Twin Bridges Superintendent Kaiser introduces new pre-k teacher

The Twin Bridges Public Schools Board of Trustees Meeting took place on Tuesday, July 9 and discussed topics including the pre-kindergarten program, student and staff handbooks, a job description for the transportation supervisor, coach hires and student attendance agreements.

No attendees offered up any statements during the public comment section, but Superintendent Thad Kaiser took the opportunity to introduce the new pre-k teacher, Emily Alberi. The 2019/2020 school year will be the district’s first year providing a pre-k program. “We received a grant for the next ten years to establish a pre-k program, which is fully funded by a benefactor,” Superintendent Kaiser explained. “We have the teacher, we have the room, we have the funding,” and now the curriculum needs to be approved and a paraprofessional hired.

A special meeting is necessitated for the approval of the curriculum in order for it to be ratified before the school year begins. Alberi and the new elementary principal, Cindy Brown, are working together to come up with a curriculum that makes them both happy. “We’re looking for a solid, research-based curriculum that we want to implement and we’ve narrowed it down to two,” Principal Brown stated. Once they have chosen, they will present it to the board for final approval. Brown is joining the Twin Bridges School District from Belgrade and is looking forward to the change. “I’m excited to be there and work with such a great community,” she said. Principal Brown also alluded to a new reading program she plans to add to the elementary curriculum as well.

A new policy needed to be adopted from the Montana School Board Association to comply with the initiation of the pre-k program. “This policy is intended for use to enroll students under the age of five when statutory criteria are met,” documentation of the policy states. The 1010FE Flexibility and Efficient policy outlines options the school board must adopt in order to implement the policy. These include defined “exceptional circumstances” characteristics that can be used to admit students at different ages with various extenuating conditions.

Discussing the pre-k program was the backbone of the meeting, but a few other topics were notable. Out-of-district students were approved. A job description for a part-time transportation supervisor was approved. This was a full-time position, but as the school year draws closer, Superintendent Kaiser decided to offer it as part-time to get the position filled efficiently. The maintenance and mechanical aspect of the job will be presented as its own position, outsourced locally. The Student Performance and Achievement Committee will meet this summer to make recommendations about changes to the student handbooks to the board for approval prior to the school year.

Lastly, a date was set for the annual budget meeting. The budget needs to be completed by Aug 10 and adopted and submitted by Aug 28.