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Board meets
The School Board held their regular November meeting Monday, Nov. 21. In attendance was Steve Gill from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). He went over the Brownfield Cleanup Grant the District is applying for. This would be a $200,000 grant to pay for cleanup of the asbestos in the old Elementary School building. The District applied for one of these last year and fell short of getting one. Gill said he feels the District has a very good chance of getting one this year. Compared to last year they are asking for a little less money and have a new budget. Also Christine Frei and staff at Clearwater Economic Development Association are on board to help with the grant writing. Frei was to have been in attendance but came down with an illness. There will also be a presentation at the Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce meeting Thursday, Dec. 8 at 11:30 a.m. at the Prairie Community Library. Deadline for grant submittal is Dec. 22. Also in attendance was Ryan Hasselstrom to update the board on the track project. He had a quote for about $80,000 to put down the rubberized surface on the asphalt and do the striping. He hoped they could do that this spring. There would be another estimated $20,000 for various equipment: hurdles, high jump and pole vault pads, safety netting for the discus. To this point they have raised $103,800 in funds with $55,187.53 having been paid out for engineering and the first payment to Valley Paving, Inc. for the asphalt work. The total cost of the asphalt and engineering comes to $111,175.06. The board urged Hasselstrom to continue with the project. They will have to look at their possible summer projects and cost projections before they could see if some district money could be added. In other business Julie Schumacher was approved as the new junior high assistant volleyball coach. She will also continue to help out with the JV girls basketball when there isn’t a conflict between the two. The resignation of the Center for Discovery Aide was accepted and then Lisa Labrum was approved for hire as the new Aide. The Title I Audit was discussed. Superintendent Rene’ Forsmann said it went well and they received kudos for a job well done. One of the auditors from the state was former Cottonwood resident Marcia Beckman. The board members and administrators that attended discussed the workshops they attended at the state school board convention. All came away with some new knowledge and an appreciation of how well we have it here. In the facilities update Forsmann reviewed possible summer projects. A couple others were added. Forsmann was asked to come up with some approximate costs and present them at the next meeting. Among the projects being eyed are: Remodel of cabinets at high school kitchen Look into replacement of industrial kitchen stoves at both elementary and high school Safety fencing at the baseball field, mainly right field fence where a home run ball could possibly land amongst Center for Discovery students playing outside. Updating the bathrooms at the football fieldhouse, sinks, toilets, stalls. Look at putting an overflow building on the cement foundation that used to be Jake’s shop behind the Elementary. Rubberized surface on the track Look at purchasing a new school bus Other items added were the ventilation at the high school kitchen. Gus Hoene said there isn’t any when he looked into fixing it. Also heating system at the high school gym. In administrative reports Carrie Nygaard noted that Prairie athletic teams have won 15 state academic awards just since the 2008-09 school year. In addition there were 6 second place finished and 4 third place finishes. She reported the Veteran’s Day assembly went very well thanks to Mr. Elven and Mrs. DeCaria, the FFA group for the breakfast and Mrs. Karel for the music. Girls basketball is off to a good start with their first game on the 15th. Boys basketball practice has started with new head coach Kevin Chaffee and new JV coach Seth Guyer. Continuing as volunteer assistants are Pat Holthaus and Scot Schlader. The Idaho County Shootout is set for Grangeville on Saturday, Dec. 3. Junior high boys basketball started Nov. 10. On Dec. 7, all juniors will take the ASVAB test. This is an aptitude battery as opposed to an academic test. It gauges likes and dislikes and strengths and weaknesses and could help determine what fields of study students may want to pursue. There is a fall driver’s education course that started with a full class on Nov. 7. Forsmann reported there was nearly 90% parental attendance at the parent-teacher conferences. She is already thinking about next year’s schedules. Enrollment numbers show they will need a new teacher in the Elementary. Preliminary numbers are 25-30 for Kindergarten, 27 for 1st grade, 27 for 2nd; 32 for 3rd, 31 for 4th; 34 for 5th and 23 for 6th. The Elementary concerts are scheduled for Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. for grades 4-6, the band and Prairie Youth Choir; and Dec. 9 at 1:30 p.m. for grades K-3. As superintendent Forsmann reported she has been attending several meetings and will attended MANDT training Nov. 21-22. MANDT training is to learn how to deal with troublesome students and not letting things get out of hand. She will also be working on a draft calendar for 2017-18. The meeting adjourned at 6:52 p.m. The next meeting will be Monday, Dec. 19 at 5:30 p.m. |
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