001This is called the order and now holding a meeting of the real and the school district number one board of trustees. Will members of guest please join me in the pledge to our flag. Mr. Secretary, are all our board members present? >> I know chair member uh Taylor Jackson is absent tonight, but everyone else is here. >> Thank you. We uh our agenda we need to have approved the minutes from the April 21st meeting. Is there a motion? So moved Mr. Secretary. >> Second. >> It's probably been seconded. Any discussion? And we can take a vote on this. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Motion passed. Approval of the minutes from the May 5th meeting. Do we have a motion to approve that? >> So moved. >> It's probably been seconded.
002>> Second. >> All right, is there any discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Motion passed. >> Mr. Chair, I'll abstain on that since I wasn't at that meeting. >> Okay, thank you. Additional agenda items. Comments on the agenda items. Do we have any additional items? >> Kathy McConnell, I would love to and I don't know if tonight is the right time or at a future meeting, but come back in our conversation and have a coaching type of meeting. Yeah. >> Okay. You have any additional motion to adopt the agenda? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Yes. >> Aye. >> Good to go? >> Um on April 30th, I had the pleasure to finally chaperone a busload of LBHS and
003Pathfinder high school students to Casper to visit the museum and attend the Wyoming State High School Art Symposium. I've dreamed of dreaming of going to that for a long time and I was able to go this year. It was an absolute joy walking through etc. and see our kids' pieces on display among the finest artwork that our high schools have to offer in the state. Um unfortunately, I don't have a complete list list yet of all the students whose work was displayed or who won blue ribbons, um but I would please like to recognize our high school art teachers for working with our students and inspiring them to such heights. Um Jason Dayton, Zack Eakin, Michael Nelson. Uh thank you for supporting our creative students' creativity and expression. That was really really cool to see.
004I wish I could spend more time there. We got like an hour and a half to walk the floor, but spending the entire probably weekend there is a lot more rewarding, you know, than Um second piece of recognitions, I know most of you are aware of this. Uh those of you working in schools, of course, are aware that April, late April, in particular, is the state wide assessment season in Fremont 1. And any of our high school students are also involved in advanced placement tests this month. There's a lot of recognition due to students, teachers, and staff for everything that you guys do to prepare for the White Oak ACT or the actual challenge of the ACT assessment for 4 or 5. Um so, it's a heavy lift. Just wanted to say all these assessments
005give us really valuable pieces of data in terms of how our students are doing in relation to state standards. In the case of AP exams, how we're doing in college level material while still in high school. So, that is awesome. And I look forward to celebrating our results later this fall when we find out. Thank you, Mr. Harris. Um next thing is public comment, anything not on the agenda. Or we'll we'll pass the gavel on to her. Nobody wants to What was What was you wanting to talk about? >> Um salary schedules for speech therapists. Any other comments or questions? >> What's your name? So, you want to get on the agenda for the next meeting? >> I would like to read my letter to the school board and share my letter today, if that's
006okay. >> And she has questions. What's your name? Okay, so we'll talk about that and salary schedules. Help me, what's your name? >> Jordan Arredondo. >> Good job. Thank you. >> I'd also like to make a comment on salary schedules. >> Your name is what? Okay. >> I'd like to make a comment about coaching day. My name is Justin Weaver. >> Yes, Mr. Chairman, I'd like to speak about the administrative capital scholarship goals one thing. Any others? You like to do? Thank you. Now we will look at the handouts books for West Prairie and comments. Um, at that time we will have that portion of the agenda. Okay? All right, perfect. Um, next thing we have is board member reports. Board member reports. Ann, you got anything good for us? >> I didn't go much.
007I've got Yeah, I've got stuff. >> You want to go first? >> Ann can go first. And then she will like Um, first off, my apologies to all of you. I would call this more of a monologue than a report. Um, so apologies in advance. Um, first want to recommend the student showcase was marvelous last Tuesday. My only complaint is having a board meeting on the same time as so I didn't get to spend much time there. But to our culinary, woodworking, art, um, all of our students there, amazing work and to the teachers who support them. Um, and in my other comments or monologue monologue, just as we head into our meeting tonight, I just wanted to share my perspective as a board member over the past seven days. Um, between emails to me
008as a board member, comments from individuals in the community, um, things on our agenda, I wanted to share that just in the past week, and this week has been more than normal, but I have heard concerns about our funding for music, our funding for robotics, our funding for history day, our funding for speech and debate. I've spoken to four different coaches about funding. I've heard from counselors, social workers, um nurses, administrators, multiple teachers, other non-instructional certified and classified staff, um speech-language pathologists. I'm probably missing someone, but the theme in the comments from all of these people is "You are not giving enough us enough money to support our programs." And I wanted to acknowledge first and foremost, you all are absolutely right. Like we are not In my opinion, we are not paying anyone in
009this district well enough, and we are not supporting any event or activity enough. Um And we can't. Um we cannot give everyone the money that we would like to give you all. Um and so I want to acknowledge first, thank you all for stepping up and advocating for your needs. That takes a lot of bravery. Um and then I also want to share that there are people that no matter what happens tonight, someone is going to leave happy and someone is going to leave unhappy. And I hope that we can acknowledge that this is a district-wide and a state-wide and a nation-wide issue of how to be fund public schools, and that if we move forward with a team mindset, we can advocate for more funding for everyone together. And if we move forward with
010a why did they get funding and we didn't get funding, we will only deteriorate the systems um that support us. And then I wanted to end with um man, that was maybe a while ago now. I took a job as a Nordic ski coach at LVHS, and one of the things I did do to get that job was take a Wyoming government test, um which I barely passed. Thank you, Carol Swedzinski, for giving me some tips. But at the time I remember thinking this is ridiculous. Like why do I need to know who our representatives are or who the state government process is in order to be able to This is totally irrelevant. Um and in thinking about what is happening now, it is essential that members of our district, whether employees or parents or
011students, are informed of the civic process in Wyoming because that is how we fund public schools. And so go back and refresh your memory of that Wyoming government test if you forgot the details like I did when I walked out of that room. And whatever it is that you are asking us for, please also ask your state representatives. Please also ask candidates running for governor. Please also ask whomever else it is um because we only have so much power. Um and we want to fund you all. And I think you're going to hear from us a lot tonight that we can't. So I think I speak for all of us when we would love to fund you all way better So thank you all. >> Mr. Chair >> Yes. >> Let let the record show
012that Trustee Games cheated on the >> I was supported. >> So that >> In advance I wrote down tips on what to say. >> Hey. I think we Mr. Chair, do you have anything to share for us? Okay, let's hear. >> Um well, I'm not sure what any of you went to it or saw today, but the middle school track team was the best of the best and I wasn't personally at the meet, but walking in and out of school, whether it be lunch or after school, I heard a lot of random names from or being called out because they broke records from 2017, 2014. And so I think it's good to notice them and there's a lot of good track athletes coming up in the next few years. And um soccer had two great
013wins last Friday against Pinedale. The girls won 18-0. So, it was kind of brutal, but Um and then the boys won 3-0. And then this week we have senior night against Lyman on Thursday. So, all you should come and support our seniors. And then we have the state next week and the girls were actually third and the boys were actually fourth. So, that's really cool. And then track heads to regionals in Pinedale this coming week. And then they have the state, which I think is in Casper next week. So, a lot of good competition for both those sports. And then lastly, um in the past I think week or two weeks we've been voting for our student body president and vice president. And Violet Nielson and Ethan Kitch got got um elected. So, >> Mr.
014Harris, your maintenance report. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um report mostly is around budgetary items tonight. As Ms. Dance was talking about, there's a lot of challenges there. There's changes in state's funding model for public school districts throughout the state. And there's been growing third world deficits far and wide around the state. We're not unique in that. Um so, we have a lot of large barriers remain although we may be planning on some short term solutions. As uh you'll hear about in the upcoming items on this agenda and in the coming months as we approach the final budget in July. Long term, we still need to address about how to fund the following items and activities we talked about at length. There's been some some press releases and news articles on on that topic recently.
015Um the Bruce Gresly Aquatic Center, I did want to mention we had a very positive productive meeting on the 23rd of April with stakeholders on that topic. Uh members of this board, members of the Lander Recreation Board, the mayor of Lander, Representative Larsen, um the Lander Swim Club, and the of board members and student rep available at the meeting as well. Our pool manager, Mr. Simpson, and Travis and I were all at that meeting talking about a path forward and how to make that a cost effective resource for the community. Um and something that can be sustainable for the long term. So, that's one of the other items. The third and fourth items actually deal with the school resource officers and school nutrition programs, neither of which are in the school funding formula over the
016state of Wyoming. Although, obviously kids need to eat and we need to have safe and secure school buildings. Um those are long term. We don't think we'll have all the answers to those here locally. We're looking for some help from the state on those items. And to that point, on June 24th and 25th, the legislature's select committee on school financial equalization will be meeting in Lander in this very room. And that's an awesome opportunity to for anyone in the public, not necessarily just those who work in schools, but anybody concerned about those or other topics related to school finance, to come and get involved, share ideas or concerns with the committee. Um hopefully all the legislature build some some some solutions to these challenges as they go into the 2020 or 2027 session this coming
017winter. So, I'm going to leave that as my final word. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. >> Presentations. >> Mr. Chair, Lander Valley High School has a couple of recipients actually that are in the Seal of Biliteracy this year. The Spanish teacher, Katie Fashing, is here to talk about that. >> Hello. Hi, thank you so much for I know we have a really busy agenda. Sorry, can you hear me? I can I'll use my teacher voice. Um and so, I know we're really busy and thank you for a couple moments he does to present. Um we have three recipients of the Seal of Biliteracy. Um and then also I kind of I I briefed you last year about Los Sigritos and I will give you an update, um but I'll start with our Seal of Biliteracy. Um
018and so just so we know what the Seal of Biliteracy is, um it's an accolade that is presented by school district or um county office of education to recognize students who are proficient in multiple languages, in this case English and Spanish, um by by the time they graduate um high school. It encourages our students to pursue biliteracy, so being proficient in English speaking, writing, and reading, and also speaking, writing, and reading in Spanish. Um and so the seal is presented to students who have, by the time they graduate high school, have scored an ELA composite of 18 or higher on the ACT. And then um the students who have these these students, these students that I'm presenting tonight, they have scored three or higher on the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam. And it's a
019monster of an exam because there's 21 Spanish-speaking countries, there's six themes, and 36 subthemes. And so they have to be able to write an essay, write an email, have a simulated conversation, have an authentic cultural comparison, all with before lunch. So it's pretty um an amazing task that they And so um we recognize the value of language diversity in preparing our high school students for the 21st century world and workplace. And it's a prestigious award um that recognizes the hard work that these three ladies have put in to being proficient in both English and in Spanish. And so um I would like to present Alondra Osorio, who will be um attending CWC um studying um speech pathology, speech pathology, with also um emphasis in Spanish. So think about all the students that she's going to
020be able to help, bilingual students. Um, and then we also have Sophia Rogers, and she's going to be attending the University of Wyoming and studying art education, um, specifically ceramics. So, that's really exciting as a teacher. Um, and then our other participant who wasn't able to come this evening because she is has like eight jobs, but she's she's teaching some, um, piano lessons is Zoe Samantha, and she's going to the University of Utah where she's going to become a CRN in anesthesiology. So, So, um, I just wanted to present these ladies and their hard work and their efforts because I'm incredibly proud of all of their their achievements. So, thank you. And then I just wanted to brief, I know some of you were here last year when I talked about the Los Tigritos, uh,
021and I just wanted to kind of touch base on that. We continued it again this last year. However, I only had two juniors that, um, were able to go over to Gannett Peak. Uh, because of a schedule conflict, we have so many students that are in AP classes, and the way that Gannett Peak and the first graders and second grade teams that have we worked it out where it just works best to have it during that fifth period. So, I only had two students. Um, but the good news is this coming fall, uh, we have 22 interested students. So, we'll see how the schedules play out and how many kiddos were able to get into the classrooms. Um, and the main reason why we're doing this is to, um, address the Wyoming statute that mandates
022that all schools school districts provide instruction in world languages, um, to kindergarten through second grade. And since we don't have clone technology, um, the best thing that I can do is send out our amazing students like Alo and Sophia and their classmates into Ganado Peak to teach the basics of Spanish. And more more than anything to teach the love of learning a language. So, thank you so much. >> Mr. Harris. If If I could for a moment just to give these guys a clap. My daughter went through the Spanish program here, and when she got to college, she spent a year in Spain going over there without any instruction from at the college level, and just knocked it out of the park in Spain. And that is a testament to what a great job that
023our Spanish teachers are doing with these kids. And I I really appreciate all the work that that the Spanish department and our foreign language folks do with these kids. Thank you. Mr. Harris. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have a second presentation here. Chasity Jacks from Lena Valley Special Olympics is here to talk about their program and their whole situation. >> Hi, I'm Chasity Jacks. For those of you that don't know me, my daughter participates in Special Olympics. >> Special Olympics here. >> And my son, Gage Jackson, is a unified partner. Come over here and show us your medal. Over here. Um I know we talked to you already. There's a lot of funds right now, but it's going to be hard to steal um possibly out of coaches for us, but we just wanted to
024show off our kids a little bit and let them know what they've accomplished this year and see if we can try and get a coach through the school district to help us out. So, um if you want to keep the next slide, our program currently right now we track we have nine uh special olympic athletes, three unified partners, so they can um one of their siblings will be their unified partner. And we right now we're currently doing bowling, snowshoeing, swimming, and track and field. There are options to do um basketball and different things, but right now that's all we can really do with the parents that we have. Um and right here in this picture is Georgia and her unified partner Desiree. They are not here tonight, but this was from bowling in the fall.
025And then, let's see, um you can go to the next slide. We just want to talk about why the unified program matters so much. Um you know, it builds inclusion and friendships within the school district. Um it increases the students' confidence and encourages teamwork in school practice and provides opportunities for students with disabilities to participate in the school activities. Um I know for a fact my son Tate always wanted to help his sister and this year he got to be a part of the 4 by 1 relay that they won at state. And the unified partners are there to help the kids to get where they need to be and to um you know, help the coach out to make sure they're where everyone needs to be. Um the next slide Sorry, I'm making sure
026I'm on the same page here. So, these are program statistics. Right now we have a total of 12 athletes in total um but we do three seasons. Um this year we unfortunately there was not a lot of snow to do snowshoeing. We tried to do that and it ended up being canceled, but um the kids really love to participate in that as well. And every year it seems to grow. We've gotten a few new kids. We had a new kid in this year, Teagan, and Ollie joined us in Cy Creek. And every year it seems to grow a little bit more. So, the next slide. There's Georgia with her driving Violet. She's got her bowling. And you have all of you guys buy over there at state track. Um one of the big reasons we
027would like to be have a school a coach through the school district is the the Wyoming State Special Olympics offers a unified champion grant, which as long as we have a a coach through the school district, they can report back to them. And then they have that we can use this grant that covers equipment, uniforms, travel activities. And so the cost would be next to nothing. We are just asking for a you know, money for a coach so that we have consistency. This year we had a volunteer that unfortunately ended up backing out a few weeks before area and state games. So us as parents had to gather together and try to become a coach and keep our kids going. And so we just realized how important it was to stay with the district if
028that's you know, if we have the opportunity to do that. I understand funds are very tight right now and everybody's asking for a lot of things, but with this unified grant, it covers a lot of that extra cost and we can do we can raise money. So um And then the next slide. The I think we have it ready. But I can go to the next one. Yeah, I want to see the next one. >> Just jumped ahead. >> It's okay. I kind of went through the the need for the dedicated coach. You know, it provides us consistent leadership and communication, better athlete preparation, and reliable support for us families. It's already we have a lot on our plate already, you know, and it's nice to have a coach that can kind of step in
029and be the coach rather than us being the coach, too. Um luckily, our families are very supportive, and we all stepped in together and made it happen, and it was wonderful. We had a great time. Um but long-term, it would be better if we could have a coach through the district if that's possible. And um I don't know if there's any any else you want to say anything, Edie? >> No. >> It is It is It is all of the family, and it's it's life-changing for some of them cuz this is the only thing they get to participate in and have a sense of community and team. And as you can see, she's very proud of her medals. You know, this is the one thing that she gets to do. So, we are just hoping
030that um we could make a little bit of an impact, and if it's possible to go back to the school district and have a coach. So, I really appreciate your guys' time. And can you say thank you? Thank you. >> Okay, personal Thanks, Chair. Uh personal actions a little bit fewer than you would expect. Probably a couple of appointments there. Four resignations and one transfer at Land Middle School. Front office. >> Mr. Chair, I move to approve the personal actions as presented. >> Second. >> All in favor, signify by saying aye. >> Aye. >> Opposed, signify by saying nay. Motion passes. And the next one on our agenda is 2026 school civil salary schedules. Mr. Harris. And you all probably used this. Uh As we're all aware now, there's many facets to this process now,
031primarily the interchange of the state funding model. Uh before we get into any specifics, I wanted to just give a huge thank you to Travis Weaver, our manager. He's done the only fair research for mention of the EA. While the school board or the the Washington Association, WASA. Thanks. And for the other school districts, fairness statute, and also late-breaking and often unclear guidance from the powers that be. Um going into this year, similar to this process as we were formulating thoughts, one of our biggest goals was to ensure that no one experiences a reduction in their take-home pay. That was really important for us. Um when we do staff those things, that's the goal. We believe that Western School District reflects that goal. However, given the restrictions of the instructional silo, um the fact that
032several salary schedules now require an average figure instead of across-the-board percentage increase like it used to do. Um while others don't, there are discrepancies in how much employees' raise will be. So, there's an inherent inequality just because of the way the funding model's been given under this recalibration. Um So, those are choices that Mr. Weaver alluded to earlier. While a number of important while those choices are outside of district control and um difficult to navigate, we wish to avoid and for significant cuts to programs and benefits to students, which I think we would all agree we don't want those things. Reduction in force is kind of like the last option. And significant cuts to programs and benefits to students is not what we want either. Primarily, we want to make sure our legislators meet the
033students. Um so, with that, I will pass to Mr. Weaver for any initial comments before the board has any questions. >> Uh thank you, Chairman Weaver. Board, uh um you should have in front of you um We discovered a couple of this references on a couple of the salary schedules. So, when make the motion to approve, I would say as amended. Um The first one is on the high school activities uh salary schedule. When I copied the the report over into my new budget spreadsheet, the uh formula for the FFA advisor didn't carry over. So, the one that you have in your board package shows a zero amount. That's not correct. So, that's one change. And then, uh same kind of thing formula issue uh with the other position salary schedule. But, the um formula
034was incorrect. And so, three of the four positions on that sheet have been adjusted. So, just just let you know. And just to add to uh Mr. Harris's comments and Mrs. Gann's comments, uh I think we all have to take a step back and understand that a lot of this this year is out of district's control. And so, I mean it's just what we've been dealt. And I think by providing you with uh the necessary tools that you have in front of you on these salary schedules as Mike alluded to, um we've met our goal not to make sure that not one single person in this district goes backwards. Obviously, you're going to hear some things later that people some people aren't pleased with the amount of the increase. I get it. Um but that's
035just what we're dealt with. And in order, I will say for all those in the operations side of things, we're only able to do what we're presenting to you tonight because of some one-time funds which you'll vote on later. And that's just a band-aid to help with the pool and food service and SROs, all that kind of stuff. We're taking Frankly, we're taking a gamble. Um we're hopeful that between us, the community, and legislators, we can do something to right-side the pool in the future. Um and we're also betting on the legislature to right-side some issues with SROs and food service. So, hopefully that takes place in the interim, but as for right now, this is how we're able to do it. So. Any questions? >> You guys probably aren't on camera here. You heard
036this all last, right? I think we have some public comments to share. Before we do that, I I do have a question or maybe a request from from us. Mike and Travis, could you guys, because I don't fully necessarily understand it, and I know members of the public may not understand it. Can you explain the change and I've been very broad strokes that happened at the legislature this year and how that's tied our hands? Uh what that's required us to be differently from last year. >> I can start if you want, and then Mike can fill it. Mr. Chair, uh Mr. Kale, um so as you know, everybody in the room should know by now the the instructional silo was created. So, in years past, we put our numbers into the funding model. It provided
037us a block grant of money for you guys to divvy up to fit the needs of the district. This year, they they created the instructional silo, which uh earmarks a large pot of money for to go to instructional staff only. There's some decisions and opinions still to be made on some of those people, those staff members. However, that pot of money is no longer available for the school board to use as it sees fit. In relation to that, um with the people in that silo required to meet a average salary number that's provided within the new funding model. The salary schedules for the certified staff, the counselors, social workers, and nurses are required to meet that state average for our district. We have done that, uh with each of those three salary schedules, so we
038meet the muster of the law. But, like I said, that limits what we can do on the operational side of things. So, that's kind of it in a nutshell. Uh Mike, if you want to add any more, I'm >> Um I I would just add to what Mr. Bean said that the the legislature's position with the instructional silo is that previous external cost adjustments weren't directed at teacher salaries the way they were majority ultimately. And it. In the past, they didn't give a percentage of the instructional cost adjustment, and districts like ours would split that across salaries, benefits, and the entire spectrum of employees in the district. So, last year's CCA, for example, in 2025 was an 8.5% increase. Some legislators assumed that that was going to be an 8.5% increase in teachers' salaries. And
039when that didn't happen across the board in the state, some were a little more upset and thought that the funds for ECA had been misallocated. Um what we did in Lander was we split that up across all of the employee types and based it on the environment and different things related to compensation, not just salaries. So, that's the that was the conception of the idea of an instructional silo. And the consequences on the reverse side of it, you know, while it's good for certain type teachers, counselors, and school nurses, it does leave a lot of people uh disparate impact in terms of being left out of the state level of increase. >> Mr. Chair, could I add one one more item? So, with part of the requirements of this bill to require us to keep
040a certified teacher salary schedule reflecting steps and lanes. However, unlike years past where we were we got additional money based on our teacher experience and education, we're no longer funded that way. Now, all our salaries are based on that average, which is calculated using the regional cost adjustment that they come up with every year through the legislation. So, >> So, what does that mean for average teachers? Those additional benefits, if you will, that we we used to be able to provide teachers, we we can't anymore? >> We we just don't get funded for any teacher experience or education. >> Okay. >> Which we used to get more based on higher levels of experience and education in the funding model. >> So that decreases our steps. Our Our longevity steps is that correct? >> Doesn't necessarily
041decrease them. We still have >> Some built in but because we're no longer funded that way we don't we felt it necessary to do it. Done with the certified staff. >> So if in that case we wanted to continue offering and so on forth we have to hold that from from the non-certified staff correct? >> Mr. Chair uh Mr. Kale so we can we're very limited in the bill we're very limited on what we can compensate people in that educational salary. We we have to There's two two pieces to it in this. You have to meet the higher of that average teacher salary within the funding model or you cannot increase above 10% if you're already there. So going forward they're trying to limit what districts can increase their salaries for to create so it
042doesn't create inequities from district to district. Okay. >> Increases our longevity for our counselors and other support staff. >> Nurses. >> And nurses but did that come out of the instructional that they gave us the bonus money? >> Mr. Chair Karen so they're part of the average calculation. We have to create hit that average salary mark. But they are not part of the educational silo. They're part of the operational silo. >> And that's only on the operational side. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Mhm. >> Mr. Chair, Mr. Sweeney, one other, I guess not a question, but something that stood out to me in salary negotiations from learning about which model is just the difference between we may decide we need a certain amount of administrators or counselors or whatever to run our district and
043serve our students. And the state may have a different ideal ratio in mind and we get reimbursed based upon how many admin or how many counselors the state thinks we should have, not how many we actually have and that can cause a need to find more funding or more from our operational budget. >> Mr. Chair, Mr. Stans, that's correct. So, we we input our numbers into the budgeting tool and then then it calculates how many FTEs for every position within the funding model. So, it creates a number of five FTE or whatever we may have be above or below that, it's it's all based on priorities of the district. However, another thing that's a change this year in that bill is there's a caveat in the bill that if you're plus or minus 7 and
0441/2 percent in any model categories, we have to justify it. Justify it to who? We I I don't know yet if that's the legislature, if it's WDE, I don't know. >> And Mr. Chair, will we fall outside that 7 and 1/2 percent and if so, in what categories? >> I don't know, Mr. Chair. I don't know all the categories, but there have been a couple already mentioned tonight. >> I think impact is their funding was based on three-year rolling average. Previous school years. And now they changed that to a two-year rolling average. So that that for a district like ours where the the enrollment used to decline year over year. So that's another thing that kind of hit us. The funding model this year additionally that it used to be in a silo with the
045different pieces of it, being having our funding based on two-year rolling average has been great. Also reduces our our number of FTEs and the funding. Okay. Thank you. And then the board speaks on this as well. We can review. Thank you. That's good first. >> Yes, thank you. Um Can I make a public comment letter? I don't know if anyone has wanted to read my letter, but No. >> Good. Set that down. Um Good evening, members of the board and Superintendent Myrick. Again, my name is Jordan Arredondo. Um and this is Gabby Vincent. She's my fellow SLP colleague. I'm a speech language pathologist currently serving the district. I want to begin by expressing my appreciation for the proposed um salary increase for our teachers and staff. However, I am here to express my concerns and
046to highlight a critical oversight that inadvertently devalues the specialized role of SLPs in our district. Under the current proposed salary, the start salary for an SLP is $62,150. It is an increase from last year. However, it's not proportionate to other certified staff. A start starting SLP who is required to hold a specialized master's degree and state and national licensure will earn less than a teacher starting with only a bachelor's degree at $63,387. Teachers with a master's degree will start even higher at $67,900. Um to put this into perspective, I did outline the requirements of a master's in education and a master's in speech pathology from the University of Wyoming. Mike said he would share it with you, but um a master's in education requires roughly 32 credits and can be completed fully online while working
047as a full-time teacher. A master's in speech pathology requires 61 credits, almost double the coursework. It is a full-time year-round clinical program, and an SLP cannot legally practice until that degree is completed. Um in my research of the neighboring Wyoming school districts for the 25-26 or 26-27 school year, I could not find a single school district where an SLP earned less than a bachelor's level or a master's level teacher. Um for example, in Fremont County School District 25, their 26-27 school year salaries, um the SLPs there were at least placed on par with the master's teachers got over 69,000. Uh and then in Park County School District 6 and Sublette County School District 1, SLPs start at over 65,000 and 71,000 respectively, which is significantly higher than their bachelor's rate and their master's teacher rate.
048Um previous salary schedules in our district have also placed SLPs starting salaries higher until this recent proposal. Um by setting our SLP starting salaries below both the bachelor's level teacher and a master's level teacher, we are becoming an outlier in the state of Wyoming. This is not just about a paycheck, but also about the quality of care for our students. Our district already faces a shortage of SLPs. Currently, we're the only two in-person SLPs that are hired by the district, and the rest of our students are served via teletherapist over the computer. Um this year another building team has requested in-person help for a student who is not progressing through virtual services um and we happily agreed and we've helped out and we're now providing services for this student. Parents and students have also expressed
049a preference for in-person interventions. As SLPs we do more than just speech. We assess, we diagnose, we write evaluations and IEPs and we provide specialized instruction all while helping out with duties in the lunchroom and on the playground like our teacher peers. Um I beseech the board to take this all into consideration and adjust SLP salaries to accurately reflect our degree and specialized licensure. Um if we wish to move away from the reliance on these expensive outside contracts and to retain high-quality in-person services for our students our compensation must be at least proportionate to our colleagues with similar or lesser educational requirements. Thank you for your time and consideration. >> Peter Brett and Kelly for the public hearing. Uh and you serve on our virtual schools so you can have your next box of doughnuts.
050>> Okay. Thanks. >> Last name again please I forgot. William Nicholls. >> Um good evening everyone. My name's Peter Nicholls. I'm the seventh grade English teacher at Lander Middle School, the e-sports coach for the district and I currently serve as the Lander Education Association president. I first like to thank the board and the district leadership for the work that's gone into navigating an extraordinarily difficult and uncertain transition in Wyoming school finance. I recognize that building budgets and salary schedules during the implementation of the Senate File 81 has not been easy much like hitting a knuckleball. I also want to recognize and appreciate the district's substantial investment in educator compensation, moving salary base from 62,63,387 represents approximately 21% increase over the current base salary. Importantly, this proposal not only restores purchasing power educators have lost over
051time, but moves compensation to roughly 5% above inflation-adjusted 2017 salary levels. That represents meaningful progress for Fremont 1 educators. I also recognize this proposal likely positions Fremont 1 in alignment with the state's new model average salary expectations under Senate File 81. At the same time, I do want to note one ongoing concern. Even with this proposal, Fremont 1 starting salary remains below nearby districts such as Riverton, despite Lander having both a higher cost of living and a higher cost of labor. I believe it will be important for the district to continue monitoring regional competitiveness as additional salary schedules finalized across the state. Like the Wyoming Education Association, I know Wyoming has a constitutional responsibility to fully fund public education and support students, educators, and communities that make that system work. Uh one addition here, LEA
052would also like to see a change in compensation for unused leave in the district and for the district to explore further four-day school. Overall, I appreciate the district's movement on compensation and view this proposal as a meaningful positive step in the right direction. Thank you all. >> Uh thank you for your time. My name's Jonathan Weaver. I was one of the assistant middle school Nordic ski coaches this past winter. Um I'm coming to you tonight because I have only been paid half the agreed-upon amount that I was hired to coach for. Um the first half was paid seemingly upon an administrative error. Uh effectively, I did not achieve a coaching permit for this season. The reason that I I did not receive a coaching permit was because I was told by district staff during my
053interview that I did not need a coaching permit. The words I was told were, "I'll give you a year to get that." Knowing that with that information, I completed all district requirements, background check, what have you, and began coaching this season. Uh I was informed mid-season that I did in fact need a coaching permit, but that it was acceptable that I would uh achieve the coaching permit post-season. And that it was acceptable that I would finish coaching this season without a permit. I started and completed all requirements, including the Wyoming constitutional exam, the day after my season ended. A day to the a month to the day after state championship, which the team won, it is notable, uh I was informed by the district that I would not be paid the remainder of my coaching
054stipend for the 2027 2026 season. Um I want to be clear that I've emailed back and forth with Mr. Harris, the board, a good amount. I understand the reasons that the board has articulated to me for not paying me my salary, which is that the board does not want to pay penalties to the state for hiring un- uncertified coaches. However, my request is that the board and the district shoulder the responsibility for hiring uncertified coaches and not push that responsibility onto the coaches who have completed their jobs. I've been made aware that I'm not the only coach in this situation, that there are potentially up to six coaches, but I know I think of at least three who are in similar situations. While we all have different reasons for not obtaining that permit, we have
055completed work for the district. And so fundamentally, in my view, what the issue is here is that you have coaches who were hired to do a job as W-2 employees. They did the job they were hired to do, and they are still unpaid. In my opinion, this is a fundamental violation of labor law. If I had been fired mid-season for not having obtained a permit, that would have been acceptable. If I had been told to stop coming to practice until I obtained the permit, that would have been acceptable. If I had been told to not start the season, that would have been acceptable. But it was made clear to me that it was acceptable that I coached the entire season without a coaching permit. I have no professional or personal objection to obtaining permits. I
056think it's good that you have experienced professionals who are teaching, coaching the county's youth. So my ask is very simple. I would ask the board to consider the board and the district's responsibility to accept these penalties from the state, or if they choose to do so, advocate for the state why those penalties should not be paid. And in the meantime, pay the coaches for the work that has been completed. Thank you. I sent each of the board members an email with this approximately a week ago. I'd be happy to discuss the details, I have documentation, timelines, whatnot, that I'm happy to share with anybody. Thank you. Thank you. >> Mr. Chairman, you're on your phone. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Um, tonight you have heard um through your email, hopefully you
057got a chance to read that from administrators in this room sitting with me that who would actually make more money returning to the classroom than remaining in their current positions. That's not a new issue in Fremont County School District number one. Seven years ago I hired a new administrator who literally took a pay cut in order to become an administrator. That should have been a warning sign then. It was. It was discussed, but never resolved. And today that problem has only become more severe. Let me be clear. I am grateful and the raises provided to staff are both deserved and overdue. They absolutely have earned them, but those large increases have also exposed a widening administrative salary structure that was already lagging behind much of Wyoming. In recent years our applicant pools of administrative positions
058have become very small. That should concern every one of us. Leadership matters and districts across Wyoming are competing for the same qualified people. Unfortunately, Fremont County School District number one enters that competition with an already weak administrative salary schedule. I also know there's been discussion about whether our district is overstaffed. That discussion's happened tonight. And in certain areas, according to the state, we may be. But when you balance all of that out, I would argue we are not. When looking at statewide data, that argument simply doesn't hold up. Out of the 38 districts reporting on the WSBA staff report that I shared with you last night, FCSD number one sits almost exactly in the middle for staff to student ratio. I think we are 18th. We have districts with more staff than us and still
059pay administrators significantly more. We have districts with less staff than us that also pay administrators more. In fact, 23 districts statewide are within a one student range of each other in student per pupil ratio or staff pupil ratio. The data shows there is not some massive disparity between our staffing levels and those that we are competing against across the state. In preparing for my written remarks and these comments tonight, I asked AI to analyze that same statewide salary table that your representative sent to night. The analysis was unbiased, factual, and direct. That's why I let EIA do it. FCSD 1 administrative salaries are below market in every category compared to similar Wyoming districts and huge margins. I'm excited. I get to hire teachers and I think I'm going to be able to recruit teachers once
060again. But I've hired three assistant principals already in my tenure and those pools have not been thick, they have not been deep, and they have not been representative of what this district needs and deserves. We deserve better and we have to do something differently if we're going to expect people to leave the classroom and come and join our ranks or move across state to join our ranks or move from another state to join our ranks. Some districts may be able to absorb these teacher increases with small administrative adjustments or reductions in contract days. Our district is not in that position because we have lagged behind for years already. I understand the concern about reserves. I truly do. But tonight this comes down to our priorities. Our reserve accounts currently represent roughly 30% of the fund.
061But I will remind you that prior to 2022, districts were not even legally allowed to carry that amount of reserve. That's twice the amount that districts ever operated with sitting on our reserves and ours are flush. And I'm proud of that. That 15% was raised to 30% for one reason and one reason only. It wasn't because districts weren't able to survive with that level of reserve. It was because the federal government had given us ESSER funds and we didn't know how to spend all the money that was coming in and they were grateful and allowed us to have those funds. Those monies are meant to be returned to the state or however we're supposed to spend them down by 2026. They've extended that now to 2028. I don't know if there's further conversation about that.
062But our time with that kind of extra money is already coming due. Even if the rumored amount needed this year were cut, so I hear that we're already dipping into reserves. I haven't heard a factual amount of what we're dipping into. But let's say the rumored amount that I heard was true and we double that, it would not even be this district wouldn't even put us at a 25% reserve. It'd still be far above what districts historically carried and survived on for the years prior to COVID. Last week at this same board meeting, it was said multiple times that this is about priorities and I agree completely. And I hope that maintaining strong, stable, experienced leadership in this district is one of those priorities. Thank you. >> Mr. Chair, would you allow me to comment?
063>> Sure. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board, Mr. Harris. My name is Maya Murdock-Talman. I'm a social worker at Land O' Lakes High School. Uh haven't met all of you, but I have emailed you, so maybe you've been able to read that. Um I want to start with appreciating um the proposed new schedules including increased annual salary for counselors and social workers in the district. Um especially with not being part of the instructional silo as Mr. Speeny had explained. Uh I do, however, want to ask for a slight increase to that pay proposed pay scale um asking for equal pay to teachers. Uh previously, counselors and social workers have been on equal pay with teachers. And with the new um proposal, understanding the money money is coming from the operational budget, uh
064we've now been dropped down to 997, nearly $1,000 lower than the teacher schedule at the master's level. Uh, counselors and social workers are required to have a master's degree, so that's why that comparison is relevant. Uh, in the past couple weeks in conversations with Mr. Harris, Mr. Sweeney, and uh, Taylor Jacobs, uh, we've heard that uh, this ask is not feasible. Uh, while I understand that there might be possibilities of finding money somewhere. Uh, if that ask of getting to the teachers master's level schedule is is not approved, uh, alternatively, we ask for other forms of compensation, uh, including considering continuing contracts for counselors and social workers, which uh, previously was the case and is no longer, uh, or other uh, financial considerations such as one-time bonus, fewer work days, other benefits. Uh, I just
065want to add the the crucial work that counselors and social workers do in our district, um, in a county with one of the highest suicide rates in a state with one of the highest suicide rates in our country, the daily work that our counselors and social workers do in all of our buildings and especially at the upper levels is literally keeping our students alive daily. And with that, I just want to thank you for your time and hope you consider prioritizing uh, the experience, the necessary requirements of our counselors and social workers and show them appreciation. >> Our our step, Mr. Chair, is our next step to get this on the agenda? That's the first step. >> Okay. Mr. Chair, I just want to highlight I think there were two different topics discussed regarding salary
066salary moving forward of for employees in the next year and then also employees who have not been paid what they were Well, they would be paid in the previous year. And I want to make sure we don't lose those two issues and one movement. And just wanted to share with regard to John LeMond's comment that my personal opinion as what is good leadership look like, we should pay people who have done the work for our district. Um and I would love to see us come up with ways to work with the state or find money to pay the individuals who have already completed work for us. I think it's really bad look for the district to not pay people who have completed work for us. And I think that mistake was on the district's part
067and I will acknowledge that is a district-wide mistake that falls on us as the board for not having clear policies, that falls on head coaches for not holding assistant coaches accountable, that falls on the athletic director for hiring practices. We threw Matt in the deep end. He was brand new. That falls on previous athletic director for not passing off better information on that. I think that is a district-wide mistake that we all hold responsibility and and I think it makes us look really bad to not pay members of our community who have completed work for us. Um and I know money is tight. And yeah, I guess I am also curious if there's more we can do to work with the state and in the past it seems like this same practice has not been
068a problem. And so I'm curious what has changed at the state level, if it is just an administrative change, to my understanding, state statute has not changed. Um it is just how it is being enforced, and I would put a lot of onus on the state, too, for not communicating that they were going to enforce this differently. Um yeah, and so that is my thought on that issue. Uh I also have some thoughts on salaries for teachers moving for- not teachers, for all of our staff moving forward as well, but wanted to tease out that there I see two different issues in what was just discussed, even though they're all about salaries. >> So, so we're still we're going to decide whether we're going to pass this or not. Right? >> Correct. >> So, we
069need a motion or or we don't have a second. >> Uh Mr. Chair, I Uh I move to approve 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 All of the scalar salary schedules as per as amended uh by Mr. Smith um to correct what was written. >> The move, is there a second? >> Yes. >> Thank you. Move is seconded. Is there any discussion? >> Um Mr. Chair, I want to share that well, there's frustration in a lot of pieces of this, but um one piece that stood out to me is just acknowledging that for teachers who've been with our district for a very long time, who were originally placed on the bachelor's plus 90 scale, and 90 credits is enough to, if you apply them in a different way, achieve a master's. Um those teachers
070who've have with our district the longest receive the least compensation as we move to this new model. Um and I hope we can provide feedback to the state and think about how we can continue to support those teachers. I don't think there's very many in our district, but it's the teachers who started with us 25 plus years ago were put on a salary schedule that was grandfathered out and that schedule does not account for achieving a master's degree that was not accounted for those teacher degree. Um achieving a master's degree and despite receiving 90 credits um post bachelor's, they are now lumped in a category of minimal compensation. Um I don't Travis, I don't It sounds like we can't really do anything about that and so I don't know that I have an action item
071moving forward. Um but I would say if there's one hiccup I have with this, it would be for those few teachers who have been with us for decades too are getting some of the smallest increases in pay. Um >> Any other discussion? Sure, Mr. Chair. This may be out of turn, but I think it's important to consider what happens if you do not approve salary schedules. Regardless of how you feel about these particular salary schedules, if we don't have salary schedules in place, that is the major component in our budget building process. So, if Mr. Speaks was spoke about without this information or without some direction in terms of salaries, we can't complete a budget and that's a state statutory requirement. In addition, we don't have the information to give to staff we need to
072apply about whether they will accept their contracts by May 15th. So, that's the reason we moved this meeting up from the original date of May 19th. Not having salary schedules presents major problems for the budgeting process and for staff to consider what they're Mr. Chair >> Mr. Harris, and I should clarify I am ready to approve this, but that was a concern that was not heard tonight in public comment that I wanted to highlight that I think is a major flaw of this system. Um Yeah. In addition to the many other major flaws which you all so eloquently shared. Um I have a lot of notes to share with our reps to make this better in the future. Hopefully. >> Mr. Chair, I have a question for you Mr. Sneed. Um you had made a
073comment when you were talking about the potential for change during the interim um decisions made by the recalibration committee following their meeting in June. Do you foresee actual change potential there in terms of funding allotment and allocation? >> That's a good one. Mr. Chair, Eileen. Um I mean I don't want to guarantee anything, but I definitely there are rumors floating around. I mean there's an article on Cowboy State Daily addressing activities today. Um we've heard amongst our business manager groups and superintendent groups that there's potential changes, but to what extent I I would hate to even fathom a guess. >> And I guess I was just curious if that process could even take place in the interim in terms of actually allocating funding and changing that funding. >> Mr. Chair, uh Eileen I absolutely change
074can happen in the interim, but it won't affect next year's budget. It would be going to affect for the following year. >> Is that the question? So then we ask a question. That's true. That changes the sheriff. If changes actually did take place in in the interim, I mean if something like that happened, I don't see why we couldn't, but I I can't foresee that happening in the interim. I mean it takes the whole legislative body to vote on those changes. Thank you. Mr. Sheriff, um in some of the circles I've been speaking with people in, they've talked about the recognizing there's a need for this thing to be reevaluated at the next session. And there's people that spoke I guess optimistically that it fixed some of the flaws flaws that they weren't able to
075put together this session. So, have you heard similar things as well? Mr. Sheriff, absolutely I have. So, I I guess when I when I look at it that way, yeah, we're getting hefty raises for some folks. Everybody's getting some kind of adjustment for making a little bit more money. And and that's a good thing. That's a good thing for I remember when it went the other way. And I remember when we had wrists. And I remember a lot of stuff back in the day when I was teaching that were real comfortable frozen numerous years for salaries. Those kind of things. So, this one may not be perfect by any means, but we do have the ability to make change for it for next year. And to get some of the mistakes or the things that
076they didn't see the legislative session corrected, fixed, taken care of, getting people on the scale where they're supposed to be at, should be at, getting their credentials, those kind of things. And and and hopefully some some more recognition for the work that our administrators do and and everybody else. Uh, you know, getting past some of those things, I think that's an important thing, too. And of course, um, hopefully our teachers are able to continue to to uh, grow financially and thrive as well. So, so I think there's some good things that are coming our way and and I guess as a board member when I look at where we're sitting at with what we've been handed, um, I think folks have done a heck of a job of putting together um, a pretty dang good
077thing for our district while at the same time realizing that they have their hands tied up for what they have in place. So, I would recommend that this passes. Thank you, Mr. Any further discussion? >> Mr. Chair, um, first of all, I'm sorry for sitting like this, but the sun is in my eyes, so I have to use the beam to block it. So, uh, I am reluctantly uh, in favor of this. And I say reluctantly because it is far from perfect and I think it is less perfect than it would have been had the legislature not gotten involved in the diet. I'm uh, as as someone who really believes in local control and that the best government that is that which is the closest to the people, I think the Wyoming state legislature pulled
078a I think they did a very poor job in stripping away the control that we have as a local district determining what is in the best interest of Uh, our hands are tied. So much of this, uh, that we used to be able to to use to have the plural um, some of the money fungibly that we need. We don't want to add it. So, with that said, we know that this formula, there going to be inequities. I don't like inequities. I don't think anyone likes inequities. It is some degree what the cards are parked out right now. Um as we start, we have a fixed income stream. When you have a fixed income stream, you can't generate additional that's fixed. So, the best you can do is reallocate. We can't reallocate what the legislature
079now said in the silo. That's stuck. So, we we are stuck with a fairly limited budget pool. So, as we look at reallocating those funds, we always have to keep in mind what's best for the kids. And in this case, I think we have come up with an imperfect but decent model for this. Uh I I worry about dipping into reserves. Um if we use reserves, let's say 5% reserves this year for a salary increase, we are essentially committing that 5% in perpetuity. All right? So, if next year the legislature doesn't come through and say, "Well, we'll we'll cover that increase going forward." Now, we've stripped another 5% the year after and another 5% the year after. And if we want to give increases, that 5% will raise. Uh so, pretty soon reserves are no
080longer reserves. Um and we run out of those reserves. Keeping in mind those reserves are set aside for things like Well, if if we get a lawsuit, we have to settle. Uh any of those kinds of unintended things in the district that we need to deal with. That's what those reserves are there for. So, we need to be very careful about eroding our ability to withstand the storm of a flu. Uh the one thing that I would request of the district, if we do pass this, is to take the the words that we've heard here tonight seriously and say, "What should we do differently in the fall?" All right. So, I think we need to have a group together, a working group of maybe a couple board members, Travis, Mike, some of our admin staff,
081to look at it look at our numbers relative to district sizes and say, "What's the best mix?" And if we're going to change that mix, what impact will that have on our students and the services we offer our students? I don't believe tonight is the time to do that. I don't think we have the time, based on that feedback that we got um last night and this morning to make those kinds of adjustments, frankly. And I think it's time for us to to pass the schedules as amended. Further discussion? >> Just I would echo what Mike had added and ask that that working group also carefully consider the commensurate salaries with level of education. And just I really tied that because it seemed like there were several instances of professional credentials or level of education
082that were not commensurate with that. And I would also like to dovetail and step back into Mike's comment about um our unpaid coaches. I would stand with her on that and ask that we revisit this issue as best we can in the future to pay our staff the the salaries that they are due for work that they completed because um there's just some more information that I've been made aware of and I love to be able to not tonight, but at some point in the >> discussion >> I just wanted to add that yeah, this is a perfect thing. There's lots of reluctancy to do things that move forward. I can understand that, but I appreciate everything that you do. >> It's really nice to be able to do value you and your experience and
083education is very valuable. It's appreciated. >> Any motion? I do. And take it to special Uh so all those in favor of passing the motion for salary schedules for next year, signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed? >> None. >> All right, motion passes. Move on to policy review. I'll second that. Mr. Harris. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Members of the board, this is policy EHA on personal data privacy and security. Um you may recall from our April meeting, this is to reflect some elements of state or Senate enrolled act 32 from those 2026 versus section. Just clarifying that we don't collect any or that we in terms of personal data, we don't transfer or sell it to anyone. Um except as required by law. That's going to be the transfer to the Department
084of Education or our colleges and post transcripts, things like that. Um and there's an an appeal process if a Wyoming resident or former resident has questions about their data or feels that the program data is inaccurate. The the policy also allows for that to happen, but there are no changes in our version. What's the motion to approve? >> I'll move. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Motion passes. Although we may be missing a letter of recommendation for this effort. >> That one was easy to get. >> On student handbooks. >> Mr. Chair, members of the board, uh this is the second reading on student handbooks for the 2026-2027 school year for each of the schools. Some of the schools have changes from first reading on the documents
085that just made roll. However, the activities handbook, which is a new document for our district, there are some changes that have pulled out from first reading. First of all, there's a table of contents, which is pretty handy when you have a document of this length and complexity. Uh the updates also include changes to the code of conduct to make that more accurate. Updates on the hiring of coaches, definition of what a season is, and then some clarification around workers' compensation. And uh activities director George is here. Matt George is here. If you have questions about the specifics of those changes. >> Hi Mr. Chair, Mr. George. Um first, thank you. Oh, did you want to talk before I ask questions? Okay. Um one, thank you for highlighting the changes to make them easy to find
086for a board member who has a lot of complaints. Um the hiring practices section is great. Thank you so much for working on that. Um I had just a couple little thoughts. Under the responsibilities of a coach section, the certification language now doesn't exactly match the hiring practices language. It still states that um if not obtained prior to the end of the school fiscal year, and I think that should be changed to certification needs to be obtained prior to starting work uh would be my recommendation. Uh Oh, yeah, it's on page seven. And the new stuff you added is great. I think it just now makes page seven responsibilities of the coach certification not match that. So, updating that to match the hiring process. Um and then what else? Drug testing was a question I
087had that I think will become irrelevant later in this meeting, but there was no mention of that as being an AD responsibility. Um but I think it probably won't be. I don't know if drug testing needs to be an AD responsibility. I'll leave that to you to interpret after this meeting is done. Um and then um in responsibilities of the coach in that section, just to be super redundant, um Oh, you have it in professional certification. Um maybe just clarifying that the permit needs to be obtained prior to being hired. Um I think it currently just says maintain a current and just making it super clear. So, if policies that say that permit needs to be obtained prior to being hired, um the responsibilities of the coach and then for responsibilities of the AD, I
088would recommend adding in the compliance and the eligibility section ensuring that every coach meets PTF requirements. All of these changes are now hopefully overly redundant, um but it just seems like there's been some fuzziness in the past year. I'd rather be over with it than under. Thank you. Uh and then I also just really appreciated the evaluation section at the end of this document. I wanted to compliment the great questions, the great structure, and a great system for continuing to seek out feedback amongst coaches, amongst coaches and ADs, and just wanted to throw out a special thank you for that. Thank you so much for all your hard work on this. >> Mr. Mr. Chair, um since this is this been or or central voting on this tonight, do we need to make these changes
089as as a friendly amendment or something? Think we need to do that. >> I don't know if I know all the rules for putting on the board. Um move to approve with my friendly amendment suggestion coaching handbook. >> So, I believe we have to vote on the amendment first. All right. And then we'll vote on the All in favor of the amendment to the main motion please say "Aye." >> Aye. >> Opposed and silent, the amendment passes. Now we need to vote on the amendment as So, all in favor of the motion main motion please And is this for the all of the the handbooks on trustees? Is that the question? Is that all that it was? I would move that we I move that we approve all of the handbooks including the >> Okay.
090>> All in favor say "Aye." >> Aye. >> Opposed and silent, That was pre 97. Resolution uh pre 97 funds. This is just a wet box in this case Mr. Chairman. All kinds of these sitting in this box. Mr. Chairman, I I have very limited understanding of pre 97 funds. I need to rely on Mr. Speedy for a lot of this, but this is a a one year fix resolution that you have before you would be a one year fix to free up some dollars that are considered legacy non-foundation general fund dollars that were held before 1997. And we'd like to use those to put towards components that are not funded in the model, specifically big wide signs and school nutrition or school meals, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, uh um Yeah, just a little more
091background. So, these pre 97 dollars were set aside prior to um some of the Campbell County cases in the State Supreme Court. These dollars were raised locally, and so at that time the legislature pulled those aside and said the districts, this is your money. So, currently we have 877,000 dollars sitting there that sit It's in our general fund, but it sits in our funding model as a just a earmark. But, what it does currently what it does is whatever our general fund reserve amount is, we get to subtract that amount out. So, it doesn't count as a local resource for the district. Um going forward with the new the new finance bill, um they put in there that that's no longer the case. Even though this bill goes into effect July 1st, and we're reporting
092through June 30th, the Attorney General and WDE's opinion is that those funds will no longer they now will start counting as a local resource. So, districts are moving those funds out of the general fund to take care of other operations where holes have left with the new legislation. >> I would move to move forward with a resolution to use pre-97 funds. >> Favors, please say "Aye." >> Aye. Can we have >> Thank you. Uh One of my concerns with the way that this resolution is written is that it appears to tie us directly to the aquatic center and service operations. Is that too restrictive? I mean, what happens if we need these reserved funds for other issues other that that may be air flight. >> Mr. Chair, so this resolution I worked very closely with
093our auditors on this resolution. Um at one point we discussed possibly creating an internal service fund to help with district operations. Um the the auditors weren't in favor of that due to an internal service fund by definition has to be reimbursed from time to time and this will never happen. Um so as reserve has been talked a lot this evening, um these funds will go to specifically, like you said, help pool and food service operations which we currently subsidize out of the general fund a very large amount. Um so yes, we do have to be specific with these and the remainder of our reserves will take care of any unforeseen issues. >> So, here's Mr. Sweeney. What happens let's say that we decide that we need these funds later for some other purpose. Um and
094we decide that the pool, say it's it's not central to our academic needs. Um at least the public portion shut shut that public portion down. So, at that point, um our needs aren't there. What happens to these funds at that point? >> Mr. Chair, um I don't know for sure the exact timeline of fixing the pool issue. I I I don't know what what's going to happen there, but the amount of this money is not very large in the grand scheme of things. So, I don't foresee these funds lasting beyond a year or two anyway. To but unless something drastic happens, um at that point time, I I uh would have to go back and talk to the auditors to see because we want want to put it back on there if the legislature is
095continuing to recognize these as a local resource. >> Thank you. >> session >> All in favor say aye. >> Aye. >> Those opposed say nay. Mr. Chairman, may I ask Question is is the sufficient reserve account funds to buy the new Zoom phones and hardware for this project? Mr. Chairman, do I have the honor? So we So we can just discuss I'd like to make a motion to approve. Thank you. >> I'll second that. >> Move and second, discussion. >> Uh Mr. Mr. Chair, Mr. Harris, in this If I read this right, we're spending 60K now to save money later. Is that accurate? >> Mr. Chair, I think that is the strategy, yes. Over time, the service cost will be lower than what we're paying now. Um even with the upfront hardware cost. >> Okay.
096So ultimately, this is this is something that saves us money, doesn't it? Doesn't cost us. >> I think Mr. Chair, Mr. Abbott Mr. Abbott can clarify that, but I can't remember where that the savings kicks in is year two. >> Mr. Chair, um originally when we did the savings calculations, we figured we general fund would buy the phones and the service, and we figured we'd break even by I think it's month number 10. And that was with us, you know, buying the phones up front. And once the monthly service is less than half of what pay right now. >> Mr. Chairman of the board, uh this is a request to dedicate some major maintenance funds to the specific uh certain capital capital uh to do some improvements and some repairs on roofs of different building
097challenges. Mr. Mayes, is this a specific authorization? >> Yes, I've got already our Yeah. Uh Mr. Chair, um so uh this company works directly with uh the BOCES uh North New New Berlin. Anyway, um and they also work very closely with the school facilities uh department. Um they came in and did a free evaluation of all of our roofs. And so this is uh what I'm attempting to do with this is commit um to a long-term repair maintenance plan for our deteriorating roofs. Um so we're planning to commit like half a million dollars out of our major maintenance funds for the next few years to address a lot of the deficiencies in our roof. And then um once those are taken care of, we'll come back years in the future and discuss possible replacements of
098roofs if need be, but um we, as Mr. Harris knows, uh we do have a few roofs that have deteriorated over time and need to be addressed and so that's that's the proposal. >> Thank you. I mean, do we need to add do we need to add the Jefferson into this also? >> Mr. Chair, um they took a look at Jefferson City. Well, as you know, as of right now there's no issues because if you remember we when we did the remodel they replaced the roof up there so so we're good there. >> Jefferson City Madison, all right. All right. Who's who's the sign looking at? And double final approval plus >> Mr. Chairman of the board, um as you might recall from a previous board meeting, I was happy to announce the recognition of
099two students of Capital Hill HS on their way into the National History Day competition out in Washington D.C. next month. Um they submitted a request for your consideration there to fund some of their travel costs um getting to and from that competition. Mr. Chair, um how many dollars? Do we offer incentives for for all of our kids that are traveling National History Day? >> Mr. Chairman, my experience is that we did last time we considered this last spring for the same purpose. A couple of students went to go to the National History Day competition I had to break >> Um I have a question or if you need a motion to discuss I would move to approve. >> Second. >> And and I was going to say on the topic of discussion um my question
100is I absolutely think we should support this and I also want to make sure we are providing the same opportunities for other academic related programs that travel to national competitions. Um I think does the FBLA send students to national competitions and I know speech and debate falls in the sports activities category but sure seems like an academic event to me and um highlighting and having a process moving forward that all students competing in academic national level processes can submit an application so that we are equitably allowing the opportunity to send students to nationals. Um I think history day is strong academic pursuit of our district and would like to support it and don't want to support it and not support other national travels. >> It sounds like that so I know we had last time
101about like our game with activities and sports and we were going to try to put stuff like this into the academic side of side of to get paid for so it's actually what we can cuz we were looking at and actually having like maybe some options here. >> Sure Mr. I think that was related to the stipends versus these clubs and activities um rather than the cost of the travel. >> Okay. >> So in pay clubs will have raised for their travel. >> Okay. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Roll call. Motion passes. Policy for first reading. >> Mr. Harris, uh Mr. Chairman, Mr. Harris, is this just for FBLA, speech and debate? I'm probably missing someone. Is that No, I think I think they have national events. Huff? >> Yes.
102>> Uh is this something students from any activity can submit to the board as a request for funding for national events? Just clarifying that process for other groups that might be interested. >> I think that's co-curricular. So, for the extra-curricular >> Mhm. >> That's actually so. >> Okay, that makes sense. >> Mr. Chairman, members of the board, quickly, two policies here for first reading. One is actually a revision. Are they both revisions? The first one is a policy revision, the second a regulation revision. First one pretty straightforward. It it sent it down to us by the Wyoming Department of Education. This is JLG on homeless children. This just kind of reiterates the requirements of districts in terms of identifying and serving the needs of students who are in transitional housing. Doesn't really change what we're
103doing. The underlying statute that underlies these services hasn't changed. It just adds additional description and explanation that the state can now require. >> Okay. And we we will vote on >> Policy L, R J L G. Motion passed that or motion. Mr. Or we do we don't we don't have a perfect solution. Thank you. Okay. So then we have the next one here for uh chicken. Chair members, for this is our policy regulation on drug testing for students involved in extracurricular activities. Based on the discussion at last week's preliminary budget hearing, this is a revision to the policy or to the regulation. Uh you can see anything in green on the draft is something that's been added. Anything in red with a strike through obviously deleted. We did add softball on the grade 7 through
10412 to update that as currently listed activities in athletics at least. Um then some deletion there around drug program administrator, coordinator, and medical review officer. Those are roles because of the proposed change in how we will conduct drug testing procedure, those are no longer necessary uh if this proposal is approved. So, basically what you see there, anything that refers to drug program administrator is going to be replaced by the activities director. So, to Miss Dance's earlier comment about oversight of this particular policy and the implementation, that would fall to the activities director. Um the drug screening procedures are is another major piece here. Currently, we have up we have 25% participants during the season eligible for random testing and outside the district or outside the activity season, it's 10%. And at the direction of our
105board chair, Miss Jacobs, we added language up to 10%. Uh that gives us a little bit more leeway on how many tests we need to run in terms of cost. Again, we would use the savings from this to fund activities that are large rather than just dedicating them to drug testing. Procedures is the the major piece here probably. I think that starts on page three because we would no longer be using Sports Safe as our as our vendor for this. We would be able to handle all the testing in-house. We would get off-the-shelf kits from companies like I-Cup or other similar testing kits that we can that we can use with great accuracy without having to have the third-party administrator or medical review officer at that. Given the low number of positive tests, we thought
106this would be pretty cost-effective yet still still retain the the deterrent effect of all these kids staying away from illegal substances. >> Um Mr. Harris, what kind of savings are we looking at like or are you seeing? >> Mr. Chair, Mr. Kale, the the the I-Cup product that you and George and I were looking at I can't remember what the off-the-shelf cost was, George. >> Uh we were given a $6.95 per kid if we bought in bulk. >> Yeah. >> So that's that's a significant savings. You know, currently we're spending about $70,000. Much of that going to Sports Safe to administer the program, kits and testing, FedExing samples to and from labs in Kansas. Um so doing that in-house and only doing the retests when one is requested, I think we could really save a
107lot of money with this. >> But we haven't actually qualified What are the savings going >> Mr. Chair, Mr. Kale, the the exact amount of savings will be determined by how much testing the board would like the district to do. That's that that is Jacob's suggestion. That's where the up-to-date because we don't yet know exactly where things are going to land with activities and how much savings we're going to need to actually achieve. >> Thank you. >> Mr. Harris, this is she speaking. >> Uh Mr. Chairman, I mentioned to the board last item here that our the literacy state development grant, or CLSD grant, is an exciting opportunity for our district. Uh Teacher Byron, our director of curriculum instruction and assessment, has some details to share about that. Uh we were almost recently awarded that
108grant. Competitive process. It's going to help us quite a bit, especially as we work to fulfill the requirements of Senate Bill 43, also known as Senate Bill 59, which is the new K-12 language literacy program. >> Yes. Thank you. Chair and board, um Chairman, sorry. They're timing me, so now I'm all worried about my 5 minutes. So, um I do Can I do the slide here? Yeah, I am. I can get this under five. I did tell them all to go ahead and leave cuz they've heard all of this, but they want to watch this by me, so. Um I just wanted to share a little bit of information. There's still a lot changing at the state. The Senate Bill 59 is a K-12 language and literacy law that is supposed to go into effect
109July 1st. However, the rules are still being work They're working on the rules from the state cabinet, and then those will be shared with the public for 45 more days. So, I mean, they're behind the ball a little bit right now on that. So, there may be some emergency rules coming down the pipe to put this into place. There are some concerns with the curriculum directors in the state about rushing this this way, but we can handle it if that happens. The ELA standards are not in Indian time on the bulletin one yet, either, so we're just kind of waiting for all of this perfect beautiful storm to come together, which it will soon. But, the Senate Bill 59, um this law that's coming into place, you can up here the three bullets. The purpose
110of it is language and literacy instruction and assessment, increasing that for all students. Pre-K 12. Well, K-12, I'm sorry, in public school. The grant that I'll talk about in a minute, intervention tools, so that we have evidence-based, everything is evidence-based and secured there, and professional development. The professional development, many of us have requested that it's similar to the K-3 statute that was in public school statute 3 years ago. And it's a lot. It's making sure that anybody that is you working in the literacy world with students. So, that's every content, all 10 contents, all students, um that they classified and certified that they're trained. And it I think a lot of That's why we when this grant came out and we were eligible for, we went for it because it will cover a lot of
111that PD. And um I still don't have a contract for that yet because there's some changes there that's happening. I've met with the admin team, um and as long as we know that that PD is agnostic and we're not being forced to purchase resources that we're not that we know are evidence that cross over what we are already doing that are evidence-based, that was our major concern. I've got confirmation that it is agnostic and it's built into um job-embedded PD. This will cover for 5 years. It's a 5-year grant. It'll cover the PD hours for classified and certified. So, that alone is going to be huge. Um it also helps with PD and resources that the pool can start with CES. So, that's fantastic there because I'm assisting with our students coming in in the
112district. That's really exciting. Um so, it covers the PD, evidence-based in-house conferences, so it pays for the literacy conferences that are provided in the state, and then there's a big annual one in Montana each year that our leadership will be required to go to. They're all science of reading conferences, and I really appreciate our admin team because they get into science of reading and have been working really hard with science of reading in their building, so I feel very confident about that piece. One concern is the resources. Right now, the state under the science Senate Bill 29, they will be um having advisory lists of evidence-based resources, and before the language wasn't quite that clear on advisory list. It's do we have to take this resource? Do we need to use this resource? We're working
113hard on the rules to make sure that it's clear that districts will have a way to prove that the resources that high-quality instructional materials and practices um can be proven to be evidence-based or research-based, so that we don't always have to take off of the list from the state. But, we're waiting for those lists. The state has RFPs, so companies are applying right now to be on that list. So, we don't even know all the companies that are going to be there for us to choose from or not. So, that's still something we're waiting um but overall um that instructional material review, this is really small, but this is all the data we have right now. We're hoping that all of those applications, everything on the list will be made and we're supposed about a
114month after we're supposed to get all this in place, which is it's all doable because there's some grace period throughout the year for this first year for sure. We We quarterly requirements is right up here that percentage of students not achieving grade level reading proficiency. So, we have to report that. The average growth by grade to the lowest performing your 10% of students in relation to grade level reading proficiency. Other stuff is the evidence-based language and literacy instruction and high-quality materials and practices to use. And the qualifications as defined by the whole and state superintendent of anyone employed by a school district. So, that's who we're including in the PD. The admin team's coming together tomorrow. We're going to decide on a K-12 structure to make sure we have that data. I actually turned that
115in in the 626 every year. But, we're going to decide on a district-wide system that's easy to collect. Um and um we'll start with baseline and they have talked at the state of a phased approach for all of the pieces of Senate 159. Um and that's another reason this grant is going to be good for us because it's 5 years to cover that PD however that comes out. There's a lot of districts that won't have these funds and I think it's just um it's definitely science science of reading based and it's not something that we aren't not already working really hard at the district level. So, I feel very confident with that. I have a couple other slides, but I really don't think unless you guys have questions. I think we can pull it up
116at the end or so. >> I'm not I'm not worried about the timing right now. >> I know I am. Put it right out. >> No. >> Do you have any questions? I know Right now it's a It's happening, but it's a waiting game. So, it's >> Exciting. >> It is exciting. I mean, I was Mike and I were joking. I was going to visit and petty guns tonight. I'm like, yeah, tonight was fun. I was sleeping at home. >> I think I'll be your wife for this. A lot of this makes me wish you all the best during this ordeal we're going through here. A lot of this makes That's your main requirement and so I thought I'd join. I have the forethought to look into this grant, research it, and write a really
117amazing proposal and have it work. So, I just want to commend her initiative for doing this. She wasn't asked to do it, and it is a huge thing not only that will benefit our students and staff, but it will take a lot of pressure off our budget. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you, well. >> What was the official time for the meeting, guys? >> Yeah. >> You got to ask Laura. >> Uh 7 minutes 42 seconds. >> Thank you, Laura. >> Chris. >> That's I'm getting better every meeting. >> Last few things for our course, then we'll get out of here. We're going to get out. So, nice Pathfinder High School graduation, May 31st, Land Valley High School graduation. Uh June 4th, the last day of school. June 16th, regular school board meeting.
118Next one. Okay, thank you, board member. This meeting is adjourned. Thank you guys for coming. Thank you. And which