School boards roundup - Mar. 28

Here’s a look at noteable actions by area school boards for the past month.

Ronan

A co-op is forming between the Ronan school district and nine other area districts to provide mental health services to students.

Currently, services in Ronan, and several other area schools, are offered through Altacare, which is part of Acadia Montana.

If the co-op meats with state approval, the model would change so that any profits realized would roll back into the program. New services would be seamless with those currently offered, Holmlund said, adding a significant portion of Ronan students use services such as counseling, family discussions counseling and behavior services. Less-expensive services would create a system in which more students could receive help, he said.

While financial aspects of the co-op, including paying for staff, will fall to the Eureka elementary school district, people will be placed in co-op member schools to provide services where needed, he added.

Holmlund said he’s excited about the possibility of bolstering oft-downplayed mental health services.

“We’re trying to be proactive here in a very healthy, holistic manner,” he said.

The co-op also will be good for districts’ bottom lines. A collective savings of $1.5 million is estimated, and eventually, the co-op could grow to 30 districts, Holmlund said, adding the hope is to have the new system running by July.

Polson

Nancy Lindsay’s vacant school board seat will go unfilled until the May 7 elections.

No one filed by the March 21 deadline as interested in being appointed for the seat, which Lindsay vacated in February, said Pam Owen, the district’s business manager.

Charlo

Charlo bus drivers will continue to be paid for 1 1/2 hours in the morning and again in the evening, regardless of how long their routes take.

Charlo school board members last Friday voted 4-2 to continue the past practice of paying for the route hours. Shane Reum and Danny Krantz opposed, saying people should be paid for time worked. Dave DeGrandpre was absent.

Earlier this month, drivers filed a grievance after receiving a memo from the school district office saying that they would be paid according to their time cards instead of three hours a day regardless. If drivers wanted to do odd jobs until an 1 1/2 was reached, they would be paid for 1 1/2 hours, Superintendent Thom Peck told board members. While contracts outline hourly wages, no specifics on the 1 1/2 are stated.

Drivers, however, said the new policy violates their contracts, disregarded past practice and made substantial changes without both sides signing off on them.

Next year, the district plans to consolidate routes to four instead of five, which will lengthen the time it takes to complete them and likely make the time issue moot, Peck said.