New Teachers, Building Improvements
Meadows Valley School Board held their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 8. Updates on hiring, building improvements, and community agreements were discussed.
Lindsay Butler has been hired as the new first grade teacher. Superintendent Dee Fredrickson reported that Butler was highly recommended and will be starting her teaching career at Meadows Valley this upcoming school year.
Current English teacher Jared McIlvain will be adding the roles of Vice Principal and Athletic Director to his titles. “Mr. Mac” will also continue as the high school English teacher.
The school is still advertising open positions for counselor, secondary science, and part time music teacher.
Progress has been made on building improvements including continued work on the outer fire suppression system. The playground project is moving along. Old metal equipment items have been removed and groundwork, including new gravel and sloping, has been completed with the help of community members Mike Bolopue and Ken Crogh and school custodian Tamara Brusso. New playground equipment has been ordered and is expected to arrive in August.
Fredrickson also told the board Tim Wilcox is putting together a quote for fixes to the HVAC system after doing exploratory work and finding some with burnt wires and broken thermostats. Most items look fixable and the school board expects to review the quote in August.
A proposal was brought forward from the Community House Thrift Store regarding winter safety concerns in the Bargain Bin building including snow slide and ice build up on the ground. The shop has brought in $16,730 since January 1 of this year. The cost of materials for the fix would be around $4,174 along with as yet determined labor costs.
The shop has made improvements this year to the entrance and side donation areas to improve safety and ease of access.
The thrift store has been able to contribute throughout the community over the years including donating children’s clothes to Jamie’s Place in McCall, Riggins thrift stores and after school program, and providing free children’s clothing to the New Meadows Youth Advocacy Coalition (YAC) after school program.
Updates from Harlow’s Bus Company were delivered by Fredrickson noting the hiring of two new drivers for the Meadows Valley routes. Since Harlow’s will no longer utilize the bus barn in McCall, they plan to park route buses along with a back up bus at the school. The school plans to charge Harlow’s for parking.
Recent changes to money allocated by the federal government for schools will affect some of Meadows Valley’s Title programs. $20,406 was quoted as the total amount received in the past. For Title 2A Educator Effectiveness, $9,700 has been used previously to pay for college courses for teacher endorsements or professional development. $674 has been used for the Title 3A English Learner program which covers testing costs among other things. Title 4A Student Support was allocated $10,000 for learning enrichment which was used this past year to pay for a part time life coach/counselor for students. Along with the above items, next year’s Professional Development plan will need to be adjusted and pared down considering funding losses. Fredrickson said as of that day the money is not expected, but things could change.
The board discussed in depth two MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) they had received from the YAC after school program and the City of New Meadows.
Some curiosity was sparked by the MOU with YAC since the new Youth Center will likely be open and available for this type of program. Currently the after school program would continue doing food prep at the Community Center and meet at the school for their regular activities.
The MOU from the City is for use of the Youth Center for the school’s preschool program. Both agreements need to go to the school’s attorney and then back to the other parties for questions. The board hopes to make progress on these at their August meeting.
Finally, the board reviewed and discussed thoroughly the non-certified employee terms of employment for a second time. Some adjustments were made before the document was approved unanimously.
The meeting ended with an executive session. The next school board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 12 at 7:00 p.m..
