Thompson Falls board votes for 5-day week

Thompson Falls Superintendent Bud Scully accepted a check for $23,270 just before Monday's school board meeting. The check from the Clark Fork Soccer Alliance was the result of fundraising by the organization to support a cooperative high school soccer team between Thompson Falls and Plains beginning in the 2024-25 school year. The school board officially voted Monday to approve the application for the soccer cooperative with the Montana High School Association.

"We just want to thank the Thompson Falls and Plains schools for being willing to take on soccer and this donation is a result of a lot of generous donors and a lot of hard work for our volunteers," said Dave Wrobleski, the CFSA president. The check presentation was attended by more than 40 soccer players, their coaches, Thompson Falls school board member Jeneese Baxter and teacher Eric Nygaard, who were both on the committee to explore the option of adding soccer as a school sport.

Also at Monday's meeting, the school board voted to remain with a five-day school calendar. A calendar committee had presented the board with options for the 2024-25 school year, including a five-day calendar, a four-day option and a third offering was a modified five-day schedule in which students would be off of school on some Fridays throughout the year. School board member Jake Helvey said his personal opinion would be to do the modified schedule on a trial basis to see if teachers and students preferred the four-day or five-day schedule. Board member Ryan Frields said that if one of the concerns was having substitute teachers when there are school activities, the modified four-day schedule would not help in the spring but instead in the fall when there are more sports and activities on Fridays. Teacher Danice Toyias commented that the modified schedule would allow more time for professional development. "The four-day week really blew up during COVID," said Andy Burwig with Building Bridges. "We don't have a lot of data on this." Frields made the motion to accept the five-day calendar. "I'm leaning toward a modified or four-day option because it benefits the students," Baxter said prior to the vote. Frields, Mona Jacobson and Sandra Muster voted in favor of the motion, with Helvey and Baxter voting against the matter.

The board also voted to approve a contract with the Rural Behavioral Health Institute (RBHI). The school's crisis response team, which includes principals and counselors, met in March to discuss self-harm risk and threat assessment protocols. The team recommended using RBHI tools to screen students for mental health. While accepting the contract was not contended, board member Mona Jacobson expressed concern about parents knowing their child is being screened. "My concern is the opt in or opt out. I believe parents should absolutely know before their child is screened for mental health issues," she said. Scully commented that "one of the biggest issues is that a lot of times it can be too late. A lot of times it's 'if we only knew'. It's really important that we be there for our kids. This is a good instrument for that." The board discussed adding a form to the registration packet at the beginning of the school year to have parents select if they want their children to be screened.

Scully reported that the new multi-purpose building at the high school campus is still not done. He said the contractor, Swank Enterprises, is looking to finish at the end of the school year. He said imperfections in the concrete floor need to be addressed, as well as other issues. Scully said the district is holding the contractor's final payment until the work is done.

The school board on Monday reviewed coaching positions for all sports, with Scully recommending that the board make the athlete to coach ratio more equitable across all sports. "Cross country and golf coaches don't get paid as much as other coaches. Pay needs to be equitable and the ratio of coaches needs to be equitable," he explained, adding that he thought it was good to have two paid coaches for each sport. "We're just trying to balance it out." The board voted to decrease volleyball and girls basketball coaching positions by one each and to add a paid golf coach, wrestling coach and cross country coach. On Monday, the board accepted the resignation of wrestling coaches Mike Thilmony and Ian Taylor, as well as athletic director Jake Mickelson. The board hired Madison Wheeler as the new athletic and activities director.

The next school board meeting is set for Monday, May 6, at 6 p.m.