School Board Meeting Nov 8, 2022
 | Author:
Nancy Marks
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
Students who attend Townsend Schools who live out of District #1 may be forced to go back to school in the districts they live in. At a school board meeting Tuesday night School board members contemplated a possible change in the regulations about allowing out-of-district students to attend school in Townsend. According to board member Todd Olsen a bill is ready to be introduced in the 2023 Legislature changing the status of schools to ‘closed districts. “It remains to be seen whether the bill will pass in the legislature,” he said, “but it will impact some schools such as East Helena a great deal. They are already thinking about adopting a closed district position.”
Middle School Principal Brad Racht felt a possible change in the law would have little effect on Townsend Schools since the school has few out-of-district students.
After discussion, about the students in the south end of the county, board member Shaun Scott reminded the group that the school district ends at 101 Road, while much of the subdivision buildup in the area is in Three Forks School District. Olsen said he thought about ten students who live in District #1 from the north end of the county attend school in East Helena.
Shane Swandal of Hulteng Construction reported on the school construction progress. Paving has been completed and work on installing the playground equipment has started. A crew will begin reroofing the Library on Wed. Pricing for the proposed additional classrooms has not been finished.
Title I teacher Dana Tuffelmire and second grade teacher Kelsey Flynn reported on their attendance at a professional development conference on literacy in September at Big Sky Resort. “What we learned is kids have trouble learning to read because they have no foundation in language understanding before they come to school, “ Tuffelmire explained, “We are trying to set up a program with Old Baldy Adult Education director Terey Artz which will include parents in learning situations where students hear language, so they can more easily learn to read,”
A school committee is working on making the School District website more user friendly.
In other business, the board voted to approve the resignation of board clerk Kristi Sangray. Kayce Williams has filled the position. Board chairman said the District will have an audit of the bond issue funds within five years of begin the Elementary School building project. “We have reached year 2 and a half. It is our job to account for every penny of the allocated money,” he said.
Both Elementary School Principal Kristina Hartmann and Racht discussed increases in numbers of students. Two new teachers have been hired to fill extra classes for the 1st grade and the 5th grade. Fifth grade will now be a total of four classes. Racht explained that the middle school will be over 30 students to each class. “Our PE classes have more than 30 students, which is over the limit. We can’t solve the problem with putting in paraprofessionals according to the requirements,” he said. The district would have to take the deviation (demerit) from the Office of Public Instruction (OPI).
High School Principal Shari Heavrin reported the Fall Play, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ by the Speech and Drama students will be the first weekend in December. Elementary school Christmas concerts will be December 5 and December 8.
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