It was a Monday night with a light agenda and a sparse audience for the March 13 meeting of the Oakdale school board. OJUSD Board President Barbara Shook noted the two week separation between the February and March meetings as probable cause for little in the way of reports, as well as action items.

The board did, however, act on and approve items which will impact its student body, as well as the community in a positive way.

A presentation was made by Carpenters Training Committee for Northern California Executive Director Mark Fuchs.

“Tonight’s presentation is a direct result of our board attending a school board conference,” Superintendent Marc Malone shared, noting that President Shook as well as Board member Diane Gilbert engaged in initial conversation with a representative, then encouraged Malone to do the same.

“We are very excited about this program,” he continued. “We are very excited about the opportunity it will offer our students.”

The Pre-Apprenticeship Program will partner with the district to provide industry expertise to ‘better prepare participants for the field of carpentry,’ as well as provide CTCNC staff as guest speakers and provide priority placement for entry into the Pre-Apprenticeship program.

“There’s truly a war for talent out there right now,” Fuchs stated about the carpentry field, adding the draw of millennials and the like has presented challenges to industry professionals.

Implementation of the partnership will be observed on an academic year to year basis, beginning August 2017.

The board also unanimously approved the second reading of BP3470 Debt Issuance and Management, which was first presented by Chief Business Offices, Susan Dyke during the February meeting.

Approval gives Dyke the go ahead to pursue refinancing of Bonds acquired by the district for past school facilities and improvements.

“I will remind the public that the purpose of this debt management is that we are going to refinance our bonds,” Superintendent Malone stated. “By doing that, we’ll save our taxpayers … depending on when we get locked in, somewhere in the vicinity of upwards over a million dollars.

“The policy should not be taken lightly,” he continued. “We’re excited about the possibility of saving taxpayers a million dollars at a minimum and north of that over the course of repayment of these bonds.”

As is customary, the meeting began at 6:30 p.m. with student representatives from Cloverland Elementary: Jade Jones, Trevor Powell and Natalie Powell, leading the Pledge of Allegiance.

The next meeting will be hosted April 10 and will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Oakdale City Council Chambers, 277 N. Second Ave., Oakdale.