This meeting lasted about two hours and fifteen minutes. The power was out at the start of the meeting, but came on after a half hour or so. Several community members were present for the awards presentation portion of the meeting. After that mostly school employees stayed for the remainder of the meeting.
1) Two items were tabled at the beginning of the meeting. One item had to do with hiring an employee for a sports-related position. The second had to do with a waiver application issue.
2) Board Member Comments:
a) Cathy Heseman - Said that she enjoyed the Open House event which took place a week ago. She also provided an update on the royalties situation. Not only did she and another board member visit with an assistant to Representative Paul Cook, but they also contacted a school district in Wyoming that also benefits from potash royalties. At this point the most recent potash royalty bill proposal expired before coming up for a vote, but there’s always the possibility that another proposal will be written.
b) Sandy Sprouse - Provided info about funding for resurfacing local runway and community park.
3) Superintendent’s Report: Talked about state testing and senior projects.
4) Trona Teachers Association - Talked about state testing incentives, thanked Mr. Wolfe for giving pep talks to classes to motivate them to do well on state tests, and also thanked the board for Teacher Appreciation Week gifts.
5) TCEA - Book fair raised $2300.
6) Mr. Wolfe - Talked about continuation school as opposed to community day school. Explained differences in hours that students attend. For continuation school it’s 15 hrs/wk and for community day school it’s 7 hrs/day.
7) Public Comments:
a) Randy Sorensen - Talked about HS track season and mentioned that some junior high students look like they will do well when they get to high school.
b) Jeff Reznichek - Also talked about HS track and asked that his assistant coach be retroactively paid a stipend for the work he did.
One or the other or both of these gentlemen suggested that junior high track be brought back.
8) Several people were hired for various positions including teachers, coaches, and summer workers.
9) Vice Principal for Elementary School - A long discussion took place regarding what was and wasn’t needed at the elementary school in terms of administrative support. A problem for a district as small as TJUSD is that three full time administrators would be considered excessive and could incur a $43K per year penalty. However, some feel that the workload is too much for existing administrators. Several options were discussed as well as pros and cons of different ideas. [An interesting way around the three administrator issue is to designate admins as part time admins with other duties that are non-administrative filling in the remainder of their assignments.] Three possible job descriptions will be submitted for the board to consider.
10) Security Guard / Truancy Officer - Another long discussion took place regarding this issue. Lots of security issues were discussed as well as the role of this person in dealing with those issues. One suggestion was that a risk management assessment be conducted. A job description will be submitted for the board to consider.
11) Brandman University Agreement - Annual contract renewed. This organization works with new teachers.
12) Isom Advisors - Discussion mostly focused on restructuring of the existing bond for swimming pool, but also discussed was the possibility of a bond to build a new gymnasium. The current gym has structural issues and it’s difficult to tell how much longer it will still be available for use.
13) Special Education Coverage Contract - Extra insurance to cover legal costs for issues involving special education. The district already has coverage for these issues and so this would be supplemental coverage.
14) Multi-School Sports Agreement - Lots of discussion on this item. Students from the Baptist church in Pioneer Point will be allowed to participate on sports teams, but they will be required to take two classes at the high school. The discussion went all over the place, but I believe that this was the final decision. The paperwork for this agreement must be turned in by May 30th. The vote on this item went 4-1.
15) 11th Grade Proposal Project - Up to $8000 would be available for high school students to complete worthwhile projects. During eleventh grade students would make proposals. The best would be considered for funding for implementation the following year.
NEXT MEETING: June 13, 2019