The regular monthly meeting of the Oneida School Board was held on Tuesday, January 16, 2023, after the Board had toured the new elementary school to check on progress of the construction. According to Superintendent Jon Abrams, quoting Construction Manager Jared Lusk, the school will be ready to move into by Thanksgiving 2024.  (See accompanying article about the new school.)

Amanda Tripp, the head cook at the cafeteria and an evening custodian of Malad Elementary School, was honored as the January “Employee of the Month.”  (See accompanying article.)

Business

As this was the first meeting of the year, several business items were necessary. Election of officers returned Brent Evanson as Chair and Chalae Teeples as Vice-Chair. Carlean Tubbs was re-appointed as Board Clerk and Records Clerk. Brandi Warren was re-appointed as treasurer.  The Board reviewed the Code of Ethics by reading the document aloud before all members signed it. 

Board meetings will continue to be held on the third Tuesday of every month at 6:00 p.m. at the School District Office. Notices about meetings, including any changes to date, time, or place, will continue to be posted at the School District Office, the U.S. Post Office, and the Courthouse as well as on the District website. Signatories for the School Board will be Brent Evanson, Shane Howard, and Jon Abrams as superintendent. 

Administrator Reports

Superintendent Jon Abrams reported that enrollment in the School District is down 51 students from last semester. A new app, Bus Right, informs parents about where school buses are, if they are on time, and other transportation information. Because he had received several questions regarding school closures, Mr. Abrams explained that bad weather in one part of the District may not impact the entire District. School closure guidelines state that schools will be closed when the temperature is below -20 degrees or when the diesel in the buses gels up or at the discretion of the superintendent. 

The interest being collected on several state school finance accounts will pay for new furnishings for classrooms in the new building and for new playground equipment.  Mr. Abrams believes that the new Malad Elementary School may have the premier school playground in southeast Idaho.

Principal Jeanie Reeder of the Stone School reported that parent-teacher conferences were in progress and that math intervention is going well for students who struggle with math. Before Christmas, Dan Cervantez,  a former resident of Stone, donated hats and gloves to the students and school supply money to the teachers. He will award $20 to the 2nd and 3rd grade winners of the essay contest. At the end of the school year, he will give a $100 scholarship to the student who shows the most progress during the year.

Principal Sarah McIntyre of Malad Elementary School also reported that parent-teacher conferences were in progress. She noted that the Missoula Children’s Theater is coming next week to teach the students about live theater. Malad Elementary dropped 20 students since last semester and gained 3.

Principal Robert Hannah of Malad Middle School reported that attendance problems are ongoing but that he is talking to those families. Nine Middle School students qualified for the Idaho Middle School Honor Band to be held at BYU-Idaho on January 26. Ski days have begun with seven days planned for skiing at Pebble Creek. In the Armor-Up schoolwide student performance program, 209 students qualified for cards and other rewards in the first quarter, and 206 students qualified in the second quarter.

Principal Michael Corbett of Malad High School reported that school attendance is still a problem with the school having only 85% attendance so far this year. Letters have gone out to parents of students who are in danger of not graduating because of not being in class. The high school is down 14 students from last semester. The girls’ basketball team is doing very well, and the culture of the boys’ basketball team is much better this year, leading to a promising future. The wrestling teams are doing very well.  Blaze Wright won 3rd place at the multi-state tournament held in Logan recently.

Administrator Terri Sorensen of the Idaho Home Learning Academy reported that the State has approved the school’s status as a charter school and will be so designated as of July 1. In March a “Charter Boot Camp” with people from the State Department of Education will be held for IHLA personnel. According to Idaho Education News, IHLA is the largest virtual school in the state and may be the largest charter school with about 8000 students.  The founding board is organizing policies for the school; the policies should be in place in April. The governing board should be in place by July 1. Test scores for IHLA continue to lag behind state averages, largely because many parents do not believe in testing. Dr. Sorensen hopes the culture will change so that testing will be more acceptable and a priority for students and their parents.

Discussion Topics

Superintendent Abrams has distributed several versions of the 2024-2025 school calendar to the Board. Three more days are needed to meet State requirements for 148 days. While adding minutes to each day or holding online days are possible, Mr. Abrams does not recommend these options. He would prefer that classes be held on three Fridays in September so that real teaching and learning can take place. The Board will consider all the options at the next meeting.

The Superintendent evaluation will be conducted in an executive session on February 20 after the monthly Board meeting.

With the opportunity to build a new auditorium coming up quickly, the School Board wants to tour some school auditoriums to see what design might be best for the new building. The Board will tour auditoriums in Marsh Valley, West Side, and at least one in Cache Valley. The new auditorium will be built on the vacant area behind the high school and middle school to provide easy, safe access for students.

Action Items

The Board accepted the three proposals received from prospective partners for IHLA as a new charter school. The current partners will continue working with IHLA.

Valerie O’Brien, the District Curriculum Director, noted that the curriculum advisory committees have been meeting; these committees are comprised of teachers and parents. The Board approved the current curricula for all schools. The curricula are listed on the public website.

The handbooks for IHLA (K-8 and high school) were approved after Dr. Sorensen explained that the handbooks are needed early because registration starts in March. She recognizes that changes may have to be made after training for the new charter school and after actions by the State Legislature that may impact schools.

Action on the policy on leaves of absence for teachers was tabled after discussion arose about differences between starting and ending times for work days for teachers and classified staff.

The following personnel were approved, pending their passing the State-mandated background check: Penny Spillet, Kaleigh Worrell, and Richelle Zitting as substitute teachers; Jayda Kimberling as a staff member for the Malad Elementary After-School Program; Rebecca Nielsen as a student teacher for speech/language pathology; Beth Bastian, Tyler Skinner, and Craig Buttars as assistant Malad High School track coaches; Alex Probst as a volunteer MHS track coach; Tyson Haven as a volunteer MHS girls’ wrestling coach; and two substitute teachers for IHLA.