School board approves district goals
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POLSON — At the last Polson School Board meeting, trustees asked the administrative team to come up with some ideas for district goals. Their five goals were student achievement; employee excellence; family, community and external engagement; safety and wellness; and operations and capacity-building.
Superintendent David Whitesell stressed that the goals are grounded in to the district’s mission statement, which is, “to partner with families and the community, provide a safe learning environment and prepare students to succeed in a changing world.”
The administrators focused on goals because, Whitesell said, “Goals are broad, and objectives are narrow.”
Discussion from trustees centered on getting the goals to the public, developing objectives for each goal and not just letting the goals gather dust on a shelf.
Trustee Kelly Bagnell noted that core values — respect, caring, respect, truthfulness, fairness — are pervasive through every one of the goals.
The recurring phenomenon, Trustee Nancy Lindsey added, of goals on the desk collecting dust says they are not meaningful to the organization. Being meaningful comes through the development process.
The goals are a good start, according to Linderman teacher Jennifer Seifert, but the climate study needs to be done and may provide some of the objectives.
The board approved the goals with the provision that the goals will be a working document.
Polson High School students will be working hard too, according to Polson School Board Student Representative Tyler Krell.
The PHS Board of Governors plans to buy Thanksgiving dinner for three families, including essentials such as a turkey, potatoes, etc. Then on Nov. 30, BOG will hold a blood drive. With 40 time slots to fill, there are only nine slots remaining, Krell said.
The Winter Carnival hasn’t been held at PHS since the 90s, but the students plan to bring it back on Feb. 17 and 18. Festivities will include a basketball game and crowning a snow king and queen.
During the holiday season, PHS would like to challenge Ronan High School to a toy drive, Krell added, but “rumor has it Ronan has chickened out.”
The National Honor Society members are each selling 10 tickets for the Boys and Girls Club raffle of a ‘67 Mustang. In turn they’ll receive donations back for the Fourth of July and for the Winter Carnival.
A PHS license plate is being developed, Krell said. Originally, Mr. Hendrickson wrote a grant for $4,000 to fund the project; and Sierra Pete, a PHS 2010 grad, designed the plate. It will also feature “Click It or Ticket.”
“It’s great for school spirit and ends up being profitable,” Krell noted.
In other business, Trustee Nancy Lindsey moved the board appoint a committee to finish the climate survey and present it to the board at the December meeting. A school district’s climate is the learning environment created through human interactions and the physical plant, sort of the school’s personality. The motion passed unanimously, and trustees Bagnell, Brian Havlovick and Bob Ricketts agreed to serve on the committee.
The trustees voted to approve the Indian Education for All comprehensive plan for the district after discussion about the Indian Education Specialist position. The job was eliminated due to budget restraints for the 2010-2011 school year. The approval did not mean the position would be reinstated.
“Two and half years ago, I felt the position (salary) should come out of the district budget; and I still do … One-third of the students in the district are Native American; we should be able to fund the position,” Whitesell stated.
The board also voted not to accept an out-of-district enrollment and approved the warrants and claims.
The next regularly scheduled school board meeting will be held on Dec. 12 in the district office conference room.
