The regular monthly meeting of the Oneida School Board was held on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, with all members present. Superintendent Jon Abrams announced Tami Velasco as the “Employee of the Month.” Tami is retiring after many years of service at Stone Elementary School as a cook, custodian, groundskeeper, and the person who did whatever needed to be done.

Groundbreaking for New School

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new elementary school building will be held on May 30 at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited to watch students, teachers, staff, administrators, and community leaders take turns with shovels to mark the beginning of construction.

The bonding agent, Eric Heringer, met online with the Board to discuss the selling of the bonds for the new elementary school.  Because of action taken by the State Legislature, specifically HB292, additional funds will be available to repay the bonds as well as the funds provided by the State Bond Equalization Program. Eric advised waiting until September 1 to finalize the selling of the bonds because of changes in school funding at the State level. For example, the District wants the flexibility to pay off bonds early without being penalized. The Request for Proposals will be issued by the end of May so that interested banks can respond by June 23. A special Board meeting will be held on May 30 for the Board to approve the RFP for the bonds. 

The Board voted to move its June meeting to the 27 so that RFPs will have been received and the entity selected to purchase the bonds for the school can be approved at that meeting.  Board training will be from noon to 6:00 p.m. at the Malad Middle School on June 27 with the Employee Retirement Dinner at 6:00 p.m. followed by the June Board meeting at 7:00 p.m. at the Middle School.

Administrator 

Reports

Mr. Abrams reported that Stone School had hosted a country western singer that had all the students dancing. The students went on a field trip to City of Rocks. The 3rd grade students came into Malad Elementary School for their orientation as they will be attending 4th grade in Malad.  Jeanne Reeder will be the Stone School administrator next year.

Ms. Sarah McIntyre, Principal of Malad Elementary School, announced that two new teachers had been hired and that one more teacher and some aides would also be needed for next year. Interventionists are needed for reading and math.

After a year of reviewing reading curricula, the staff at Malad Elementary School selected a curriculum for the Board to consider.  Ms. McIntyre showed some samples of the teacher guides, student books, and digital components that are part of the comprehensive reading curriculum.  Teacher professional development is also included in the package. The Board approved the new curriculum at a cost of $90,000 for six years.

There was no report from Malad Middle School due to Principal Bob Hannah being out of town.  However, Carlean Tubbs, the Middle School secretary, and Mr. Abrams announced that the school had been without water that day due to a problem that arose when the fire department checked the water lines. The proximity of the school to the high school made it possible to hold school even without water. 

Mr. Kory Kay, Assistant Principal at Malad High School, announced that there would be no all-night senior party after graduation this year. Many end-of-year activities, including State Baseball and Softball Tournaments, are scheduled. Besides the baseball and softball teams qualifying for State, ten students qualified for the State Track Tournament.

Callie Carter won 4th place in the 2023 Congressional Art Competition for Idaho’s 2nd District. Congressman Mike Simpson had previously announced in a press release that 82 students entered the competition from across his District.  

Mr. Kay also recognized the students who received high ratings at the State Music Contest. Lindi Young placed 6th and Alex Christensen placed 14th for their alto saxophone solos, and Kalegh Worrelll placed 13th for her alto vocal solo. 

Dr. Terri Sorensen recognized Jill Daniels for her work with special education at the Idaho Home Learning Academy, especially in developing a comprehensive special education plan required by the State. Dr. Sorensen and Megan Price, IHLA High School Principal, will be attending IHLA’s three high school graduations to be held in Meridian, Coeur d’ Alene, and Idaho Falls. Dr. Sorensen said that when testing starts, there is always a drop in enrollment because some students refuse to test; however, those students are not allowed to re-enroll in the fall.  Over 5000 students are enrolled in IHLA for next year, which is ahead of last year and probably due to one of the partners providing incentives for enrollment.

Superintendent Abrams reported that the School District is in a good financial situation. He will be going to Boise to get some clarifications from the Department of Education about new policies that impact bond repayment plans. Mr. Abrams showed pictures of the parking lots on the south and east sides of the high school, explaining that as part of the repaving of the parking lots, access to the parking lots will be reconfigured so that bus lanes are separate from the driving lanes.  Curbs will be constructed so that access to parking areas will be safer.

Other Items

Zane Komrofskie, a student at Malad High School, came before the Board to ask that the ban on wearing hats in school be lifted. Part of his rationale was that during COVID, when masks were mandated, teachers could not clearly see student faces and that hats do not obscure faces as much as masks do. The Board will consider the issue.

The Board discussed adding the State-required money literacy class to the graduation requirements but dropping a history class so that more credits would not be needed by seniors.

A catastrophic sick leave bank policy for employees will be considered for next year. The revised policy would allow employees to use their sick leave and then dip into the sick leave bank to cover additional leave during serious illnesses. The banked sick leave days are available when employees donate their unused sick leave to the bank. Details will be worked out with the teachers and staff.  Most other school districts have such a policy.

The Board briefly discussed the hiring of Sollus Information Systems to manage all technology in the District. Sollus wants to conduct an audit of the current IT systems and equipment and evaluate school needs before submitting a final proposal.  Christie Jenkins will continue in her current position as an IT specialist.

Brent Evanson and Chalae Teeples were selected to represent the School Board during teacher contract negotiations, which will begin soon. The Board approved the administrative and classified salary schedules for next year.

The following personnel were approved, pending their passing the State-mandated background check: Abbigale Alder as a Stone bus driver; Keeley Kelly as a part-time cook at Malad High School; Megan Mackey and Erika Taysom as classroom teachers for Malad Elementary School; Becky Moss as a substitute teacher; Catie Harki and Stephanie Searle as ELA interventionists; Terri Storms as a part-time gifted and talented teacher; and eight special education teachers for Idaho Home Learning Academy.