School Care Contracts – nil.
J. Out-of-District Requests – nil.
K. Gym & School Grounds Use Requests – nil.
VI. Claims Approval. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the claims as presented. Megan Derrington seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
VII. Next Meeting Dates:
A. 13 April 2023, 7:00 am, Regular Meeting
B. 11 May 2023, 7:00 am, Reorganization and Regular Meeting
VIII. Board Work Session – Training and Discussion for Board Professional Development. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen led a discussion covering the following two topics:
1. Continuation of discussion of Communication Considerations
2. Base Salaries – a review of the salary schedule
IX. Adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 8:48 a.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

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