January School Board Pre-Meeting Notes

January Board Packet Link

Next Committee & Board Meeting Agendas

Budget Committee Meeting 515pm Mr. Fritz's Room

Regular School Board Meeting 630pm Joliet Public Schools Library

Terra's Notes on Agenda Items

There is still no AD report. Last time either AD reported to the Board was July after Trustee Stene asked for a report.

Laurel Softball Co-op: This seemed like a non-starter after the last board meeting, so I was surprised to see it being recommended for approval at this meeting. At the December Coffee with the Superintendent session, the Superintendent did not know if Laurel would be charging Joliet for the co-op. Later that evening he informed the Board it would be $350 per athlete. He confirmed that Billings Central, the current co-op, does not charge Joliet. Concerns were expressed by attendees that he was asking the School Board to approve the co-op without reviewing the agreement to which they were committing. As it is now on the agenda for approval and the documents are not in the Board Packet, this appears to still be the case.

Superintendent Begger is asking the School Board to approve a co-op agreement he has not provided them to review.

Further, there is no item on the agenda to approve the dissolution of the current co-op agreement with Billings Central. These documents are all due to MHSA by February 1, 2025. As a co-op agreement is not a day to day operation, these board level decisions will require a special board meeting in the next 10 days, or a delay until next year.

Certified Staff Retirement Incentive: The Superintendent and Clerk are recommending the Board take no action on certified staff retirement incentives. This is a prudent and wise action for the time being.

Policies: The policy committee is recommending the removal of the Athletics Informed Consent Form. The Activities Director does not collect paperwork from coaches or verify any of the required forms are completed, so getting rid of the form won't change operations, as they stand. It would be prudent to ensure a from does exist, however, or the District is opening itself to liability.

Policy 2100: Commits trustees to developing an Advisory Committee, in collaboration with the superintendent, to create a yearly professional development plan. Note that the responsibility lies with both the trustees and the superintendent.

Policy 2123: Current policy states that lesson plans must be prepared and turned in to the principal on the last working day of each week. I have had concerns about the high school history teacher not being prepared for class or having lesson plans in the past, so I have asked the principal for his lesson plans. She told me that they did not review the teachers lesson plans. She also stated that she was aware of what the handbook stated and that they were not following policy.

The updated policy says that lesson plans are to be kept current for each week of the academic year. There is no statement on oversight of this requirement. It seems to be more in line with how the school has been operating though.

Policy 2132: Parents would be required to provide consent for surveys requesting or requiring disclosure of personal information. It also requires the superintendent to provide notification of this policy annually.

Policy 2160: Requires parental and family involvement in the District's Title I program. It also outlines the administration's responsibilities.

Financials: A review of the financials shows no appropriation for the Montana Advanced Opportunity Aid for the elementary school; however, the state granted Joliet elementary $3,640.26. Multiple attempts to verify the allocation and use of this particular fund have been unsuccessful. A second Freedom of Information Act request was submitted on January 19 requesting the report Joliet was required to submit to the state on January 13. Superintendent Begger has stated he will provide the report, but has yet to do so.

It is odd that $11,696 of the Transformational Learning grant is appropriated for Distance Learning for 6-8th grade, while only $4,500 is appropriated for high school. The school has already overspent that allocation. Financials show that $5,113.50 has been spent on distance learning for the high school out of the Transformational Learning grant.

The District has spent $2,472 on the PAX Exemplar program, year to date. If you are not familiar with this organization, I highly recommend doing some research and coming to your own conclusion about it's necessity or appropriateness for Joliet schools. https://www.paxis.org/about-paxis/

Class of 2026 has $23.28 in their account. Prom is not very far away. Their adult advisors need to do a better job.

The District continues to identify legal fees for my complaint by name, but no others are named. This is further proof of my discrimination, libel and slander claims. Unfortunately, the superintendent and board chair continue to disregard the significant consequences to the district for their unprofessional actions, as they are responsible for what is placed in the board packet.

3 Resignations: Nicole Juhnke, Head of Facilities. Nicole has done an outstanding job with the facilities and she will be hard to replace. Brice Turk, teacher and guidance counselor. Barry Rowlison, activities director. The last two resignations are long overdue. The guidance program and activities programs are in dire need of overhauls. Hopefully the people coming in will breathe new life into them.

Settlement Agreement: The District chose to share the resolution agreement for my complaint to the Montana Human Rights Bureau. They also chose to share an employment document without my consent. Yet again, exposing the District to further legal liability. I sincerely hope this is the last time they choose to be so disrespectful of my privacy.

Enrollment: Down 12 from December. There are 4 less in the high school and 8 less in elementary and middle school.

Employment Opportunities: Head High School Track coach is still open. Head High School Volleyball is open as well. There is no mention of a resignation or decision not to rehire for the volleyball coach, curiously. The District is also looking for a custodian, kitchen help, math teacher, substitute teachers and bus drivers, as well as snow removal and installation of bus cameras.

Rural Behavioral Health Institute: This is a suicide risk prediction program. Students take surveys and are identified as a suicide or depression risk. For more information about the program, click here. Many parents I have spoken to are very concerned about bringing this program into Joliet schools. It does not appear to be an action item, so the assumption is that the superintendent is bringing it into the school and just letting the board know.

Dealing with Negative Comments Online: This is a great article and I hope the superintendent and trustees take it to heart.

Awarded Purple Star Schools Status: This is great!

Superintendent Review: I hope the board of trustees does their job this time and actually provides the superintendent with honest feedback they have been provided from the community. It does no good to deny there is a problem. Identifying strategies to fix the problems is the only way forward for the District. We will not know what happens in the review though as the superintendent has chosen to receive his review in a closed session.