MDSD OCTOBER BOARD BRIEF
MDSD
October 9, 2023
1. Gift & Grant Approvals
An anonymous donor has stepped up with an amazing $7,000 contribution towards our new high jump pit. This generous gift demonstrates a deep commitment to empowering our student athletes at both PLMS and MDHS.
Pinetop Construction has also shown their support by generously donating funds for brand-new football jerseys for PLMS.
In addition to these amazing contributions, we're thrilled to announce that KC Wheeler, from the PLMS Art Program, is seeking $3,500 from the Kit Worthington Foundation for the Arts. This exciting endeavor will help bring printmaking to PLMS, enriching the creative landscape for our students.
2. Veterans Ceremony
MDSD proudly honored our nation's heroes during a heartwarming halftime ceremony at Friday night's home football game. The event, which drew approximately 40 veterans, was a great success, uniting students, faculty, and the wider community in a powerful display of gratitude and respect.
The event, organized by MDSD, featured a moving tribute to our veterans, highlighting their dedication and sacrifice in service to our country. The MDHS band and choir played patriotic songs that made the evening even more emotional and moving.
The veterans in attendance received a warm welcome from the crowd, with students and spectators applauding their service and dedication. The halftime ceremony reminded us how much we owe our thanks to the veterans who served in the military.
The success of this halftime ceremony not only showcased the unity of the MDSD community, but also served as a reminder that our veterans' service and sacrifice will always be celebrated and cherished.
MDSD extends its heartfelt thanks to all the veterans who attended the halftime ceremony, our announcer, DR Bledsoe, and to the MDHS band and choir for their outstanding musical contributions. The event's success would not have been possible without their participation.
3. Fiscal Year 2023 District Financials Audit
Kurt Folke with Quest CPAs PLLC, spoke on the fiscal year 2023 district financials audit. The audit went very well. It was a busy and successful year for MDSD with all of the building projects. The General Fund did take a drop, but with a purpose behind it, that purpose was affordable staff housing. MDSD will work on building this fund back up over the next few years.
4. Open Enrollment
During the latest legislative session, districts are now required to post their maximum enrollment numbers along with their current enrollment numbers 4 times a year and report out to the state once a year.
5. Updated 23-24 Continuous Improvement Plan
Our CIP was submitted and approved. The data from the IRI was normed incorrectly by the testing company and new numbers were provided to school districts. The only change in numbers to MDSD CIP was under Section VII, IRI K-3 Reading, taking our students from 91% proficiency to 92% proficiency!
6. Safety Committee Update
Representatives from Valley County Sheriff, McCall PD, McCall Fire, and MDSD met to discuss and review emergency procedures amongst all outside agencies. Our goal this year is to focus on cross agency collaboration to emergency response.
7. Staff Housing Committee Update
Work will continue with the establishment of the parameters for using staff housing. The committee is currently researching other school districts who offer staff housing.
8. School Board Candidate Forum
Exciting news ahead! Mark your calendars for Tuesday, October 24, at 6:00 pm, because we're hosting a School Board Candidate Forum in the District Office Boardroom for Zones 1 and 2.
We're truly committed to involving our amazing community in shaping the discussion, so we're inviting you to be a part of it. Stay tuned for a link on the MDSD website where you can help generate a set of questions for the school board candidates. Together, we'll make this event an even more engaging and insightful experience for everyone involved!
9. Niche’s #1 Best School District in Idaho
For the first time, MDSD received the ranking of #1 in Best School Districts in Idaho for Niche’s 2024 Best K-12 Schools! What an honor and accomplishment for all our amazing staff.
10. Board votes to gather community input on dealing with lack of affordable housing and overcrowding
Conversation began with a proposal to work with Clearwater Financial on gathering input from the school district community to determine if they would support staff housing and/or a new school building to address overcrowding. With the lack of affordable housing, new housing developments popping up, as well as increasing enrollments, the problems have been noted, now it is time to see what solutions are feasible.
Typically, it takes 4-5 years from discussion to completion of a capital construction project, so a proactive approach by listening to the community will accurately guide the board's decision. Several options have been discussed and debated.
One option is building a new high school with a football stadium, regulation track, baseball and softball fields, a recreation center large enough to support the school community, an auditorium to support the fine arts, and a career and technical education center. This route would require one construction project that would then allow the middle school to move into the high school, and Barbara Morgan to split, allowing K-2 in its current location and grades 3-5 to move into the building where PLMS is currently.
Other options include expanding PLMS and BRMES to add classrooms. An attempt to expand PLMS began 3 years along with the expansion of Donnelly Elementary. Donnelly Elementary has been completed, PLMS has not yet begun.
Short term solutions in the next few years could see modular classrooms at some buildings or even the boundary line between BRMES and DES modified to accommodate students. We currently have overflow classrooms at BRMES and DES.
On the affordable staff housing side of the discussion, it was noted that MDSD now has 6 teachers who are not certified in the teaching area. All six staff are currently working towards their certification. The district was also unable to hire a Special Education teacher this year for lack of candidates.
The current housing project was started with enough time to ensure that the district could use affordable housing to help with the recruiting process next spring. That currently appears unlikely to happen with excessive delays to the project. A finished project would not only allow the district to offer affordable housing to current and future staff, but it would also allow us to partner with local emergency responders, such as Valley County Sheriff, McCall PD, and McCall fire as well as others to assist in their need to house staff with the portion that is currently under construction.
Clearwater Financial will be tasked to do a deep dive into researching the community's wishes, ultimately to only save money in the long run, but to provide enough information to advise the board on what the community feels is important, so tax dollars are not wasted. An additional part of the agreement is to provide the community with accurate information as the process unfolds, ensuring that the public is heard during the voting campaign if needed.
Tentative costs for a new facility would be $8.56 per one hundred thousand dollars of value in a home, putting the cost at about $3.80 a month on an average home in the district. A new high school facility would be more at about $17.70 a month for an average home in the school district. The completion of affordable staff housing would also create an income stream for the district, ultimately reducing taxes in the future for families.