The Fairfax R-3 Board of Education met in regular session December 20, 2018, in Elementary Room 3. Board president Mike Lewis called the meeting to order at 1:07 p.m. Present were: board members, Doug Miller, Josh Oswald, Marshal Oswald, and Sam O’Riley (Chris Smith and Jon Graves were absent); Fairfax R-3 Superintendent Jeremy Burright; secretary Karen Burke; Marisa Hedlund, representing the CTA; and guest Bambi Simmons.

Communications – Bambi Simmons presented to the board a request to use Fairfax’s school bus with Mike Lewis as driver for the Fairfax After Prom to be held in Omaha.

Board members voted to approve the agenda as presented.

Minutes and Financial Re-port/Monthly Reconciliation – The board reviewed the minutes from the November regular and executive meetings, and the special December 11 meeting. The board reviewed the financial report and the monthly reconciliation report indicating a liquid balance of $465,863.89. Dr. Burright reviewed the fund balance with the board, indicating a total balance of all institutions at $960,774.52.

The December monthly bills in the amount of $129.156.10 were reviewed and approved for payment.

Superintendent Report–

Construction Update: Dr. Burright gave an update on the construction work. It was decided to have all games at Fairfax for the tournament and to observe and consult with the contractor to determine the tournament will require a delay in the construction work.

Transportation Update – We were not chosen as candidate for the grant for a free bus. We can submit the application again for a grant.

APR/Annual Report Update – There is an explanation letter in the board packet from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) explaining the scoring guide for testing for board members to review.

Lease Purchase – Account Total is $412,127.19

Principal’s Report–

General Information

Elementary – Project Lead the Way Showcase was held on Monday, December 10, and had a good turn-out overall.

The band visited and played at the Atchison County nursing homes on Friday, December 14.

JH/HS finals were held December 18 and 19.

The Holiday Program was held December 19 with the Band Booster Chili Supper held prior to the concerts.

“Fun Day” activities are taking place December 20.

School dismisses early with a half day December 20.

Teacher work day is set for January 7 with students returning January 8.

Preliminary MAP Data was released. I have looked over all of our information in the system and we didn’t have any errors that needed correcting. In speaking with other administrators in passing, it seems like scores are down overall. Ours are down a bit from prior years, but not as bad across the board as I had thought they might be. Our preliminary APR comes out early January. Once all data has been evaluated for errors and I have a chance to get it all together, we will have a comprehensive report to the board in January or February.

Teacher/Class  Information – We are finishing up end-of-year assessments in the elementary. Parent reports will be sent home with grade cards.

a. DIBELS Mid-Year Bench-mark Reads

b. STAR Test Grade Reads

c. Pathways Assessments

d. NWEA – READING Assessment – Mid-Year Benchmark

CTE Report – Our HS Ag/ FACS and Business programs have been working on a new DESE report for their CTE programs. This year it is a “self assessment.” We have the rubric and score ourselves and then I upload the data to DESE. We are finding the areas that we are self assessing as weak or lower scoring areas and are creating individual plans for each program so that we will have our bases covered next year when we have to do the report again and add documentation.

Athletic Information – Prep-arations are being made for the 87th annual Fairfax Basketball Tournament to be held  January 7-12.

High school basketball and wrestling schedules are off and going.

Junior high basketball ended successful seasons.

Practice transportation still is somewhat of an issue at this point, having to run some double van trips occasionally at the end of the day. It has gotten a bit easier with no junior high. Coaches, Dr. Burright and Mr. Palmer have stepped up to help shoulder the load.

The Tarkio Activity Center facility is coming along nicely. Still planning to be in there sometime in January. They have been shooting for having the January 4th game vs. Union Star there, but I have not heard if that is going to happen or if they will need to push back a little.

Board members voted to approve the consent agenda.

New Business–

Josh Oswald made a motion to approve Mike Lewis as pro bono driver for after prom using the Fairfax bus. Doug Miller seconded the motion and the vote was 4 (yes), 0 (no), and 1 (abstain).

Board members voted to approve the snow make-up day for March 15, 2019, with the possibility of it being a half day.

Board members voted to create two positions at $12.50 per hour to remove asbestos and complete demo work in the locker rooms.

HTK Payments – Board members voted to approve a $2,200 payment to HTK Architects.

Early Graduation Approval – Board members voted to approve an early graduation for Jordan Sutter.

The next regular board meeting will be Thursday, January 17, 2019, at 6:30 p.m. The regular board meeting adjourned at 1:54 p.m.