Columbus Public Schools
columbus, montana

January 14, 2025 School Board Meeting - Supt. Summary

Greetings Cougar Families and Columbus Community,

I hope this finds you all well. In an effort to improve communication and transparency of the operations of the Columbus School District, I will be sending a school board meeting summary after the regular meeting. Please know that this is only a summary and not official minutes. If you are ever interested in viewing previous agendas and meeting minutes, you can find all of that on the school website https://www.columbuscougars.com

Please contact me with questions, comments, or concerns.

Sincerely,

Casey Klasna - Superintendent


4:00 PM Trustee Interviews
Two candidates were interviewed: Nathan Miller and Nichole Guza-Waltner.  The board appointed Mrs. Guza-Waltner.  She will fill the vacancy through May 6. In May there will be 3 trustee elections.  Jay's 3 year term is up, Russel's appointment is up (he's finishing out a 3 year term), and the third will be a 1 year term to complete the remainder of Stephanie's 3 year term.  So, there will be an election for two-3 year terms and a 1 year term.  
 
5:00 PM School Board Policy Review
Tony Koenig from MTSBA facilitated a policy review with the board.  The board reviewed Policy series 2000 and 8000.  The next policy review will be at 5pm on Tuesday, February 11th.
 
7:00 PM Regular School Board Meeting
The board heard a request from Coach Rothwell for a special meeting  to allow an 8th grade student to participate in HS wrestling.  The board agreed to have the meeting on Friday, January 17 at 8:30am in the Supt. office. 
 
Trustee Russell Dewell gave an update on the progress of the Facility Naming Committee.  The committee met and discussed ideas and ways to honor past coaches. A Distinguished/Honored Coaches Banner was discussed.   The committee will continue to meet and report back to the school board. 
 
Jennifer Dunlap and Lucille Kleinsasser were added to the substitute list.  Shaylee Peters was added to the list pending background check.
 
Trustee Joe Morse and Trustee Sue Ivankovich were appointed to the board negotiations team to bargain with the classified and certified staff.
 
The Montana High School Association Proposals were discussed.  Mr. Osborne will be attending the annual meeting on January 20th to vote on the proposals on behalf of Columbus Schools.
 
Supt. Klasna led an in-depth conversation  regarding the staffing shortage at the middle school.  It was discussed that an additional classroom teacher as well as Title 1 assistance was a need and a priority.  Principal Morse presented to the board a comparison of staffing numbers in districts comparable in size to Columbus.  It shows that our middle school has less staff, compared to others.  Middle school teachers expressed the need for additional staff as well and ensuring that class sizes are more conducive to student learning.  It was discussed that the middle school has two fewer teachers from two years ago. The primary reason for being down two staff in the middle school was for budgetary reasons.   With an additional teacher hired, it would make the class sizes smaller, more manageable, and allow more one on one interaction with the students.  In addition, it would help eliminate teacher burnout. With Title 1 assistance, it would allow struggling students the interventions and assistance needed to get them up to grade level.  Supt. Klasn explained that the general fund can operate at 100% maximum budget.  Currently, the district is operating around 94%. In order to be at the maximum budget, the trustees would have to approve a levy to be taken to the voters in May for approval.  Between the two districts (HS and ELEM), the 6% shortfall is just short of $400,000.  Supt. Klasna asked the board to approve him to lead an educational campaign to the shareholders explaining the priorities with school staffing, why we need additional staff, what the levy would pay for, the tax impacts, etc.  The board approved the educational campaign.  In February, the board will need to declare an election for the trustee positions and a general fund  levy.  It was discussed that a specific levy dollar amount is uncertain as we are in a legislative year and we have not received our preliminary general fund budgets for next year. 
 
The current teacher evaluation tool was approved by the board. 
 
A legislative update was given by Supt. Klasna.  The session started with approximately 4000 bill titles, which we are tracking around 280 education bills.  Of the 280 bills, 49 bills are related to school funding.  The major bill right now is  LCO262 "Create the students and teacher advancement for results and success act (STARS)"  This bill would allow a double quality educator payment for schools if they have a base budget of $41,600.  Fortunately, Columbus has a base budget of $42,200, which would qualify us for the double payment. The bill draft is not available yet. 
 
The weight room policy update was given and it was explained that the policy is working well.
 
An accreditation update was given and the school climate survey was discussed.
 
Supt. Klasna's evaluation was in closed session.
 
The Trustees approved a 3 year contract for Supt. Klasna.  Salary and benefits will be negotiated at a later date after the certified and classified staff negotiations are final. 
 
Next school board meeting is February 11 at 7pm.