140 Students Enrolled; Wrestling Team Moving Forward
The Meadows Valley School Board held their monthly meeting on Tuesday, November 4. All Trustees were in attendance along with eight audience members, including three representatives from Harlow’s Bus company.
Brian Johnson, Harlow’s Regional Director of Operations covering Twin Falls to Spokane, started covering New Meadows operations along with new managers throughout Harlow’s organization this past Spring. Keith Parks will be the location manager for New Meadows and plans to attend monthly school board meetings as much as possible. He referenced a goal to work on improving communication overall and especially communication between the school and buses during routes to improve safety. Parks introduced Michael Emerson as his “right hand man” and a “great asset” to the school and bus team.
Johnson expressed a company-wide desire to have better communication saying, “our goal is for communication between the bus company and the school district because we are an extension of the school so we want to make sure we are great partners.”
Superintendent and Principal Dee Fredrickson said she hoped to have a future discussion to hopefully negotiate some price reductions. Johnson said he would welcome the conversation, but communicated that bus-related costs have “increased astronomically since Covid”.
Fredrickson then gave her monthly report noting 140 students enrolled. She also shared that Student Led Conferences held the week prior went well and for elementary students and their parents, over 95% were in attendance. She said secondary students and parents showed about 75-80% attendance and was positive about the turnout.
Fredrickson passed a snapshot report to the board on Idaho Reading Indicator testing for grades K-3 noting that last year the school showed the highest growth in the state. She said they have a high goal once again this year and are optimistic for continued strong growth.
The Superintendent reported on recent Professional Development training, saying current discussions have revolved around positive intervention and supports that are in place now as well as how existing staff and students might want to update them to better suit and encourage their growth in being respectful, responsible, and safe. Fredrickson also noted a frequently voiced concern from parents and staff this year has been kids being mean or unkind for no known reason. She said she is hopeful updated positive interventions can help bring change and encourage students to be kind and thoughtful as well as grow self confidence.
She also reported on strategies being worked on at the secondary level to reduce class disruptions and move to more of a no tolerance approach.
Jared McIlvain, Vice Principal and Athletic Director reported on wrestling, saying things have come along very quickly. He was pleased to report that wrestling mats were donated by Marsing and he was able to pick them up with the help of a trailer borrowed from a student’s family. The donated mats represent a savings of $10-11,000 for the program that would have otherwise needed to be fundraised.
McIlvain said around 11 students are planning to participate in the upcoming season and said community members have already come forward expressing interest in volunteer coaching.
He also reported that the school’s PTO had agreed to help organize an upcoming fundraiser which would alleviate some startup and meet travel costs for the team. After a question on team demographics, McIlvain noted wrestling is the “fastest growing women’s sport in the nation”. The board expressed praise and thanks on the new endeavor. Wrestling practices are expected to start the week of November 17.
Fredrickson reported that the FFA club has been very active including recent trips to a logging operation, visits with CWI and Forest Service representatives, a trip to College of Southern Idaho, and a college fair visit in Ontario. McIlvain shared that one student was able to find out about a training program and funding through LAUNCH Idaho that would cover about 80% of certification costs. The program would help them get their CDL certification before they graduate. Fredrickson said, “What’s so great about having a student be successful doing that is it sets a model for other students, so now they can visualize themselves doing the same thing. So it’s really important. I’m really excited this student had this opportunity.”
Fredrickson continued her report noting the HVAC system upgrades are continuing. Tim Wilcox is managing the project and restoring, replacing, and cleaning the system ahead of winter.
The Superintendent noted that another paraprofessional has been approved for twice a week work, which means all kids needing para support will be covered.
She also said a new counselor has been hired to come in once a week on Thursdays. The school continues their relationship with Ignite Idaho for counseling, so someone is now available for counseling services most days of the school week.
The Board approved a snow removal bid unanimously.
Another reading of Policy 2320 with related form and procedure was approved unanimously with a few changes after some discussion. The model from the Idaho State Board Association covers policy related to health, sex education, and human sexuality, and reflects topics related to current state policies. During the discussion, Fredrickson noted that the school’s current curriculum does not include sex education outside of a short explanation of abstinence in health class curriculum. The policy states before a student can view any new curriculum related to this policy, their parent/guardian must be given notice, provided an opportunity to review the material, and provide permission to the school. Fredrickson said there is currently no Idaho standard on what should be taught on these topics and they do not anticipate a change to curriculum. She continued that if it did change in the future, this would be the policy to follow. All school policies get updated to the school website.
An emergency certification request for a secondary science teacher was approved. An alternative authorization did not go through previously, so the school is applying for emergency certification so the teacher can continue teaching middle school science.
Trustee Barbara Dixon requested a return of bike racks and Fredrickson said they would work on that. Dixon also asked about opportunities to provide more food for the community and said she is personally looking into options. McIlvain noted the school has been approved again for the “food in backpacks” program and Fredrickson also mentioned the after school program on Tuesdays and Thursdays is providing snacks and food during programming.
Before exiting to an executive session, the Board shared introductions with Teresa Roberts and husband Kim Roberts. Teresa will likely be filling Trustee Shayleen Brooks’ position upon her retirement from the Board in the next month. The Roberts opened Roberts Greenhouse near the school earlier this year.
The next school board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 9 at 7:00 p.m..
