Bronze Mustang Handed Out at Special School Board Meeting

In a special meeting held just before the regular school board meeting, the board recognized Greg Skiff for his years of service on the board with a bronze Mustang.

After the board accepted the canvass of the election, Board Chairman Carter Clausen stood and presented Greg Skiff with a Bronze Mustang saying, "I want to personally thank Greg for his years of service. We've been on this board for a lot of years together. We have seen a pile of changes in our years here. I believe it has been all for the better. A little story about Greg. The amount of time that he has spent doing personnel interviews is 10 times what any trustee should ever have to do. Greg's commitment to this school has been above normal duty. I appreciate that immensely."

Greg Skiff received the Mustang and said, "Thank you all. It's been fun learning from you guys. It's going to be hard stepping away, but I am sure that Jessica will do a good job."

New trustee Jessica Oyler was then sworn in.

A re-0rganization of the board then took place with Carter Clausen staying the Board Chairman and Kevin Koss being nominated and voted in as the vice-chairman. Jane Knudsen was also nominated to continue her role as the board's Business Manager/Clerk.

A highlight during the regular board meeting that followed was Transportation Director Mr. Sargent presenting a plaque to Bob McAuley, who is retiring at the end of the school year after driving a bus for Malta Schools for 46 years. If you think about that, the kindergarten class in his first year is now turning 51 years old and the senior class that year is turning 64. Amazing dedication to the Malta school system.

"I want to thank all of the substitute drivers over the years," McAuley said. "All of the parents and kids that I've had over the years. Thank you very much."

The Student Council Report was given by Student Body Class President Jade Darrington and Senior Class Secretary/Treasurer Conner Tuss.

Darrington told the board that the school hosted a blood drive on April 20. There were 30 applicants from which 23 successful vials of blood were received. Five applicants did not meet all of the requirements, and two could not produce enough blood.

She also told the board that student body elections were coming up followed closely by the class elections.

Tuss told the board that the student council class presidents had got together to create new rules and expectations for the student council. This was done so that in the future, we can be more involved within our school and make sure that everyone is keeping up with the positions that they were elected into.

Darrington then told that board that they had celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week the week before. The student council came together and bought coffees for all of the teachers in the building. She also said that the middle school and high school councils are purchasing t-shirts for all of the substitute teachers that they have had this year.

"We are very thankful and appreciative for all of the teachers and everything that they do for us," said Darrington.

Mr. Bleth informed the board that high school scheduling is put on hold right now due to the unknown of what positions will be filled. His hope is that everything will fall into place, but it is up in the air right now.

Mr. Bleth also talked to the board about trying to stress the problem of attendance for students in the school. He told the board that as of April 20, 21% of the students in our high school are considered excessive absentees according to the Montana criteria.

In the action items for the meeting, the board approved the fiscal year 2021 audit, approved 2021-22 contracts, and 2022-23 contracts for coaching, speech pathologist, and occupational therapist.

The board also ratified the Certified Collective Bargaining Agreement and the Classified Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The board appointed Matt Genger as the District Transportation Representative.

The signing of the Inter-Local Agreement for the Malta School District and North Harlem Colony was tabled to gather more information and data.

The board approved the 2022-23 Pre-school Special Education Calendar.

Approved the purchase of shot clocks for the gymnasiums. The school district has received some donations for the purchase. The Malta school was the only school district that voted against the use of shot clocks.

The board approved to initiate the purchase of a building from Phillip Henderson for use as a bus barn at the price of $780,000. A loan would be taken out for the purchase of the building at 1.55% for 15 years. The money to repay this loan would then come from the transportation fund in the budget. It was decided that the original idea of building a new structure, with the current prices would be too expensive.

The next Malta School Board meeting will be held on June 8, 2022, at 7:00 p.m.