Buhl Joint District #412 | minutes | meeting 2026-07-16 | Minutes/DRAFT Regular Meeting Minutes 07-16-26.docx source: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1wJ9TKw6ikPGBHAqnD7_5pSkd6cUot1uY Buhl Joint School District No. 412 Board of Trustees DRAFT Minutes of Regular Board Meeting July 15, 2026 - 6:00 p.m. The Board of Trustees of Buhl Joint School District No. 412, Twin Falls and Gooding Counties, State of Idaho, met in its properly posted monthly meeting in the Buhl High School Library, located at 1 Indian Territory, Buhl, Idaho, on July 15, 2026. Board Chair Jennie Ridley called the regular meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. In attendance were Board Chair Jennie Ridley, Vice Chair Jenny Hopkins, Trustee Cody Gilland, and Trustee Alisa Atkinson. Trustee Carla Critchfield was not in attendance. Superintendent Angie Oparnico, Clerk of the Board Dena Felix, Business Manager Krista Moyer, and Administrator Katie Horner were also present. Opening Items - Roll call confirmed a quorum. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Board Chair Jennie Ridley stated that public comments on agenda items require submission of Form 4105F to the Board Clerk prior to the meeting. Approval of Agenda (discussion/action) - Vice Chair Jenny Hopkins moved to approve the agenda as written. Trustee Alisa Atkinson seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Public Comment - Board Chair Jennie Ridley opened the floor for public comments. No public comments were received. Consideration of School Admission Fee Increase - The Board discussed proposed admission fee increases for middle school activities and a proposed increase to the middle school yearbook fee. Buhl Middle School Admission Prices Current Proposed Adults 5.00 6.00 Seniors 3.00 4.00 Students 2.00 3.00 Elementary 1.00 2.00 Buhl Middle School Yearbook Prices Current Proposed 30.00 35.00 Following discussion, Trustee Alisa Atkinson made a motion to approve the school yearbook and admission fee increase. Vice Chair Jenny Hopkins seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Student Spotlight (information) - None given. Buhl Education Association Report (information) - None given. Reports (information) - Superintendent’s Report Superintendent Oparnico provided updates on the following: Upcoming District Dates: Administrators return on July 28. Online registration will open via PowerSchool on July 28. In-person registration is scheduled for July 30 from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM in all buildings to assist families. "Dead Week" (no contact between athletic coaches and student-athletes) runs August 3 through August 7. Teachers return on August 5, starting with the Welcome Back Breakfast at 7:45 AM (program begins at 8:00 AM) in the High School Cafeteria. Board members are invited. 6th Grade Orientation is scheduled for August 6 at 5:30 PM, with students returning to school on August 11. District Communication: A new feature has been added to the district website community link allowing community members who are not parents to subscribe to district announcements and newsletters. Summer Maintenance Projects: New carpeting and painting have been completed at Popplewell Elementary, and new gravel has been spread on the playground. The High School reroofing project is nearing completion, with only the library section remaining. The new roof successfully withstood heavy rainstorms in early July without any leaking. Seal coating on the Middle School parking lot was completed. High School gym floor waxing is scheduled for August 1 (during Dead Week). Brick repairs and resealing to correct water damage in the gymnasium, auditorium, and corridors are underway. Summer plumbing updates are currently being finalized. Technology & Food Service: The tech department is updating desktop computers and preparing student Chromebooks. Food Service Director Michael Creasey has started transitioning into his role. Administrator Conference: District administrators will attend the annual IASA Conference in Boise on August 3 and 4. Supplemental Levy: Information was presented regarding the timeline and considerations for a replacement supplemental levy, including November 2026 and May 2027 election options. At the Board's request, information on levy approaches used by other districts, community feedback, funding scenarios, and ballot options will be presented at the August meeting. Financial Report - Krista Moyer Financial Reports through June 30, 2026 Bank Reconciliation Payables Account Shows negative balance: Due to the timing of payroll & transfers at month end. We are not actually in the negative. General Fund Salaries & Benefits are higher in June due to accruing Payroll from July/August into June. At a glance, it looks like we are ending the year @ 2.1m, but the General Fund will be used to cover federal funds and Medicaid expenses - amounts not yet determined. Preliminary financials were sent to the auditors - I will send year end Reports next month & audit is early September. The list of Visa Cardholders & Credit limit was provided with the financials. The levy notice was published in the newspaper for public Review on July 2ⁿᵈ. The report shows we have spent all funds allocated. Most of these areas we spent over the amount we requested of the levy, funds were taken from the general fund. The Required disclosure is to show the amount spent as requested, unless it was less, then we would show a lower amount. There are invoices to support all expenses The 10 year plan for spending School Modernization Funds was provided in the board packet. It is broken down into the categories designated by the state. This information was Reported to the State Department & is annually. Student Achievement Report - None given. Consideration to Approve the Consent and Confirmation Agenda (discussion/action) - Waive the reading of the minutes of the previous board meeting as they were submitted to each board member. Approve the regular meeting minutes of June 17, 2026 Approve the June 2026 financial statements Approve the June 2026 vouchers Approve the school building checking accounts for June 2026 Personnel Recommendations Approval of new hires: Michael Creasey (Food Service Director) Trinity Tvrdy (Elementary 2nd Grade Teacher) Alternative Authorizations: Samantha Bailey (Special Education Teacher) Vice Chair Jenny Hopkins moved to approve the Consent and Confirmation Agenda as outlined. Trustee Alisa Atkinson seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Discussion/Action Items: Dates for Board Training, Strategic Planning (discussion/action) - The Board discussed scheduling board training before the August board meeting with ISBA Monica Pauley and strategic planning with Dr. Heather Williams before the September board meeting. Vice Chair Jenny Hopkins moved to approve the August 19, 2026 board training and September 16 strategic training. Trustee Alisa Atkinson seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Review Superintendent’s Contract Addendum (discussion/action) - The Board reviewed the Superintendent's contract addendum regarding family health insurance benefits. Discussion centered on whether the Board's previous intent was to provide full family health insurance coverage as a benefit or to limit the benefit to the previously approved dollar amount. Following discussion, Trustee Alisa Atkinson moved to keep the addendum as approved with the dollar amount attached. The motion failed for lack of a second. Vice Chair Jenny Hopkins moved to alter the addendum to provide family health insurance coverage without the dollar amount. Board Chair Jennie Ridley seconded the motion. The motion passed with a majority vote, with Trustee Alisa Atkinson opposed. The addendum will be reviewed annually. Review Student Handbooks and Student Athletic Handbooks (discussion/action) - Superintendent Angie Oparnico presented the proposed student and athletic handbooks for the 2026-2027 school year. While the updated Middle School Handbook was accepted without further questions, the Board discussed several necessary revisions for the High School Student and Student-Athletic Handbooks. Key discussion points included: Clarifying the monthly high school advisory schedule; Prohibiting AI glasses under the smart devices policy; Formatting the AI policy and moving student responsibilities to the cheating/plagiarism section; Enforcing immediate off-campus departure for CSI release students; Reviewing the attendance requirements for incentive finals; and Aligning drug testing, reasonable suspicion, and extracurricular eligibility language between both handbooks to ensure compliance with State Law and District Policies 3400 and 3380. To improve readability, trustees also requested a table of contents, policy hyperlinks, and changing the word "athletes" to "participants" where applicable. Because online registration begins before the next meeting, the Board agreed to submit detailed edits to Superintendent Oparnico and review a clean draft next month. Vice Chair Jenny Hopkins moved to table the review of the high school student handbook and high school student athletic handbook until the August board meeting to allow trustees to submit their feedback for review. Trustee Cody Gilland seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Consideration To Approve The First Reading of The Following Policies (discussion/action) - Instruction Policy 2353 Minute of Silence Policy 2353F Minute of Silence Students Policy 3295 Hazing, Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, and Cyber Bullying Policy 3295P Hazing, Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, and Cyber Bullying Policy 3330 Student Discipline Policy 3331 Weapons at School Policy 3500 Student Health/Physical Screenings/Examinations Policy 3500F Blanket Consent Form for Health Care Services for Minor Children Policy 3540 Emergency Treatment Personnel Policy 5100 Hiring Process and Criteria Policy 5100P Hiring Process and Criteria-Procedures for Obtaining Personnel Records for Applicants Policy 5100F1 Authorization for Release of Information on Past Employment with School Employers After reviewing the above policies, Vice Chair Jenny Hopkins moved to approve the first reading of policies 2353, 2353F, 3295, 3295P, 3330, 3331, 3500F, 3540, 5100, 5100P, and 5100F1. Trustee Alisa Atkinson seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Consideration to Approve the Second Reading of the Following Policies (discussion/action) - Board of Trustees Policy 1405 School Board Use of Email and Social Media Instruction Policy 2150 Copyright Policy 2150P Copyright Compliance Students Policy 3255 Student Dress Personnel Policy 5360 Dress and Appearance Non-Instructional Operations Policy 8103 Vehicles Other Than School Buses Used as Transport After reviewing the above policies, Trustee Alisa Atkinson moved to approve the second reading of policies 1405, 2150, 2150P, 3255, 5360, and 8103. Vice Chair Jenny Hopkins seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Board Update (information) - The Board discussed items to include in future community updates and outlined district outreach efforts, suggesting that completed summer maintenance projects be highlighted with before and after photos shared on the district’s Facebook page. Trustees celebrated the success of the new community email subscription list for non-parent residents and discussed ways to make athletic and extracurricular calendars more accessible to the wider community, especially seniors who find online navigation challenging. Suggested solutions included placing a direct calendar link on the website's community tab, distributing physical calendars to the senior center, and embedding upcoming key dates directly in the monthly superintendent email update. Public Comment - Board Chair Jennie Ridley opened the floor to public comments. No public comments were received. Upcoming Events (information) - Board Training: Scheduled with Monica Pauley from the Idaho School Boards Association (ISBA) on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM in the Buhl High School Library. Next Regular Meeting: The next regular meeting of the Board of Trustees will be held on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Buhl High School Library. Adjourn (action) - There being no further business, Vice Chair Jenny Hopkins moved to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 7:51 p.m. Clerk of the Board Date