The Fairfax R-3 School Board met January 19, 2023. Jon Graves, board president, called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. Board members in attendance were Brett Johnson, Crystal Woodring, Miles Smith, Sam O’Riley, and Theresa Larson. Others in attendance were: Jeremy Burright, Superintendent; Dustin Barnes, Principal; Karen Burke, Secretary; and Crystal Schieffer, representing the CTA.

Communications

Jon Graves read a letter from the Art Club thanking everyone for their participation in the holiday event they held.

He also read the letter of resignation from Dr. Burright to the school board.

Approval of agenda including additions and deletions.

The agenda was approved as presented.

Consent Agenda

Minutes of the December 15, 2022, regular and executive sessions and January 13, 2023, session were read.

The financial report was reviewed. Year-to-date expenditures are $1,041,503 and revenues are $891,021. The fund balance for 2022-23 is  $1,316,381.

The monthly bills in the amount of $208,091.19 were reviewed and approved for payment.

Superintendent’s Report

Facilities: When conditions are right water enters the entire east side of the girls’ locker rooms. Water is routed away from the building and flows into the collection drain and a minimum of water is escaping from the updated gutters and downspouts.

An ice maker was purchased for staff today for under $1,000. The remainder of the Patterson Foundation grant money will be used for installation and redoing the sink area in the teacher’s work room.

Title Programs: Mr. Barnes is working with Mrs. Lucas on implementing reading plans in compliance with SB681.

Food Service: Items continue to break down. Most recently the thermostat in the main refrigerator had gone bad causing everything to freeze even when it is set on the lowest setting. One of the milk coolers was damaged beyond repair when they tried to stabilize a door with a broken hinge. When setting screws in the side wall, one punctured one of the coolant lines, releasing all the freon. Unfortunately, the puncture is in the side wall where it can’t be fixed. A new cooler can be purchased for around $1,800 but Dr. Burright wants to make sure to purchase one that is going to last a while.

Transportation: Bus 19 is still in the shop waiting for a part. Dr. Burright gets daily emails on its status.

Principal’s Report

Mr. Barnes reported on general information on second semester, grade cards, a teacher work day, the school play, and NWEA and IXL assessments.

The drumline was selected to perform at the State Basketball Tournament in Springfield.

NHS sold t-shirts during the Fairfax Tournament. They also helped with the food pantry food drop on January 17.

County Band day will be held on February 6.

Two math consultants from NWRPDC were here on January 10 to observe Fairfax Elementary and junior high/high school teachers during math time.  They will be coming back during 3 of our PD Days to work on specific strategies and aligning curriculum to standards.

Teachers in grades 3,4,5, and 6, and junior high/high school math will go to NWRPDC on January 26 for a Math MAP training day.

Mr. Barnes had a Zoom meeting with School-insite on January 11. They are currently working with their implementation team to start the process of transferring data over to School-insite and creating the school’s student database. Fairfax R-3 will continue to use Tyler SIS until the end of the school year. The School-insite database will be created this spring and Fairfax R-3 will do its 2023-2024 prep work in that system so it is prepared to go live this fall.  Administrator trainings will take place this spring- teacher Trainings will take place this fall.

The Fairfax Tournament was held the week of January 9th.  Gates were better than the last couple of years.

Mr. Barnes also reported on games and meets for the basketball and wrestling teams.

Consent Agenda

The consent agenda was approved.

New Business

The assessment plan has been updated. Board members voted unanimously to approve the Fairfax R-3 Assessment Plan as presented.

Board members approved the total payment of $4,684.68 to Al’s Heating, Cooling, and Refrigeration for multiple repairs and installation of new equipment in the kitchen. This amount represents four invoices.

Mason Straub has installed vent fans in the elementary and air purifiers in the high school restrooms. Some feedback from students, and admin observations, indicated air quality in these areas was an issue. There was no existing ventilation in the high school and the pre-existing ventilation in the elementary did not function. This is the final step in the school’s bathroom renovations. Payment of $954 to Mason Straub was approved.

Board members approved the payment of $903.36 to First Student for Vo Tech transportation in December.

Payment to Cornerstone Roofing was discussed. Aside from the library, the vocational and band building roofs were the only roofs that had not been replaced in the last six years. This payment comes primarily from insurance. The district cost is $1,061.00 due to an upgrade in shingle material that should make them more durable. Board members voted unanimously to approve the payment of $62,263.00.

Board members approved the payment of $2,311.25 to the Tarkio Avalanche for district, conference, and state qualifier patches.

Board members approved the payment of $2,530.00 to Ion Wave Technologies for the annual Sped Track software renewal. This program is used to write and track all of the school’s IEP’s.

Board members also approved the payment of $2,390.08 to Falls City Mercantile for food service food supplies.

The board discussed different options on how to proceed with the search for a new superintendent. MARE and MSBA both have services to help in this process. The discussion of the school posting on its own was also an option. The fee from MARE is a flat fee of $3,500. Board members voted unanimously to go with MARE for the superintendent search.

In further discussion the board would like to get a representative here in a timely manner. An open meeting and agenda will be posted for this meeting.

The board had discussion on using the built-in days in the calendar prior to using AMI days. Board members voted to use the built- in hours in the school’s calendar for inclement weather and then use the dates of February 20, 2023, and April 10, 2023, and then use the AMI days.

The next regular board meeting will be February 16,  2023, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 8:22 p.m.