Preschool Plans, Budgeting, & Policy Updates
The Meadow Valley School Board held their monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 9. Three of five board members, the Superintendent/Principal, and one parent were present. The Vice-Principal joined via Zoom. Main topics discussed included updates regarding the new preschool building, property improvements and related budgets, and new school policies.
After the Pledge of Allegiance, Superintendent Dee Fredrickson began her report by discussing the recent history of the preschool program. Fredrickson explained that when space for the preschool was lacking, a temporary solution was set up by adding a wall to the larger kindergarten classroom to form the existing shared community room and separate preschool room. Due to the higher enrollment for preschool lately, those areas have become inadequate.
Enter the City applying for a grant last Spring that would allow for building up the Recycling Center on Peterson Memorial into a multi use youth center including options for a preschool classroom and potential daycare. The City was awarded the grant and at the moment they are planning on breaking ground around August 1. Fredrickson shared that the plan is to build in phases with the projected completion date of the preschool area being October 1. Construction would then continue on the other sections until complete.
Angie Mettie will be the preschool teacher and an aide will support her in the half day program. Big praise was spoken for Mettie for her diligent work in coordinating with the city, writing, applying for, and receiving an additional $50,000 grant through Blue Cross Idaho, and taking the lead for the school on this project. The grant will be used for furnishings, curriculum, and all that is needed to make that section of the building a functioning preschool space.
In an effort to keep students in one location after the start of school, the school administration is pushing the preschool start date from the second week of September to early October when the new classroom should be ready. Many people may wonder, will the building really be ready then? School and City administrations are communicating updates regularly, and Fredrickson stated that they will make the final decision based on all updated information and the most continuous option for the preschool kids.
When the new City building is completely finished, the City may be able to provide daycare as well as use that space for after school, youth, and community focused programs. The daycare could be a benefit to teachers and community families.
A team building and student leadership professional development day will take place on September 6 for teachers and staff. Fredrickson emphasized the importance of gathering staff together as a team and building rapport before the start of the school year, especially with the changes to the staff roster. Some topics that will be addressed include dealing with AI technology, high reliability school training, and discussing policy and procedure changes.
In terms of staff, the additional new hires we have not yet reported on are, Teddi Bledsoe for 5th grade, Kevin Knapp for Health and P.E., and Robyn Ridd for Secondary Science. Meg Henderson will continue Character Strong sessions and will also be hosting counseling office hours one day per week.
Repairs on the school owned employee housing continue with ServPro. They are replacing the subfloor, floor joists, and a section of the foundation. The budget for the repairs has now increased by $13,000. Fredrickson is hopeful that final stages of renovation will occur by the end of the month. The part time handyman is conducting assessment and repair work on the school’s irrigation system.
Next, Fredrickson showed the board two prospective quotes for the front entrance and cafeteria door security upgrades. The school was awarded a $20,000 grant for this project. After discussion, it was agreed to move forward with the less costly option. This will upgrade the current wooden doors of the inner vestibules using 3M safety film on the windows and adding electric locks rather than fully replacing them with metal doors. The existing outer metal entrance doors will be strengthened with electronic locks, electric access control, 3M Safety Film, and a Verkada intercom and monitoring system. The Superintendent emphasized that the number one duty of the team is keeping kids safe in all ways when they are in school. The board also agreed to add air quality sensors to bathrooms as part of the same project. The plan will be over budget with final numbers yet to be determined. An additional grant was sought to help cover further costs. Upgrades to all exterior doors are on the future maintenance list.
The Superintendent’s report concluded with a plumbing project update. The plumber will finish the mapping scan, redo cleanouts around the building, and work on the grease trap in the kitchen.
The board then discussed their first action item, School Modernization Fund. Across the state, via Idaho House Bills 521 and 760, money will be dispersed in differing amounts to school districts. Meadows Valley district is set to receive $451,410 for a ten year plan of maintenance capital improvement projects. The money can be distributed yearly or in a lump sum, and the board chose to opt for the latter option. The funding amount the Idaho government chooses is based on average daily attendance and number of instructional days per school year.
In order to receive the funding, Fredrickson will submit a 10 year project budget and plan with School Board Chairwoman Barbara Dixon’s signature.
Some concern was expressed during the conversation as the funding amount could be used very quickly based on the many known maintenance projects. A decision was made to also put together a budget and 10-year plan based not just on the funding amount, but showing updates the school needs to attend to in the next ten years. In the first year, the dry fire and safety system will need to be addressed. The projected amount needed for this is $55,000. Other projects discussed for the plan were replacing internal doors, fixing the roof and problematic area that had an ice dam, and replacing furnaces, HVAC, and furniture. Regular maintenance projects and emergency or disaster repairs are not to be included in these capital improvement plans even though they would certainly cost quite a bit.
The final action item was to approve school policy number 2620 regarding grading and progress reports. This is referring to the new standards based grading system for the elementary school. The policy was approved unanimously.
At the August board meeting, the board will be approving handbooks and working on new library policy and procedures. The new policy will include instruction that check outs can only be done during staffed library hours. Another policy update will be regarding student health and setting guides for the interim period until a new school counselor is hired. Fredrickson will also give an update on what she learns about submitting the 10 year plan.
After a check for any additional comments, Dixon adjourned the meeting for executive session. The next school board meeting will be held Tuesday, August 13.
