District makes hirings

Troy School Board members approved contracts for 2012-’13 for district employees including teachers, administrators and coaches during a recent meeting.

Among those hirings:

• Destinie Hammer will be offered a contract to coach the elementary girls basketball team and an assistant coach to the girls volleyball team.

• Principal Kelly Moore will be offered a contract as the elementary principal for next school year. 

• Principal Jacob Francom will be offered a contract to remain the high school and junior high school principal for the 2012-’13 school year.

The Board decided to establish May 8 as the regular school election day.

The administration building will be designated as the polling site and will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Clerk of the District will organize and conduct the election according to Montana Code Annotated, three election judges will be appointed.

Members voted in favor of joining the Northwest Educational Cooperative (NEC) for the remainder of the school year. The NEC would provide the district with a set of vertically integrated standards and benchmarks for all curricular areas and for grades Kindergarten through 12th grade — also assisting with professional development.

Moore updated the Board on the Montana Behavior Initiative (MBI) program.

The MBI team attended the second of their four training sessions in Missoula. Teachers among the kindergarten through sixth-grade classes are scheduling visits to other school districts as part of an ongoing effort to collaborate with other educators.

Francom and a team visited another school this month to learn more about the process in the Northwest Accreditation Commission. The Commission will be visiting the high school and junior high school in April.

The Board discussed the Running Start program, and concluding the program is working well to help students earn college credits while in high school.

The courses are offered for at no cost to the district,  and the courses offered are college writing and college-success strategies.

Next year, the district will offer public speaking, humanities, literature, Spanish, art, and interpersonal relationships and communication.

The high school is seeking a grant from the Troy Mine, Inc. to help remodel the weight room to make it more appealing. The school pursuing plans to landscape the front of the school in the spring.

The Board discussed a score clock for the softball field. The clock would be purchased using current funds or by donation. 

The student-council representatives are considering either April 28 or May 5 for the prom, the theme for this year is “Candy Land.”

The representatives also discussed the upcoming county spelling bee that will be held Feb. 21.

The Troy School Board will meet March 12 for the next scheduled meeting.