| School
Board meets
Some discussion was held on future budget plans at the March meeting of the school board Monday, March 16 but the board plans to go into more depth at a workshop scheduled for next week. The workshop will be Tuesday, March 24 at 6 p.m. Items under consideration for the long-term are closing a building, 4-day school week and most any other cost-saving measure. Gary Blaz This year’s budget is still on hold as they don’t yet have firm numbers from the state. Superintendent Gary Blaz said he’d like to see the legislature bring education to the front burner instead of pushing it to the back burner as they have lately. Bus bids were opened with Harlow’s bid of $68,000+, including trade-in, for a 59-passenger bus being approved. In other business Steve Wilson submitted his resignation from his girls basketball coaching position. The district will seek applications for the position. The board also approved calling for bids for heaters for the portion of the Middle School that wasn’t done in the previous project. The project is estimated to cost around $100,000. The trustee election was set for May 19 with the Ferdinand position up for election. Kellie Bruner stated she would not seek re-election. Anyone interested in the position can contact the district office for information on how to file. Filing deadline to get your name on the ballot is April 17. Deadline to run as a write-in is May 5. If no one files by May 5, the board would have to appoint someone to fill the position. The proposed per diem policy change that would allow the clerk/treasurer to change the reimbursement rate if state reimbursement changes during the school year. The board also reviewed a proposed Title 1 homeless policy. Action would be taken at a future meeting. This is one of those housekeeping things where you need a policy in place for federal programs. Safety busing was approved for 67 students. Many of these are ones that get on at either the Middle or Elementary school to travel to the other building. Bruner was chosen to be the board representative to the Kantola-Morgan scholarship committee. In a review of the teachers who requested a year’s leave of absence for this school year it was reported that Sarah Remacle plans to return to her teacher position while Katie Gilbert has decided not to return. In administrative reports Todd Shumway reported that as of Monday there were 17 out for baseball, 26 out for track and 18 out for softball. He also reported the PHS faculty is going to put on a high school showcase for the parents next Wednesday, March 25 (story elsewhere in this week’s Chronicle) to show what the students have been involve in this year. In the high school club’s all four state qualifiers for BPA finished in the top ten at state with Kyler Shumway taking 1st place in Digital Video Production. This qualifies him to compete at nationals. Also Prairie was 3rd overall at the Technology Students of America (TSA) state competition with several first place winners. Steven Baerlocher took first in Computer Generated Safety Poster; DJ Walker and Garrett Workman were first in Electronic Systems Custom Designed and Baerlocher and Kyle Holthaus were first in Structural Engineering. A report was presented from Lydia Deiss showing how the costs of the high school’s dual credit offerings compare to what students pay for the same courses at LCSC. Along with that they are looking at expanding to some of the vo-tech type courses for next year. Renee’ Forsmann reported the Middle School had a Wellness Day that went very well. She also reported that she, Renee’ Eckert and Denise Uhlenkott scratched off $182 in winners in the Lottery Scratch for Schools. Shumway said the high school team won $172. Forsmann also said the annual World’s Finest Chocolates candy sale started Monday and will run through March 25 with deliveries to be April 9 or 10. They were to have the 4th graders visit the 5th grade band class on Tuesday, March 17 to see what interest there will be for band next year. Blaz reported the salmon are starting to spawn in the fish tank at the school. “If you haven’t seen it, it’s really neat.” He is also working on curriculum standards for math and language arts. They have also been doing a lot of checks for head lice. Board member Bill Hill said mayonnaise on the scalp with a shower cap over it worked very well for his daughter. In his superintendent report Blaz said he has a meeting scheduled for the 26th at the Monastery with CTA, Fuels for Schools, McKinstrey Industries, BLM and the Idaho Economic Council to discuss biomass as a heating fuel. “We’re putting all the players at the table to see what we can do.” The board adjourned to an executive session dealing with personnel at 8:30 p.m. the next regular meeting will be Monday, April 20 at 7 p.m. |
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