Prior to the regular June meeting of the Oneida School Board on June 17, 2025, a recognition dinner was held at the Malad Middle School to honor retiring Superintendent Jon Abrams, retiring IT specialist Christie Jenkins, and “Teacher of the Year” Jennifer Brown. After the dinner, which was catered by Marla Jones of Pocatello, gifts of appreciation were given to Jennifer, Christie, and Mr. Abrams to thank them for their service to Oneida School District.

After the dinner, the School Board went into their regular monthly meeting.

Action Items

The budget for Oneida School District for 2025-2026 was approved after highlights of the $21 million budget were presented by District Business Manager Brandi Warren. The budget includes all funds from the federal and state governments, not just local funds.  Superintendent Jon Abrams noted that the School District is $5.7 million to the good at the present time.

Salaries for directors, teachers, and classified staff were approved for the next school year. Because of additional funding from the State that was approved in the last legislative session, all salaries were increased. Superintendent Jon Abrams noted that if there is to be a good culture at the schools, there must be good teachers and advisers.

Salaries for Malad Middle and High School coaches were approved after it was noted that salaries for all coaches were increased for next year.

Because of the closure of the Malad branch of U.S. Bank, the Board approved a motion to open new bank accounts for Malad Middle School, Malad High School, and Oneida School District at Ireland Bank.

The following personnel were approved, pending their passing the State-mandated background check: Meagan Gleckler and Amy Wilson as substitute teachers and Sommer Normandy, Lori Owens, and Samantha Smith as bus drivers.  The resignation of Jean Schwartz was accepted.

Policies

Two policies were approved.  The first deals with unpaid school meal charges, which is becoming a problem for the District. The new policy states: “Should a student’s school meal account balance become negative, the child will not be denied food.  If a child does not have money in the student account, an alternate meal of the school’s choice will be provided to the child and charged to the student’s account.  A student may charge no more than 6 days of meals to his or her school meal account.”

The policy related to rental of school facilities has a new section addressing rental of the new baseball/softball complex: “Schedule D – Baseball/Softball Complex Rental. Any group under Schedule D can rent the school facilities on a first come, first serve basis. Priority will always be given to school teams and clubs. The facility is available for rental at a rate of $125 per day, which includes a $50 refundable deposit, $50 non-refundable field material fee, and a minimum $25 non-refundable maintenance fee based upon the needs of the group. Any damage, vandalism, theft, or needed additional cleaning that occurs during their rental will be taken out of the $50 refund and if the cost is more than $50, the organization renting the facility is responsible to pay the difference.

All policies can be viewed on the School District website:
www.oneidaschooldistrict.org.