The Board of Trustees of School District No. 58, Bingham County, Idaho met in regular session at 5:37 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18th 2020 at the new high school auditorium in Aberdeen, Idaho.
CALL TO ORDER AND ESTABLISHMENT OF A QUORUM
Chairman Todd Lowder opened the meeting at 5:37 p.m. Also present were Mike Shackelford, Sherrie Mauroner, David Wahlen and Elaine Blik. A quorum was established.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Those present recited the Pledge of Allegiance
DELEGATION AND PATRON INPUT
Jessica Lopez had questions about the online survey for the four-day calendar on the school website.
Jenna McCarthy discussed the four-day calendar and had questions on when school would start and end for the students and if school lunches would still be available on Fridays.
Breianne Bauer discussed the four-day calendar and is in favor of it. She doesn’t like how all the schools are closed during Harvest Break when only a small number of high school students are working during this time. She wants the elementary school kids to be in class at this time.
Ryan Wahlen thanked the school Board for listening to the community and thanked Superintendent Ward for doing a good job. He appreciates how she has attended school activities including away games in sports.
SUPERINTENDENT and ADMINISTATOR REPORTS
Superintendent Ward reviewed her written report. She thanked all those involved with the YourFit program. It was well attended and had very good information and offers great opportunities. She congratulated the 7th and 8th grade boys’ basketball teams. They did very well in the tournaments at West Side. She attended an INL STEM Day with 8th grade girls. The girls were very good examples of our school district and they found the classes fun and informative. Teachers have been given “Letters of Intent” to help identify who will be returning to the district next year. She added that Direct Communications donated $539.60 this month from the Upgrade Your School Program where local customers were able to donate their first month’s internet payment to our school district. We have received a total of $1,858.55 in donations from this program this school year.
Travis Pincock had nothing to add to his report.
Ann Mennear had nothing to add to her report. Superintendent Ward added that ISAT and IRI testing will not take place due to the coronavirus. A waiver may be made from the state soon.
Robi Jo Colton had nothing to add to her report.
David Vaughn discussed his written report. Several backpacks and supplies were received and were given to fifteen students who are considered homeless. He added that special education services will continue for students with an IEP. IEP meetings will still occur by phone or with a Zoom meeting during the school closure due to the corona virus. An additional $500 grant was received from Title IA for homeless students.
Administrator reports are available for review at the district office in the 2019-2020 Board Meeting Attachments binder.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
There were changes to the agenda to add a high school overnight trip request on 5/9 to 5/12/20 to Lewiston, Idaho under Business Items – Discussion (9C). Discussing the coronavirus was added under Business Items – Discussion (9E). and Executive Session was added under item (11) to discuss personnel. The order of business items for discussion were reordered as follows: A. Discuss 2020-2021 Curriculum, B. Board Policies 575 – Transportation to School Sponsored Activities, 354 – School Closure, C. Out of State/Overnight Trip Requests High School: State Golf Lewiston, ID 5/9 – 5/12/20, Middle School: Lagoon – Farmington, UT 6/1/20, D. Discuss Four Day School Calendar, E. Coronavirus.
A motion was made by Trustee Shackelford and seconded by Trustee Mauroner to approve the agenda as amended. The motion passed.
CONSENT ITEMS
The following consent items were presented:
Approval of February 19th regular board meeting minutes
Approval of March 11th special board meeting minutes
Approval of February 2020 claims
County tax report- February 2020
February 2020 financial report
Building budget reports
A motion was made by Trustee Wahlen and seconded by Trustee Blik to approve consent items 7A-F as presented. The motion passed.
BUSINESS ITEMS-ACTIONS
Board Policies for Approval:
518 – Restraint and Seclusion, 543 – Disciplining Students with Disabilities (IDEA), 548 – Theft and Destruction of School Property, 549 – Prohibition of Gang Activities, 552 – Hazing Prohibition, 679 – Religion in Schools, 679.50 – Homeless Student Education, 679.50F1 – Homeless Student Education – Notification of Enrollment Decision Form, 679.50F2 – Homeless/Unaccompanied Youth Student Education – Appeal of Enrollment Decision form, 681 – Student Records, 681F1 – Student Records: FERPA Annual Notice of Rights, 699 – Technology Instruction and Determining Average Daily Attendance (ADA), 840 – Payroll Deductions
A motion was made by Trustee Shackelford and seconded by Trustee Mauroner to approve the Board policies listed above. The motion passed.
Approve February 2020 New Hires
A motion was made by Trustee Wahlen and seconded by Trustee Shackelford to approve the February 2020 new hires. The motion passed.
BUSINESS ITEMS – DISCUSSION
2020-2021 Curriculum – Requests for bids to deliver the 2020-2021 was discussed and a motion was made by Trustee Shackelford and seconded by Trustee Blik to place a call for bids in the Aberdeen Times for pick-up and delivery of the 2020-2021 curriculum. The motion passed.
Board Policies 575 – Transportation to School-Sponsored Activities, 354 – School Closure
For discussion only, no motion is necessary.
Out of State/Overnight Trip Requests
High School: State Golf Lewiston, ID 5/9 – 5/12/20
Middle School: Lagoon – Farmington, UT 6/1/20
For discussion only, no motion is necessary.
Four-Day School Calendar
There was discussion on the four-day school calendar and additional patron input. A motion was made by Trustee Wahlen and seconded by Trustee Shackelford to table the four-day school calendar. The motion passed.
Coronavirus
Superintendent Ward suggested that all employees of the school district take Spring Break off and stay home to reduce the risk of catching and spreading the coronavirus. Teachers will be trained on March 19th and 20th to teach online. Grab and go meals for everyone eighteen years old or younger will be available as indicated online. Patrons are encouraged to check the school website. Students will be notified through Remind when changes occur. A workshop by teleconference was scheduled for Thursday, March 26th at 1:00 p.m. for an update on school closures due to the coronavirus.
For discussion only, no motion is necessary.
TRUSTEE INPUT
Trustee Wahlen is grateful for everyone coming to the auditorium for this meeting. He thanked Direct Communications for their donations to the school district. He is grateful for the teachers and administrators for the adjustments being made to continue to educate our students. He thinks that the economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic are a greater threat than catching the coronavirus and our schools should still be open.
Trustee Shackelford agreed with Trustee Wahlen about the economic threat being greater than the actual threat of catching the coronavirus, however he added that we need to go with the government’s recommendations and be patient as we do not know what will happen. Keeping our students home is the right thing to do at this time.
Trustee Mauroner thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and appreciates the teachers’ willingness to continue teaching. Hopefully in two weeks everything will be back to normal.
Trustee Blik said we are living in unchartered territory. We need to remain optimistic and make the best of the situation, carry on and things will get better. She appreciates the work that has been done with all of the school calendars but believes we need to focus on the coronavirus problem now and worry about the four-day calendar later. She trusts Superintendent Ward and the district office staff in the work they do and thanked them. She appreciates all that has come out of the meeting tonight
Trustee Lowder appreciates living in this community. We live in a blessed place with quality people and he is grateful to be part of this board. The highest level of education for our students is important for our future. He thanked everyone for their interest in attending the meeting.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
At 8:06 p.m., a motion was made by Trustee Shackelford and seconded by Trustee Mauroner that the Board of Trustees of School District No. 58 recess from an open meeting into executive session pursuant to Section 67-2345, Idaho Code, in order to discuss Section 67-2345: Subsection b (Personnel) and that following the executive session the Board will reconvene in public session for the purpose of conducting further business or for adjournment of the meeting.
A roll call vote was held with the following results:
Elaine Blik – Yes; Todd Lowder – Yes; Mike Shackelford – Yes; Sherrie Mauroner – Yes; and David Wahlen – Yes. The motion passed.
The Regular session reconvened at 8:58 p.m.
With no further action needed, a motion was made by Trustee Shackelford and seconded by Trustee Mauroner to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed and the meeting adjourned at 8:58 p.m. ,