EVANSTON — Three newly-elected and two re-elected board members were sworn in during the regular meeting of the Uinta County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees on Tuesday, Dec. 11. One of those members, newly-elected trustee Russell Cox, attended the meeting and took the oath via video conferencing. 

Cox, along with Christa Barker and Caleb Guild, are new faces to the board following the November election, while trustees Cassie Torres and Jenny Welling were re-elected. Previous trustees Kim Bateman, Josh Welling and Kerby Barker all chose not to run for re-election when their terms expired this year. 

After trustees took their oaths, board elections were held for chair, vice chair, treasurer and clerk. Torres was nominated to again serve as chair, while trustee Jami Brackin was also nominated and ultimately prevailed. Dave Bennett was nominated to serve as vice chair, as was Torres; however, Torres declined the nomination and Bennett was elected vice chair. Kay Fackrell was the only nominee for treasurer, while Tammy Walker was the only nominee for clerk; both were elected. 

In other business, trustees discussed the possibility of revising the meeting schedule for the remainder of this school year and next. Currently, the board meets the second Tuesday of each month for a regular meeting with optional work sessions when needed throughout the year. New member Cox has a shifting work schedule that makes it problematic for him to attend on the second Tuesday of each month. 

Superintendent Ryan Thomas shared a potential alternate schedule that would have the meetings moving to various Tuesdays throughout the month instead of always being on the second Tuesday, which would allow Cox to attend. Thomas said the schedule could be approved and posted well in advance so the public would know which week each meeting would be held and some trustees said they would be fine with a shifting schedule.

However, Welling said she feels the meetings should be on a regular schedule so the public is aware of set meeting dates. “This doesn’t just affect board members,” said Welling, “but [it]impacts teachers and staff and the public.” Fackrell agreed, saying the schedule impacts school events, such as concerts, that staff try to plan around the meetings. Welling said it didn’t matter to her which Tuesday the meetings were held on, just that it be consistent from month to month. Torres pointed out that a scheduling change would also require a change in policy, which is an additional consideration. 

The board meeting schedule will be addressed again at the January meeting. 

In other business, Evanston High School Principal Merle Lester provided an update on the high school scheduling changes that are in the works for the 2019-20 school year. Lester said the schedule has been finalized now following months of research and tweaks. The schedule will follow what is known as the “drop-two model,” in which students have eight total classes but only attend six each day except on Fridays. 

Lester said they have completed a dry run of the schedule using last year’s student class requests and the new schedule came back with significantly fewer class conflicts, meaning students will be able to take more of the classes they want without having to choose between two desired or needed classes. 

When asked about lunch and whether EHS would have a closed campus at lunch next year, Lester said that decision has not yet been made. He said he would prefer to have a closed campus for many reasons, including safety and student behavior; however, that would require finding more space for students to eat lunch within the confines of two lunch times. He also said parents at this time appear to be evenly split on their feelings about a closed campus. “I don’t want to make a decision that 90 percent of the people in Evanston don’t want,” he said. 

Thomas provided an update on the ongoing process of adopting a rule to allow approved district staff to carry concealed firearms on district property. The public comment period on the proposed rule has been open since mid-November; however, Thomas said to this point public participation has been poor, with only about five comments received so far. There are two public hearings scheduled to allow citizens to share their thoughts on the proposed rule, with one hearing set for Jan. 15 and the second a week later on Jan. 22.

The board also discussed revising district policy on reporting child abuse. Thomas said the district had actually begun working on revisions prior to the November meeting, during which a parent had spoken to the board about her concerns that some district employees were not adhering to the law about mandated reporting of any suspected abuse. 

Thomas said the old policy was basically a series of steps to be followed when reporting suspected abuse. The new policy would instead rely on the state statute about mandated reporting. Thomas said, “This is not discretionary. You file a report when it’s reported to you.” Thomas said they are still working on the specific language in the policy for a final version to be ready in time to vote on a second reading of the policy at the January meeting, and the board passed the revised policy on first reading. 

The board also adopted policies regarding the use of service animals in schools, a revision to the staff ethics policy and a policy on the use of seclusion and restraint, all of which were up for second reading at this meeting. The service animal policy distinguishes between service animals and therapy or comfort animals; the latter are only permissible if deemed necessary through a student IEP (individualized educaation program). The staff ethics policy revisions and the seclusion and restraint policy were based on policy recommendations from the Wyoming Department of Education and the Wyoming School Board Association and were not related to any issues or problems that have occurred in Evanston schools. 

The board has four meetings planned for January, with the regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 8; public forums regarding the concealed carry rule on Jan. 15 and Jan. 22; and a session scheduled for Jan. 29 to respond to public comments regarding the concealed carry rule.