EVANSTON — Budget cuts and high costs will drive the school district to increase its facility use fees this year.

The Uinta County School District No. 1 board met on Tuesday, Aug. 8, to discuss the alcohol and controlled substance testing policy, facility use fees and strategic plan. 

Aug. 8 was also the first meeting the school district live-streamed.

Facility use fee increases

Superintendent Ryan Thomas said the school district needs to increase rates for school room and building use, asserting the school district’s rates are too low for its expenses, and the buildings will also have to last a long time as well. Thomas said UCSD No. 1 won’t be able to get a new middle school for 50 years. 

In addition to the actual wear and tear on buildings and equipment, Thomas cited staff expenses — especially overtime and benefits. 

Thomas also said he prefers that school employees work the EHS sound and light systems because systems have been reprogrammed in the past and required a lot of employee time to reset them. However, because only a couple of people have that knowledge, Thomas suggested adding technical support to the auditorium fee. 

He also suggested removing the technical areas with dangerous equipment from general rental (this would not apply to BOCES). 

Another concern was winter snow removal, since it is expensive to get a crew out to clear and maintain the parking lot and road areas on weekends and non-school hours. 

Thomas and the board emphasized that the higher costs will be as close to actual costs as possible, although the school district typically exempts the Rec Center, BOCES and D.A.R.E. from the fees.

Brackin said she supports raising the fees, but she reiterated the need to pin down actual costs so that the school district can’t be accused of levying an extra tax.

Brackin added that she thinks the minimum $50 deposit should be raised, as even the City of Evanston charges $100. Trustee Kay Fackrell said the fee schedule was put together in 2001 and needs to be adjusted for inflation, and trustee David Bennett encouraged Thomas to go forward with the change, saying he hasn’t heard any pushback about it.

“We’ve been subsidizing for a long time, and we just can’t afford to do that,” Brackin said. 

Alcohol testing policy

The board is preparing to take up the reworked alcohol and controlled testing policy again. 

With the old policy, Thomas said, bus drivers who were arrested for DUIs couldn’t even be suspended during adjudication. The updated policy would make testing more frequent albeit still random, decrease the allowed blood alcohol content (BAC) threshold to 0.02 percent and establish a way for the school district to take disciplinary action if tests come back with positive results. 

Thomas said his favorite change is that, if an employee with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) is charged with a criminal offense, the employee can be removed from his or her assigned duties. If the employee cannot do the essential functions of the job, that employee may face disciplinary action such as reassignment or dismissal; if the employee is cleared of charges, the disciplinary action may be reconsidered. 

Brackin said she is pleased that there are some different levels (so not all employees are treated like CDL drivers) and that there is an ADA provision. This provision includes exemptions for when employees are called for testing outside of their regularly scheduled work hours, as well as when employees seek help for substance abuse before discovery.

“I think we have the best drug and alcohol policy around,” district attorney Geoffrey Phillips said, noting that of all of the policies he has seen in Wyoming and Utah, Evanston’s will be the most comprehensive. 

More information about the policy is available on BoardDocs on www.uinta1.com. The board will take first action at the Tuesday, Sept. 5, meeting. 

Strategic plan 

Thomas also talked about the district strategic plan, asking to defer the board goals discussion until the next work session. 

Thomas pointed out the progress of the last year in communication, board participation, professional development and revision of vision, mission and core values statements. He also said that UCSD No. 1 has a new logo — centered around an E representing excellence, Evanston High School and Evanston — which debuted this month. 

The school district’s new official direction is to achieve certification through the Marzano High Reliability Schools^TM. However, Thomas said, this “new” direction is intended to simply continue the school district’s previous goals with clearer indicators of success. 

When trustee Tammy Walker asked how success is measured, Thomas said it is measured mostly through surveys of staff, parents and community members — something like how AdvancED does accreditation. 

Marzano representatives were scheduled to visit Evanston Thursday and Friday, Aug. 17-18, to train UCSD No. 1 administrators how to certify the schools. Thomas said UCSD No. 1 can decide after the visit whether to proceed with the Marzano program.

The school’s second goal is to meet or exceed all state accountability standards by 2018, and the assessment will come back in September so that UCSD No. 1 can address weaknesses, if there are any. 

Thomas said he expects next year’s assessment to come back faster with WY-TOPP testing instead of PAWS. 

He also said he is excited about the new teacher evaluation system, which is based on 10 standard priorities that teachers chose, and attendance and behavior goals are under construction. 

“Regardless of how quality your school is, regardless of how quality your teachers are, if students don’t behave, they’re not going to learn as much as they can,” he said, emphasizing that achievement, instruction, attendance and behavior are goals focused on student learning. 

Summer projects

Thomas gave a quick update on the school district’s summer projects. He said he is pleased with the Evanston Middle School roof and much of the other work there. Red Devil Drive is under some construction, and there will be work on the bus barn parking lot and outside of the bus barn, as well as elevator repair in the school district central office. 

The Uinta Meadows Elementary roof is also underway. Patrick Rooney, departing facilities and maintenance director, said the project is past its due date because the crew has been asked to find and replace water-damaged decking. As of Tuesday’s meeting, the roofers had replaced more than 70 sheets of plywood. 

Closing business

The board withdrew into executive session for 27 minutes, afterward approving resignations discussed in executive session, a leave of absence and three contract approvals. 

Thomas said he did not yet have the contracts ready for the three employees, but he recommended that the board approve the contracts because otherwise the board would not have a chance to approve them until the employees had been working for three weeks already. 

The board finished Tuesday’s business by approving the excess of a van and other miscellaneous items. The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.