Minutes of January 23, 2019 Board Meeting

MINUTES

The regular meeting of the Yaak School Board of Trustees was called to order by Chairperson, Pam Fuqua, at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 at the Yaak School. Pam opened the meeting and stated that the meeting was being recorded.

Trustees Present:    Pam Fuqua, Trish Lauer and Sandy Beder-Miller

Others Present:       Diane Downey, District Clerk, Rose Wilson and Bill Sullivan.

Minutes:

The minutes from the December 14, 2018 board meeting were reviewed. Trish moved that the December minutes be accepted as presented, Sandy seconded and Pam concurred.

Maintenance Committee:

• Pam reported; the shower in the teacherage has been re caulked and is no longer leaking. There has been some structural damage which we will assess after spring thaw.
• Pam brought us up to speed on where they were regarding funding options for repairs to school and teacherage foundation.
• Clerk asked if damage to the structure caused by leak in the bathroom would prohibit us from offering the teacherage to our new teacher July 1^st. Board stated that they would investigate the damage when snow melts and will make a decision at that time. Diane also stated that the smell that was there when Rose moved in is still present and needs to be addressed.

Curriculum Committee:

• Clerk advised that the new program sample has been shipped. Rose will look it over and advise. Sandy stated she will follow up with Rose.

Technology Committee:

• Walk through with Todd Lark went well. We still have no bids for Lit Fiber, we have asked Ellen with Education SuperHighway to reach out to Montana SkyNet in hopes that they can convince them to place a bid. Todd Lark is setting up a Power Point presentation that will be presented at the February meeting. Our category 2 fund must be used this year and we have some options that will help speed things up. He will be going over all our options in the presentation. The deadline for submission of our request for funding is March 27^th.
• The HP laser color copier was taken to Troy and J2 Office Solutions did maintenance on it, the cost was $245.67.

Old Business:

• The 2019-20 Teacher contract was reviewed. Sabre Alderete has accepted and signed the contract.

New Business:

• Transportation contracts totaling $870.80 were approved by the board.

Clerk’s Report, Financials & Expenditures:

• Diane presented the Fixed Asset spread sheet she created to comply with audit findings. The spread sheet needs some tweaking but will be used going forward to record all fixed assets over $5,000.00. Diane will check what the depreciation schedule should be set at to comply with audit parameters.
• The Dental and Vision coverage for Rose has been activated. Diane reviewed the cost increase and funding to cover those costs.
• November Financials balanced with the Treasurer’s office were reviewed. The November Fund 115 spread sheet was reviewed and balances with the County Treasurer. Pam moved that the November Financials be approved as presented, Trish seconded, and Sandy concurred. December reports have not yet come from the Treasurer. December expenditures and January to date expenditures were reviewed. (see attached reports for detail)
• State and Federal grant spread sheets were reviewed. (see attached for detail)

Teacher Report:

• The student will be doing a tracking class with Wildlife Biologist Brian Baxter. Half the day will be spent in the classroom and the remainder of the day will be in the field. The plan is to go to the North Fork pond area.
• A trip to Schweitzer is in the works. McCormick is not going this year so it will be just our school.
• We are anticipating a new kindergarten student.
• Diane mentioned she heard about a grant program that will be run by OPI for an online preschool. She wrote a letter to the program facilitator at OPI asking if our District, even though it does not fit the criteria, could be considered for this program. She explained in the letter that we are rural remote and the nearest preschool program is located in Troy which is 40 miles away. She is waiting to hear from the Deputy Superintendents who are working with these grants.
• Diane asked if the school could loan cross country skies to youth in the valley for the cross country ski race that will be February 15^th. The board approved this. Sandy Miller will be in charge of setting up a time for those that are interested to come to the school to get outfitted.

Policy Review:

Clean updated copies of last month’s reviewed policies were presented to the board for placement in their policy books. Policy numbers 3125, 3225, 3225F, 3226, 3310 and 3310P were reviewed and needed no changes. Clerk will update review history and print board new copies. Policies 3120 and 3123 were reviewed and changes will be made and reviewed at the February meeting.

Public Comment:

No comment

Next Regular Meeting:  February 20, 2019 @ 3:30 p.m.

At 4:40 p.m. the meeting was moved to closed session to protect student privacy. (notes from that discussion were made by board chair Pam Fuqua and filed with the clerk)