School board recognizes student athletes' achievements, approves agreements and policies

Havre Public Schools students were honored for their athletic achievements in the 2020-21 school year at a meeting of the HPS Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday, where the board also discussed updated rules and regulations, committee assignments and collective bargaining agreements.

Avery Carlson, Lexi Haney, Samantha Lovenguth, and Quinn McDonald of All-State Softball were recognized along with Sadie Filius, Kennedy Hampton, Kyanna Jarvis, Tamera O’Leary and Loy Waid of All-State Track.

Theron Peterson and Caleb Spangler were recognized for their achievement in the Class A Boys Tennis State Championship.

Josh Currie, Trenton Maloughney and Josh Warp were also recognized for the championship but were recognized for achievement in All-State Tennis as well.

Trustees applauded the students for their achievements and Board Chair Curtis Smeby thanked them for attending the meeting.

After passing the unanimous consent agenda the board also confirmed its committee appointments as well as collective bargaining agreements with the Havre Education Association.

HPS Superintendent Craig Mueller thanked the board and the facilitated bargaining team representing HEA for their work putting together the agreement, which will last until June 30, 2023.

Mueller said, under the agreement, teachers will make no less than $38,000 per year and will receive COVID-19 retention payments this September and December, the first of which will be $1,000 and the second will be $500.

He said the extracurricular committee also simplified the salary levels at HPS reducing the number of levels from 29 to seven.

The board also passed a raft of 35 required new and revised policies and procedures, which Mueller said will ensure compliance with the law and best practices, on the first reading.

He said when the second reading comes in the Aug. 10 board meeting each will need to be discussed and passed individually so it will likely be a much more involved meeting.

One of these policies he said he wanted to highlight involves how the school system will handle consideration of expulsions for students found to have brought a weapon on campus and how modifications to punishments may be made in the case of special circumstances.

During the meeting HPS Education Foundation Board Chair Kyle Leeds provided an update on the foundation’s recent direction and activities.

Leeds said the foundation will be holding an event Sept. 4 in place of the usual Fossil Festival, which they were hesitant to put on with the COVID-19 pandemic still going on.

He said he will have more information for the board when the foundation gets some i’s dotted and t’s crossed but he wanted the board to know about it and invite everyone to come.

He said alumni from 10 to 15 classes are coming despite the abbreviated nature of the event and he hopes everyone has a good time.

“There will be quite a few alumns back in town that weekend,” he said.

Leeds also said the foundation is looking to establish at least four more scholarships for HPS students, maybe more, depending on how aggressive relevant committees want to be in trying to create new endowments.

He also suggested board members take a few minutes to meet with the foundation’s new executive director Amanda Meyer.

Mueller also took a few minutes to introduce HPS’s new Assistant Superintendent Brad Moore who arrived in Havre recently.