By Julie Johansen
The Emery School Board met on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at Canyon View Middle School. The meeting began with a work session where a representative from Frantz Law Group invited the Emery School District to join the litigation against social media groups targeting youth. He explained that the purpose would be to allow parents to be in control with social media apps. This same group represented the district in the previous vaping litigation.
The district-wide plumbing and water problem discussion continued following last month’s referral to this meeting. Business administrator Jackie Allred and maintenance supervisor Wayne Maxfield reported that the preferred option would be to hire a district plumber. This would be less expensive and relieve some summer rushes. It may, however, require work during school hours and could take several years to complete.
The legislative funding for small school districts makes it possible for Emery to apply for three grants: a seismic reinforcement for Huntington and Cottonwood elementary schools, a heating and air conditioning boiler conversion for Huntington, Cleveland and Cottonwood elementary schools, and a playground conversion from wood chips to poured-in-place rubberized surfacing.
These are matching grants and would require the district to pay 50% of each grant approved. This would increase the functioning and extend the life of these buildings as future funding for building is limited. However, the cost could be about $4.4 million.
Yvonne Jensen, Emery School District Supervisor, gave a summative testing report. She announced that the school report cards would be available soon from the Utah State School Board. She also reported high schools’ Gateway and ACT testing scores and middle school and elementary Rise scores. These scores compare scores locally with similar schools in the state.
Superintendent Ryan Maughan then gave the TSSA Framework review. This report shared each individual school’s plans and results from the previous year. Board member Tracey Johnson requested more clarification on these scores.
The regular session was called to order by Emery School Board President Royd Hatt and a motion to go into a closed session followed his welcome. After a short closed session, Trent Huntsman from Westland Construction gave an update on the Emery High School construction.
Huntsman reported that all masonry work will be completed shortly for this phase of the building. Roofing is continuing with the media center and office/counseling starting next week. Interior framing has also begun in the areas ready. Wayne Maxfield reported that trailers needed for the last phase are beginning to arrive and will be moved in.
Doug Johnson, IT supervisor, presented the security report for the entire district. Inventory of all computer and building connection was presented to the board. The firewall receives about 15,000 attacks every minute. Johnson reported that classroom management is still the best defense. There are three system backups in different locations for disaster recovery.
With the approval of the consent agenda, the following names were approved for hire: Jacklyn Oveson, preschool aide at Cleveland Elementary; Kaela Kitchin, land trust aide at Canyon View Middle School; and Stephanie Olsen, preschool lead at Ferron Elementary.
Wyatt Gardner, an auto student at Emery High, requested permission for out-of-state travel to compete in New Mexico in November. Chandler Peacock, the school’s auto instructor, also gave their itinerary, travel details and explained the opportunity for the students. Permission was granted unanimously.
The Emery High School applications for graduation with 24 credits, which was discussed with applicants in the closed session, was voted on and approved.
The Utah High School Activities Association has sanctioned boys’ volleyball in 3A this school year. Interested parties were present at last month’s meeting and again on Wednesday. It was proposed to have an open gym offered in January if a coach or advisor is present. This would give an opportunity for students to participate in the spring and fall of 2024.
A comment was made that there are enough boys interested to have a varsity and JV team. There are currently eight 3A teams state wide and some of them are with club programs. The recommended club program was board approved.
Proposed secondary school winter sports schedules were also approved.
Jenny Gagon, Canyon View Middle School Principal, reported that the school’s main focus this year is on goal setting. They hold summer retreat to review last year’s data and set goals for the coming year. They are continuing with an intervention or extension period offered. They also work with a full-inclusion model, letting special education students attend classes with their peers.
Gagon said that the school has seen a decrease in the number of students with low improvement scores. They have also seen a decrease in chronically absent students. A new goal this year is to help students gain essential life skills, while the theme this year is “We Are One!” where everyone helps each student.
