CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9

REGULAR BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING

6 September 2018

MINUTES

I. Call to Order.Chairman Matt Hartle called the Board of Trustees Meeting to order at 7:00 a.m. in the Creston School Library with the following members present: Joanna Massie, Shawn McDonough, Jessica Sandven-Sorensen. Julie Tikka was out with medical concerns. Also in attendance were: Tami Ward – Principal, Tammy Bartos – District Clerk, Shanta Milne – Kindergarten Teacher, Melissa Potts – 1^stgrade Teacher; and 4 visitors: Ming Lovejoy, Petr & Hana Kukla, Joanna Russell.

II. Minutes: Shawn McDonoughmoved andJoanna Massie seconded approval of the minutes of the 9 August 2018 reorganizational meeting. Motion passed unanimously.

III. Public Participation / Correspondence:

A. Ming Lovejoy, stated her desire regarding the Wi-Fi tower is to help the board make a decision that is right, kind and in the best interest of the students, she noted that schools in France went back to school this year with no cell phones and removed their cell towers.

B. Email from Ming Lovejoy dated August 23, 2018 regarding the Wi-Fi tower was submitted.

C. Additional Public Comment regarding the Wi-Fi Tower (not part of the 30-day period) was submitted.

(Items B & C will also be included in the Special Meeting at 7:00 pm 6 September 2018)

IV. Information Items:

A. Lawsuit documentation filed by William Rogers regarding the Wi-Fi Tower Installation at 131 Creston Rd was submitted.

B. Lawsuit documentation filed by Hana & Petr Kukla regarding the Wi-Fi Tower Installation at 131 Creston Rd was submitted.

V. Reports:

A. Clerk: The Statement of Expenditure for September 2018 was submitted.

B. Principal: Student Enrollment is 103. The public comment period regarding the Wi-Fi tower closed August 30, 2018 at 5:00pm and two copies of all documents are available to the general public upon request. An artist in residence will be brought in this fall to work on an art project with our students to fulfill our $1,499 art grant award.  Building Maintenance: bids on roof/gutter heat tape installation to help remedy ice dam issues are being sought out.  All staff participated in First Aid/AED refresher training as well as Suicide Prevention training.  Three teachers and Mrs. Ward will participate with the NWRISE program this year.  The new Cooperative Director will be out to visit and assess our needs later this month.  The Special Education Cooperative has the new building on hold, but has set up a preschool in their conference room. The Safety Committee will meet once a month for the 2018/2019 school year and the first meeting will be September 12^th. The bus has been repaired and is in use; we are waiting for the invoice and will report on the cost at a future board meeting.  The Before School Care Program is off to a smooth start.

C. Staff: Mrs. Milne reported a summary of each classroom topics and events.

VI. Policies:

A. Policy 1400 Board of Trustees – Board Meetings (Revised) (2^ndReading).Joanna Massie moved and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen seconded the motion to approve the policy with the time and date revision of 7:00 a.m. on the 2^ndThursday of each month.  Motion passed unanimously.

VII. Consideration of Action Items:

A. The Mountain View Mennonite Church Child Care has requested to use our facility as an emergency relocation site. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve the Emergency Relocation Shelter Agreement for the Mountain View Mennonite Church Child Care Program.  Motion passed unanimously.

B. The Flathead Crossroads Program is an extension of special education services at Evergreen Schools. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Joanna Massie seconded to approve the Flathead Crossroads Interlocal Agreement as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

C. An RSVP or the option to be represented by proxy to MSGIA’s Annual Meeting, October 19, 2018 was presented, as was the Election of Directors. Shawn McDonough moved and Joanna Massie seconded to approve the nominees as presented and authorize the proxies to vote upon such matters as may properly come before the meeting and all adjournments thereof.Motion passed unanimously.

D. Substitute Teacher List. No personnel to recommend at this time.  No motion needed.

E. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded approval of the Transportation Contracts as presented.Motion passed unanimously.

F. Joanna Massie moved and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen seconded approval of the Before School Care Contracts as presented.Motion passed unanimously.

G. Shawn McDonough moved and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen seconded approval of the Out-of-District Requests by students choosing Creston School as their district of choice, as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

H.Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Joanna Massie seconded approval of the gym use by the Bigfork Girl Scouts as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

VIII. Claims: The Board approved all claims for September 2018.

IX. Next Meetings Dates:

• 6 September 2018, 7:00 p.m. Special Meeting
• 11 October 2018, 7:00 a.m. Regular Meeting

Meeting adjourned at 7:39 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

_______________________                                                  _______________________

Tammy Bartos, District Clerk                                                   Matt Hartle, Chairman

CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9

REGULAR BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING

9 August 2018

MINUTES

Chairman Matt Hartle called the Board of Trustees Meeting to order at 7:31 a.m. in the Creston School Gymnasium with the following members present:  Joanna Massie, Shawn McDonough, Jessica Sandven-Sorensen. Julie Tikka was out with medical concerns.  Also in attendance were: Tami Ward – Principal, Tammy Bartos – District Clerk, Jack Eggensperger – County Superintendent, Nicole Noonan – Auditor and approximately 10 visitors.

Minutes:  Joanna Massie moved and Shawn McDonough seconded approval of the minutes of the 10 May 2018 reorganizational meeting.  Motion passed unanimously.  Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Joanna Massie seconded approval of the minutes of the 23 July 2018 special meeting.  Motion passed unanimously.  Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Joanna Massie seconded approval of the minutes of the 31 July 2018 special meeting.  Motion passed unanimously.

Public Participation / Correspondence:An email from Hana Kukla, received by Principal Ward, 8 August 2018, in regards to the proposed Wi-Fi tower, was delivered and read by the trustees; concerns with lack of public comment prior to the signing of the contract and the contract itself. Chair, M. Hartle, opened up public comment, at which time H. Kukla then read her email aloud.  All other public comment was also in reference to the proposed Wi-Fi tower. Various concerns regarding the proposed Wi-Fi tower were commented on by Petr Kukla, Ming Lovejoy, Tricia Rogers and Shane Rogers including lack of public comment prior to the contract being signed, timing of filing of an easement agreement at the County, negative health risk concerns, long-term contractual obligations, community relations, support of a levy to fund a different means of providing services, long-term effect of having tower on the property – if school building does not occur on the property.  Support for the tower installation was voiced by Sara Stone, Jeremy Edmondson and Joann Russell, including not having health risk concerns (hospitals use Wi-Fi), frustration teachers and students have with the current Internet situation, the need to keep up with technology, and being fiscally responsible without a levy to the taxpayers.

Information Items:

• Audit Report Fiscal Year 2016-2017: Nicole Noonan, CPA, shared the results of the audit she conducted.
• Creston Road Land Lease Request by Heidi Rogers:The June 21^stemail showing interest in leasing the property at 131 Creston Road was withdrawn in a subsequent email dated August 8^th.
• 2008 School Facility Inventory (FCI) Reports – Update:In 2017, Senate Bill 307 passed a resolution which included a requirement that the 2008 FCI Report be updated.  The first update must be completed by July 1, 2019 and subsequent updates will be required. Principal Ward will be heading up the FCI Report update.

Reports:

Clerk: Summer months are filled with End-of-Year transactions, Trustees Financial Summary (TFS) and Budget Preparations.  These items will be addressed in the Consideration of Action Items portion of the meeting.

Principal: Unofficial student enrollment number is 101. Written, public comment regarding broadband and the proposed Wi-Fi tower is being accepted until August 30^th, 2018 at 5:00 p.m.  Grants: a $1,499 Artist in School Grant has been received as well as a $1,500 grant for Tami Ward to attend the National Rural Educators Association convention.  Building Maintenance:  repairs and upgrades have been completed this summer including parking lot addition, painting, storage cabinets and roof/insulation repair.  Teacher professional development (PD): First grade teacher, Melissa Potts, attended the MSSA standards workshop, a requirement for rural schools without a certified counselor or librarian.  Teachers will attend a STEAM conference and the Northwest Reading conference in August.  All teachers and staff will participate in First Aid/AED refresher training, as well as Suicide Prevention training.  School-wide focus this year for PD will be student engagement and spelling instruction. Updates on the Education and Special Education Cooperative were given. Safety: Mr. Hagen has completed needed inspections for asbestos, playground and facilities. Bus Repairs:  awaiting diagnostics; checking on it daily and hope to have a firm estimate and diagnosis by Monday, August 13^th.

Policies:

• 1400 BOARD OF TRUSTEES – Board Meetings. Revised. The trustees discussed setting a different regular meeting day and time possibly 7:00 a.m. on the 2^ndThursday of each month. This was a 1^st  No motion needed.

Consideration of Action Items:

• 2017-2018 Trustees Financial Summary. Tammy Bartos presented the FY18 TFS to the trustees.  Shawn McDonough moved and Joanna Massie seconded to accept the 2017-2018 Trustees Financial Summary as presented.  Motion passed unanimously.
• 2018-2019 Budget Report. Tammy Bartos presented both the OPI Draft Budget Report and an internal worksheet of the report to the trustees.  Comparisons to the FY17 Budget were made to aide in the discussion, as well as the SB307 notice that was part of the spring preliminary budget discussions.  Joanna Massie moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to accept the 2018-2019 Budget Report as presented.  Motion passed unanimously.
• Substitute Teachers List. Tami Ward presented a list to reemploy substitute teachers from last years approved list.  Joanna Massie moved and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen seconded to approve the Substitute Teacher List as presented.  Motion passed unanimously.
• Professional Development for Staff – NW RISE. Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) has recommended we consider becoming members in the Northwest Rural Innovation and Student Engagement (NW RISE) Network.  The network exists to share strategies, spread best practices and learn together. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded to approve using Title IV professional development money for our teachers to participate in a network of professionals through NW RISE. Motion passed unanimously.
• Transportation Contracts. Twenty-seven (27) contracts (families) were presented in the request.  Shawn McDonough moved and Joanna Massie seconded to approve the transportation contracts as presented. Motion passed unanimously.
• Before School Care Contracts. Four (4) contracts (families) were presented in the request.  Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Joanna Massie seconded to approve the contracts as presented.  Motion passed unanimously.
• Out of District Contracts. None presented.
• Gym & School Grounds Use requests. None presented.

Payroll/Substitute/Claims: The Board approved all claims for 6/29/18, 8/2/18 and 8/9/18.

Next Meetings Dates:

• 4 September 2018, 7:00 p.m. Special Meeting – 30 day public comment period – Tentative
• 6 September 2018, 7:00 a.m. Regular Meeting

Meeting adjourned at 9:49 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

_______________________                                                  _______________________

Tammy Bartos, District Clerk                                                   Matt Hartle, Chairman

CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9

SPECIAL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING

31 July 2018

MINUTES

Chairman Matt Hartle called the Board of Trustees Meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. in the Creston School Gymnasium with the following members present:  Joanna Massie and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen. Shawn McDonough was out of town. Julie Tikka was out with medical concerns.  Also in attendance were: Tami Ward – Principal, Tammy Bartos – District Clerk, and approximately 25 visitors and staff.

Minutes:  Joanna Massie moved and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen seconded approval of the minutes of the 7 June 2018 meeting.  Motion passed unanimously.

Principal Report:At our Board meeting April 12th I stated I would set up a meeting with interested board, school, and community members to meet with MontanaSky.  Through informal conversations with MontanaSky and board members, it was determined the notification of community members and a 30 day comment period would be addressed through the County permitting process; therefore, a meeting was not set up with MontanaSky and interested board, school and community members.

Through the permitting process, it was determined the County zoning requirements for 131 Creston Road did not require notification or a comment period.  When concerned community members notified me they had not been contacted, I asked that construction be halted until community members could ask questions and bring up concerns.

Information Item: A Uniform Complaint dated July 25, 2018 from Hana Kukla and Kingsley Rogers was received and copies distributed to the board.

Public Participation/Correspondence:Various members of the public addressed the board regarding the Wi-Fi tower and the MontanaSky Agreement.  Allison Nelson, stated dissatisfaction with inadequate notification of the public prior to the approval of the agreement.  Hana Kukla read from a separate Uniform Complaint Letter dated 7/27/18 (attached), besides the tower concerns she also addressed posting of school board minutes; Petr Kukla had concerns regarding the timing of the halt to the project and filing of County documents (a written correspondence was also received); Kingsley Rogers and Anthony Nelson had health concerns and recommended a satellite (K. Rogers) or wired internet (Nelson) be installed instead; Shane Rogers (also submitted written correspondence), had board residency concerns and property values; Heidi Rogers (also submitted written correspondence) had health concerns, as well as concerns that other companies can add on to an existing tower, and lack of public comment prior to the approval of the agreement; Ming Lovejoy submitted a written document (authored by Marcie Adams) and had concerns with a celltower including health risks, potential litigation, house valuation impacts and contract issues.

Written correspondence, all regarding the Wi-Fi tower, addressed to the board and received in time to be prepared for the board (this afternoon) from Petr Kukla (see above), Pauline Davidson (in support of the tower), and Shane and Heidi Rogers (see above) were distributed and read by the board.

Consideration of Action Items:

• Tami Ward submitted a recommendation for a public comment period regarding the installation of a Wi-Fi tower. She described that the initial understanding of the agreement was that community members would receive a notice during the county permitting process with a mandatory comment period.  During the permitting process it was discovered the property where the tower is proposed did not have protective covenants requiring county notification or an open comment period.  For this reason she requested a hold on the Wi-Fi project until further input from the community is received.  The board had discussion then public comment was taken: Ming Lovejoy asked board to look at the contract and the potential to extricate the school from the contract, had recommendations regarding the noticing and instructions of the comment period; Heidi Rogers thanked the board for considering a 30 day comment period; Kingsley Rogers, Allison Nelson and Tricia Rogers wanted to be sure families of students were notified and the public at large; Allison Nelson requested families receive notice of health risks; Hana Kukla wanted to know when the dates of the comment period were.  The board had further discussion. Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Joanna Massie seconded to call a halt to the installation of the Wi-Fi tower and implement a 30-day written, mail in public comment period beginning August 1, 2018 and commencing on August 30, 2018, to include any written comments received thus far, and followed by a special board meeting to review the comments and take action regarding the tower agreement.

Meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Tammy Bartos, District Clerk

Matt Hartle, Chairman

CRESTON SCHOOL DISTRICT #9

SPECIAL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING

23 July 2018

MINUTES

Chairman Matt Hartle called the Board of Trustees Meeting to order at 8:02 a.m. in the Creston School Gymnasium with the following members present:  Joanna Massie, Shawn McDonough, and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen. Julie Tikka was out with medical concerns.  Also in attendance were: Tami Ward – Principal, Tammy Bartos – District Clerk, Jeff Hagen – Bus Driver/Maintenance, and approximately 15 visitors.

Public Participation/Correspondence:nil.

Consideration of Action Items:

• Shawn McDonough moved and Joanna Massie seconded approval of moving forward on bus repairs as needed including a possible worse case scenario of an engine overhaul. Motion passed unanimously.
• MontanaSky Networks, Inc. and Creston School Tower Agreement: A summary of the informational meeting that occurred on 19 July 2018 at 7:00 p.m. was given.  There were four main points of concern: 1) the location of the tower; 2) the clause in the agreement allowing for subletting, which would allow for a cell phone company to attach to the tower; 3) the 40% revenue sharing clause; 4) negative health impact.  A description of the amendments to the contract based on those concerns was given. A public comment period was then opened up.  Heidi Rogers, Creston Road property owner, had a concern regarding the location of the pole as moving it 150’ to the west would now be in her view, also she has concern regarding the landscaping; Hanna Kukla, Creston Road property owner, voiced dissatisfaction that the neighbors were not personally notified in advance of the tower installation, she also had concerns regarding negative health effects and would prefer the school opt for wired technology; Allison Nelson, Creston Road property owner, also had negative health concerns stating the FCC regulations are outdated; Mike Anderson, concerned citizen not in our school district, had concerns with negative health effects, the contract, and the “school use” of the property, he also had a recommendation for a satellite internet option; Bob Rogers, Creston Road property owner, had concern with resale property values being negatively impacted; Collette Bauer, Mennonite Church Road property owner and realtor, supported the decision to install the tower and stated that she has not seen a negative impact on property values in the Creston area even with the recent lattice cell tower on Mennonite Church Road, and believes better internet access will be a plus to buyers.   Annette Floyd, parent of enrolled student, has concerns with the negative health impacts in general and also with the tower being on the same property with the possible future site of a school; Tricia Rogers, Creston Road property owner, had negative health impact concerns and wants the school to remain simple, teachers can teach without the technology, it’s quality teachers not the technology that is important; Anthony Nelson, Creston Road property owner, had health risk concerns; Kinsley Rogers, Creston Road property owner, voiced health risk concerns including the impact on the food grown in gardens in proximity to the tower; Petr Kukla, Creston Road property owner, concerned that once the tower is up, Verizon can “attach” to it even if the contract states otherwise, also concerned that when technology changes and the tower is no longer needed, what then?  Matt Hartle, Chair, did address some of the concerns raised.  Wi-Fi is prevalent in all public places and the school is not proposing some new technology; the board, lawyers and consultants have vetted the contract and the property deed; because there is no zoning in this area the public comment period was not required by the County, however, MontanaSky representatives have apologized for not having personally contacted the neighbors as requested.  Joanna Massie motioned and Jessica Sandven-Sorensen seconded to amend the existing agreement signed on 7 June 2018 to move the tower 150’ to the west of the stated location in the agreement (item 1, page 1); and to remove the clause in the agreement regarding subletting and revenue sharing (item 7, page 4). Motion passed unanimously.
• Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Shawn McDonough seconded approval to hire David Klassy as a part-time teacher for the 2018/2019 school year. Motion passed unanimously.
• Jessica Sandven-Sorensen moved and Joanna Massie seconded approval of the Creston School District and Cayuse Prairie School District Interlocal Transportation Agreements. Motion passed unanimously.

Meeting adjourned at 8:58 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Tammy Bartos, District Clerk

Matt Hartle, Chairman