001scheduled meeting uh to order. And if you'll all stand and join us in the pledge. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right. Thank you all for coming. Can I get a roll call? Mr. Chair, we have a quorum. Thank you. Do we have any changes to the agenda? We do not. Okay. Mr. Chair, I would move we adopt the agenda as presented. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Hearing none, we'll adopt the agenda as presented. The consent agenda tonight includes to approve the minutes of the May 27th, 2025 board meeting. Consider payment of bills including late pays and pre-authorization of payroll, insurance, utilities, officials, and automatic payments. and to adopt
002policy 4116 non-school sponsored student travel policy 2065 procurement policy and procedures policy 4085 homeschooling 4085R1 homeschooling and policy 3220 sex designated facilities on second reading so moved Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? We'll adopt the consent agenda. And the round table tonight, we have, as everyone knows, a graduation. And so we're going to get those graduates in. She'll stand for them when they come in. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Thank you. Good evening, uh, Superintendent IBA and Mrs. Mills and the board. I'm Nicole Showning, and I'd like to welcome all of our guests this evening. It is my dis distinguished honor to have the opportunity to introduce our graduates to you this evening. And I am elated because some of these kiddos I I did not expect to see here tonight. They were
003up to the wire and I don't want to steal Triumph High School in Cheyenne, but I saw an article about um their recent graduating class and they called them photo finishers because they were right up to the last minute. and and some of these students tonight that we have graduating were putting in the work this morning to be here tonight. So, I am really proud of each of them and and I really sincerely um I'm so just thrilled to see them all here tonight. So, without further ado, let me please introduce our first graduate to you this evening, Mr. Alex Bisby. Alex came to us from the high school with just a desire to continue to to participate in sports, but he knew that the environment of the high school was just too much for
004him. So, he joined us at Frontier. And if I had one word to describe Alex, uh it would be quiet and thoughtful. Two words, quiet and thoughtful. So, without further ado, our first graduate, Alex Bisby. Greetings, Frontier staff, board members, superintendent, family, friends, family, and friends. Thank you for letting me come to Frontier and giving me a chance to graduate. My name is Alex Bisby and I chose to attend Frontier Academy due to my stepmom bringing up that it was a self-paced school that would allow me to still participate in high school activities gave me a better opportunity to learn and to graduate from high school in a setting more suited to me. I would first like to give a thank you to all the frontier staff for pushing me to do better and to
005get my work done. But I would like to acknowledge Miss Stan, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Win, Miss Stan was my biggest cheerleader. Fought hard to keep me on track. He has still let me slide with many things. I would appre and I appreciate her for that. Mr. Taylor stayed riding me, making sure I was in class doing my work when he knew I was really messing around with Brandon most of the time, which goes for Mr. Win as well, but he was more willing to let me relax if I did a certain amount of work that Mr. Taylor constantly encouraged. Although these teachers helped to encourage me, I would also specifically like to thank my family, especially my dad, for helping me and making sure that I got my work done on time to graduate. My
006plans after high school are to work a job my dad approves of and to hopefully find a place of my own and move out on move out to start a life of my own. I would like to give another yet special thank you to the board members for giving me this opportunity at Frontier. I am very grateful and extremely thankful. I can't wait to move on to the next chapter of my life. [Applause] I have Alex a letter that was in your cumulative file and I think he wrote it to himself maybe. So, I wanted to pass that along. I'm going in alphabetical order. So, our next graduate this evening uh is Aspen Brown. Here's Aspen. She is She is the photo finisher today. And I said to her, "Girl, you did it. I I
007just can't I'm so proud of you." And we have several students, as you know, that just overcome an extreme amount of adversity to get to this point. And you are no exception. Thank you. Um, I would like to thank um, Mr. Taylor and Mrs. Stan, especially these past few days cuz they helped me finish. And I would like to thank all of the Frontier staff and especially all the teachers cuz they are just all so amazing and caring and they really care about the students. And I'm very thankful to graduate from Frontier. I have had the privilege of knowing six of the eighth graduates since their time at rendevous and um so it's especially I'm proud of them. All right, Miss Mia. Mia Ecker is our next graduate. And again, I the theme for this
008evening is perseverance and overcoming adversity. And um I think that Mia uh would say that this spring has been tremendously difficult and challenging. It's um but she is here and she's standing in front of us this evening and we're all just very proud of her. So, I think Nia's just gonna stand and and say just a couple of words. Thank you. [Music] Oh, Brandon. Brandon. Brandon. Oh my goodness. It's your turn, buddy. So, Brandon's a cool kid, and I have had the privilege of knowing many of his siblings and Mr. Taylor and I a couple of occasions had to go out to his house looking for Brandon. Uh but he is here and again just another fabulous student that I am really honored to have met and have known since he was a little fourth
009grader. Brandon and Jerry, his brother's Gerald and I had them at front at rendevous and Brandon was the quieter of the two. So come on up, Brandon. Good. Good evening, Frontier staff, superintendent, board members, and family members and friends. I am Brandon Monroe. Frontier helped me be eligible to play my senior year of basketball and graduate on time. I would like to thank Miss Stan for always texting me and encouraging me to go to school. I would also like to thank Mr. Taylor for giving me a plan to stay eligible and graduate on time. I would also like to thank Mr. Ziggler for being my math teacher throughout like throughout my four years of high school and for having snacks. I would like to thank Ivok for helping me with my essays and for helping
010me become a better writer. I would also like to thank Riy for giving me a quiet room to work in and always bypassing my unit test. I would like to thank Win for always allowing me to sit with Alex even when all we do is talk and barely get work done. Lastly, I would like to thank my mom and dad for always encouraging me to just get my work done so I can be done with school and not have to worry about graduating anymore and for always believing in me. After high school, I plan on either getting a trade or going straight into work. I would also like to give a last thanks to the board members for giving me this opportunity to graduate from Frontier and get my diploma. I don't think I could
011have graduated from high school if I haven't come to Frontier and I am excited to start this chapter of my new life. Jamie Moss, or as I like to call her, J Moss. Jamie is another student that I'm just incredibly proud of and have known her since her time at Rendezvous. And this girl is fun. She gives me great side eye. I love it when I ask her a question and she gives me this funny kind of answer, which is her no, but she doesn't want to say no to me because I think she thinks I'm nice. Jamie Moss. Good evening, board members, frontier staff, family, and friends. Thank you everyone for being here this evening. My name is Jamie Moss and I am on and I am an on-time graduate of 2025, which have
012would not have been possible without Frontier Academy. When I first came to Frontier, I was met with an old familiar face, Mr. Ziggler. He has been my teacher throughout um high school and Frontier. I especially enjoyed his STEM classes and his sense of humor. I appreciated Miss Stanley working around my work schedule and greeting me every day and accepting my side. I did not appreciate her wake up calls and texts while I was glued to my bed, though. Plus, I loved having her as my secret Santa. Miss Shoning is somebody I also want to acknowledge. She made Frontier safe and as I knew her from rendevous. Her office is the type you can go in feeling good or bad either way you will leave laughing. I'd also like to thank everyone that helped me with
013my educational journey including Frontier staff, Frontier family, my family and friends. I am so proud of my success but sadly all good things must come to an end and I'm looking forward to the next chapter. Our next graduate this evening is Miss Crimson Rose. Crimson I would also describe as just a student. Come on up, girl. That just perseveres and she is so strong and steady. She has I always said to her if you had a tortoise in a hair race, she's the tortoise because she's just continually persevering and she doesn't give up. but she made it to the finish line and just so happy to be here with you and celebrate you tonight. So congratulations Crimson Rose. Good evening board members, Frontier staff, superintendent, and family and friends. I'm Crimson Rose and Frontier Academy
014has really helped me through these two years. Frontier has made me feel welcome and truly a part of the community, genuinely living up to their name of being called a family. These past few years have made me enjoy going to school with encouraging people helping me and friends and staff making me show up and push through the day and which I've always appreciated. Stan going to Frontier has made me realize that it is up to me to make my future to get what I want and I think that piece of wisdom will take me far. After graduation, I plan to go to college and take the medical assistance course, get my CNA and flot me license, and travel, helping people whenever I can. Thank you to all of Frontier for what you have done for
015me. The big events like going ice fishing or swimming in thermop and all the small things like making hot chocolate when it was really snowy or cold. These memories have all meant so much to me and I'm so glad I was a part of it. Thank you to my close friends and family for cheering me on and giving me advice when I definitely needed it. I don't think I could have done it without any of you. Thank you. And thank you to the board members for giving me this opportunity. I worked really hard to earn this and I'm excited to move on and start getting what I truly want. Thank you. Our next graduate this evening is Cadence Stro. So, Cadence came to us uh via RHS, but also via Kansas City. And she brought
016with her a love of Billy Isish. And whether or not you liked Billy Isish, you quickly became a Billy Isish fan. Uh Cadence is just one of those people that you can't help. She's got a wonderful energy about her and you just can't help but just want to to get to know her and be a little part of her world. So, I'm really proud of Cadence and happy to welcome her this evening to the podium. Good evening. Over the past four years, I've moved to five different schools. Each movement, starting over, new rules, new faces, new challenges. It wasn't easy. There were times I wondered if I'd ever find a place where I could truly belong. Then I found Frontier Academy. This school gave me something I didn't think was possible. A fresh start, a
017real ch a real chance of succeeding, and people who believed in me. The past year has tested me in more ways than I could count. But standing here today, I'm proud of how far I've come. I want to thank my mom and my girlfriend Sydney for always being there, lifting me up when I needed it most, and never letting me give up. Graduation marks more than just the end of a chapter. It's the beginning of something entirely new. And for the first time in a long time, I'm not scared of what comes next. I'm hopeful. I'm excited. Thank you. [Applause] All right, our last graduate this evening, but certainly not the least, is Miss Aden Willow. Adinedine, come on up. Adinedine is is one of my people that I enjoy so much because she's pretty
018quiet and then all of a sudden she'll pop off with some random wonderful thoughts. And um when I first met, we we call her Nene. And so when I first met Nene, I learned a lot about her. She she's got some amazing computer science and coding skills. And she's kind of contemplated going into dentistry and you just the more you get to know her, the more you realize there's this whole person underneath and we're just seeing the surface. So, I look forward to seeing what she does and I also look forward to hearing about um her plans for the future. So, yeah, this is your speech, girl. It's your turn. So, do you want to first name just board members? It's okay. You want to thank So, first I'd like to say hello to all
019of the board members. Say hello to all the board. It's okay. Superintendent Ibach, Frontier staff, and my family. Staff and my family. I am attending. That's okay. It's okay. While I attended frontier. I made many many memories. I made many memories such as being to come to school while I was on my lowest rank to speak more. One memory that sticks out to me is when I was barely wanting to come to school until I made great friends. These friends told me to come in. Watching get done inspired me to do the same. It made me happier and gave me a reason to come more often than I did before. With this new experience, I was also able to find a dream I'd like to accomplish, which is attending college and becoming a dentist while
020also becoming a minor in coding. With that, thank you to everyone, especially Ziggler and Stanley. They both helped me in a different way, such as Ziggler having me sit with him during math since I need a lot of help. It helped me see more important, especially with Stanley gradu school. Also, a huge thank you to the board members for allowing me to to attend Frontier. I had to work for this diploma and and stupid visuals. Did it. We have so much celebrating to do tonight. Thank you. Um Chairman Burke, board of trustees, families, friends. Um, it's my pleasure to certify that these students have met the requirements of the Wyoming State Department of Education in Fremont County School District number 25 to earn their diploma from Frontier Academy. [Applause] That's So proud. [Applause] Well done.
021Congratulations [Applause] that one here. Congratulations to all the graduates. Good job. Okay. So, if all the graduates would stand and please move your tassel. We'll take a few minutes so you guys can take pictures. Um, feel free. We'll move out of the way so you have a clear background. to Miss Lavoy and Miss Santi and yes, Miss Santi here. They just didn't hear. They were talking to talk. So we Emma and Danny, you know we don't bite. Get up there. Emma's nervous. This is her first time apparently. Okay. Well, hi. I'm Danny Santi. I'm Emma Hill. So, I guess I'll just start by talking. This past FFA convention at state, we had a phenomenal year. I would like to say that I did the calculations this morning and it's been since 2019 since the Riverton
022FFA chapter won a state contest at FFA convention and so this was a huge year for us. I won the employment skills contest and I won the prepared speaking contest. Um these two contests are easily the most competitive and cutthroat contest in the state. Um I was also reserved in the prepared speaking contest. So, we're going to both give you our speeches tonight, but I'll talk about the employment skills contest first and then we'll go ahead and give our speeches. So, with the employment skills contest, it's kind of a big process. So, it all starts out with you have to kind of come up with an actual job position, but you're applying to it and it's you're not like actually applying to it, but for the contest, you are. So, I applied for a YGB
023counselor position. That's a you got to believe. Um it's a livestock camp that teaches kids how to show and take care of sheep, goats, and cattle. And within this contest, you have to build a resume, a cover letter, and fill out an application. From there, you can if you get selected just based off of those documents. Then you get a phone interview and they call you and kind of just talk to you a little bit of like scheduling when an interview would be. Then if you make it to the semi-final round and they only take 25 people to the semi-finals, you go and do an in-person interview with a panel of three judges and you I mean interview for your job position and then at that semi following around you also have like a follow-up.
024So whether it be a letter back to whoever it is you interviewed with or and it's either a handwritten letter or like an email typed up letter, something like that. And then you can make it on from semi-finals. In semi-finals, they only take the top 10 in the state. And then at the state contest, you have to do three individual 15minute interviews. And so you go through each interviewer for 15 minutes and they all interview on kind of a different type of thing. And then you have a either networking activity or a job offer call. And so this year it was a networking activity where I had to prepare an extemporane extemporaneous two to three minute elevator pitch to pitch to the CEO of the company that I applied for. And it's a it's a
025really big process. At state convention this year I competed in five different contests which is a lot to have to handle. And just in that first day it was three. Prepared speaking was at the same time. and I ran to all three of my interviews, went through there, ran back, walked had five minutes, walked straight in, had to do my speech, and then ran back to do my networking activity. I'll let Emma explain what prepared speaking is because she's won that. So, okay. So, um I've been competing in prepared speaking for three, no, just two years. Anyway, for two years. And how prepared works is you find a topic. usually agricultures bases what they want. Um and then you prepare a six to eight minute speech on it. Um and this year I did mine
026on biologics and biotechnology uh within medicine. And Danny, do you want to talk about yours? I did mine on feeding the future. So I talked about population growth and the land loss that we're facing. And I would just like to say if you know me or my and my brother I guess we're very competitive and I did something that he never did and I wouldn't state. So pretty proud of that and it's something I hold over his head at this point but uh yeah. So we can just go ahead and give our speeches. Yeah. Do you want first? Oh okay. Okay. Okay. Well, I guess I'll get like I said once a family is now targeting cities, expansive highways and industrial sites that were once fields built on a forest. This pastoral vision was steam
027by the demands of a growing population. As the world seek space to house and employ this new populace, agricultural land has been sacrificed at a rate. Today, agriculture is battling to feed and clothe the growing population of the world while also managing population growth, urban spraw, and detrimental changes to our environment. This loss is not just a tipping point. With less land to grow the crops we depend on, the challenge of feeding billions more daunting with every acre lost. By 2050, the global population is projected to reach 9.7 billion as the world. While people are already going to increase their 50 to 70%. Fortunately, agriculture has the potential to meet these challenges with innovation and collaboration. One of the most pressing issues in agriculture is change between population growth, urban sprawing. As the population grows,
028agricultural land as we lose that land, the risk for increases. According to the GAP initiative, it is estimated that more than 31 million acres of US agricultural land have been lost to urban expansion since 1982 and an additional 175 acres of far and other industries. Agriculture has already lost millions of that lands Studies show that only about 6% of the earth is suitable to grow and only% of that land is in the US with a limited amount of land that's suitable for growing crops. Every acre counts however agriculture faces a huge urban most of the areas that can be large flat open land which coincidentally is the that is most growing on top of urban soil threatens the productivity of the land. According to a 2018 UN report, deforestation alone contributed to about 10% of
029all human induced gas. Climate change impacts lands and ris increased temperatures which lead to extreme weather events such as long heavier rainfall to floods and landslides and more frequent and intense. The consequence is reduced due to erosion destroyed agricultural land and infrastructure and damage. These events are compounded by the increasing not only but also a growing population. Luckily, farmers do have a few ways able to combat this crop rotation improves crops and in addition to this cover crops increase soil organic matter and improve soil fertility by capturing excess nutrients after rapidly growing and our resources. One question, how are we supposed to population growth and loss. These are two challenges that we can't stop them. Agriculture has grown and become more sophisticated in many ways from huge psychological advancements to produce 1 million tons more
030than 200 million. In order to produce enough food to feed the country, we're going to need to adapt and utilize the resources that we do have left. While we can grow vertical farming allows for a higher crop while taking up leroper regions like Wyoming with typical infielding production can often be delayed or cut short. and regions that can make or break. However, with vertical weathering provides a year production and enable seasonal foods all year round of a vertical farm allows for optimal crop growth in any location. This means we can produce crops in urban areas. It utilizes and maximizes food production per Hydroponics also uses a water solution rather than efficient water conservative and use fewer pesticides. On top of vertical farming, another way to help increase food supply is through precision agriculture. According to
031the GA, precision agriculture involves collecting, analyzing, and taking actions based on data. It can help the sector meet increasing demand for food products while also helpers improve efficiencies such as to reduce costs. On top of this, precision agriculture allows for increased profit and benefits. As agriculturalists are challenged in increasing production in spite of decreasing resources, modern technologies are becoming the foundation of meeting our current and future food needs. Population growth demands an increase in food production. Hydroponics respond by fruits and vegetables with water. Soil erosion destroys the structure of previously. rotation and ground cover pack it back down. Not only does modern agriculture work hard to produce more less, but agriculturalist strive to repair and protect the land for future generations. In a time of constant change, agriculture has armed itself with innovation in order
032to tackle one of our greatestes future. Thank you. [Music] A long time ago in a land not so far away, the dashing son of a simple farmer, the shy daughter of a neighboring home and their love story as they would marry and start a family of their own. Times were tough in 1984 and that dashing son in this family of five would have to give up farming and find with the rising cost of medical treatments. The plight of this American farmer would eventually take it to pass away unexpectedly at just another sad stat. While data, headlines, and media bombard us daily arguing that farmers are fleing their homesteads and settling in the suburbs, I challenge us to think outside and see that agriculture isn't done, but instead changing and expanding. A 2023 study conducted by
033the University of Colorado indicated that the number of traditional production farms are shrinking globally. Worldwide percentage of people who work in production agriculture from 43% in to 26% in 2021. But where did the descendants of those farmers and ranchers go? While many of us are in production, a rapidly growing sector is aggra specifically biotechnology. This is the research and innovation to improve the efficiency, quality and usefulness of agricultural products. Remember farmer he had disease and the predominant method of treatment for him was the steroid. Severe side effects of the synthetic drug precipitated the need into researching and engineering less harsh as well as more natural treatment options. Progressive agriculturists have nari drugs that originate from a variety of natural sources human or microorganism and are produced by cutting edge biotech. Biologics like have the potential
034to change the course of medical treatments in communities worldwide. or monofal antibbody drugs recognize and target specific proteins normal cells in our bodies triggering a predictive immune response for patients with unpredictable cancere free die free dairy free even flavor free just because your body reacted to normal food in an abnormal way but our young farmer moved to town to battle hearts disease he also had to pivot and learn how to manage diabetes thankfully in 1921 figured out how to remove insulin from a dog that thick brown would be revolutionary. Eventually, a more refined form of insulin was developed in the pancreas of cattle and swine. But without these advancements in diversified livestock production, researchers would have never considered genetically engineering insulin. In 1978, u patients with diabetes formulas and methods in novalog insulin and pumps.
035The treatment has come a long way just a liver. What if he had access to pancreatic or intestinal transplants in his fight against Crohn's diabetes though not truly an option yet. There is a significant according to the US government information on donation and transplantation. As of December 2024, there are over 100,000 patients waiting for 17 people will die today. species organ transplants called xeno transplantation offer the prospect of an unlimited supply of cells and tissues potentially resolving the critical shortage for human cells. The earliest records of transplantation suggest that sheep pigs and crops were used for skin research as early as the 1800s. While it may seem logical that our genetic cousins primates would lead toward the most successful studies, those transplants have never successful. Instead, the most promising organ transplant studies involve genetically engineered
036swine. agriculture must lead the way when it comes to advancing organ transplants as well as creating biosimilar drugs using both plant and animal based technology for both autoimmune and diabetic patients. The most recent USDA survey indicates that there are 1.9 million US farms in 2024 down from 2.2 million in 2007. Interestingly enough, even the amount and labor use in farming declined. Total farm output nearly tripled between 1948 and 2019. Production agriculture isn't done. Like mutation, it's multiplers [Music] producing crops, other producers are shifting into the field of a science biotechology to keep up with consumer demulturisting farmer who work in town didn't completely instead he worked for a farm company to support the work of other production agriculturist that farmer and while his Crohn's disease was managed unsuccessfully with steroids disease managed efficiently advancements in
037diabetic care and transplants came But that struggle of years indeed led to better days through better ways. Agriculture is dying. It's literally keeping me alive. So those are both of our speeches. They clearly were not as well rehearsed as they were at state convention because that was back in April and we kind of both forgot forgot about them until last night. So, um, but the other thing on top of just giving our speeches, which has to be six to eight minutes, is we also do five minutes of questions after the speech is done. Um, but another thing that my mom brought up is we really kind of had a real big comeback for Riverton FFA this year. We had a curse. We did break a curse. We've had a curse on our speeches, but that's
038okay. But um I mean we had champion employment skills, champion and reserve champion prepared speaking. We also had an LD sweep stake award which is the leadership development events and that was something that's really impressive. Um our we had numerous our a issues team was third in the state. We had so many other teams that walked the stage that week that I can't even remember right now. But I also was reserve champion in the a ed contest this year, which was a new contest that they just brought to Wyoming this year. Um, I know that our quiz bowl team was in the top five. Our horse team was in top five. I don't remember what else. That was a long time ago. But we our middle schoolers did phenomenal this year. So our FFA program
039is really really blossoming and we took a huge step this year. Um and we just had a lot of success and so we're really looking forward to these next years and me and Emma are really looking forward to traveling to nationals this year to compete in employment skills and in prepared speaking. to say that ladies, congratulations. Thank you, Proud. Do you guys have any questions on either of our events or anything? I'm really impressed how you combined or linked biologics and agriculture because I deal with biologics all the time and I never once thought of it as being agriculture. Impressive. Thank you. When I start my speech, sometimes people are like, "Where is this headed?" And then I start to wrap it back around. Kind of where I was at. Yeah. How is this going
040to link up? But you did a very good job. Thank you. I'm proud of you. Now, when you girls come to consign your animals, I don't want any whining about not being able to do your paperwork though after all this. And I guess the other thing that we didn't talk about with prepared speaking is it's also one that there's you have to qualify to compete at state. And so we compete at the district level first. From there they take two people from your district and then you compete which we both got to go which was really cool. And we kind of we went all the way through together for prepared speaking from start to finish. And so from districts they take two people then you go to your regionals and from regionals they take two
041people and then at state you have the top 10 competing. So it was really great experience for me and Emma. We've been like this for as long as I can remember and so we got to start together and finish together. So that was really cool. That's awesome. You both did great and Emma, your grandfather would be very proud of you. This all will pay you dividends down the road. It's uh being able to get up and talk to people and do the interviews like you were talking about. That's that's a big thing. Not a lot of people are very successful at that. Good job, ladies. Thank you. Thank you. Proud of you. All right. Who wants to start? Terry, why don't you start? You volunteered me. I did. Volunte. Must be the military. Um, I'll
042report on the recck board if that's okay. Um, we had a rec board meeting and we were able to help the Riverton wreck committee. Uh, they were short a little bit on some of their funds from the city and uh, so we we were able to help them out with some of their advertising which helps uh, the Riverton recreation hurricel. And so we couldn't find anything that prevented us from giving that out as a as a um grant. And then uh last Saturday, Terry and I took the elected office training again and Brian Farmer really has it down very good now. I learned so much more this time than before. It was fantastic. The eight hour one was grueling the first time around, but this one was only four and it it really did enlighten
043me with different things and being the board chair for a president or chair for rec 25. Yeah, it helped us. We just wished we' have seen more faces. That's all I had. Okay, go ahead, Carrie. You can continue. Um I don't really have a whole lot other than that's what we did this Saturday. Spent our Saturday doing a Zoom meeting and Yeah. And I'm I'm just kicking butt with my kids. They wanted to do this walking contest and I sent them all a message Sunday. I said, "What's going on? We're supposed to be doing this the month of June. I'm already up to 27 miles. Where are you guys?" They're on mile two. Maybe mile. Yeah, maybe two, maybe four, maybe none because it doesn't show it on this little app we're using. Slackers. Slackers.
044Um, Northwest Boseies had our monthly meeting the last Wednesday of May and we're working on a preliminary budget. We were able to um to not raise any fees this year. We had gone um almost 13 years before we had to raise fees and two years ago we we did raise our fees, but we've held steady since then and I think we are going to be able to give our staff um steps and lanes. So, um, yeah, they've been very very fiscally responsible and we have we have a a good um reserve, so we'll be able to to make sure we do that to keep we want to keep our staff and um so I don't have a whole lot other than that. My sister and her children surprised my mom and showed up yesterday um
045from the Pittsburgh area. It was really hard to keep my mouth shut. I almost screwed up and said something twice. You know how you start to say something and you're like, "How am I gonna get out of this one?" So, but that's exciting. So, there's lots of excitement going on across the street from your house, girl. And that's all I have. Um, I was able to uh sit in on the the panel that they had. Um, I'm trying to think of what it's called. It's the recalibration. Recalibration. Yeah, it it's coming up as PJ panel. I'm thinking what does that stand for? But that was very interesting to uh learn about what other what all the districts are looking at as far as the difficulties with recalibration and how that impacts them both from large
046school districts and much more so with the smaller districts and you know like Duboce being linked in with Riverton and uh for the numbers and those kinds of things and it it just was looking at the school resource officers and some of those kinds of things that they're talking about it just very interesting to hear all of the challenges that people had and uh kind of gives you a little bit better perspective on why these things are even more important as we you know go down the road. So um that's um pretty much you know what all I've done went to the figure eight races this last Saturday and my son competed and that was real fun to watch and um other than that we've been watching a little baseball. So I've been watching too.
047Three nights a week and it's fun. But you know the recalibration as you were talking about it's amazing how much schools are expected to do and then are not funded for. Right. You know there is so much that is the you know the SRO's security uh you know it's just and They have always the people that look at it, the consultants have over the the past three that well two uh times that they've done this have said you're not paying enough. But the legislature each time has ignored what everybody's telling. And uh well, we'll see with a court case and a recalibration where it ends up. It is kind of scary when you hear that the appropriations committee uh said that they were going to try, you know, that they were putting forth a constitutional
048amendment to get rid of property tax which produces $2.3 billion dollars or something like that. And that sales tax is under a million or under a billion dollars. So you take away $2.3 billion dollar from the state budget, where does it come back from? You know, uh, I know that, but you know, if the if that is the the thinking, Joel, it doesn't matter. And so we're going to have, you know, everything that's happening, you know, wreck boards, bosses, we're all going to see diminishing dollars in those kind of places. Uh I don't know how much it affected Riverton. Uh you guys, I don't know what the amount will be, but I know it's going to be about half You know, it's going to be a lot of money that it won't be there next
049year. It won't be there the next year. The city's the same way. And they're they're larger and so the, you know, the, you know, size of your organization and the amount of money that So, it's going and they'll be short next year, the city for our wreck. They'll be short for all these things. And so it's going to shrink down. So anytime you see somebody, you know, that votes down there, tell them how it affects them. They don't believe it, I don't think. Well, I honestly don't think that I know the average person doesn't because I'm a math person. It's hard for me to conceive, but I don't think our average legislator realizes truly the difference between a million and a billion. I mean, I really don't. It's hard to conceive. So a million seconds
050is 11 and a half days in time. A billion seconds is 31 years and eight months. That's a good way to put it. So because you can't conceive of it when you think about it in terms of dollars, you know, it's a lot of money, but until you think about how long 31 years is, and a trillion is like 31,000 years, it's crazy. And so I don't think they've fully thought through that we're going to lose this many billion dollars. how much that really is. That's the worst system. We have probably the best judge retires lawyers. They govern next general election or not retain your circuit judge every four years or after voted on district court. If you lose, but you don't have people running against each other well you end up like what we
051had in Wisconsin, you know, and then it's not good. I mean what they're doing and then our state legislature all these laws that they had to know already from the LSO were clearly violating those county decisions violating the constitution and they still did they're young I mean and they've got an agenda that was an agenda that they could succeed doesn't seem to be the case if you if you break something you have to fix. So that may be the agenda. So, you know, they're breaking a lot of things. So, and just like what's occurring two years from now, uh maybe we can vote some people in that can start to fix, you know, if the taxes are needed to be fixed, then fix them rather than make some of these ideas that just doesn't address
052what the problem really is. You know, if you need a multi-tiered tax system that will take care of things, you have to build it and you have to change what you have. So, you know, breaking the plate, you know, might be the strategy that is I don't know if there really is one, but that's what they're doing. So, you're right about this this interruption both at the federal and state level damage consequences for years. stops all kinds of what it is. We'll see what people think of it. That's key is we need people to have some consequences and start thinking, you know, and I don't think they really felt like they needed to do that in the past. I think they do now. You know, sounded like you guys went quite directly Were you there
053with me? The city's meeting. Yeah. No, no, we weren't there. It sounds like ugly. They've done that numerous times. But it's one of those things that you know uh the leg you know our airport is in jeopardy you know for passenger service which is important to a city and a community growth you know so it's several of them ambulance system is in jeopardy you know if you want to go to the hospital the new hospital lander you know sage west how you going to get there except you know if that fails we're in trouble there and the money is not there and job core I got I guess we've got a little bit of a reprieve but you know that's 140 jobs that's a lot of folks that will be out and a lot of
054students that are going through there are getting jobs yeah so it's you know this is troubling times troubling times that's all thank Christina, I don't have anything. Come on. I really don't. Roy, you got to save her. How' graduation go? I missed it. I'm sorry. How did graduation? Your your senior graduation? Oh, um, it went well. Yeah, we had about you did have something. Thanks for bailing them out. Joel, no. It's just been Our legislature this year has just exceeded my expectations when it comes to what they've done to schools. I mean, I can live with about anything else. They don't seem to understand the constitution very they haven't done it. You know, every legislature seems to every time. But that's all 60 years struggle. Jada I do just a brief update that Jody and
055I had our kickoff phone call assembly today. So that will be our platform that will replace board docs. So, we're moving into doing some of our training and um I think it'll be a smooth transition and we're excited about it. I think it'll be a good change for all of us. Assembly, it's e um eboard solutions. So, um yeah, it came with the recommendation. That's what Wyoming school board association is using now. So, gorgeous school board, state school board association is the uh the creator of it. Yeah. So, it's it's board based. Nice, Cody. Okay. So, I do have a few things. Good. Um, I received an email just uh not too long ago this evening that the state's appeal on the case has been docketed in the Supreme Court. It was docketed yesterday. Um,
056so the state must file its appellet brief no later than July 24th and the WA and the districts as the appelles have 45 days after we receive the state's appellet brief to respond. So, uh, they anticipate a deadline of September 8th. So, because we are part of the coalition, we will continue to get those updates. So, that came with five judges that this case has been assigned to. So, I probably have that in um would it be in the So, what they gave me was the uh um caption of the Supreme Chief Justice. I thought Yeah, I don't see that in here unless it's in the caption of the Supreme Court appeal, which I would have to go to my computer, open that part. So, I haven't seen anything like that. So, that came just
057keeping you posted on that. Um the um I don't I think we went to the tribal thing after our last board meeting. We didn't update you about presenting at the tribal committee. Did we? Did you mention it? Okay. Um I So, the legislative interim committee report for the joint education committee. So, I attended that virtually. Um, I'll be attending the next one in person on purpose. It was good for me because I haven't been, you know, watching those as much as I should have and whatnot and just the other things getting in um, taking priority at at that point in time. But so I'm watching that joint education committee um, closely. They are talking about school discipline which is of very high interest right now with all of the different um, behaviors that we're having.
058So um, I will update you more on that. Um our Mercer study is um it's very interesting. Um they uh received some additional details regarding an alternative high school solution. I don't know what those details are. So that's why they keep pushing out these meetings for us. Um so I I reached back out. Um they asked me, they said a July meeting to present to the board was probably too soon. um but what are our summer dates? So I gave them that but in my my question back to them was will you be presenting to our team again because I would be very interested in hearing about the alternative high school solution that you referred to in your email. So they said yes of course but they didn't give me a time frame. So, as
059soon as I meet with them again and they review that, I'll kind of give you a heads up on what the options are that they plan to come and present to you. Um, so that's the Mercer update. We also received um our um special education programs audit. It's right here. Um I just received it today and so I haven't had a chance to read through the whole thing. Um but they what they are is they are um because of one of the paragraphs in here they're saying um they would like to offer technical assistance to us um with our cap. So it's a little bit more than a cap. Um I will have more information for you probably I'll do I'll give you some information at the work session on Thursday. I'll have a chance
060to review that and then uh I will go to the I did attend the same session that Lori attended. I did not speak up at all. Um I listened, took some notes. Um it was the first one that I had been to. They don't let you go. I was under the impression from other people they didn't accept them to more than one. So I only signed up for the one. Um, and I guess some a couple of people did sneak in and get to go to two, but most people were only picked to go to one if they tried to sign up for two. At any rate, Tuesday and Wednesday are the live meeting sessions in Casper. So, I will be attending those. So, I will be out of the office present at the recalibration
061on the 17th and 18th in Casper. Um, I've when I've spoke with a couple of our local legislators, they encouraged me to go in person and to be seen there and then start voicing my opinion when I feel comfortable. So, that's all I have. Okay. Um, just kind of we you were talking about how the reduced taxes are affecting everything. I was Thursday down at the off the county clerk's office in Riverton getting license plates. And while I was standing there, they put up a notice that that office is closing effective July 1st. The office over here, the office in Riverton, by the So you'll have to go to Lander if you want to do it in person. Yeah, they're closing. Um, so that's directly related to property taxes. Um, and still people I were
062standing there I was talking to and they were complaining about that, you know, and I said, "Well, that's due to the taxes, the property taxes." Well, I get enough of my tax money. I don't care. I'm like, "Okay, you know, if if you think if you think this is the only thing that's going to affect you, you're mistaken." Um, we had a school Terry was in on it too. School board chair roundt thing u zoom meeting that the WSBA puts on and they specifically called out our Frontier Academy graduations and that they thought or what's his name? Brian. Yes. thought that ours was um kind of the the gold standard of of graduations for alternative high schools. Nice. And I thought that was pretty cool. That's all I've got. So, anybody else have anything they
063want to bring up? No. Are there any visitors? Doesn't look like it, unless they're pretty thin. Um so, we'll move on to action items. Uh, first one is to consider an administrative recommendation to approve the Wyoming High School Activities Association membership. Mr. Chair, move that. Excuse me. Go ahead. Go ahead, Mr. Chair. I move that the board approve the Wyoming High School Activities Association membership application and the activity enrollment for the 2025 26 school year and Max Mills as the official representative for district 25. Second. Any discussion? Actually, yes. I understand that soccer must have been in the red, but the fee for soccer is 10 times the other sports. I think that is awful that WHSA let them get that far in the hole that we are 10 paying $635 per girls, 635 for
064boys rather than 60. And it says at the top 635 as opposed to 60, right? The reason it says the base enrollment per activity is $60. As per the WHSA constitution, article 8, section six or 13, section six, an assessment fee has been added to those activities with a negative 2425 balance. I just think that is unbelievable. Did you look at last year's which you paid last year? I can't off the top of my head, but still that's crazy. Very close to it's not the assessment. a piece of that but it was very close to $600 that far. Why is soccer so expensive? Because of travel, the cost of referees. Uh it's just a really But WSA doesn't pay the travel. What's that? They're not paying the travel for the uh team. No, not the
065teams. the the referees, the officiating officiating really oh for regional and state. Yeah, the same thing that's costing us. Well, I mean I understand that, but I'm just thinking it's 10 times is a lot. I just haven't set that standard for travel and uh cost of a and it's four it's four times the cost of all of our non-athletic Yeah. programs, too. Yeah. Anyway, I was just a comment because it was like So, is there are we anticipating that we're going to get caught up on that? It'll go No. And that's just for the boys. The girls are separate, too. Why Why is it so much more than basketball? I mean, don't you wouldn't you think that the travel and the referees would be the same? Football, don't Yeah. How many officials are in soccer?
066Let's see. It starts out with four, but the gate is what takes care of it. So the gate for soccer is not there. We don't have any gate here. I know, but that's that's how things are paid for. I just thought it was a lot. So football, there's a gate at UW that gets paid. Oh, I see. There's a gate for basketball that makes tons and tons of money. Okay. There's a gate for golf is another one. Golf is one that's going to it has no place for, you know, it's one of those things where Friday, Saturday are the top days for your private golf institutes. So, they have to move, you know, and there's no gate for that either. So there's no dollars to fund those sports. So So the dollars come in at
067the regional and state levels. So you know if you look at the books of you know which I will well I was just curious Trevor to if he would send you a copy of Yeah, I'd like to see it. Yeah. Is that fixable? But fixable to do gates at the district and state soccer tournaments. There's just not that many. There's not that many people show up. You have to have It was just a question because it was like, "Holy Hannah, you have to have people that want to go watch." I see. So, that's where basketball comes in. And even the the number of people that look on the network at soccer is not near the number of people that watch basketball or football on the uh network. So, you know, that's the process of where
068the money comes from from the activities associated. Oh, that that makes sense. It does. But I just was like, if you look at the is huge. If you look at the cost of soccer for several years, you'll see that it's around $600. Probably not noticed it. I obviously haven't noticed, but I was just like that's 10 times. Well, let's have a vote on this recommendation. Um, all in favor? I. Any opposed? Hearing none, will adopt that. Uh, consider an administrative recommendation to adopt a Frontier Academy calendar. Mr. Chair, I would move the board adopt the Frontier Academy calendar for the 2627 school year as presented. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I I. Any opposed? Hearing none, we'll adopt that calendar. Consider an administrative recommendation to adopt policies. Mr. Chair, I move the board adopt
069policy 4115, school super sponsored field trips and activities. Policy 4115-R, field trip procedures. Policy 5312, classified staff as coaches. Policy 2080-R2 compensate compensation non-exempt staff travel on first reading. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Hearing none, we'll adopt those or move those policies forward. Consider an administrative recommendation to approve a new course proposal. Mr. Chair, I would move the board approve the Riverton High School new course proposal of acting studio advanced acting for the 2025 2026 school year as presented. Second. Any discussion? I am so excited. Yeah, I don't know if it's discussion or not, but I'm really glad that we're moving towards making full use of that facility because, you know, we fought hard for it and let's use it and our kids will be getting through some of these courses,
070ELA credit and um fine arts credit. Oh, excellent. Yeah. So, we're trying to find ways to encourage another way to meet those standards. Ju just like that. That's that should be an ELI standard. I mean, it is, but it should. Yes. One of the things I thought of was those two girls tonight where we I think of speech and debate, you know, for that kind of stuff. And it just goes to show that that ELA stuff goes everywhere. Yep. In any event, all in favor? I. Any opposed? Hearing none, we will approve that course. Consider an administrative recommendation to accept a resignation. Mr. Chair, I would move the board accept the resignation of Vanessa Wigington as a Riverton High School assistant cheer coach effective immediately. Second. Discussion. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Well, I
071am opposed to that, but um we'll accept that. Uh consider an administrative recommendation to offer contracts. Mr. Chair, I would move that the board offer a contract to Jaylen Pettit as a Riverton Middle School assistant cross country coach, Henry Lynn, a Riverton High School head track coach, all effective for the 2025 2026 school year. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Hearing none, we will offer those contracts. Information items. Uh first is a reminder that we have a work session this Thursday the 12th at what? Two days. Yeah. Two days at 5:00 pm and biddles will be provided. And we have a donation of $2,000 received from injury prevention for the rendevous elementary activity account to be utilized for student what's PBIS positive behavior. Okay, there we go. Rewards and staff morale. Uh
072certified staff changes transfer Bridget Franks to Willow Creek Title One specialist for the 2526 school year. Classified staff changes. We have a resignation of the aquatic center desk clerk Reagan Rockold effective immediately. Substitute f food food service worker Orin Janice Jr. effective May 9th. RMS night custodian Ivan Herrera effective June 9th. Transportation bus aid McKenzie Crannle effective June 10th. Retirements uh effective May 23rd. RMS parah Christine Rascatus, RMS Parah Tammy Meredith, uh, transfers effective for the 2526 school year, Rihanna Edgington to Frontier Academy success coach, Sandra Herd to Frontier Academy Secretary, Brenda Graves to RMS. Parah Brittany Minnik to step one step step up day school. Perah Tina Stagner to RMS food service and new hires Lily Orund as an aquatic center lifeguard. Elizabeth Smith as an aquatic center lifeguard. Lucy Fister as an aquatic
073setting aquatic center lifeguard. Alicia Riddle as an Aspen Elementary daycare assistant. and AOS van Dinter as a transportation bus driver and separation notices are in the executive content. Do we have anything else that anyone wants to talk about? Just one thing I asked the superintendent about the you we passed the uh truck driving uh offer for Frontier last board meeting and now since jobcore is going away that opportunity for our students is going away from one student at this point but but it's still saduge it gives the people so that's been put on hold for now Right. Right. Yeah. Hopefully that there will be some judicial override that won't will prevent that from taking place. I don't know that that's possible, but I hope that's the case. Probably a good opportunity to get your congressional
074delegates. Oh, by the speaking of that, I received well actually it wasn't myself. My daughter received at my address a card. Joel, what was his name? That was Buggenos saying that he's doing a bad job. You should uh contact, you know, get together and make sure that you don't get this guy voted in again. And I'm like, "Holy cow, I've never received anything like this before." It was like last week. Yeah. Yeah. It was kind of It was kind of surprising. I mean, I'm Was it a glossy or No. Well, yeah, it had his picture on the front and then somebody in the neighborhood had handwritten uh on the back, you know, it was a it was an a designed for that mailer, you know, post. Did somebody sponsor it? Did they have a I
075didn't say. Wow. Didn't say. But anyway, that would just kind of struck me as different meetings adjourned.