From Superintendent                                                                                    March 9, 2018

Dr. Michael Garrett

Hello again everyone!  Third quarter is coming to end very quickly!  Spring rains are on the way bringing blossoms and blooms!  

 This past week was a hectic one at district office busily planning for next year as well as working towards bringing this one to a close.

 The special education department has been busy with identifying students, determining eligibility and keeping up with IEPs.  Thank you to everyone who has stepped up to take on the extra duties this time of year has brought on.  We are finishing our file review and making the appropriate corrections.  The state department has been great to work with throughout this process.

 As the year is beginning to wind down, we are making preparations for  professional development for next year.  We are discussing how to better distribute the money received for professional development.  There have been some great ideas produced and I look forward to helping manage the money to be geared more towards district and building goals.

 The district has several position openings and has been processing applicants as they complete their materials.  This process is undergoing some fine tuning and we predict it will get better and better as we go.  

 The closing date for the OJSHS principal position is 3/8.  We have several applications and the committee will be meeting Monday evening to review and select candidates to interview.  Thank you to all who have volunteered to take part in this process.

 The calendar committee is meeting next Thursday to create the draft for the board to review.  The process has been very productive so far with the help of Duane Tribe and creating a workable electronic version.

 The wellness committee met again on Wednesday and moved forward with policy review of the program.  A very successful evening of reviewing physical activity and staff wellness with the intent of creating policy that is usable and doable.  Thank you to this committee as well.  We have come a long ways in a short amount of time.

 I was able to review a few of the bus routes with Ben Jenkins (transportation director) this past week.  We are working with road crews to ensure we have the safest roads we can for transporting students.  Thank you to the crews for keeping the roads safe and thank you to the drivers who go to great lengths to get our students to school safely every day.

 The school district levy election is coming Tuesday, March 13, 2018.  Please get out and vote.  As discussed earlier, the money from the tax levy goes towards projects, salaries, benefits, purchases services and many other aspects of our budget.  The money brought in by this levy is nearly 25% of our annual budget.  

 Our next board of education meeting will be held on Monday, March 19, 2018 at the IDYCA in Pierce.  We will be discussing teacher contract renewals as well as our regular business.  The agenda will be out early next week with the details.

 Once again, thank you to everyone for their continued support of JSD171.  And members of the JSD171 team, as we reach the beginnings of spring and leave the lingerings of winter behind us, please remember why we are here.  Have a great week!

Dr. Michael C. Garrett

Superintendent

Joint School District #171

1051 Michigan Ave.

Orofino, Idaho 83544

208 476 5593