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minutes meeting date 2026-08-20 · fetched 2026-09-28 · 13447 characters · read by OCR, check numbers against the source · official file · plain text
Board of Trustees’ Meeting August 20", 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, Vice Chairwoman Taryn Shoyo, Treasurer Cleon Chapman, Trustee David Barlow, and Trustee Joey Call. Also in attendance were Superintendent Brian Kress, Assistant Superintendent Ryan Wilson, Federal Programs Director Rebecca Walker, Director of Student Support Services Lynette Carter, Board Clerk Jennifer Hatch, Principal Roger Thomas, Whitney Kenworthy, Principal Debbie Steele, Principal Doug Bitter, 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 had many back to school activities this week. It has been an amazing thing to see our schools filled with kids again. Our extra-curricular activities begin tomorrow. Next month during the September board meeting our attorney, Amy White, will be conducting a training session from 6:30-7:30pm. We will conduct regular board business following the training. We have a lot of construction projects continuing. Cement is being poured on the tennis/pickle ball courts. The greenhouse is taking shape. Many projects at the schools are finishing up. Enrollment Numbers (Information) — Mr. Kress shared an updated document with our Elementary enrollment numbers. Fort Hall has 92 students, Donald D. Stalker has 195 students. Wapello has 232 students. Groveland has 257 students. Ridge Crest has 268 students. Riverbend has 390 students. We saw some movement. There were projected to be about 220 Kindergarten students, we are currently sitting at 257. Enrollment tends to fluctuate until after fair week and then we will level out in our enrollment numbers. Secondary schools have all seen an increase in enrollment numbers. People are recognizing the amazing opportunities that our District offers. IHSAA Passes (Information) — There is a new process for the board members to obtain their IHSAA passes. The IHSAA has changed their procedure. Board Members are given access to any high school activity in the state at no charge. Mr. Kress showed the board the IHSAA web page. If you go to the Schools tab > Directory > IHSAA Card Instruction tab it will take you to the instruction page. Keep in mind that you will need to upload a photo for this pass. Please don’t click “pay for this”. The school district pays for your card. Only these digital cards will be accepted. This is a multi-step process. If you have troubles, please call Mr. Kress or Mr. Wilson and they can help you. This card is good for you plus a guest. District Maintenance Projects Update (Information) — Mr. Kress presented Mr. Silzly’s slideshow regarding summer projects and improvements throughout the District. The BHS entry was repainted. The 300 hall had drop ceilings installed and lighting updated. The Administrative office space was updated and centralized onto the main floor of the building. The Activities Director is now in the main office space as well. This will make the area more accessible and accommodating for students and parents. The parking lots at Riverbend, the baseball/softball complex, and the BPAC were resealed and striped. The old welding room and wood shop were cleaned out and the weight and wrestling room will move into those spaces. The football team also has a designated space in this area. The Greenhouse is taking shape next to the BHS CTE building. A new scoreboard was installed at MVMS. The exterior doors were painted as well. 1 Board Meeting Minutes 8/20/2026 Independence and Donald D. Stalker are getting new roofs installed. They should be finished shortly. BHSG received a restroom remodel. The floors and stalls were all renovated. Due to the transfer of all the extended resource room classrooms to Ridge Crest Elementary, we had to add 2 additional bathrooms to accommodate students. Groveland Elementary received new sidewalks, a ramp, and sewer line. The exterior doors were also repainted. New restroom partitions were installed at Fort Hall Elementary. Wapello had cement replaced in multiple areas and had landscaping added in front. Twenty-eight decaying trees were replaced on the playground. A new drainage system was also installed at Wapello. Tennis courts have had cement poured this week starting every morning at 2am due to the need for cooler temperatures. We will have 6 tennis and 6 pickle ball courts. The pickle ball courts and a few of the tennis courts will be open to the public. The city has agreed to install the lighting. The BTEC shop are is finishing installation of the dust collection system for the wood shop. There will be an open house in the near future. IT Stoddard has received clearance to begin construction next week. The contractors will be asked for mileposts and schedules to be presented at the next board meeting. The elevator is ready to be installed. The entrance to the tennis courts will be on Bronco Blvd (formerly York Drive). CTE Work Ready Update (Information) — Mr. Thomas presented information about our CTE programs. We have students taking classes in Agricultural Science, Automotive Technology, Business & Technology, Cabinet Making, Family & Consumer Sciences, Health Occupations, and Welding Technology. In our Heavy Equipment Operations classes there are simulators that the students are able to utilize. Gale Lim has also allowed our students to be onsite observing heavy equipment in real world situations. We have had the only farrier program in the continental U.S. within our Animal Science program. The programs have the following participation numbers, based on seats filled: Agricultural Science- 1043, Automotive Technology- 400, Business & Technology- 1963, Cabinet Making- 374, Family and Consumer Sciences- 1050, Health Occupations- 166, and Welding Technology- 293. Our programs have been immensely successful and our students have performed among the top students at state competitions. We are looking to add an EMT and Medical Assisting program in the new CTE building. The goal is for every program to have an industry certification path available to become industry ready if they desire. Mr. Thomas talked about the different assessment areas we utilize. There is a TSA- technical skills assessment. This tests the skills specific to a pathway and makes sure the student is prepared in that area. We had 65 students graduated with a CTE diploma. Every program has state standards. The TSA determines competency in each of those standards by the industry and state. The TSA is given to program completers in their senior year in their capstone class. We had 135 out of 166 students achieve more than a 75% competency score. There is also the WFR- work force ready assessment. This is a general knowledge test that demonstrates that the student is ready to enter the workforce. We had 135 out of 166 achieve a passing competency score on this test. Curriculum Recommendations (Information) — Mrs. Walker presented the curriculum recommendations for the 2026-27 school year. We are piloting 2 language acquisition programs this year. These programs will teach the English language to students who have little to no English language skills. Vista is a program that is both on computer and teacher led. HMH 3D is for students K-12. We will see what works best for our District and see how we can achieve the most success for our students. They are priced per student and will only be purchased for the students who need it. 21% Century Grant Update (Information) — As part of the grant requirements, a report needs to be made yearly to the School Board. The 21* Century grant just completed round 15 in May. They now have round 16. This provides an after-school program at Independence High School and a preschool program at Irving 2 Board Meeting Minutes 8/20/2026 Student Services Center. They will write a grant for 4 sites next year to participate in after school programs. Gear-Up Grant Update (Information) — Mrs. Kenworthy presented a PowerPoint about our Gear-Up program. There are 28 partner districts in the state of Idaho. They start with students in 7" grade and follow them through 12" grade. There are also check-ins during their first year of college. Focus areas are academic activities such as tutoring and advanced coursework guidance, access activities like campus visits and college application assistance, and aspiration activities such as career exploration and skills building. Many of the activities are held during school hours. This year Gear-Up hosted guest speakers and filled a teacher mini-grant that provided keyboards to begin a piano class at MVMS. They also went on field trips to the water treatment plant, the hatchery, and BYUI. They held a community service day. It was very successful and will be repeated every year. They also participated in a career fair. There were 23 career representatives from the community who spoke to the students. On a weekly basis there is a class that teaches digital/financial literacy. Different departments rotated and talked about careers offered within their specialty over the course of the year. Being a part of this program has been a great asset to our District. Motion to Executive Session (Action) — Mr. Chapman 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, and (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. Mr. Barlow 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 — yes. Ms. Shoyo- yes. Mr. Chapman — yes. Mr. Barlow — yes. Mr. Call — yes. The motion passed. August 20th, 2026 7:50 p.m. Executive Session Mr. Kress presented the personnel recommendations. The board reconvened into open session at 8:15 p.m. 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 consent agenda including the prior board meeting minutes, personnel recommendations as they appear below, contracted service items, the payment of July bills, student field trips, and elementary fundraisers. Ms. Shoyo seconded the motion. All approved. PERSONNEL RECOMMENDATIONS August 20, 2026 New Hires Position Location Alycia Adams 6" Grade Teacher BHSG Casey Alvarez-Adams EL Paraprofessional (PT) MVMS Deanna Begay Classroom Paraprofessional (PT) FH Deanna Canady Classroom Paraprofessional (PT) RC Linda Dance Interventionist (PT) WAP Charleen Fletcher ERR Paraprofessional (FT) RC Jessie Gerard Behavior Classroom Para (FT) GRO Shanae Hitesman Classroom Paraprofessional (PT) GRO Alexa Jensen Special Education Para (PT) STA 3 Board Meeting Minutes 8/20/2026 Ame Johnson Kristen Johnson Carlos Labra Amaya Luna Ryan Morgan Amanda Scott Dominique Staker Cydney Thomas Roger “Cole” Thomas Makaylie Weber Lyle Zaugg New Hires within District Victoria Gasca Suzette Martinez Amanda Watt Transfers Vanessa Arviso Elena Beasley-Eldridge Sandy Munoz Ruby Sanchez-Villeda Extracurricular Eli Gregory Bailee Hammond Melbe Perez Kristin Stocks Caydence Taylor Vanessa Wislodoski Resignations/Retirements Gayle Bills Kysiah Gardner Ryan Matai-Harrigfeld Casey Hostert Audrey Marcum Suzette Martinez Tara Tracy Future Agenda Items (Information) — Possible training on fraud detection during our audit report in October. Special Education Para (FT) Special Education Teacher EL Paraprofessional (PT) Classroom Paraprofessional (PT) Special Education Para (FT) 4"" Grade Teacher EL Paraprofessional (PT) ERR Paraprofessional (FT) ERR Paraprofessional (FT) ERR Paraprofessional (FT) Ag Science / Welding Teacher From EL Para- STA (PT) Alternative Classroom Para- MVMS Librarian- RC (PT) From Indian Ed Para- FH (PT) Classroom Para- FH (PT) Lunch Para- RC (PT) EL Para- MVMS (PT) Position Cross Country Assistant Coach Dance Head Coach Volleyball Assistant Cross Country Assistant Coach Volleyball Assistant Volleyball 7 Grade Assistant Coach Position Elementary Music Specialist (PT) Behavior Classroom Para (FT) Ag Science Teacher Speech Language Pathologist Behavior Classroom Para (FT) Alternative Classroom Para (FT) Food Service Assistant (PT) BHS BHS STA STA BHS RC BHSG RC BHS RC BHS To Classroom Para- STA (FT) Secretary- RB Behavior Classroom Para- GRO To Classroom Para- FH (PT) Indian Ed Para- FH (PT) EL Para- RC (PT) EL Para- GRO (PT) Location BHS MVMS BHS BHS BHS MVMS Location DW RC BHS DW RC MVMS RB Adjournment (Action) — Mr. Call moved that the August meeting of the board of trustees be adjourned. Mr. Chapman seconded the motion. All approved. The motion passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:25pm. Mary Jo low, Chairwoman Jennifer Hatch, Clerk Board Meeting Minutes 8/20/2026
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