The regular monthly meeting of the Oneida School Board was held on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, immediately following a work session at which the Board discussed and updated policies that were then acted on in the public meeting. Brandon Ward was not present for the meetings due to the death of his father. All school building administrators were at a training in Salt Lake and so were not present.

Sara Richardson, a teacher at Stone Elementary School, was honored as the Oneida School District “Employee of the Month.” (See accompanying article.)

Malad High School FFA members Lyndee Nimer, Laney Coatney, and Sabrina Nipko reported on their trip to the 97th Annual National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. Over 73,000 FFA members were in attendance, including 12 students from Malad. Highlights of the trip included visiting Churchill Downs and the new paddocks where horses are prepared for the Kentucky Derby; touring the Louisville Slugger Bat Factory and receiving souvenir baseball bats; and riding in a bus around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indianapolis 500.  The Livestock Judging Team placed 4th of the 42 teams in the same division at the convention. Lexie Evans, Malad’s FFA adviser, won the dance-off in the rodeo arena, amazing the crowd with her version of “the worm.” According to Lexie, Malad’s FFA chapter has 55 active dues-paying members with the national organization having over 1 million members.

Superintendent Jon Abrams announced that an Open House for the new Malad Elementary School will be held on December 16 from 4 – 8 p.m. The public is invited to tour the new school at that time.

Policies

Several policies were brought forward after having been discussed at length at the work session. The policy addressing driver education was deleted as the District no longer offers driver education. The old policy related to English Language Learners was replaced with a new policy. The old policy defining advanced learning opportunities for students was replaced with an updated policy. Other policies that were approved dealt with cell phone usage by students in school, restraint and seclusion of students, student health and physical examinations, family engagement, health enhancement education, controversial issues and academic freedom, support of students with dyslexia, fundraising, and crowdfunding.  All school policies will appear in updated form on the Oneida School District website (oneidaschooldistrict.org) by the end of the month.

Administrator Reports

Superintendent Abrams reported that the financial status of the District may not be known until the lawsuit is finalized. As the judge’s decision, which has not been handed down, yet, will likely be appealed to the Idaho Supreme Court, there are a lot of unknowns.

Mr. Abrams also referred to a letter received from Cami Willie and Abrielle Goddard, requesting a stipend for the coach of the Middle School cheer squad. Last year the cheer coaches worked as volunteers, even when the cheerleaders performed at all boys’ and girls’ basketball games. The Middle School cheer program serves as training for those who want to become cheerleaders in High School.  More information is needed before action is taken on the request.

Brandi Warren, School District Business Manager, presented the annual audit report prepared by Quest CPAs of Meridian, Idaho. Because of many unusual expenses and the loss of much of the revenue from the Idaho Home Learning Academy now that it is a charter school, the School District’s financial status is not as robust as it has been in the past.  One big problem that is affecting the budget involves families not paying for school lunch. These families either do not qualify for free-and-reduced school lunch or have not filled out the paperwork to become qualified. The school lunch program is down $133,000, which the auditor noted as a problem because it will have to be paid from the general fund.  However, the auditor reported that the District had a “strong ending” last year with approximately 8 months’ worth of expenditures held in reserve. The auditor stated, “With revenue streams drastically changing for the School, it is critical to rein in spending by adopting a fiscally conservative budget and adhering to it.” The Board approved the audit report as presented. The full audit report can be found on the School
District website.

All building reports were attached to the online agenda as the principals were not present.  Important points from each principal’s report are the following:

Stone School – 1) A thank you was extended to the Crisis Center for donating supplies to the school and working with students on SEL skills; 2) the students enjoyed the Malad Elementary School Veterans’ Day program; 3) the Cervantez family was thanked for donating supply money to the school.

Malad Elementary School – 1) A thank you was extended to the American Legion Post #65 for their help with the Veterans’ Day program; 2) AgWest Farm Credit of Preston was thanked for their donation of coats; 3) training to prepare staff and students for the new school has begun.

Malad Middle School – 1) Attendance continues to improve; 2) more students are going receive interventions as needed; 3) 191 (of 211) students received Armor Up cards for their academic achievements.

Malad High School – 1) Attendance is over 90% in all grades; 2) personnel from Boise State University will be providing training on differentiated instruction to both middle and high school staff; 3) fall sports teams did well with boy’s cross country placing 2nd at State, girls’ cross country placing 4th at State; and the volleyball team placing 2nd at State.

Carlean Tubbs noted that Jace Nalder of the Middle School placed 2nd at a regional cross country meet that included students from several surrounding states.

Action Items

After discussion of school being scheduled for three Fridays next year (the Friday after Labor Day, Homecoming, and the Friday after Christmas), the Board approved the school calendar for 2025-2026.

The Board approved a call for bids for a new school bus as it is taking 18 months to get a bus once an order is placed.

The Board approved overnight trips: four for the girls’ wrestling team, one for the boys’ wrestling team, and one for the baseball team.  It was noted that additional overnight trips for the boys’ wrestling teams had been approved previously.

The Board approved the plan to put a bond refinance initiative on the May election ballot. Several public meetings will be held to explain the District’s financial status and the effect of the bond on property owners. As things stand right now, a bond will be needed to refinance $10 million of the $30 million elementary school project due to the denial of state funds that had already been allocated to Oneida School District, which is the subject of the lawsuit.

The Board approved the following personnel, pending their passing the State-mandated background check: 

Justin Firth, Keasa Thatcher, Callie Robbins, and Davis Owens as substitute teachers; Addison Waldron as special education aide at Malad Elementary School; Mason Durfee as the District IT specialist; Iesha Velasco as a Stone School bus driver; Matthew Draper as a bus driver; and Rhone Gleckler as a high school aide for the MES After-School Program. 

The following coaches were approved for Malad High School: Ty Price, Chad Maroney, and Tyrell Hubbard as assistant baseball coaches; Justin Howe and Jaden Clark as volunteer baseball coaches; and Kelli McClellan as a volunteer softball coach.

The School Board meeting in December will be on December 11 at 7:00 p.m. at the Malad Middle School Library.