School board approves budget principles, superintendent contract, Chartwells renewal and curriculum adoptions

The Blaine County School District No. 61 Board of Trustees approved several policy and operational items during its March 11, 2025 regular meeting, including the district’s 2025–26 budget guiding principles, a rolling three‑year contract extension for the superintendent, an annual renewal of the Chartwells food-service contract and adoption of listed math and science curriculum.

Board members said they intend the budget guiding principles to preserve stability and predictability in budget decisions. “Having consistent and predictable guidelines is really important to the stability of the district,” Trustee Romero said when introducing the guiding-principles item. The board voted to adopt the 2025–26 budget guiding principles without substantive edits.

The board approved converting the superintendent’s agreement to a rolling three‑year contract with annual review and reduced the contract’s annual increase from 5% to 3% to align with the district’s employee salary schedule. Superintendent Patty Fowdy thanked the board after the vote: “No. I’m grateful for the opportunity. We’ve got a lot of work to do, so I want to keep doing the work.”

The board also approved Chartwells’ first contract renewal, continuing Chartwells as the district’s food-service management company. School leaders reported improved menu offerings and responsiveness in Chartwells’ first year and discussed participation rates, which remain near 30% districtwide. Finance and food-service staff said they will bring more detailed participation and free/reduced breakdowns to trustees upon request.

Trustees adopted proposed math and science curriculum materials that had been presented at the February meeting. Trustee Turner asked whether the district could smooth large, periodic curriculum outlays by budgeting across multiple years; the board directed staff to explore a multiyear curriculum account for future budgets.

The board also adopted model policy 304, “Superintendent authority, appointment and evaluation,” and rescinded policies 305 and 306 as part of a consolidation recommended by board counsel and the policy committee. Several additional policy updates (principals’ contracts, evaluations, student nutrition accounts and others) were presented on the information agenda and will return to the board later this spring for action.

Votes at a glance - Approval of agenda (voice vote): yes 4, no 0 — approved. - Consent agenda (voice vote): yes 4, no 0 — approved. - Adoption of 2025–26 budget guiding principles (voice vote): yes 4, no 0 — approved. - Superintendent Patty Fowdy contract extension (motion to convert to rolling three‑year contract with annual review, 3% annual increase): (voice vote) yes 4, no 0 — approved. - Chartwells annual contract renewal (one‑year renewal, price escalator tied to CPI): (voice vote) yes 4, no 0 — approved; board asked that the renewed contract be returned for review before final execution so legal and state reviewers can confirm any USDA-required language. - Adoption of listed math and science curriculum (motion): (voice vote) yes 4, no 0 — approved. - Adoption of model policy 304 (superintendent authority) and rescission of policies 305 and 306 (motion): (voice vote) yes 4, no 0 — approved.

What the votes mean - The budget guiding principles set the board’s priorities for the 2025–26 budget process but do not themselves set specific spending levels. The board clarified it intends the language to allow the superintendent to reallocate existing FTE without board approval so long as there is no net increase in FTE; staff will clarify the language before the budget is presented. - The superintendent’s contract change shifts from a fixed multi‑year raise schedule to annual review with a 3% base increase; the board said the revision aligns the superintendent’s compensation with employee-schedule increases. - The Chartwells renewal keeps the district’s current food-service manager in place; trustees requested data on meal participation by free/reduced versus full-pay students and asked that the renewal be circulated for legal and state review prior to final execution.

Meeting context: four trustees were present and quorate throughout these votes; votes described above match the verbal roll-call/voice-vote counts recorded in the meeting transcript.

Ending: The board moved on to the information agenda after these actions; items discussed later included a presentation by the Blaine County Recreation District, the district wellness committee annual report, and a proposal to consolidate preschool services at Haley Elementary for fall 2026.