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minutes meeting date 2026-05-11 · fetched 2026-09-17 · 15775 characters · read by OCR, check numbers against the source · official file · plain text
Board of Trustees’ Meeting May 11", 2026 District Office 6:30 p.m. 270 East Bridge Street Blackfoot, Idaho Minutes Chairwoman Mary Jo Marlow called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Mrs. Marlow welcomed the audience and led them in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Board members in attendance were Chairwoman Mary Jo Marlow, Treasurer Cleon Chapman, Trustee Taryn Shoyo, and Trustee David Barlow. Also in attendance were Superintendent Brian Kress, Assistant Superintendent Ryan Wilson, Federal Programs Director Rebecca Walker, Director of Student Support Services Lynette Carter and Board Clerk Jennifer HatchsiT RU: - Approval of the Agenda- There were no changes to the posted ngende. Board Vacancy (Action) — Mrs. Marlow thanked the candidates for being here tonight and for their desire to serve on the board. Due to the resignation of Zone 2 Trustee Carlos Mercado, the board must appoint a trustee to fill his spot for the remainder of his term. We received 4 letters of interest for this Trustee position. We are going to have each candidate address the board. Mrs. Marlow invited them to introduce themselves and talk about why they would like to be on the board, their vision for the board, and their vision for the Blackfoot School District. Jacklyn Alvarez taught at Snake River High School for 32 years. She has 4 grandkids at Riverbend. She loves public education. She loves kids and teachers. She loves the opportunities that education provides. There are 2 things that are very important to her- what we put in our minds and what we put in our hearts. People don’t see the magic that takes place in schools. She is an independent thinker. She has no agenda except to serve, to listen, and to discuss. She likes to look for win/wins when at all possible. Joey Call graduated from BHS. He has always enjoyed serving and helping to better the community. He has 3 students attending the Blackfoot School District. He has helped in classrooms. He would love to collaborate with board members. There are a lot of teachers in his family. He found a new level of respect for teachers during Covid. He appreciates the teachers and what they do. He wants to serve and do what is in the best interest of our teachers and students. Brett Peterson came to Blackfoot in 1991. He graduated from BHS. He speaks Spanish and feels like that would be beneficial in a position as a board member. His mom was a teacher and taught in our district for many years. He has 2 kids in the District. He wants to make sure it is the best possible place to prepare students. He prioritizes safety and wants all students to feel safe. He has good listening skills and feels like that would be helpful. Kyle Pratt graduated from Blackfoot High School. He does a lot of volunteer work. He volunteers with Bingham County Search & Rescue. He is a Construction Field Rep at the INL and handles construction budgets. He has a student in the district. He has no agenda coming in. He just wants to help the community and creates policies to help the students. Mr. Kress thanked the candidates for coming and being willing to serve on the board. They all presented themselves very well. Being on the board is very rewarding. Mrs. Marlow told the candidates that she enjoys serving and working with the public and thanked them for being willing to serve. The board members filled out and signed their ballots. Mr. Joey Call received a majority of the votes. 1 Board Meeting Minutes 5/11/2026 Mr. Chapman made the following motion: Whereas Zone 2 Trustee Carlos Mercado resigned his position; and whereas the board of trustees declared a vacancy for Zone 2 Trustee on April 23, 2026; therefore, be it resolved that the board of trustees appoint Joey Call to fill the Trustee Zone 2 vacancy as per Board Policy 246: Trustee Vacancy and Idaho Code 33-504. Mr. Barlow seconded the motion. All approved. The motion passed. Mr. Call will be sworn in as Board Trustee of Zone 2 at the May 21, 2026, regular board meeting. Adjournment (Action) — Ms. Shoyo moved that the special meeting of the board of trustees be adjourned. Mr. Chapman seconded the motion. All approved. The motion passed. The meeting was adjourned iP pm. Ti y ) Mary Jo Marlo fai Jennifer Hatch, Clerk 2 Board Meeting Minutes 5/11/2026 Board of Trustees’ Meeting May 21%, 2026 District Office 6:30 p.m. 270 East Bridge Street Blackfoot, Idaho Minutes Chairwoman Mary Jo Marlow called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Mrs. Marlow welcomed the audience and led them in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Board members in attendance were Chairwoman Mary Jo Marlow, Treasurer Cleon Chapman, Trustee Taryn Shoyo, Trustee David Barlow, and Trustee Joey Call. Also in attendance were Superintendent Brian Kress, Assistant Superintendent Ryan Wilson, Board Clerk Jennifer Hatch, Director of Student Support Services Lynette Carter, Federal Programs Director Becky Walker, Child Nutrition Director Kim Jepperson, Oath of Office — Mrs. Hatch administered the Oath of Office to Trustee Joey Call. He also signed the 2026 Code of Ethics. Approval of the Agenda- There were no changes to the posted agenda. Public Forum — No one came forward during Public Forum. Superintendent Update (Information) — We have construction going on down Walker Street. We are currently building our new tennis courts. On the east end of the courts, we will have 6 pickle ball courts. These will be open to the public after school hours and on the weekend. We will start the demolition of the old tennis courts in the next few weeks. That area will become a practice area for our extra-curricular activities. Today our seniors participated in our annual “Senior Walk”. All of the graduating seniors walk through the schools in the district. The seniors, students, and staff all love this tradition. Things are getting very busy. There are only 2 in school days left. Blackfoot Heritage Sixth Grade had their entrepreneur fair today. The students love this day. We had an amazing turnout in the Spring State tournaments. Softball was state runner ups. Girls’ Track and Baseball were both academic champions. We had many individual finishers as well. Initial data from ISATs are still coming in. Mr. Kress will be sharing this data soon. 1.T. Stoddard Renovation (Information) — Mr. Kress shared the layout for the I.T. Stoddard building renovation. There are classrooms planned for culinary arts, nursing, medical assistant, EMT, Family & Consumer sciences, sewing, Early Childhood Education, floral, horticulture, dance, photography, and several business classrooms. We will also have an ISU Outreach program housed in the building. There is still some cleanup work that needs completed before construction can begin. There will be some significant structural changes to the building. There will be an electric lift added for accessibility. There will be some walls torn down and some sinks added into some classrooms. We are excited to see the progress on this project. Supplemental Contract Review (Information) — Mr. Kress met with a supplemental contract review team and created a summary of supplemental contracts to present to the board. Mr. Kress is required to present this information to the board every May. In the negotiated agreement there are 65 named supplemental contracts- 39 of these are extra-curricular, 12 are co-curricular, and 14 are Department head positions. There were 7 Elementary GT stipends and 8 ERR Hard-to-fill stipends added to the 2026-27 Negotiated Agreement. There are 15 required contracts that are federally funded. There are 25 extended day contracts that are job related. This makes up 90.3% of all Supplemental contracts. There are 13 additional contracts that are offered for various positions. This makes up the total of 133 supplemental contracts offered in the Blackfoot School District. There are 3 additional contracts that will be phased out 1 Board Meeting Minutes 5/21/2026 in the next few years. The purpose of the Activities / Athletic Director is to be in charge of mentoring, paperwork, and scheduling. The day-to-day running of the programs falls to the Building Administration. Graduation Ceremonies (Information) — We will have a busy week of graduation activities coming up next week. The BHS graduation ceremony will be held Thursday May 28" at 7pm at the BPAC. IHS graduation ceremony will be held May 29" 1pm at the BPAC. The BOSS graduation ceremonies will be on Friday, May 29" at 5:30pm at the BPAC. We will have 375 seniors graduating this year. We have students graduating with college credits and many non-traditional students graduating. Nomination for Board Vice Chair (Action) — Mrs. Marlow asked for nominations for a vice chair to serve on the board for the remainder of the 2026 year. Mr. Chapman moved that the board of trustees appoint Trustee Taryn Shoyo as vice chair for the remainder of the 2026 calendar year. Mr. Barlow seconded the motion. All approved. Request Permission for School Meal Price Increases (Action) — This was presented as an information item in the April board meeting. The price increases were modest for the students. There were no further questions or discussion. Mr. Chapman moved that the board of trustees approve the request for the School Meal Price Increases as presented by Mrs. Jepperson. Ms. Shoyo seconded the motion. All approved. T-Mobile Tower Lease (Action) — Mr. Wilson presented information about the proposed lease with T- Mobile to construct a tower past the outfield of the JV softball fields. The company is paying for all construction costs. They will pay the district $1,000/month in perpetuity. Every 5 years the contract would automatically renew for 9 cycles, or 45 years. Mr. Barlow moved that the board of trustees approve moving forward with the lease with T-Mobile as presented by Mr. Wilson. Mr. Chapman seconded the motion. All approved. Motion to Executive Session (Action) — Mr. Barlow moved that the board of trustees recess into executive session in the manner and for the purposes authorized by Section 74-206, Idaho Code (1) (a) to consider hiring a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent, (b) to consider the evaluation, dismissal or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent, or public school student and (j) To consider labor contract matters authorized under section 74-206A (1)(a) and (b), Idaho Code. Mr. Chapman seconded the motion. Mrs. Marlow noted that this is proper business for consideration in executive session as per Idaho Code 74-206. All board members in attendance voted in the affirmative in a roll call vote. Mrs. Marlow — aye. Mr. Chapman — aye. Ms. Shoyo — aye. Mr. Barlow — aye. Mr. Call — aye. The motion passed. Executive Session May 21, 2026 7:15 p.m. Mr. Kress presented the personnel recommendations. The board reconvened into open session at 9:09 p.m. Superintendent Evaluation and Contract (Action) — There was no further discussion. Mr. Chapman moved that the board of trustees approve Superintendent Brian Kress’s evaluation and extend his superintendent contract for 1 (one) additional year. Mr. Barlow seconded the motion. All approved. Ratification of the 2026-27 Negotiated (Action) — There was discussion about what the plan would be if the law changes in the coming weeks. The negotiations committee would reconvene and the board would meet and ratify a new Negotiated Agreement reflecting any changes. Ms. Shoyo moved that the 2 Board Meeting Minutes 5/21/2026 board of trustees ratify the 2026-27 Negotiated Agreement between the Blackfoot Education Association and the Blackfoot School District No. 55 Board of Trustees. Mr. Chapman seconded the motion. All approved. Compensation for the Administrators (Action) — There was no further discussion. Mr. Chapman moved that the board of trustees approve giving the administrators, excluding the superintendent, an increase of 0% annually for the 2026-27 school year. Ms. Shoyo seconded the motion. All approved. Compensation for the Superintendent (Action) — The board understands why this is necessary but does not agree with it. We should not undervalue education and the people who make it happen. Mr. Barlow moved that the board of trustees approve issuing the superintendent an increase of 0% annually for his 2026-27 contract. Mr. Chapman seconded the motion. All approved. Consent Agenda (Action) — Mrs. Marlow asked if there were any questions regarding items on the consent agenda. There were none. Mr. Chapman moved that the board of trustees approve the prior board meeting minutes, personnel recommendations as they appear below, the payment of April bills, student trips, and the BPAC events. Mr. Barlow seconded the motion. All approved. The motion passed. PERSONNEL RECOMMENDATIONS May 21, 2026 New Hires Position Location Megan Averett 3™ Grade Teacher RB Cody Bloom Social Studies Teacher BHS Nakona Frederick Classroom Paraprofessional RB Natalie Kelsey Special Education Teacher RB Stephanie Lane Classroom Paraprofessional (PT) GRO Bryn Parker 7" Grade Science Teacher MVMS Celeste Richardson Social Studies Teacher BHS Sheryl Urban (Cat 1) 3™ Grade Teacher WAP Ethen Wolf 5" Grade Teacher RB New Hires within District From To Jefferson Raphael Caetano Lira Special Education Para- BHS (FT) Special Education Teacher- BHS Erica Esta Special Education Para- STA (PT) Special Education Teacher- STA Kacee Jensen ERR Special Ed Para- RB (PT) Special Education RN- DW Brandee Roy ERR Special Ed Para (PT)- RB Special Ed Para (FT)- RB Gelin Smith Classroom Para- FH (PT) Special Education Para (FT)- BHSG Staci Smith Indian Education Para (PT)- MVMS_ Media Specialist (FT)- MVMS Extracurricular Position Location Caroline Anderson Dance Assistant Coach BHS Reanne Campbell Soccer Girls’ Assistant Coach BHS Ashlyn Phillips Soccer Girls’ Assistant Coach BHS Makenzie Rupe Dance Assistant Coach BHS Resignations/Retirements Position Location Myranda Abbott Soccer Girls’ Assistant Coach BHS Stephen Adams Wrestling Girls’ Head Coach BHS Naomi Archibald (Glasker) Volleyball JV Assistant Coach BHS Debra Armstrong Cross Country Girls’ Head Coach BHS 3 Board Meeting Minutes 5/21/2026 Jennifer Baron Wendy Bautista Sasha Chandler Debra Elkins Hazel Folsom Madalyne Horak Madalyne Horak Madalyne Horak Elena Hutchinson Elena Hutchinson Jason Lish Jason Lish Jason Lish Sydney Moore Kallie Moreno Shelley Nash Justine Sanders Krystal Seamons Storm Shelley Shantelle Shurtz Gelin Smith Ceciley Walker Discontinued Position Kendra Kolsky Special Education Teacher Kitchen Manager Color Guard Coach Special Education Para (PT) English Teacher Social Studies Teacher Track Girls’ Head Coach Cross Country Girls’ Head Coach Band Teacher Marching Band Assistant Director Student Council Director Cross Country Boys’ Head Coach Track Boys’ Head Coach Kindergarten Teacher Volleyball JV Head Coach Math Teacher Kindergarten Teacher Color Guard Assistant Coach Basketball Boys’ 8" Gr. Head Coach Indian Education Para (PT) Paraprofessional (PT) Special Education Para (FT) Position ASL Interpreter BHS WAP BHS RC BHS MVMS MVMS MVMS BHS BHS BHS BHS BHS RC BHS IHS RB BHS MVMS STA FH BHS Location RC Future Agenda Items (Information) — The board would like to discuss board committees. They would also like to have some board training provided. Adjournment (Action) — Mr. Barlow moved that the May meeting of the board of trustees be adjourned. Mr. Call seconded the motion. All approved. The motion passed. The meeting was adjourned at 9:16pm. a ary Jo rlow/Chairwoman —Qarnatrra Noe Jennifer Hatch, Clerk Board Meeting Minutes 5/21/2026
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