Smith Sworn in to Trustee Zone 3
The Meadows Valley School Board held their regular meeting on Tuesday, April 14. New Board Trustee LeAndra Smith was sworn in for Zone Three. The Board also approved the district calendar for next year, set a date for the annual public budget hearing, and reviewed and re-approved the School Wellness Policy.
Trustee Jeff Luff detailed that the Zone Three seat has sat empty for more than nine months despite reasonable and documented efforts to recruit a new trustee. He continued that with this consideration the Board deems it reasonable to appoint a qualified candidate who resides within the district but outside of Zone Three. A vote to approve the appointment of LeAndra Smith was unanimous and Smith was sworn in effective immediately.
Superintendent and Principal Dee Fredrickson gave her monthly report noting continuing attendance at 131 students with a new student starting this week. She reported that the school, city, and local Youth Advocacy Coalition (YAC) and MV Youth Coalition had been looking into applying for a 21st Century Learning grant that would help provide enrichment for the preschool program and expand it into the afternoon. She reported that the application for this year’s grant had stalled due to timing and that they hoped to apply for the grant in the future.
Fredrickson reported that Student Led Conferences went well and they had good attendance. She said IDLA Science classes are moving along and still ironing out struggles. With recent changes to state funding and legislation, Fredrickson said they are still not sure how these programs will change.
Fredrickson reported on Athletics saying Jared McIlvain, the school’s Vice Principal and Athletic Director, has reactivated an investigation into installing a track on the school’s property. Recent changes and local support have made this a possibility and an update will be given at a future meeting.
Ninth grade student and Student Council representative Annie Rhoades presented the Board an idea for signage in the school gym to help direct students, parents, and visitors for event seating. She intends to put together drawings and dimensions for the board to review. Rhoades said this idea came from many school athletes and other students.
Fredrickson also asked Rhoades to share about her recent experience attending the FFA State Convention with the Meadows Valley Chapter. She shared content from some of the speeches given and said their chapter brought 14 students to the conference in Twin Falls.
The Superintendent reported that all but one positive letter of intent from current teachers has been received. She said they have placed ads for current open positions. These include one elementary position, school counselor, and secondary science instructor.
The Board and attendees then heard the Monthly Financial Report from Jonathan Gillen with Charter Impact. Full monthly reports are posted regularly on the school website.
The Board considered two options for next school year’s district calendar and unanimously approved one. Both had the same number of instruction days but included differences in Professional Development (PD) dates that would allow for staff to take some four day weekends around holidays. Fredrickson said she thought the request was reasonable considering the time staff and teachers are in school for after hours events such as concerts and conferences, but added concern about missing any PD days. A committee of teachers and staff gathered opinions and ideas to create one of the proposed calendars. Ultimately Board Trustee Chris Peterson proposed a compromise between the two calendars that would change January’s PD date to accommodate a four day weekend as well as adjust the PD days in October and April to half rather than full days. The 2026-27 calendar was unanimously approved with the discussed changes.
A Budget Workshop date was set for May 12. A public Budget Hearing was set for June 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the school library. The monthly school board meeting will take place directly after the hearing at 7:00 p.m. This is an opportunity for the public to hear about the school budget, ask any questions, and give any comment.
The Board reviewed and re-accepted unanimously Policy 8232 regarding School Wellness. The policy notes a need to review and re-accept it every 3 years. The last adoption was January 14, 2023.
The Board has reviewed a few parking lot resealing and repainting quotes over the last meetings. This month they reviewed and unanimously approved a quote from Striping 4 U. The quote for resealing the parking lot was in the amount of $19,280 with an option to add resealing of the asphalt on the elementary side and tennis courts for an additional $3,980.
A motion to dispose of old unusable Chromebooks was passed unanimously.
The next School Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 12 at 7:00 p.m. in the school library.
