February 8, 2023 Board Meeting Minutes

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR WAYNE SCHOOL DISTRICT ON WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 8th, 2023 AT 6:15 PM at WAYNE HIGH SCHOOL.

THOSE PRESENT:

Conducting: April Torgerson

ADMINISTRATION

April Torgerson called the meeting to order. 

Pledge of allegiance is recited.

Jim Lamb offers a reverence.

Curtis makes a motion to approve the minutes from 1/11/23.  Liz seconds the motion. All in favor.

PUBLIC HEARING – SCHOOL FEES

FINANCIAL REVIEW

RECOGNITION

April recognizes Cory Anderson for his time on the board.

CITIZEN COMMENTS

No comments

INFORMATION ITEMS

Superintendent Report

Superintendent Shelley shows and explains the design of the high school, touching on the timing of phases and uses of various spaces. He talks about the State Board approval of our grant. He has been told that the project will be on the USBE agenda next week for approval. He talks about the timing for the next round of funding for the grant and expresses hope that the district can receive additional funding in the next round of this grant for an elementary school in Bicknell.

Dave Andersen from Hogan Construction covers the bid numbers for the high school and explains the participation in the bid process. The original bid total is $42 million. He says they are working to trim down the number as it is a few million higher than original estimates. The board will meet in a work session to discuss some of the options for cutting costs.

Board Member Reports

Curtis gives an update on current legislation. He talks about House Bill 215 and potential updates to certain definitions within that bill. Other bills address resource officers in schools, salary supplements, early graduation, return to employment by retired employees, teacher evaluations, curriculum transparency, micro-schools, and home-school students participating in extra-curricular activities.

Shawn asks about vandalism at the middle school. He also asks about the locker room renovation at the middle school. This has been put on hold as we are working on facilities and may not be needed.

Liz talks about policy DFD-Continuing Education Reimbursement. She reviews the requirements for a 3-year commitment and who gets tuition reimbursement, as well as the criteria for getting full reimbursement vs 50%. She cites Sevier School District’s policy for reimbursement for Master’s Degrees. The intent is to help our teachers get steps and lanes and encourage them to stay within the district as opportunities open up.

April explains the public complaint process, as outlined in policy GB, outlining the chain of command in communication through the principal, then Superintendent, then school board. She also brings up the public comment process and suggests it might be due for changes. Having citizens sign up beforehand would be useful so that comments can be shared during the relevant section of the agenda.

BUSINESS ITEMS

Approve Spring Sports Travel

Shawn makes a motion to approve spring sports travel for 2023. Jim seconds. The vote is unanimous. 

County Commissioners – Pool

Roger Brian gives the history of the swimming pool. He says it will be extremely difficult to provide a pool going forward and says that they would like to receive compensation for it. Michael Winn, county attorney, says there is no legal obligation to provide for compensation based on the lease terms but there could be case law. He says the county would like something to compensate them for the expenses put into the pool.

Shawn says that he has spent a lot of time considering this and recognizes that the pool is near the end of its useful life. Shawn asks about grants. Roger agrees that the county needs to follow up on grant options.

Roger asks for $100,000 as seed money for a new pool/recreation center. He estimates replacement would be between $4-10 million. April suggests the use of operation/maintenance funds already budgeted be saved for a new pool. Curtis says that the county and district need to work together. He proposes the district pay $200,000 to the county for the replacement of the pool. Jim asks about the location of a potential new pool; two locations are discussed.

The Superintendent and Tyler are concerned about timing while we are trying to save $2M on the high school and provide matching funds for a potential elementary school construction grant. Liz says it is pre-mature to offer the funds and would like to see a proposal in writing for the board to be able to approve. Jim says that we are interested in getting a pool for the residents but this is not the time to give money to the county as we are trying to save for schools. The board and Roger agree that they want to work as partners towards making a pool a reality because of its benefit to the community.

Curtis makes a motion to work on a proposal with the county for up to $200,000. Shawn seconds. All in favor.

Social Media Lawsuit Participation

Superintendent speaks briefly about the lawsuit that is proposed against social media companies. Heidi Alder says there would be no cost to the district. William Shinoff talks about the social media companies creating applications that target children and the harm that is caused to them through their use. The lawsuit is seeking both non-monetary and monetary compensation.

Ms. Alder says there is no financial risk to district. Mr. Shinoff says they will work with the Attorney General’s case to make sure districts benefit.

Shawn makes a motion to participate in the social media lawsuit. Liz seconds.

Curtis asks what the downside would be for this. Heidi responds that there would be some additional work for the district in completing a questionnaire, but nothing else.

April calls for a vote on the motion. All in favor.

Consideration of a resolution approving the issuance and sale of up to $11,000,000 of lease revenue bonds by the Municipal Building Authority of Wayne School District to finance a portion of a new high school and providing for related matters.

Japheth McGee from Zion’s bank provides explanations for the bids for the lease revenue bonds. Bank of Utah provided the best bid and includes favorable call provisions. The rate can be locked in as soon as we get approval from the State Board.

Curtis makes a motion approving the resolution for issuance and sale of up to $11,000,000 of lease revenue bonds. Liz seconds. All in favor.

Policies

First Reading

Liz opens discussion on policy GC-Community Use of School Facilities. She says that we need to take care of our facilities and makes some recommendations to modify the policy based on examples from other districts. The board discusses various sections of the policy. The board will seek feedback from building administrators. The policy is tabled for further review.

Curtis suggests that the payment in-lieu-of transportation in policy CJAA should be tied to the state rates for travel reimbursement. The policy is tabled for further review.

Second Reading

Randy explains the changes to DHE. April asks about a sick leave donation system. The board discusses how it could work and decide to gather additional information on a sick leave bank.

Full-time employees who retire are eligible for a payout of their sick leave up to 120 days at a rate of $50 if they have been with the district for at least 10 years and $100 if they have been with the district for 15 years or more.

Superintendent brings up the section of policy DHE that says employees will be deducted pay for missed professional development days unless they have an unavoidable family emergency. He gives some examples of why individuals have missed PD and says it can be complicated.  The policy is tabled.

Liz says that the salary schedule policy committee is designed to provide feedback from employees, rather than determine the salary schedules. The board discusses recent changes to the policy.

Tyler requests priorities from the board to know how to address raising salaries. Randy believes we should increase every position comparable to what teachers are going to get from the legislature. The board agrees that the increase will need to be moderate and buildings are the top priority because funds for that purpose are available now from the State and may not be in the future.

Curtis makes a motion to approve second reading of policy DCE with the addition of changes made February 8, 2023. Jim seconds. All in favor.

Third Reading

April asks if we should change CKB to provide the higher rate regardless of whether a district vehicle is available. Randy says we currently mirror the state policy. The board decides not to make changes at the time being.

Curtis makes a motion to approve policy CKB. Jim seconds. All in favor.

New Hires

Liz makes a motion to approve the new hires. Shawn seconds. All in favor.

New hires include:

Employee Separations

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

Separations include:

CLOSED SESSION

Liz makes a motion to go into closed session per Utah Code Annotated Section 52-4-205(1)(a) at 10:43 pm. Curtis seconds.

Open Session resumes at 11:16 pm

Supersede Superintendent Contract

Shawn makes a motion to approve a contract for Superintendent Shelley beginning July 1, 2023 for two years.  Curtis seconds. All in favor.

April adjourns the meeting at 11:17 pm.