EVANSTON — The Uinta County School District No. 1 board of trustees met on Tuesday, March 28, to talk about everything from the budget to renovations to strategic planning. They also enjoyed an interlude when Evanston Middle School students gave their World Languages Day presentation.

Student spotlight

The EMS students who went to the University of Wyoming World Languages Day danced, sang and showed their skills for the board. The team came away from the World Languages Day with first place in Spanish Level 1 after competing against more than 270 students from around the state. 

Davis Middle School students also competed, coming in second place, and will give their presentation to the board on April 11. 

Amy Velasquez, the teacher, introduced the class. EMS students focused on El Día de los Muertos this year. El Día de los Muertos is celebrated on Oct. 31 (All Saints Day) and is marked by prayer and remembrance of the dead. That includes offerings on altars for the dead, including flowers, candles and special food. 

Not only did the students dress the part with Mexican finery and spooky skeleton-themed face paint, but they brought examples of offerings for the dead. 

They then sang and danced, including a creepy song in Spanish called “Tumbas, Tumbas, Tumbas” about skeletons rising from their tombs in a monastery’s cemetery. 

After their presentation, the students shared some of their favorite parts of the World Languages Day, including that they had the chance to learn about and see different cultures and languages outside the classroom. They also had a tour of UW. 

Thomas also told the board that UCSD No. 1 students received special commendations from Teton Science School (EMS and DMS students went in March) and the Wyoming High School Activities Association awarded Brandon Sitz with the Good Sport Award. 

Strategic planning

presentations

The maintenance and custodial departments presented their strategic plans. 

Director of Facilities Patrick Rooney said the EMS reconstruction is doing pretty well — except for the roof, which the school district will start getting bids on soon. 

“No one likes to hear the fact that we have a relatively new building with a leaky roof, but we do have to address that, and that will be our highest priority this summer,” Rooney said. 

The school district is planning on opening out the bid for Phase II soon. 

Another roof project for this summer is the Uinta Meadows Elementary roof, which will make the school unusable during the summer. 

The custodial and supply department was the next presentation. In addition to their normal work, the custodians also work with non-school-related events and activities such as MAT Camp, concerts, snow removal and more. 

This brought up the fees UCSD No. 1 charges for using school buildings. Thomas said the fees don’t cover the schools’ expenses (such as custodians and supplies like toilet paper and paper towels). He said the current pricing was put together 10 years ago, but other entities like the city have raised their prices for the Machine Shop and the Roundhouse. 

Thomas also noted that the rec center and city charge the schools for using their facilities, but an agreement allows the rec center and city to use the schools’ facilities for no charge. 

Rooney proposed changing the facility use policy so the schools require a facility use charge (although they would still have the power to waive it). Rooney also suggested adding equipment use to the policy. 

He then said the school district may need to use an online facility scheduling program which would include all programs, including school ones. 

He said there has been an acceleration of demands on the buildings and equipment. 

“Our facilities are in demand almost until 10 o’clock every night,” Thomas said.

Thomas said the school buildings now need to be kept in good condition for at least 50 years, and that although he doesn’t want to price people out, he also doesn’t want the school district to have to fund programs that aren’t its programs. He said most schools have a limited use agreement, and their prices aren’t always accessible for everyone. 

He also said the school district’s facility use policy takes business away from the rec center. 

Thomas finished by saying the board will talk more about this in May or June. 

Assistant superintendent Joe Ingalls next presented the K-5 strategic planning. 

The K-5 reading study group will pilot two programs soon. The schools are also working to make kindergarten screening and registration consistent with Brigance, a standardized screening tool. 

A Wyoming social studies curriculum will be fully implemented by this fall, and the schools are in their second full year of using Engage New York (ENY). Ingalls commented that the company Eureka provides resources and updates as needed for just $700 more than the schools’ copying costs for ENY would be (Thomas said the copies are $35,000 a year). 

The elementary schedule team has voted unanimously to adjust Aspen Elementary back to the schedule the other schools have, going from 9 a.m.-3:40 p.m. 

Ingalls also presented the NWEA test results for the board. He said the PAWS test will be online-based next year, and there will be an interim test in the winter to prepare for the spring. 

Jaraun Dennis also said a recent survey on the 1:1 Chromebook Initiative indicates that most people like the initiative; the biggest concerns are how it is used at home. Dennis also said the district recently began to shut off everything non-education related from midnight until 4 a.m. 

The board had a 20-minute executive session about personnel and student discipline before coming out to talk about the epinephrine policy. 

Brackin asked to add training on recognizing anaphylaxis symptoms. 

As a parent of a child with severe allergies, Thomas shared his concern with the policy 

“I’m just cautious with this,” he said. “Where does the school’s responsibilities stop and the parent’s responsibilities begin with the health of their own child?”

After some discussion, the consensus was that having EpiPens in the schools would be for emergencies only, comparable to the defibrillators around the school district. 

The board unanimously voted to approve the first reading of the policy. 

The board then approved the renewed administrative contracts. Brackin commented she appreciates having actual contracts to approve, although she would like to see the contract approval moved closer to April 11 in future. 

After removing the second planned executive session from the agenda, the board adjourned at 9:28 p.m. after about 3 1/2 hours of meeting.