Oct. 13, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR WAYNE SCHOOL DISTRICT ON WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 13TH, 2021 AT 6:00 PM at WAYNE HIGH SCHOOL.

THOSE PRESENT:

Conducting: Shawn Davis

ADMINISTRATION

Shawn Davis called the meeting to order. 

April makes a motion to approve the minutes from 9/15/21.  Liz seconds the motion. All in favor.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Tyler reviews the October 1 count, which shows an increase of 2.8% over last year. There are 441 kids plus 32 in preschool. This is the first increase for our district in over 10 years. We have averaged a loss of 2.5% over that period. 

Tyler talks about inflation and how it is affecting our district. He then talks about the $250M request from USBA for facilities funding and suggests we talk to our representatives about establishing a needs-based grant.

Shawn asks questions about specific expenses and Tyler provides some information.

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

CITIZEN COMMENTS

Amy Jackson says that her daughter came home upset and she believes that these kids were in the right. She says that in the absence of a teacher, they got dressed and started class. There was an injury and they got help from a teacher for that student. She says that the kids had to write essays and they felt bad because of how it was handled. She doesn’t believe the kids should have consequences but should be praised for doing what was right. 

Lance says that this was a lapse and he has taken responsibility. He says there are some issues that need to be addressed to prevent this in the future. He praised the kids for what they had done right and also tried to teach accountability for what should have been done differently.

INFORMATION ITEMS

Introduction of Student Board Member

Shawn introduces Shaleen Nelson as a non-voting student board member. Board members offer advice and expectations, including attending meetings, bringing concerns to the board, communicating to students what is happening with the school board, and learning about leadership and how local government works. 

New Teacher Introductions

Wendy Potter introduces new teachers from Loa Elementary:

Geneva Peterson is a first-grade teacher and this is her first year teaching. She grew up in Portland and went to the College of Southern Idaho. She is currently working on her teaching degree. Her husband Keegan also now works for the school district as a tech aide.

Amber Draper lives in Fremont and worked for Wayne School District previously. She has most recently been teaching online for 8 years. She has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, with experience in special education, and has worked with high school, middle school and elementary age kids and is now teaching kindergarten.

Rachel Sorber grew up in D.C. and has lived in many other places nationally and internationally. She majored in visual arts and enjoys sculpting and pottery the most. She is teaching art as part of the Beverly Taylor Sorensen program. She does great with behavior, transitions, and teamwork.

Kristen Pace is our reading specialist. She grew up in Lyman and has 3 kids. She graduated from SUU in elementary education. She worked for Iron County District assisting the reading specialist at the elementary school. 

David Chappell introduces new teachers from Wayne High School:

Sam Sorber did an undergraduate and graduate degree at BYU and worked for Exxon Mobil as a geologist. He says his kids have been in various types of schools around the world and he is passionate about education. He lived in Fruita for 4 summers as a grad student and is thrilled to be here. 

Bryson Syme is from Wayne County and participated in the automotive program at our high school. He worked as a mechanic locally and wanted to come back and help students in the trade program. He is teaching a large auto mechanics class among others.

Tina Taft Peterson is doing musical theater and drama. They are currently working on Fiddler on the Roof and it has been very enjoyable. She is passionate about the performing arts and speech and wants to develop these programs further.

The board asks what they can do to support the new teachers and administrators. Some of the teachers express that they have been well supported and are grateful for those who are helping them. Sam says there are lots of things we can do to make it easier for teachers and to improve efficiency.

Superintendent Report

Superintendent Shelley provides a Covid update. We had 5-6 positive cases at our peak but we are currently at 1 student. Numbers have been decreasing across the county as well.

Leadership Conference Review

Curtis says they took a fresh approach to many of the topics and there were great speakers. Randy talks about the speakers and that one of them presented on how each of us impacts others constantly both positively and negatively. He says we need to focus on why we are here, not necessarily reading and writing, but that we are here to help people. He stresses the importance of the SEL program and says we have a great opportunity here to influence people for good. Shawn suggests that we have a work meeting to implement changes he has learned from the sessions. He encourages us to maintain a good relationship with each other despite disagreements.

BUSINESS ITEMS

Vaping Litigation

Joel Wright talks about nicotine addiction and where JUUL came into the market with e-cigarettes. They were successful in bringing in many people who had never smoked and clearly targeted minors. They were partially purchased by Philip Morris. He discusses how many students use e-cigarettes and how they vape. He says that a number of school districts have brought a lawsuit against JUUL and Philip Morris. 

If we join the lawsuit, we pay nothing to join but pay 20% of legal fees if we win. We then have to fill out a questionnaire and expect to get a settlement in the spring or summer next year. 

Curtis makes a motion to join the vaping litigation based on the engagement letter received with the updated fee structure to be 20%. April seconds. All in favor. 

Architect Design New Facilities

Randy says he met with Gene at Hughes Construction and Terrance at Naylor Wentworth Architects. He says that their design fee is 8% and the total construction cost is estimated at $50 million based on what was presented in 2015. Terrance offered to do drawings for $10,000 as a continuation of our existing agreement. Randy says it will be easier to make an argument for our needs if we have something tangible in place. The board agrees with this logic and emphasizes that they want to make sure that we get something useful from this. 

Cory makes a motion to approve Naylor Wentworth’s district facility study and fee. Liz seconds. All in favor. 

Policies

Curtis makes a motion to approve first reading of policies BAB-Board Fiscal Responsibilities, CAG-District Fiscal Responsibilities, CAH-Program Accounting, CBK-Child Nutrition Program Procurement, GBA-Board of Education Hotline, GD-Parent Access to Curriculum. April seconds. All in favor. 

April makes a motion to approve policies DEBA – School Board Retirement, DEBB – Retirement Exemption Eligibility. Liz seconds. All in favor.

New Hires

Cory makes a motion to approve the new hires pending background check. April seconds. All in favor.

New Hires:

Employee Separations

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

CLOSED SESSION

Curtis makes a motion to go into closed session per Utah Code Annotated Section 52-4-205(1)(a) at 8:10 pm.  April seconds. 

Open Meeting resumes at 9:50 pm

Shawn adjourns the meeting at 9:57 pm