At their July Regular Board meeting, Hays/Lodge Pole School District No. 50 approved and certified their June meeting minutes. The summer can be a busy time for school boards as they look to get everything in order for the start of the upcoming school year. More than a few things have to be addressed from finalizing budgets to filling out the teaching staff to start. Several topics were addressed at the June 14 meeting.

The June meeting of Hays/Lodge Pole School District No. 50 was called to order on Tuesday, June 14 by Board Chair, Ken Morin. The meeting then began with a statement that stated, "At this meeting the Board takes official action on agenda items. Items of information and discussion may also be placed on the agenda. Comments are solicited from the audience throughout the meeting. Persons planning to attend the meeting may request, in advance, to be scheduled to speak on an agenda item. Please note that the board is bound by ethical practice, district, policy, negotiated agreements and Montana statute to protect the rights of its employees; therefore, comments which might be construed as evaluative of the performance of a district employee are not allowed in an open meeting. The board has developed policies and procedures to process concerns about programs, curriculum, learning materials and personnel.

Roll call was then taken with Trustees Ken Morin, Robert Fox, Jay W Mount, Maria Doney and Joshlynn Morgan all present. Agenda deletions, corrections and additions were then discussed. The Consent Agenda was then read, and a motion was made by trustee Fox to approve as presented. Trustee Doney seconded, and the motion carried 5-0.

In New Business, James Flansburg and Franklin Doney from Island Mountain presented the First Lego Robotics presentation to the Board for approval. It is an after-school program, they would like to start signing students up this summer, the age limit is 9 to 16 years of age, and they hope to have a positive impact on students. Motion to approve First Lego Robotics as presented was made by Trustee Mount and seconded by Trustee Fox, motion carried 5-0.

In other new business a request to use school wrestling mats for Jujitsu Seminar (for Youth and Women) was made by Jon Jay Mount. Mr. Mount was advised to fill out the facilities form, and the mats are located in Lodge Pole, pick them up there. Motion was made by Trustee Doney to approve the request for the use of the school wrestling mats for Jujitsu two-day Seminar for youth and women, seconded by Trustee Fox. Motion was passed 5-0.

Next was Contract Negotiations for Chuck Werk (Head of Maintenance), Marlene Werk (Grant Writer) and Paul Condon (Superintendent). All three Contracts were approved. A motion was made by Trustee Doney to hire Jennifer Majet as Grounds Keeper for 4 weeks. Motion was seconded by Trustee Morgan and passed 5-0. Reyna Monteau was approved to move to a new position as Junior High Teacher.

The Board then approved Contact for Innovative Learning (IT Service) for 2022-23 with four Trustees in favor and one opposed.

Approval of motions for various overnight trips were then passed, all by 5-0 Votes. Superintendent Condon then presented the 2022-23 School calendar for approval. The calendar would be the same for a four-day school week as well. Motion carried with a 5-0 vote. Mr. Condon then presented the Board with results from the 4-Day School Week Survey for the 2022-23 school Year. 50% were in favor while 100% of the high school teachers supported the policy. Five elementary teachers were in favor with two opposing such a move. Mr. Condon stated, "We will try to make it work, this will help with the recruitment of staff, we've had attendance problems before, covid did not help, there will be tutoring on Fridays, the same calendar that was approved will be used, the school day will start at 8:00 am and end at 4:12 pm. Motion passed for a 4-day school week with four in favor and one opposed.

Several extracurricular positions were presented by Mr. Condon to be filled. The positions were presented as open and were to be closed in the following days: Head HS Boys Basketball; Assistant HS Boys Basketball; Head HS Girls Basketball; Assistant HS Girls Basketball; Head HS Volleyball; Head HS Speech and Drama; Head JH Boys Basketball; Assistant JH Boys Basketball; Head JH Girls Basketball; Assistant JH Girls Basketball; Assistant HS Track. Mr. Condon then presented several Open Staff and Administrative positions within the school district: K-12 Principal; Activities Director; Dean; Consumer Science teacher; Business Studies teacher; HS/JH Art; HS/JH Music; HS SPED; JH SPED; Gear Up Coordinator

Mr. Condon then presented the Board with his resignations as Gear Up Coordinator, IT Coordinator, Assistant Track Coach, Head Speech and Drama Coach, World Quest Coordinator and motion passed. At the conclusion of the meeting the following statement was then made, "This is an opportunity for any member of the audience to bring to the attention of the board questions or relevant comments concerning school district matters not on the agenda. Please note that the board is bound by ethical practice, district policy, negotiated agreements and Montana statute to protect the rights of its employees and students. The Board may not take any action on matters brought to the attention of the Board unless specific notice of that matter is included in a properly noticed agenda. Therefore, in the Open Agenda portion of the meeting, the Board will not discuss or take any action, but may refer a matter presented to a future agenda.