MPS Holds December Board Meeting

After beginning the meeting with the pledge, members of the Malta School Board and teachers tackled a wide variety of topics and business at the Dec. 14th meeting. Board member Justin Lamb was absent.

Board member Scott Meneely, reported that he and board member Justin Lamb (School Board Building Committee) had met with the school principals and the janitor as to the needs of the school. Those needs were listed into four categories: safety, security, structure, and cosmetic needs.

"Everybody brought their concerns forward and we talked through a prioritization list and we discussed the issues we have with the building. Anything with safety or security goes to the front of the list. And structural stuff, obviously it's important to continue to invest in our building's, to make sure they are as good as then can be, because we have fantastic facilities – but obviously we don't have the money to do all of it at once, so we prioritized and will be moving forth with it."

At the present time there are issues at the elementary school restrooms not functioning properly. The concern is how extensive is the problem? Is the issue more in the pipes, below the concrete, and what will be found when work begins? An estimation of cost to repair the elementary school bathroom issues was in the neighborhood of $200,000.

Attending by telecommunication, Jessica Oyler stated, after the discussion and options were presented, "Our kids don't have bathrooms at the elementary school, that's gotta be somewhere on the priority list. But, I understand, it's a big project, but I just hope we all realize how many kids are at that elementary, and when one bathroom is down what an impact that has."

Supt. Matt Genger stated that he had just received information on a grant from Senator Jon Tester,

"Ok, so remember, we want a new gym floor but we have bathrooms that don't work," Oyler said. "So, I am just saying, our priorities can get a little cloudy there; but we can move on."

Board chairman Carter Clausen stated, "Different money."

Kennedy Koss and Brylee French, student council officers reported on the "Winter Olympics" that were held that day. Fun, positive and interactive games were played; there were even teacher teams. The classes bought items for the "Angel Trees," had purchased food items for the Food Bank, and awarded cash prizes.

Principal Shawn Bleth reported that Counselors Kelly Cederberg and Kate Webb had presented a video series on Tuesday evening. The program was the second in a series that are in the plans, this one was on telephone dangers; the first was "SOS" dealing with suicide.

Principal Bleth shared the upcoming dates for the various school concerts and said the Snowball will be held the 23rd. This year the Grand March will be held in the auditorium.

He stated that MSU-Northern is working on ways to grow teachers and students taking college classes and the cost-saving to parents. One example he used was the CNA classes presented last winter; this jump start makes the students more employable.

Principal Bleth gave an update on a wireless microphone system that was purchased from the $1,500 memorial gift from Rosemary Veseth in memory of Dr. Michael Veseth. Additional funds, $300 from Independence Bank, was used to purchase a mixer board. The system will be utilized when the school play is presented in the near future and also during the Christmas programs and concerts.

Discussion was held about graduation policy and credits required by Malta School standards vs State of Montana.

Elementary Principal Shiloh Seymore then shared with the board and those in attendance of recent activities and upcoming events.

The elementary school had competed in the recent food drive; pitting the Cats against the Griz. Students collected 285# of food, and the Cats won!

Shortly, the students will start winter testing.

Also, the spirit of the season will bring an ugly sweater contest, the Christmas concert, and a movie in the high school auditorium.

Pat Sargent presented the transportation committee report. His report detailed the issues with the various buses. He gave details on one that was for sale. He introduced Mr. (Brian) Green of Green's Diesel. Brian has worked on a majority of the various buses the school owns. Sargent stated that Mr. Green had installed 13 new lights on one bus that he had found faulty.

One bus had an issue with a heat sensor, bus #3 has a problem with the anti-brake system (ABS). Bus #6 was getting new shields on the side window at Davis Glass. One bus has a miss – a thumping sound; the issue may be a possible broken push rod, an injector, or a valve. It has to have some money put into it to be fixed before it can be sold.

On the positive side, the Zortman bus is running nicely. Sargent stated that the air compressor that was ordered is in. The school is utilizing cupboards that has been repurposed for the bus barn.

Mrs. Desiree Egger, A. D., gave her an update on sports, the seventh-grade basketball claimed first at the tournament over the weekend and eighth-grade took second place. She said Malta High School will open their action this weekend with games against Harlem and the shot clocks are in place.

Dave Costin, head boy's basketball coach, then presented his report to the board. In his opening statement, he is starting his 15th year and they already have two players on the injured list. He attributed the injuries to the playing floor and foot traffic on it. He said he has visited other schools and no one else allows street shoes on the gym floor. He stated there is no way to keep a good finish on a floor.

"I had two kids come up lame from the floor," stated the coach. Options for protecting the floor were thrown out, it was stated part of the reason the floors weren't in tip-top shape was lack of janitorial staff life Malta had been experiencing (lack of janitors due to lack of qualified applicants). Those in attendance stated there are a lot of factors as to why the floors aren't comparable to others. The general consensus was that the entire community would need to get on board, which will mean enforcing the "NO STREET SHOES ON THE GYM FLOOR!"

Malta had hosted and competed in the Speech meet, and Izzy Hallenberg had placed first and as a team, Malta had taken second.

Well, the talk is all over the state...now it is getting closer to home. The four-day school week. Large schools such as Sidney and Havre have voted in favor of it. There are pros and cons each way. Malta knows they will face making a choice in the near future.

The board opened discussion on an AVAC system, and voted in favor of ordering one.

Mrs. Christina Murphy introduced the Parliamentary Procedure (Conduct of Meeting Team) that will be competing at the District FFA competition in February. Members of the FFA team: Autumn Marquis, Kenzie LaBrie, Karlie LaBrie, Amanda Volk, Lola Snell, Sadie Branham, and Layla Messerly demonstrated a mock conduct meeting which won the school board over and was well received.

The board voted to rescind the hiring of Payton Clausen as a substitute bus driver. The board then voted by unanimous vote to hire Clausen as a bus driver.

Bids for the gym floor were opened, only one bid met the application specs of the two bids that were received. The bid was awarded to High Performance Floors in Lewistown, MT., with Clausen, Meneely, and Koss voting aye, and Oyler voting nay.

District Clerk Jane Knudsen presented the price for two high-use copiers and following discussion, a motion was made and seconded, and the vote was 4-0 in favor of the purchase.

The January board meeting will be on Jan. 11th at 7 p.m.