School Board Gets New Look; Willie Thibault Leaving

Unlike some recent Glasgow School Board meetings, it wasn't a packed house at the first board meeting for newcomers John Daggett and Suzanne Billingsley, who won election earlier this month.

But as Daggett and Billingsley took the oath of office to join the board, there were several handshakes and hugs as the previous incumbents dispersed and the new board members took their seats.

Patt Etchart and Dave Irving were presented gifts and offered thanks for their service as board trustees.

Allison Molvig was nominated and voted in as the chairperson for the coming year, and Nick Dirkes was voted in as the vice chairperson. Kelly Doornek was appointed as the clerk of the board.

Decisions on board committee members were a little more difficult as Billingsley and Daggett were nominated for the negotiations committee, but they hesitated as the two had no experience in this area. Dirkes agreed that training would be required and they postponed the final decision on the committee.

The rest of the meeting followed with updates on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, for which Daggett asked several questions and Superintendent Bob Connors explained that Montana was a little different than the other 35 states participating as the local district has more control over meeting those standards. The Glasgow School District has been working on implementation over the last few years.

It was announced that activities director Willie Thibault would be resigning his position as he takes a new position as school principal in Glendive. Connors thanked Thibault for his service and said that his efforts to bring commerce into the area through athletics has not been unnoticed by many in Glasgow.

Updates on the building projects at each school were also given. The Owner's Representative Eric Hultang explained that it was one year ago they voted to hire him and they've seen a lot of progress in the past year. The school district selected the firm and worked on design and is now in construction mode on all three schools.

East Side School is finishing up with the the shell package and walls, roofs and masonry are nearing completion. East Side is expected to be complete this summer, with the parking lot and demo finishing up after the smaller details are complete on the new building.

Irle Elementary began pouring cement in the last week. The structure of the new building will begin soon and the project will make a lot of headway during the summer. It isn't expecting to be complete until next summer.

Glasgow High School also began pouring concrete and the mechanical and electrical details are being worked out. Officials hope to have the kitchen, which will serve as the district kitchen for all schools, finished by the end of summer. They are not sure if the work can be finished that quickly, but they are trying to get it done soon.

The school board will continue their meetings and work sessions through the summer. The last day of school for Glasgow is May 30.