School Board meets
The school board held their November meeting Monday, Nov. 20 and mostly discussed policies.
One guest was in attendance, Tyler Harrington, a newly elected Mountain View School District trustee, who wanted to observe how another school board operated.
Policy 3380 was presented for the third reading with suggested changes by Superintendent Jon Rehder and high school principal Matt Elven. This deals with extracurricular and co-curricular participation.  The changes had to deal with discipline for violating the athletic code signed by athletes. A definition on self-reporting was also added. First violation if self-reported is 10 days, 15 if not self-reported. Second violation is 45 days if self-reported, 55 if not self-reported. Third is a calendar year and fourth is never participating in Prairie high school athletics again. Self-reporting includes the parent reporting the issue. The updated policy was approved by the board.
The board also discussed policy 3010P dealing with open enrollment. Rehder would like to have priorities for open enrollment requests although all are limited to space available. Action on this policy was tabled to the December meeting so that board members could go over the suggested changes.
Policy 3050C on attendance was also discussed. Elven presented the suggested changes of making bereavement absences 3 days, requiring a doctor/dentist note within a week after a notification letter has been sent out.  Also a fourth tardy will result in detention. Previously it had been an absence but Elven had the question of how to count as an absence if say, each of the 4 tardies was for a different class. The board voted to approve the updated policy.
Board members who attended the Idaho School Board Association convention in Boise recently discussed the workshops each attended.
In the his principal’s report Elven noted 34 juniors traveled to Moscow on Oct. 23 for a U of I campus tour.
Jr. High Boys Basketball has 18 boys turned out. Their first game was Nov. 7.
Girls basketball has 19 girls and has played 2 games already.
Boys basketball practice started Nov. 10 with 18 boys turned out to play. Their first action is a JV game against Grangeville on Nov. 29 with the first varsity game set for Dec. 1 at Grangeville.
Parent/Teacher conferences were held with 38 parents signing in over the 2 days.
Tara Rowland has taken over as Prairie League advisor and is helping the girls with planning their first event, Daddy Day Night on Dec. 3.
A coordinated lockdown drill was held Nov. 1 with Cottonwood Police, Idaho County Sheriff’s Department and Idaho State Police. Staff and students were unaware of the drill and performed all proper duties. Law enforcement was able to clear the buildings in less than 15 minutes.
The CNA program has 4 students with 7 students in the Fundamentals of Health Profession course. They are looking to build this program back up after it was discontinued in 2020. A new CNA facility room was also built in a previously unused portion of the stage. Elven shared photos with the board of the new facility as it was being built (see below).
Fall sports awards banquets were held.
An Idaho Law Enforcement Hazmat training was held in the high school cafeteria with over 80 in attendance.
The Veterans Day assembly went well with 14 veterans in attendance and 3 Quilts of Valor presented.
Jon Rehder and Dustin Behler will be the shot clock operators for the 2023-24 boys and girls basketball season home games.
An Idaho State University representative visited the school on Nov. 9.
Jon Rehder reported the second R3 assembly of the year was held Oct. 27.
Numerous students throughout the elementary school are showing great growth in the iStation testing.
Classroom walkthroughs have been completed for the fall. Formal observations begin after winter break.
Parent/Teacher conferences had a 91% attendance rate by parents.
Elementary students attended the Veterans Day assembly.
In his facilities report, Rehder reported the new elementary addition has been completed and the teachers are moving in at this time.
He is looking at getting bids to paint the Elementary building.
The peewee wrestling club hosted a tournament Nov. 4 with over 270 wrestlers and over 1000 people in attendance. The club reached out to Rehder and asked if the school would like them to reimburse the school for paper towels, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, trash bags, etc. that were used. They did not rent the facility as it benefitted all Prairie Elementary students willing to participate.
In his superintendent report Rehder noted Michael DeLeon will be in the district on Dec. 13 from 6-8 p.m. at the Elementary School for a community presentation for adults only and then at the school on Dec. 14 from 8:30-9 for grades k-3, 9:15-10 for grades 4-6, then go to the high school for grades 7-12 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Prairie partnered with Moscow to bring him to the area.
Rehder also reported Prairie Elementary is in the top 10 schools in the state for ISAT math performance.
The calendar committee will be meeting Dec. 4. The hope is to have the school calendar for 2024-25 finalized by the December school board meeting.
Superintendent evaluation is scheduled for February with the high school principal evaluation set for January.
The meeting adjourned to an executive session at 8:25 p.m. The next regular meeting is set for Monday Dec. 18 at 7 p.m.