001To 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. I will welcome everyone to the regular board meeting on May 18th. Public portion of the board meeting are being recorded in accordance with district policy 1420 and section 2-2-214 MCA. By remaining in this meeting, all participants and attendees acknowledge they may appear on the recording which will be placed on the school district website for a minimum of one year from the date of the meeting. At this time, anyone wishing to speak on an agenda item, please fill out the pink sheet located at the table located on the end of the table and return it to the board secretary as soon as possible, which is Mary K. Ericson
002right here to my left. First item on our agenda is the approval of board meeting minutes from the regular board meeting of April 20th, 2026. Could I have a motion from trustees? >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded. Do trustees have any changes or questions regarding these minutes? Hearing none. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> All those opposed. Motion passes. Moving on to our presentation by school today, we have Michaela Tomshek for Whittier Elementary School presentation. Miss Tomshek. >> Good evening, Madam Chairman of the board. I'm Michaela Tomshek and I'm the principal at Woodier. >> Okay, I'm not gonna lie. I'm a little nervous. Okay, I just hit the next button. All right, here we go. So, um, our theme this year was unleash
003the champion within. So, our whole school, we just kind of tied everything into that. We decorate our doors. Teachers use that as their theme for their doors. And for PAX, we tied it in as we have PAX champions throughout the school year. So, we've really played off the champion theme. Um, to start off, we have our maps snapshot. We have wrapped up all of our testing in maps. And so looking at these with the five colors, my brain kind of broke it down into with five colors 100% each one would be about 20%. So when you're looking at like the lower 40% and the upper 40%, that's where my brain was. But if you're looking from our spring or sorry, our fall to our spring, we moved from the 52nd percentile to the 57th percentile.
004So we had a five point gain. We also were able to drop our students in the red by 7% and bump up our students in the green or blue by I'm sorry I can't read that five percent 4% sorry. So that's great for our math. Our reading is very exciting. And so we were able to make some pretty big gains in our students going up. We had a 12% gain of students that were into the green and blue from fall to spring. And we had a 12% drop from that red and orange from the fall to spring. Looking at our maps, um, sorry, not maps, our kite or our mass testing. So, this is just third and fourth grade on this slide for reading. And we would be in the circle and you can see
005our light blue, dark blue, and the navy blue that represents us. And then we have Montana and but to the side there. And so our third and fourth grades were both above the state average in percentage and the be average in percentage for meets or exceeds proficiency. We have a nice nearing precision proficiency. So our move the middle kind of kids, our bubble kids that we can really start to target and move them up. And so those will be some kids that we can flag for next year to look at those interventions and with our new reading program, see if we can get those kids moved to that meets or exceeds expectations, proficiencies. And then same thing for our fifth and sixth grade. Um they also did a wonderful job and they have a movable
006middle again. So getting that up there. Our sixth grade was a little bit below the but Montana percentages, but I think with our new reading program putting some of those new interventions and stuff for our the sixth graders coming up, that will help out. We did. But I'm very proud of our grades and our classes, they did amazing. When we look at third and fourth grade for math, we did so awesome. So Woodier was 22 points ahead of the average of the VU average and 31 points ahead of the state average for third grade. And in fourth grade we had a 65% proficiency. So that's 38 points above the other fourth graders across the state. So they did such an awesome job and kudos to those teachers and students for working so hard. Um, looking
007at our math for fifth and sixth grade, we again had those same trends. We had a lot of students that were above proficiency and exceeding proficiency across the board. Um, and again, it's a tribute to those teachers who are working hard. We've do a lot of Dreambox. So, I think that plays into that. And then we also use a program called Extra Math, which is just math facts fluency. And so a lot of our kids spend a lot of time just mastering their facts so that when they get into bigger math problems, the steps go easier. Um, for our dibbles, there's our our dibbles. We had finished up to our spring dibbles. So, kindergarten made a giant jump. They had a 19% jump net gain into the green there. First grade stayed the same with
00850. Second grade with 51% stayed in there. Third grade maintained that 63%. Fourth grade had a steady increase from 56 to 64%. And fifth grade we went from 53 to 72%. That's another 19 point gain. And our sixth grade was a leader and they maintain that 88% proficiency for the dibbles which is super super great. Um did I get to talk about like the super fun stuff that is awesome for woodier? So Miss Wagel is our student she's our counselor but then she has put together a student leadership team. So this year we have four sixth graders and they've been the same four all year long. So you have Kase Durkin, Sage Tomshek, Ella Wixton, and Bree Cullen. And they greet students in the morning with Miss Wagel. They're walking around the building helping out
009wherever it needs to be, whatever help needs to be done. Miss Wigle runs our Woodier character club on Fridays. And so she does a lot of social emotional and we run grade levels at that time. And so they're the ones that help put up up the projector. They help manage with the little kids and hang out anywhere she needs help. um if teachers need help with a bulletin board or anything like that, they do a wonderful job. They also do um videos for our broadcast on like how to behave on the playground or different teaches of how to walk down the hallway, things that to remind students. Um but this group of kids is four of the most amazing kids that Woodier has. Not that all of them are great, but these four are just
010outstanding. Um the other thing to sue is the students have to apply for this job. They're just not picked. So they have to fill out an application to tell why they think they would be a good fit and what leadership means to them and then it's narrowed down through that. Um something that we started this year is following that theme of packs and toodles is we started to do kind of a a community to school tooodle. And so we post it on Facebook, we put it in our newsletter, shoutouts, um, emails, and the community can give shoutouts to different staff members that work with Woodyear or at Woodyear. And so these are some pictures of people that have gotten them. Um, Miss Judy got one on the bus monitor, so it was really cool that
011our families reached out to her. Our lunch staff has gotten them, teachers have gotten them, paras have gotten them, Miss Casey's gotten them. So it's it's really fun. And then you know the kids love when their parents are giving their teacher a shout out and then they get a picture with them and it's just another way to kind of boost that morale and show that in those small moments the staff is being appreciated. Um so we have it's called PAX Champions. So instead of doing a student of the month we do PAX champions of the term and these students there's two kids from every class gets picked. So there's I think we end up with almost 45 kids every term. And it can be two boys, two girls, boy, girl, doesn't matter. But to be
012chosen for a PAX champion, they need to have good attendance. They're showing kindness, showing leadership skills, picking kids up when they need to. Kind of that cop being good when nobody's looking kind of kids. And so then we have an assembly and they all get announced and awarded. So these are some of our PAX champions throughout the year. And then it's not just a piece of paper. they also earn an experience with it. And so the experience is with myself. The teachers I don't aren't in charge of any of this. So I do this with them. So for our first one, we did painting pumpkins and then we decorated the office with their pumpkins. For the second term, we painted ornaments and we decorated a tree in the office with that. Then we branched out
013and we did a field trip to Safeway where they got to do a behind the scenes and they got treats and got to try things out. They got to see how the bakery was run and the coolers and the deli and it was great because they went home with chicken strips and um beef jerky samples and a Gatorade and a donut. So it was it was a great day. Um, for March, we played off of the, you know, being lucky to be part of this district and this town, and every kid at Woodier, wrote a tool to every kid at West. And then the PAX champions for that term got to get on a bus and go deliver them to the classrooms up there, and then we made a side stop to the food bank
014because we had our sixth grade wax museum, and we had a bunch of stuff for donations for the food bank, and so they got to go drop that off at the food bank. Um, this last one that we did, we broke it into our K2 and our 36 grades. And so three through six, they got a visit from the chemistry and biology club up at Tech and we did in a science experiment where they got to track DNA from strawberries. And it was so much the kids loved it. They were wanting to do more. And then our K2 got to play kickball with the Montana Tech women's basketball players and they had an absolute blast doing that. Um then for our last one that we have just because time is running out with all the
015festivities and celebrations of the end of the year, we will be doing um popsicles and sidewalk chalk. So kind of decorating the sidewalk for happy end of the year. Um, we have really been pushing attend attendance and celebrating attendance at Woodier this year. And so every term we do an attendance assembly and Miss Wigle and the leadership crew put it on. And so they we announce all the kids who have had perfect attendance for that term and then they get to play a game and then the grade level that wins the game gets an extra little special treat from Miss Wigle. Um, and so you can see we've had games where they had to collect coins and like throw them into the middle and see who could make the most into the pot. We've done
016the keepyuppy games. They had to do pinning feathers onto um turkeys. They played um plate game, heads up or heads or tails with the plates. And then um we've also every term teachers who have perfect attendance get a gift card um from like a coffee place or something like that to kind of celebrate the teachers that have been there. And then for semester the teachers who had perfect attendance for semester got lunch from Christina's. So I just kind of trying to add that and if they can be there and it's been great not to have to search for subs and stuff like that. So we wanted to make sure that they also have that celebration. Um, one thing that is very unique to Woodier is through the Rocky's program, we do have a drama club
017and Miss Jono, our fourth grade teacher, heads that and she is absolutely amazing and the kids love her. I mean, she has kids that come back from the high school to help out with her plays. Um, she's just magical. And so this year, every fall she does the Wizard of Oz and you can see pictures from the Wizard of Oz there. And then this spring she did Susicle the musical for the very first time and that was spectacular. So in the fall the Wizard of Oz is just um at Woodier. So it's just kids fourth through sixth grade get to audition for that. And then Susical the musical she was able to cast some third graders all the way up to I believe 10th graders got to be in it. So, it was really fun
018to see kids who were in the Wizard of Oz when they were fourth, fifth, and sixth graders and now they're high schoolers and they're coming back to be in one of Miss Jono's plays. Um, it is very grueling. It is just like if you were going to try out for sports or anything like they practice four hours, 4 days, 5 days a week. Um, but the final production is amazing. um she runs all of it off of donations and using props that she can find at thrift stores or that get donated to her. And then it was really cool. She actually had some parents and grandparents that helped build the set and then donated it to her first the musical. So, it was really really great and we do appreciate East letting us use their
019space to store it and um to allow the kids to practice here and then Woodier because we are so close we do get to bring the whole school over to do to watch it and do kind of like a dress rehearsal. So, that's really fun. Um so, we have TRIO and the MCIS which is through this University of Montana and this is for sixth grade specifically. So they are exploring different careers. Um with MCIS they go through and they take quizzes and surveys and it starts to link them through possible jobs of their interests and then they get to say well you know I want to own a Lamborghini and I want to live in a mansion in Maui. And so then it's going to say well this is the job you should try for
020you know and so trying to match their interests with what they want to do. And so Miss Wigle and Miss Lbrush are our trio people at Woodier and they have done an amazing job. They have taken it so many more steps than what it's been done in the past. And so they on Tuesdays they meet with the whole sixth grade and they go through different career paths and they we completed all the stuff for MCIS pretty early in the year because they wereounding the kids and doing stuff like that. Um, but then last week we were able to have our very first career fair at Whittier for our sixth graders. And so they have spent the last few weeks researching careers that they were interested in. And then they dressed the part and they set
021it up in the gym and the students and parents came and could walk through and learn about different careers. So we had kids who want to be Formula 1 drivers. We have accountants, paleontologists, cartoonists, um NBA newscasters, plumbers, electricians, nail technicians, cosmetics, dermatologist. I mean, they have the entire gamut of what is out there. So, it was really cool to have the kids present that to you and tell you what they were interested in. Um, another really cool thing that was the first time this has ever happened was Mr. Morris, our music teacher, did a folk dancing night at Woodier this fall. And so he spent his time when he was at Woodier teaching grades 3 through six different folk dances and then we had a family night where the parents could come and it
022was a whole hour. The music did not stop. Nobody sat down. People were sweating by the end of it and it was I mean there was just smiles and laughter and it was so much fun. So I'm really hoping that Mr. Morris continues his folk dancing and does it again next year because it was an absolute success. Um, so we have our broadcast which is very unique to Whittier. We do it daily and it's our sixth graders work with Miss Simmons, our technology teacher, and they are in charge of all of the interviewing, the editing, um, the scripting for it and they talk about um, and then we do parts where people turn in pictures. So, it starts out with pictures that people have turned in and then you have your main broadcast and then
023we have kids that do like the joke of the day. They talk about the hot lunch. Any important events that are coming up, they list it out. Um, and then they have a little spot at the end where kids can get up and dance and wiggle before they start their day. Um, most teachers play this first thing in the morning, but if they've got specials that they need to get to, then they usually play it when they get back. Um, and so it's super awesome. Cy, could we I have a little We don't have to watch the whole thing, but a little snippet of what today's broadcast was for you guys. As you can tell, we had dance recital last week. A lot of the kids were super excited about that. Can you like go
024maybe like to where it's like Oh, yes. Here we go. And with pictures of our field trips that they go through. Um lots of the track meet which we will take pictures of students during their presentation. I have students that help me every day do the pledge over the announcements. So they love that. Um, we celebrate our extra math facts. We celebrate birthdays on there and all kinds of things. So, it's it's a really big deal to get on broadcast. Um when I'm out and about in public and stuff like that, um I have students that will come up at Safeway or if we're at sporting events and be like, "Mr. Can we get a picture?" They put it on broadcast. And so it's just it's a huge deal for the kids. They love seeing
025themselves up there. And it's just very unique. I know it's been at Woodyear for a very very long time. They do interviews of staff members um of other students talking about what they're excited about and then that in part is um their little dance. So it used to be like out on the public domain of YouTube but just to we had some parents who were concerned and stuff and so we it's just now only you have to have a link to be able to view it and so it goes out on the teachers get an email every morning for it um and then we put it out our dojo for parents to link from there. So if you haven't been able to see it that's why this year um but it is amazing. It's one
026of the very cool things we have. Um, again, we have lots of kids that participate in our athletics schoolwide, but then also just wanted to note that not only do we have students that participate in our school activities that we have here, but they also participate in Irish dance, and all the other dance companies we have, 4, the orphan girl theater, wrestling, baseball. So, our kids are everywhere all of the time. Um, they love love celebrating them. Um, this year we've we've always done a reverse trick-or-treating. So, it's after Halloween, the kids bring in their candy and then we do where they make thank you baskets for community members. In the past, we've done where the community the teachers have just brought it to that community agency. So, the kids didn't really get to see
027the impact of their kindness. So, we flipped the script this year and we invited those community agencies into our school to get the thank you basket for them. And we had the bus drivers came in. Um, Mr. Thatcher from CCCS came in. Mr. O'Neal came in. Um, we had the firemen. We had police officers. We had nurses. Then we also had um the highway motor carriers came in. So, we've had a huge gamut and wide variety of people that came in. And it was so cool because the kids got to see that, oh, like I didn't have to sit and eat all my Reese's in one night. And it made Mr. O'Neal's day that he got and the notes that went with it were quite hilarious because they would write thank you notes and wrap
028the candy in them and it was just really cool for them to see their positive impact. Um these are pictures of our sixth grade wax museum that we did. So the students research somebody of greatness who has a positive impact on the world in the past. They can be living or from the past. Um this year we did have our hometown hero Tommy Malot um as one of our people and we set up the kids in the hallway one evening and all of parents and community members can come in. All the lights are off. They've got their flashlights and then we ask for just a can of food or something for the food bank. But it's a huge success every year and it's something they get so nervous about but then it's only an hour
029and by the time the hour is over they're like oh can't believe it's already over. Um, and it really hits on that oral language and that public speaking that we're trying to do. And then it's just great. The kids enjoy it a lot. And with this, we were able to have our fourth grade actually just this morning did a mini wax museum. U Miss Jono's reading class just finished their story on the Greek gods and goddesses. And so they wrote papers, they memorized their speech, and parents and the students got to walk around and hear their stuff today. So, it's really cool that teachers are branching out and coming up with new ideas and figuring out how they can build on to help the next grade. Um, these we are very fortunate. Um, we had
030three staff members that were recognized in one way or another. Uh, Miss Angie FA was nominated educator of the year this year. And then we also had Miss Bistock and Miss Lebrush who were part of that first class of teachers from the elementary that got recognized and given the golden apple award for the education foundation dinner of excellence. So that is so great to be able to celebrate our staff and that students and people in the community are recognizing their greatness. Um, so sorry that's a little small there. I had a really hard time deciding what to put in all of this because we've done so many great things. So, here is our snapshot of the fall of everything that we have done throughout the fall. Um, we had our lunch on the lawn where
031parents come and they eat with their students. We had our kindergarten orientation and our open house. We had um the drive with Ford. It's a PTO fundraiser where if you go test drive a car with four, then they would give us a kickback of money for our PTO. Um we did our Walk with Tech. We had um the firetruck came and visited first grade. We had Halloween Red Ribbon Week, the food drive. We did our Rocky's family reading night. Our upper exceptional learners were going bowling. And we also had our folk dancing night this fall. For the winter, you can see it's a huge long list. We've been very busy there. Um, we've had our PTO Christmas shop. We participated in the festival of trees and our theme was a holiday memory or a tradition.
032And so students brought in either they donated an ornament that was a tradition for them or they wrote on pieces of paper what their family tradition was. And that was really cool to read some of those. We had our STEM night for or well it's Rocky's night for STEM. The rugby team came and taught the kids how to play rugby. Grades three through six. Our sixth graders went and helped the B cares with the clothing drive. Um, organizing that. All of our kids, our big kids learned the Christmas songs of our little kids and they went caroling to the nursing homes that were nearby. We had tech come in. We had the um the reading the who's the very special guest where all the community members came in and we had so many community members
033come in that day that I couldn't turn any of them away. And so some of them went and did a science experiment with fourth grade that day. Some went and played PE and with third graders and then some of them were reading to our K2s. But it was if people were going to come into the building, it was we didn't want to turn them away because it was it was great. And then um we had the exchange club came from but high and did polar express with kindergarten. East builders club came over and did gingerbread houses with our first grade. Um we had Nate testing this year with the MLK reads day. We participated in the spelling bee. We had our hall of fame. We celebrated bug. We celebrated the 100th day of school where
034everybody dressed up like they were hundred years old. Um lots of great and amazing things. And then for the spring, we still have a pretty long list. This is what we've done so far. Um, we have done our wax museums. We had that crazy windstorm and so we were not able to have our Irish dancers come because they were scheduled for that day. Um, but we did get the bag pipers that came on St. Patty's Day and the kids loved that. Um, the sixth graders went and visited East. We had our spring program with Mr. Morris. We participated in the track. third grade went to Fairmont for their water safety through the YMCA because their pool was broken. So, they thought they were so cool being able to go out to Fairmont. Um, Miss McKe,
035former teacher, came and did some Indian education for all with our students. Our sixth graders went on their trio visit to Highland and to Tech. We had um the W show. Our students went and did their W show field trips. We have done our bikes for books and we also had participants in the city hall of fame. Um, also our fifth graders do muffins with moms where the moms get to come in and they paint each other's fingernails and have muffins and copy and even the boys paint their nails and then the boys cannot focus for the rest of the day because they're busy looking at their colored fingernails. Um, it's it's pretty funny. So, what we still have to come is um we are very lucky that West is letting us come up to
036their Little Feet track meet on the 27th. Um we have a reading, our third grade, one of our third grade reading groups has decided to put on a play and so I think that just that trickle down effect of sixth grade doing their wax museum and then fourth grade and third grade has a play. So, they're super excited for that. Fifth grade will be inviting dads to do dads donuts with dads. Um, and then they usually involve like a kickball game or some kind of outdoor game with that. Um, starting tomorrow, our grades four through six will be doing the cleanup. We also have our Kindles through Kuanas tomorrow. Um, our sixth grade is very fortunate. They were able to tap into those CCT funds and they have gled another career exploration um, field trip
037to go visit the community college in Helena. So, they're super excited for that. Then, we will have our graduation for sixth grade. One of my favorite things for the year is a senior walk when all the seniors come back and go through our hallways. And then all of the many celebrations we have at the end of the year. Um, I have to give a shout out to our staff. Our staff is amazing. They are jumping in whenever, wherever they can. If we need help covering something, they have no pro. They jump in and help out. Um we for the track meet we had somebody had to jump in and help out with the office and all of the different things and people have just been so amazing. Um they roll with my crazy ideas jumped
038on the crazy train for the year and I'm so appreciative of them and then thank you for your time. >> Thank you. I' just like to >> um um thank you very much uh Miss Tomshack for all of what you have done. You've had a successful, wonderfully successful year this year and I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of your work efforts and your staff efforts. It's phenomenal what you've done and um thank you for everything and um I'm just thrilled um that you had such a great year and your staff had a great year and the kids had a great year. So, thank you for sharing everything with us tonight. >> Thank you. Next on our agenda is the public charter school annual performance report. Miss Jonard. Madam Chairman, members of the
039board, um this is our first annual performance report from for the But Pathway Academy. Um it was we had to submit our uh uh quite a detailed uh report documenting everything that we've done and um the data that came from student uh student assessments and student work. Um and um we were rated on several different academic performances, financial performances, and organizational performances. So I do want to go over each one of those. Um this is the the uh indicator or measure was the first one was mission or school specific goals. We had to have specific goals um and we had to um make sure that we uh identified those goals and provided a a description and a narrative and progress towards meeting those goals. And based upon the data that we provided, we were um
040uh we were graded or received a meet standard rating on our goals and our mission for the school. So that area we make meets standard our overall math proficiency and growth. Again we use we showcased our maps data um and identified student progress and based upon that data um the overall rating was meets standard. We also had an overall English language arts proficiency and growth. Um again we had to show data on student growth using the MAPS assessment and um and the rating that we received was meets standard um subgroup math proficiency in group growth and what that means is that um the um the data had to be disagregated. It wasn't just all the all students but it had to be subgroups. For example, did not only all the stu the whole group make
041progress but individual subgroups, for example, students identified as economically um uh low economic students, did they make growth? Students identified as special needs, did they make growth? Um those were the sub um or I like to call them aggregate groups. Um ethnicity is another one. um did those students of different ethnicity make um the same kind of growth and so subgroup for math proficiency and growth meets standard. So in other words our subgroups made the standard made proficiency and growth um the subgroups groups for English language arts that rating was meet standard. So again, those subgroups for English language arts, um, we we met those standards. Um, the the next one was attendance, but that's not applicable until next year. Then student engagement based upon the data and all of the um all of the
042events that went on at the U but Pathway Academy uh we got a rating of exceeds standard um postsecary readiness. These are these are career readiness kinds of skills and events that we are um providing students an opportunity to participate in. Um based upon all that data we got a rating of meets standard. Our financial performance or financial performance and stability meets standard recurrent enrollment. um that is the one place that we did not does not meet standard but I want to explain a little bit about this. We did meet the amount for the basic entitlement amount. Um our student enrollment started at 31 and we ended up we ended up somewhere around 55 56 that are currently enrolled right now. In order to to maintain our basic entitlement we had to have 51. Um
043why does why did we not meet standard on that one? Because in our application when we originally put it in, we had a maximum a minimum of of 41 and a maximum of 100 and then they said what do you estimate the first year's um enrollment would be? Well, we just estimated as a at 60 thinking that that would be we would if we were anywhere between 41 and 60 would would meet um that in recurrent enrollment uh standard. But that's not the way they um are reading it. It's saying that if you didn't meet that estimation that you put in the application a year ago, then that's why we did not meet standard. However, when the when OPI or excuse me, the board of public edited the pathway academy, they did note that they
044are looking at this because this is an issue and that we will be able to update our application because we have in our application we have minimum 41 and um the max would be 100. So that's what we had um also in our application. So I think they're they they will allow us to make that adjustment. So um we don't um we will not get that um does not meet uh standard rating again charter governing and board performance and stewardship. Um the rating overall rating uh for that was it meets standard. Um and then that was the uh overall rating for the BU pathway performance indicators. an additional and in addition to this report that we received, we also had a a visit from the board of education that came and um participated with students
045in a couple of different activities that that um a little bit much like what uh Miss Tomshack just um said that they had a career fair. Our um academy kids also had a career fair for the board of ed and they had their um their charts and their presentation of what career they were um pursuing and what kinds of information and what kinds of course of study that they had to do in order to um pursue that course of study and what kind of education. And um all that was put out on boards and the um board of public editors were able to talk to all the kids um and and have a you know and have the students uh present their um what career that they were pursuing um and the students did a
046remarkable job. Another part of that uh visit was um students were also doing a it was um May is April is volunteer month. So they were they the students in pathway made cookies and they were assembling cookies to give to the first responders and so they were packaging them up so that they could present that and the board of public ed um worked with the kids a little bit with that and then they had a roundt discussion. Uh um the big the big um the big thing that came out of that board meeting was the amount of student engagement that was at the academy. How much those kids really um enjoyed being there and how they have built relationships and that's the reason why they're there. Asked where they would be and many said that
047they wouldn't be in school. they would have dropped out had they not had the academy. So, it was pretty was pretty overwhelming what um what the kids had to say about the academy. But um I just wanted to share with you the um actual performance report that will go to the board of public ed um on the 19th. Um and then we will have to submit this um report that uh after the chair signs it and we'll submit that tomorrow and then it will be uh presented to the board of ed. Any questions about that? >> Any questions from anyone? >> Can I make a comment? >> Go ahead. Miss Milo Dragovich, >> I got to sit in on the um booth meeting and and see the kids in action and they're doing an amazing
048job. Kids were so positive and polite and professional having taught up there before. That's a skill they need and they're doing a great job with. >> Thank you. Um yeah, big kudos to the entire staff um at that building. and they did a phenomenal job and um I can't thank them enough for all the work they have done in getting this up and running. It's been a lot of a lot of a lot of people had a lot to do with this and so um it's only going to get better. I just know it's only going to get better. So, we're off on getting it up and running, but there's lots to do still to do and uh I think great things are going to continue to happen. Thanks, Miss Jonart. Uh, next, Miss Jonart,
049we have the donation from Rody Homeman. >> Yeah, Madam Chairman, members of the board, I just wanted to take the time to um give a public um recognition to Mr. Rodie Holman, who has always taken helped us take the lead on um leading the campaign for our levies. Once again, he donated his own money um to help with the ads for our to campaign for the levy. And he also got others, you know, um you know, uh community members to to um put out where they support the levy and they we advertise that in the paper. you know, people like Josh Vincent, um Steve McGree, and a plethora of other people that all had voiced that um their opinion um through the uh Montana Standard and online media this year just saying I please support
050the mil levy. Uh I support the mil levy. Um and and Rodie has Mr. Holman has done this year in and year out. He just needs a um I think public recognition for him stepping up to the plate each year to help us pass a levy because he knows how important it is to the overall functioning of the district. Um so I just wanted to publicly notice him, recognize him. Um the other thing is also there were a couple other a big shout out always every year to the BU teachers union. um they work hand their cope committee works hand in hand with Roie um and helps get the word out and helps with that campaign. You know, I know we wouldn't have passed these levies without their help. And um and then um a
051big thank you to um Trusty Mel Dragovich who got Mafy Funk and uh on top of that for us and sent out a a huge mailing for free to all of the voters at but uh at in Silverb um to support the levy. And so I really appreciate all the efforts that were put in to make sure that they we were successful. And um there's just not enough words to thank everybody um for all their help. >> Mr. Billy, just I would just echo with Joart, Superintendent Jonart's comments. Having lost an levy last year and having sat in this room and had to count painfully and still lost a levy last year, having that community support is just unmatched and and yeah, very grateful cuz honestly going in this year I was a little nervous
052as not having lost in history very often. So yeah, very grateful for everything that this community put behind getting these passes. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Yeah, last year Mr. Patrick led the three of us to count ballots. Said we had won by nine votes, but no, we lost by 17. So that was a tough count. >> Thank you, ma'am. Again, you have another one. Angel Fund donation, Miss Jonart. Yes, Madam Chairman, members of the board, I'm I'm pleased to tell you that um Dan and Lori Brzani um um donated another $10,000 this year to our Angel Fund for the BU School District um lunch program. And so that helps pay down the the bills for the outstanding accounts that our students have. And so that's huge. and this is the sixth year in a
053row that the Bersanis have pro um donated $10,000. So, uh huge shout out to them. They're just wonderful community members and I can't thank them enough. Um they're just, you know, they're just phenomenal people and um it has made a huge huge help in bringing those accounts down. >> Thank you, ma'am. Uh, Mr. Patrick, summertime hours school administration building. >> Madam Chair, members of the board, just wanted to update you. We're coming up on summer and we usually kind of change the hours to 7:30 to 3:30 summertime. So, just wanted to update you again on that. >> Thank you, sir. Anyone wishing to speak on any matter on the agenda, which is now public comment on items not on the agenda, may step forward now. Please identify yourself before you begin. I must caution anyone
054wishing to speak, you may not discuss personnel issues, student issues, or pending litigation during the comment session. Due to time constraints, each speaker will be allowed three minutes. Okay. At this time, I recognize Yes, sir. Are you gonna talk? >> Madam chair, members of the >> Thank you. My name is Jim O'Neal, 76 Raspberry Lake. Um, I was hoping to do this at at a few of the past meetings, but not the only district that holds their meetings on the third Monday of the month in our county. So, um I hope this hasn't been replicated and if if it has been if I am being repetitious. Um it's it's welld deserved. So, I just wanted to uh thank Superintendent Joonart for everything she's done in our school district. I got to work directly with Judy
055for 24 years. 12 years um when I was at Margilleri, she was curriculum director. then 12 years when I was curriculum director and she was superintendent. She was an incredible mentor and she held my hand for all 24 of those years. She still hold my hand today. I had a caller today for advice on an issue. Um if you know Judy, um there's never an hour of the day or a day of the week that she doesn't work and she never has a question that can't be answered. She is probably the most intelligent and hardest working educator I've known in my 33 years as an educator. Um, if I had to ask her permission to do this, she would have said no because she's very humble and she doesn't like recognition, but I think the
056recognition is welld deserved. So, I just want to talk about her legacy. Um, first of all, grants. Um, if anyone's ever managed a grant, they are a boatload of work. And districts don't have to go over the after the money. Judy never turned down an opportunity to write a grant and bring money into this district. And she brought in tens of millions of dollars to this district that um, other districts probably didn't tap into. from reading first describing readers to the Montana Reeds grant, the SOARS grant, the Rocky's grant to name a few. That's millions and millions and millions of dollars that have benefited our kids. the reading first grant. What that was in the district during my tenure at Margaret Larry. We weren't part of the grant, but she twisted some arms and allowed
057other principles from non-grant schools to attend that training. Probably one of the best things, one of the two best things that happened to me in my career is not only an educator, but as a parent because at the time I had little kids and I was learning about how kids learn how to read. So, not only was I able to implement that in our school, but at home with my kids as well. So, I it was one of the best things that happened to me. Striving readers was here at East and I remember Mr. Driscoll saying that that grant changed him from a principal to an instructional leader and how much he learned. And I think Keith would would back me up on that. So um so personally those grants were good to me as
058a as a dad as well as an administrator. Technology when I came into the curriculum job Judy was in the middle of building a fiber optic network for the community. I knew nothing. I went to Hastings and bought a networking for dummies book. still didn't know from the day I retired from the district. I would never be able to match the knowledge that Judy had about not only technology but everything. She knew she knows a lot about a lot from law to policy to hot lunch to transportation to buildings. So she uh just was an incredible mentor. So, um, I can't remember how many power poles we had to work with Northwestern to tap to build that fiber optic network. That's something a lot of people don't know. So, she did incredible, incredible things. And
059then last, the bond issue. Um, when I was at Margillery, people could come into that school and go wherever they want. I never knew who was in the building and you had to keep one set of doors open or you couldn't lock them. you didn't have have a a security system bring people in. So, what's been done with this building, which is something our community can be so proud of, it's so nice to host the spelling be here at our hall of fame at the auditorium that Judy was in a part of getting that renovated. So, honestly, they were eyes. I mean, that light blue color in the but auditorium and that peach color that Mr. Miller picked out in the east auditorium. They were not real um pleasing to the eye. So, you're really
060proud to host events in our schools and you sleep better at night knowing our kids are safe in all of our schools now with those security systems. I remember Judy at Emma Park pushing that bond issue cooking hot dogs and burgers and yelling at people that come over and eat and talking about the bond issue. That's a heavy heavy heavy lift to pass a bond issue. So, in closing, I never uh pass up the opportunity to share with the public. I shared this at our Hall of Fame event recently in the celebration of ex excellence a couple weeks ago. I wouldn't trade what this district gave my own kids for anything on the planet. to say that with the utmost sincerity. And during the time my kids went through this district, Judy was one of
061our leaders. She was either curriculum director or superintendent. And I'm just blessed that my kids got to go to school here. So Judy, you really uh made me a better educator. More importantly, you made me a better dad and I'll be forever grateful. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, thank you, Mr. O'Neal. >> Approval of payroll claims, budget transfers, revenue reports, budget versus actual reports, travel requests, grant applications, and school budget reports. >> Not yet. Not until appar. >> Not until the park. >> Motion from trustees. >> Is there a second? Second >> has been moved and seconded. Do you have any questions regarding all of those items I mentioned on the consent agenda? Hearing none. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. All those opposed. Motion passes. Moving on to Miss Alli
062with the approval of the PAR May 18th 2026. >> Madame chair, members of the board, I present the regular board meeting. on it. We are noting the appointment of 25 cert certified personnel um under our Rockies um enrichment camps. Several um camps are being run that amount to a total of 38 appointments of employees, many of them which have um several camps. We're looking to have approved the resignation of three, the retirement of three, one leave of absence, and under classified personnel, 16 appointments, eight resignations, two retirements, one leave of absence, four inactive removals um under supplemental personnel, three appointments, two resignations, and three inactive removals. I'd appreciate your support of the May Park. Thank you, ma'am. Motion from trustees. >> Is there a second? Second. >> It has been moved and seconded. Do trustees
063have any questions to Miss Alley regarding the part? >> All right, Mr. Thatcher. >> Madam Chair, I have to remove myself from this bar. I have to recuse myself due to conflicts. So, >> good. And I also have to recuse myself. Okay. have any questions? Mr. Bill, >> uh, do we have a quorum? That's it. There's two accus. >> Yes, I >> think we've had that discussion. Is that a direct >> Miss Jonard? Yes, we could take one of them out, >> one of the names. Get a motion to take one of the names off and then >> and add it to June's par. >> Yeah. Yes. >> Meeting separate vote on it. >> Well, you still won't have Oh, yes. >> Oh, >> yeah. What's that? >> You could remove the name of the
064person that you were recusing and yes both of them. >> No. Right. But you vote on it without one on and then >> remove the other person take another vote because then you would have the five. >> Yes, that's what I meant. >> Four five. Yes. >> So So I would like to present the first par with and I'm looking for um Uh, I could just make a substitute motion. >> Okay. >> I make a substitute motion. We approve the par with removing Noah Thatcher from the list. >> Okay. Substitute motion on the floor removing Noah Par Noah Thatcher from the list. Is there a second? >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded on a substitute motion. >> All right. Sure. So, >> yes. All right. I will recuse myself for the first
065vote. >> Okay. >> So, vice chair will call for the vote. >> Okay. Mr. Vice Chair. >> Yes. So, uh based on the um substitute motion removing uh Mr. Thatcher from the current par that we have in front of us. Uh no further questions. I move >> now. Wait a minute. We have to have this lady talk first. Correct. Kevin. >> Well, yeah. I think you if you do board discussion then you can >> in the comments. >> All right. You need to call this lady up. >> Okay. So no additional discussion. >> We didn't vote. So we have to ask discussion. >> You just have to have a motion now and now ask for discussion and then have >> and then we have the lady speak to the motion. Yes. >> All right. So
066the motion's on the play on the floor. um call for discussion and I have a um comment form completed by Miss Flanic. >> Miss Flanic, welcome. An opportunity to present. All right, members of the board, I'm just addressing um the reason for my uh resignation this year and I just wanted I felt that it was important that I was heard before the board of why I'm going to refer to my notes a lot too. So I am formally writing to address circumstances that ultimately led to my resignation from my position within the but school district. Over the course of my employment, I dedicated myself to creating a safe, developmentally appropriate, and academ academically supportive environment for students and families. I consistently worked to advocate for early childhood education standards, collaborate with colleagues, and support the
067overall success of our school community. However, for the past couple years of ongoing actions and decisions created an unsustainable work environment for me. Um, as an educator who has devoted several to serving students and families of this district, I was this decision was not made lightly. I entered this profession because I cared deeply about the children and education and my community. Resigning was ultimately a decision made for the considerable reflection and after feeling that the environment had become emotionally and professionally unattainable. I believe it is important for the board to understand that my resignation was not impulsive decision but one made after exposure to circumstances that has substained negative impact on both my professional competence and my personal health. Um, sorry. Uh, my hope is that the statement is not to simply revisit past conflicts,
068but to encourage reflection regarding administrative leadership, staff support, commun communication practices, and the treatment of educators within our district. Teachers who advocate for students, raise concerns professionally, or seek collaboration should feel heard and supported rather than isolated. I remain proud of the work that I accomplished with my students and families during my time with the district. I am grateful for the relationships and experience that came from serving this community and I appreciate everything that I was able to obtain during my years with this. That's >> very good. >> So, um, we have a motion. I got mixed up in there. So, is there a motion and a second? No, you do have a motion and a second. You have a substitute motion and a second. So, now you're going to vote on that on that
069substitute motion. >> So, all in favor of the stuff that um Chair Boston just said, >> say I. >> I. >> All opposed. >> So, that motion passes. That bar is passed. >> That bar is passed. Now, you're going to continue. Um, >> so do you get to come back? >> Not yet. No. And you're going to if you're requesting a motion for Noah Thatcher. >> I move to appoint Noah Thatcher as well coach meet up. >> Is there a motion? >> Are there any discussion? >> No. >> Is there a second? >> That's right. >> Thank you, Patty. We should have talked about this at 4:30. >> I know. >> Okay. And now you have discussion. >> Okay. Now we have discussion. >> Hearing none. >> Hearing no discussion. Wait a minute. I recuse
070myself portion officer for the vote. >> All right. Noting that Mr. Thatcher recuses himself from this vote. All in favor of the appointment of Noah Thatcher as the but high school basketball coach. Say I. >> I. >> All opposed? Motion passes. You can help and I broke. >> Okay. >> All right. Go ahead, Bosch. >> All right. Next is the approval of the non-union contracts for 2026 2027. >> Madame chair, members of the board, we are recommending that board approve extending the non-UN employment contracts listed for the 2627th fiscal year. It is proposed that these non-union contracts be extended um with the following amendments. approve an increase to wages or base pay and an increase to employer benefit equal to that negotiated with union groups for the 2627 contract year and changes to the following
071contracts it and sores holidays will be added to all non-union employees to be aligned with other union groups to include day after Thanksgiving Christmas and New Year's Eve and Friday and Monday of spring break and approve your Um um approval of the non-unal contracts. >> Motion from trustees. >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Has been moved and seconded. Trustees have any questions to Miss Ally regarding the non-union contracts? >> Hearing none. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> All those opposed. Motion passes. Approval of theou with big brothers big sisters for the 2627 school year. Miss Jonard. Madame Chairman, members of the board, this is our annual contract with the Big Brothers and Sisters, and I'm asking for your approval. >> Motion from trustees? >> Is there
072a second? >> Been moved and seconded. Do trustees have any questions to Miss Jonart regarding the contract with Big Brothers Big Sisters? Hearing none. All those in favor, please say I. I. >> I. >> All those opposed? Motion passes. Approval of the trustee resolution requesting county conduct election. Mr. Patrick. >> Madam chair, members of the board, attached for review and approval as a trustee resolution requesting the county to conduct elections on May 29th. May 29th of this year is the deadline to do that. Um, school district clerk election administrator is designated the election administrator for school elections. Tower of the trustees may request the county election administrator to become the election administrator for school elections. The request may be made by a resolution of the board of trustees. If the county election administrator accepts, then
073he or she must perform all of the duties the school clerk would have. The school district must assume all costs of the election. So, this is just uh passing a resolution um to give us a chance to ask the county to conduct our election for next year and it would just include the um annual regular school election that would be sure May 4th. We do have an election. >> Thank you, sir. Motion from trustees. >> So, move. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded. Trustees have any questions to Mr. Patrick regarding the approval of the trustee resolution county election. Hearing none. All those in favor please say I. I. >> All those opposed. Motion passes. Approval to advertise and hire homebound teachers for 2627 school year. Miss Johnson.
074>> Madam chair, members of the board, I'm asking approval to hire six homebound teachers for next school year. These teachers will provide instruction to students that are placed on homebound support uh during the school year. >> Motion from trustees. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded. Do trustees have any questions to Mr. Johnson regarding homebound advertisements? Hearing none. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. All those opposed. Motion passes. Approval of the fall adult community education schedule. Miss Johnson. >> Madam chair, members of the board, I'm asking your approval to um advertise the fall session classes um coming out. We'll have signs around the community on fences and also on our Facebook page. And we will send out the fall class list um close probably closer
075to July. Um but this will be approved and ready to go for when we can do that. We are adding um some new class new classes of stained glass and pickle ball inter um that we're going to offer at Webster because there's a lot of people that would like to start pickle ball but do not feel comfortable. So Mr. Scholley came and met with me to use Webster um for our location. So, um, the classes will be offered at UT High and Webster. So, we could offer that and I will, um, just share my time at night making sure that everybody is good at both locations that the classes are running. We also had a great success with the afternoon classes at Webster with the chair yoga. Um, Colleen filled both her classes, so we
076ended up offering four classes at chair yoga at Webster during the day. So, she's going to continue those classes. And we also are going to offer an art class at 3:30 to 5:30 FU high. Um because the the art club does not use it on Tuesdays. So they have offered to let us use the art room for that to try to bring um increase the numbers in her art class offer earlier in the day. >> Motion from trustees. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded. Do trustees have any further questions? Miss Johnson regarding Yes, sir. Mr. Billy. >> Yes. I got to recover from that bumbling. We're not going to do stained glass and pickle ball in the same space. Are we? >> No. >> Interesting. >> You
077could she break a lot of glass. >> Hearing no further questions. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. All those opposed. Motion passes. I appreciate everyone's time and attendance today. I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> I have one more. You're in denial. Oh, I'm in denial. What's I move? >> Oh, yeah. We Yes, we do. Thank you. I forgot. >> Miss Milo Dragovich will be leaving us at the end of May. Um, she's moving to Missoula. So, she's going to resign her position on the board of trustees. So, that will be opened as of May 31st. And how many days? >> 60 days. 60 days um for anyone that you know would be interested in filling out her position for the remainder of this year 2627. >> Okay. Is that everything
078I need? So I don't need a motion, do I? >> I just need a motion to declare that trustee position vacant. >> Okay. I need a motion to declare that that trustee position will be vacant as of May 31st. I have a so moved. >> Is there a second? >> It has been moved and seconded. Any questions, Mr. Patrick? Yes, sir. >> No. >> I just want to say thank you for all your great service. >> Thank you. >> I just have to say thank you to the beauty community that produces boards members like this because I really respected this board. It says a lot that we don't have more change changes than we do. I mean, people are really committed and it's it's work. So, I just appreciate working with them. >> Thank you,
079ma'am, for your for your time. Really, >> she doesn't want to say anything. >> Thank you, Trusty Miller Dragovich. Um, it's been a pleasure working with you. Definitely. >> Thanks, J. >> All right. At this time, I would uh like a motion to adjourn the meeting. We have to vote first. >> Oh, we have to vote first. I'm sorry. Boy, I'm really lost now. >> Okay, we have a motion on the floor. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. All those opposed. Motion passes. Now we can do it. Okay. Entertain a motion to adjurnn. Move to approve. Thank you. Is there a second? >> Yes. >> There's a second. All those in favor of German, please say I. I. I. >> All those opposed? Dr. Thank you everyone. We appreciate your time. >>
080Have a good night.