Board Meeting Minutes March 17, 2021

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR WAYNE SCHOOL DISTRICT ON WEDNESDAY MARCH 17th, 2021 AT 6:00 PM at WAYNE HIGH SCHOOL.

THOSE PRESENT:

Conducting: Shawn Davis

ADMINISTRATION

Shawn Davis called the meeting to order. 

Pledge of Allegiance.

Reverence is offered by April.

April makes a motion to approve the minutes from 1/20/21 and 2/11/21. Liz seconds the motion. All in favor.

PUBLIC HEARING – FEES AND SPEND PLAN

No comments. 

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Tyler provides a review of food services and transportation. He discusses the grants received for the food services program, which allowed us to get a new oven and tilt skillet in Loa. There is a new law requiring us to serve breakfast this next year, which means it will need to be served in Loa. 

We did not receive a grant from the EPA for a new school bus but are proceeding with the order of a new school bus to maintain our current replacement plan.

We received a mid-year financial update with minor changes and are expecting initial legislative estimates for next year within the next week.

Curtis makes a motion to pay the bills. April seconds. All in favor.

CITIZEN COMMENTS

Bekkah Petree wants to give kudos to Lance Peterson and Cherie Blackburn. She feels they are approachable and flexible. The same thing goes for Tyler Newton. She asks about the roles and responsibilities for the board members and would like to know where to find the document. It is posted on the website under District Policies and Procedures (Section B). She also asks if there is discussion about not having a principal at the middle school and having one principal for both secondary schools. Shawn responds that there are currently three principals and their intentions are to continue as it currently stands.

Tracie Fallis appreciates the job Tyler is doing. She feels more informed and that he has helped her feel important. She appreciates her principal, Lance Peterson, his support, and the integrity that these men bring to this district.

Stephanie Williams says that Tyler has worked hard to build the morale of the district. She feels he has brought a more positive outlook and that things are headed in a good direction.

Heidi Woolsey says that Tyler is approachable and helps get the kids what they need. 

Melissa Daley comments that it has been good to have Tyler help with community council at Loa Elementary and she appreciates his clarity and explanations.

Coral Chappell remarks about the challenge and uniqueness of school finance. She says that Tyler is just getting to the point where he understands it and she recognizes that for him and herself to leave at the same time, it would create a difficult challenge for the district and would not be fair to the employees and students. She says that Tyler is honest and fair and has lifted the morale and she offers her support for him.

Jennifer Batty says that Tyler is straightforward, transparent, and responsive. He is willing to ask for opinions on how to make things better. She says he works as a team member and asks that the board renew his contract.  

INFORMATION ITEMS

Special Education/SEL Report

Jamie Webb, SPED Director, reports on Special Education and Social-Emotional Learning. All of our SPED/SEL curriculum and models follows the state guidelines and portrait of a graduate and are evidence and research-based. Our focus has been on multi-tiered systems of support.

Tier 1 provides intervention early on and is for all students. Tier 2 provides targeted assistance for those with higher needs. Tier 3 is special education and is targeted to students with extra needs.Curtis asks if students can be in Tier 3 on academic or social-emotional needs. Jamie responds that they can and that students can move between tiers based on current needs.

Jamie says that the state is really pushing Social-Emotional learning. About one year ago, we started an RTI (response to intervention) team. This includes a monthly meeting with teachers, SEL coordinator, and the principal to help analyze the services provided and the needs of the students.  This has helped with SPED classifications and identifying which intervention is necessary. There are also monthly SEL lessons that include problem-solving, resiliency, anti-bullying, and other topics. This is done for all students across the district.

The school district provides Tier 1 and Tier 2 services, which are both preventative. Tier 3 interventions are provided by outside therapists, including those from the health clinic, CUES, Central Utah Counseling, and the Children’s Justice Center. Therapists can meet with students in the school, online, or in their office.

Shawn asks about parent involvement and consent. Jamie responds that they work on a referral basis and contact the parents to get a consent signed before a therapist is involved.

Jamie explains the funding sources and says that the services can be charged through the insurance if the services are provided at the clinic. If the students can’t obtain it there, there is a contract with the school district to provide it at a flat rate. Some services are funded through grants and some are provided at no cost to the district.

Superintendent Shelley explains that CUES is able to get grants just like school districts and because they can receive funding, they can provide services to us that we likely could not get. Jamie explains that it is hard to get people to come here because of the rural location but we are getting many online services.

Shawn says that he wants to make sure that no student with needs is denied that because of funding.

Jamie assures him that we are providing services needed. There are limits on what we can provide but we are providing more specialized services than have ever been provided. Many of the larger counties are not able to provide what we are providing.

We also use a behavioral analyst that is shared with other districts. All services that are provided must be based on data collection to prove that we are using the funding for the correct students and in the correct way.

Jamie thanks Megan and Jan for doing a great job with preschool despite facing many challenges.

She says that they have had a focus on training. This includes both special ed and general ed teachers. Knowing how to respond to certain behaviors is essential.

The Juvenile Justice Center comes in to meet with groups and does individual interventions.

Our teachers are working on specialized instruction. We received high marks in the on-site visit by the State because of what is happening here.

Jamie discusses the on-site visit and covers some of the strengths, including individualized approaches to IEP development, collaboration with staff and parents, free and appropriate public education, transition planning, and collaboration with outside agencies.  Jamie recognizes her secondary teachers (Jan Brown and Sharon Durfey) for their excellent work in transition planning. Jamie then covers the areas of improvement. These include compliance timeliness, data collection, assignment of goals, and student involvement in postsecondary goals. 

Our RDA score, which is a score for the overall program, is the highest that it has been in 9 years. Our team has made some great strides.

Curtis says that he appreciates the involvement of and collaboration with the general education teachers.

Randy says that during the on-site visit, the team from the state board was very complimentary to Jamie and what she and her team are doing.

Randy says that we apply for every grant that comes our way. Sometimes it is difficult for us to determine how to use it because there are so many restrictions.

Shawn thanks Jamie and her team.

Superintendent’s Report

Randy talks about the spring regional meeting with USBA. 

The high school activities committee sent out a survey asking how we feel about sanctioning three new sports: e-sports, boys’ volleyball, and competitive cheer. Sanctioning essentially allows them to be approved locally in the future if we so choose.  Board members express interest in supporting all three. 

Randy discusses some of the jobs that we are interviewing for currently. We will continue to perform interviews and announce the positions as they are hired. 

Committee Reports

The facilities committee met last week to discuss possible options for our aging buildings. The question is whether to continue to place bandages on them or to remodel or rebuild. We have very limited funds and likely will not be able to rebuild buildings. There has been some consideration on rebuilding a portion of the high school and adding additional rooms to have a combined 7-12 building. There are many factors to consider, including current interest rates, construction inflation, etc. 

April said she liked the idea of doing a traditional build for the high school. The estimates from this project are approximately $18 million. She believes it can be done cheaper through a traditional build. She expresses that it would be great to add the classrooms but isn’t comfortable losing money from NESS (Necessarily Existent Small Schools). Curtis adds that we need to get community input. 

Randy mentions the savings from combining schools but they don’t cover the whole loss from NESS. He says that there are some real benefits to having the staff under one building rather than having shared staff as it currently exists. Randy speaks to the significant cracks in the high school building and expresses concern about what would happen with any seismic activity.

There is discussion regarding what format and setting is best to obtain public input. 

Jennifer Batty asks how other communities, such as Piute, feel about their combined secondary schools. Randy responds that in his conversations with other districts, they say that the community is used it and that it works well. In region 20, there are only two schools that aren’t 7-12. 

Tyler shows the board what a bond would do to the tax rate. The constitutional debt limit for the district is $16 million. Randy discusses the process, which includes issuing an RFP for a contractor prior to getting an architect provide options for us. Curtis says we need to determine what the community wants and then return to getting estimates. 

Shawn says that no one wants to pay extra taxes. Aside from Park City, our district has the lowest rates in the state. We need to educate the community on our needs. Randy says that education is not equitable when you compare what we have with other districts. He says it is worth pursuing for the benefit of our kids. Shawn says he will be happy to have taxes go up to provide better opportunities for our kids.  April states that this needs to go out to the whole community because many people don’t have kids in the school system. We would like public participation and public comment. 

Board Training

Superintendent Shelley provides a training on Trust Lands. All of the goals have to be related to academics, measurable, and student-focused.  He covers some of the requirements for the goals and action steps related to the spending categories. There is some discussion on which members are going to which community council meetings. This is not a requirement for the board but the members would like to be there so they are informed of what is happening.

BUSINESS ITEMS

School Fees Approval

April makes a motion to approve the school fees for 2021-2022 for middle school and high school. Cory seconds. All in favor.  

Auditing Services Selection

There were two responses to the RFP for an auditor. Tyler asks if the board had any suggestions for audit committee members. Shawn and Liz are the current audit committee members. Shawn says that he and Liz looked at the bids and determined that the contract should go to Squire and Company. 

Curtis makes a motion to accept the recommendation of the audit committee. Cory seconds. All in favor. 

Policies

First Reading

Cory makes a motion to waive first and second reading and approve policies CBB-Awarding Contract by Bidding, CBD-Awarding contract by Request for Proposals, CBDA-Request for Statement of Qualifications, CBDB-Approved Vendor List Process, CBE-Small Purchases, CBF-Exceptions to Standard Procurement Processes, CBG-Contracts and Contract Limitations, CBH-Interaction with other Procurement Units, CBI-Records of Procurement, CCA-School Construction Bidding, CCB-Construction Bonds and Security, CCC-Limitation on Change Orders, CCD-Drug and Alcohol Testing for Construction Projects, CCE-Construction Management Methods, CDA-Procurement Protests. April seconds. All in favor. 

Second Reading

Curtis makes a motion to approve second reading of BM-Charter Schools Charter School Sponsorships, BU-District Annual Reports, CB-Procurement, CBA-General Procurement Policies, BL-Administrative Personnel. Cory seconds. April would like to table policy BL-Administrative Personnel. 

Curtis amends his motion to approve second reading of BM-Charter Schools Charter School Sponsorships, BU-District Annual Reports, CB-Procurement, CBA-General Procurement Policies. Cory seconds. All in favor.

Liz makes a motion to table policy BL-Administrative Personnel. April seconds. All in favor.

Third Reading

Cory makes a motion to approve policies ECCA–Curriculum Reading Achievement for K-3, ECCB–Curriculum Mathematics Assessment for K-3, EDH-Special Programs Student Internships, FDC–School Breakfast program, FDF–Positive Behaviors Plan, and GCG–School Climate Survey, CKB–Travel.

April seconds. All in favor.

Cell Phone Allowance

Cory makes a motion to approve cell phone allowances.  Liz seconds. All in favor.

There is some discussion about why this is needed. Tyler explains that these are only for employees who need to be reached outside regular business hours.

Employee Separations

April makes a motion to approve employee separations. Liz seconds. All in favor.

Chuck Greco – paraprofessional WHS

Ashley Blackburn – paraprofessional WMS

CLOSED SESSION

April makes a motion to go into closed session per Utah Code Annotated Section 52-4-205(1)(a) at 7:54 pm. Curtis seconds. 

Open meeting resumes at 9:14 pm.

Business Administrator Contract

Liz makes a motion to renew the Business Administrator’s contract. Cory seconds. All in favor. No opposed.

CLOSED SESSION

Cory makes a motion to go into closed session per Utah Code Annotated Section 52-4-205(1)(a) at 9:16 pm. April seconds. 

Open session resumes at 10:17 pm.

Shawn adjourns the meeting at 10:17 pm.