It was a night of reviewing policy updates for the school board at their November meeting Monday, Nov. 17.
The one policy they spent the most time discussion was 2700P which is about graduation requirements. Specifically it was a section proposed by principal Matt Elven on requirements to be considered as a valedictorian or salutatorian. This section was added for discussion and was not expected to be passed right away. The concern was having 6 or 7 valedictorians in a class or 30 to 35 students. You shouldn’t have 15-20% of the class being valedictorians or salutatorians. The aim is to get that number down to 2 to 4 students in total. If you would like to see the text of this proposal you can request it from the school district office. The board passed the rest of 2700P minus the vals and sals section. If they pass something by March, 2026, it would take effect with the class of 2030, the current 8^th graders.
The board voted to approve the changes recommended for policies 3005, 3010, 3010P, 3340, 7403, 8100, 8103, 8105, 8105P, 8110, 8120, 8130, 8140, 8170, 8180 and 8185. They also approved changes for 7400 with the exception of not raising the purchasing limits for the superintendent from $3,000 to $10,000. Superintendent Jon Rehder said that higher limit was aimed more at larger schools. He very rarely gets even close to the $3,000 limit and felt that was sufficient.
Policies 2320, 2320P and 2320F were approved by the board after asking that a section of a permission form be struck. Rather than a checklist, they preferred that specific item requested be included on the form.
The other item that received quite a bit of discussion was the proposed Jr./Sr. High School Handbook Update. Elven said tardies have become a real problem and apparently it is not just at Prairie as his local area principal group is sharing the same concerns. Detentions are not curbing the problem. He shared a policy Genesee uses that ties tardies to the grade system. Each tardy would drop your grade score 1% for that class up to 10%. After 10, your grade score would drop 2%. Over 15 you get referred to the administration. Board member Shawn Kaschmitter stated he liked that proposal. Rehder said he supports it as well. Action on this will be tabled to the December meeting to give board members more time to review.
Updates to Policy 3050 were approved by the board after removing a section that was added during 2020 due to Covid.
In the reports Elven reported they had 42 parents come in during parent/teacher conferences.
They have made some upgrades to the CNA classroom as Syringa has donated a hospital bed and they have added an additional mannequin and supplies. CNA classes started Nov. 10.
They have 26 boys out for junior high basketball, 8 eighth graders and 18 seventh graders. They also have 5 turned out for junior high cheerleading.
There are 4 that have turned out to be cheerleaders for high school basketball.
ISU, BSU and LCSC had representatives meet with seniors on Oct. 24 to discuss admissions, scholarships, registration and program offerings.
Prairie League had their Daddy Date Night at the Criagmont bowling alley on Nov. 14.
Volleyball, cheerleading, cross country and football have held their awards banquets.
The Veterans Day assembly went well with a lot of positive feedback about guest speaker Clancy Slichter.
9 FFA students traveled to the U of I on Nov. 14 to compete in Agronomy and Extemporaneous Speaking.
Boys basketball practice started Nov. 14 with 21 boys signed up.
The ASVAB test will be held Dec. 3. Juniors will be taking the test in the library.
Grangeville will be hosting the Idaho County Shootout this year on Dec. 5.
In his principal’s report Rehder reported the R3 assembly went well on Oct. 30.
He has completed his classroom walk throughs except for 1 staff member that will be back after Thanksgiving break due to maternity leave.
‘Parent/Teacher conferences were very well attended with 189 of 199 student’s having at least one parent attending.
All the students took part in the Veteran’s Day assembly at the high school with Ms. Baldwin leading them in song.
In his facilities report Rehder noted the high school window project was completed last Friday and everything looks good.
They are looking at replacing blinds in the high school classrooms. Projected cost is $6500 from blinds.com. They have ordered 3 for 2 classrooms to try out before placing the entire order.
The heating unit for the special ed room at the elementary school has failed and there are no replacement parts available. Rocky Mountain HVAC will install mini-splits and will have the original floor unit as emergency backup. Estimated cost is $8,000.
In his superintendent’s report Rehder noted that he and several other superintendents met with Governor Brad Little.
Rehder reported the upcoming legislative session could be a difficult one as there is a lot of noise around public education.
Rehder and Elven attended the Project Leadership conference in Sun Valley Oct. 27-29 and is was a great experience and very valuable.
The calendar committee will meet Dec. 10 to work on the 2026-27 school calendar. Committee members are Rehder, Elven, Travis Mader, Amber Nuxoll, Emily Cash and Cara Uhlenkott.
After the reports board members and administration talked about the workshops they attended at the school board convention in Coeur d’Alene. Some were much better than others.
The meeting adjourned at 9:54 p.m. Th next regular meeting will be Monday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.