SCSD#3 Board Discusses Cell Phone Use in School

The SCSD#3 Board of Trustees met on Wednesday, Jan 11, for their regular meeting. 

Items on the agenda included the audit, and Paula Steiger, CPA of Bennett, Weber and Hermstad, said the school had a clean audit and no major issues were found.

One item on the agenda was the use of cell phones among the students.  Shelby Fennema, ACHS student council president, gave a presentation on what the student council, teachers and Superintendent Chase Christensen decided would be the rules governing cell phone use among students.

She added that basically the whole school came together to set the new policy.  She said that students could get three strikes in any one semester before the phone was taken away.  

Trustee Karis Prusak wondered if a reward should be offered for students who did not get any strikes out during the semester, and the board discussed the possibility.  The board also commended the students on the policy. “Nice work,” Chairman Amy Vineyard said.

Maintenance man Jay Buhr reported on the fact that the new tables are in, and he felt they were better quality than the older tables.

In other business the board discussed several policies that were being reviewed, and the 5000 series of board policies which included rules for students transported on school buses; vandalism and theft; and student conduct. Policy 5138, concerning married or pregnant students, led to this exchange between trustees Trinity Lewis and Wade Betz.

The board also approved the superintendent’s contract and the business manager’s contract.

One policy, the district leave policy, was discussed, and Christensen said that he was working to make the old policy clearer and easier to understand without changing the policy. He did add that it was time that the policy should be change. Betz had this to say about the policy.

In his superintendent’s report, Christensen mentioned the upcoming TAC*ONE training which will take place on Thursday, Jan. 12, for the students and Jan. 13 for the staff. The fuel island for the school buses was discussed as well, and it is an on-going project. He also presented the board with some dates when he was going to be gone from the school, and talked briefly about the Rhithm app.

Christensen also presented a presentation about the MAP Data, showing the growth in four areas, and talked to the board about the data, and how much growth can be expected in each grade.

The next board meeting will be on Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. in the multi-purpose room at the school.