April 15, 2020 Board Meeting Minutes

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR WAYNE SCHOOL DISTRICT ELECTRONICALLY ON WEDNESDAY APRIL 15th, 2020 AT 4:00 PM.

THOSE PRESENT:

Conducting: Curtis Whipple

ADMINISTRATION

Curtis Whipple called the meeting to order. 

Mary Bray, principal at WHS, goes over the schedule for the next year. There are not many changes.

ACT scores came back last week and scores were lower than usual.  She is hoping that some students will be able to retake it during the summer. Their plan is to add ACT prep back to the schedule next year.

She discusses some additional classes, such as web development, a graphics course, early childhood education, intro to construction and manufacturing principles. These changes open up additional CTE pathways and electives for students.

She also mentions that they have begun the Lifelines suicide program at her school. They have also been working on registration for college with Candence. Graduation will still be held on the same day, but will be a parade in Bicknell. The parade will be followed by a short drive-in movie with each sitting in their own vehicle. Student body elections will also be held online.

Jeff asks about how the seniors are doing with this interruption with regards to graduation. She states that they are reaching out to students and she believes everyone will be able to graduate. Jeff then asks about how the staff is adapting. Mary replies that they don’t like it but have adapted reasonably well. 

Lance Peterson, principal of WMS, gives a report on his school. He states that the online tools are a good resource for teachers and parents and hopes they will continue to be used after the dismissal.  He mentions some of the priorities for the school, including mental health. They are aware that this challenge is hard for everyone. He reiterates that our purpose is to educate kids. They have tried to target 20-30 minute assignments for all classes so that kids can keep on track as much as possible.  

His staff has tried to communicate adequately to parents and students. They have been using Google Hangouts to connect with students, but also with teachers. The staff has been collaborating constantly in regards to students. They have also been using Remind system to communicate immediate information.  

Jeff asks how they have used this crisis to collaborate. Lance responds that these changes are going to be very beneficial to education and he hopes that we won’t lose the learning that we have acquired through this. Dr. Chappell asks if there are students who are falling behind. Mr. Peterson responds that teachers are working hard reaching out to kids and finding ways to help. Tracie Fallis has been an excellent resource to interact with kids regularly. Overall, they believe it is going fairly well. They have sent home resources for parents as well as for students.

Curtis asks how things have changed over time with school dismissal. Lance responds that it was a challenge initially and they have continued to adapt and improve as they have received feedback and communicated with the students and parents. He acknowledges the people who have built this system prior to him.

Lance addresses staffing. They were a bit understaffed in Special Ed. He will work with Jamie Webb to make sure that we can find someone to support the kids as needed.  He acknowledges Colene Gardner and Tracie for helping to pick up the slack in this area. Nathaniel & Hannah Knaphus have been quite helpful to work one-on-one with students. He also recognized Liz McCoy for her excellent contribution and ability to self-manage and identify ways to help.

Lance brings up the issue of shared teachers (between schools) and suggests we need to try to eliminate that as much as possible. He talks about professional development and supporting teachers. They have been using a number of resources to improve pedagogy. 

April asks if Lance will be teaching classes next year. Lance covers some of the schedule changes. They will be adding two additional coding classes. Lance will be teaching two classes that cover study skills, behavioral and culture issues. 

Lance closes by stating that we need to do more to build morale within our schools and within the district. This is a priority in his school and thanks the staff in the middle school to help each other and the students and parents. 

Shawn Davis thanks Lance for all that they are doing.

Cherie Blackburn, principal of LES, presents a report of her school. She reviews a number of things they have been doing with regards to online school. They have struggled some as younger kids don’t have the technology experience as the older ones do. They sent iPads home with every student and have met with faculty to discuss what is most important to include. She states that she is very proud of her teachers and recognizes they have stepped up and implemented the technology. Some of the parents are overwhelmed. They are trying to provide more resources and help to those parents. Some of the paraprofessionals are contacting every parent to make sure that they feel comfortable doing what is required. The lunch staff has also stepped up and is doing a fantastic job. She recognizes the challenges that parents face and thanks them for their support. 

Cherie highlights some of the changes this year. They have been using a new reading program through National Geographic. They have been implementing Response to Intervention (RTI) program. They have been working on interventions with struggling students. 

The state has been encouraging more computer science for elementary levels. The elementary schools will be implementing this through their STEM initiatives. 

Cherie mentions the struggle that some staff have. They miss having the students in the classroom and they are all excited for when this over so kids can return to the building. Caring teachers are what will help change the culture and environment. 

One of her teachers will be leaving this year. They will need to hire a teacher for this. They have an estimate for 193 students next year, up from 181 this year. They will need to consider combining a class. Cherie spoke with the community council and have been considering funding an additional teacher with the Land Trust rollover money. 

In Hanksville, they are teaching 7 students. Next year, it is projected to be 9 students. With regards to staffing, they will likely remain as is. 

Cherie states that they have a number of different plans – Title 1, Trust Lands, etc. She suggests that they should all be centered around the same goals.

Jeff Chappell asks if they plan to have ongoing instruction to the end of May for all students. Cherie responds that they will have instruction up until the last week, which will be reserved for grading and final administration. 

Shawn states that we need to let our lunch staff know how appreciative we are of their work.

Cherie recognizes the classified staff that have stepped up and contributed to the well-being of the school.

Shawn Davis makes a motion to go into closed session per Utah Code Annotated Section 52-4-205(1)(a) at pm. Jeff Seconds.

Meeting is resumed at 6:00 pm

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: 

Cory motions to approve the minutes pending one possible change of hours available for the elementary school. Shawn seconds the motion. All in favor.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Tyler provides some info on budget. The districts have not yet been provided preliminary numbers. We are encouraged to be very conservative in our estimates. 

The architects for the locker room remodel project estimate the total project cost at around $1.1 million.

Our risk management pool cost will go down slightly this year due to lower claims.

He discussed a call with McKinstry, the energy audit provider. By contract, we are obligated to pay just over $11,000. The total cost to the company was about $120,000. They are prepared to write-down a loss, but wanted to reach out and see if we would make a good-faith offer based on the work provider. The ground-source heat pump was outside the initial scope of the project. He asks for feedback from the board on how to proceed. Jeff suggests that we need to be fair with them and is curious if there is an additional amount they would typically charge to do the heat pump analysis. Curtis suggests that there was simply a large amount of unknown information at all steps in the process. Cory thinks that we should pay about 10% of the 30,000 for the heat pump portion based on what the cost is to us. Tyler says he will check with them about the cost and believes that we need to negotiate something that is fair to both parties.

Tyler also mentions that T-Mobile will be donating $4,000 to our school lunch program. Jeff asks if we use T-Mobile. We do not currently use their system.

We do not have budget numbers yet, but we hope to have a rough budget in time for approval. There is a push from state education leaders to push back the deadline on the budget approval but pushback from the taxpayer association to maintain the current deadline.

Cory makes a motion to pay A/P. April makes a second. All in favor.

CITIZEN COMMENTS

Charlene Van Dyke makes a comment about where the money will go for the senior class. Mary Bray has worked that out with the senior class. Graduation will also be planned by the graduation committee. 

INFORMATION ITEMS

Superintendent has no travel scheduled. He covers the announcement by the State Superintendent that the districts are required to continue to provide education throughout the end of the year. 

Students will not be able to complete the curriculum originally provided due to this. On a case-by-case basis, some students will be able to keep devices or books to catch up. The Superintendent is concerned about students who simply are not engaged. The district is going to plan a summer school to help these kids, but research shows that kids are typically not engaged unless physically in the school building.

As far as grading, A’s, B’s, and C’s will be given as normal. For those with a D or F, an Incomplete grade will be given until the student completes the required work and then a Passing grade will be given. A ‘P’ gives credit but does not affect GPA.

The schools will continue as scheduled until graduation. 

Coral explains school lunch. The state suggested we continue to provide lunch for the kids. Because we had less than 50% free and reduced students, we did not qualify to provide lunch for everyone. After the first week, we qualified to serve school lunch for free. This extends to all kids in the county between 1-18 years old. They have to have a sibling enrolled in the schools. We still have to prove that we are serving over 50% free and reduced.

We are currently serving about 253 lunches per day. This is more than we serve than when in school. 57 of these are preschool or younger. We are presently at 52% free and reduced.  Coral has a concern about the health risks of distributing lunch and gathering information from parents. There is still too much close contact and the cooks are being good to try to distance everyone. But there exists a real risk from coming in contact with that many people. She expresses thanks for the cooks. 

Jeff asks why the staff isn’t wearing masks. Tyler responds that masks have been ordered and are coming. Jeff asks about whether we could ask people to wear masks and whether there is hand sanitizer available. Curtis mentions that staff in Hanksville does have a mask. Coral says they do have hand sanitizer. Jeff suggests that those coming to pick up lunches should wear masks. 

Jeff says that the masks won’t necessarily prevent people from getting it, but it prevents people who have the germs from touching their face. 

Coral says she will take action on the recommendations and try to provide a mask for staff and encourage parents to wear a mask when picking up lunch. 

Charlene asks a question about the grading situation. Superintendent says he will bring it up with the principals next week. 

Superintendent has reviewed a list of names that have been provided to be on the improvement committee. They will be scheduling a webinar to discuss the role of the committee.

The Superintendent reviews some changes to the Roles & Responsibilities. This document will be modified and reviewed once more in the May meeting.

Curtis asks about the lighting project. The Superintendent and Tyler report that Bronson and Tom have completed the middle school and are starting on Loa Elementary. Shane has been working on the high school. We estimate the total cost will be under $100,000 with labor included. 

Shawn has a question about the rental house and when it will be done. It is currently scheduled to be completed mid-May but may be done before then.

The School Board met last night to consider the next steps for hiring a Superintendent. There were a number of qualified individuals who applied and they are currently ranking who they would like to interview. The schedule would be to conduct interviews the week of the 27^th.  They should have a selection by next board meeting.

BUSINESS ITEMS

Mary makes a request on behalf of juniors to travel to Washington D.C. in April, 2021 with two other high schools. It will cost $1,200 for the trip. They would be there for about 1 week visiting historical sites. April, Curtis, Jeff, and Shawn comment about their support for it.

April makes a motion to approve the junior class trip to Washington D.C. in 2021. Jeff seconds. All in favor.

The Superintendent brings up a concern expressed by principals about the travel policies BBG & CKG. They were worried about the additional cost of going to a per-diem meal reimbursement during a financial downturn. Curtis asks what the policy says. Currently there is a conflict as it has both methods listed. Jeff suggests maybe we should go with the receipt route as it saves money for the district. Shawn agrees with that. 

Shawn makes a motion to table policy BBG and CKG to further rewrite the policies. Jeff seconds it. Shawn, Jeff, Curtis, & April are in favor. Cory abstains.

April makes a motion to approve third reading policies 

Cory seconds. All in favor.

April makes a motion to approve new hires: 

Jeff seconds. All in favor. 

Cory makes a motion to approve employee separations:

Bailey Torgerson – aide LES

Shawn seconds. All in favor.

Curtis mentions that USBA has hired a new executive director, Lexi Cunningham.

Cory remarks that our BoardBooks will be moving to a Premiere version. 

Cory asks if the coaches stipend will be paid. Mary responds that it will be pro-rated to approximately 1/4^th the amount.

Curtis adjourns the meeting at 7:15 pm

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