The School Board held their February meeting on Thursday, Feb. 22 with only 3 of the 5 board members in attendance, Pat Alfrey, Gus Hoene and Aaron Hinkelman.
Tara Klapprich arrived late.
Several retirements and a resignation were approved.
Retiring were 2^nd Grade teacher Allason Zenner, the high school library/sewing teacher Della Gehring and Jr./Sr. High Secretary Cheri Holthaus.
The board accepted the resignation of head football coach TT Cain.
The emergency closure for the Jr./Sr. High only on Jan. 18 for a water pipe break was approved.
They discussed going out for bid for windows at the Jr./Sr. High School but it was then tabled until March.
They also discussed going out for bid on the breezeway enclosure but it was also decided to wait until March to take action.
Gym renovation was discussed. They will look into this being a safety grant for asbestos abatement.
In the Jr./Sr. High report Matt Elven said students submitted course requests on Feb. 1-2. Suzi Quintal met with the classes and is currently in the process of creating next year’s schedule.
Elven reported the schools received 8 single dose spray devices of NARCAN at no cost from Direct Relief, a non-profit organization that sponsors school for up to 5 years.
The School Ski Day on Feb. 2 was cancelled due to weather conditions and will not be rescheduled due to Cottonwood Butte’s closure for the season.
11 seniors and their parents attended FAFSA night on Feb. 6.
3 senior basketball players and 2 senior cheerleaders were recognized on Senior Night Feb. 9.
The Prairie Track & Field teams held their annual 5^th/6^th grade basketball tournament fundraiser on Feb. 9-10.
State BPA competition was held Feb. 12-13. Ryan Hasselstrom and Jeff Martin took 8 students to compete in Boise.
Cheerleading awards banquet was held Feb. 13 with 7 cheerleaders recognized. They had 6 cheerleaders for fall-sports and 5 for winter sports.
Softball and track practice started Feb. 23 with baseball practice starting on Feb. 26. There are 14 girls signed up for softball, 15 boys signed up for baseball and 47 students signed up for girls and boys track.
The next Knowledge Bowl event will be March 4 at St. John Bosco.
14 students will be attending a HOSA/Hands-On Healthcare seminar sponsored by the U of I and St. Mary’s Clinic in Kamiah on March 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
In the Elementary School report Jon Rehder reported they held an R3 assembly on Feb. 3.
The school spelling bee was held Feb. 22 in the Elementary gym with Alaina Decaria winning the competition. She will move on to regional competition in Lewiston.
In the facilities report Rehder updated the board on the basement flood at the high school. King Services of Lewiston assisted with the cleanup. Dryers and dehumidifiers ran from Jan. 18-31. Sheetrocking began on Feb. 9. Renovations are ongoing. They hoped to have everything back to normal by the end of February. King Services charged a little over $12,000 for the cleanup with renovation costing just under $25,000. These costs were covered by insurance.
Bob Carlton from Bob Carlton Custom Carpentry and Tony Amundson from Early Bird came to the high school to check out the windows that need replaced.
There were sinks backing up in the girls bathroom on the main level at the high school. Rick Forsmann had Williams Plumbing assist and it was found that numerous tree roots had plugged the main drain pipe. It is fixed for now but this will need to be addressed this summer.
In his superintendent’s report, Rehder noted the positions that need to be filled for next year. They are a 2^nd grade teacher, high school librarian, possibly a sewing teacher; high school secretary, new football coach and bus drivers. Those are the positions he knows about at this time.
He talked about a Securing our Future grant. Grant applications are open from Jan. 15 to March 15. $200,000 per project per building. Money is meant to assist with safety in schools. There is $6.5 million available statewide in this fund. Projects the district is looking at are the breezeway enclosure at the Elementary and the gym renovation at the jr./sr. high. Rhonda Wemhoff thinks the breezeway enclosure project would be around $100,000 due to the fact a firewall would need to be installed.
New signs are up at the Elementary School. The parking lot across the street was a hazard. They have added signage to make traffic go one way through the lot so they do not re-enter East St. in the crosswalk area. A new visitor parking sign, two camera signs and a sign for the front door to push the button for entry were also added.
The City of Cottonwood will be doing a presentation to Elementary students on Friday, March 1 to show the students the news signs for the crosswalk near the Baptist Church. New signs will also go up on the business loop near Rodonna’s and the Primeland pumps warning of the crosswalk ahead.
Hahn Rental contacted the district about old buses we may have. They will come look at 07-07 as it was parked after it stopped running. It needs a new computer and the district didn’t want to sink $3000-5000 into it as they were getting a new bus any.
Rehder provided a list of 5 year and 10 year capital expenditure needs listed by what are dire and what can be scheduled over the next 5-10 years.
They are listed below:
Classroom addition to Elementary School – completed
Membrane for high school gym roof – needed in 2-3 years.
Enclosing breezeway between K-1 and cafeteria-Summer 2024 if possible, working on grant money for this.
Purchase a skid steer – if and when they can find a good deal, not pressing
Gym foyer renovation at the high school-???
Window replacement at high school-possibly summer of 2024
Elevator installation at high school-not pressing but possibly in 5-10 years.
Pump for the irrigation system at the football field/track complex-5-10 years.
Future updates on HVAC at elementary school-4 or 5 units, 3 to 7 years.
Main entrance doors-mechanical door opener and replace-3 to 5 years.
Playground plastic slide replacement-5 to 10 years.
Faucet replacements in all bathrooms, high school and elementary. They leak and too old for replacement parts-high school summer 2024, Elementary when needed
Roll-up doors for both kitchen sneeze bars at high school and elementary-completed summer 2023
High school plumbing-shut off replacement valves and approximately 40 valves and hoses-Summer 2024
Replace 60 feet of 3 inch water main at high school and two 3 inch shut-off valves-summer 2024
Replace swing set playground equipment borders-work in progress.
Dishwasher replacements in both kitchens-summer 2023/summer 2024
Repair leaning chain link fence at high school PE field-summer 2024
Locker replacement at high school-??
Replace rook over high school ramp-5 years
Carpet in hallway and referee rooms on stage-2-3 years
Purchase side by side-Rick has been looking
Stain exterior boards on elementary school gym-going to spray foam when the school is painted.
Stain board around cafeteria in the elementary school-5-10 years
Exterior paint on high school-3-5 years.
Paint or replace doors on sough side of elementary school-Summer 2024
Replace doorknobs on south side exterior doors at Elementary school-summer 2024
Landscaping/grass on west side of elementary addition-spring 2024
Deal with water issues in dungeon at high school-summer 2024 and beyond
He also talked about the Day on the Hill. He said that HB 447, the vouchers/ESA/Tax Credit is still under discussion. They are pitching it as an educational tax credit. However it still doesn’t have any accountability piece nor acceptance for “all” students. Rehder said he spoke to the Senate education committee on this pointing out that public schools have to report ISAT scores, IRI scores, special education population. Public schools also have to accept all students that walk through the doors that live in that district. They can’t pick and choose their students.
He also reported on HB 521, the so-called Christmas tree bill. This would set aside $1 billion for the next 10 years. Put $125 million into a 10-year fund that the state will borrow against. You can take your lump amount or take it over the 10-year time period. Dollars go out by Average Daily Attendance and amount is calculated by student district enrollment. One amount for the Cottonwood district works out to $1,704,067 and the amount from HB 292 would be $120,090.
The $161 million supplemental request. This is money withheld from last year’s $380 million passed by the legislature. Superintendent Debbie Critchfiled is pressuring the legislators to distribute the money that was promised last year which was made law.
HB 415-Gun bill. This bill allows any employee, volunteer or sub with an enhanced concealed carry permit to carry a firearm in school-no permission required. This may require each district to adopt a policy to allow concealed carry. The ISBA and IASA are working with the state senate to return control to locally-elected officials. This bill is still in process.
SB1356 replaces continuous improvement plan with local strategic plan. It would remove individual staff performance requirements and requires new board member training.
The Library bill. Rehder says he feels good where our local district is concerned as we don’t have any of the books that were in question. Nothing was said on this bill at Day on the Hill so he doesn’t know the status.
Immunization bill. This would require districts to inform parents that they don’t need to provide immunization records.
After the reports the board adjourned to 3 different executive sessions. One for student discipline, one for personnel and the third for principal evaluation.
After reconvening to open session Matt Elven’s contract was extended 2 years.
The meeting adjourned at 9:07 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Monday, March 18 at 7 p.m.