The Chinook School Board held a reorganizational meeting prior to the regular scheduled meeting on Tuesday, May 9. Chairman Billmayer called the meeting to order at 7:45 PM. The first order of business was the appointment of Justin Liddle to the Board (1 year). A motion to appoint Justin Liddle to the Board for one year was made by Trustee DePriest and seconded by Trustee Stroebe, the motion carried unanimously.

The next order of business was the installation of Board Members and Oath of Office: Justin Liddle, Tim Malsam, Robert Kelley, Frank Billmayer, and Shane Strobe. New Board Members are sworn in and paperwork was notarized by Mrs. Downs. Russell Alisch was appointed to be facilitator for nominations. A call for nomination of Chairman: Trustee Alisch asked for any nominations for Board Chair. Trustee Billmayer nominated Trustee Elias. Trustee DePriest seconded the nomination. Trustee Elias nominated Trustee Billmayer, Trustee Crowley seconded the nomination. Trustee Elias politely declined the nomination. 

Trustee Billmayer becomes the 2023-2024 Board Chairman. Trustee Alisch asked for public comments. No public comments. Trustee Alisch asked for a board discussion. Trustee DePriest expressed his support for Chairman Billmayer. He stated the he has done a good job being the chairman and he needs everyone’s support from the board. Trustee Crowley agreed with Trustee DePriest. Trustee Alisch appreciated Chairman Billmayer’s commitment. 

Motion passed unanimously. 

Next up was a call for nomination of Vice-Chairman, Chairman Billmayer asked for nominations for Vice-Chairman. Trustee Elias nominated Trustee DePriest, Trustee Alisch seconded the nomination. 

Chairman Billmayer asked for board discussion, Billmayer stated that Trustee DePriest has done a good job as the vice-chairman. Motion passed unanimously. The Board then set to Assign Trustees to Standing Committeesband the issue was tabled. Chairman Billmayer would like to give every board member to sign up for any committee they are interested in. Chairman Billmayer said to please reach out to him as we try to reorganize the committees.

A motion to appoint Moses Deanon as the District Clerk was made by Trustee DePriest and seconded by Trustee Alisch. Chairman Billmayer asked for public comment and discussion. Chairman Billmayer appreciated everything Mr. Deanon has done and continue to do for the district. The motion carried unanimously.

The regular board meeting soon followed and Chairman Billmayer called the meeting to order at 7:57 P.M. in Room 101 of Chinook High School. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and a welcome was made to a long list of visitors. Board Present included Frank Billmayer, Kevin Elias, Russell Alisch, Shane Strobe, Teddy Crowley, Justin Liddle, Robert Kelley, Tim Malsam

Consideration of High School Coaching Recommendations included the hiring of High School Girls Basketball: Head Coach – Michael Seymour/Assistant, Tami Schoen. Motion to approve was made by Trustee DePriest and seconded by Trustee Alisch. No public comments were made but a discussion ensured. Chairman Billmayer stated that these two have been two great assistants and he hopes to see continued success as they move forward. Trustee Malsam spoke on his concerns. He does not support the hiring of Mike Seymour given his past. He believes that he shouldn’t be coaching the girls. Board meeting went into executive meeting at 8:31 PM, the board and the individual in question went to room 101. Board reopened at 8:48 PM. The motion carried unanimously.

The remaining positions all carried unanimously without public comment or discussion. These coaching positions included: HS Boys Basketball, Head Coach – Chad Jones/Assistant – Scott Schmitt. HS Volleyball: Head Coach – Paula Molyneaux/Assistant – Tess Langford. HS Football: Head Coach – Michael Jones / Assistant(s) – Matt Molyneaux and Roy Kelly.  Cross Country: Head Coach – Kendall Hardwood. Motion: Trustee Elias. HS Wrestling: Head Coach – Benjamin Stroh / Assistant(s) – Kenneth Pruttis. Speech and Drama: Chrissy Downs. Cheerleading: Janelle Deanon. JH Volleyball: Jade Pleninger. JH Football: Dennis Cross. JH Girls Basketball: Tammy Schoen. JH Wrestling: Ken Pruttis, Trent Noel, and Justin Gordan. 

 The Board then addressed the School Calendar for 2023-2024 & Four (4) Day week. Superintendent Hoffman recommended the district move to a four-day week, almost exclusively for purposes of recruitment and retention. “The board needs to decide what they want to do moving forward. Survey numbers are there. Mr. Hofman stated that he would rather have quality teachers for 4 days a week than have subpar teachers for 5 days a week.” Motion to accept the recommendation of a 4-day school week was made by Trustee Elias and seconded by Trustee DePriest.

Chairman Billmayer asked for a discussion. Board discussion ensued. Chairman Billmayer wanted to go around and see what everyone’s opinion was. He wanted to give the new trustees the floor to state their opinion. 

 Trustee Kelley went first. He supports the four-day school week to recruit and retain teachers. He believes this is the direction we need to go. Trustee Liddle expressed concerns about the 4-day school week. His issue stems from concerns about child care and parents that work on Fridays. Trustee Elias liked what Brockton Elliot had to say last month. He supports a 5-day school week but he also understands that education is way different from previous years. He likes the 4-day school week for the recruitment and retention aspect. He is in favor of the 4-day because the overall community is in favor it. 

Trustee DePriest has mixed feelings about going to a new 4-day school week. He likes it for the recruitment and retention aspect. He is concerned about the kids that are going to miss meals on Fridays and having the little kids do more hours in a day. Trustee Stroebe just would like more consistency and he thinks we can obtain that with the 4-day school week. If the 5-day school week was consistent then he would be okay with that too. It doesn’t matter to him. 

Trustee Alisch stated that you can find a pro and con with everything we do. He talked to one of his friends that lives in a small town and he stated that his friend said that it was a good thing for the community because a new day care was opened after the school decided to go to a 4-day school week. Trustee Alisch is in favor of the 4-day week.  

 Trustee Crowley is in line with the survey of the public. He agreed with what Trustee Stroebe had to say. He would like the school to feed the kids on Fridays. 

Trustee Malsam leaned towards the 4-day school week for his situation. We will figure it out and it can get better. 

 Chairman Billmayer expressed that education has changed a lot, he doesn’t like the idea of a 4-day school week but he understands. He thanked the teachers union for getting the instructional hours squared away. Meal plans will be made available on Fridays. Data from the survey is in support of the change to a 4-day school week. Not an easy change but he is supportive. The motion carried 8-1. Trustee DePriest opposed.

Superintendent Hoffman stated, “We installed 5 trustees, 2 are returning board members.  Frank Billmayer and Shane Stroebe were retained.  Additions included Tim Malsam, Rob Kelley and Justin Liddle. "For the first time since I arrived in Chinook, and probably longer than that, we will have a full board."  There are 9 Trustees on the high school board and 5 Trustees on the elementary board.  Trustees from Zurich and Bear Paw only vote on high school matters.  Frank Billmayer was re-selected as the chairman and Scott DePriest was re-selected as the vice chairman.  Moses Deanon was re-appointed as the clerk.”

Hoffman added, “Probably the biggest item was the board approving the 4-day week, largely for purposes of recruitment and retention.  "With Harlem, Havre and our own Special Education Co-op, moving to the 4-day week, we'd have been one of the few left in our area along Montana's Hi-line with a 5-day week. This would have placed us at a disadvantage when it comes to keeping staff and recruiting new staff. Recruitment and retention was the primary reason for the change."  

The change to a four-day week forced the need for further discussion with the teachers, “With the 4-day week being adopted, the board then increased classified base pay to $12.00 or $13.50 per hour, depending upon the position.The board and the teachers union were not set to negotiate this year but an opportunity to extend the contract came about so the two sides agreed on a new two year deal that will provide the teachers with a pay increase and provide a modest increase in a number of the extracurricular stipends. The agreement also bumps up our starting teacher pay.   "Our salary and benefits are very competitive for schools our size throughout Montana, but our extracurricular pay is behind noticeably.  We will still only be 'average' in stipend pay after the agreed upon increase takes effect,” concluded Hoffman.