The Meridian CUSD #15 Board of Education held its regular December meeting on Monday, December 18. Information from administration was shared with the Board that included: (all administrative reports can be found on pages 2-5 at this link)
The Athletic department has created initiatives to increase attendance and student participation at extracurricular events. The Meridian Mayhem has been showing up in great numbers for basketball games.
The elementary school is wrapping up the first semester. Students have been participating in various holiday themed activities. One highlight included a first grade trip to view the Polar Express.
In the middle school, the cast is set for this year's theater production, The Little Mermaid Jr. Additionally, the winter choir and band concerts recently took place.
The high school is wrapping up the first semester with several community service projects including Toys for Tots, a canned food drive, and the Salvation Army Red Kettle campaign.
The Board of Education also recently had a special board meeting on Thursday, December 14. Action items included approval of the 2024 board meeting schedule and approval of an amendment to the Consolidated District Plan. The district is receiving additional Federal Title I funding, so the CDP needed to be amended to include the middle school and high school. Additionally at the special meeting, the Board approved the 2023 tax levy and bond abatement. The levy approved provides for normal inflationary growth. The Board approved an abatement of 63.6% of the total bond and interest payment. The amount abated will be paid for by the county facility sales tax.
At Monday’s regular meeting, the Board approved a contract for speech services with Bridge Therapy. The district has a current opening for a part-time speech pathologist and has not had any applicants. In personnel action items, the Board approved the following resignations Dariess Moreland as the high school cheer coach effective with the completion of duties related to this basketball season, Chelsea Stewart as the high school drama sponsor, Jessica Pfieffer as an aide at MES effective December 22, and Taylor Guglielmetti as the MES nurse effective December 8. The Board also approved Jacob Anderson as the MS drama vocal coach, Tracy Smithers as the MES nurse, and Brittany LeVault as an aide at MES. Lastly, volunteers were approved for the middle school drama production including, Carla Comerford, Erin Moyer, Salli Pritts, Caleb Glover, and Drew Eikoff.