Greetings Families,
The Somers District 29 Board of Trustees met on October 16th. The previous meeting’s minutes were approved, and there was no public participation. The policy committee has been busy reviewing and updating existing policies. The board requested that policy considerations for Policy 3510 be returned to the committee for further review. Policy 2132 is of significant note and has been sent out in your Friday emails for the last few weeks. This policy specifically addresses student and family privacy rights. Please be sure to send any comment on that policy to Superintendent Price (joe.price@somersdist29.org) for him to pass along to the board before potential adoption at the November 20th meeting.
Administrators and staff reported a strong and positive beginning to the school year. As part of the district’s responsibility to the Montana Office of Public Instruction’s new accreditation process, surveys will be given to stakeholders in the district (staff, students, parents, and community) in the coming months. This process is to help create a “Comprehensive Needs Assessment” (CNA). From the OPI’s website: “Conducting the Comprehensive Needs Assessment helps a district identify, understand, and better address educational challenges. It is a systemic examination of the gap that exists between the current state and the desired state of the district. The CNA is the first step in planning and improving the effectiveness of education investments that lead to better outcomes for students.”
The new accreditation process is lengthy and will roll out over the next couple of years as directed by the OPI. If you have any questions, please reach out to Superintendent Price or visit the Montana OPI website.
There are still vacancies at the elementary school, but special recognition should be given to all Lakeside staff for making adjustments to meet the needs of the students with creativity, skill, and positivity. Middle school staff have been impressed with the positive, enthusiastic beginning to the year. Both schools need substitute teachers. Please consider becoming a substitute teacher in our district.
The PTA is busy gearing up for Holidayfest on December 9th! Watch for volunteer and donation opportunities in the next few weeks. They have also been busy using their funds to help purchase shirts for the choir students and tents for the outdoor sports teams. Please make time to visit Mrs. Hayek at Trunk or Treat this Halloween!
Other business included approving and acknowledging out-of-district attendance requests and coaching contracts for boy’s basketball. Thank you, Coaches Bryan, Gillespie, Alford, and Thompson, for encouraging our student athletes! We are saddened to see Lakeside assistant custodian Mr. Olson go, but we wish him only the best as he moves out of the area. He was a tremendous asset to our school.
Expenditures and payroll were approved.
Next meetings are as follows:
Policy Committee: November 2, 3 PM at SMS
Regular Board Meeting: November 20, 6 PM at LES
Have a wonderful weekend.
Jesica Swanson
Board Chairperson
jesica.swanson@somersdist29.org