School Board certifies Election Results

The Broadus School Board Trustees met for their monthly meeting on Monday, with all members present, as well as a contingent of 19 community members. The board’s first order of business was certification of the recent school board election results. Two district 79J positions were up for election, the results were as follows: Ayche Draine: 138 votes. Patrick Emmons: 281 votes. Raquel Mader, 272 votes. Tricia Robinson: 63 votes. 754 ballots were cast in total, with 5 ballots rejected due to being mismarked.

The board then accepted nominations for chairman and vice-chairman, with Amanda Zimmer reelected as chairman, and Patrick Emmons as vice chair.

Dixie Mitchell was appointed as District Clerk, and the board then followed up on the advice of an interview committee to hire Ashley Fleming as an Elementary Teacher, with all voting in favor.

Summer School teachers Hayle Barbero and Laura Lambert were hired.

The spring coaches, as well as the activities director and advisors were rehired for next year, including Head Coaches Jerry Coulter (golf) and Chad Gatlin (track), Activity Director Mike Richards, School Play Director Brandi Billing, Annual Director Libby Nisley, and Assistant Golf Coach Hattie Arithson.

Monica Grimsrud was hired as a substitute teacher.

The board then heard a presentation by Molly Lloyd on the potential for school buses to transport preschool kids. In Lloyd’s presentation she detailed how rural parents would send their preschool aged kids to school in the mornings on the school bus. Those kids would then be picked up at the school by John Blain in his bus and transported to the Shining Star Preschool, a Christian based preschool held at Powder River Congregational Church. Lloyd detailed how the buses had been used to transport non-school aged kids in the past, went over the legalities in the MT annotated code, and noted that any younger kids to be transported would do so only if the bus contractor had signed off on the situation.

Stacie Ostendorf, local parent, spoke in favor of the matter; she also read comments from other local parents who were in favor of the preschool transportation.

John Robinson, bus driver, said that he was concerned if the buses were safely able to transport the younger children, who would be ages 4-5. He was also concerned that his insurance company would not cover him without a “sponsoring agency” for the child, also mentioning that the situation might be possible if a responsible person was in charge of the younger children on the bus, such as an older sibling.

After hearing more comments in favor of the preschool busing from local parent Joey Williams, the board voted and passed a motion to allow preschool age kids to ride the bus in the mornings. The motion will need to go before the county transportation committee before it is implemented, and will be at the discretion of each bus contractor as to whether they haul preschool kids on their route.

The board then updated several board policies and approved an insurance renewal for the staff health plan.

The next monthly meeting will take place on Monday, June 14th.