Malta School Board Holds January Meeting

Following the opening rituals at the Malta School Board meeting on January 8th, the meeting was called to order by Chairperson Angel DeVries. Also present were board members Jessica Oyler, Katey Marquis, Kyle Kluck and Katie Brown.

After calling for public input, Gina Lamb, Prevention Specialist for Phillips County, spoke to those in attendance and invited each of them to the “Hidden in Plain Sight” open house which was held at the Business Center on Tuesday through Friday, Jan. 14-17th. She also will be available during parent-teacher conferences to share with teachers and parents about items in a typical teenager’s bedroom that can be where kids stash drugs.

Marquis moved to approve the consent agenda, seconded by Brown, the motion passed.

DeVries gave a finance report, stating they had met Tuesday, topics of discussion were the Stars Act that is coming through legislation, sub pay review and the transportation department midyear review. She stated they were very well educated especially about upcoming legislation year. More will be shared at an upcoming special meeting.

District Clerk Heathyr Knowles stated the school board election is open and has been posted on the school website. Yet to be completed are the MOU with the Clerk and Recorders office; when this is done, she will send out a press release. As of now, the word of mouth is the ongoing method of attracting candidates for the board.

First to provide an administrative report was Carter Clausen; he said bus #1 is rolling on the South Wagner route. He now has parts for activity bus 2, so it will be back together Friday. Bus 5 is operational, he is waiting for Elite Diesel to get it done. The second semester bus inspections by the Highway Patrol have been done and completed and sent to OPI.

Clausen said there are some changes in bus drivers for a while, two drivers will be shifted to cover routes while another is out for several weeks. He had not received any applications for bus route drivers.

Elementary Principal JF Hewitt reported that the heating project is ongoing and that a walk-through is planned. There are four new enrollments at the school this week.

Hewitt stated that the Loring School has applied for emergency certification and the school is using home school teaching until the week is over. They have an applicant for the position and waiting on paperwork. The individual from the Phillipines that had applied is still working on her paperwork for her visa and hopes to be able to sign on for the 2025-2026 school year.

The Colony is still looking for playground equipment, he said he is waiting for them to send him some pictures of what they would like for equipment and he will write some grants to move forward with acquiring the pieces.

He thanked Kluck and Marquis for accompanying him to the Colony Christmas Program. He felt the community there appreciated their attendance.

As to the program that the Elementary school had presented, Hewitt said he was very appreciative of the time and energy that Mr. and Mrs. McKenney had put into the program.

Marquis stated that next year they need to look at some method or steps to accommodate the crowd and lack of seating for the concerts. Hewitt said that they will discuss options that still meet fire safety regulations as to occupancy and look at additional seating, etc.

Principal Shawn Bleth had provided his report in an email prior to the meeting and ask for any questions. He stated the district honor and band will head to Glasgow Jan. 27th.

He added that Layla Messerly, through FCCLA, has secured a grant to do a training and education on traffic safety. On January 29th she will be bringing in a speaker, Mr. Gohan from Fairfield, who lost his daughter in a traffic accident, for not being buckled in. Miss Messerly has done all the work on the project and Bleth stated he was proud of Messerly for all the work she has done to get the speaker in and the ground work she has done, as well.

Other dates to keep in mind include January 31st is parent-teacher conferences.

Bleth added that the Snow Ball had been held on Thursday, Jan. 2 and that 89 students had attended. The event is a fund raiser for the FCCLA organization, and attendance was about as it was last year.

Friday was the date for the school to have graduate profile work that is part of the school accreditation; he hopes to have a good rough draft to present to the school board, community and staff in general.

AD Jake Norby shared that Coach Oxarart was selected as head football coach for the east team of the Shrine game and what an honor it is; he has been an assistant on the team before. The head coach for the west team is an AA class coach. He said Oxarart will be assisted by Coach DeVries and Mustangs Stockton Oxarart and Blaine Downing will be playing in the game.

Norby said the middle school basketball season has concluded and five girls were brought up to help fill out the varsity, JV and C squad teams. With the number of injuries on the varsity squad they are bringing up members of the JV and C squad teams to fill a roster, so there will not be a JV game this week.

Middle school wrestling has also concluded and three eighth graders were brought up for play action. Norby said Cody and Mary Oxarart are offering third and fourth grade skills and drills at the elementary. Coach Handley held a holiday Hoops Camp that was well received and well attended. Norby said Handley had beat Bohdi Brenden on a one-on-one competition, and “that is pretty impressive for Mr. Handley” and that Brenden admitted Handley had thrown some deep shots.

Norby addressed briefly changes in the student handbook related to rules, laws and regulations, and that the book needs to be looked at and updated.

Supt. Steve Bucks reported he and Knowles will be attending the monthly superintendent’s meeting and someone from OPI will be addressing accreditation at the meeting. He wants to schedule a building committee to address how to prioritize spend the loan.

He asked Bleth to update the website for positions that are yet to be filled including a Vo-ag instructor, teacher for the Colony, and high school Special Ed teacher.

Julie McFadden gave a presentation on the after school program that is through a grant from the Coalition for Healthy Choices for $50,000 annually for five years.

Under action items the MTSBA policy review was discussed. Items included forms various forms used within the school for various actions and incidents. This was the first reading, a second reading will be on next month’s agenda.

On the agenda was the MOU with the Clerk and Recorder for the school board election. Brown made a motion for approve the MOU, followed by a second by Marquis and motion passed.

Addressed was the item regarding procedure for a budget adjustment resolution and publishing it, followed by a vote by the board to approve. A loan was secured from the Montana Board of Investments for $500,000 to bring the Building Reserve Fund up to where it is needed. Expenses in the amount of $344,365.56 for the HS Gym and $267,897.19 for the Elementary HVAC project were listed in the Budget Amendment Resolution prepared. A motion to approve the budget amendment was provided by Marquis, seconded by Kluck, motion passed.

The date to hold a special meeting to vote on the resolution was discussed, Oyler moved to hold the special meeting on Jan. 22nd at 5:30 p.m.; Brown seconded the motion, it was approved.

Oyler made a motion to hire Denise Watkins as a teacher for the Loring Colony, and to hire Tyler Sjostrom as middle school basketball coach. Motion was seconded by Kluck and was passed by the board.

Norby addressed the upcoming MHSA Winter Meetings in Billings. After discussing the various items coming up for vote at the conference, Marquis moved and Oyler seconded a motion to approve Norby to vote on behalf of the district.

The February meeting of the Malta board will be Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.