Good sportsmanship

The Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD2) met at 4 p.m. on Oct. 21 at the Hanna Elementary School. Board members present were chairman Joe Gaspari, vice chairman Paul Clark, treasurer James Sewell, clerk KayCee Alameda, Kassey Westring, Georgia Miller, Karen Condict, Charlie George, and Mike Boardman.

The first order of business was the approval of the agenda.

After the approval of the agenda, Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) High School principal Steve Priest introduced new teachers to the board. Paul Switzer teaching Ag Education and Kaitlyn Logan teaching Math/Science were given a warm welcome after they introduced themselves.

Hanna Elementary, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow tri school Principal Jason Greenway introduced Angela Allbritton, counselor for the north part of district. Again, the board welcomed the new staff member.

The minutes from Sept. 16 were approved after the staff introductions.

Under correspondence to the board, CCSD2 Superintendent James Copeland shared Good Sportsmanship Award letters from the Wyoming High School Activities Association.

Awards were given to Charla Widdison from HEM and Lizzie James from Encampment at the HEM versus Encampment volleyball Sept. 4. Cora Schroeder from Encampment and Taylor Bennett from Saratoga won the award in the Encampment versus Saratoga volleyball Sept. 14 game. The Saratoga football players and coaches received recognition in the Saratoga versus Lingle- Fort Laramie football game on Sept. 20. Shane McGraw and Ura Schmidt from HEM in the game of HEM versus Hulett football won the award on Sept. 21 Lindsie Farver from Encampment won in the Encampment versus Rock River volleyball game on Sept. 21.

The treasurer’s report general fund balance as of Sept 30 was $3,928,923.10. The bills presented for payment in the amount of $551,795.63 were approved.

CCSD2 Audit Representative Alexandra Wilkinson, from Porter, Muirhead, Cornia, and Howard attended the meeting and reviewed CCSD2’s audit for fiscal year 2019. She reported that the district was in good shape with no significant deficiencies. She thanked the business office for their hard work.

“This is the first time we ever finished the audit before the month of October,” Wilkinson said.

The board approved the CCSD2 audit for fiscal year June 30, 2019.

The board accepted CCSD2 Nurse Karen Patton’s resignation. Later in board member comments, all would thank Patton for her years of service.

The board approved offering the 2019-2020 September listing for activity/extra duty contracts including those pending certification. The list had these names on it: Robert Riddle, HEM head wrestling coach; McKean Madsen, HEM assistant wrestling coach; Kenzie Strauch, HEM middle-level other assistant boys basketball coach; Allison Madsen, HEM middle-level other assistant girls basketball coach; Lane Moreland, Saratoga Middle High School (SMHS) middle-level first assistant wrestling coach; Lionzo Escobedo, SMHS middle-level other assistant wrestling coach (pending certification); Logan Wright, SMHS middle-level first assistant girls basketball coach; and Mackenzie Rakness, SMHS middle-level other assistant girls basketball coach (pending certification).

The last hiring contract the board approved was Cheryl Munroe to be a half-time FACA teacher for Encampment and Saratoga for the remaining 2019-2020 school year.

“She is going to be teaching classes in Encampment and Saratoga,” Copeland said.

Next, Copeland gave his superintendent report.

He reminded the board of the upcoming Wyoming School Boards Association Annual Fall Conference in Casper on November 20-22. He said the holiday concerts by the different schools was confirmed.

“Also there is the Elk Mountain Elementary School Annual Pumpkin Patch coming up on Oct, 24 at 6 p.m.,” Copeland announced.

Copeland gave an update regarding the recent District Accountability Committee (DAC) meeting held at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 16 at the Central Office. He reported that the DAC took a poll to determine the projects, discussions and topics they would like to focus on this year.

Copeland briefly talked about and presented the results of the peer review.

“I wanted to let you know that we did have a peer review, but I am not going to go over each one because I did send you this information, but this sort of a summary of it how it worked,” Copeland said.

He said the peer review found CCSD2 in a strong position.

Copeland said there had been inquiries to use the CCSD2 field by Saratoga Elementary School for Little League. The board decided more information will need to be obtained and an official request will need to be brought before the board.

Noel Manning, Director of Curriculum, said the Professional Development In-Service training with Instructional Intensity was well received by staff, but explained additional attention will be given to relevancy for all teachers. Manning continues to work on the District Assessment System and has continued training for new teachers.

On a Board Governance Policy Update changes were made and approved to Board Governance Policy Tab 1.1-E.1 suggested at the previous board work session on the first and only reading.

Concerning an alleged plaque that had gone missing outside the HEM gym, the board found no evidence that the plaque had ever been put up.

“At our May 20 board meeting in Elk Mountain, the board said it would investigate a missing plaque that had been alleged to have been put by the gym,” Gaspari said. “We have done a thorough investigation and found no evidence that the plaque was seen by anybody, so I am recommending no action be taken at this time.”

Gaspari reviewed the Superintendent Evaluation process.

“Please return the completed evaluation form to me by no later than Monday, November 4,” Gaspari said. “The evaluation will be shared with Superintendent Copeland at the November meeting.”

Miller reviewed her attached report on Board of Cooperative Educational Services and referenced the handout titled Breaking Bad Behavior.

After board members gave their comments on the meeting, the consent agenda was approved.

Under new business the board approved the easement requested by Carbon Power and Light in Elk Mountain on the northwest corner of the CCSD2 property.

The board went into executive session at 5:36 p.m. and came out at 6:17 p.m. The board then adjourned.

The next regularly scheduled meeting will be at 4:00 p.m. on Nov. 18 at Encampment School.