Whitehall trustees rehire two principals

The Whitehall School District Board of Trustees voted last week to rehire K-5 Principal Britt McLean and 6-12 Principal Hannah Nieskens.

Superintendent John Sullivan said the three administrators work together as a team and he thinks that is important for the district.

Sullivan said McLean has done a good job and has the elementary school moving forward in a positive direction.

Sullivan stated Nieskens also has her two schools moving in a positive direction.

“She’s done a fantastic job. She’s been a real important factor to our school,” he said.

BUS

Sullivan updated the board on the activity bus purchased from Harlow’s in April of 2017. After numerous delays the bus was supposed to be delivered in mid February, but Sullivan said it has been pushed back to May. He said some of it is out of Harlow’s hands because of quality control checks by the bus manufacturer, but the board, staff, coaches parents have expressed concern about being sold a product that has not been delivered.

Trustee Paul Shaw asked how do they continue to let Harlow’s dangle the carrot with the bus that was originally supposed to arrive in August of 2017.

Sullivan discusses using route prices as a negotiation with Harlow’s. He stated the prices they are paying right now are too high.

ATTENDANCE IDEA

During her report, Nieskens discussed an attendance idea she learned about a regional principal meeting last week. Nieksens said in Bozeman and Three Forks, the high schools have implemented a plan where if students miss a certain amount of days they will receive a passing (P) grade if they get an A, B, or C. The schools are using eight or 10 days. Nieskens said it would not hurt or count against their grade point average, and it would be more like they audited the class. Nieskens said colleges don’t want to see a lot of P’s on someone’s report card. She reported the Three Forks Principal told her there were 46 kids at semester that received some sort of a “P”, but there are only four on track for the same mark this semester and attendance has improved greatly. Nieskens will be taking the idea to the “Attendance Review Committee”. She added this would not hold anyone up from graduation; it is just not helping them with their GPA. This would not include absences for school activities, or students with doctor’s notes.

WALKOUT

Nieskens also discussed a planned nationwide school violence walkout. Nieskens said this isn’t something the school is endorsing or encouraging kids to do, but if they chose to they have a plan in place for March 14. Nieskens said the teachers have been told to not get in the way of the student and to just go to the computer and mark them absent. She has heard of a school in Texas that has talked about suspending students who are walking out, but said they are not going to make it a confrontational day. Sullivan said they would respect the students right to do it.