“Hey!” yelled Middleton Superintendent Marc Gee as dozens of students clamored in the district’s cramped boardroom. A game of Senior Assassin was on, and crafty seniors camped near the exit to eliminate their peers via water gun as they filed out after the board meeting.

Around 100 students and the mayor of Middleton attended Monday night’s hourlong board meeting. Students must attend a board meeting as part of a civics assignment.

Once Gee had their attention, he led students to the building’s usually off-limits back door, preserving them for another day of Senior Assassin.

During the regular board meeting of three trustees (two were absent), Gee said the district is aiming at informing constituents and defeating misinformation about its $4 million supplemental levy ask in May. Gee said he’s driving an information campaign on social media and writing articles in Middleton’s print publications.

After the state bailed Middleton out of its bond struggle, the district’s budget continues to fall short. A supplemental levy must pass for the district to keep security staff, teachers, classified staff, curriculum and a range of other expenses, said Gee.

In other action on Monday, the three trustees opted not to vote on a second phase of boundary changes. The district previously redrew elementary school boundaries in July last year. Trustees planned to redraw in two phases, since at the time, the district had no prospects for funding a new elementary school.

With funding obtained and plans for a new school in place, trustees opted to wait until the new school’s opening to redraw boundaries again.

The district is aiming to open its new elementary school in the Fall of 2028, Gee told trustees. A preliminary survey for constituents to share potential names for the school provided 194 recommendations. “Almost all of them showed a lot of good thought,” Gee said.

Trustees will make a list of finalists and have the community vote on the new school’s name.

Middleton Mayor Tim O’Meara, a former city councilman and fire district commissioner, presented an improved crosswalk plan for Willis Road. The new mayor said Middleton is scrutinizing pedestrian safety after a rash of accidents in Caldwell pushed that city and its school district to roll out crosswalk improvements.

Funding for the crosswalk upgrade is uncertain, so trustees tabled the item for May’s meeting.

Middleton has a history of failed bonds and levies. The state greenlit Middleton to receive funding from a special facilities budget set aside for districts that struggle on the ballot in 2025. This year, lawmakers streamlined the process so Middleton doesn’t have to run another bond measure unsuccessfully to receive the funds.