Edited March 27th to show updated 2024 school start and end dates.
The Broadus School Board Trustees met on Wednesday of last week, due to a scheduling conflict on the normal second Monday of the month meeting date.
All board members were in attendance, though Board Chair Amanda Zimmer attended via phone call-in.
The first order of the evening was approving two transportation contracts for students from the Otter Creek region.
The board accepted the resignation of Dustin Lanke as JH/HS PE Teacher, effective at the end of the school year. This will also affect the HS Boys Basketball Coaching position, though it’s not technically a resignation as the contract is over at the end of each season.
Shavon Harmon was hired as the Head Cook.
The board then discussed the 2024-25 school calendar. Garnering input from staff and parents on what worked best for the adults and students, several options were available, with varying start and end dates to the school year, start and end times to the day. These options were voted on by staff members, and the board agreed that one particular option stood out and was approved for the coming school year.
The accepted school calendar will begin with classes for students on August 20th, and run until May 22nd. The modified 4 day calendar will remain, but the lone Friday of each month in which students attend school will be standardized, on the first Friday of each month.
School days will be 10 minutes longer than the 23-24 school year, with school beginning at 7:55 and ending at 3:35.
The board also voted on two potential “make up days”, where kids would attend school if a snow day were to occur. These days were set as Fridays, on March 21 and May 16th.
Next on the agenda was approval of two school trips. The first was the Senior Trip, which will be going to Rapid City. The other is an Art Club trip to Sheridan, Wyoming. In an interesting note, board approval is necessary for out of state trips, though a group may travel to somewhere in-state like Kalispell without approval, despite the large difference in distance compared to Sheridan.
An increase in classified salary was approved. The details on the increase are available at the school for those interested – the particular increase varies depending on the position.
Three board positions are now coming open on the board; two from District 79J (the majority of the county) and one from South Stacey. The deadline to apply with District Clerk Dixie Mitchell is March 28th.
Budgets were the next item of discussion. Superintendent Hansen used an electronic board to present the overall picture on where major portions of the school budget are sourced. Hansen noted that currently the budget for the high school and elementary remain fairly constant, and he did not foresee the need for a levy from the taxpayers this year.
In looking towards the long term future, a point emphasized by Hansen was that a large portion of the budget comes from oil and gas funds, and in the future those funds may either dry up, or be re-apportioned to other school districts throughout the state instead of being kept in-county. If and when those changes may occur, Broadus would stand to lose out on a large amount of funding. That would mean a: likely budget cuts, and b: an additional burden on local taxpayers.
The next monthly meeting of the board will be April 8th.
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