Palouse Prairie hires first teachers

By Summer Clayton, Director, Palouse Prairie School:

I'm excited to be addressing you as a group for the first time in my new role. I'm even more thrilled to officially announce that we have made teacher selections and have received verbal acceptances.

Thank you to those who served on the teacher selection committee. The committee received over 40 applications and narrowed it to a short list who were invited to in person interviews. After a long but exhilarating day the committee emerged with a recommended list of candidates.

I had the pleasure of speaking with each candidate Friday and Saturday of this past week. My selections mirrored those of the committee. Jeneille Branen – kindergarten, Lisa Stratford – first, Jessica Dahlin – multiage 2/3, and Kathryn Bonzo multiage 4/5.

All four teachers are incredibly excited to begin the next leg in our journey and seem undaunted by the enormity of the task. It’s a great team. You all should be very pleased!

Thank you for your great work. I look forward to seeing you all again in a short month’s time.

Library getting ready

Whew, what a day on Monday. Gottschalks in Lewiston is going out of business and we got the call to go down there and look at all the fixtures-- hoping to find classroom tables.

The tables were not what we expected, but some of the other items were a steal. We got a set of pieces for the library -- display shelves and tables -- places to put pictures books and show off art.

We also got 10 great carts that can become computer workstations and be wheeled from the media center to where ever they are needed in the building.

A group of volunteers have been sorting thru the 1000+ books that have been donated so far, deciding what we have and what needs to be ordered.

This slide show will give you an idea about the furniture -- photos taken as stuff was getting bought or moved or stored at the school.

Student Centered School

The following is a reflection by a teacher/parent on her recent visit to Summit School and EL school in Spokane Valley. Its framed in the "Notice and Wonder" format:

What I noticed about the school was that is was student-centered and led. The school environment was very positive including the teachers, students and principal. Respect and accountability were evident throughout each classroom and the assembly. Students take responsibility in the learning, their behavior and are treated with the upmost respect by the staff and their peers. There was a strong sense of community and culture. One student described it as a big family. The learning environment provides each child with an intrinsic motivation to learn, which decreases classroom management issues. It was an honor to see the school in action.

What I wondered about the school is how new students adjust coming into the school and how they adjust when they go into middle school. I wondered about the resources and curriculum and what resources our school will have. I also wondered and got some clear answers from the teachers and principal about how expeditions are integrated into the classroom.


It was amazing to see this school and I can't wait for our school to get there! It is everything I learned about in grad school of what education should look like. It gave me goose bumps!

Jeneille Branen

Charter Document

I was doing some housekeeping in preparation to working on a minor revision to the charter approved by the Board in April 2009, when I found this photo of the charter printed in preparation for our March 2008 visit to the Commission.

Idaho schools to see 3.2 percent cut

Palouse Prairie School is still waiting to learn the exact impact on its budget, the funding comes in several categories, including the administrative and teacher salaries categories mentioned at the end of the article.

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From Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Staff and wire reports
May 2, 2009

Idaho public schools took a lower-than-anticipated budget hit Friday, when Gov. C.L. "Butch Otter" signed their $1.4 billion 2010 budget into law.

State funding will be reduced just 3.2 percent with the help of federal stimulus money, state taxpayer funding and cash from rainy-day reserves to minimize cuts.

This is the first time in generations Idaho spending on public education is less than the previous year.

School district officials have waited and waited to find out how much money they'll receive from the state. They've had to set supplemental levy amounts based on guesses and estimates.

"I still don't know how much money we're getting," said Genesee Superintendent David Neumann. "It's nerve-wracking to wait so long to know where we're going to be."

He said the Genesee School District is cutting its budget by 6.6 percent.

Moscow School District Candis Donicht was out of town and not available for comment. Moscow Curriculum Director Cindy Bechinski declined to comment on the budget until she had a chance to read through it.

The public schools funding program was shifted in 2006 from an education maintenance and operations levy to a 1-percent sales tax increase.

Local school officials and legislators spoke out against the shift when it was implemented, and have repeatedly expressed frustration with the new funding formula. They say the switch removed the public schools' funding stability, or "three-legged stool."

"I certainly see the need to cut based on the economics. But part of the problem was created by the Legislature itself when they took away our ability to apply local property taxes," Neumann said.

The bill Otter inked Friday included $60 million from the federal stimulus package.

But it holds millions more in reserve in case the money is needed during the coming year if tax revenue declines even further.

"No one wants to cut education," Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said. "Unfortunately, with state revenues continuing to decline, we cannot avoid it."

Administrators can expect an average 5 percent base salary cut; teachers pay will be cut 2.63 percent.