The Board of Trustees of School District No. 58, Bingham County, Idaho met in regular session at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 21st, 2020 at the Aberdeen School District Office in Aberdeen, Idaho.
CALL TO ORDER AND ESTABLISHMENT OF A QUORUM
Chairman Todd Lowder opened the meeting at 5:36 p.m. Present were Mike Shackelford and David Wahlen. A quorum was established. Sherrie Mauroner was absent and Elaine Blik arrived at 5:50 p.m.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Those present recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
DELEGATION AND PATRON INPUT
Deanne Nelson discussed the foreign exchange student program with the Board and that her family may host a student this year after January, 2021. Mrs. Nelson has not decided yet if she will accept a student this school year, but in case she does the Board will need to approve the foreign exchange student to attend Aberdeen High School.
A motion was made by Trustee Wahlen and seconded by Trustee Shackelford to approve a foreign exchange student to attend Aberdeen High School in fiscal year 2020-2021. The motion passed.
SUPERINTENDENT AND ADMINISTRATORS’ REPORTS
Mrs. Ward discussed her written report. She would like to remind everyone to get their flu shot. Health West would like to remind everyone that it is that time of the year to get flu shots. The electrical switch repair in the elementary school has been completed. There were some very time consuming issues, but everything is now working well. The new boiler has been installed and all the work has been completed. Some faculty and staff specifically stopped by the office to thank the school board for giving the COVID-19 Cares funds to the faculty and staff. She thinks this will be great timing for them to get the over-time payment in November. The school district is experiencing some COVID-19 infections, but it seems to be under control. Everyone is especially sensitive to not attending school if they are not feeling well. Most of those that have contracted the disease seem to be getting over it within a week or two. She thanked the patrons and board for supporting our schools.
Mr. Vaughn reviewed his written report. The special education classrooms are running great. They have had several IEP meetings and most parents appear comfortable coming in to school with masks. There have been a few phone meetings for the convenience to parents. Mr. Vaughn attended the first special education advisory panel meeting via webinar on September 14th. There was a lot of information given about COVID-19 and resources for students as well as parents. Mr. Vaughn is continuing to work with Jason Balls for Occupational Therapy for the students in special education and on 504 plans.
Mrs. Colton discussed her written report. On Thursday, October 29th a Halloween social will be hosted by teachers. Parents will not be attending and there will not be a costume parade this year due to COVID-19. On Thursday, November 12th parent/teacher conferences will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. If any visitor is ill, she asks that they do not enter the building. Mrs. Colton is happy to have a phone conference scheduled in this case. She added that the elementary school received $192.00 from the Scratch for Schools fundraiser.
Mrs. Mennear reviewed her written report. Through the Gear Up grant, the middle school has received licenses for two software programs, Nearpod and Virtual Job Shadow. Nearpod supports student learning by making presentations more interactive, and provides almost immediate assessment so teachers know if students are understanding a concept. Virtual Job Shadow has assessments for students to take to help show potential careers as well as videos and other information about a large number of careers. Teachers have been using both of these programs and they are grateful that Gear Up purchased them for the school. These programs purchased by Gear Up are available to secondary students. The middle school received $375.00 for the Scratch for Schools fundraiser and Mrs. Mennear is thankful for the funds.
Mr. Pincock discussed his written report and highlighted that Mrs. Ellis has been selected as the Region five counselor of the year. She does a great job and the high school staff are excited she is being recognized for her hard work. Each year in October there is one week dedicated to helping students apply to college. All fees associated with the application process are waived. This year instead of one week, the event will go for the entire month. Debbie Ellis is working on ensuring that students have the opportunity to apply to multiple schools. Juniors will take the SAT in October because they were unable to do so last year due to COVID-19. The seniors will have the opportunity to take the SAT as well. Mr. Pincock added that the boys’ soccer team finished in 3rd place and girls’ soccer and volleyball are young teams and had a struggling year. David Wahlen would like a wrestling committee to discuss use of space at the high school. They will meet with the architects during the November 4th board work session for suggestions.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
A motion was made by Trustee Shackelford and seconded by Trustee Wahlen to approve the agenda as presented. The motion passed.
CONSENT ITEMS
The following consent items were presented:
Approval of September 16th Regular Meeting minutes
Approval of September 18th and September 21st Work Session Minutes
Approval of September 2020 Claims
September 2020 Financial Report
County Tax Report
Building Budget Reports
A motion was made by Trustee Wahlen and seconded by Trustee Blik to approve Consent Items 7 A-F as listed on the agenda. The motion passed.
BUSINESS ITEMS-ACTIONS
There were no business items-actions requiring a motion.
BUSINESS ITEMS-DISCUSSION
Board Policy 872 – Inventory Records of Fixed Assets
No motion was necessary, for discussion only.
Board Policy 640 – Curriculum
No motion was necessary, for discussion only. Chairman Lowder asked that we add cursive handwriting be required curriculum in elementary school.
Four-Day School Calendar – Tabled Until Next School Year
Board Chairman Todd Lowder announced that discussion on the four-day school calendar will be tabled until the next school year 2021-2022. No motion was necessary, for discussion only.
Call for the 2020-2021 Bus Bids
A motion was made by Trustee Shackelford and seconded by Trustee Blik to approve the call for 2020-2021 bus bids. The motion passed.
TRUSTEE INPUT
Trustee Wahlen is proud of our administrators and faculty for the work they do. He has gratitude for our staff and patrons and wants us to promote our schools. He said the young volleyball players and coaches represented our school district well this year.
Trustee Shackelford hopes our schools can remain open for students to attend in person considering the current circumstances with COVID-19. He is thankful we have staff and students that come to our schools. He believes the board made a good decision with how to handle the COVID-19 problems and allowing our students to attend school in person was the right choice.
Trustee Blik is thankful for our community and staff and our students that are in school. She appreciates that we are not mandated from the state to wear masks at this time.
Trustee Lowder agrees with all the comments from the other Trustees. He is saddened about what has happened over the last six months with this COVID-19 pandemic in our country and is thankful we don’t have the big city problems affecting Aberdeen. He is grateful for the employees of the district for all the work they do and he thanked them.
A motion was made by Trustee Shackelford and seconded by Trustee Wahlen to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed and the meeting adjourned at 6:24 p.m.