Grants on the horizon for Libby School District

At the Libby School Board meeting on Tuesday, Superintendant Craig Barringer and Kaide Dodson discussed work they and Ron Goodman put into trying to secure a grant to start a preschool program to work in partnership with the Head Start program.

Collaborating on the request is Ken Foss, who is spearheading the Head Start portion. Statewide, 21 preschools and Head Start programs are vying for the $10 million available each year for four years from the Montana Preschool Development grant.

“We’ve been targeted for the grant. We’ll get something, but we’re not sure exactly how much we’ll receive,” Barringer said.

On Wednesday, Barringer met with a representative from the State Office of Public Instruction to review their budget and assess need. The school was looking for between $1.3 and $1.4 million over the four years, but a few requests were added.

The state representative will inform them in April if they were awarded a grant and for how much. Libby preschool is one of six preschools seeking grants and the other 15 area Head Start programs. If received, the grant will allow for children not eligible for Head Start to get a jump on kindergarten by attending classes that would be added at the Plummer School. Grant money would go toward hiring teachers and paying for classrooms.

Five letters of resignation from Libby teachers, totaling 167 years of experience, were accepted by the school board on Tuesday. Wayne Baker, Debra Erickson, Jay Graham and Gene and Lenora Reckin will all be moving on at the end of the school year. Many of the resigning teachers expressed they enjoyed the years spent in the school system, but were also looking forward to the next chapter of their lives.

Four area students were recognized for their superb attitude, effort and character with a certificate and a round of applause from their families, board members and meeting attendees. Each student joined their teacher at the front of the crowd where they were praised for current projects and actions worthy of being honored. Ivan Cano, Sebastian Sanders, Nate Galloway and Mason Gotham were this month’s award recipients.

Board members voted to renew their membership with the Montana School Board Association. The nearly 90-year old private non-profit helps school boards to update policies, provides legal services and training and operates an insurance program among a host of other services and resources.

A few reports from the school district’s Carving New Directions initiative were given during the board meeting. In November, the district identified eight goals that will each be championed by faculty members to improve Libby’s schools. The district hopes to familiarize community members with the goals so they can get involved and help direct how they are implemented.