| School
board meets
The school board was given a tour of the high school at the end of their February meeting last Tuesday, Feb. 16. Principal Todd Shumway handed out a construction plan to make the basement area ready for the 7th-8th grade move to the building for the 2011-2012 school year. Plans are to convert the current weight room, shop storage and art rooms in the basement into 5 classrooms plus a commons area. The junior high students would only come up to the main floor for band, art, library, special ed and lunch and would have a separate lunch period than the high school students. The art room would be moved to classroom 111 on the main level. This spring and summer a new steel building will be built that will have the new weight room and shop storage. Also room 111 will be converted to the art room. A classroom will be built on the stage for health and IVC. The high school science lab will be rebuilt. The band room will be soundproofed since there would be junior high classes going on below it. During the 2010-2011 school year the basement construction will take place. In other business the board approved the safety busing of students living within Cottonwood as well as those getting on buses at one school board to transport to another. The ISIMS policy in the policy manual was eliminated as this refers to a state program that is no longer active. Renee Nuxoll was approved for hire as a temporary paraprofessional 1 on 1 special education aid for a special needs student that is new to the district this year. The draft calendar for the 2010-2011 school year was reviewed and approved. It is very similar to this year’s calendar and is outlined below. The board approved going out for bids on the middle school kitchen upgrade. In facility upgrade discussion, superintendent Gary Blaz said his recommended timeline is the get the high school renovation done first and move the 7th and 8th grades to the high school. Then moved the 2-3-4 to the middle school leaving the preschool, Kindergarten and 1st grade at the elementary school until the middle school remodeling is done. Then move those grades to the middle school. He felt it would be too much to take on to try and do both the high school and middle school remodel at the same time. He’d rather do one and assess things before moving on to the other. Board member Gus Hoene said he would like to hold another workshop. They will work on a date for this. He also reported they would have an energy audit done Thursday, Feb. 18. In administrative reports Shumway reported that students Wyatt Williams, Derek Schaeffer, Kyle Holthaus and Andrew Gabica built and installed a security gate for the high school. This would allow the main building to be closed off from the gym during ballgames. It also addresses a problem that has come up in safety inspections about having a window at the end of a long ramp. When the gate is open, it covers the window. He also reported the roof patch is holding so far over the cafeteria. They will look into replacing the roof this spring. They are holding attendance drawings for a monthly $100 prize and weekly drawings as well. 54 students had perfect attendance in January. They are working with Orofino to discuss strategy for continuing the Region 2 Health Occupations Academy. They are finding strong support and will have it organized and available for students next year. BPA had regional competitions Jan. 22 with 4 students qualifying for state. 42 moms and daughters attended the girls night out. They had lots of positive feedback on the event. Rene’ Forsmann reported that she and several teachers attended a meeting in Kamiah regarding security and our schools. 6th graders participated in hunter safety Jan. 25-29. Junior high wrestlers have been participating an area meets and doing very well. Junior high volleyball started Feb. 2. The spelling bee was held Feb. 11 with the first place winner advancing to regional at LCSC on March 6. See photo for winners. The students also held a penny drive raising $1430 to help Haiti’s earthquake victims. Blaz reported that Cierra Chaffee was the bicycle attendance winner for January. Those meeting accelerated reading goals had a move day. School spelling bee winners moved on to the Middle School for all-school competition. In his superintendent’s report he said he thought the workshop on Feb. 1 was well received. He has been researching a Special Education Cooperative for the region. Region superintendents will be meeting to organize the program. The next meeting of the board will be Monday, March 15 at 7 p.m. School Calendar for 2010-2011 Following is the Prairie School Calendar holidays, no-school days, etc. School will start on Wednesday, August 25. Monday, Sept. 6-No School, Labor Day. Oct. 7-8-No School, In-Service days Oct. 28-End of 1st quarter Oct. 29-No School, In-Service day Nov. 3-4-Parent-teacher conferences Nov. 5-No School Nov. 24-26-Thanksgiving Vacation, No School. Dec. 20-Jan. 2-Winter Break, No School. Jan. 13-End of 2nd Quarter Jan. 14-No School, In-Service Day Jan. 17-No School, Martin Luther King Jr. Day Feb. 11-No School Feb. 14-No School, President’s Day. March 24-End of 3rd Quarter March 25-No School, In-Service Day March 30-31-Parent Teacher Conferences. April 1-8-Spring Break, No School May 27-Graduation May 30-Memorial Day, No School June 3-Last Day of School |
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