Thompson Falls fills district clerk position

"It has been great working with her and seeing her work ethic," said County Superintendent of Schools, Carol Turk, "of course, I've known her since she was this tall – but it has been great getting to know her as an instrumental piece of the district and the county."

Turk recently spent many hours with Stacy Milner and former District Clerk, Mary Smith, tirelessly pouring over the county's school budget records and comparing them with the district's. The effort was started as a way to open communication between the school and the county as a regular habit – a habit that will help both entities keep track of the budget in real time, rather than trying to reconcile at the end of the year.

In a unanimous vote, the trustees moved to hire Milner as the new district clerk and she was sworn in during the meeting by Turk – who was not the only one singing her praises. "Stacy's initiative and willingness to learn the ropes while building bridges in the gaps she came across was very impressive," said Falls Superintendent Jason Slater, "after these last few weeks, I've seen that there probably isn't a better person for the job."

Milner will replace Mary Smith, who the board voted to hire on as a part time mentor as Milner continues rounding the learning curve of the new position. Smith will work between 3-5 days per month, as needed with Milner, to assist in situational circumstances where protocol or solutions may not be clear. "Mary has done excellent work with the district and we are thankful she'll be available to keep things moving smoothly and set us up for success during the transition," shared Slater.

In other staffing shakeups, Slater notified the trustees that he has accepted three letters of resignation from staff within the SPED department (special education). One position already being advertised is that of Beth Riffle, whose work as a 'para' with students needing a little extra attention will need to be filled as soon as possible in order to stay within the district's stated purpose of providing "the best possible education for every child."

Chuck and Janice Stearns have been longtime staff in the special education department of the elementary school. Both have submitted their letters of resignation, Chuck has agreed to stay on until the end of the schoolyear.

The trustees agreed to hire on Nykolee Battles as the high school secretary at $14.10 per hour, filling the vacancy left by Milner's move to District Clerk. Sherri Koskela has been working in the cafeteria end of things for some time and the trustees moved to accept her application in a higher capacity within the cafeteria at $12.70 per hour. Trustees also accepted the offers to fill coach positions by Shawni Vaught and Mike Thilmony. Vaught will begin next season as the Junior High Head Track Coach, Thilmony will be the new Junior High Wrestling Coach. Both are being paid per the state's rules at 7 percent of the base, or $2,105 per season.