The July meeting of the Oneida School Board began late due to not having a quorum present until Chalae Teeples, Vice-Chair, arrived. After the meeting started, the minutes of the June meeting and the July payables and personnel were approved. The following personnel were approved for the Idaho Home Learning Academy (pending their passing the State-mandated background check): a clerk for special education, a high school assistant principal, nine high school teachers, and 80 K-8 teachers.  The resignation of Erin Hawkes as a cross-country coach was announced. 

Tatum Hess and Emma Lloyd of the Malad High School Future Farmers of America requested permission for 8-10 FFA members to attend their National Convention to be held in Indianapolis during the first week of November.  The students will raise funds for the trip, primarily through the annual dinner and auction. The students will fly to the convention because of the distance to Indiana. The Board voted to approve the trip.

Facilities Report

Superintendent Jon Abrams reported on progress being made on the construction of the new elementary school and other capital projects. The construction company has moved a lot of dirt, some of it to the site of the new ball fields at the high school. During the excavation, parts of the original public school, built in 1907, were found. Pouring of concrete will begin this week.

The new bus turnaround by the current elementary school will be ready soon. Resurfacing of the parking lots at the high school/middle school is completed, and striping has begun. The entrance on the southwest corner to the parking lots has been expanded, and the new bus lanes at the high school will be marked before school starts.

Construction manager Jared Lusk is putting together the bid package for the ball fields. Board member Brandon Ward suggested that some of the ball field project may be done by volunteers or local companies if the bid package allows for breaking up the project.

Mr. Abrams announced that the School District has $18.8 million in reserve, more than enough to pay the District’s share of the cost of the new school. Because funds are available, the school bond can be paid off early although it cannot be paid off until after one year. Funding will also be available through the new school funding bill passed by the Idaho Legislature (HB292).

The new roof on the Malad Middle School is completed. The roof project at Stone Elementary School is underway. Remodeling of the kitchen at Stone School is finished; lots of old, outdated materials were discarded, and the kitchen will be much more useful and attractive.

Action Items

The Board approved the Catastrophic Leave Bank Policy, which allows employees to bank extra leave days that can then be used by other employees who may need to take long periods of time off for emergencies. 

Several policies related to the use of School District vehicles were approved, including the rental of District-owned vans, cars, and buses.  Only yellow buses may be rented, not travel buses. Policies about supervision of bus loading/unloading areas and about payment of meals for drivers on school trips were also approved.

The Memorandum of Understanding between the Idaho Home Learning Academy and the Cornerstone Learning Academy was approved.  Cornerstone is a private school that will provide curricula to IHLA through its partners; the curricula will align with State standards.

The Board approved the Student Handbooks for Malad Elementary and Middle Schools for 2023-2024. The Malad High School Handbook needs some rewriting and will be presented at the next meeting. A better written, more consistent discipline guide will be included in the handbooks.

The Board approved the negotiated master contract between Oneida School District and the Oneida Education Association for 2023-2024.