The school board okayed a 1-time stipend for staff paid for with state and federal funds at their November meeting Monday, Nov. 21.
The state had approved $59,000 in SLFRF funding for the district that was to be used to give a one-time stipend to certified school employees. So the classified personnel didn’t feel left out, superintendent Jon Rehder decided to use some of the federal ESSER III funds to do the same for the non-teaching staff of the schools. Some school districts did this earlier in the year but Rehder decided it would make a nice Christmas present for the staff to pay it in December.
In other business Hailey Danly was approved for hire as the assistant softball coach, replacing Steve Wilson who moved out of the area. Danly is a Prairie graduate who played for coach Jeff Martin on the softball team. Principal Matt Elven said they had several applicants but Danly was deemed the best candidate.
Liz McLeod resigned as HOSA advisor, effective the end of the school year.
Policy updates were approved by the board. They also approved a minor change to the attendance policy to fix some ambiguous language that could be interpreted in a couple of different ways.
In the reports Keith Holcomb, Aaron Hinkelman and Rehder shared their impressions of the Idaho School Board Association convention and the workshops they attended.
In his report Elven said they had 31 parents sign in on parent/teacher conferences.
45 juniors and seniors traveled to Moscow on Oct. 26 for a UI campus tour.
Fall sports awards banquets were held.
On Nov. 9, Mr. Nuxoll took 14 students to LCSC for a guided tour of the welding, automotive, collision repair and diesel programs offered at LCSC.
Girls basketball started Oct. 31^st with 17 girls turned out. Boys basketball started Nov. 11 with 21 boys turned out.
The Veteran’s Day assembly had about 40 or so veterans, family and community members in attendance.
This month a Champions Hall project was started with 24x36 framed championship team photos with rosters on the ramp between the cafeteria and gymnasium. They currently have 14 of 31 championship teams completed. Evan Schwartz gathered a lot of the photos for his senior project.
Prairie League’s Dynamic Duo dance took place on Nov. 19 in the cafeteria.
Also on Nov. 19, the high school hosted a USA Wrestling Tournament in the high school gymnasium.
Elven said he is still having issues with attendance as he sent out 36 letters to parents of students who have missed 5 or more days this semester. He had just 5 last year. 4 of those 36 have 11 or more absences already. He said he has talked to other area schools and they are also having similar problems.
Jon Rehder, in his Elementary Principal report said they had an R# assembly and it went well.
A building inspector visited the school on Nov. 3 and had some recommendations that they will work on.
Kim Schumacher was awarded a $500 grant to help purchase items for her science curriculum.
Parent/Teacher conferences went well with 94% attendance
The Elementary students were bused to the high school for the Veterans Day assembly.
In the facilities report Rehder reported they had a leak in the high school gym roof. It was fixed and tin was installed over the foyer with ice breaks above the main gym awning.
They should have things ready by the December board meeting to call for bids for the gym foyer expansion with construction to start once basketball season is over.
In his Superintendent’s report Rehder said they have two student teachers coming for the second semester. Both are Prairie graduates. Madison Hinkelman with be in the Elementary School doing half of her student teaching with Mrs. Brannan’s 4^th graders and the other half in special education with Mrs. Bledsoe. Sabrina Lustig will complete her student teaching at the high school with Mr. Mader in social studies and Mr. Young in English.
Rehder said he is looking at giving more information to the board members for superintendent evaluations. He talked with a former superintendent who was a mentor of his about putting our staff and parent surveys. He will send that info to the board members and they will hold a workshop prior to the December meeting to develop the survey questions.
Rehder shared an Idaho Education News article that showed Prairie schools in the top 10 in ISAT scores. Prairie Elementary was 6 in math proficiency. The district was 8^th in ELA proficiency among traditional public school districts. The District was also 5^th in math proficiency.
The school calendar committee will meet Monday, Dec. 5. Committee members are Andrea Brannan, Emily Cash, Travis Mader, Megan Frei, Alecia Hagen, Cara Uhlenkott, Matt Elven and Jon Rehder. The plan is to have a calendar finalized and ready to present at the December school board meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
The next regular meeting has been moved to Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. with a workshop starting at 5:30 p.m. The meeting was moved to avoid a conflict with a home girls basketball game on Monday, Dec. 19