The Fairfax R-3 School Board of Education met on Thursday, October 21, 2021.
Present were: Jon Graves, Mike Lewis, Josh Oswald, Theresa Larson, Sam O’Riley, Brett Johnson, and Miles Smith, board members; Karen Burke, secretary; Jeremy Burright, superintendent; and Dustin Barnes, principal.
The school’s current fund balance is $1,289,945. This is an increase from last year’s end of September balance which was $1,110,287.
Facilities
Plumbers will be here this week to repair three leaks in the school’s facilities. They are holding off starting the boiler until those leaks are fixed. They suspect that one of the leaks is connected to the boiler system and we hope to have the boiler running by Thursday morning.
The facilities committee will be called to meet when staffing has been consistent in the custodial area. One custodian is being used to cover in the kitchen due to a resignation.
Transportation
One bus (bus 5) has bad o-rings and will need an engine overhaul. They are getting estimates on the cost of the overhaul and the cost of a different bus.
Board Refresher Training
The board will have refresher training on November 16 prior to the board meeting.
Board Policy Updates
There were no updates this month. Restricting the reasons a special meeting can be called was discussed but no motion was made to change board policy.
Federal Programs
School officials are still working on the comprehensive needs assessment which will include assessment data along with qualitative surveys. Keep your eyes peeled for a survey.
MAP scores are still embargoed.
Special Education
The Corrective Action Plan from DESE was discussed with the board along with remedial measures by the district. DESE identified a few things through our annual tiered monitoring that needed to be corrected.
LASE PD, which pertained to students with autism, was mentioned as an informational item.
Food Service
The Fairfax R-3 School District, along with many others, is suffering due to supply chain issues. The staff continues to adjust the menu due to outages from our suppliers.
The board voted 6-0 to use Falls City Mercantile as the main food supplier this year. They have previously been working with Sysco.
New Business
The board approved the facility scope from HTK as recommended. The following documents are on the superintendent’s page of the district website:
• Demolition Plan: 2021-10-14_C100 DEMOLITION PLAN (1).pdf
• Construction Plan:2021-10-14_C101 SITE PLAN (1).pdf
The district has approved a total budget of $360,000 earlier in the year, which is comprised of estimated overages in revenues and reserves funds.
The basic scope/alternate #1 of the construction involves the following:
• Removal of current swings (safety issue)
• Removal of wooden play set (safety issue)
• Removal of fitness area
• New preschool play area
• Replacing playground surfacing
• Installation of new swings on our grass area
Alternate #2: Replacing the existing drainage culvert under the playground.
Alternate #3: Handicapped parking pad by the elementary entrance and a drainage flume next to our main gym.
Board members voted 6-0 to place these plans out for bid with the intent to approve bids in January. The board may approve a bid for all, part, or none of the work depending on the estimated cost. The timeline for completion of all work in this set of facility updates is August 2022.
The board voted 4-2 to approve a two year EA Wolves co-op agreement with the following changes:
• Any tournament and regularly scheduled volleyball events and concessions will be moved to the TAC in Tarkio when, 48 hours prior, the National Weather Service predicts an outside temperature of 90 degrees or more.
• The EA volleyball tournament will be held in both Tarkio gymnasiums. Tarkio will have the concession stand at the TAC, Fairfax will have the concession stand at the High School.
Board members voted 6-0 to approve Todd Fogg for facility snow removal and ice treatment.
They also voted 6-0 to approve the purchase of clothing for students through a Masonic Lodge grant.
Old Business
COVID-19: There was discussion of the new “test to stay” provision but no motion was made to modify the school’s current plan. The school will continue with the same precautions in place that they have had since the first of the year. Please remind your families to stay home when they are sick and impress upon students proper hand hygiene.
The board voted 5-1 to approve the following changes to the commencement/graduation process in addition to changes approved in spring 2021:
• Graduation honors speeches will be determined by GPA. The students who have the two highest GPAs in the graduating class will have first opportunity to give the honors speeches. Should either of those individuals not want to give the honors speech, the next GPA in line will have the opportunity and so forth until two individuals have accepted the opportunity to speak at graduation.”
Earlier changes to Fairfax R-3’s graduation recognition are below and reflect the diversity of learning opportunities in the current educational landscape. For instance, compare these student scenarios:
Student A: Has the capability of taking electives outside of core content areas his junior and senior year and instead chooses to enroll in dual credit courses in science and math. These dual credit courses are taught by college professors employed by a college or university and are not Fairfax R-3 employees.
Student B: Has the capability of taking electives outside of core content areas her junior and senior year and instead chooses to attend vocational/technical school and becomes certified in HVAC. This student begins working immediately after graduation.
Student C: Has the capability of taking electives outside of core content areas her junior and senior year and chooses to enroll in electives offered onsite by Fairfax R-3.
Student D: Opts into MOCAP classes taught by teachers in another district after his freshman year and graduates from Fairfax R-3 after one year onsite as a freshman and three years of online instruction.
Student E: Earns credits in advance, is able to skip a grade, and graduates in three years instead of the traditional four.
Student F: Earns all the credits necessary to graduate by December of her senior year and her December graduation is approved by the board.
Student G: Earns sufficient credits to graduate on time as a senior and opts into a flex program that allows him to work offsite, during the day, as a senior in high school.
While these scenarios aren’t exhaustive, they are a glimpse into the different ways a student can now earn the credits necessary to graduate from high school. Below is a description of the final graduation honors recognition approved by the board in the spring of 2021. The board feels that these honors reflect the different learning paths available to students while still recognizing them for exceptional work during their high school years:
Students will be recognized at graduation with honors if met. The following are the three levels of recognition. These academic honors are the only ones recognized by Fairfax R-3. Fairfax R-3 will not recognize valedictorian, salutatorian, top 10% of class or top five in class.
• Summa Cum Laude – Highest Honors, weighted GPA 4.200 or above
• Magna Cum Laude – High Honors, weighted GPA of 4.0 up to but not including 4.200
• Cum Laude – Honors – weighted GPA of 3.75 up to but not including 4.0
The next board meeting will be November 16, 2021, starting at 6:30 p.m.
