The school board held their January meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 18 where Aaron Hinkelman was re-elected as board chairman.
Pat Alfrey was re-elected as vice-chair person and Denise Uhlenkott was re-appointed as clerk-treasurer. Cheri Holthaus and Jennifer Riener was re-appointed as assistant treasurers.
The Code of Ethics was approved with no changes from last year.
The board voted to keep the meetings on the third Monday of each month at 7 p.m.
Check signers will remain the same and will be Uhlenkott, Hinkelman and Alfrey.
Agendas will continue to be posted at the District Office and at the two Cottonwood Credit Union branches in town.
Jon Rehder was reappointed to be the district’s Civil Rights officer.
The board voted to accept the resignations of Carletta Allen as speech language pathologist and Micah Weber as a second grade teacher. Both are effective at the end of the school year.
Pat Holthaus was approve as the boys C basketball coach as the numbers warrant a third coach. He had been serving in the position already.
Matt Elven was approved as a second assistant track coach due to the numbers of athletes expected for track. They are looking at 21 boys and 17 girls this year.
In his Jr./St. High report Elven said an attendance review board was held January 11. Due to excessive absences there are 3 students that lost credits for the first semester.
Jerry Richardson has volunteered many hours prior to and during Christmas break to revamp the shop, including repairs to damaged or broken equipment. He has also done some painting and helped restructure the layout of the wood and metal shop areas. He has also been instrumental in finding materials for student projects and helping Mr. Nuxoll align class content.
They had 32 girls turn out for junior high volleyball. There are 15 seventh graders and 17 eighth graders. Their first practice was Jan. 9.
They will be getting new track uniforms this year. Coach Ryan Hasselstrom is working on putting in their order. The athletic department will cover half the cost with the other half through the team’s fundraiser account. Uniforms were last replaced 7 years ago.
Dusty Arnzen visited the high school on Jan. 9 and got the office camera array display set up. They are also working with him to place 2 more cameras in the wood and metal shop.
Ski Day was set for Jan. 20 for 7^th and 8^th graders as a reward for students based on their grades, attendance and discipline record for the first semester.
Elven said they have enrolled two new students. One arrived on Jan. 9 and the other on Jan. 17.
In his Elementary Principal report, Rehder said he took 3 students to The Hangout for Lunch with the Principal.
The 4^th through 6^th graders joined the 7^th and 8^th graders for the ski day at Cottonwood Butte.
He reported they are making headway in collecting negative lunch balances.
He has 4 teachers willing to be on the curriculum committee. They are looking at March 20 for a meeting in person and via ZOOM with the company they are interested in going with.
In his facilities report he noted that Dusty Arnzen also visited the elementary school to set up the camera display in the office. He came back on Jan. 16 to fix and camera and to install 2 cameras in the K-1 Building. They are also looking at installing a camera in the foyer between the main door and school entry.
The bid has gone out for the high school gym foyer project. The bids will be opened on January 25 at the boardroom at 2 p.m.. There will be a special meeting on January 30 at 5:30 p.m. to look over the bids. Rhonda Wemhoff will be there to answer any logistical questions.
In his superintendent’s report he said he ordered the blank aluminum signs for the sex offender messages but the wrong size were sent so he had to reorder. They will have 10 signs going up in places recommended by Police Chief Terry Cochran and Cottonwood Mayor Keith Holcomb.
They are looking at an increase in special education students next year and would like to hire another special ed teacher. They have someone already on staff who is qualified and interested in the position but would then need to fill their teaching position.
Other positions that need to be filled for the 2023-24 school year are 2^nd grade teacher, speech and language pathologist and music teacher.
They are looking into getting Jarret Nuxoll certified for the Ag position. Nuxoll has been doing well in the position and is interested in staying.
Possible future projects  are:
Elevator at the high school.
New windows for the high school.
A portable at the Elementary. Rehder said he and Rick Forsmann have also talking about building onto the east side of the Elementary or constructing a building similar to the art room.
Enclosing the breezeway between the K-1 building and the cafeteria for safety and security reasons.
It was decided to move the February meeting to Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 5 p.m.
The board meeting adjourned into an executive session at 5:40 p.m.