001What? I'm here. Yeah. >> Yeah. What I'm saying is crouching focus, you know. You should have smooth. And just so you know, recording. >> So, so you don't want us to say >> please don't. >> By the way, >> they were tied at 17. So, Big Apple invited that I could pull this up and watch the rest >> just when I do that last. used to do that with the judge. hopefully, >> you know, >> and welcome. It's >> good to see you. >> And did you draw the short straw or was it >> Steve asked us? He came as this question. He said, school and I was like watch I my dad wants to work for 10 years and I love watching >> and then my father >> you can watch them. You don't
002even have to leave your home. >> My father-in-law is on Star Valley and I was like oh you enjoy watching him. Well, we appreciate you being >> Are you Are you certain? Yeah. >> Are you ready for this? Test one, two, one, two. testing. One, two. >> I don't want to touch anything. I've got something that's going to get Oh, that's got a red light on it. Have a red light on it. >> Oh, you know what? Hold it down one more time. >> Okay, it's not picking up as well. >> So, I'm going to swap this. Why? Why not? Why not? Looks like >> Thank you. And then I have Mhm. >> No, let's label this one as podium. >> Let's label this one as podium. Thank you so much. They were about 6
003in of inequity. I looked at it when it was This isn't per >> but she stopped. I understand. Could you just take care of >> his dad more than that first day? All right. >> Okay. Isn't that serious? You can't I just heard about Don Bod. >> Excuse me. >> I just barely heard about Don Bod. >> He's gone. >> Yeah. Last last night or >> Last night. Yeah. >> What? What happened? >> He passed away. Oh, I know. What? A heart attack. He had been sick. >> Oh, okay. He lost a lot of weight, but I didn't know. >> I passed away last night. >> And Jenny's mom passed away this morning. Yeah. >> You're going to help me? Um, he had a he's >> Mark is Yeah, he's got four, >> but they're
004all today. It is uh 6:04. Um want to welcome everybody tonight and uh need to call the school board into session. Will you all please join me for the pledge of allegiance? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Time schedules. All righty. >> I We are moving forward to election time. We need to elect a new chair, vice chair, treasurer, and clerk. >> Open meeting. Open meeting. >> I Okay. I called to order. >> Motion. >> Oh, I was told I didn't need to motion. >> He doesn't. He can call it to order in you. I I can if you would like me to. >> We always have. >> I know.
005That's >> I know. But I know he's he's been the little devil on my ears. I know he's the Robert. >> I know he is the I know he's the he's the guy. >> Roberts the chairman can call it to order and and end it. I know he can end it cuz I brought that up one time in his veto. >> Oh, okay. >> You don't need a vote to the journ. >> Okay. Anyway, we are in session. >> Okay. We are good. >> We are in session. >> I'll just let you guys do your work. >> Okay. So, we need to elect a new chair, a vice chair, a treasurer, and a clerk for the next coming year of the 2026 school year. >> So, I nominate Dan to do all those things. >>
006Okay. Every single one of them. >> Every single one of them. >> Surely you just >> Which one you going to do first? >> We're going to start with the chair. >> Uh Mr. uh chairman, I am nominate David Peterson for next year's chairman of the board. >> Second. I have a motion. I have a second. Is there any other nominations? >> What's that look on your face, Dave? Is that discussed? >> Are you hoping for one? >> No. I'm I'm good. I appreciate the vote of confidence, but uh all in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Eyes have it. Motion carries. I need a motion or I need a nominee for the vice chair. Well, that would be um Yeah, I I'll make a motion that uh we nominate Jenny. >> Okay.
007So, I have a motion to uh nominate Jenny Welling as the vice chair. Do I have a second? >> Second that motion. >> I have a second. Any other nominees? >> I would recommend this young lady to my left. Okay. To >> be chair as well. Okay. So, Jessica Arch, do I have a second? Second that. >> I have a second. Okay. We need to go to a vote. So, we need to have a vote. Those in favor of >> Wait, wait, wait, wait. It's close vote. >> It's close vote. >> Yeah, I've got >> Yes. >> You don't want to hang that over people's heads? >> Well, you can do whatever you want. You're the chairman. How we nominated just in >> when there's more than one. Huh? >> Yeah. Let's Let's get all
008this stuff out in the open, shall we? >> Right. >> Well, that's for borrow your >> take care of this one. >> I don't know what pens these are, man. We're using >> same thing either working. >> Yeah, we got him. >> Sorry. >> I'm I'm glad you showed up, Brian. We could have been even. >> You've always been the odd one out. That's That's me. Chairman Chairman Peterson. Uh Jenny Welling. >> Jenny Welling. Okay. All right. So, Jenny Welling has been nominated and has been elected to be the vice chair moving forward 2026. We need a motion for the treasurer. I mean, not a motion, but need a nominee for the treasurer. >> Mr. Chairman, I nominate Dan Wheeler. >> Is that what he's preserve? So, you nominate Caleb. Okay. Do I have a
009second? >> Second. Do I have another name? >> All right. All in favor? >> I So, you're the man. >> Okay. I need a name for the clerk of the chair of the board. >> I nominate uh Dan Weer. >> Okay. I have a motion. Second. Do we have any other nominees? None. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Mr. Wheeler, you are continuing to be the clerk for 2026. >> So, we got all those. >> Nothing changed for the year. >> We like to make it easy here. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Don't have to go to the bank make all those changes. >> All right. I need a motion to adopt tonight's agenda. >> Mr. Chairman, I'll make a motion to adop adopt the agenda for December. >> What the hell is today?
010>> 9th, >> 2025, >> whatever day you >> I have a motion. >> Second. >> I have a second. All in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? Eyes have it. Motion carries. I need a motion to adopt the consent agenda agenda items, minutes, um, and the payment of bills. >> Mr. Chairman, I move that we approve the consent agenda items at this time. >> I have a motion, >> second, and a second. Any discussion? >> Mr. Chairman, I recuse myself from check 13192. >> Okay. Any other discussion? All in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? Eyes have it. Motion carries. Consent agenda items have been approved. Okay. Will we now move on to recognitions? Chairman Peterson, members of the board, I'd invite Principal Summer Moore to come forward and also Amanda Lynford to
011come forward. I about said Amanda. Sorry. Old habits. Yeah. Mr. Chairman and members of the board, this is one of the biggest um opportunities I think and exciting moments in my career to be able to recognize the fabulous Mrs. Lumpford. Um I do know that my brother and sister would be jealous of this opportunity as she taught them. I did not get that opportunity and I am not musically inclined in any way. I will tell you that. So, um, I also had the privilege of being able to write a letter of recommendation for Mrs. Lynford for the Wyoming Music Educators Association Board. And so, I thought it was very fitting tonight to read this to you and show all of a smidgen, I should say, of the tremendous, amazing, incredible work that she has done
012and dedicated her life to as a music teacher at North Elementary. So, it is with profound enthusiasm that I recommend Mrs. is Amanda Lynford for the Wyoming Music Educator Association Teacher of the Year Award. I really feel like they missed out because we have the best. So, um, having already been recognized as the Southwest Wyoming Music Educator Association Music Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Lynford's ex exceptional contributions to music education make her an outstanding candidate for this prestigious statewide honor. As a dedicated music educator at North Evston Elementary for an impressive 38 years, Mrs. Lynford has created a remarkable legacy that spans four generations of students. Throughout her career, she has consistently demonstrated an unwavering commitment to musical excellence while touching the lives of approximately 300 students annually. That's incredible. Mrs. Lynford's pedagogical expertise is
013evident in her meticulous approach to curriculum development and instruction. She has continually refined her teaching methodology through ongoing professional development, ensuring that students from kindergarten through fifth grade receive progressive, highquality music education that builds skills sequentially, year after year. Her impact extends beyond her classroom through her generous mentorship. Mrs. Lynford has successfully guided seven student teachers through their practicum experiences and has mentored over eight beginning teachers during their crucial first three years in the district. Her willingness to share her extensive knowledge helps ensure that excellent music education will continue here in our district well into the future. One of Mrs. Lymphford's most remarkable achievements has been orchestrating over I'll repeat that again 222 grade level musical performances throughout her career. Each production showcases students musical abilities, dancing skills, and public speaking talents at an exceptionally
014high level. What truly sets these performances apart is Mrs. Lynford's special ability to identify and encourage students who might not typically seek the spotlight, giving them opportunities to shine through solo performances that build their confidence and self-esteem. The school's Veterans Day musical performance and breakfast has become a cherished community tradition in Evston, providing a meaningful tribute that community members eagerly anticipate each year, and most of our veterans as well as our staff are moved to tears every year. This event exemplifies Mrs. Lynford's talent for using music to create powerful connections beyond just our school walls. Additionally, Mrs. Lynford master master masterfully integrates musical instruction with classroom content from friendship themes to historical con context, creating crosscurricular learning experiences that enhance student engagement and deepen understanding. Mrs. Amanda Lynford represents the very best of music education
015in Wyoming and I believe our nation. Her decades of excellence, innovation, teaching approaches, and profound impact on students, fellow educators, and the broader school community make her exceptionally deserving of the consideration for the Wyoming Music Educator Association Teacher of the Year. And so with that, I present Amanda Lynford. AM I supposed to say something? >> I just want to say thank you. I was just reflecting on this. 38 years ago, I sat in this very room with uh four elementary school principles. You might remember Doug McCumbi, Robbie Robinson, Ruth Anderson, Bob Addie, um with Superintendent Norm Gaines, fifth from the left, and uh Ron Wolf, our HR director, and uh Doug Moore, Randy Royer, Jeff Frasier, band staff from 1988. And we had a really novel idea to hire one person to teach elementary band
016at all four elementaryaries. And that was me. I was 2 years out of college. Um, and I just I have loved my time here and I appreciate the opportunities. As I look along here, I taught all Janice's kids. I taught all Danny Welling's kids. I taught all your kids. All your kids. I think I have your grandson. >> Great grandson. >> His great-grandson, Mr. Andwin, right this year. Taught all those kids. And as I look around, I just, you know, see friends and people who've just been part of my time here. I came here, I was young. I had hopes and dreams like everybody when they're young. And and uh I was able to live my hopes and dreams here in Evston, Wyoming. I um I met my husband here. I we raised our family
017here uh both Evston High School graduates and uh gone on to finish college and um I just am overcome with the gratitude that I've got to do the thing I wanted to do most in my life for such a long time. So I appreciate your support. I appreciate um this district always um nurturing the whole child and uh really finding the importance in offering um musical training, theater training, uh all just well-rounded individuals um coming out of our schools for such a very long time and just grateful to have been here and appreciate Mrs. Moore's kind words and uh the opportunity to represent our district. So, thank you. >> Thank you. PRETTY AWESOME. VERY. >> OKAY, we will now move on to our school reports. >> Chairman Peterson, members of the board, this is part
018of the thing we do every year is invite our principles to come up and review with you their building level plans as part of our strategic plan, which is districtwide. So, first we'll start with I guess you're going first, right, Rick? Yeah, I'm here. >> Middle school. >> So, when I pass out, Andra is going to take over for me. No, I want to introduce Andra. She's our Dina students and she does double duty. She works at both schools and so we depend on her a lot. She's a big part of this. Um, so as I start this, I want you to realize that what each one of these slides represents is a committee at our school. So every single person in the the building is part of one of these committees and they are
019all part of what this plan is. So I want to start with accountability and achievement. So last year, if you remember, um Davis Middle School was on did was partially met for uh the the accountability with white top and everything. When we came back this year, we were meeting. So that's a good thing. We've improved. So now we're going to continue to improve. So, what you see up here in these graphs, we've started using the STAR test as a measure of where we're at at with our kids. At this point, we did one right at the beginning of the year. We did one at the beginning of second quarter and we're going to take a third one as soon as we get back from Christmas break in January. That'll tell us where we're at. you
020know, so if you look in there, the light blue is English language arts, the dark blue is math, and the red line at the top is our goal. So >> proficient and advanced >> for proficient and advanced. So you know, this is the kids that are proficient advanced. Now, the state accountability also goes into growth and um our um equity kids and all of that. So this is just the proficient and advanced there. So I wanted to show you that. And then we have our HR uh group which is really about maintaining our uh level in um uh high reliability schools. And our goal was this year if you look at those two goals to develop and implement consistent s systems to monitor what we're doing in the classroom. So I go around, we do
021surveys, we do those kind of things and just analyze what is working well in the classroom and what is not. The other thing is in our professional development, we've tried to put in opportunities for teachers to learn new strategies and those kind of things um throughout the year. So we we're continuing to to monitor teachers and find out what it is that they want to learn and then we're providing that for them. We're also bringing in some really high level um outside help uh um now my mind went Mario Costa say it right you guys all make me nervous so sorry anyway he came in spent a day with us really great stuff we got a couple others come in we got uh Shelly uh Geese who is helping us with vocabulary which helps us
022define what are the specific specific vocabulary that we need at in each content. So instead of having 280 words which one group actually had that they were trying to teach a kid, it narrows it down to the ones that are really important for whatever content we're working on so that they can have those as they move from one grade to the other. Okay, next. All right. So, RTI is our response to intervention and we are fortunate enough to have built a win time what I need time or an intervention time during the school day. So, we use that to target students and their individual needs, work on skills they're missing, as well as current standards they're doing in the classroom. Um, we also use the STAR data to identify our most critical needs in reading
023and math. And then we have an extra intervention class in both those areas in all three grade levels to provide extra support that way. Um, and back to me. So, attendance. Uh, one thing we do really well at the school is every single day we take attendance. Our my secretary, uh, um, Mrs. Barker calls every single person's home who is not there that day to find out where they're at, what's going on. That is all recorded into P school, which helps us monitor our the kids that are struggling getting to school and the reasons they're struggling with school. And then we meet together and we determine which kids need more intervention. We'll make uh meetings with parents and communicate with them. If necessary, we communicate with the courts as well to make sure that we're
024getting our kids here when they need to be here. Um, one of the things that we're striving to do with staff is make sure that they're taking that attendance every single day cuz sometimes you get busy, you forget. We're doing a much better job at that. Okay. As far as behaviors go, um we are focusing on trying to increase supervision, especially during more unstructured times like in the cafeteria, in the hallways, um where we get a lot of um inappropriate behaviors happening. Uh we do a good job of having parents or Mr. O and I a call. Talk to parents when there's a concern or a problem. And also try to reward the kids that aren't getting the referrals with demon dollars rewards. They do some fun activities. Uh they go bowling, go to the
025rec center, sometimes a movie, things like that. So try to focus on the behaviors we want to see to reduce the ones we don't. And then um our crisis team, they run a drill every month with a focus on a different scenario or a different response like a lockdown, shelter in place, good old fire drills. Um we try to mix up the times that we do those. We've practiced at lunchtime, during passing times, kind of different times when it's not so easy for kids to know what to do and where to go. So, we're trying to help them just in case cuz we can't plan our real crisis. So, hopefully we'll be prepared if and when they occur. >> And then culture. This is a big deal at our school. We've been trying to get
026everybody to be more like a family. So, our secretary, uh, our secretaries are really great at this, providing activities that occur monthly. Um, this month they're doing a hot chocolate bar. Doug needs to come over there every once in a while to make sure he gets his. It's usually not hot chocolate though, is it? Or is it just coffee? Oh, yeah. I can't talk about the other. So anyway, any anyway, we try to do these kind of things, try to do some different activities instead of just, hey, we're all going to eat together at lunch or whatever. We try to do different things where we might go to a movie, uh, or something that maybe we've never ever tried. So, we're trying to get more input around that and get more people to participate. Davis
027Middle School is a great place to be. I asked dropped every one of you a a little patch there that you can put on your coat or your wall or and remember us. But um thank you so much. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> You guys don't have any questions for him? >> Oh, don't tell them that. >> Any question? Dave's thinking really hard. >> I am. There's many things going on through this head right now and I just need to have filters and them filters need to be adhered to. So, >> all right. >> No, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Now, invite Steve Peterson from Aspen Elementary to come forward. Come on down. What was his name? >> Yeah, I don't think he slept this day yet. All right. Good morning,
028uh, school board and, um, chair. Um, Mr. U Peterson. I'm happy to be here tonight. Principal at Aspen Elementary named Steve Peterson. Um I did share some things with you maybe, but I'm going to show my slides up here as well. So um one of the great things about uh the landscaping in my house is like I can grow the best weeds without even trying. And so that what that gives me every summer is time to pick those things and think about what uh what what I want to use to kind of motivate or drive what we're doing at our school to come up with a theme. And so I was listening to a podcast while I was picking weeds and this is what um I heard. I'm like oh this is perfect for our
029school. Um it's titled Am I a Builder or a Wrecker? I watched them tearing a building down. A gang of men in a busy town. With a ho heave ho and a lusty yell, they swung a beam and a sidewall fell. I asked the four men, "Are these men skilled? The men you'd hire if you had to build?" He gave me a laugh and said, "No, indeed, just common labor is all I need. I can easily wreck in a day or two what builders have taken a year to do." >> And I thought to myself as I went my way, which of these two roles have I tried to play? Am I a builder who works with care, measuring life by the rule and square? Am I shaping my deeds by a well-made plan, patiently
030doing the best I can? Or am I a record who walks the town, content with the labor of tearing down? I've made so we added this to our as at Aspen. I've made my decision. I'll start today. I'll be a builder in every way. So this is really the theme that we have at our school this year to really build each other up in in every way that we can um academically, socially um just as colleagues at a school as well. Um so again our theme is to be a builder today and every day. Um so Aspen students were given the opportunity to memorize this poem and pass it off for the Aspen office staff. So, we had quite a few kids do that and it's really cute. Like the first day after we did
031it, like four kids showed up right early in the morning, even before they went out to recess, ready to um show off how they could uh pass off our our theme for this year. Um so, some of our goals that we have at our school, uh the first for accountability and achievement, we will meet or exceed all state accountability indicators from the WVE. uh accountability system. So those things are growth. All students need to grow at a certain um expectancy. Equity is our very lowest uh um achieving students. We need to make sure that they are growing as well. We are scored on that. Um achievement is overall number of percentage of kids who are proficient at school on the YTOP test. And then the ELP is our English English language learners. So those students
032we have at our school whose first language is something other than English um they need to be uh scoring at a certain percentage as well. And I will review how we did last year on one of the next slides. Uh for grades third through fifth we will have at least 60% of our kids um proficient or advanced in reading, writing, science and math according to spring white top. Our stretch goal is 80%. That's what we would love to get. Our realistic goal is 60%. Uh grades K through two will have at least 60%. Our stretch goal um is 80% of our students a benchmark in reading according to the spring MClass assessment. Grades K through five will have at least 65% of our students at or above the average growth as measured by the MClass
033composite growth score. And the last one is grades 1 through 5th will have at least 8% of our students proficient. on the district ELA math and benchmark assessments. Th So those assessments are the ones that we do as a school district. And um in fact just Monday we got together as a school district. I led the group of second grade teachers. Um so we go through the results of that test that we took the district assessment and um the second grade teachers from each school kind of highlighted some of the things that they had been doing to get the results that they have. That way we can learn from each other and make plans for um improved improvement for the next time that we take the next next test. Um an instructional goal is by
034spring uh 2026 Aspen Elementary will maintain levels um HRS levels 1 through 4 certification. I'm going to talk a little bit more about that in a minute. And then attendance, all students will be in attendance unless they have symptoms of sickness. Behavior, we will continue working on a tier one, tier 2, and tier three supports within the PBS framework. and we will continue to use the Swiss data system collection to help us adjust our efforts and our focus there. Um, so these are the uh the M sorry the white top results. Well, I'll start with MClass results from last year. So MClass is basically our reading uh our main reading test that we give for all kids. Um so the results came out this way. Last year in kindergarten we had 63% of our kids
035were at benchmark. First grade 65% were at benchmark. Second grade 75%, third grade 75, fourth grade 57 and fifth grade 67. Um the interesting thing is on every assessment so like for example fourth grade they're 57% however when they took the white top test they had really great scores and so they don't all always like drive with each other the different tests that we we take. So that's why it's really good for us to look at all of the assessments including the assessments that we give kids like weekly as well as just the simple exit tickets they they um take every single day. Um and then 2425 for uh MC class. Again these are the percentage of students who met or exceeded the average growth. Kindergarten we had 68% of our kids did. first grade
03674, second grade 85, third grade 68, fourth grade 63, and fifth grade 59. Um, these are some of the Y-Top uh highlights. And so the state accountability measures come from only the YTOP test. So these are just some of the uh great things we did. So third grade math, 70% of our kids were proficient or advanced in math. The state average is 58% just to give you kind of a measuring stick. Fourth grade science, 60% of our kids were proficient or advanced. The state average is 52%. Fourth grade math, 63% were proficient or advanced. Uh state average was 57. Fifth grade ELA, uh 63% of our students were either proficient or advanced there, and the state average was 58%. Um so the overall performance report that we have is um for achieve overall our performance
037we met expectations and the indicator for achievement we met that target um when you're looking at the federal um assessment the ESSA score we were above average there um for the growth indicator we met the target there as well um for the federal average federal we were we average um we were average on the federal score equity again those are the uh our lowest achieving kids we met the target for the state but we were above the target for um the federal expectations and the English language learners we met the target there as well and we were average um as came out with the federal scoring so HR RS levels, high reliability schools. I um had the opportunity to talk with Rotary today to kind of talk about high reliability schools and what that is.
038And I I talked about, you know, high reliability organizations are things like the power grid or like a nuclear um like where uh Bart Simpson's dad works at, you know, the the nuclear um I don't know >> the nuclear plant. I've never seen it. I know. So anyway, things where you can't afford to make mistakes because you make mistakes in those kind of things or being like a air traffic controller, those kind of things, they are high reliability organizations that can't afford to fail. And as a district, as me, as teachers in our school, we can't afford um to fail with these kids. So that's what high reliability is all about. Um so the first level is safe, supportive and collaborative. We uh received that we um in 2019. Um HRS level two is effective
039teaching in every classroom. We received that in 2022. Um high reliability schools number three is the guaranteed and viable curriculum. um we received that in 2023 and then 2024 the standards reference reporting. So um as you all can um first of all it was extremely uh difficult, challenging and a really great thing for us to do to um earn all of these designations. But sometimes even harder than initially getting them is really being able to maintain um your school as a high reli reliability school in all of these. And so um every year um we are focusing on a different well for this year at least we are focusing on a different HRS level each month. um putting forth work, gathering the evidence to ensure that we are maintaining the standards and expectations of each
040level. So really that's a lot of the work that we do on our early start Mondays is you know we make sure at the start of every month we review what like HRS level one is what are the indicators we need to be meeting um we discuss what we're going to do to show evidence that we are continuing with those things and then um at the end of the month we show all the evidence and then the next month we get a jump to the next one. So it's ongoing efforts and again this is for uh we started this for accreditation efforts as well as school improvement plans. So we continue to work on being a high reliability school at Aspen Elementary. Um one of the fun things we have coming up is um for
041professional development is we are um a whole bunch of us are going to a conference in Las Vegas called Get Your Teach On. We went to this last year and um this is what they say about it. Presenters share their passion and enthusiasm for education and give their tips, tricks, best practices and teacher secrets to building a successful, engaging and rigorous classroom. You will leave feeling empowered, motivated, and prepared to create a create dynamic lessons that will challenge your students and leave them hungry for more. Um, so we did we went to this last year and it was so good. Our teachers are still like excited about the things that they learned from there. Um, those of you who have been to uh different trainings and uh conferences like this um you don't always get
042a ton out of them, but this one they have really dialed in to like teachers. So there is like all first grade teachers they go to like their first grade stuff every single day and um they get really encouraged about okay what are we going to do to teach reading better? what are we going to do to teach math better and writing and it's just a super fun and fun concert and they have um like concluding they have a a band or like kind of a concert for teachers and I think um they give them a pretty good deal on that just because they know it's teachers are coming and so um like the band members really like say cruel things to all the teachers like, "Hey, we're so excited to perform for you guys."
043And so they had like the Jonas Brothers a couple years ago. They had 98 Degrees last year. So, I don't know if any of you guys know that. Maybe Caleb knows 98 degrees, but um so that was really fun and good. And then I'm trying to think of the people they have this year. But anyway, it's just a really like building up teachers and um it's super super fun and so it's really inspiring. Uh it's reasonably priced like plane tickets to go to Las Vegas are pretty reasonable from here. Um and then one of the best things about it is over Martin Luther King weekend so there's no sub plans. So, um that is when I saw that I was like all in cuz one thing it seems like we use subs enough without like
044leaving on purpose from our school. And so, um anyway, so we're excited about that and that's going to be the Martin Luther King weekend. Um all right, some of the things we do, family involvement, we do donuts, uh with dads. This year we had the high school football team come to sit with the students who whose parents could not make it which is really cool because we know this the students who are getting off the bus to come to school on that day where there's donuts for dads their dad isn't with them right unless he's the bus driver but I don't think that's typically not the case. So that was super fun and um really a great experience. We do the potato harvest second grade. They go and uh plant the potatoes and then when
045they come back in third grade they go and harvest them. We have the Aspen career day um where community members present their professions to the students which is a super fun day that we look forward to um every single year. Um some other things we have the m the Halloween math spectacular. So families join us in the evening for math related Halloween fun. We do a lot of fun math things and that's a really great thing. We also know, you know, we get money from Title One to have events to have parents try to come and we know that um if we feed them have games like they'll come. If we would have said like, okay, come and check out what we're doing um around math standard 3.7 and then sent that home and expected
046people to come to that, we know nobody would come. But the fun things that we do, we get really good turnout. Um the thing that's going on right now, we're sledding into Christmas with reading. And so it's just a schoolwide reading challenge to uh track the minutes that u students are reading. The first um little prize they get uh is a caramel covered like sucker and then they get um like a big candy. The next thing they they get to pick a book and then the ultimate prize is a t-shirt. So we're hoping to get a lot of kids um reading with that and we've given away tons of books and tons of fun prizes and it's really encouraging kids to do the fun reading. uh muffins for moms will be coming up and last
047year and we'll um invite them again. We had the high school uh girls basketball team again they meet the kids who were coming off the bus and whose parents didn't bring them and um come on in and have a muffin with those kids. And so that's been a really good um thing. Um so with that I give credit to Desiree Bat. She um is really the one who like spearheaded that and got that going. We did that last year and it was super successful. So we're going to going to continue this year as well as we already did with the football team. Um so music, uh the K1 concert is going to be in May. We had our veterans concert in November. That was our second and third grade kids. Um and I thought um
048that was really great. Um, I know Veterans Day is a few days. We did it like on the Friday of the Veterans Week because there's so many other veterans things going on, but we wanted to do one as well. So, we did ours on um on that Friday. Uh, the kids um really dedicated to all the the um veterans that were in the building. And um that means a lot to me cuz like one of the things I have my desk and then above it is like my grandpa's called um purple harp and um I was just like really impressed with with the kids. Um I think they sound sounded better. They sang um louder and it was really cool thing. Um then uh our Christmas concert is this Friday. you all are invited to
049attend that. That should be really fun. Um, some of the things that uh we do with music at our our school. For kindergarten, we do unpitched percussion instruments. First grade, we do unpitched percussion instruments as well. Um, second grade, mallet instruments. Third grade, mallet instruments. Fourth grade, we get them going on the recorders. Um, and then fifth grade, ukulele. So, they kind of build up that way. uh science. These are some of the things that we do. Kindergarten and first, interdependent relationships and ecosystems, weather and climate. Second grade, structure of properties of matter, Earth systems and engineering design. Third grade, interdependent relationships and ecos ecosystems, inheritance, and variation of traits. Fourth grade, our main focus is on energy, waves, earth systems, asking questions and developing and using models. Fifth grade, properties of matter, matter and
050energy and organisms and ecosystems, chemical reactions, critical thinking and problem solving. So, um, as you can see, that's pretty impressive lineup for kids, um, for science instruction from year from one year to the next. Uh for PE we work on physical fitness, team building, teamwork, throwing, catching, football, jump rope, soccer, volleyball, cross country skiing. We haven't been able to do that yet. So, um we need some kind of a snow dance from somebody to get that started. >> That's not going to happen. >> You're not going to give a snow dance or we're not going to get snow week. Um and then we work on as well in P social and emotional skills, good sportsmanship and conflict resolution. Uh one thing we do to recognize students is we have Aspen students of the month. Uh
051this year for September the builder in the class award was given to one kid from each classroom. This student helps, supports and builds others up by kind and encouraging words and actions. October we did kind friend in class award. Um this student is nice to everybody. November the never give up award. This student doesn't let hard work hard learning and struggle get in their way of working through hard things. December um responsible student award. That's what we're working on right now. The student dresses for success. The big five for the cold weather and snow. Coat hat, gloves, snow pants and snow boots. Uh January is the math fact master award. So this student works hard and and leads their class in mastering all their grade level math facts. February is amazing attitude award. This student
052always looks on the bright side and stays positive no matter what. Um March we're focused on most achieved reading rockstar award. This student reads a lot every day and has shown amazing progress. Then in April we'll finish out with the great example award. This student is a terrific example at recess and a hallway in every classroom. Um we really focus on a positive culture at our school. We give weekly uh belt winner shout outs. So um teachers um we even have the governor here uh wearing a belt once. I know Superintendent Thomas has done that before. So every um Monday we nominate people in our school for just doing really great things. We nominate um all different staff members and that's a really fun good thing to um recognize greatness in our school. We have
053a compliment jar. We do different staff challenges at our school just to keep things um lively and happy and people um excited to come to work every day. So the last couple things I'm going to talk about is we have at our school we have a a the A-wing which is kindergarten, first and second grade and then we have B-wing which is third, fourth and fifth grade. And I met with those grade level teams um pass them one you know what are they proud of and then the next thing is um what are they excited about? So, kindergarten they talked about they're proud that their students are doing great with their foundational literacy skills. Students are getting tons of repetition using engaging activities. First grade team talked about um just as a team, they're willing
054to do whatever it takes to collaborate and help others help each other guide all first graders to success. Our second grade team, they're proud of their strong youth life, which is reading instruction for kids and consistent annual growth from one year to the next. Um, things that they are excited about. So, in kindergarten, they're excited about very collaborative team. Uh, they talked about Michelle Saxton is an amazing new addition to their kindergarten team. First grade, having a new member. Michelle Likenberg is a new first grade teacher at our school and she provides lots of new idea ideas and amazing teamwork. Second grade, they're excited about um their students success in regrouping using the algorithm as this is a brand new skill. So yeah, kids don't just show up into second grade knowing how to carry
055or borrow those kind of things. And so it's really fun um like for the teachers of second grade to really move the kids onto the next um level of math. Uh so bew again this is our third through fifth grade the things that they're proud of. Third grade they're proud of how our team works together and problem solves. Uh fourth grade students are doing awesome with multiplication and division. Um shout out to Mr. DS our new fourth grade teacher. And I think um uh I think uh board chair Peterson um if you're the last person standing in the audience, you get like a $20 bill from from you perhaps just it just keeps getting greater. So I appreciate it. >> No, that Yeah. Yeah. Last person standing most definitely from a Peterson. >> Yeah. >>
056Okay. So anyway, Mr. Dance, happy to have him here. He's done a really great job. It's nice to have another guy in the school and the kids love him and he does a super great job. Um, fifth grade, they're proud of their teamwork that they have together. So, the things that they are excited about, third grade team is excited to see how high their kids can go. They feel like their students came into third grade like really high and um they're just excited to see how far that they can push them. fourth grade they are excited about starting fraction unit coming up. So um fifth grade they're excited about how the um about the grow students have made so far. So I thought for me this was fun to kind of just check in with
057them and to um really share with you all just kind of the minds of teachers and what they get excited about what they look forward to doing. Um so please um join with us and uh join us in what we're focused on this year. Be a builder today and every day. And I think that's all I have. Thank you. Is there any questions, comments? >> Great. I love your enthusiasm. So yeah, that's >> that's good. Okay. >> Present. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. I expect to see you out there with a hammer. >> Okay. >> No. >> Tearing down or building up? >> You got a build. >> Hey, so before I sit down, um during uh Halloween, we all did dress up as builders. >> All right, there you go.
058>> That's cool. >> All right. Thank you. We will now move on to our discussion items. Mr. Thomas, >> I'm going to stand up for this one. >> Chairman Peterson, members of the board, I did attend Wyoming School Board and it was um a very good uh conference um good attendance from statewide. Mr. Weer did not attend with me unfortunately, but uh best part of the conference was Mr. Mr. Wheeler was recognized. So, if it's okay, since he wasn't there, I'd like to recognize him today. So this is a letter of nomination that he received. It is my honor to nominate Mr. Dan Wheeler for recognition as an all Wyoming school board member. Dan has been a trustees for Una County School District number one governing board since 2020. And during that time, he has
059proven himself to be a dedicated advocate for students, educators, and the Everson community. In his role as trustee, Dan represents UA County School District number one by serving on the Bose UNA Boseis board, region five Boseis board and the Evston recreation board. Beyond his school board responsibility, he continues to strengthen community connections by serving on the Evston Lodging Tax Board and the Wyoming Community Development Development Foundation and he also serves as chairman of uh I believe our Hall of Fame committee. Um, additionally, Dan has extended his service statewide as Yua Countyy's representative on the Wyoming School Board Association Board of Directors. These roles reflect his deep commitment to public service and his ability to work collaboratively for the benefit of students across Wyoming. Dan has also provided steady leadership on critical and sometimes challenging board
060decisions. He has been actively involved in shaping policies on issues such as employee concealed carry, student cell phone use, and UN UCSD number one's participation in the WEA lawsuit. He supported the construction of two new domes at Evston High School, championing the res renovation of the football, soccer, and track complex, and worked to ensure competitive salaries for both certified and support staff. These efforts highlight his balanced vision, keeping student safety, well-being, and opportunities at the forefront while also supporting staff and facilities that strengthen the district. He is also a consistent and engaged participant in board development training, demonstrating his commitment to personal growth as a leader and to the highest standards of schoolboard governance. Dan is a proud product of Wyoming schools, a graduate of Ev Who went a little far. Graduate of Evston High
061School and University of Wyoming. He has remained a lifelong supporter of Red Devil activities and a champion for student success. His roots in Evston combined with his statewide leadership make him uniquely qualified for his this recognition. Equally important are Dan's personal qualities. He and his wife have been married for 50 years and together they have raised three children and enjoy six grandchildren. This strong family foundation has shaped Dan's perspective as a leader who always puts students first. His energy is infectious. His vision is forward thinking and his commitment to Wyoming education is unwavering. Dan is widely regarded as a champion for educators, a timeless supporter of youth and recognized leader in the Everston community. Dan Wheeler exceeds every criteria for selection as an all Wyoming school board member. His service, record leadership, and passion for
062education make him an outstanding candidate for this honor. I'm confident that his continued efforts will leave a lasting impact on students and educators, not only in UA County, but across the entire state of Wyoming. Um, it is with the highest regard and great enthusiasm that I submit this nomination for Mr. Dan Wheeler. So, he was selected as a member of the all Wyoming school board. So, congratulations, Mr. Wheeler. Thank you. It was was kind of interesting because they did not have his all Wyoming plaque and we still haven't received it. But Dan was also recognized as award of distinction uh level two that is for attendance at stake workshops. His uh um the board membership I forgot what we call that but uh Dan is now level two and so he was recognized for that
063too. So I'm going to give him this plaque as if it's also the all school boards plaque. Oh, there. Come on. >> I don't know if there's anyone to take a picture, but we'll come over. Come on down. >> You're the next contestant. Prize is right. >> Thank you. So, congratulations. Thank you very much. >> All right. Three, two, one. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Congrats. >> That is all I had about that. So, I I just want to say thank you for just encumbering, not encumbering, but including everything that we know about Dan in that uh letter that you wrote, you know, that uh I think you summed him up very well. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Yeah. I I just have uh one one comment and I apologize to the board for
064uh me not being able to uh attend the event in Casper. Uh my wife has some uh health issues and I just was not able to leave her alone. Uh but uh just uh thank you very much. >> Thank you. Uh we will now move on to discussion item B. Mr. >> Chairman Peterson, members of the board, the official newspaper will be the Herald and so you will prove that as such at the next board meeting. This is always a heads up for that. >> And that'll come through January approval. Okay. >> Yep. >> All right. Next discussion item, depositories for district funds. I'm >> going to have uh Mr. Williams come up and answer your questions if you have it. Same thing as we identify those district funds. There's also a believe a conflict
065of interest statement in there. Um and those will be approved in January. Or is that what's that? Yeah, you all need to sign that. By the way, >> don't go anywhere, David. >> Um, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, the conflict of interest does not necessarily mean that you have a deposit in a given bank, but that are you on the board of the bank or have a controlling interest in it. >> Any questions? >> No, no questions on that. So, >> standings. Yeah. We will now move on to next discussion item draft audit. >> Okay, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, um as you know, usually this at this time uh we present the audit at least by uh this time in December. However, um the compliance supplement which directs the auditors onto what
066gets audited for the special revenue funds did not come out until about a week and a half ago. Um consequently, uh the state has asked that we uh present a draft audit to you. Um and um I have sent a PDF of of that through Sher to put on the whatever the equivalent of the board docs, whatever we're calling it now assembly. >> Um on that the auditors say that they will have a completed audit by the next board meeting. Um, however, let me kind of quickly quickly um go through if you're wanting to get a quick overview of the year, the audit. Um, I have a little essay called the management's discussion and analysis. Gives you, you know, kind of it gives you a quick overview. the other um pages that you would that
067I would say hey highlight um beginning with uh page about four um you have um two presentations one is if it's a business the other is if it's a government and um you have a statement of net position which is basically a snapshot if you want to take a quick, you know, how is the district doing at the end of the year? This is what it looks like. You also have and then and the balance sheet. Both of those show here's here's what they're doing. Um that gives you the fund balance total. And then the other one is the statement of revenues, expenditures, and changes in net uh changes in fund balance or net position. Those tell you what happened during the year. So, so there's two of those. One as if it's a business,
068one as if as if it's a government. So, that's all I'm going to say uh on on that. Do you have any questions? >> Okay. Not at that time. >> All right. Anybody? >> Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. >> Okay. >> On to the next one. Recalibration update. >> Okay. Um, Mr. Chairman and me members of the board, uh, to kind of give you a quick update on what's happening in recalibration. Um I believe we talked to you about um there was a the October recalibration meeting in which there was direction given by the um by members of the recalibration committee on what would they like to see in terms of legislation. Um, so they're asking the legislative services office to start writing draft legislation. Um I uh went to the school board's association meeting and
069there was a a a day in which we spent all the business managers and we have a a um a model that we think models what the legislation's going to be. and and the there's I guess two good news and one bad news. Okay, the first good news is this um at least I think it is and that is is that going back in times in terms of recalibration they have never um taken the recommendation of the consultants. So most likely whatever recommendations that the consultants have given are going to be modified, disregarded or pushed to the side for some reason. Okay. If we follow trend. Okay. The second um good news is that the legislature has in their recalibration um quite a bit and I mean by quite a bit there could be up
070to $4 million in uh added money and I have that in air quotes um for you to one for the general fund. Now, here's what the bad news is, is that they have taken that $4 million, which can be salary enhancements and things, and they've coupled it at the same time with $4 million of bad things. So, what I mean by that is they've they've made class size adjustments and they want to move class size from um about 16 and 21 to to one regular general fund teacher to 15 K3 and 25 for 4 through 12. And so that's a a big big lift to to make that change across. In essence, what I'm seeing is is that the legislature is saying, "Hey, we're going to provide you money, but you've got to basically do
071it on the backs of those who uh, you know, on the changes that we want you to to to have." So in in essence, what I see is it's a um it's a little bit of shuffling of funds as opposed to adding any new money. So the the um the caution that I'm kind of giving right now is is that it wasn't there's there's no really good path forward um if they implement everything. We are asking um you as members of the board to um join with us. We're um I think Ryan and I have got uh uh we're going to try to meet with our legislators and and uh offer them information about the impact of some of the proposed ideas that they're asking. um you know some of the some of the ideas
072are things like hey we're going to take all your interest income that you invest and and we'll count that. So we as a district have been using that to augment different programs and things. Um some of the the things that they've asked is or they want to do is they want to uh cut the student activity amount that they're putting in to that. So, um to give you kind of a um some numbers, we have about we this last year paid about $1.5 million um for all of the student activity um uh costs. We were funded about $263,000. Okay. So, there's an amount that the state we kind of have to find money in different spots to to put that there. they're wanting to take and and cut it to 980,000 or something close to
073that, which okay, um it's supposed to be costbased and and you know, we're going to go with that. Uh there's a change in the three-year rolling average. They're saying, uh let's just do away with the three-year rolling average. Whatever your your ADM is of the previous year, that's it. And that kind of flows through. So, so you add up, you know, the the all of the bads are offset, they offset all of the goods and things. So um the the month of January will give us opportunity to there is one more recalibration meeting um but we will also have the opportunity hopefully to meet with our legislature and say uh here's what this means. Then in February, beginning around February 1st, uh they will be meeting for a budget uh uh session which will last
074roughly a month and and things. um as well. Um the and I think we we uh uh updated you that the court uh decision that was made by the district court judge has been given a stay which means basically that's put on hold. Then we've also got the Supreme Court decision and we're not expecting that until after the um the legislative season and it could be could be as early as August or April, but it could be as late as whenever. There's a few things on the Supreme Court docket. So, um, so it's really not good news, um, in in as much as I try to say, hey, you know, there's there's there's some money there, but it's it's money with that that require some cuts or changes or or things like that. So, um,
075do you have any questions? >> Uh, when when were you going to try and meet with the legislators? >> It will be in January, most likely. >> Probably that second week of January. >> Second week. second week in January. The third week um of January, there is a last recalibration meeting that will be in uh Cheyenne as opposed to Casper where all the other ones have been held. And at that time we will get the unveiling of whatever they've written and and so we've been able to cost out those the proposals that the direction that they gave to LSO but we'll see if that you know kind of what what happens with that. So it >> thank you. >> Y >> okay that uh concludes our discussion items. We will now move on to public
076comments. If there are any public comments crickets. Okay. No public comments at this time. We will now move on to our action items. Chairman Peterson, member of the board, we do have one um notice of a retirement that uh recommend that you take action on before the end of this school year. We recommend that you approve that notice. >> Denied. Denied. I need a motion to approve the retirement and resignation as discussed in executive session. >> Hesitantly moved. >> I have a motion. >> Second. >> I have a second. Any discussion? Um with a heavy heart. >> Yeah. >> Um all those in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Any opposed? >> I have it. Motion carries. >> You want me to record it that way? >> Yes. >> Yeah, why not? >> And
077we can report it that way >> since we go back forever. >> Okay. feel fitting, Dave, to move on without saying thank you >> very much. So, >> it's more me thanking you. It's been a unbelievable opportunity and like I said, it's been a lifetime uh for me and and this is my my life, this district. So, hope moving forward it'll continue to go as well as it has in the past. So, thank you. >> Thank you. You very much. Uh we need to go on to action item number B. We need to approve the board meeting schedule for 2026 to 2027. >> Mr. Chairman, I move that we approve the board meeting schedule for 2026 and 27. >> I second. Sorry. >> I have a motion. I have a second. Any discussion? >> All
078in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Eyes have it. Motion carries. We'll now move on to action item C. We need to approve the property insurance renewal. Mr. Williams. >> Uh, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, um, you have should have received a memo and from me and another one from Tegler um, on the property insurance. Now, um, it has moved up um, from 367,000 to 413,000. Um I I kind of felt like it was going to do that and uh we put money in into the um into those accounts. So we're we're covered on that. Um some of that will the basically the 13,000 will be reimbursed by the state um which has the um concealed carry amount, >> not the active shooter, but the concealed carry. Um the uh I think
079that this will uh cover us. We did try to get a second uh bid from Liberty Insurance, but they had an issue with the domes and they said um they didn't like the uh you know when the domes when a dome fails they they felt that um the whole thing goes down and so okay whatever. Um and uh so we we did get uh from right insurance on that. So any questions? >> No. Nope. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Just have you pay it. >> So I need a motion to approve the property insurance renewal. >> Mr. Chairman, I'll make the motion to uh approve the property insurance renewal. >> I have a motion. I need a second. >> Second that motion. >> I have a second. Any discussion? All in favor say I.
080I. >> Any opposed. Eyes have it. Motion carries. We will now move on to action item number D. Approve student disciplinary actions as discussed in executive session. >> Motion to approve. >> I have a motion. I'll second. I have a second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Eyes have it. Motion carries. So, I've never done this before, but do I need to say what I need to say now? >> Yeah, Chairman Peterson, what I recommend is that you guys do the um board roundt and then you'll have to modify the agenda to add an executive session with no business after the no business. Yeah. >> Yeah. No business. No further business after the executive session. We'll adjourn from there. >> Ajourn from the executive session. Okay. Right. So I
081guess that's what I'm asking. >> Yes. >> Okay. So we will now go into our board round table and I will start out. We are going to post the position for the superintendent of Uni County School District number one. We will open it internally. We will have it open for 30 days. All applications need to be done by January 9th of 2026. And after we review those applications, we will review them on the 10th, no, the 13th. And so anybody that is interested that qualifies for that position, we will have the uh posting of uh the position by tomorrow, >> probably by Friday. >> By Friday and those who are interested can uh can apply. So we are looking internally first. Any other discussions on the round table at all? >> I have one. >>
082I've got one, too. Go ahead. >> Go ahead. >> No, go ahead. >> Okay. I I just like to uh take this opportunity. I'd be remiss not to talk about Mr. Thomas and I. I mean, I say that personally because we both came to the district about the same time. uh he was a science teacher. I was the assistant principal at the high school and um I don't know if I tell this one or not, but I remember coming in his classroom more than once and he pulled me over one time. He says, "Mr. Bennett, you're terrifying the kids." I said, "How's that?" He says, "You've got the biggest arms I've ever seen." And uh I just thought to myself, you know, this man is aware of things that are going on. And he was
083so good with kids. But we moved from there to him end up being the principal and I was assistant principal for four years. And I always came away from the meetings we had with guidance of where we wanted to go. I think Ryan and I worked together together most positively and we went through the uh years when you guys don't know maybe you do but we went through the years where we had high school graduation and they were a zoo and we turned that around and it was a lot of things that I could tell you about Mr. Thomas, but he's a good friend and and has been very consistent and his family and as they grew up, we got to know each other. But Ryan's just a I didn't I ran interesting. I ran
084into him in the parking lot the other day and I think I kind of convinced him it was time to go. I didn't want him to, but kind of gave him some ideas. But anyway, just in closing, Mr. Thomas has given this district his all and he's hasn't always been perfect in doing so, but he's always thought about the teachers and how he could give them a raise and what benefits he could provide. And I really appreciate him as an individual. He's a close friend. I I hope he lives as long as his mother. She told me the other day she was 93. >> Plays as much golf as she does would be great, too. So, he's got a great retirement in room. I'm going to have to show him a few things to do
085so he can get in trouble with me. Thanks, Ryan. >> No, I'd like to say something, too. I' I've known Ryan for a long time uh since he's come into the district. And since being on the board for the past 8 years, I got to know Ryan at a completely different level. And I want to reiterate what uh um Mr. Bennett just said. For those who don't know Mr. Thomas, being in there for eight years, he puts you guys first. I'm telling you, >> every meeting we were in, every decision he made was for you guys first. And I don't know as if people understand that he did this cuz there's a lot of people that were upset at different times, but I'm I'm telling you, his his heart, his love, his his passion was
086Una County School District number one. and I greatly appreciate him for that, for what he has done for this district and and the time you have put in here. So, thank you again. You're a class act. >> Thank you. >> Absolutely. >> Yep. >> Anything else? >> Thank you very much. >> We can Well, we already approved it though. He had one more year on his contract. We about didn't allow him to go. So, but but we had to. So, anyway, um I need to have a motion to modify the agenda to go into executive session and adjourn from executive session. So, move. >> I have a motion. >> Second motion. >> There was Dave second. >> Dave second. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor say I. >> I. We will adjourn from executive
087session. Thanks everyone. >> I just have one Sherry. >> Thank you. >> Thanks Sherry. >> That one's yours. that has fears.