The regular monthly meeting of the Oneida School Board was held on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. Because Chair Brent Evanson was participating via telephone, Vice-Chair Chalae Teeples officiated at the meeting.

Five members of the Malad High School FCCLA reported on their national convention held in Seattle at the end of June. As a state officer, Aubree Palmer presided over the State of Idaho meetings for the 89 Idaho students, advisers, and chaperones at the convention. Mackenzie Leckie and Paige Wilson competed in the Chapter in Review Display division and received a Silver. Aubrey Corbett competed in Interior Design and received a Silver. Marshall Asay competed in Sports Nutrition and received a Silver. Brittania Butler competed in Entrepreneurship and received a Silver.  Aubree Palmer competed in Leadership and received a Gold. She was a top 10 finalist in the Leadership competition and placed 2nd overall.  The students expressed their appreciation for their adviser, Shantel Tavoian, who accompanied them to the convention.

Policies

Three policies were approved after being reviewed for minor changes to bring District policies in line with State policies and legislative actions. In regard to the policy about board meeting procedures, the Clerk of the Board must be informed at least 7 days prior to a Board meeting about an item to be added to the agenda. An approved formal request to be on the agenda will result in the representative having 5 minutes to make a presentation to the Board. The meeting agenda is already posted on the website, but the policy was amended to state that it must be posted on the District website. A quorum is defined as the majority of current sitting members present; this clarification was needed due to a recall election in another district. 

Public participation in Board meetings was clarified. The public input portion of the meeting must be on the agenda before all action items and discussion. The Board approved 20 minutes for public input with 2 minutes per person wishing to address the Board. No comment or discussion by the Board is to be part of public input.

Superintendent’s Report

Superintendent Jon Abrams reported that enrollment in the District is up 46 students from last year. Malad High School has 333 students; Malad Middle School has 225 students; Malad Elementary School has 400 students; and Stone School has 20 students for a total of 978 in Oneida School District. As a charter school this year, the Idaho Home Learning Academy has 8032 enrolled students

Mr. Abrams reminded the Board that the funding formula for Idaho schools has returned to a formula based on Average Daily Attendance of students so it is very important that students be in school for academic reasons and to ensure the district gets as much state funding as possible. (The formula was changed back to being based on Average Daily Attendance after being based on Average Daily Enrollment during the pandemic.)

Mr. Abrams reported that the 2nd of the 6 bond payments for the new elementary school will be made this week. Ms. Sarah McIntyre, Principal of Malad Elementary School, and her staff have been given a budget for new furniture throughout the new school and for playground equipment once the current elementary school is demolished to make room for the new
playground.

In regard to the lawsuit the District has filed against the State about school funding being withheld from the District, Mr. Abrams said that the court date is August 29 in Boise.

Progress on the new elementary school is slightly ahead of schedule, making the move-in date over Christmas Break a certainty. Cabinets and other permanent fixtures are being installed. The ball fields are behind schedule because of the need to install a separate water line for Deep Creek water for the sprinkler system and because of a lack of qualified workers. The ball fields will be hydroseeded. 

Action Items

An overnight trip to Star Valley for the Malad High School volleyball team to participate in the volleyball tournament on September 13-14 was approved.

Kelly Hill presented the list of bus routes and turn-arounds and explained the few changes from last year’s routes. Kelly provided a brief explanation of how bus routes, stops, and turn-arounds are determined. The list of routes and turn-arounds was approved.

The following list of personnel was approved, pending all persons pass the State-mandated background check:

Becky Moss as a Malad Middle School English teacher; Hannah Winsor and Gracie McManus as MMS paraprofessionals; Tamra Evans and Tara Snow as substitute teachers; Taralee Carter as a Malad High School cook; and Jaycee Sweeten as a Malad Elementary School night cleaner.

The following were approved as coaches for Malad Middle School:

Shauna Nalder and Shannon Davis for cross country; Coby Ball as head football coach with Brian Thomas, Laren Nalder, and Trevor Jones as assistant coaches and Matt Donnan as a volunteer coach; Ty Price and Madi Green for volleyball; Allen Edwards as head wrestling coach with Devin Morrison, Josh Davis, and Tom Maddox as assistant coaches; Ty Price and Maddi Hubbard for girls’ basketball with Madi Green as a volunteer coach; Trisha Beutler and Byron Bott for boys’ basketball with Mike Williams, Austin Tubbs, and Kevin Winsor as volunteer coaches; Tia Talbot as head girls’ track coach and Brady Price as head boys’ track coach with Lacey Daniels and Joe Miller as assistant coaches and Meagan Gleckler as a volunteer coach.