001Good evening. It's 6:00 and I'd like to call this meeting of the Laramie County School District number one Board of Trustees to order. Please rise and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. My name is Miss Hager. I teach second grade at Baggs Elementary and this is my class reciting the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Before we move on, I just would like to note we have some very special guests in attendance tonight. That was a um second grade class from Baggs Elementary School um with Miss Hager as their teacher and I've been told that perhaps a few of those uh students and Miss Hager are in the
002office tonight. So, kids, would you mind to stand up and just wave or come up front or something so we can recognize you? And Miss Hager as well. >> Hager as well. We just want to give you a round of applause. Yeah, turn so everybody can see you. Stop. And then I have a question for you, kids. Is today somebody's birthday? Well, happy birthday. Thank you, kids, for doing the pledge for all of us and thank you for coming to our meeting tonight. We're super grateful. Is someone else having a birthday today? Oh my goodness. >> [laughter] >> You have a birthday today, too. All right, it's birthdays are way more exciting in second grade than normal. Anyway, thank you, guys, for coming and thanks for doing the pledge. Good job. Dr. Newton, do we
003have any adjustments to tonight's agenda? Madam Chair, there are no adjustments to this evening's agenda. Okay. Madam Chair, I move to adopt the agenda. And I second. We have a motion and a second to adopt tonight's agenda. All in favor, please say I. I. >> I. Opposed? All right, that has been adopted. All right, we will move right into our recognition of staff and students for outstanding achievements. I imagine many of you are here tonight just for this this part of our agenda um but we're going to start off our recognitions with our student of the week recognitions. We have students here being recognized for three different weeks. So, we'll start with uh the week of March 23rd. Tonight we'll be recognizing Shay Prime who is a senior from East High School and she's going
004to be joined by Principal Mark Kirchner and favorite teacher Mr. Woodard. Shay, are you here? There she is. Good evening. I'm Mark Kirchner, principal at East High School, and it's my honor tonight to recognize a very special senior at East High School. Shay Prime um is a positive force for us. She has boundless optimism. She has a love for learning and she's great at encouraging herself and encouraging others and we just are really fortunate to have her as one of our students. She's done a lot of activities over her time at East High School, too many to list here, but I think it is notable that Mr. Semino has described Shay as having reverse senioritis. So, that means the closer we get to graduation, the more focused and locked in she's become. Now, he wrote
005that a few weeks ago, so I don't know if he would take it back, but I doubt it. And trust me, at this point I wish that your case of reverse senioritis was contagious and that a few of your peers would would would catch it. I really do. But we're just so happy to recognize Shay tonight and I'll let her introduce her favorite teacher, Mr. Woodard. So, hi everyone. I'm Shay Prime. Um yeah, honorable mention first to Mr. Semino and the IB program. I'm very passionate about my education, so honorable honorable mention to that, but I want to talk about Mr. Woodard, my favorite teacher. I'm very honored for him to stand up here with me tonight. I think what makes Mr. Woodard so special is I remember the first few weeks of my freshman
006year. He's really passionate about student council and I was really in my own little bubble, my own little shell, but Mr. Woodard is one of those very special teachers that helped me bloom into the person I am today by student council and now to the end of my senior year being in his psychology class. And I think Mr. Woodard exceeds the expectation of what it means to be a teacher and I also think that it's not only me, but I see the impact that he makes on other people and other students and that's why I think he's so special. So, that's why he's my favorite teacher and he's here with me today. That is pretty hard to beat. Um so, I just got off the bus from a trip to Newcastle with the student council.
007Uh so, um if you're seeing me be a little shaky, it's not because I've been on the bus for a few hours, it's because uh I thought long and hard about what I want to say about Shay. Um and every time I do think about Shay, uh it just it gets me. Uh so, my first year here at East High School in Laramie County School District number one, um I was suggested to be a student council leader and as that opportunity showed itself, I said to myself that uh I I just don't know if I have what it takes to be um not just a teacher at a school, but a leader in a community. Uh and one of the first people that I really got to not just interact with, but to um be
008impacted by was Shay. Shay in those first early days was able to be a student that showcased class when I think at a young age of a freshman, it was hard to be like, I'm going to be Miss Positivity and Miss Class and and I know she's going to be the first person to say that she thinks like, oh, I just was in my own little bubble and now I've started to come out, but um I saw who this young lady was. Fast forward to today, the thing that I wanted to really speak about was um that the things that she said that are so nice about me are merely a reflection of what she is. I've done very little uh rather than be a mirror to my students. I say it often um but
009if you want to see a prime example, and I do mean a prime example, um look no further than the young lady that shows what it means to be a member of a community, not an individual on a path, to be a absolute caring, compassionate, and meaningful friend to any and everyone and a reason why teachers show up. Um I wish that I could have a classroom full of Shays, but um I'm just so happy that I got the one. So, thank you, Shay. Shay's parents couldn't be here with us tonight, but they're definitely take a moment and give them a round of applause as well. Next we'll be recognizing the student of the week for the week of April 13th, 2026. And this student is Sophia Carbahal from South High School. She's a senior
010there. Um Sophia will be recognized by Principal Carrie Gentry and favorite teacher Deanna Waters tonight. So, if you all would come up, we'd sure appreciate it. All right, I'm Carrie Gentry, principal at South, and I'm here to celebrate Sophia Carbahal. Um it's not often that an underclassman gets uh nominated for student of the week and she's a junior and that means that she's really shining at South High School. And if I would could um define what she got uh nominated for, it was for service. Um she finds every way possible to add service to South High School, whether it's in her academics, National Honor Society, FCCLA, um with Miss Waters in the athletic department, and I'm going to let her talk a little bit more about her service at South, but um we're just really
011honored to have her as part of the herd. Hello, my name is Sophia. Um at South, I've since I've been born, I've just really been wanting to help and I think that's my number one goal at South is to definitely help our community. Um since my first year I joined FBLA and I started helping with Friday food bags and throwing on events. And then my second year I continued FBLA, went to Nationals as well. And then my third year this year, I joined FCCLA where I also got to help more with the community. And then I also continued my journey with MYC, the Mayor's Youth Council, where I also help with the community. I was not very prepared to talk about this, but I I love giving back and I'm sure most of you might
012know me, but what I really want to go into is this amazing person right here. Although we are honoring my amazing service, I think we need to go in about Miss Waters. The reason I chose her is because she has been such a special person in my life, especially since we both stepped into our new roles at the beginning of this year. Her as the assistant athletic director and me as her assistant, it felt like we were growing and learning together, which created a bond. And I'll always remember her teasing me saying I don't keep you around for your looks, meaning she keeps me around for my smartness. And in a similar way, I keep her around because of her amazing big heart. She is an incredible woman who has profoundly impacted my life and
013others. Whether I was angry or sad, she always had a way of turning things around, always making me laugh when I didn't feel like it, and offering support when I needed it most. I can't imagine navigating this challenging junior year without her constant support and presence. So, I introduce Miss Waters. Sophia, where do I begin? With her parents and her family. Thank you for raising such a kind, generous, positive, honorable young lady. She is not only been so helpful to me in my role, but South as a whole. Whenever I'm like, "Hey, I need this or that." She's the first one and I know it's going to be done and done the right way. Because sometimes I don't do the right way and she's there to show me that right way, which I love. I
014love. So, I cannot follow the words that she said, but we are very blessed to have Sophia not only at South, but in Cheyenne, in our community. And I know Natalia's here, but if there's anybody here for Sophia, feel free to stand up. We would love to celebrate the wonderful young lady you've raised. Our third student of the week recognition tonight is for the week of April 20th, 2026. And this is Liam Escobeda. I am a seventh grader at Carey Junior High School. Liam will be joined up front tonight by Prince with Principal Matt Schlegel and favorite teacher April Meitner. Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Newton, thank you for the opportunity tonight to share another amazing Carey student. And we absolutely have just a truly gifted kiddo with us here today. You know,
015we have a selection process at Carey Junior High where teachers can nominate their students. And every month since about January, Liam's name kept coming up over and over and over again. And the committee was like, "We got to go find out who Liam is." Cuz he's a pretty quiet kid, which I think you'll see, but when he speaks, he speaks with confidence and he knows what he's doing. Just a truly gifted student. His attendance is incredible. His academic coursework is incredible. And I'm here to tell you Liam will have some of the highest WyTOPP scores in the state of Wyoming here in a couple of weeks. Just a truly amazing student. So, I want to turn the microphone over to Liam. Liam, come on over here. I know you've got a few things that you
016want to say, bud. I'm I'm proud that my the artwork that I made in art class was displayed at the public library. Some of my interests outside of school are drawing, coding, and virtual reality. Also, outside of school I like to test updates in the VR game Yeep's Hide and Seek. When I get older, I want to code games. Thank you to my family, my teachers, and my friends. This is Miss Meitner, my favorite teacher. I picked her because she is always she always tries to help. See, y'all, I said I wasn't going to cry when I did this, but I'm not sure I can hold it together. I have been teaching for about 16 years. It's not often that I make a recommendation for a student of the month or week or or anytime.
017And Liam is a very amazing kid. I wrote things because we were learning to write scripts, so we're we're going to follow mine, too. Not upside down. It is my pleasure every day to be Liam's teacher. Not only is he extremely bright with a very high score on his WyTOPP tests, but he has an absolutely advanced, delightful sense of humor that is a little on the dry side. So, until you get to know him, you're like, "Huh?" And then you're like, "Oh my god, he's hilarious." He's very, very funny. He is also an advocate for himself and other students in the building. If he notices an injustice, he will be the first kid to let someone know and to be an advocate for others. In addition to that, he's an advocate for himself. And the
018greatest quality I can share with you about Liam is he's a risk-taker. He took a huge risk today. And he stood in front of all of you and he was terrified. And I am so proud of him because it does not matter what situation comes up, Liam is willing to try it and give his best effort every time, even when he's terrified. So, these are the qualities that make him the student of the week and I am so proud and so grateful to be his teacher. I know his family's here, John and Andrew. We'd like to give you a round of applause. And I also know there's several other people in the audience who were teachers and and former principals. If they'd want to stand at that same point cuz it does take a village
019and appreciate everything everyone's done to get to this point. Thank you. Congratulations to our students and their favorite teachers. Western Vista Federal Credit Union sponsors this award program for our student of the week. So, at this time I would like to invite Laurel Belatti, the chief marketing officer, to come and say a few words. Good evening, everyone. I am so honored to be here. We take turns at Western Vista coming to present these awards and it's always such a delight to be able to come and see these kids and to celebrate them and their accomplishments. It's also extra fun when I know one. And I've [clears throat] known Shay for a long time. The day she said she was not coming back to high school cheerleading, I was pretty upset because my daughter used to
020be her base and she's a really good flyer. But that's okay, she went on to other things. As you heard, she's done lots of different things at East High School and high school is just the best time to explore all the different activities that are available to you. I can speak very confidently about the person that Shay is and about the enthusiasm and energy that she brings into a room. Even when she had braces on, she had the world's best smile. And it's so fun to see your teeth without braces. I haven't seen you, my daughter graduated last year, so they look great. It was worth it, 100%. Um I wanted to tell you, Sophia, that I love that you that you embody service. So, I have often said, and don't tell my boss this,
021but I've often said that if I could volunteer for a living, I would. And to see a young person embodying the volunteer spirit is awesome. So, please keep it up. If you have not put in an application to begin your Wyoming Congressional Award, you should because service is a big component of that award. I'm an advisor for that program as well. So, any young person, look up the Wyoming Congressional Award. It's the highest honor that you can get from that a youth can get from Congress. There are multiple levels. We have an amazing program here in Wyoming and I just felt like I needed to talk about it today because I see people who would be great candidates. You can start at the age of 14 and earn it all the way to the age
022of 24. So, it's not too late. Um And then finally, Liam, you're a Carey brave. And that was so brave. I love a microphone. Like I've never met one that I don't like. But not public speaking is not for everybody. And so, I just want to extend an extra kudos to you for challenging your fears and for speaking in front of all of these people. I bet there's a lot of people in this room who wouldn't want to have to do that. So, keep it up and please continue being an advocate. I love that. I'm a volunteer for Cheyenne Frontier Days and we often say everyone needs a pickup man. And I feel like you are a pickup man. So, keep doing that because that's really awesome. On behalf of Western Vista, it's an honor
023to be here. Thank you so much and congratulations to you all. All right. I hope Mr. Kirchner has not gone too far. No, there he is. >> [laughter] >> Because he's up for the next couple of recognitions. Um next we will be recognizing the East High School 4A state girls basketball championship team. Um so Mr. Kirchner, if you and head coach Eric Westling would come up along with the girls, we would love to celebrate. It really is an honor tonight to to be able to showcase so many great kids from East High School and all the amazing things that they've done. And our East High School girls basketball program is absolutely in that category. I can tell you that uh every time I walk by the gym when these girls are practicing, I think woo.
024They're a lot tougher than I am. And that's absolutely the case. And that great determination carried them through the season and they accomplished some great things though with the guidance of their coaches. So, I'd like to turn it over to coach head coach Eric Westling to tell you a little a little bit about the team and and what they accomplished this year. Thank you, Mr. Kirchner. Uh I would like to um thank our district, uh Dr. Newton, uh school school board members, um our administrative team at East that's second to none. Uh our AD uh Jerry Slavs does a fantastic job for us. Um my coaches Kurt Nelson, Shane Carter, Ashton Horsley, and and Ryan Curran who couldn't be here tonight. Um just it takes a village as we know in education to do great
025things and and uh with that village, I I'd like all the parents to stand up for a moment if they would. Um this group is is one that has so many different elements to it and and is the years as a coach and and they're getting longer now for me that uh will be special to me and and it this group's endeared themselves to me and it I'll never forget uh any one of these girls. Um Cashlyn Hawes, Taylor Shafer, Peyton Hall, uh Matt Hall, Kiersten Auschner, Malea Cruz, Mara Lilliedahl, Nora Westling, Tea Thompson, America Pennell, Emily Phelps, and Raelee Land. Um are just phenom- phenomenal young women. Uh we did win. Uh we'd like to also congratulate uh you know, our crosstown rival, but uh phenomenal for them to be in that state championship
026game with us. I I think it speaks volumes about our community and girls basketball um that the two teams at the top of the state are the ones from Cheyenne. So, uh want to congratulate them, too. But in terms of our season, uh they finished their year as regular season champs, regional champs, uh and state champs. But the thing that I think I I spoke about it at the banquet that I'm probably more uh than anything I'm proud of is uh the state has an academic award for athletes and you have to have a 3.5 or higher uh in order to win this award. Uh standing before you here, every single one of these young women won that academic award. Let's like to celebrate. Um just fantastic resolve. We we had an injury that was
027pretty pretty famous um around our community. Um Peyton was nothing but supportive uh of our group pulling forward and and doing what we needed to do. Whether it was young kids, old kids, they all did what they needed uh to secure a state championship. Uh we also have uh the 4A player of the year in Cash Hawes. Um and the defensive uh East Conference, some of us are biased, we say the best conference, defensive player of the year, Taylor Shafer. Um and so I I just can't thank you enough for for recognizing these young women and everything they've done this year. Uh there's a lot to be proud of in this district, in our school, and particularly in our program. And and they kind of exemplify uh I think what we want young people to
028be all about. So, uh thank you very much. You're going to go in a snake. You can come this way. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. We have some more state champions to recognize. So, at this time I'd like to ask Mr. Kirchner to come back if you didn't go too far and uh speech and debate coach Alan Pino to come forward along with the East High School 4A speech and debate state champions. So, uh speech and debate is a really special activity. If you've never had a chance to see kids compete or if you've never volunteered as a judge, I've never walked into a speech round and and not been amazed by how kids can formulate ideas and then express those ideas. And so it's just one of those
029things that's near and dear to my heart. It may also be one of the longest seasons in all of our activities. I don't think it ever stops. Um they're just there competing all the time, year round, ready to go. And and they're a very dedicated group. When I walked by these guys practicing, I think woo, they're a lot smarter than I am. And that's always the case. But it's a great group of kids. They do a lot of great things and I'll turn it over to coach Alan Pino to talk a little bit more about the team. Um yes, so my name is Alan Pino and I have the great honor of being the head coach this year for our East High team. And these individuals have done some truly spectacular work throughout this year.
030Um to kind of give some context of what they have done, um each one of them probably speaks about 10 minutes on average for per performance. And so, like Mr. Kirchner said, our season is incredibly long. We start in November and it feels like we're going all the way until June when our national tournament is held. Um but our state tournament was back in March. And just to um give you some numbers, the amount of work that these competitors have done is truly amazing because if they practice at least like once a week and then went to tournaments and performed four times, it turns out that among this group that they have spoken for 198 hours. Um for many people that seems insane, but for these individuals, that's pretty common, pretty normal. And if you're
031like, well, what does 198 hours look like? Um that's eight straight days speaking. Um if that's not compelling enough, if we turn into number of school days, they almost spoke for full 30 school days of competition. Um so just their individual feature are impressive, but then as a team, they've continued to raise the bar. So, this year they won the state tournament um convincingly um doubling the second closest team's points um with a score of 116 to about 64 points um continuing the trend of success. This is their fourth year winning the state tournament. So, our seniors this year they haven't known uh a time when the speech and debate team hasn't won state or hasn't won state. Within the last 10 years, they won [snorts] state nine times. And then in the last 30
032years, they add to this legacy winning state a total of 18 times. So, it's truly impressive, but I want to also extend not only a thank you to them, but a thank you to their support systems, their families, friends, and loved ones because clearly coaches have changed over the years, competitors, student bodies have changed, but our community of parents, friends, school boards, principals, that support of wanting to improve public speaking to help the next generation of critical thinkers. This success doesn't come from just one individual. It comes from the entire community. So, we just want to extend a huge thank you to parents, friends, families, everyone that helped make these wonderful individuals the success that they are today. So, thank you. We have one more recognition to celebrate tonight. We spend a lot of time
033recognizing our students for all of the amazing things they do. And sometimes we also get to recognize our employees um and tonight we are excited to announce the LCSD1 Employee Spotlight Award. Um tonight we'll be recognizing Mr. Nicholas Lamp, who's the an associate principal at Central High School. If Mr. Lamp would come forward with Principal Karen Delbridge, we'd sure appreciate it. >> [laughter] >> So, I'm Karen Delbridge, principal at Central, and it is really an honor that I get to speak about our associate principal, Mr. Lamp, at Central High School. Um so, I've known Nick for a really long time. We've worked together for eight years at Central. Uh we were both assistant principals and now in the capacity that he is the associate principal. And he is an exceptionally dedicated and dependable professional who
034really demonstrates a deep commitment not just to um our students, but to our staff and to our families. And he fosters that environment that's really built on trust and respect while also holding all of us to high expectations. Um and so, I love that I'm able to recognize him not just because um of the hard work that he does at Central day in and day out, but also because he is an assistant or an associate principal. And I think that sometimes we don't always speak about the work of the associate principal. And so, Mr. Lamp has really cultivated those positive relationships and those associate principals really look at the vision, work together, uh problem solve, figure out what that plan is, and then they really implement that plan and make it happen. And so, part
035of that team is that he knows how to really communicate and um and there's a deep respect that kids have with him and and so do our community. But more than that, I think that he also takes pride in in the way things are done and having those high expectations. So, with him being the associate, sometimes we'll um we'll say, "You know what? I think we need to put an Apple tag on Mr. Lamp cuz we never can find him half the time." We're like, "Where's Nick? Where's Mr. Lamp?" Well, he's either in an IEP or he's down in the field house or um he's in an a classroom doing observations. And so, Mr. Lamp is always moving and shaking and holding us to a high expectation as a team. Um but that work that
036he does um he implements our vision um at Central and we really spend a lot of time at activities and at athletic events. And so, um I truly understand what a sacrifice that is um with your family. And so, there's times at night that I'll call Mr. Lamp and I'll and we're trying to like problem solve or I'll call and he'll miss my call and he'll call me back within 5 minutes and we're problem solving something and I'm like, "Hey, I hear those boys in the background." Yeah, well, we're getting ready to put them to bed, but they're just wrestling around for a little bit. They can wait a few minutes. And so, um I just appreciate Blakely um being able to just give you to us so freely, but I also know that's a
037real sacrifice as well. Um and as the a team at Central, and I know it's the same way at South and East, but we talk a lot about we spend more time together than than we do with our families a lot of time. And so, um spend a lot of time with Mr. Lamp all these years. Um we've been through um babies, we've been through um marriages, we've been through heartache, we've been through excitement, we've been through graduations with my own kids like um Nick's just part of our family and will always be part of our family. And I think that's what happens when you work together. Um we're a family and that doesn't mean we always get along. And he holds me accountable and sometimes he thinks I'm wound too tight and sometimes I
038think he needs to like tighten up a little bit more. And so, so we we have that kind and that's what you need on a team. And that's exactly why it makes such a great team. And so, um I just appreciate you, Mr. Lamp. I think you're the heartbeat of what we are at Central and I I say it all the time, he's the linchpin. He's the linchpin that holds it together and we just um we just appreciate you at Central. And I'm so glad that I get a chance to honor you. And I know that he brought some groupies in the back. And then I know his mom and dad, Mr. and Mrs. Lamp and and your uncle. And so, if you could just stand to be recognized, we just appreciate the work that
039you've done and given him to us as well. Thank you so much. All right, Mr. Lamp, I'm going to give you a moment. I don't know how you follow after all the students stood up here and were so eloquently spoken. Um but luckily they all left and their parents have left. It's just a very small crowd. So, I'm very fortunate in that, but honestly as Dr. Delbert said, it's a team effort and that's the only reason we can get the things done that we do at Central because of the team that we have. And our staff um as supportive as they are, we have two in the back that probably spend more time at the school than they do at their own house. Uh Mr. Mercer tried to uh get himself sick and hospitalized up
040at state basketball a couple years ago, scared all of us. And then our band director, Mr. Brown, he he is one that definitely spends more time at the school than than any of us and spends more time with their kids. And so, it's because of our staff and our our other administrators that we're able to do the things we do and the support we have from the school board um and just from parents and students. Uh you know, we wouldn't have we wouldn't be where we are if we didn't have the parents and students that we do. And I'm just grateful and thankful for all those and and thankful for my family as Dr. Delbert said, I she was worried that I wasn't going to be here in time. We were at little kids soccer
041and if any of ever watched a four and six-year-old play soccer, I it's amazing that they uh don't break everything and anything on their body when they're running around. And so, trying to get here with that, she's like, "It starts at 6." I'm like, "Don't worry. I'll be here." I know exactly how long I have. I'll make it. And so, just thank you all for everything. And and as Dr. Delbert said, we don't get a we don't get to say thank you and we don't get to honor our our assistant principals as much as we as we think. They're kind of like the linemen of the football team. You know, they they take the hits and they don't get the glory that the quarterback or the running backs do. And so, we just take care
042of our kids and that's what we're here for. So, thank you. So, Mr. Lamp, before you before we shake your hands, I wanted to invite um Laurel back up from Western Vista. She would like to um say something as well. I'll just echo the congratulations and thank you for the work that you do. I am an East mom as you already heard me say, but I will say that the East associate principal is a very important person in my daughter's life. So, I know what that means and how that translates to the work that you do. So, congratulations. We are now moving into the information and reports section of our agenda. We'll start that portion of the agenda with public comments from visitors. Um, a little bit of an announcement that I make before we
043start our public comment, and then we'll begin that. The purpose of the board meeting is to conduct the business of the district publicly. The board sincerely values community input and feedback on school operations and welcomes public comment on both agenda and non-agenda items. Individuals wishing to comment during a board meeting must sign up by 5:45 p.m. on the day of the meeting. Sign up for public comment can be done electronically by accessing the form available on our assembly site under the public comment portion of the meeting agenda. Alternatively, individuals may also contact Arlene Davis in the superintendent's office to be added to the electronic sign-up sheet. We begin by hearing public comment on agenda items followed by public comment on non-agenda items. Please keep in mind, this is a time for board members to listen
044and consider, but not to comment or debate. The board asks that all speakers first state their first and last name, second, keep their comments to 3 minutes or less, and third, recognize that if you wish to discuss matters pertaining to the employment of a district staff member, such as the appointment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, investigation, discipline, or dismissal of an employee, this will not be done during the public comment portion of the meeting. Such comments should be directed to the executive director of human resources, or you may request to meet with the board during executive session. So, tonight we did not have anyone sign up to comment on our agenda items. However, we did have two individuals uh, sign up to speak on non-agenda items. I'm refreshing this just to make sure that nobody signed up
045last minute. Um, our first individual, and I gosh, I I I struggle sometimes with names, but Lisa is it Scotty Jaredy? Did I You please correct me. Thank you, Honorable Smith and members of the board. My name is Lisa Scotty Jaredy. I'm a parent of four children, two of which are at Central, a senior and a freshman. This month a devastating tragedy occurred resulting in the death of a senior of which you're all aware. My heart and prayers are with the family. I'm here to address the district and the school's response to the students and the families. The day after the tragedy was a Friday. My children went to school and learned of the death. I received calls and texts from my children. That evening I had five Central teenagers in my home. They were
046raw. They said the school said nothing to them. They questioned why when there was a car accident in the parking lot, they were pulled into an assembly, but a child dies and no one says anything and sends them home at the end of a school day for a weekend. I understand contagion. It's real and it's devastating. On Friday a student at another school sent a Snapchats si- saying to the effect of, "You have to be a tough MFR to take your own life. Respect to victim's name." These were communications among the kids on Friday showing the very real risk of contagion. The principal did not make announcements to the students or the families on Friday. Neither did she on Saturday or Sunday. I called Central first thing Monday morning and was told grief counselors were
047available at the school on Friday. I asked whether the students knew that. I was told there was not an announcement, but the teachers were instructed to send children who were crying to the counselors. That is not enough. Kids show and don't show emotions in complex ways. I later learned teachers were also instructed to send known friends and children acting differently to the counselors. That is not enough. I have spoken with an assistant principal and a district official on the crisis team. I completely understand not wanting to disclose the reason for the death if that is what the parents wanted, but to say nothing to the children and send them home for a weekend is a failure. I In fact, it goes against published best practices in the state of Wyoming. In February 2023, the State
048Department of Education published a best practice guide, and I brought copies for you. It's called a post-intervention guide. It addresses contagion and preventing it. It addresses what to do if a parent does not authorize disclosure. It provides tasks to do on day one and day two through five. It gives sample announcements to be sent to the students, the families, and the staff on day one. Nowhere in the guide does it say say nothing. It does not say send the kids home for a weekend without saying anything. It does not say provide resources to children and families 3 days later. The principal's announcement came at 8:57 on Monday morning. In it, she provided support and sympathy and resources. She did not provide 988, the current hotline. I ask that the district and the schools agree to
049consider the principles of that post-intervention guide and update their plans so that children are never sent home without acknowledgement of their pain and resources and and resources for them and their families on day one. Thank you. Thank you. We have um, one more individual signed up and it is a student. So, when we have students speak, um, I just call them up by initials instead of sharing their name. So, would HK please come? I have a packet here that has my speech so you can follow along, as well as a petition that I put together with 158 signatures. And it also has my awards from the Safe and Drug Free School program group that I'm involved in at East High School with Caleb Hanson being my I was first introduced introduced to marijuana at the
050age of 12 at Carey Junior High School. I started It What started with marijuana evolved into methamphetamines, psychedelics, and any other substance I could get my hands on, but all before the age of 13. These substances clouded my mind, and I tried to take my own life September 22nd of 2022. From then up until December of 2024, I was suffering from severe addiction at the lowest point of my life, and if it wasn't for Caleb Hanson and the Safe and Drug Free School program, I would not be who I am today. Hi, my name is Hannah Carroll. I'm a junior at East High School, and I'm here to to dis- today to discuss the cancellation of funds to the Safe and Drug Free School program in Laramie County School District Number One. Originally, I was
051in one of Mr. Hanson's first drug and alcohol groups mandatorily because I got caught extremely intoxicated at homecoming my sophomore year. My two options were, I either get suspended with a citation, or I get suspended and get put into a drug and alcohol group. Before this incident, I'd been battling with addiction since I was 12. Caleb had helped me learn that I learn how to be me without substances. Now that I Now I've been clean for 6 months, in other words, since December of 2024. Now I'm in an involuntary group with Lexi Church, Blake Falzone, and Tristan Kauskasky, and we we we advocate for other high schoolers and middle schoolers with addiction. And these groups help highlight the dangers of childhood addiction, lack of awareness of childhood addiction, and min- minimal support with childhood addiction.
052In 2023, there was 200 or 120 overdose casualties among minors in Wyoming. In that excludes suicide, illness, and other addiction or addiction-related deaths. In our um, in our state, 5.9 of children are admitted to using drugs in the past month. This means that almost 8,000 of of our sons, daughters, friends, students, uh, friends and students admit to using drugs and are at risk of previously mentioned tragedies. These issues are nothing to put off. There's no There and there's no such second chance when it comes to death. Scarily, death is not the only side effect that we should fear when it comes to addiction. Addiction greatly harms the rest of the society. Addiction can span across generations, increasing likelihood of violent crimes against communities, and destroying opportunities for those enough to experience it. Since being introduced
053to Since Caleb Hanson being introduced into East High School and Carey Junior High in 2024, as well as other drug counselors across the schools in Wyoming, the casualties over the year has decreased from 90 decreased to 97. That's 23 lives saved by these drug and alcohol counselors. Um Sorry. Drug Drug addiction is something that you cannot fully comprehend unless you've been through it yourself. A vast majority of Wyoming does not experience does not have this experience, but a small 10.5% of Wyoming adults population has a history of drug use disorders. This is a 10.5 percent that children need to discuss with their addiction safely and comfortably. By defunding the safe and drug-free school program, you are not only removing the touching job opportunities for these adults, but reducing the options for students who suffer from
054addiction. With nearly 90% of adults having no experience with this field, taking away specialists like Caleb from from schools making the journey to find ex- to find help very much harder. When addiction When my addiction first started, my or When my addiction was first started, my dad was very aware of my aware of it. We tried to find a therapist, a counselor, or anonymous group to help me. However, because of my age, I had no I had no options. Caleb was my only option. Um the introduction of drug and alcohol counselors into schools helps bridge the gap for the youth as we wait for the dangers of addiction in minors to be publicized. The lack of support for children with addiction is reflected in in the statement from Lexi Church, a fellow member of my
055voluntary drug and alcohol group, where she states, "I was quote, I was struggling to struggling and unable to find help. I don't have insurance and I had no other options for any sort of counseling outside of my friends and family." This experience is common among many middle and high school students that rely on their drug counselors. Not everyone has financial requirements or therapy or therapy outside of choices for minors or Outside of that, choices for minors are very far and few. The safe and drug-free school program gives a school gives students help help specific to their specific situations with no fees or insurance required. The safe and drug-free school program in Laramie County School District Number One has done so much good for students like me. Uh with support and aware- awareness for drug addiction
056with Caleb Hansen's drug counseling, my mind is not clouded by substances anymore and I'm able to see life more optimistically. Now I'm involved in two choirs, I'm on the speech team, and I'm enjoying school like I never could. And that's all because of the safe and drug-free school program. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes the public comments. Um I wanted to share about upcoming meetings. On Monday, May 4th, we will begin with a 5:00 p.m. work session and a 6:00 p.m. regular board meeting. On Wednesday, May 6th at 6:30 p.m., there's a parent advisory meeting here in the boardroom. On May 12th, from 12:00 to 1:00, we will have the board planning meeting with Dr. Newton. That meeting is the one where we have two board members. Um not the executive team sign up and
057and participate. Um All right. Um Trustee Cook or Trustee Hinkle or Trustee Hunt, are you available for that? I'm not. You're not. Trustee Cook? Okay. I'll sit in I can if nobody else. Okay. And Trustee Burden is not able to be here tonight, so we could also check with her if you She can call her office and see if she can make it. Okay. Okay. So we'll see if Trustee Burden would like to attend that and then Trustee Cook, we'll plan on you. Okay. And then on Monday, May 18th at 6:00 p.m., we will have our second regular board meeting for the month of May. And now we will um We'd love to hear any individual board communications or reports if anyone has anything to share. Trustee Ashby. Um I know we did a few
058people spoke out for this the last meeting as well, but I just wanted to give a couple of shout-outs. One to all of our music teachers throughout the district. Last Monday and Tuesday, we had literally hundreds of students go and participate and compete at the regional music festival in Laramie. And they did a fabulous job. All of our high schools participated and so that was very exciting. And then the second half of that is a big shout-out to our transportation crew who I know the original request was something like 18 buses from all three high schools, which is not a real thing. And so I I went over and back three times on Monday and Tuesday and I followed buses each and every time. So I know they were shuttling back and forth and back
059and forth. Got all of our hundreds of children. So big shout-out. Thank you. Trustee Cook? Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. Just a couple things. One, speaking of music, I was at a an elementary music program, so they feed into those high school and it was a real unusual music program at Jessup. Tonya Sieverson is the music teacher and usually the kids are up on a stage and there's soundtrack and everything. Well, this was in a gym, the lights were out, the kids were in casual camping clothes around a pretend fire and they sang camp songs in all a cappella. It was amazing. And so it was a real fun program. So she did an outstanding job. And then secondly, I went to Bain and they did a kickoff for the WyTOPP, the standardized tests that
060I believe might be starting today. So good luck to kids and to teachers that are hoping those kids do great. But the South band was there and I thought that was so cool. So there were like not the whole band, like 12 band members and it was amazing and they played for these kids and the kindergarten, first and second grade lined the halls and third through sixth went ran down the halls to kick off for this good testing. So it was very cool. It's It's a tradition I think that's been done at Bain for a while. But good luck to the everybody that's doing those standardized tests. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? All right. Well, I'll turn it over to Dr. Newton for reports from superintendent and staff. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a
061couple of items to address. So great seeing our young people here this evening. I would add, I'm not sure that we had a chance to announce it, that with the 4A girls state championship also came naming coach Eric Westerling as coach of the year. And so I'm sure he's tuned in to us now. I don't think he's with us live anymore. And so a shout-out to coach for that honor. National School Bus Driver Appreciation Day is on April 28th, 2026 before we'll meet again. And we often talk about how appreciative we are of our drivers, just the way they take care of kids coming and going each day, making sure kids get to school safely. But I I think there's an added dimension to it that we experienced in the last couple of weeks and
062months. And that's in times of crisis and emergency. And in our event that we just experienced late last week, a community event with the um with the evacuation near the Warren Gate Gate One, I reached out to um our director of sports services, Andy Knapp, uh very early in the process and and said we need to start getting Adam Drummond um Excuse me, Adam Greenwood up to speed on where we're at here. And he said the buses were already in route. They were already on the way. So so many different examples we can cite where our folks in transportation are just taking great care of all of us. So shout-out to your favorite bus driver for April 28th appreciation day. We number months ago, we brought forward the health textbooks for adoption and want to
063thank Ms. Teresa Ross who spearheaded that movement. She tells me we had two very supportive comments and appreciate Ms. Ross honoring the process. As I look at Ms. Ross out there, I should also note she helped put together a fabulous art show last week and seeing all the kids artwork in the many different forms was amazing. Incredibly talented kids and there's always adults behind it making sure that we get it put together properly so we can showcase that. A couple of items on the agenda this evening. First one I draw attention to is item F2 for an intercom at Alta Vista. And you you saw this recently as an approval for bid. We're now at the point where we're contracting for services. I should note anecdotally at the the recent, I guess we're calling it
064the wind event. It felt like it probably should have a bigger title than that. We really noticed the limitations and the struggles with some of our communication systems and in particular at Alta Vista, not only was were we not able to get announcements throughout the building, but they were experiencing real high-pitched feedback, kind of screeching at them as they were trying to keep kids calm and safe. Neither which is good. So, it should be noted that we have schools that are still functioning on original equipment and we're cycling through trying to get those replaced and up to speed. And so, that's where we are with Alta Vista. And so, all of them are in process of getting replaced, the the aging out systems and Alta Vista is next in line. The as I mentioned earlier,
065the we've had a number of emergencies recently of all across the spectrum, all all sorts of both emergencies and tragedies and I I want to thank everybody who comes together. We have so many interdependent people and systems across the district, schools, town to coordinate all of those emergency response systems. So, often there's a lot of work happening behind the scenes that people may not be aware of, which is not to say it's not happening. And so, on behalf of the entire district, I want to give everyone who comes to the forefront during those emergencies of all sorts that we have to help in our time of need. And Madam Chair, with that, that is the end of my updates. Thank you, Dr. Newton. We'll move on to the consent agenda now. All agenda items listed
066with the designation of CA are considered to be routine items by the governing body and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion on these items. Any item removed from the consent agenda will be considered in its normal sequence on the agenda. Does any board member request to remove a motion from the consent agenda? All right. Madam Chair, I move to approve all motions listed as consent agenda. I second. I have a motion and a second to approve a motion the consent agenda. All in favor, say I. Opposed? That's been approved. And going now to new business. Madam Chair, I move to grant permission to purchase essential health skills for high school and essential health skills for middle school textbooks, teacher resources, and online access from Goodheart-Willcox GWW Publishing for secondary
067health courses for a price not to exceed $100,000. I second. So, we have a motion and a second to grant permission to purchase the essential health skills textbooks. Do we have any questions or discussion on this item? Okay. All in favor, please say I. I. Opposed? No. Okay. Um that passes. Madam Chair, I move to approve a fee proposal with DC Sound Systems Incorporated DBA National Speaker and Sound in the amount of $356,000 with an additional $56,000 for a total of $412,000 for additional divisions of work and including a 10% contingency for associated governmental fees and requirements for the purchase and installation of of Alta Vista intercom and PA replacement. Second. We have a motion and a second to approve a fee proposal with DC Sound Systems doing business as a National Speaker and Sound.
068Um Do we have any discussion on that or questions? No. All in favor, please say I. I. Opposed? That's been approved. Madam Chair, I move to approve the administrator professional contract on the attached list for the remainder of the 2025-2026 school year and for the 2026-2027 school year and to place them on the appropriate step of the administrator professional salary schedule. Second. We have a motion and a second to approve the administrator professional contract on the attached list. Do we have any discussion on that? All in favor, say I. I. Opposed? All right, and those have been approved as well. The next regular board meeting will be held on Monday, May 4th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. A work session will begin at 5:00 p.m. The business of the district is now done. Do we have
069a motion for executive session? Yes. Madam Chair, I move to go into executive session at this time prior to adjournment for the purpose of possible long-term suspensions, expulsions, personnel, and legal advice. Second. We have a motion to go into executive session at this time. All in favor, say I. Opposed? All right, we will break and go into executive session and