| School
Board meets
A proposed school calendar was discussed at the December meeting of the school board Monday, Dec. 15. After discussion it was decided to post the proposed calendar on the school website and seek public input. The proposed calendar has school starting on August 30. Superintendent Rene’ Forsmann said with Labor Day not until the 7th of September, that it would be too late to wait until after Labor Day to start. The last day of school would be June 3 with graduation on May 30, the Friday after Memorial Day. In other business it was decided to move the January meeting to Wednesday, January 21 as that Monday is Martin Luther King Day and there is no school. That meeting will also be held at the high school. It was decided to leave the February meeting on the 16th, even though that is President’s Day. Boys district basketball is not scheduled to start until the 17th. An agricultural education advisory board was approved which includes Glenn Poxleitner, Brendan Arnzen, Cliff Tacke, Carrie Nygaard, Helen Rowland and Brad Higgins. Such a board is necessary for some funding the agricultural education program is seeking. Curriculum at the Jr./Sr. High School was discussed. Principal Carrie Nygaard informed board members that they don’t have enough students interested to continue with band/choir at this time. In the facilities report Forsmann said they have approval from the Idaho Transportation Department for an entrance to the football field off of the business loop. That makes for much easier access to the area the BLM would like to use for their vehicles while their new complex is being built. Once they are gone the district is looking into putting there bus barn and shop there. The next step is to look into getting water and sewer there. Forsmann is also waiting for a quote on ground work on the visitor side of the field area. A new state championship sign is being made by the Booster Club. There will also be a sign in the same location recognizing Prairie Elementary as a Blue Ribbon School. These would be located near the existing sign allowing room for the proposed field access. She also informed the board the high school roof in the cafeteria area needs work. She is working on getting quotes for that work. She is also looking into updating the school phone system. She is looking into going with a VOIP system like the hospital has. They have the internet bandwidth to make such a system work and it would cut the number of phone lines down from the current 9 to just 2 for fax purposes. In her principal’s report Forsmann said they are sending staff to a math academy Jan. 23 &24. The Blue Ribbon School of Excellence monetary award would pay for a bus and lodging for the 18 staff members to attend. She also polled they students and they would like to see an additional outdoor basketball court built with some of the Blue Ribbon School money. As superintendent she attended a meeting on the Professional Technical Academy. The strategic plan is being finalized and the next step would be to get the 5 local school district administrators together. The hope is to get this going for the 2017-18 school year. The old Elementary School is a possible site for the academy. Nygaard reported that the Idaho County Shootout went well with over $10,000 raised for the food banks. The all-state football team has been announced (see page 4) and she wants to congratulate all the players selected. LCSC will be holding a financial aid night on Jan. 7 in the cafeteria at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome to attend. The meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Wednesday, January 21 at the high school. |
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