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minutes meeting date 2025-09-16 · fetched 2026-09-17 · 11231 characters · official file · plain text
Ririe Joint School District #252 Tuesday September 16, 2025 6:00 pm School Board Work Meeting Minutes 6:00 pm – The Ririe Joint School District #252 Board of Trustees met on Tuesday September 16, 2025 at 6:00 pm for their scheduled monthly School Board Work Meeting. Vice Chair Reed welcomed all those in attendance and asked everyone to please rise and repeat the Pledge of Allegiance. All did so. 6:01 pm – Vice Chair Reed asked that roll call be taken. Roll call was taken and those in attendance were as follows: Vice Chair Angela Reed, Assistant Treasurer Megan Coles, Trustee Dallin Howell, Superintendent Gee, Business Manager Trapper McCallister and Board Clerk/Treasurer Kristi Hamilton. Board Chair Cook and Trustee Mike Hansen had not arrived at the meeting yet. 6:01 pm – Action Item – Vice Chair Reed entertained a motion to approve the Board Work Meeting Agenda. Megan made a motion to set and adopt the Board Work Meeting Agenda as posted. Dallin seconded; passed unanimously. 6:02 pm – Board Chair Cook and Trustee Mike Hansen both arrived at the meeting at this time. 6:02 pm – Item 5/New Business – Discussion Items a. Discussion Item - Discipline Policy. Megan commented that she wants to make sure this policy is in line with what it should be. She read over the policy verbiage she was referring to and explained. Superintendent Gee commented that this policy was gone over in detail and updated in 2024. Megan then commented on the “search and seizures” portion and explained. Superintendent Gee clarified that Administration can ask the SRO to assist with a search in the parking lot but Administration has to do the search. He explained. Board Chair Cook asked if searches have to be reported if there is anything illegal found. Superintendent Gee informed, yes. Discussion occurred. Megan then commented on the Extra-Curricular Contract. She explained. She commented that anything extra-curricular is a privilege, not a right. She then commented on the offenses for vaping. She commented that she wants to make sure students are aware of everything in regards to what happens when an offense occurs. Discussion occurred. Superintendent Gee informed if a student receives 3 major offenses, they will be referred to the Board. Discussion occurred. Megan commented that the student handbook says that 3 tardies becomes 1 absence. Superintendent Gee commented that he cannot find that same verbiage in the policy manual regarding this. He asked if the Board would like him to change the policy or if the student handbook should be changed. Dallin commented that he thinks Administration should take care of tardies. Mike commented that he thinks the tardy policy is too strict. Dr. Teske commented that the student handbook has been updated and the new policy allows students to earn their tardies off if they come in and do lunch detention. He explained. Discussion occurred. Board Chair Cook commented that he believes if a student is tardy a lot, there needs to be harsher consequences than lunch detention. Mike commented that he doesn’t think a student should be marked absent if they leave 10 minutes before class is over, but understands something has to be done if they are habitually leaving 10 minutes early. Discussion occurred. Mike commented that sometimes students are just watching a movie in class and want to leave early. Dr. Teske commented that if a movie is being watched the teacher is supposed to get prior permission and the movie is supposed to be linked to the curriculum they are studying. Angela explained what was discussed 2 years ago with Mr. Haws regarding this. She commented that excessive tardies and leaving class early was a big problem then. Dr. Teske commented that he feels we have to be adamant about students being punctual or the problem will only get worse. Megan commented on truancies and read the verbiage regarding if a student skips a class it will equal 1 minor offense. It they skip 3 classes it equals 1 major offense. She read over the remainder of the policy. Discussion occurred. Dr. Teske commented that parents are supposed to call in and excuse their student from leaving class early and the student needs to check out through the office. Superintendent Gee commented that Policy 3350 states that all attendance issues have to be submitted within 2 days. He explained. Discussion occurred. Megan had further comments on the student handbook regarding minor and major offenses and sports and clubs. She read over all. Discussion occurred. Dr. Teske commented that the new verbiage in the student handbook raises the bar and he feels that so far the student athletes have responded well. Discussion occurred. Board Chair Cook commented that another concern is if something is considered a major by a teacher but is being written up as a minor by administration. He explained. He asked how administration makes sure they are fair across the board. Dr. Teske commented that last year 95% of incidents were documented. He commented that his goal this year is 100%. He informed that another change this year is that administration are calling parents for all incidents. He explained further. He commented that nothing is being swept under the rug. He commented that so far parents have been appreciative being in the know for concerns and for good things happening with their students. Discussion occurred. Board Chair Cook commented that he didn’t mean to sound like he was accusing, but rather he just wondered. Superintendent Gee commented that administration has the discretion to decided what is a minor and what is a major offense. Megan commented that Dr. Teske did a good job this year outlining what a minor and a major is in the student handbook. Megan then moved on to bullying. She read over the verbiage. She commented that bullying just one time, depending on the nature of it, the student could be expelled. Dr. Teske also made some comments. Superintendent Gee brought up the policy. Dr. Teske commented that he and Mr. Martineau try to figure out the narrative of the incident and then go from there. Mr. Martineau explained how bullying is handled. Superintendent Gee commented that he thinks it would be beneficial to have the definition of bullying added to the Policy. Everyone agreed. Discussion occurred. Board Chair Cook asked if there was any discussion on cumulative majors. Dr. Teske commented that he thinks it should go from year to year because he believes kids can change and improve. He commented that he would like to be able to give kids a chance and fresh start each year. Discussion occurred. Dr. Teske commented that he will get with Matt Harris and make sure the student handbook and extra-curricular contract mesh with each other. Megan commented that she appreciates Dr. Teske spelling it all out and getting everyone on the same page. b. Discussion Item - Board Policy; Section 3255 - Student Dress. Megan commented that policy states that we don’t allow shorts. Angela commented that she did not read it that way. Superintendent Gee commented it says no “short shorts” and not shorter than the fingertips reach. Board Chair Cook commented that the student handbook and policy should say the same thing. Mike asked what the difference is with athletics. Discussion occurred. Megan commented that it would be nice if the shorts were a little longer for volleyball. Mike commented that he feels like this policy is inconsistent. Discussion occurred. Dr. Teske commented that they are trying to make things more consistent. He also commented that the goal is to create a more formal learning environment, where kids take learning seriously. Discussion occurred. c. Discussion Item - School Board Goals. Superintendent Gee brought up the school board goals and explained the changes. He informed that Dallin suggested he go through all of the goals to make sure the lead and lag measures are something that Superintendent Gee can actually have influence over. Superintendent Gee informed that Megan suggested not having a literacy goal, so he dropped that one off. He then read over everything and asked the board if there were any questions on the lead and lag measures. He informed that he also added a rubric to all 4 goals of how to grade the lead and lag measures. He informed that there are also surveys that will go out for the first 2 goals. He explained further. Discussion occurred. Superintendent Gee informed of some other things he plans to do this year in regards to the goals. He asked the board if they like this direction. Board Chair Cook commented that he would like to have something added to be able to engage with and reach more people. Angela commented that Superintendent Gee’s idea of having zoom meetings will be a good way to reach more people. Superintendent Gee commented that he will record the meetings also and email them out to people who missed the meeting. He explained further. Board Chair Cook asked if there were any more comments or questions. Dallin commented that he really likes what Superintendent Gee has presented. d. Discussion Item – Project Updates Bleachers Update – Trapper informed that we are coming to the end of all projects, however, there are still a few snags. He informed that they just found out that the steel for the bleachers is coming from Canada and they have just been hit with tariffs. He explained the email he received regarding this. He informed that the cost is going to increase due to this at an amount of $4,000 to $7,500. He commented that he hopes it is towards the lower end, but would like to ask the board to approve an additional $7,500 just in case. He also informed that because of hold up with the tariffs it is going to take an additional 3 weeks to get the steel here. He explained further. He commented that this is disappointing because it will be early October now before they can start the installation. Discussion occurred. Auditorium – Trapper informed that the new seats for the auditorium are here and being assembled. He explained further. Discussion occurred. He commented that he hopes everything is completed by the end of next week. HVAC – Trapper informed that the HVAC system is not yet fully complete. He commented that he hopes everything will be completely done by the next school board meeting. He explained. Discussion occurred. Trim – Trapper informed that the trim in the Elementary gym is finished and looks really good. New AG Building – Superintendent Gee informed that they are getting ready to go out to bid for the steel. He informed that all documents have been sent to Bateman-Hall. He explained in further detail. Discussion occurred. 6:47 pm – There being no further discussion in the Board Work Meeting, Board Chair Cook entertained a motion to adjourn. Megan so moved. Dallin seconded; passed unanimously. Reviewed & Approved: October 16, 2025 Board Chair: Brigham Cook Board Clerk: Kristi Hamilton
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