School Board Continues Discussion on Four-Day Week

Malta Public School Board Chairman Carter Clausen opened the Nov. monthly School Board Meeting with the pledge to the flag, which was followed by the motions and approval of the agenda, approval of the minutes from the Oct. 11, the Oct. 24th special meeting, the Oct. 30th special meeting and the approval to pay bills submitted.

The Student Showcase for this meeting was the Elementary School Band, under the direction of Mrs. Janell McKenney, who entertained the audience in the Corral with music on their recorders.

Principal Shawn Bleth addressed those in attendance with his report, beginning with the

Honor Roll being out; he said, "Parent-teacher conferences were about as they have been before in as far as attendance and it was not that great."

He said if you have time, to take note of the new pictures in the hallways; they are of the various clubs, groups and activities, and not just sports. The sizeable pictures are hanging close to the ceiling and capture the array of things the kids are involved in.

The Middle School play had been presented on Nov. 6th and 7th and all who attended were impressed with the talent of the actors. Mrs. LaBrie was commended on the performance of the group and all are hoping their interests will follow them into high school. The kids did a great job of pinch-hitting for others, when several fell ill and couldn't participate.

The Personal Development day was held, there were good speakers and good info shared.

The High School hosted breakfast on Friday. Nov. 10th in honor of veterans. Student council members welcomed the guests and visited with them as well.

There is an upcoming jazz band concert on Tuesday, Nov. 14th.

With his first tournament under his belt, Mr. Jake Norby provided the Athletic Director report, sharing his appreciation to the staff and Scott King for assistance and guidance as they made their way through the District 2B Volleyball Tournament. Malta had successfully hosted the first tournament, a second tournament will be held in February as they host the boy's divisional tournament.

Malta had four athletes qualify for State Cross Country, three participated due to one becoming ill.

Several from Malta made the State selections for football and the volleyball selections have yet to come out.

The wrestling facility had previously had an issue with leaking water, this has now been repaired and the team is back to practicing at the wrestling center.

Norby said the Middle School wrestling team is not going to going to Dickinson, as they have worked in a meet at Lewistown; the need and concern for bus drivers has then been alleviated.

High school wrestling will be starting practice soon, the first meet will be the Havre Mixer on Dec. 1st; there are three girls out for the sport this year.

Elementary Principal Zach Handley opened his report on the combination of a full moon, fire drill demonstration and Halloween in one day as being "COMPLETE CHAOS!" He stated the kids enjoyed the event, and that a group of them completed the fire drill, complete with big fog simulators. They then chanted "encore, encore," and they went back through again. The kids were treated to ice cream bars from the firemen following the crawl through.

Mrs. Anita Green had made lunch that was enticing with glow-in-the-dark centerpieces, black lights, skeletons, creepy hands and blackened windows for the eerie effect. Mummy dogs were on the lunch menu. Green was assisted by Ms. Jenny Crowder and Ms. Esther Kolczak in the preparation of the lunchroom.

The PD (Personal Development) training the staff had attended on the 6th of November dealt with the Covington Special Ed Law. The recent parent-teacher conferences had had a 94% turnout.

The windows of the schools now have a new decal which allows one to see out, but the view inward is blocked; this is a safety measure.

Response to the Ag-related breakfast servers has been well received, they are booked through 2023.

In the efforts to bring cultural diversity to the school, the school has reached out to Wendy Hopkins at Dodson and there will be an assembly on Native American culture, at the elementary school and then at the high school, on Nov. 17th. The date is subject change and will be posted on social media.

He said the Accelerated Reader program assembly will be held Nov. 17th.

And with the sprinkle of magic elf dust, the Christmas program is upon us, with Dec. 19th as the magical date.

Supt. Steve Bucks open his report and said an employee had requested a leave of absence from Nov. 15th to Jan. 24th. After discussion, the board voted unanimously to approve the request.

Bucks announced the addition of Tyler French as an assistant high school wrestling coach and Nolan Simanton, as a volunteer.

He provide the update of having two new substitute bus drivers, Andrea Lien and John Kautt. Edenia Looten was hired as the part-time custodian. Mrs. Renae Heisler will be part-time math teacher in the middle school, as Shae Garfield will leaving to attend schooling.

The board gave its first input in review of School Board Policy 5251.

The board voted 3-2 to begin negotiations with staff regarding the possible four-day school week and contracts, with board members Katey Marquis, Jessica Oyler and Angel DeVries voting aye, and Carter Clausen and Scott Meneely voting nay.

Board member Katey Marquis stated "we can spend a lot of time on discussing this, but it does not happen until it comes down to voting on it." She has received a lot of information on the possibility and change over to a four-day week and stated she will get this info out to the public and welcomes inquiries about it.

Mr. Bucks said the Middle School ski trip is set for March 27th. The trimester is over Nov. 17th.

He asked of the board three things to consider: "What makes for a meaningful life? Who are the most influential people in your life? Do you know your why and what you have given up on?...just a bit of what the speaker presented in his books, to his students?"

He continued, "The (middle school) play group, I would have to say, did an awesome job...hilarious job! I know Mrs. LaBrie is excited about future life. The band and choir concert was awesome, as well, we have some talented kids!"

"I did receive a phone call from Heartland Mechanical, don't shoot the messenger, fan coils have increased to cost of nine grand ($9,000). DeVries asked if that was above the cost they had been provided; Bucks said he would check on that for sure. Board member Meneely added, ..."there may not be a shooting, but there might be a flogging...," which brought a chuckle throughout the room.

He said he had received a call from an individual in Zortman, regarding the school there. The school is built on BLM property and it is in the contract that the school cannot sublease the property.

Two companies have visited the school and have toured the schools to do the facility assessment and (we) should have a cost for that shortly.

The next board meeting will be Dec. 13th at 7 P.M.