001I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. As required by Montana law, members of the community are given an opportunity to make brief comments to the board on any matters not included in the agenda. Individuals wishing to be heard shall first be recognized by the chair. Individuals after identifying themselves will proceed to make brief comments. Board would like to remind everyone that to avoid violation of your individual rights and privacy, the member of the public wishing wishing to address the board will not be allowed to make comments about any student, staff member, or member of the general public. No action may be taken on any matter discussed during public comment meeting until
002such time as the matter is specifically noticed on an agenda and the public has been allowed the opportunity to comment. We have any public comment on a non-aggenda item? Seeing none, we will proceed with our meeting and the recognition of Trustee Mloud. What did you want to say something first? >> Um, you come up here for a second, Jessie. >> I have to stand by yours. >> Sure. Wherever's most embarrassing. >> So, not everybody knows this, but Jesse stepped in the position when there was an opening about three years ago. Is that right? Um she's very passionate about the trades and has a career in construction, done all sorts of different construction related tasks. Um she's done a lot to help the CTE program build great schools. Um she ran for election re-election and won
003after your appointment which we were all happy about. Served on technology and CTE committees I believe. And I guess a little bit lesser known things about Jesse, she's married to Casey. She has two boys, Col Jackson. Jackson's in ninth grade and Colin is seventh. >> Sixth. >> Mhm. >> Awesome. >> So, we wanted to thank you for your service and your commitment and all the time you've spent working with us over the past three years. And we're sorry that you can't continue it, but we understand. And uh we got this little token >> for you to take home and >> thank you remind you of your time with us. >> Thank you. Right. >> Good luck. Um, I want to say thank you quick, but also um, uh, I'm not going to stop dedicating my
004time to support public education, the teachers, the students, and administration. So, thank you for all that you do. Thank you. >> And with that sadness comes the acknowledgement of our new newly elected trustees. Oh, >> trying to get in touch with Joan. >> Okay, we're going to have to wait for about >> um is it all right? >> Right. >> Yeah. >> Um >> how far out is he? Uh his secretary is trying to get involved with him right now. We we can agree to reports. >> Okay. >> Would you guys like to start with your voice? >> Superintendent report. Excuse me. >> Um okay. It's homecoming week. We started off with a pep rally this morning. The seniors won the what's it called? The shout out or whatever. >> Class. Yeah. Um so we're
005excited for our seniors. Um lots of great events being held. So um look at the website and check it out and come to any and all of them. Um the homecoming football game is Friday night and the homecoming dance is Saturday night. Um, also on Saturday, obviously, uh, Belgrade is going to celebrate their fall festival. ProStart, our very own ProStart, for the first time ever, is hosting the pancake breakfast, um, in our high school commons. So, come get your tasty pancakes between 7 and 9:30 in the morning. Uh we also have lots of groups marching in the parade at 10:00 a.m. and we'll have a booth at the festival where we invite everybody to come learn more about the um fourth elementary school bond and ask any other questions you want about uh the school
006assistant. Uh congratulations to Courtney Duma, our high school culinary arts instructor who's been selected by OPI as one of four finalists for the 2026 Montana Teacher of the Year Award. Um the final decision is going to be made after a formal interview process which takes place in October. So fingers crossed we're here celebrating Courtney as the teacher of the year for the state um at our November meeting. >> Woohoo. >> She should take a little follow up for honey with her when she goes to >> Right. Yes. There you go. I think so too. Yeah. >> Um and I would like to introduce Mary Hampton. Um Mary is our new uh halftime HR director. Uh she has 25 plus years of experience in human resources. She's been an HR consultant for over 25 years and
007has been in the Gallatin Valley since 2013. Prior to starting human resources, she worked in HR and recruiting for tech companies in the Portland area. She graduated from Calpali St. Louis Obisma with a degree in psych psychology and began her career in employment services with the California employment development department. Mary's a member of Prospera and BPW which is Bosezeman Professional Women and has served on their board of directors. She's also a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and a published author. Her most recent book, a children's book called A World of Cookies for Santa, received gold medal recognition from Moon Beam Children's Book Awards and the American Book Best Book Awards. Nicely done. >> Congratulations. >> Um, Mary is married to Dean Hampton, who's here with her tonight, who's the executive
008director of Love, Inc. They have two sons. Kyle is a senior business major at MSU and Bryce is a sophomore at Community College in Waco where he's playing baseball. So, welcome Mary. Do you have any words of wisdom you want to share? Just wave to your mom paper. >> Sounds good. Well, we're very happy to have you here. Got it. >> Yeah. >> Um I think that's it. >> All right. Why don't we move on with our student representative report with Trustee Caleb. >> So as you heard, my name is Kaitlin Hotstead. Um it's on the plaque. Thank you for that, by the way. And I'm honor student body president this year. I joined student council freshman year because I've always believed that students should have a say in how our schools shaped. I plan
009dances, spirit weeks, fundraisers, and recently pep rallies. Yeah, I've been fortunate to be involved in many areas of the school from performing in theater and choir, challenging myself with AP classes. Through these experiences, I've learned a lot about the student body over time. They're creative, smart, athletic, and always strive to succeed. With this, they've given me the opportunity to represent them here tonight. And because of that, I'm excited to share what city council has been working on since the end of last school year. Homecoming is actually this week and just today I saw how spirited my fellow classmates can be with that. Our theme this year is ho here we go again which was loosely based off the music movie school Monomia with each spirit day according to an AVA song title. Today was the
010winter takes it all or class color day. We also had our fall sports pep rally. Tuesday is lay all your love on me or tropical Tuesday. Wednesday is Thank you for the music where students dress as their favorite music artist or rep their merch. Thursday, slipping through my fingers where students dress as their younger selves. Friday is Gimme Gimme Gimme, that pandic spirit. And throughout the week, we have manly volleyball tonight at 7, senior sunrise tomorrow, and a home volleyball game, powderpuff Wednesday, homecoming football game Friday, and our dance Saturday night. This week is a perfect example of how spirited and involved our students can be, and I'm so excited to see how everything comes together. I just know this year is going to be full of energy, shift, and panther friends. Thank you. >>
011Thanks. >> Uh, district clerk, I think we've seen Car's notes. Do you have any questions for her? Anything you want to talk about? >> No. >> Any questions for K? >> Um, our county superintendent is trying to get here since >> I'll go slow. >> So, take your time. >> Congratulations on your family event by the way. >> Thank you. >> Uh, board report. Anybody have anything they'd like to talk about? >> Couple things. >> Took a spent a few hours with De and she took me around and showed me the facilities in the area here in the last couple weeks ago and uh was actually quite interesting. A lot of stuff was nice to lay my eyes on. Some things surprised me good ways. Some things probably need to work on. Um but uh
012you know the old Japanese uh theory of Kaiser continuous improvement applies here I guess. Um and I see some of the things that I I commented on are already in our uh in our facilities meetings uh agenda. So that'll be coming up. And uh then we also had a meeting here a few days ago for the bond um the bond committee or for the uh North Elementary and uh DD's got quite a task list of you know things to punch out for getting us uh keeping us on track to promote this and get informed and educate people so that they uh know what they're voting on in uh November. So, appreciate all the hard work, Katie. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thanks for your time. >> What? >> I was just going to say
013that today I had the opportunity to be over in the middle school and got to walk through those new bathrooms. Um the the pictures that Leroy tried to send would not do justice. They were fabulous. >> Beautiful. >> Really nice to see. Great job done. >> See, definitely. I saw that on the on the facility tour. It's one of those things if you didn't know the before, the after doesn't, you know, blow you away. But if you knew the before, it's like, "Oh, that." >> And I don't know that anybody cares but me. But just so you know, our girls volleyball team played in a little tournament on Saturday and out of every game that they played, they lost one set, and basically were the winners of the tournament. It was >> pretty uh Pam
014more Panther Pride right there. Did you want to talk about your sofa? >> Oh, yes. And I should tell you too, because of where I live, I'm just a hop, skip, and a jump from the high school. And I've been around since so long, parents feel comfortable just flopping by. And I've had some parents just pop in and thank me. Um, thank us for the cell phone policy. I've had some positive remarks from teachers from high school. thanking us for the cell phone policy. And the best part, I've had high school students say thank you, which I was waiting to have my lunch ate instead and thank you. So, I hope that it is going okay. If not, blame Julie. her idea. >> Anybody else? >> Thank you. >> I wanted to say something along
015those lines, too. Um, it's getting a little tougher out in society to hold a job. Oracle had a bunch of layoffs this week and I'm still employed, but one of my kids was complaining about um getting somebody showed up late to class and the teacher made him go down and get a note, which I appreciated because there's some things that our kids need to learn. One of them is being on time. One of them is being respectful and uh one is not playing on your phone during class and that will really help you in the job market when things are tough. So, I know it's been an adjustment switching from CO to this, but thank you. Um, anyone else? Okay. Um, technology department. Is Mike here? >> He is not. If anybody has questions about
016anything, I'd be happy to Okay. >> do my best to answer them. >> Um, multifactor authentication is going okay. Yeah, I think the biggest um you know, it had people in all the buildings the morning that we rolled it out um to try to provide support and we had some glitches obviously um but um I haven't heard anything since then. So, um I think we're we're getting used to it and figuring out, you know, if there were quirky things happening, how to how to address those things. So um I think that has been as smooth as possible for a big change like that. >> How about your network upgrades? Have you noticed any difference in the bandwidth or your speed of your network? >> Um yeah, we have to work faster now. >> Keep up
017with the internet. Um yeah, it's um been a lot more consistent. So >> pretty happy about that. >> Okay, any other technology related questions? >> Nope. Um, I guess we can proceed with our principles elementary. Natalie's here. Any questions for Natalie? >> Want to say anything? Natalie, >> we have plenty of time, right? >> Okay. Um, so, uh, sure. Um, Matt's gonna laugh at me because this is one of those things that Matt denied me a bat in a shirt. But our theme this year is together. We make learning magical. So, pink or blue, take a trip, tape one, pass them down. Um, we uh there's a picture floating around of Dee and me and a unicorn head. Um, and it's just been really fun. Our spirit, we're going on the spirit train as well.
018So, ours was kindness today. So, we're supposed to wear shirts with kind messages and acts of kindness. Um, I have your bags, my bag, so don't take mine. Um, yeah, it's been a really fun start. And the four-year-olds are the cutest humans on earth to have in the building and they're just very happy and I don't know it's been a good it's been a good start. So I don't know if you guys have any questions. I know the other um elementary are kind of in the same boat as well just getting things rolling and things are going pretty smoothly. >> How's your numbers overall schools? They um so class sizes we we dropped about four sections of classrooms. Um we're down to four uh first grades, four second grades to three um third grades, but
019the class sizes are are bigger. Um so I think the numbers are pretty similar last year. A little bit down, but pretty similar. And then having four-year-old student, too. So um our specialists and stuff are picking up some of the lunchroom help. Uh we're trying to have because we don't have a behavior interventionist right now, trying to have extra supervision outside when kids are out there to kind of hopefully catch things before they become bigger issues. So >> thank you. >> Yeah. >> Thank you for that bag. >> Yeah. I'm sorry I'm cheesy, but we had shirts and we're like trying to I we had a sunshine committee meeting where we like do fun things for staff and um you know for the PT day or which I think was today or you know other
020things like that and so we're going to like put a magical spin on all of that and so or PTC put up their board and have like a magical spin on that. So it's kind of fun. >> All right. middle school question for you. We're not nearly as fun as the elementary school. >> But it's just as exciting, I'll tell you. >> I know. I'll beat you some. I will. Um we're off to a good start. Our enrollment is is um you've seen the numbers there. We um I think we have 53 new ones and unenrolled moved kids. We have about 19 for a total of 950, which in the past, of course, we're down a little bit. We've always been close to just over a thousand. Um, something else, a lot of new staff
021that we've had this year. Not I guess not that many, but um you can see their names and things there. We had a cute little video for you for the our summer staff adventures, which we do at the beginning of every year. I'll I'll share with you um with permission from the staff of the kids and so on. Something new that we always do is uh we're always looking to do new and different things and one of the different things that we made is um we looked at our schedule to try to carve out more minutes for academic time and we did um we beg borrow and steal from all the places and so um we've been able to do that and with fifth grade now all being on the same page with all the
022common curriculum makes it really nice because now we're able to what we're doing with the fifth graders is um if those kids and having gifted and talented on word now too has been really nice. And so we have a nice pathway uh for those kids that are scoring high in the 99th percentile n 96 and above. They go to their first part of their fifth grade math class and then they're in a sixth grade benchmark class uh to get that extra enrichment. So that's been nice and we've been able to do that with our fifth grade schedule that we that we have in the sixth through 8th grade already have their other pathways of accelerated classes and such. So that's something new. Um so our our class sizes or class minutes went from 47 to
02350 which is makes a bit of a difference. So it's it's nice and it does make a difference. So all the sports are underway all kinds of activities happening throughout the building. We also are involved in spirit week and the kids get into it. They love it. So, um, we appreciate that from the high school cuz we we tag along. Yeah. >> Do you have any outstanding positions that need? >> Um, no. I just I'm I'm okay, but I may Natalie may be stealing one from me, which is which is okay. Which is okay. I think we have it figured out. I think we've got a solution. So So I right now I'm I'm staffed. You know, >> that's the first time I've heard that in like five years. >> Yeah. I know. >> Yes.
024So thankful for that. >> Any other questions for Julia? >> I was wondering like since we got our new curriculum and we have time when do you think you'll start seeing like >> Well, I think I pay off. Well, I think we saw a little bit of it last year and I feel like this year will be another good because it's been it's been rolling through the elementaryaries and now we're just hitting those fourth graders coming in. The new fifth graders have had that now for a couple years with that curriculum if I'm not mistaken. Correct. >> Correct. This is the second year with >> second year with a fivey but with math. Yeah. Yeah. Third year. So yeah. I got a really quick question for Natalie. I'm sorry. Are you doing anything for the
025when we do blur there and I toured we picked up on that it's 25 years of age view. Are you doing anything for that? >> We hadn't talked about it but we can >> say something cool that you know it's kind of a benchmark. >> It is. I think that'll come probably toward the school year maybe with like double ceremony for fourth graders type things. So that's a really great idea. The other thing I want to add that missed the build theme, the reason that we chose the theme together we make learning magical is because it takes all of us, right? Like the families, the community, the staff, the students. Um, and so that was kind of like the wraparound view of and I communicated that to families and staff and stuff, but that was
026the together piece is like it takes all of us. So I think it kind of feeds into the N. >> I like it. um has one question or one comment that is probably for both middle school and elementary. Um we talked a bit about the new school and the reason that we're trying to do the new school and the fact that we had quite a number of parents that said they prefer to have their fifth graders in the elementary. And one of the things that we talked about uh was how do we how do we get involved or in touch with the those parents that are having kids that are in that age group and visit a little bit about the value of this new school and and talk to them about what our plans
027are, things like that. get out a little more personal contact. Um, I know you this is probably on de talking about if you haven't already, but uh it's something that's um high on my list is trying to reach out to the community a little bit more and not just Bridge View, but all three of the elementaryaries and the middle school. Middle schools are particularly interesting because you've got kids that are in the elementary and then kids and the families that you know I've got kids that are in that middle school now and you know I'm sure that's some of the dialogue we want to add. Not to you know not to say too much about that but I just wondered if there's somehow we can make a make a connection with that. uh in the
028next uh week or two or month at a minimum. We do have a very short timeline before the election and we'd like to reach out to as many of those people because we think they've got a particular interest in why we build this school. So just a com I think uh next is Shannon who has a presentation on I have three things to say. >> First, I better um prep Natalie on what it's like to steal an employee from Julie so that she's fully prepared. >> I don't mean to make you nervous or anything, Natalie. Um, second, uh, want to thank Dee for, um, doing me a favor and, um, having me here at the meeting while the Bears are playing. She said it's probably going to be better for me. >> Don't have bear
029swag on. >> Yeah, I know. >> School spirit today. That's what um and the last thing before I get to my presentation was uh Caitlyn mentioned the the themes the day and um staff and students have already picked my outfit for Wednesday. So um really looking forward to that. >> Yeah, >> pictures or it didn't happen. That's why I have no cell phone. >> That's a very good school. >> Yes. >> Yeah. We're gonna talk about that. >> So, um, anyway, just a little bit of backstory on our block scheduling. Laya, you might actually know the year. Um, we went to a block schedule. I believe it was in 1617 or 1516. So, we've been in it quite a while. >> 16 my first year. >> Yeah. >> Perfect. Um, and so we've been in
030a block schedule for quite a while. Um, then COVID hit. And when CO hit, our schedule went uh berserk. I mean, crazy. We were in semester long classes in quarters. Um it was it was just it was insane. And so now in the last couple years since we're out of CO and we're getting past it, I've really noticed and been assessing the quality of our instruction and a lot of it comes down to um student engagement in the block period. Our periods are 95 minutes. That's a that's a long time. Um what I was noticing is these um newer teachers out of um the university aren't necessarily trained in teaching in a block schedule and it's a hu it's a huge difference. It's not just like your 40 49 minute class periods and that. So,
031I think that there was a piece of us that when CO um showed up that we lost that real focus on the instruction and now we're trying to get that back because um I see students coming out of the uh the colleges that don't have the planning skills, you know, and if you don't have the planning skills, then you really get into classroom management issues. Um 95 minutes and we know you can't lecture for 95 minutes. That's not it. But there's about five different things you should do in every block period. Um, you know, overplanning and you need to transition uh to different activities. And the research actually says that the more activities within a class period, the better. That's what kids engage with more. So, what we've done is uh we've come up with
032different things that um we're going to do many professional development workshops on this year um with staff. happened when I presented it um to staff on our opening days. Uh I got a lot of positive feedback that they were looking forward to it um and they wanted to learn how to be more effective. Um this really goes handinhand with not nothing's on an island. It really goes handinhand with um the cell phone policy. A lot of times what I saw kids were using their cell phones when they didn't have enough instruction in class. And so now that's not the case. that of our teachers need training on the the planning in those in those periods and how they can get more in depth um and increase student engagement and student achievement. So, we've identified basically
033four different um areas that throughout the year um we're going to dedicate one PLC a month to um for implementing the professional development. It's going to be on curriculum redesign, which just means what are we doing in our class periods that we can take our existing adopted curriculum and make sure that we're using the resources that we have and adjusting that and realigning that curriculum um in the block schedule. Uh engagement strategies, that's huge for our students. um if the kids are engaged and I do have to say I've walked around the um I've been in many classrooms in these first few days of school and um that's what's happening. Kids are engaged. They're not distracted and they're engaged. So now again we need to have the support for staff. What other ways can I
034engage students? Well, I don't need to use cell phones because I have this engagement strategy or I'm using this uh resource. Um, one of the biggest ones in uh a block scheduling is uh pacing and time management. Uh, that's huge. A lot of times in block scheduling, we'll think that we have a long time in the class period, so things go at a pace that's so slow you students disengage. Um, and then sometimes we try to rush through. Kaitlin, you're shaking your That's Yeah. Um, and then sometimes we'll rush through and then we get down and we have 45 minutes left in the class period. So, it really is about uh giving teachers the strategies, the pacing and time management. Um, and a lot of pacing and time management, you know, um, when we first
035went to the block schedule, it was interesting because teachers first thought, well, good, I'm just going to give my class a break for 15 minutes in the middle of class. That's not the point of being on a block schedule. So, we've gone away from that and now um we're really going to focus on some training for teachers on what does a classroom break mean? You know, it's not just let's just go get on our cell phones and you know what I mean, take a break. They're very strategic about what these breaks are going to be. They're brain breaks. They incorporate movement. Um they they are great times for uh mini assessments and that. So, um pacing and time management is going to be a huge one for us. um assessment adaptation. Um do doing different
036types of assessments rather than just the formal assessment. Um this is a projects. This is presentations. This is collaborative learning. How else can we assess students? I think that's only fair to students because we know that students uh are each should be assessed in their own in their own way. So um that will be a big one for us as well. And then collaborative planning. And this one we're really lucky on because we have um our PLC time every Friday. Um so that's going to be a perfect time for us to be collaboratively planning on these strategies when we get through the professional development workshops, how departments can work together and um really focus on the strategies and help each other out in their um curricular area. So those are the main ones that we
037came up with. Um in my presentation I shared some examples um of some different lessons from different um different area uh discipline areas and then um also provide teachers with the supports and what they can use for resources. Um for instance one of the resources that we use particularly for when a teacher has a substitute so they have enough for the students to do um is EdPuzzle. Um, we just brought the bought the premium edition and it's got a wealth of videos available with worksheets with assessments. Um, and it's all related, educationally relevant. So, um, I think that that's one way we can support our staff just to make sure they're always prepared even if it's an emergency when they're gone, but that they come into their classroom and they have the tools that they
038can to be successful and really find that high level of student engagement. So, So go ahead. So question po there. How do you balance? We have longer we have longer class sizes and blocks and now we add that complexity of we added 10 kids to like math class. Um so how do you balance that with different learning bases when you're trying to work? I would think that would amplify the problem over a 90 minutes versus 40 minute learning. How how are we working them through that? >> Right. And I think part of that would be in um the different activities that they that they would do um in their reworking of the the group works and the the flexible seating and then the flipped classroom. Um that would be huge for the number of kids
039that we have because then classes aren't necessarily just um a lecture for that for that long. and the management becomes an issue. It's it's really about the collaboration that takes place in class and you can do that with the higher numbers >> and you do that with one kid who's I can visualize what the quadratic equation looks like on the board and the other kid who's wired their letters in my math. >> I got you >> because you get that and I assume that just amplifies. >> Can I? >> Yeah. I found that when I had kids that didn't understand something, other kids, those other kids step in and they step up beside them and they work with them, especially in the longer periods. Um, when I was subbing and doing a lot of the
040resource math and stuff, those other kids will step in and they start working with those kids. They'll draw it out in pictures for them and they'll they'll spend time and it's amazing what kids do with other kids that sometimes we miss or not not miss. I don't know what the word is, but the way one kid I'll explain to another kid those zippity dudah. It's kind of cool to see how the kids will step up and help each other especially when you have groups and they have more time to work together. And that is one of the biggest benefits of this is just the time that not only in depth but the attention that you can give to maybe one or two kids and then they're working in a group too. So um I think
041it would give us an opportunity to identify that frankly. Shannon, you mentioned uh substitutes and I I know that has been an issue for us in the past. And how do we make sure first of all that they've got we've got great lessons lesson plans developed for them so that when they show up there's actually something there for them to understand what the goal is here. but also um make sure that the substitutes are tuned into the same uh idea of what we're talking about on a normal basis. Do they have will they understand this uh you know this block management? how, you know, how much training are we, I guess what I'm saying, how much training do we put into the substitutes to help make sure that they're successful when they're there? Because in
042past years it was sort of a red light for kids or or maybe it was not quite red but it was a it was a life that said it's time to um >> you know for play because this isn't going to be as well organized as it should be. Now, not saying that happened with everything, but there were enough of them that >> Mhm. >> that I heard about that that that seems like something that we have also haven't planned for. >> Mhm. No, that that's a that's a great question. I I think what where we would start um would be uh the teacher training and these strategies so that they would actually be able to put that in their subfolder. One of the changes that we made this year as well is um teachers
043have to sign a check off sheet that they've gone through all of the different things um with me and the substitute folder is one of them. So we've identified what needs to go in a subfolder. We have a a contents uh list of contents and every teacher has to have every single one of those things in there. And it's also from um not not just lesson plans, but our uh seating charts with pictures on them. Um so that that way, you know, I've looked at each substitute book and I know that they have an emergency section. I know that they have they're using the strategies from the professional development because of the way that they've developed their lesson plans for the subs. Um we we're going to have to get away from just writing, you
044know, um here, pass this worksheet out and have the kids do this worksheet. It's going to have to be more uh there's going to have to be more to it than that, but it's got to be more to it than not just busy work. It's got to be following the strategies from the professional development so that substitutes know their expectations as well >> and you're going to have to evaluate how they do on that. I guess >> the substitute that is. >> Mhm. >> Yeah. >> I think it's it's fair to say too that you know at the high school we we have our regular subs um and several of them were high school teachers. So there's a there's a real um there's a real bonus to that. So I think we have a a
045really good pool that we can work with make sure they have know their expectations. Yeah, pardon the obvious question, but uh what kind of feedback are you getting on this from your teachers? >> Um feedback from the >> just the change in lesson plans and class engagement. >> They have all been absolutely wonderful. Yeah, I I there like I said uh when I you know mentioned the professional development, I mean it it's it's been very positive um because I think I think we're all seeing the same thing. We're feeling the same thing that >> you know we need to have this engagement in our classrooms and it's okay to say I need a little bit of support here. So we're just trying to make sure that it's very targeted support that it's not an additional
046thing for them to do or anything like that. that's very relevant and meaningful to them um to each person in their own uh discipline area. So it's it's been quite positive. I think one of the things that Shan has tried to incorporate in that is tapping into her teachers that have a good handle on how to do the strategies. And so it's a teacher teaching each other, not necessarily admin saying this is how to do it, >> right? >> It's really relying on the expertise of the colleagues within the school >> and because it is a frustration for them too. I believe a frustration for teachers when, you know, they don't have great control of their classroom and they don't necessarily realize it came back down with the planning. I just didn't have enough plan.
047Um, I'm really going to be uh I'm proud of our work on our common formative assessments as well. So, I feel like we have a uh we're getting developing a really good core and I think that will translate right into our um into our classrooms and into the engagement. >> Did you have anything? Did you want >> Oh, I just I think you know we all need to revisit it and we've been talking about it I think for a while. This the block is a long time and we have a lot of new staff and teaching in that is unique. Boseman just made the transition, but we've been able to do it now for a while. So, it's great to revisit it. And it's little things. I think bell ringers and exit tickets can be
048huge. You know, you start with intention and leave with intention. And so, I think that these strategies are are going to be great. Um especially for some of our new teachers. I know one of our English teachers, she said, "Yep, I had my first experience where I didn't plan enough." That Yeah, that's really hard when you've got 25 kids looking at you. So, you know, and I think we have a great team. We work together. We help each other out. >> I will say, and this is a little while ago, so my memory might be fuzzy, but dear life switched where I went to school in 2000 to a black black student, >> and it was quite quite a change. >> Yeah. >> But I'll tell you, it it changed my my school experience. um
049you know instead of sitting there and listening to a a you know teacher sit there in front of a classroom with an overhead projector talking about the same numbers and trying to do you know busting you out and 50 minutes you were done. >> Yeah. >> You were actually get able to get so much more immersive with it and like I said it changed it changed my school experience. It's the reason why I got a high school diploma. I won't lie. And so I I am 100% supportive of this and I think that if any you know it it probably is more work for the teacher. I I acknowledge that. But at the end of the day I think it produces a much better outcome. So if if your stu teachers you know if they
050you need to hear the reason why I mean I'll testify to it. It's phenomenal program. I thought >> well there there's a statistic in this presentation and I think it said that teachers uh in the block schedule think uh spend 30 times >> yeah um more time uh planning and and in the pacing in that. So >> yeah that's a good that's a good point. Thank you. Zilla Big Sky was on block scheduling um a true block and um it got too expensive so they went back to a modified like we're on skinny >> take this I'm sorry go ahead >> I just was thinking >> oh I was just wondering if that'll help the kids consume more content over the course of the year or is the same content just reiterated more over the
051course of the period. How does that work? >> Would they be farther along in a textbook? It's less >> less. >> Yeah, you do more. >> It's more immersive. >> Yeah, you do more with less material. >> It's deeper. That that was my experience too way back when was >> Yeah. You you you know, you get into a subject and like I said, you don't just skim across that. You can ball into it. You can, you know, in a in a practical arts class, you can get a lot your hands a lot dirtier, get a lot farther into a project, you know, um, in, you know, in a shop class or an art class, you can just spend so much more time on it, but you might not, you know, you're not doing a bunch
052of 45 minute long projects. You're doing a lot more, you know, 80, 90 minute projects, which significantly bigger. But yeah, people >> I think that that on that note, it's really important to um emphasize very specifics for um different discipline areas because a math class is much different than a shop class. Um, so it'll be important that we um very specifically uh give those strategies because you know um I don't think I could have made it through a 95 minute math class but you know um so I have to appreciate respect that and really give them some focus strategies >> math and English takes a lot more than a shop class. Yeah. >> Any other questions for >> Well, I'm not sure if Lero is here. >> He is not. So, he gave you some
053statistics about the middle school bathroom remodel and the middle school east room displacement. Those are the two big projects that um we tackled this summer. Um, so we got a lot of facts and figures in there and some pictures, too. And we encourage you to let me know. I'll be happy to take you through and show you everything. We can uh connect with Julie. She'll she'll do that for you. Um, we skipped student and staff recognition. >> Oh, did we? >> Yeah, >> We sure did. student and staff recognition. >> So ask that I know most everyone. I'm Brenda TR the communication specialist for the district. Today I'm here to honor Carrie Fischer. She's gonna get called out today. Not only does Carrie have over 20 years working in the Montana school business operations, but
054she's also vice president of the um Montana Association of School Business Officials and she's recently earned the CERT certified administrator of school finance and operations designation. So, it's hard to find anyone who's more dedicated to the intricacies of school finance. And I am pleased to give her this certificate today. >> Do you have a speech? >> Speech. Speech. >> Doesn't have speech. I have nothing. >> Yeah, I don't have any burgers. days. >> He said it would be 7:45 to 7 before he could get across town to get >> 645. >> 6:45 to 7. >> Okay. 5 to 7. >> Yeah, I guess we'll take a break or I was recess. >> I was just going to introduce Scott really quick. So, um Scott, you want to stand up for us? Scott. Full name is
055Steven, I believe, but you go by Scott. >> Actually, I go by Scott. >> Scott, >> my middle name. >> Yeah. So, this is Scott. He's our new uh trustee. Uh we met last week and he was our unanimous choice to take over the position. So, he'll be joining us. Um >> yeah, >> why? >> So, he has a lot of experience. How long were you on a school board for? was like on the school board in South Kingstown, Rhode Island for 26 years. >> And on the board of the National School Boards Association in Washington DC for nine >> concurrently. >> Then you moved here for retirement. Is that right? And felt >> I really moved here chasing grandchildren. >> Good reason. >> But I in order to do that um I retired. Okay.
056>> So after 46 years of teaching actually the teaching experience and listening to the discussion of block scheduling all of our classes were three-hour classes. Um and so I I didn't know anything about teaching in 45 minute blocks and I probably would have struggled immensely. I would have had to throw out a lot of my activities which took three hours. Um and in part what kept me um as a member of the faculty was I had really interesting students. It wasn't my colleagues on the faculty and they were okay but it really was the students that got me there. um and in a block schedule and you get to know your students really well. You get to see what their strengths are and what they're struggling with and you can figure out how can I
057provide support for each of those kids. >> Okay. I was just going to give you a quick summary of like when we didn't get you sworn in kind of threw my whole spiel out. >> That's how the interview went. But uh basically to fill you in very quickly after co we had problems with cell phones and the kids using them in class. So we had to make one thing about that last summer where we just outlawed them completely and the initiative from the district was to use up all the available time that we could and focus on the learning. Um we've also had a talented gifted program implemented. Um they've been giving the kids who need extra help in certain subjects extra help. Um, and then there was also a technology piece woven into this.
058So, I was asking about the network. Um, that was one thing like if we weren't going to use our network and the kids were going to use cell phones, we saw no need invested in a network. But, so I'll give you kind of the summary of where we are at this network. Well, and there's a national debate about cell phones in schools and what I see is more and more schools going to some exclusion of cell phones. Um, and clearly they are a critical ingredient in emergency response, but frankly most schools don't have that many emergencies. and keeping kids focused on learning and um a lot about proficiency, but we're looking forward. >> And there's John, so perfect. >> Hi. Yes, >> my apologies. >> Oh, you're fine. >> This is Scott. >> Scott, this
059is Joel. >> Nice to meet you. >> Scott, nice to meet you. Go ahead and stand up. >> All right. I just get to repeat after that when you connect. >> Oh, we'll see. >> All right. >> Uh, I do solemnly affirm >> I do solemnly affirm >> that I will support and defend >> that I will defend >> the United States and Montana Constitution >> United States and Montana Constitution. I will faithfully execute with fidelity >> I will faithfully execute with fidelity >> the duties of office >> and regard the best interests >> andard the best interest >> of the students >> and their education >> in all decisions >> in all >> congratulations all things about education about paper. So you significance. >> Yes. >> Um we met uh last week and we
060planned it all out and we should be here. I went down the line. by doing multiple centuries. to us. [Music] >> They all have to be exactly the same. >> Been looking for that from my handwriting. It's not going to happen. >> Yes. Sorry about that. Awesome. >> Thank you so much. You see everybody in >> perfect time. >> All right. So, we do need to >> I'm having some computer problems. Election of the board vice chair. So, Joanna is not here. yet. Um, she was having a procedure done. She had expressed interest in being the vice chair. I wasn't sure if anyone else had interest in that position. >> I'll nominate the position. >> Second. >> Do you have a motion and a second for not being here? Um, >> guess that brings it
061back to a vote. Any public comment? No. Any board comment? >> Great. All right. Comes back to a vote. All in favor of approving Joan Nordhagen as the new vice chair say I. >> I. All oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. Six to nothing. We will let her know. >> All right. Moving on to the consent agenda. Do we have a motion to continue? >> All over the map. I'll move to adopt the consent agenda items one through five as listed agenda and board pack of authorizing necessary action for these items and to include the same amendments. >> I second. >> We have a motion and a second. Do we have any public comment? Seeing none it comes back to the board. Any board questions or comment? 72 I will step away from this vote for
062a lot of work done on the consent agenda. Um please excuse the my >> perfect you're familiar with the consent. Did you do this similar? Okay. >> Um just curiosity point of the air purifiers from provision and they're just we plan on never using them again. sp around. Correct. Assume they or not. >> We're going to share them with >> um and then just because we have a bunch of people, can you explain the Mckin Vento? >> The Mckin Vento contract, the transportation record. Just explain what it is. So, uh, the McKenna Vento law, uh, makes sure that we're protecting students who, um, may be experiencing, um, housing insecurity, homelessness. And so, by law, um, if a student, uh, is not in permanent housing, they move to out of district, we still want to keep
063them in their same school. And so, we provide transportation to make that happen. Um, typically our buses don't run to where they're living because they're out of district. So, um, a contract is a way that we, um, work with families on that. >> That's all it >> I was just going to ask about your sub recommendations. Is that a pool? >> That's a big pool. It's nice to see. >> Yes, we thought so, too. >> Any further questions on the consent agenda before we bring it back to a vote? Thank my wife's in here. Another one. >> Okay. All in favor of approving the consent agenda as stated say I. >> I. All oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. 5 to nothing. Prior business policy 5460. So, we looked at this policy, I think it was
064two meetings ago and then had some questions about it. This is the policy that um is recommended by NTSB in April of 2025. We did not adopt it at that point, so we're bringing it forward now. Um so, it's a brand new policy for Belgrade. The policy clarifies standards for professional behavior with students when using electronic resources like email and text and social networking. So just laying out our expectations for um the interaction between our adult staff and our students. >> Okay. Do we have a motion to continue? >> I move to adopt policy 5460, electronic resources and social networking. >> I'll second. We have a motion and a second. Do we have any public questions on policy 5460? Seeing none, comes back to the board. Any board questions? >> I have kind of one
065for you, DD. >> So, this is supposed to steer our employees towards using the Parent Square app. Correct. >> Correct. >> What are the penalties for somebody who goes around that? Um well, if your board policy says that um teachers can't go outside or staff can't go outside of that, then we would obviously have recourse through your board policy. Um I mean if if somebody makes an error, >> it would depend on the severity of the infraction. >> Correct. >> Does this help protect the district from liability? >> It absolutely helps protect the district. I think there unfortunately, you know, if you look across the country over the years, there have been people who um unfortunately were hired and and ended up targeting students. Um and this policy is designed to to make sure that
066we can say you and and and we feel good about bringing it forward because we providing parents square, which is a a way to for staff to be able to use messaging services like texting. um but we have a record of it. So we're able to make sure that first of all our staff are um interacting appropriately with students but also that our staff aren't being interacted with inappropriately with by parents or students. So it's a two-way street. >> Anything to say? >> There was a big initiative I guess for all of the new members because there were several of these apps being used. We wanted to make it consistent throughout the district. And then one thing was the record. >> There was no history in some of the apps so you can follow what
067was going on. And then some people were using direct text or Snapchat just which wasn't acceptable for liability purposes. So that's why trans was rolled out this fall. That was uh requested by the board last year. Um any other questions or comments before we proceed to a vote? All in favor of approving policy 5460 say I. I >> I all oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. Six to nothing. New business. Revisions to policy 3235. >> I move to approve revision policy 3235. Video surveillance. >> We have a motion in a second. Um D, do you want to say anything real quick? Um yeah, they changed the law this last legislative session to just clarify because it uh the previous legislative session they said you can't videotape without parent permission. >> Um which is you know not
068reasonable when you're talking about football practices and things that you know they're choir practices things that typically um we use video to help kids get better in their performance before the actual event. So, um, but they did clarify that law and so, um, we were able to add language that says that, um, we do not have to ask permission if it's a public performance or athletic event. >> Any public comments or questions? Comes back to the board. Any board questions or comments? >> This doesn't include security video. >> Surveillance video is separate. So we don't have to have permission for surveillance video. We post it so people know that we're doing it. >> Yeah. >> I guess I guess confusing with how it's titled video survey. >> I know >> this is the same thing
069like the news shows up in films or sports, right? So >> okay. >> Anything else before we receive the vote? All in favor of approving policy 3235 videos surveyors say I. >> I. All oppose say. >> Motion carries six to nothing. >> Revisions to policy 3210. We have a motion to continue. >> Go ahead. >> Motion to adopt revisions to policy 3310 student discipline. >> Yep. I think we're on the one before. >> Yeah, you jump ahead on this rocky. >> You're okay. >> So, I can submit a motion to adopt. >> Which one are we on now? >> Equal educational opportunity. >> Equal application, equal education, opportunity, nondiscrimination, and sex equity. We should have waited for the city discipline know that I'm such a mouthful. You have a second motion in a second. D,
070did you want to say something? >> Yeah. The additional language in this uh policy was proposed by Kala law to comply with Senate Bill 350, which permits school districts and MHSA to prohibit participation of a homeschool student in extracurricular activities based on a student either not being a US citizen or not being a resident of the state of Montana. I think this came from um issues at the Canadian border, okay, >> and homeschool students um doing both. So, uh, this really came from was proposed by MHS. I was approved and and passed. The bill passed. So, you need to change it. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Do we have any public questions or comments on policy 3210? Comes back to the board. Any board questions or comments? Hearing none, we'll bring it back to a vote.
071All in favor of approving policy 3210, equal educational opportunity, say I. >> I. All oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. Six to nothing. And our final one, policy 3310. Rocky. >> Make a motion to adopt revisions to policy 3310. Student dis. >> I second. >> We have a motion and a second. D. Um there are two se sections of language additions to this policy recommended under the areas of disobeying directives pertaining one says that we can um issue discipline for violations of state or federal law and the other one is academic misconduct and that is pertaining to the um inappropriate use of artificial intelligence. Okay. Do we have any public comment or questions on policy 3310? Seeing none comes back to the board. Scott, >> so on the first bullet on the back of the what
072I have as the back of the page starts engaging in academic misconduct. Those are the first words of the bullet. Mhm. >> Um, we're looking at adding unauthorized use of artificial intelligence applications to complete school work. I'm interested since the language says unauthorized um, use of artificial intelligence. When is it going to be authorized? >> I think that'd be on a case-bycase basis. >> But that doesn't answer the question. And when would a teacher say go out and use AI? >> So we're in the process of stepping into this mud fog of AI. >> Um uh so uh three meetings ago, two meetings ago, we brought to the board trustees um a guide book for the district for how we're going to implement AI in the district. So right now there are no AI programs
073that are acceptable to be used. So we created a process for vetting those so we don't violate Furpa. Um we're making sure that it's a you know educationally approved AI tool. We need to provide our teachers with training on how to use it. Um and only then will we start rolling out the use of AI by students. So why wouldn't the policy say use of artificial intelligence applications and simply close out all artificial intelligence applications until we get it there rather than drawing a distinction between authorized and unauthorized I don't >> how a teacher is going to >> teacher could say show me the between the bias on something returned by AI versus what you determined via textbook. >> Will you just close the door on using Google for anything then when you get on
074a Google search is AI? It just seems as if um the trustees have looked at the situation as it is now and have decided AI shouldn't be a tool used by the students but we're still looking at that question and we may change our minds. >> Um that would suggest that I don't think we've said that. >> Yeah, we didn't create policy. There's a guide book presented to us that we're using within the district's procedural boardman, but we don't have a board policy tied to AI yet. This is used for not use. So I I get what you're doing is right, >> but >> yeah, we haven't. >> They're somewhere in the middle here. It's the right answer. >> Yeah, smart enough to figure it out right now. >> Yeah, right now we're really concerned
075about them using it to cheat, but it's a very powerful tool. It could be used in class. We haven't figured out how I did it. >> The best way to do it. Maybe we should push these off. Bring it back. >> That's get a little more information and then work our way through that. Okay. >> But it was such a good one. >> I didn't trip over. You're so anxious for my >> I send my second then you >> okay then we'll get Scott a copy of our handbook >> review I'll probably want to take another look at it >> now that you've mentioned this any questions you have this I'm assuming this came down from MHSA or MSPA right Um, yeah, I think I pulled this language from >> I think it's >> Yeah,
076>> MTSB. >> MTSP. >> So, so we still need to find a way to have a the intent of it here is important that you have a student write a paper with AI. So, we still need to find a way to weave that in though. It doesn't have happened tonight. That's the thought that we're trying to hit here, right? Or how do you define authorized? Is it as simple as a teaching teacher saying you can use AI or did you use AI without my permission? >> I don't know the answers. >> Well, we have a month to wrestle with them. >> We have longer if we want. >> Can you get me a copy of the material? >> I would love to. All right, and that brings us to the end of the meeting. Thanks
077everybody. Have a good night. Meeting a jerk.