Minutes of September 26, 2018 Board Meeting

MINUTES

The regular meeting of the Yaak School Board of Trustees was called to order by Chairperson, Pam Fuqua, at 3:32 p.m. on Wednesday, September 26, 2018, 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, Elizabeth Vick and Rose Wilson.

Minutes:

The minutes from the August 15, 2018 board meeting were reviewed. Trish moved that the August minutes be accepted as presented, Sandy seconded and Pam concurred.

Maintenance Committee:

• Trish reported on her progress with TDH Engineering in regards to foundation work.
• Playground inspection is being done by Craig. He will submit it when it is complete.
• Tami and Colin Breen have offered $50.00 for the outhouse. Board approved the sale of the outhouse.
• One of our students will be working with Craig splitting wood. We have gotten a letter from the parent that states that student has parent permission to work with Craig.
• Elizabeth Vick spoke to the board regarding flowering trees that have been donated to the school. There was discussion as to where to plant them. The decision was made that they will be planted along the creek at the far end of the playground. The trees will not arrive until late October or early November so it would be wise to pre-dig the needed holes before the ground freezes. Volunteers will be found to assist with holes and planting.
• Elizabeth also asked how the board would feel about doing a music type recital for the winter program. This would incorporate music into the curriculum. Bonnie is starting music theory class for all grades in October, the students can choose an instrument to learn and the program could be based on the skills they have learned during their music studies. She would like to try to draw in locals that might join in an acoustic jam session.
• We have about $30.00 dollars remaining in our Garden Grant, going forward with the green house we really need to replace some if not all of the roof panels. They have become clouded and do not let in enough sunlight. We have a new parent that is very handy and we can ask if he would volunteer to help. Also it would be nice if we try to complete the sides with old glass window panels. There may be people in the valley that have old wooden window panels that they would donate. We will look into the cost of the clear panels and see if we can afford to at least do the roof for next growing season.

At this time Pam took the floor and advised that Rose has requested that the teacherage be made available to her starting November 1, 2018. Pam has given Elizabeth Vick, our tenant notice that she will need to be out by November 1, 2018.

Curriculum Committee:

• Sandy said she had still not heard from Helen, the former chairperson, regarding getting the committee chair notebook. Pam said if she does not hear from Helen let her know and she will contact her and get the notebook. Diane advised she will need review data within 30 days to use for reporting last year’s data in the CSIP.

Technology Committee:

• We have had no contact from USAC; Diane has contacted the help desk asking that a message be sent to the review team for our special construction project.
• Diane reviewed the quote from Roy for the replacement of the two old student computers that are not cloud based. We will be setting aside Title IVA funds from our ESEA Consolidated Grant to purchase this hardware. Additional items on quote are for a headphone that is compatible with the speech therapy that is done online.

Old Business:

• Diane went over the findings from the 2016-17 financial review. She read through her response and the plan to correct the two findings. The required public notice will be posted in the Western News. Audit report is available for public review at the clerk’s office.

At this time Rose gave the Teachers Report.

• Harvest Festival is on track. Bonnie will be doing some games for the children. The students will also be giving tours of the school and serving lunch. Elizabeth Betz has taken the lead in organizing this year’s event as Diane will not be here. Rose has planned an awards ceremony.
• The students celebrated Constitution Day with a lesson given by Sandy Beder-Miller which included the students creating a Yaak School Constitution complete with an amendment. Rose shared the document with the board.
• Rose presented the classroom and playground rules and emergency drill schedule. Board approved them as presented.
• Rose took a half day of administration time to get things ready for festival. Trish asked how things were going with Craig doing both instruction and custodial duties. Rose stated that thing were going fine and she was working on giving him more responsibilities for the grading of the work his students are doing as he is the one that works with them and knows how they are performing on the daily work. Trish asked how the new science modules were working. Rose stated she was very happy with the new curriculum.
• Rose reported on the results of the State tests that were administered last year.
• There was some discussion about the upcoming CSIP report. Diane and Rose will start working on this when Diane returns. Deadline is November 1^st.
• The field trip to pick apples was a great success. The students picked about 400 lbs of apples and we will be making cider and drying apples. Parents and community members are working together to make the festival a success.

Back to Old Business:

• Pam reviewed the benefit package that was decided on for our Teacher Aide that is teaching the K-1 students. The board has decided to not offer insurance but instead offer him $15.00 per hour as he has insurance for he and his family in place.

New Business:

• The schools CIPA policy was noticed to the public.
• Trustee classroom observations were set as follows: Sandy – fall, Trish – winter and Pam will do the spring observation. Pam will take all observation notes and write the teachers annual evaluation at the end of the year.
• Sub list was reviewed and is as follows; Linda Eckhart, Sharon Shelton and Craig Johnson
• Board appointed Pam as our Homeless Liaison.

Clerk’s Report, Financials & Expenditures:

• Clerk presented brochure from OPI regarding Teacher of the Year application process.
• Clerk requested that she be able to register for the video option for the MCEL conference. The fee is $375.00, board approved registration.
• ESEA Consolidated Grant has been started; it was the board’s decision to transfer $2,000.00 of the $10,000.00 dollars of the Title IVA to Title IIA to be used for signing bonus for our new 2019-20 SY teacher.
• The newsletter will be done quarterly in the future.
• Review of balanced financial statement for the month of July was presented. Trish made the motion to accept July financials as presented, Pam seconded and Sandy concurred.
• Review of balanced financial statement for the month of August was presented. Pam made the motion to accept August financials as presented, Trish seconded and Sandy concurred.
• September expenditures to date were approved.
• Clerk reviewed the Fund 115 Recap Worksheet and presented a spreadsheet reflecting the expenditures of the 2017-18 REAP funds.

Policy Review:

Policy numbers 2309, 2310, 2311, 2311P, 2312, and 2312P were reviewed and needed no changes. Clerk will update review history and print board new copies.

There was some conversation regarding preparation for teaching position that will be opening the end of this year.

Public Comment:

None

Next Regular Meeting:  October 17, 2018 @ 3:30 p.m. Meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted by: Diane Downey, District Clerk