Embedded Files
Meeting Agenda: 6:00 pm Regular Meeting
Tuesday, October 11, 2022
Fremont County School District Number One
Board of Trustees
863 Sweetwater Street
Board Meeting -Disclaimer- Notes from the board meeting are intended to highlight the major events/decisions/tone of the meeting as determined by the LEA representative attending. They are NOT meant to be an exact transcript of the entire meeting.
For items with documents, those are available on the website of the governing board at the Lander Schools Website.
1. General Business
A. Call to Order @ 6:00 pm
B. Pledge of Allegiance
C. Additional Agenda Items
D. Adoption of the Agenda
Adopted as amended
E. Approve Minutes - September 20
approved
F. Recognitions
Congratulations to FCSD1's Kristy Nelson, Instructional Facilitator. She was selected by WDE as the 2022 Digital Learning Award for Education Leader winner! She will be honored at the Wyoming Innovations in Learning Conference on November 3.
G. Public Comment
No comments for items on the agenda
Comments for items not on the agenda
Community Member - Views about standards based grading as a parent and an educator. Was assistant principal at the high school. Schools across the country have visited the high school for the successful implementation of standards based grading. The board needs to trust employees to pursue best practices. Standards based grading is best practices. No students have been harmed due to the standards based grading. Students have graduated due to standards based grading. Unethical to revert from best practices to a broken letter grade system. Point attainment systems like letter grades, lead to extra credit pursuits when getting a lower grade on an assessment that was not in line with understanding the concepts tested. Traditional letter grade system was discriminatory and did not allow all students to be successful and access the same education. Power Law - grading practice that mirrors the pattern in which we learn. The impact of a 0 in the traditional grading system is more devastating than with standards based grading. Standards based grading allows LVHS to report to the state exactly what the students have learned. Punishment not attached to the grade book. Standards based grading is more work for the teachers as it holds the mission to the schools that every student will be successful - not just the ones with supportive parents and ones where learning comes easily. Honors classes are for the parents not the students, the research shows that honors classes don’t enhance the effectiveness of learning. Some vs. All. Professionals receive intensive training and multiple opportunities to learn their skills - students should be allowed to also.
Nirider felt like this comment was campaigning as there was no one to rebuttal.
End of public comment
2. Programs-Reports-Presentations
A. Board Member Reports
ME literacy training - went and checked out the literacy programs. Struck by how the teachers really break down reading and writing in multi modal ways - can see the children learning the concepts in the way they are taught it.
KH - the board should be cautious about rescheduling meetings being aware of the other meetings that it comes into conflict with (e.g. city council)
B. Superintendent's Report
Strategic Scorecard
Suspensions and explosions number should be looked at with caution, as it represents repeat students as well as half day suspensions.
There was a lot of certified movement within the county - leaving FCDS1 for another school in Fremont county or coming into FCSD1 From another school in Fremont county
TJ - wondering about Exit interviews.
DB - This year they were sent at the end of the school year to private emails which led to a smaller sample size. Get a better response participation when sent to school emails prior to the end of the year.
JK - out of 41, a rough amount who would have given exit interviews?
DB - less than 20
ME - an exit interview is a 1:1 conversation with human resources as opposed to an exit survey
DB - we have done surveys
ME - if we want this scorecard to be approachable, make sure we have parent friendly wording on the scorecard.
JK - for portrait of a graduate, use a color coding approach or a narrative tied to the scorecard
Joint Education Committee
DB attended the meeting. Discussion surrounded finding non-monetary ways to retain teachers. Messages from the top talking about how well Wyoming schools are doing compared to the rest of the nation's schools. Talk to the legislature whenever we get the chance. Comparing state testing to the nation testing - is not an apples to apples comparison, needs to be looked closer at.
KH - could you develop talking points for the school board members to use to address the legislature
DB - will develop talking points for the board members
DB - this morning was the final in person portion of the risk assessment training. Level 2 will be coming up.
JK - have we run some of these drills
DB - yes, most of them have been communication drills
DB - shared a graph comparing K enrollments and county birth rates as well as k-12 enrollment rates
TJ - do we have a number for our homeschool students?
DB - we can get that
TN - if we have students in our district that are homeschooled or online school - do we not have access to those numbers?
DB - we should as homeschool applications go through the district
KH - as long as parents report per Wyoming law
DM - 81 mailings sent to home in June to hopefully reach as many homeschool students as we can, to offer title 1 and to offer sped testing
ME - sent to families that identified themselves?
DM - yes, as well as ones that the secretaries had heard about
DM - the number hasn’t really changed that much over the years
End of report
3. *Consent Agenda
A. Approve Expenditures and Pre-Approve Utilities and Financial Report
B. Reporting of Home School Students & Curriculum
C. PHS Early Graduation Requests
D. Stipulated Expulsion Agreements
Motion to approve all consent items
Motion carried
4. Action Items
A. Personnel Actions
Motion by Kathy Hitt, second by Michelle Escudero.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yes: Michelle Escudero, Teresa Nirider, Kathy Hitt, Jared Kail, Scott Jensen, Taylor Jacobs
No: Brett Berg
B. Policy (2nd reading)
Policy Review
1) EB - Safety Program
2) EBAA - Notification of Pesticide Application on or Within School Buildings
Adding parents to the list
3) EBAB - Hazard Materials
4) EBB - First Aid and Safety Procedures
5) EBBD - CPR/First Aid/AED Training
6) EBC - Emergency Plans
EB safety
changes to help flow. added a piece
ME - third part last line removes parenthesis.
Motion by Kathy Hitt, second by Teresa Nirider.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yes: Michelle Escudero, Teresa Nirider, Kathy Hitt, Jared Kail, Brett Berg, Scott Jensen, Taylor Jacobs
C. Approval of Depreciation Reserve Funds for Band Equipment
Motion to approve using depreciation reserve funds to purchase band equipment as submitted.
TS - request from LVHS/LMS band teacher Mr. Moline - to replace several equipment items - belated due to budget finalization and reports. Justified to use depreciation funds for this. Costly to repair.
Motion by Brett Berg, second by Teresa Nirider.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yes: Michelle Escudero, Teresa Nirider, Kathy Hitt, Jared Kail, Brett Berg, Scott Jensen, Taylor Jacobs
D. Accept donation
Accept donation for $110,000 to construct a storefront entry to the Bruce Gresly Aquatic Center.
TS - Richard Cook passed away and to memorialize him - his wife has graciously donated $110,000 to the district to add a vestibule to the outside of the pool. Memorandum or understanding. have an architect on board, but thought very gracious. street side
Currently working with the city - safe routes to schools. Basically eliminate entrance beside pool
Motion by Scott Jensen, second by Taylor Jacobs.
Final Resolution: Motion Carries
Yes: Michelle Escudero, Teresa Nirider, Kathy Hitt, Jared Kail, Brett Berg, Scott Jensen, Taylor Jacobs
5. Discussion Items
A. Policy (1st reading)
First Reading Policy Review:
1) EBBA - Prevention of Disease/Infection Transmission
2) EBBB - Accident Reports
3) INJ - Homeschooling
4) JEBC - Admission of Students from Homeschool
B. Safe2Tell information
Discussion about false accusations - ME, there has to be a way to use the system to protect the students who aren’t doing anything wrong but are getting accused of doing something.
DB - we go through the process when a complaint is heard.
JK - when a verifiably false statement comes through is there a consequence for the false report
SJ - maybe the concern is how the student was addressed when a statement was made/accused. What is the process? Was a student placed in a room, called out in front of peers? Etc? Can we treat them with dignity and care?
TN - do we have any data that safe-to-tell is being used as a tool to be hurtful? Do we have a process about how we investigate a student? Notify the parents, etc?
JK - spoke to Mrs. Reisig - there is a very set protocol for the investigation.
Can we break up the 2022-2023 data to see the time frame? Do we have a high amount so far this year? Can we compare?
DB - we can give it by the month and extrapolate. We can look at what time some of those came in as well.
TN - are we allowed to know the category?
ME - what education are we providing about using this system?
DB - I would have to check with admin
B Nuendorf - most training goes on during freshman orientation. Especially about how to use it as a tool to keep the school safe and the seriousness of the tool. Most stipulated agreements come from student reports, students take a drug free and safe school seriously. It has been a successful tool.
ME - Consequence for a malicious report
BN - Can become as serious as an expulsion, it really depends on the disruption
BB - i would be curious to see how it broke out through building by building
CW - at Pathfinder they use a specific time to go over safe-to-tell with all the students about the appropriate use and consequences of false reporting. Have reviewed it during the school year when its been a necessary reminder.
JM - LMS teachers for over it during orientation, health teachers go over it, counselors go into classes and cover it about once a month
4th and 5th grade levels to report when their friends are in danger at home or for self-harm
JK - do we get bullying reports through the system
Reisig - we do, there are categories that get picked - but just because it is chosen as bullying it doesn't always fit in that category.
C. Athletic Safety protocols
Additional discussion item
A letter/petition was delivered to the board regarding Taylor Jacob’s appearance on partisan mailer and addressing online comments made by Taylor.
KH - we do have a code of ethics, we need to make sure we are acting non-partisan because we are representing everyone. Maybe we need to retrain and review for everyone and for new board members. Discuss how we interact with the public in our capacity as a school board member.
TJ - move policy review to the board retreat to when we have new members, the support for this candidate I did not once use my endorsement as a school board member. Used personal email. Candidate took it upon themself to add the byline
JK - do we want to do a self evaluation of the board?
ME - It's a good practice
JK - we are running into a timing issue. Will send out the same time as Barker’s evaluation for the November meeting.
6. Administrative Details/Reminders/Future Plans
A. November 1, Board meeting @ 6:00 pm
B. November 15, Board meeting @ 6:00 pm
C. November 16-18, WSBA conference
7. Adjournment 8:24
A. *Consent Items Disclaimer
Google Sites
Report abuse