By Julie Johansen
Emery County School District Superintendent Larry Davis recognized five Emery High Academic All-State athletes at the recent school board meeting. Those honored included Lainee Jensen, girls’ golf, Addison Healy, softball, James Behling, boys’ soccer, Landon Fairbanks, boys’ track and field, and Elexis Dalton, girls’ track and field. These students were given certificates and praise from the school board for their hard work and dedication over the past year.
Employee and volunteers of the year were presented with crystal plaques of recognition at the meeting. Pam Howard, Cottonwood Elementary PTA President, received the volunteer award. The classified employee award was received by Kerri Allred from the district’s business office. The Emery School District Secondary Teacher of the Year was Green River High School (GRHS) science teacher Dale Roundy and Stephanie Roper was recognized as the Elementary Teacher of the Year as well as the District Teacher of the Year. Roper is the Title 1 teacher at Cottonwood and Ferron Elementary. Supt. Davis also explained that five adult high school students received their diplomas this year.
Also announced at the meeting was new staffing positions for the district, including Lance Whitesel, counselor for Canyon View Middle School (CVMS) and GRHS; Yory Allred, Emery High School (EHS) head coach for girls’ soccer; Earl Hales, custodian for GRHS and Book Cliff Elementary; Ren Hatt, English and language arts teacher at GRHS; and Ashley Reyes, teacher at Book Cliff Elementary. Positions still to be staffed include a full-time teacher for GRHS and a part-time secretary in the GRHS counseling department.
Principal Kayce Fluckey, GRHS, spoke to the board about her concern with the discipline policies at GRHS and EHS. She was not sure that they meet new state three-tier requirements before referring students to the juvenile court. She further stated that these steps must be documented for truancy as well as expulsion. Other programs need to be in place, such as ADAPT or Family Based Programs. A follow-up report on these issues was called for by the board.
A public hearing followed to discuss budgets for 2018-19. Both budgets, $27.8 million for 2019 and $28.3 million for final budget of 2018, were explained by Jared Black, financial secretary for the district. Both budgets were approved by the board.
Next, the Emery High School band requested permission to participate in the Days of ’47 Parade. This would also include an overnight stay so that the 30 student participants could make a trip to Lagoon. Fundraisers at Heritage Days will help with the $70/student expense. Permission was granted following a check on the number of chaperones.
Principal Yvonne Jensen, CVMS, asked the board to consider the payment of fees and coaches’ salaries at the middle schools. She also recommended starting cross country and archery programs at the middle schools. The board took Jensen’s comments into consideration.
In Superintendent Davis’ final report, he announced the retirement of Pat and Kathy Brady from GRHS. He also explained that TLC early out dates will remain like last school year for 2018-19. He concluded with a report on the firefighters stay at EHS.
