The Broadus School Board Trustees met on Monday for their regular monthly meeting. Trustees Lori Fortner and Danny Johnson were not in attendance, all others were present.
Faith Dyrud was hired as an Ag Ed teacher; Superintendent Hansen told the board that she has previous experience working in Hysham, as well as experience in welding and mechanics.
Next up was the hiring of a head football coach. A spirited yet respectful conversation was had in regards to the coaching position, with several members of the community speaking in favor of hiring Brett Emmons for the position, while commenters also spoke that they would respect whatever decision was made by the board. Activities Director Richards commented that the hiring committee had unanimously voted for Wyatt Williams to be hired for the position after hearing the interview. Williams spoke saying he had put in for the position thinking he could help instill discipline and help the program grow, and would respect the decision of the board. The board vote resulted in four votes in favor of hiring Williams, with one vote against. Wyatt Wil-liams will be the next head high school football coach in Broadus. Williams is the former assistant coach.
The board then moved to take the recommendations of the hiring committee in hiring Dustin Lanke as the boys basketball coach for the upcoming season. Lanke has also served as the assistant boys basketball coach.
Jerry Coulter and Chad Gatlin were then hired as coaches for the track and golf teams, respectively, for next spring.
Updates to the various handbooks within the school’s purview were then discussed, with the classified, certified, and transportation handbooks approved for the coming school year. A change noted in the transportation handbook will increase pay for activities bus drivers from the current rate of 50 cents a mile to a new rate of 55 cents a mile. Additionally, those drivers will now receive a pay increase for dwell time while waiting for students to complete their activity from $10 an hour to the new rate of $12 an hour. Superintendent Hansen hoped that the increase rate might garner more interest for activities bus drivers, which have been in high demand.
Updates to the student handbook were discussed but ultimately tabled, with changes going back to committee to be further hashed out. Discussion of potential changes centered around eligibility guidelines. Current guidelines determine eligibility for school sponsored activities by pulling grades just after midterm and quarter breaks. If a student is found to be failing a class, they will be ineligible for the remainder of the quarter, or the first 4 ½ weeks of the next quarter.
The potential change would look at grades on a weekly basis, meaning students could potentially remain ineligible for less time if their grades did fall below passing. It would also give the students a chance to pull their grade up more easily, as they wouldn’t be as likely to fall as far behind with only a week of failing grades, compared to a month or more with the old system.
A survey of teachers found 75% were in favor of weekly eligibility, but some work still needed to be done on how the weekly grades would be computed, as some teachers and classes put more emphasis on tests, making weekly grading an issue. Further work at the committee level will be needed to come up with an answer; the matter will likely be brought up at a board meeting in the near future.
Another potential change which went back to committee was the subject of weighted grades. For students challenging themselves by taking advanced classes such as Physics, Pre-Calculus, or dual enrollment college courses such as College Algebra, a weighted grade system could be enacted, where those classes are given bonus points which apply towards the student’s grade point average. The thinking behind the concept, as explained by School Counselor Dori Phillips, is that weighted grades would take into account the difficulty of challenging curriculum to encourage students to take those more academically challenging classes. For those looking to move on to college, a higher GPA, potentially over a 4.0, looks great on a college application, especially when competing against applicants with other schools where weighted grades exist.
Additional items of note from the meeting included the certification of bus stops, which came about after the new Montana law which makes a requirement for any bus route where students must cross the road to have an extended stop arm.
In May of this year, Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen, who oversees the Office of Public Instruction was cited by the Helena Police Department for allegedly passing a stopped school bus with its arm extended. Arntzen paid $135 in fines in Helena Municipal Court for the offense. Arntzen pleaded no contest to the charge and had no memory of the incident; the bus driver provided a description of the vehicle, driver, and video of the event.
Back at the board meeting, the board moved to not hold a July meeting, and allow the District Clerk to pay all claims during the coming month.
The next meeting will take place in August.
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