CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9
SPECIAL SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
1 April 2021

MINUTES
I. Call to order. Matt Hartle called the Board of Trustees meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. The meeting was conducted via a Zoom meeting platform. Present were Board Trustees Matt Hartle, Jessica Sandven-Sorensen, Twila Brenneman, Barry Farrell, and Nevada Hafer. Also in attendance were Tami Ward, Principal, Tammy Bartos, District Clerk, Shanta Milne, Kindergarten Teacher, Jennifer Johnson, 2nd Grade Teacher and CEA President.
II. Public Participation / Correspondence – nil.
III. Information – nil.
IV. Consideration of Action Items:
A. Executive Session for District Clerk Personnel Evaluation and Consideration of Closed Session Minutes. At 4:03 p.m., Board Chair Matt Hartle closed the meeting in order to protect the individual rights of Tammy Bartos, District Clerk, during a personnel evaluation. The meeting was reopened at 4:26 p.m. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved to approve the Clerk evaluation and the executive session minutes. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
B. Classroom & Office Remodel – Contract for Construction. The remodel project is to enlarge the classroom next to the office, relocate the office to the ball closet and Title room, and relocate the Title I classroom to the teacher’s lounge. Hammerquist Casalegno, LLC has provided us with a remodel plan and contract with a total project sum of $62,652.71. This company has extensive historical knowledge of our building and its limitations and they have facilitated several projects for us in the past. The contract has been reviewed by the MTSBA legal staff. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved to approve the contract for construction with Hammerquist Casalegno, LLC as presented. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
C. Administrative Workloads – Work Session. A discussion regarding the workload of the Administrative office personnel and possible solutions to maintain a reasonable workload and work hours for the Principal and District Clerk. Several suggestions were discussed; budget and scheduling needs will need further consideration. No action at this time.
D. MSSA Letter of Agreement for MSSA Programs 2021-2022. This is a standard agreement between school districts and the Montana Small School Alliance. MSSA provides a teacher certified and appropriately endorsed professional to help our district meet the Library and Guidance Chapter 55 requirement. The fee for this is $600 for the year. Barry Farrell moved to approve the agreement as presented. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
V. Policies:
A. Policy 3310 – Students – Student Discipline – Revision – 2nd Read. This policy has undergone two significant changes with recent Title IX amendments at the federal level and also Montana Legislative changes due to LR-130 & I-190. Twila Brenneman moved to approve the policy as presented and to change any references of “Superintendent” to “Administrator”. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
B. Policy 3600F1, 3600F2 & 3600P – Revision – 2nd Read. These revisions were presented to include updates due to FERPA, missing children electronic directory photograph repository, a complete listing of directory information, and student records containing video footage. Barry Farrell moved to approve the policy revisions as presented. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
C. Title IX Policy Revisions due to Legislation – 2nd Read (#3210, #3225, #3225F, #3225P, #3226, #5010, #5012, #5012F, #5012P, #5015). Policy updates due to recent federal regulations to address and establish detailed procedures for how educational institutions must respond to allegations of sexual harassment. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved to Designate the Principal as the District Title IX and Section 504 Coordinator and approve the policies as presented with the optional language for policy 3210 omitted and to change any references of “Superintendent” to “Administrator”. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
VI. Next Meeting Dates:
A. 8 April 2021, 7:00 am Regular Meeting
1. Discussion regarding meeting format: in-person or via remote access. Future meetings to be held in-person.
B. 13 May 2021, 7:00 am Reorganization and Regular Meeting
VII. Adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

__________________________
Tammy Bartos, District Clerk

__________________________
Matt Hartle, Board Chair

CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9
REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
11 March 2021

MINUTES

I. Call to order. Matt Hartle called the Board of Trustees meeting to order at 7:06 a.m. The meeting was conducted via a Zoom meeting platform. Present were Board Trustees Matt Hartle, Jessica Sandven-Sorensen, Twila Brenneman, Barry Farrell, and Nevada Hafer. Also in attendance were Tami Ward, Principal, Tammy Bartos, District Clerk, Shanta Milne, Kindergarten Teacher, Melissa Potts, 1st Grade Teacher.
II. Minutes of 11 February 2021 and 25 February 2021. Nevada Hafer moved to approve the minutes as presented. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
III. Public Participation / Correspondence – nil.
IV. Information
A. Candidates for Trustee may file a Declaration of Intent and Oath of Candidacy between Thursday, December 10, 2020 through Thursday, March 25, 2021.
B. Lead Testing Results. We mitigated the issues through replacing fixtures and filters; those sites in question were retested February 9th and all sites are now safe to drink from. Report provided.
C. School Based Health Center Information. Kalispell Regional Healthcare is expanding their School-Based Health Centers and recently shared information which was provided to the trustees. Due to the size of our school and limited space, our staff, students and families will be invited to utilize medical services at a nearby school when the program becomes available.
V. Reports:
A. Clerk. Statement of Expenditure includes payroll and claims through 9 March 2021. General Fund is at 50% committed and the Total of all Funds is at 51% committed. Accounts are reconciled to County Treasurer for January 2021. The 2019-2020 Audit is in process. We have been selected by OPI for a desk audit on our ESSER funds for fiscal year 2020.
B. Principal. Student Enrollment is at 107. Kindergarten Roundup is scheduled for April 8th and we currently have 15 students on our list for next year. Each year we offer two $250 scholarships to graduating seniors who are Creston School Alumni; Twila Brenneman volunteered to join the scholarship committee. There have been 8 Coronavirus cases in our learning environment this school year, with 5 of those cases this last month resulting in three classroom quarantines; our goal is to keep our school open for in-person learning throughout the remainder of the school year. Title IX information and policies are being added to our staff and student handbooks. Monthly building inspections have been completed with no recommendations; countertops are slated for installation in the 6th grade room over Spring Break; the Facility Conditions Inventory Report was provided with updates. Mrs. Ward met with teachers this month to make plans for next school year; second round of evaluations for non-tenured certified staff were performed; Mrs. Ward is beginning to plan professional development opportunities for the 2021/2022 school year.
C. Staff. Melissa Potts shared the staff report via a Google Slides presentation; the 1st grade was the focus class this month.
VI. Policies:
A. Policy 3612F – Students – Internet Access Conduct Agreement Form – Revision – 2nd Read. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved to approve the revision as presented. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
B. Policy 5314 – Personnel – Substitutes – Revision – 2nd Read. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved to approve the revision as presented. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
C. Policy 3600F1, 3600F2 & 3600P – Revision – 1st Read. These revisions were presented to include updates due to FERPA, missing children electronic directory photograph repository, a complete listing of directory information, and student records containing video footage. No motion at this time.
D. Title IX Policy Revisions due to Legislation – 1st Read (#3210, #3225, #3225F, #3225P, #3226, #5010, #5012, #5012F, #5012P, #5015). Policy updates due to recent federal regulations to address and establish detailed procedures for how educational institutions must respond to allegations of sexual harassment. No motion at this time.
E. Policy 3310 – Students – Student Discipline – Revision – 1st Read. This policy has undergone two significant changes with recent Title IX amendments at the federal level and also Montana Legislative changes due to LR-130 & I-190. No motion at this time.
VII. Consideration of Action Items:
A. Geffery Subdivision – Preliminary Plat Request. A notice from Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office regarding a request for preliminary plat of 6 residential lots in our school district. No motion.
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 2021-2022. This is a required notice estimating changes in non-voted levies. A preliminary General Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2021-2022 and the OPI Pre-Session Budget Data Sheet were provided along with the Resolution itself. Barry Farrell moved to approve the Resolution as presented. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
C. Professional Development Contract with Kelly Boswell for Literacy Instruction Training. The instructional focus for the 2021/2022 school year will be English Language Arts through content integration of the new Social Studies standards. Ongoing professional development presented in our school with model lessons in our classrooms will support teachers to implement the new standards effectively. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved to approve the contract as presented. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
D. Classroom & Office Remodel – Contract for Construction. The contract is under legal review and once all details have been worked through, the contract will be forwarded to the Board for consideration of approval. No motion.
E. Substitute List. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved to approve the addition to the Substitute Teacher List as presented for the 2020-2021 school year. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
F. Transportation Contract(s). Twila Brenneman moved to approve the transportation contracts as presented. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
G. Before School Care Contract(s) – nil.
H. Out of District Request(s). Two requests for students residing in our district, attending another district. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved to acknowledge receipt of these attendance agreements. Barry Farrell seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
I. Gym & School Grounds Use request(s) – nil.
J. Clerk Personnel Evaluation – Executive Session. At 7:52 am, Board Chair Matt Hartle closed the meeting in order to protect the individual rights of Tammy Bartos, District Clerk, during a personnel evaluation. The meeting was reopened at 8:08 am. The personnel evaluation will continue at a future board meeting.
VIII. Claims – March 2021. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved to approve the claims approval list as presented. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
IX. Next Meeting Dates:
A. 8 April 2021, 7:00 am Regular Meeting
X. Adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 8:08 a.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

__________________________
Tammy Bartos, District Clerk

__________________________
Matt Hartle, Board Chair

CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9
SPECIAL SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
25 February 2021

MINUTES
I. Call to order. Matt Hartle called the Board of Trustees meeting to order at 5:01 p.m. The meeting was conducted via a Zoom meeting platform. Present were Board Trustees Matt Hartle, Jessica Sandven-Sorensen, Twila Brenneman, Barry Farrell, and Nevada Hafer. Also in attendance were Tami Ward, Principal, Tammy Bartos, District Clerk, Jen Johnson, 2nd Grade Teacher and CEA President, and various members of the staff and public.
II. Public Participation / Correspondence – nil.
III. Consideration of Action Items:
A. Revision of Policy 1905 – COVID-19 Emergency Measures – Student, Staff, and Community Health and Safety. Montana School Board Association (MTSBA) recommended that school districts update Policy 1905 to reflect Governor Gianforte’s Directive Implementing Executive Order 2-2021. Various supporting documents were presented including but not limited to an excerpt of the Governor’s Directive, a letter from the Flathead City County Health Department, survey results from teachers and staff, survey results from families of our students, and CEA survey results. Oral and written public comment was received. Barry Farrell moved to adopt revised Policy 1905 with Option 1 – Required Face Coverings, as presented. Nevada Hafer seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
B. Reopening Plan Revision. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved to approve striking the heading of “Local Health Officers School Directive” and replace it with “Phases”. Twila Brenneman seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
IV. Next Meeting Dates:
A. 11 March 2021, 7:00 am Regular Meeting
V. Adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 5:31 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

__________________________
Tammy Bartos, District Clerk

__________________________
Matt Hartle, Board Chair