Board updates policies

SEELEY LAKE - Members of the Seeley Lake Elementary School Board unanimously approved a second round of board policy updates in their 2000’s series during a meeting Wednesday, Feb. 17. Superintendent Josh Gibbs also provided updates on the School Improvement Team’s efforts as well as other various aspects of the school.

Policy updates included:

• Removing the Montana Digital Academy policy because it is already a part of state law.

• Using the old library policy for members of the public because it is more in-depth.

• Removing a policy around diversifying school materials because of state law redundancy.

• Rewording the copyright law to be more concise.

• Removing a policy regarding the process of learning material objections because of redundancy.

• Adding language to the rules around religion and prayer.

• Going more in-depth for Native American Studies.

• Going more in-depth for nutrition and wellness.

The board also voted to table a policy regarding the grading policy to clarify wording. This policy was split into two aspects, one for grading and one for promotion and retention which is what caused the delay.

During his report, Gibbs said the School Improvement Team met Tuesday, Feb. 9 where they worked on curriculum inventory. Team members were encouraged to reach out to colleagues across Montana to see what programs they use and believe are effective. Math is considered a high priority for the school now. The next step for the team is to take a survey and build a list of priorities to begin the review process. 

Gibbs hopes to adopt new curriculums by this summer. The school has talked about using the Smarter Balanced assessment system from which they saw “great gains” during winter testing. According to him, a lot of the students have already seen “over grade level improvement,” although part of that is a result of students not having in-person classes last spring.

According to Gibbs, sometime over the weekend of Feb. 13, a pipe froze and broke in the school’s storage area which was mostly all locker rooms. The water did reach some papers but the affected floors were all made of tile so damage was limited. The school has filed an insurance claim.

SLE is looking towards holding a large surplus sale this upcoming spring or summer. The board will have additional meetings to decide which items to sell or throw away.

The school will soon put out a post looking for additional substitute teachers. Later this month Gibbs will also start putting out summer positions for the school’s Adventure Club.

Gibbs is currently working on the school calendar for next year. He will present it to teachers for their input in the coming weeks. SLE is looking to start before Labor Day this year, which he said they have not done for the last few years. He is currently waiting for Missoula Public Schools to determine their spring break date, but they are waiting for the University of Montana to announce their spring break date.

In his COVID-19 update, Gibbs said that no positive cases have been identified at the school.

The Board unanimously approved the hiring of an additional para-support for the end of the school year. This is an educator who provides one-on-one student aid in the classroom. The position is currently advertised. The board will be asked to approve a recommended candidate at the next meeting.

Special Education teacher Roxie Apland sent a letter to the Board stating that she will resign at the end of this school year. 

The school received a letter from the Missoula County Elections Office stating that they made a mistake by issuing a ballot to the school for the sewer bond election. Because SLE does not pay taxes, they are not eligible to vote in this election. The ballot the school received has been voided.

The next School Board meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. March 22.