Shawn Kaschmitter was sworn in to the school board at their October meeting, Monday, Oct. 20.
He was appointed to fill the Trustee Zone #3 post vacated when Gus Hoene resigned.
Included in the consent agenda approval was the resignation of head volleyball coach Alecia Hagen.
Sydney Shears presented her senior project to the board. It is for an arch for the track/football field entrance.
In new hires, the board approved hiring of Jamie Scheffler as assistant softball coach and Jeff Martin as Jr. High girls’ basketball coach.
The board approved safety busing for students who are picked up in town. This is something the board has to approve every year.
The board also approved purchasing a new bus which is expected to arrive in Spring 2027.
Air purifiers from Protect Ed were discussed. After discussion the board moved to add 8 air purifiers in the Elementary School. These would go in the Preschool-3^rd grade rooms. Lewiston School District installed them in 3 elementary schools last year and saw an increase in attendance as well as test scores.
Policy 3255 was discussed and approved.
Policies 2320, 2320P and 2320F were on their 3^rd reading and were discussed with questions from the board. No action was taken. Policy 2700P was read for the first time. These policies will all be on the November agenda.
In the Elementary Principal report, Jon Rehder report they have a new test this year. They have used iStation for 6 years. Amira bought out iStation and the test is now AI. It also has a built-in dyslexia screener. In September a practice test was held to get used to the new platform. The October assessment will be looked at by the state. Rehder shared the results of the September and October assessments for grades K-3. Students scoring a 2 or 3 will have a letter sent home letting parents know their child will receive 30 or 60 hours of reading intervention during the year.
The end of the 1^st quarter was Friday, Oct. 24. The first R3 assembly of the year was held Oct. 3.
Parent/Teacher conferences were Oct. 27-29.
A Veterans Day assembly is set for Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m.
The Christmas Concert is set for Friday, Dec. 19.
In the facilities report Rehder reported A Touch of Glass installed a window in the band room office that had broken prior to installation. They are still waiting for the trim for the large picture window on the east side of the building. Shipping issues caused the delay.
In his superintendent’s report Rehder reported on getting a new phone system. InterMax phone company from Coeur d’Alene came down for a demo on Sept. 24. Matt Elven came across this company by chance when a couple of his phones at the high school were not working. Fischer Systems no longer works on the current phone system. The district moved from CenturyLink to Granite Telecommunications in 2019 and the bill has increased every year. They also have trouble resolving billing issues. It was $610 last month, which was $70 more than the previous month. InterMax can change out the entire system for $318.75 per month. The district plans to move forward and should be up and running prior to Christmas break.
The ISBA convention and regional meeting is set for Nov. 12-14 at Coeur d’Alene. All board members except Keith Holcomb are planning to attend.
Rehder and board chairman Aaron Hinkelman attended the Region 2 meeting Sept. 29 in Lewiston.
Rehder and Elven are starting their first year of Project Leadership. It takes a total of 3 years to complete. Elven was interested last year and they have been trying to get Rehder involved since he was high school principal. They have heard a lot of positive feedback on the program.
In the Jr./Sr. high report Elven reported the Jr. High drug free party was held Sept. 25.
Teachers had a really productive day on the PHS in-service day on Sept. 26 going over MAP testing results. They identified areas of focus as they relate to the state standards.
Prairie FFA traveled to the Lewis County Fair in Nezperce for livestock judging. They also traveled to Moscow to compete in dairy and livestock judging on Oct. 11. They did very well at both events.
The PSAT was administered on Oct. 8 to 29 sophomores, 3 juniors and 1 home school student.
FAFSA night was also on Oct. 8. Suzi Quintal and a representative from LCSC put on a financial aid night for seniors and their parents.
Football classification changes are coming in 2026. The 2A league will shrink to just 5 teams: CV, Kamiah, Lapwai, Potlatch and Prairie. Kendrick and Troy are both dropping to 1A in all sports and Logos is moving up to 3A in football only. Athletic Director in charge of scheduling, Travis Mader, has already begun reaching out to set up games for 2026-27 to make up for the loss of 3 teams.
The PHS blood drive was held Oct. 14. Between the spring and fall blood drives the had 67 donors who accounted for 71 units. This is 9 shy of their goal of 80 to receive a $3500 STEM grant from Vitalant. They still have an opportunity to reach their goal if donors at the Cottonwood or Craigmont blood drives in November identify Prairie as their school.
Volleyball senior night had 3 seniors recognized on Oct. 14. Football, cross country and cheerleading had their senior nights at the football game Oct. 17. 6 football plays, 4 cross country athletes and 3 cheerleaders were honored.
Junior high band members traveled to Nezperce to participate in “Mass Band” a collection of bands playing together and going through a music clinic.
The PHS cafeteria was the site for ACT testing on Oct. 18. 15 students attended the session.
21 juniors and seniors were to make their senior project presentations on Oct. 22 to Mrs. Cash and Mrs. Quintal.
Jr. High Boys basketball will start Oct. 27. Neil Bruegeman and Jeff Martin are the coaches with 25 boys currently signed up.
Mrs. Metz’ Math for Tech/Trades dual credit course was selected as the Idaho Lottery Commission Wishlist winner for October. They will receive $2,000 to purchase lumber for porch swing sets they will be designing and building in class.
The board moved to an executive session at 8:39 p.m. regarding personnel issues.
The next regular meeting of the board is set for Monday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.