Students Enjoy Ski Day
Meadows Valley School Board Trustees Barbara Dixon, Jeffrey Luff, Chris Peterson, and Teresa Roberts met for their monthly meeting Tuesday, February 10. City council Member Jeff Parnett also attended to introduce himself as City Council Liaison, a new position to help communication between the School and City.
New Board Clerk Megan Murdock donned a second “hat” that evening to share as PTO President about the return of the Spring Carnival. She highlighted ways the PTO has contributed to the school including fundraising, providing food for literacy night, and purchase of staff t-shirts and other clothes. The School Spring Carnival is a fondly remembered event and the PTO is looking forward to helping facilitate its return. “This will be a free, fun event for our families,” said Murdock. The event is scheduled for April 30 from 5-7:00 p.m. in the school gym. There will be carnival themed food available for purchase.
Superintendent Dee Fredrickson gave her monthly report to the Board. She shared about recent talks Chris Carlisle, the School Resource Officer (SRO), has given including one given to secondary students on dangers related to vaping as well as legal implications. Fredrickson said Carlisle is helping the school with attendance by conducting home visits and adding support to build good relationships with families saying, “Students have to be here to learn.”
Fredrickson highlighted elementary staff who volunteered their own time over the summer and beyond for continuing education on the Science of Reading and phonemic awareness. She also explained the school had completed another active shooter lockdown drill. Dixon said she had participated and was impressed by the organization and said everyone she encountered was well trained.
Athletic Director Jared McIlvain reported that the middle school basketball team is growing saying they are a young group that is learning. He said there was not enough interest to pursue a golf team this year, but said they plan to push for middle school next year. McIlvain also said Katie Wright is taking on a head coach position this year for high school track & field looking at a team of 13 kids.
The AD said the wrestling team would be headed to districts that week and noted how cool it was to see the community show up at the recent McCall meet. The team received more support recently with the loan of a new practice mat. The team worked together to gather raffle basket items and sell tickets and were rewarded with raising $1,400 for current and future seasons. McIlvain expressed gratitude for this and for a recent $500 donation.
Fredrickson said she and McIlvain are conducting second semester drop-in evaluations for teachers ahead of finalizing contracts for next school year.
She also shared learnings from a conference about AI and new technology that sets better “guard rails for students” so the programming will suggest research options rather than writing content to be copied.
Fredrickson praised Murdock who has also stepped in to manage in house financial and HR projects. Murdock is assisting with the school’s transition to an outside financial management company, Charter Impact.
During the meeting, Regional Director Jonathan Gillen of Charter Impact gave a presentation to the board over video call updating them on the transition so far. Gillen said he expects to send a full financial report ahead of the March meeting and possibly an interim overview before then.
Board Members shared that they had met and completed the Superintendent’s annual evaluation and had presented it to Fredrickson. The evaluation was approved by the Board with intent to renew Fredrickson’s contract.
The Board then moved to action items related to six policies. All new policies require a first reading before being approved at a later meeting and that applied to Policy #8605 regarding Record Retention, #4170 related to Social Media Operated by District or School, and the related Form for record requests.
Fredrickson noted at the end of the meeting that grades 3-12 would be attending Ski Day through Brundage’s Lifetime Sports Program on Thursday, February 12. Brundage’s program offers an affordable option for schools and community youth groups with the mission to bring in youth who might not otherwise have the opportunity to ski or snowboard. Many of the students participating on Thursday said it was their first time experiencing these sports. Fredrickson also highlighted that CTE/Ag teacher Rachael Melad would be grilling burgers in the parking lot for the student’s lunch that day. Melad secured her grill atop her flat bed truck which was a fun sight for all who dropped in for the meal.
The next School Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the school library.
