Mill A School District board backs targeted grant outreach, tech refresh and approves field trip and staff contracts

The Mill A School District board on Monday heard a legislative-report update, gave staff permission to pursue a targeted funding ask, and approved several routine actions including a technology refresh, an overnight oceanography trip and multiple certificated employment contracts.

Grant outreach: A board member described a small-schools modernization grant on the legislative list totaling about $6 million and reported a recent visit with Representative Kevin Waters, who suggested the district could extract a smaller, high-priority component for possible direct legislative funding from his discretionary allocation. The board authorized the member and district staff to develop a cost estimate and project justification to present to the representative, while noting the risk that removing an item from the existing grant application could affect the score or timing of the larger request.

Technology purchase: Administration proposed using an unexpected $49,000 in federal 'forest' funds to begin a planned technology refresh, presenting a vendor subtotal estimate for 20 student laptops, eight faculty laptops and three high-performance workstations plus classroom AV options (administration presented an approximate subtotal of about $32,800). Board members discussed purchasing scale, warranty and deployment timing and gave consensus direction to obtain firm quotes and proceed with procurement within the identified budget. Trustees emphasized teacher input on classroom AV choices and noted IT setup time over the summer would be necessary.

Field trip and contracts: The board approved the 2026 oceanography overnight field trip after reviewing the itinerary and learning outcomes. Trustees also approved a slate of certificated employment contracts; one vote on a contract (Rachel) recorded a board member recusal. The board amended and approved a memorandum of understanding with the local fire district to correct language reflecting that the fire district owns the storage building space, and asked parties to initial the revised copy before final signatures.

Why it matters: The legislative outreach could yield discrete capital funding for critical safety and security items (PA system, clocks/intercom, doors), while the technology refresh uses an unforeseeable revenue source to address failing student devices that teachers and students flagged during public comment. The combination of decisions reflects the board balancing short-term operational fixes with longer-term capital planning.

What’s next: Staff will return with prioritized project cost estimates for Representative Waters, formal vendor quotes for the technology purchase and any grant-timing implications; the district’s budget workshop is scheduled for early June where staff expect to provide further details.