001the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for for all. I'd like to thank everyone for coming to our regular board meeting on the 23rd of March. Um it was scheduled for the 16th of March, but with everybody doing Irish celebrations, it got bumped a week. So, that's why we're here now. Public portions of this board meeting are being recorded in accordance with district policy 1420, section 2-214 MCA. By remaining in this meeting, all participants and attendees attendees acknowledge they may appear on the recording, which will be placed on the school district's website for a minimum of 1 year from the date of the meeting. Anyone wishing to speak on an agenda item, please fill out pink sheet located at the
002end of the table and return it to the board secretary as soon as possible. And we will begin our meeting with the approval of minutes from the regular board meeting for February 17th, 2026. Motion from trustees? Move to approve. Is there a second? Second. It's been moved and seconded. Trustees have any questions or changes regarding these minutes? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Kennedy Elementary School presentation by Mr. Brian Anderson. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the board. Um thank you for letting me talk about Kennedy Elementary today. Um as I start out here, this this works. Um have you noticed the little square on the bottom? it's one of the new things that we and I'll talk about this here in a little while,
003but you know, we're trying to change things up at Kennedy a little bit. And one of the things we're really focusing on this year we're saying it all the time is Kennedy pride. Um, but I want our kids to be proud of the school that they go to. Um, I told the teachers that, you know, and they really been pushing it and sometimes we get run down a little bit um, just cuz we have some tougher students up there and lower income and stuff, but we have really switched that around this year to where it's all about Kennedy pride. It's all about being proud of the school you're from. Um, this is our staff and uh, I wanted to start out with just a staff picture so that I didn't start talking about everybody individually
004because uh, our staff up at Kennedy I think is fantastic. These guys do so much and they do so much above and beyond just the regular day of teaching, um, working with kids. Um, let's go to the next one here. Um, some of our new staff members, um, our first there is Beth Walsh. She's our new secretary. Um, she had to change in the middle of the year and had a couple of health issues, so it was kind of a rocky start to start out with, but um, she's doing great right now. Derek Chaney is our new counselor. Um, he's fantastic and I'll be talking about some of the things that he's been doing up at Kennedy, um, but he really came in that first day and really fit in. The kids absolutely love him.
005Um, I think he's fantastic. He helps me out so much every single day. Um, he's doing a great job up there. And then, um, Kaylin Fields is our third grade teacher. Um, I just did her evaluation and she's a first year teacher. She had a little bit of a permanent sub job before she took the job, but you'd never know she was a first year teacher. Um, and she came up with a knowledge of PAX and a lot of other teachers have gone to her for help with PAX, which is hard to believe when she's a first year teacher, but she's been fantastic. So, our staff up at Kennedy is, like I said, I can't brag them up enough. Um, so, as I talk about Kennedy Pride and as I started making this list, I
006could have gone on forever all the things we're doing. So, I just tried to get down a couple quick things, a couple things I'm going to talk about that um our Straight A Club. And, you know, I'm trying to get these kids to take pride in grades. And, if they take pride in grades, that means they're going to work harder on the test, they're going to work harder on everything. Um and I've had a lot of students that got to be here or be there and they're upset they didn't make the Straight A Club. So, it's been a really big thing and I've been using this for the last couple years. Daily attendance. One of the things that we decided we really had to focus on to at Kennedy was attendance. And, so we kind
007of hit it in three layers. Um we have the teachers do an attendance prize for their students. Um and we do one school-wide and then I go around every morning and our Race to the Top. So, we have a board out there where we are stapling uh they get a star for every day that their class has perfect attendance. And um every morning that's my walk around. Um I have some Starbursts with me, but it's kids pressuring each other to make sure they're at school. Um and underneath we put that we're trying to make a correlation between our test scores and our attendance. And, it was kind of funny because um and I brought these numbers just up with me. I couldn't come up with the thing, but we went from September where we had
00819%. When we talk about perfect attendance at Kennedy, that means even if you're out for the doctor or the dentist or whatever, you don't count that month. And then, every month we have our assembly, we stand up all the kids, we give them a certificate for having perfect attendance. But, anyway, we went from September, we had 19%, by December we had doubled that to 37%. Um which is really good. We were really excited and then January got there and everybody got the flu, including the teachers and myself and everybody else. So, it it swept through and it so brought our numbers down a little bit for January and February, but um you know, we were already back up at 24% so we're we're moving back up. So, we're keeping track of it to make sure
009that if these things are really working. Um and then the class um that has perfect attendance, once they reach the top then they get to have a party with me. Um we had a blast the um first grade wanted it really competitive wanted to win it they wanted this year so um we had a pizza party and I spent the lunch time with them and recess with them and stuff so it was a lot of fun. Um Our PAX monthly tootle boards, um you know, that's I'm not going to get too much into PAX because everybody talks about it when they're up here but um you know, our PAX we've got a lot of PAX leaders in the school and a lot of our younger teachers have really embraced it and they're really using it
010as classroom management. Um we're sending our sixth to Hall of Fame um and I wanted to get their picture on there just because I'm super proud of those guys did. Um one of the new things that we tried is having music during lunch. Um Mrs. Robinson our um librarian and tech teacher came up to me and said, "What do you think about this idea?" because she's our one of our PAX leaders and I said, "Let's give it a try." And what we've learned we had it today is you got to be careful sometimes with the songs because they'll start singing get a little loud but if you turn the music off the lunch room goes completely quiet. Um it's been kind of a strange experiment but it's working really well and the kids absolutely love
011it so um and it's not really loud music it's enough so they can hear it but um and then if they if we have issues or they're not being polite or whatever, we turn the music off and they go quiet. So, I don't know it works wonderfully up there though right now. Um All right, we talk about Kennedy Pride and other thing that we really had to rebuild was our PTO. Two years ago we had no money, no members, we weren't really advertising and so last year we really put some emphasis on it and this year one of the things that we've got with our PTO is um we put together some money, um and I'm working with the PTO but making sure I make meetings. We're putting the meetings out advertised every month so
012that we get parents there. We've got a lot more parents um that are coming regularly. Um you know, we have 10 to 15 parents coming in, um but we have about 10 parents that are showing up regularly. So, it's been great. Um one of the things that kind of including this Kennedy Pride thing, um if you look at that picture right there, that's our boys basketball team. Now, Dream Big gave us jerseys last year at the end of the year, and we used them for track and stuff. They're really nice, but with our boys basketball, we did is they got their own jerseys with their names on it. Um which doesn't sound like a lot, but it was huge to them. Um and then so we did it with the girls basketball team, and it's
013one of those things that other kids are seeing it, and now they want to participate. Um and so that's really one of our big things. Let's get our students involved. Listen, um let's get them all thinking that we're the best school. Um those jerseys have been have been a huge thing for us. Um and like I said, the PTO the other thing with PTO that they're doing for us that we haven't had is we're going to have an assembly. Um actually on Wednesday, they're bringing the exotic animals up. We got this idea from another school, so um we did steal it, but our kids really haven't had that, and they don't get this type of thing. Um like I said, we have a lot of low-income kids, but everybody's excited about it, and it's amazing
014what it does for behavior and stuff. And we're like, we've got the assembly coming up. We're going to show Kennedy Pride. We're going to show how good we can be in the assembly. So, our kids are really, really excited about it. Um we moved all the lunches around. The teachers had no problem with moving lunches and stuff. Things that have caused problems in the past, they were excited about it. So, um so we have that coming up on Wednesday. Now, another thing that PTO has helped us with is our family nights is getting better prizes. Um so our prizes have gotten a little bit better and a little bit bigger. Um you know, we have craft night, math night, literacy night. Um we just had um bingo night a few weeks ago. On April 9th,
015we're having our STEAM night. Um but like with our bingo night, we had a little bit bigger prizes and our gym was packed. There was no seats at the tables. Um we also had our book fair that night and the line for our book fair, we actually had to postpone bingo for about 20 minutes so we could get everybody through the book line. We had so many people there. So, um we're getting more and more and it was the only thing that was kind of a negative is I had a few kids come up to me the next day that were sad that they didn't get to go for whatever reason. Um but it was it was a really really big night for us and now with the STEAM night coming up, everyone's excited what
016kind of science experiments we're going to be doing. Um I even have my son um he's going to be doing a table. He's going to light light bulbs with the lemon. So, we'll see. He's all excited about it. We'll see how it goes. Um so our family nights have been really big. You know, the other thing I didn't put on here this that we started out the year with was um we had our learning what we called it a learning lunch um where we had the students bring in an adult. Um they just had pizza for lunch but then we let the kids go out to recess and we brought the parents in to the teachers. Um so they filled the classrooms and then the teachers could go one-on-one explaining what their expectations were, what
017their grading was going to be, and all that stuff. And that was that was another big one for us that we're going to continue to do now. Um In it for all and I'm going to include our um Mr. Chaney, our counselor in this, but um we did talking sticks this year. One of the things we did this last year, but one of the things we changed up this year was we paired up our our older kids and our little kids to work on um their talking sticks. And as we were doing this, one of the things that my our counselor said to us was um we have a lot of Native American kids or partial Native American kids. And as he was meeting with them, he said they don't know a lot about their
018culture. So, um one of the things that we have brought into school was um the Native American flag. So, these are all the tribes of Montana. We have them hanging up in our gym. There's lessons to go with them. So, each teacher has the lessons to go with the um with the flags. Um they've been working their way through them, but for a lot of students and was kind of a surprise for me, too, how much pride they take in um you know, my family's um Flathead Indian or or Salish Indian. And um showing me the flag and showing the things around the wall. So, it it was very, very successful. Like I said, they're staying up right now and we have a lot of kids that um can't wait to show you their flag
019or or where where their family's from. Um this is one that I wanted to include. We did Shop with the Cop. We had six students that made Shop with the Cop, um which is a lot, but every one of our teachers but one um and just he was out of town that day, but every one of our teachers showed up to help wrap presents. Um and it wasn't forced. I didn't show up. I met them later. Um I said it was all volunteer. Um and that's, you know, all their pictures with Santa. We even had our recess aid showed up and music teacher showed up to help with it. So, and this was, you know, they were there at 6:00 in the morning wrapping presents. So, I was really, really impressed. I just wanted to
020make sure that I got to make a comment on that um what a great job they did. Now, as I'm pushing the Kennedy pride, I kind of saved our big um our big accomplishment for the end. Um Prodigy Math. Now, this is kind of uh well, it's we use it for ELA and math, but um kind of our intervention here for helping our students with math. And um Mrs. Robinson, our our Becca Robinson, our library and technology teacher, um put us in a competition with other schools all over the state. We also competed against Central and we took first. Um it was a big thing. It was a big celebration in our assembly. That banner is now hanging up in our gym. Um and like I said, for our kids and as we push this
021Kennedy Pride idea, um we were the best. And now, in May, they're going to enter a math competition that's going to be a national math competition for um schools all over the country. So, um we'll see how we do, but everybody was so excited for winning Montana. Um and we even beat Central, so um I don't know. That was a good thing for us. Um Anyway, so thank you very much. Like I said, you know, we're really pushing this Kennedy Pride idea. Um I'm telling our kids we're the best, so you may hear them saying that. I'm going to tell you. All right. All right, thank you very much. >> much. Madam Madam Chairman, um if you if you would let me, I'd like to um thank um Brian and his entire staff for all
022the work they've done um this year. Uh I'd want a special note, you know, they've had a couple of students who've had some really traumatic events happen this year and I can't tell you how much um the lengths that his staff went to to making sure these kids were okay. And um I couldn't be prouder of Kennedy and Kennedy's staff on the way they handled these situations and just kudos to them and thanks Brian for all that extra work you did and continue to do. So, thank you very much. Again, I echo that. Thank you very much, Mr. Anderson. Next is the Bridge Bridged Health Trust Alliance. Mr. Jonart. Uh Madam Chairman, members of the board, I just wanted to let you know that the state auditor, Brown, um announced the Bridged Health Alliance was
023validated and that the 40 million trust um authorized by the state of legislature and go and the governor back a couple of two two sessions ago, um, um, was validated, um, this is huge a moment for public education, um, and that we have a health trust program for the entire state. Um, they ended up establishing more than 200 Montana public school districts, um, jumping on to the trust for um, with more than 16,000 educators and employees. So, um, they're the the minimum was they needed 120 districts and uh, 1,000 lives. So, they surpassed that and um, they will be uh, beginning rolling out the the whole um, all of the options and getting things enrolled. In fact, they're starting to support the enrollment, um, in April and May. And um, they will be working with
024our district as um, as we they go forward. So, I just wanted to let you know that um, it's been validated and we're ready to go and I will continue to keep you updated on it. Thank you, ma'am. Uh, first reading and review policy of 5303P, 5303F-1-F5 staff evaluation, Mr. Miller. Uh, Madam Chair, uh, members of the board, members of the board, um, and well, I know we're we're veering off the regular routine about, uh, um, doing a first reading, um, to today I um, I want to present to you, um, uh, 5303 and 5304, um, that that talks about our teacher evaluation. Reason we're kind of veering off the the normal tra- normal train, uh, or the the normal route is that um this process is is is um is got me pretty excited
025um as far as uh what we're what we're doing in our schools. Um we've been working on teacher evaluation for probably 14 years. Um trying to get to to a place where we've where where where we've got a good tool that everybody can use and and and and creates results. Um this last group of folks that have worked on it um they've they've they've been more concentrating on what makes teaching better. Um and and our our um our policy reflects um your your guys's vision of of of good teaching of of of of embracing the art and science of teaching um I'm by by Mr. Marzano as well as um a lot a lot of the strong research as far as uh folks like Larry Lezotte and Charlotte Danielson are concerned. So, there's there instead
026of just just going with one canned program um the group that that uh that we that worked together now um have have put together a a kind of a hybrid program of of a lot of lot of a lot of different schools of thought that that I think is is going to get us and be the foundation for all of our schools to say um we're we're at that level two uh of Marzano's hierarchy of of talking about having quality teaching in in in every classroom. And that that of course is is our goal. Um the group established a vision for evaluation, teacher evaluation is a process to develop effective instruction by consistently supporting continuous growth in teach in teaching. Um as as you'll as you'll see the the the uh um the program goes
027through um it go it goes goes through a whole cycle of of continuous improvement that that uh teachers go through along with with their administrators that that that at the end of the day is more of is is more about perfecting their craft than it than it is about about watching and and and and and measures like that that sometimes teacher evaluations used for. Obviously the goals are to measure teacher strengths and weaknesses accurately and consistently to provide them feedback and coaching to improve their practice and to improve student and obviously when teachers improve their practice it improves student student learning outcomes. Our our evaluation process basically if you remember we had all those rubrics. We we we've really really paired it down. Um we we basically measure five domains in in in in in
028our rubric and and that's plan planning and preparation feedback content context and professionalism. You'll see the feedback content and context comes comes directly from from from Marzano from Marzano. Um basically um skip here. Um evaluation year is is is is this is similar to what what we have now. At the beginning of the year every teacher in the district will complete a self-assessment. Where they take the actual rubric that we use to evaluate them which is which is in front of you and and and they score themselves and they and they put and they they develop and identify their strengths and weaknesses. They then write their growth plan. And their growth plan is based on a goal in in all five of those areas. They discuss that growth plan with with with with their administrator
029and then they they begin the year. And we'll talk about the cycles here in a minute and one of the things we'll talk about is comprehensive evaluation. When a teacher is is in the middle of a comprehensive evaluation between October and and April, that's when that's when the principal come and make schedule visits, non-schedule visits, walk-throughs, um and and other data collection um techniques as far as as far as gathering information. Um in April, uh the they they they'll put together a an evaluation, which again is the rubric. Um and that that rubric then will go with with with the the other forms that we have in um have in our um in in our system in order to to to validate their year and and and and show show uh preference for if if
030we continue them or not continue them or or whatever the case might be. Um and then they have an observation conference with the teacher. They sign off on it and and and then next year we we we start again. Um The policy changes uh that were made um basically I guess I can I could have get into that later. Um Or is there a way to to hit that link right there? Thanks. Sorry. Basic Basically what we've done in the policy 5303 and 5304 is we've um we've taken we've we've put the process in and we've taken the forms out. Um before all the forms were were involved were instituted in the in the whole policy and if we wanted to change one form, we had to change the we had to change the whole
031policy. Um in this in in this in this um in this situation, we've taken the the the the policy we've we've taken the forms out. So, if we need to change forms in the future, um we we we all we have to do is change the forms and and uh um and we don't have to go back and and and work on the policy. Um the the the policy is basically um is is again we use this rubric as as as as a guide to to what to what is good teaching and what we believe is good teaching. Um, the the the um We we've developed um two sets of of forms um one for for elementary, one for secondary, one that's based on walk-throughs and and one that's based on on formal observations. Um,
032like I said, we start with the self-assessment. Of course, looks looks the same as the evaluation. Um, and that's what the growth plan the growth plan looks like. Um, and then we also ask the teachers go through an element study that that takes takes takes them a little bit more in-depth with the areas that they that they believe that they need to work work through a little bit more. Um Go from like I said uh co- we you we we use the three elements from um um from from Marzano. Um, and this is this is a cycle. This is the this is the the meat bones of of of our uh of our policy. A tenured teacher, there's a three-year rotation. Um, in year one, the the teacher goes through the self-assessment. They go through
033the uh setting up their growth plan um and do whatever activities they have in their growth plan and then and and and then they complete the year. The second year, it gets a little different where the teacher does a self-assessment. But they also include a goal that's going to improve their improve the school. Um, so they so they do either instructional rounds, book studies, um there's a number of different activities that they can do in that second year. And in the third year, they have their comprehensive evaluation. So So our tenured our tenured teachers are on on either either year one, two, or three, and that and that's where they and those are the activities that that they fall in. Now, at any time, a teacher can if if it's needed, a teacher could could
034be used to be put on a performance and improvement plan. And the performance improvement plan, like everything else, is based upon the rubric. If there's if we see deficiencies that that are coming out in the rubric, then that that's where performance improvement plan um and then the performance improvement plan moves them back into wherever they should be in the cycle um once once they complete it. Non-tenured teachers, um it's a little bit different for non-tenured teachers. They're basically the same as a comprehensive evalua- They do a comprehensive evaluation every year for three years, and then at the conclusion of their their three years, um if if they've if they've made satisfactory progress or they then they're granted their their their tenure. Okay? Um Basically, we believe that all growth starts at the end of your
035comfort zone. Um so so um this policy um is is is is is been written in order to to push the comfort zone of all of our teachers um um improving um from from a first-year teacher all the way up to to a teacher closer closer to retirement. Um Like I said, it's been it's been um a long time coming for us to you know, to complete this um complete this journey and get all together. Our intention is at the end of this year, we'll be bringing back um a teacher evaluation handbook um that we that we will have produced and and will will will be distributed to to new hires at the beginning. So and and and and available on our website. So at any time it could be referenced and and and it
036could be it's it's finally given us a really consistent look look at good teaching and like if you can tell I'm excited about it. I know when we when when we got it done I was ready to come down here and and start doing some walk-throughs that that they told me that I didn't have to do that anymore. So that was a good that was a good thing. So yeah, if you have any questions I'd be glad to answer them but that 53 covers the uh the non the tenure teachers and 5304 covers the non-tenure teachers. That sums it up. Um if I can jump in as well Keith, I think it's important for the board to know that all of the elements that are written in the teacher evaluation are of content all of
037those three domains. In the middle of the rubric was um this is basically the culminating um project of our um of our Marzano training that we've done. All of our teachers have had extensive training in these strategies. So not only um are we rolling out this evaluation uh tool but they've also had significant professional development and will continue another year of that training. So I think it's a whole comprehensive process and um just that's that's been ongoing for the last 3 years. So thanks to this group and thanks to all the work that's been that everybody's done. So thank you Keith. Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Miller? Go ahead. Um and you may have answered it when you said so um the the goal is to have a handbook put Which way do I
038go? One way or the other? Oh, sorry. So, to have a handbook put together, so I'm presuming that's sort of the training component of this cuz it seems like a big shift. What other I mean, is there going to be like or need to be a process? >> so we'll we'll roll it out to the teachers next year, beginning of the year. Right. >> Um part of part of a part of our of of of my goal is that uh um I get the chance to get into every every building in the first two weeks in order to um to to to to do a once-over with with the with the teachers that are on staff. Um the handbook comes as a as as an introduction when somebody comes to and and is part of
039our our our teacher uh teacher inter our our teach teacher orientation like um and then um a a and then making sure that uh um we get it into schools that we get into schools right away um to to to roll it out so so that they can be participating um in in in the whole process. So, there I mean, the intentionality of making sure people know what they're being assessed on. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. And um I think they'll I think they'll I think they'll appreciate it in the fact that it's it it comes back to everything we've been studying as a as as a district and everything we've been we've been pushing as far as professional development. Um there is it it there is there is a a piece of of the Danielson
040model still left in there. Um as as we want to make sure that we have we have rubrics that that that are that are made for um non-teaching positions um you know, su- such as um uh physical therapists um psychologists um and folks like that that you know, that we have we have rubrics that um that resemble their their their service. And so, so yeah. And but but yeah, the the training part is is is a huge part that that I hope I I get to take care of myself. Don't mess it up. I won't. Thanks. Any other questions? Thank you, Mr. Miller. So, you did both 5303 and 5304 at the same time. Okay. Moving on to public comment on items not on the agenda. Anyone wishing to speak on any matter not on
041the agenda may step forward now. Please identify yourself before you begin. I must caution anyone wishing to speak you may not discuss personal issues, student issues, or pending litigation during the time during the coming session. Due to time constraints, each speaker will be allowed 3 minutes. Do we have anyone wishing to speak on any matter not on the agenda? Seeing none, we will move on to approval of payroll claims, budget transfers, revenue reports, budget versus actual reports, travel requests, grant applications, and school budget reports. Motion from trustees. So moved. Is there a second? >> Second. It has been moved and seconded. Do any trustees have any questions regarding the consent agenda? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Moving on to Miss Alley, approval of the
042amended PAR for August 18th, 2025. Madam Chair, Madam Chair, members of the board, I'm bringing back the August 18th, 2025 um PAR and I'm asking for an amendment of a um rescinding of a retirement of a teacher's notice of retirement. Motion from trustees? So moved. Is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Any questions to Miss Alley regarding the amended PAR approval? Moving uh All those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Approval of the PAR for March 23rd, 2026. Miss Alley. Madam Chairman, members of the board, I'm bringing forth the regular meeting um PAR for March. On it, I'm asking for the approval of two certified appointments, two resignations, four retirements, and one leave of absence. Under classified personnel, I am asking for approval of three
043appointments, two resignations, two retirements, two leaves of absence. And under supplemental personnel, I'm looking for approval of 11 appointments and two resignations. I appreciate your support of the March PAR. Motion from trustees? So moved. Is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Do trustees have any questions to Miss Alley regarding the PAR for March 23rd? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Second reading and approval of policy 1401, Records Available to the Public. Miss Joanart. Madam Chairman, members of the board, um I'm asking approval of um second reading for Records Available to Public 1401 as presented last month. Motion from trustees? So moved. Is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Any questions to Miss Joanart? Hearing none, all those
044in favor, please say I. I. >> I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Second reading and approval policy 2161, Special Education. 2161P, Special Education Continued. Miss Joanart. Madam Chairman, members of the board, I'm asking approval of this policy 2160 and 2161P as presented uh last month. Motion from trustees? So moved. Is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Any questions to Ms. Joanart regarding the approval of this second reading? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. >> I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Second reading and approval of policy 3416 administering medicines to students. 16B administration of medication liability release and medication order 3416F administration of glucagon, which is going to be deleted from this. Ms. Joanart? Madam Chairman, members of the board, I'm asking your approval of this uh the
045policy 3416 3416FB um and deleting 3416F F um as presented at to the board last month. Motion from trustees? Is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Any questions? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Second reading and approval of policy 3665 student safety. Ms. Joanart? Madam Chairman, members of the board, I'm asking approval of policy 3665 student safety as presented last month. Motion from trustees? So moved. Is there a second? It has been moved and seconded. Any questions? All those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Approval of the MOU between Butte School District number one and Anaconda Job Corps. Ms. Joanart? Madam Chairman, members of the board, this is a a memorandum of understanding between uh the Anaconda
046Job Corps um and Butte School District and will be in effect until June 30th of 2027. Motion from trustees? So, is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Any questions to Ms. Joanart? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Approval of the permissive levy notice, Ms. Joanart. Madam Chairman, members of the board, um attached to your approval is the elementary high school resolution of intent to increase non-voted levies, um or permissive levies. Per um Montana Code Annotated 20-9-116, the trustees of the school district shall adopt a resolution no later than March 31st of each fiscal year and provide provide notice pursuant to the subsection whenever the trustees intend to impose an increase in non-voted levy in the ensuring school year. This resolution also
047meets the requirements set forth um in 20-9-502. Um I appreciate your consideration of this resolution. Please note, these are approximate approximate um estimations because um as an uh um because we do not have um we won't our I get um it's an it's an estimate for this school year. Um uh we won't have our books closed until June 30th. Um and then the taxable values for the 27 budgets um are not calculated until August 1st. So, these may increase a little more or they may decrease. It's just an estimated um amount and that we have to show to the public and then the um the uh the actual amounts will be approved, remember, in August when you set the budgets. This also includes um the permissive um major maintenance levy, the permissive levy for that,
048which is approximately $581,515 for next year, and that would be about 1.80 1.83 mills um as as calculated based upon this year's um taxable value. So, again, it's all estimation. It's a requirement of the state that we do this, noticing the the public that there may be an increase or decrease in these um permissive levies. Motion from trustees? So Is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Any questions to Ms. Joanart regarding the approval of the permissive levy notice? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Approval of the E-rate bids. Ms. Joanart. Madam Chairman, members of the board, I'm requesting approval to award the bid to Compunet for the requested technology upgrades to the district's network infrastructure. Um below um as you
049know notice the table was provided of Compunet's bid for each of the identified items. Um approval of these bids will allow the district to submit a uh a form 471 E-rate application to seek funding for the identified items. Once E-rate funding is confirmed, the district will then determine which items can be supported during the current funding year. The district has established priorities for the purchases with firewalls, distribution switches, and smart match items identified as the highest priority. I appreciate your time and consideration to this request. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Um but um or you But basically we have to have this and we have to um submit our form 471. The deadline is closing in on us. And then based upon whether we get any funding um
050we will determine how much we can afford. Because again 80 um E-rate is an 80/20. You get 80 um E-rate will pay 80% of an item. Um and um the district push puts in 20 20%. So based upon how much eligibility we get of these items will determine how much how many items we can purchase. Motion from trustees? So moved. Is there a second? It has been moved and seconded. Any questions to Ms. Joiner regarding the E-rate bids? Hearing none, all those in favor please say I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Approval of mileage for student transportation, Ms. Johnson. Madam Chair, members of the board, I am asking for your approval on an individual transportation contract for a student with an IEP. We are reimbursing the parent for mileage to take this child
051to and from school daily. Thank you for consideration of this request. Motion from trustees? So moved. Is there a second? It has been moved and seconded. Any questions to Ms. Johnson regarding the student transportation mileage? Hearing none, all those in favor please say I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Approval of the destruction of special education records, Ms. Johnson. Madam Chair, members of the board, I'm requesting your approval, um, to, um, destroy special education files for students born before 2001. Um, the Butte School District Special Education Department is announcing its intention to destroy the special education records of former students who were born before 2001. Former students may contact the Special Education Department within 60 days of this notice if they wish to obtain their student files. Identification will be required to retrieve these
052files. Thank you for your consideration. Motion from trustees? So moved. Is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Any questions to Ms. Johnson? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Approval to advertise and hire for the extended school year program, ESY. Ms. Johnson. Madam Chair, members of the board, I am requesting your approval to advertise and hire for ESY program. Extended year school school services are defined within the students' IEPs. ESY services are approved for students attending pre-K through 12th grade. Extended school year will start Tuesday, June 9th, with your approval and end Thursday, July 9th. ESY ESY will be held Tuesday through Thursday, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. I'm requesting to hire up to three special education teachers and four paraprofessionals based on student
053enrollment. Um, I'm also cer- speech services will also be provided and during the summer school, uh, during summer ESY. Um, and I'm requesting for that also to be hired. Funds for this program will be granted through the IGEA grant. Thank you for your consideration and time. Motion from trustees? So moved. Is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Any questions to Ms. Johnson regarding the ESY advertising and hiring? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Approval to collaborate with Helena College occupation therapy assistants OTA program. Madam chair and members of the board, um Helena College approached us to see if we'd be willing to get into a partnership with them. Um so I'm asking your asking I'm requesting your approval to collaborate with
054the Helena College um for the therapy assistants program. Um they've reached out and they would like a uh would they would like placements for their students. It's a two-year program and they would be um doing field work experiences with our OT. Um students in the program would complete their field work under the supervision of our district occupational therapist. This collaborate would would provide the OTA students with valuable real-world clinical experiences while supporting the Butte School District in meeting the needs of our students. We're offering our district increased assistance during therapy sessions, opportunities for enhanced service delivery, and benefiting um integrating current educational practices brought through the university. Thank you for your consideration of this request. Motion from trustees? So Is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Any questions to Ms. Johnson
055regarding the collaboration with Helena College occupational therapy assistants program? Mr. Beltian. Um Ms. Johnson, and this would be for both of these um I read them and I didn't see it, but I just wanted to confirm. These are not paid pro um like private incomes or field experiences. >> No. There's not a financial obligation from us. No, trustee Beltian, there is no cost to us. >> Okay. And would this be for the entire school year or would they take just terms? Short terms or They would be terms. >> Okay. Any other questions? Motion from trustees? We had that. Okay. All those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Oh, Ms. Johnson, still? Approval of the MOU between BSD1 and the University of Montana. I know we have lots of great
056opportunities today, Madam Chair, members of the board. Um you the University of uh Montana reached out to us for this um request. I'm requesting your approval on a member memorandum of understanding between the University of Montana and Butte School District to allow school psychologist practicum students um to spend the 2006-2000 or 2026 to 2027 school year working with our K-2 students in our district. They'd be this student would be working 12 hours per week. This memorandum would be um viable for 5 years. So, the student is only working with us for 1 year, but this is a 5-year contract. Um and it is uh made possible for the through the uh um the RAISE program. And I'll just read a little bit about that. Um the practicums are part of the school psychology degree program
057at the U of M, and it's part of the US Department of Education's Mental Health Services Professional Demonstration Grant entitled RAISE, Rural and Indigenous School-Based Mental Health and Empowerment Project. Our district is eligible for this project um due to meeting the criteria of having at least 20% of our students served by our district that are from low-income backgrounds and because of the there's additional need for mental health services in our community. Your approval will be greatly appreciated. Motion from trustees? So moved. Is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Any questions to Ms. Johnson regarding the BSD1 and University of Montana MOU? Hearing none, all those in favor, please I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you, Ms. Johnson. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. Thanks for your work. Next, we have
058the approval of the 2026-2027 school year calendar. Ms. Johnson. Madam Chair, members of the board, I'm asking your approval for the 2026-2027 school calendar. Um we have the vote open from March 9th to March 11th. Vote was 82 for calendar one, which was a shorter Christmas break, um and a later date start time or start day. And then calendar two, which was the two-week Christmas break, um calendar two won with um 143 votes. Um and there was 82 for the other one. Both calendars have the PLCs involved. Uh K through three will get out at 12:30, and then four through 12 will get out at 1:30 for the PLC Wednesdays. It'll be one every month throughout the school year to begin the PLCs. Thank you, ma'am. Motion from trustees? Move to approve. Is there a
059second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Anyone have any questions to Ms. Johnson regarding the calendar? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Approval of the 2026-2027 Butte Pathway Academy student handbook. Ms. Johnson. Madam Chair, members of the board, this will be our first ever Butte Pathway handbook that we're bringing to you today. Um in the handbook, um it contains the policies from Butte High School, but also the special things that are happening at the Pathway Academy that might feel a little bit different. So, the students will get the handbook along with the application when they apply to um make sure that they are interested in a different type of setting and learning at the Pathway Academy. Motion from trustees. So moved. Is there a
060second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Any questions, Ms. Johnson, regarding the Butte Pathway Academy student handbook? Yes, sir. I had time to read today, so you guys are probably like crazy reading stuff. That was more of an operational question, Ms. Johnson. On the online stuff, is that all through Digital Academy, or do you have the opportunity to look at So, we're right now looking at Connexus. >> Okay. Um, that's what we're using through Pearson, is what we use, um, which is like the pre- and post-tests. But, we did, um, when Helena came with OPI to kind of look at the pathway, they're using a different program, so we are going to look at that. It could maybe be more conducive to online learning than just Connexus, but right now we're just using the
061Connexus. And the district, um, Digital Academy is a little bit harder just because it's not on our, um, like in our control. And so, this one kind of is just at their self-paced, um, pre-test, post-test. And Megan Brown right now is doing that. And also, they were piloting three kids right now that were going to go to, um, Ken Foster online. We were going to lose them, so we kind of put together a individual plan for those three kids to see if we could keep them in the school district to hopefully bring them back one day. Um, and they're working on Connexus. They come in though to take their tests, uh, final exams, so that we can monitor that and know what they're doing that way. So, the flexibility and use of different platforms. Okay,
062thank you. Any other questions, Ms. Johnson? All those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you, ma'am. Approval of the donation by Butte Butte Athletic Council new weight room at Butte High School. Madam Chair, members of the board, I'm just asking permission today for the Butte School District to accept a donation in the amount of 125,000 237 to upgrade and update the weight room of Jude High School. Motion from trustees. Is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Any questions to Mr. Whitlock regarding the donation from the BAC? All those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Approval of the EMS 2026 summer program, Miss Thatcher. Yes, Madam Chair, members of the board. I'm here today
063to request the operation of our summer school program from starting June 9th through July 1st, running Monday through Thursday, which is a total of 14 instructional days. I'm requesting to hire three general education teachers and one special education teacher. Um just that structure will allow us to have small groups and also invite any student that has an IEP that doesn't qualify for the ESY services. I would really appreciate your support with this. Thanks. Motion from trustees. So moved. Is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. Any questions to Miss Thatcher regarding the EMS summer program? Hearing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you, ma'am, Miss Thatcher. Thank you. At this time we have an adjournment. I would call for a motion from
064trustees. I call from trustees to adjourn. Trustees. Yes, so Is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded. All those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those opposed? Motion, meeting is adjourned. Thank you all. Appreciate your time. Love that gamble that man.