Spring

Photo by Lauriann Wakefield

Republican Convention

Rich County Republican Party

Wes Tingey - Chair, Karen Droesbeke - Vice Chair Pam Cornia - Secretary/Treasure 

The Rich County Republicans would like to invite anyone interested in attending their convention. We would like to see as many as can, attend, especially the county and state delegates.

The Rich County Republican Nominating Convention will be held on Thursday the 7th of April at: The Rich Middle School Gymnasium

54 East 100 South

Laketown Utah.

6:00 pm  - Meet & Greet

7:00 pm  - Welcome & call to order.

The Rich County Republican Party Constitution and By-Laws requires this convention to be held.

The name of each person who has filed a declaration of candidacy may be placed in nomination for the office declared. Following the nominating and acceptance speeches made on behalf of all candidates for office, the delegates shall vote by secret ballot.

The convention gives us the opportunity to meet the candidates and hear their position on issues. Also there will be a question and answer period which allows us to learn how they might vote on issues for us.

Besides the local candidates there will be statewide candidates or their representatives in attendance, who will be given time for a short speech.

 Yours Truly,

Wes Tingey County Chair

520 E. Crawford Road Randolph, UT 84086 (435) 793-4229

wdtingey@allwest.net

4H Signup

School Summer Maintenance Projects

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  March 23, 2016.   Rick Limb, School Maintenance Director, had a list of items to be worked on this coming summer.  He noted that a walk-in cooler and freezer needs to be purchased and installed.  The cost will be approximately $2,860.

The roof repair will cost about $38,500.  Steve Ackinson has bid on this project.

The floors at BATC need to be redone.  There have been three bids submitted for this project. The lowest bid is currently $3,235.

Floors in the high school, middle school and elementary schools’ rest rooms and locker room will be tiled during the summer.  The cost for this will be about $89,515.

Several trees need to be removed and/or trimmed.  The bids currently received are for $8,950 and $9,050. 

A fire alarm needs to be installed at the middle school and elementary in Laketown.   Limb felt that the same model and type should be used so that repairs and care will not require different companies.  The cost will be $46,787.

A cook top, two ovens, and counter tops need to be replaced in the kitchen in Randolph.  The cook top will cost $7,200.  Two ovens cost $13,400, and the counter tops will cost about $3,500.

The total amount of the budget to be used for maintenance this coming summer is about $244,735. This does not include a back-up generator that had been discussed in the past.

It was noted that perhaps the school board should consider getting a back-up generator that is large enough to handle more than just the computer servers, and freezer/cooler.  In many communities, the school becomes the place where people are housed and taken care of in an emergency.  Perhaps the school board should look into a generator large enough to handle all electrical requirements making it possible that the schools could fill that role if a disaster happened.

The motion was made and passed that  Limb go ahead with getting the needed bids and moving forward with the summer maintenance plans that presented to the Board.

Sunrise

Cody Dipo, Laketown

Rich School Board Meeting

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  March 23, 2016. The regular meeting of the Rich County School Board was called to order by Chairman, Pete Cornia.  

Bryce Huefner noted that the $25,000 shortfall last month included in the minutes needs an explanation to let the public know that this will not happen again in the future.  The lack of funds was a result of the fees not being high enough to cover all of the costs that have been incurred.  Huefner felt that some action needs to be taken so that this doesn’t happen year after year.  The Board decided that this issue needs to be given consideration when the next year’s budget is discussed.  

The question was asked why the monthly Accounts Payable total does not match the expenditure summary.  The accountant noted that the expenditure summary goes from the beginning of the month to the end of the month.  The accounts payable, however, goes from one board meeting to another—thus a month’s payouts goes from the third week in the month to that time in the next month.

There was a payment to JB for $6,540.  It was determined that this was fuel, repairs, and maintenance of the buses.

Mrs. Keetch teaches in the school district.  Her son will begin kindergarten next year.  She would like to have him go to school here in Rich County and be able to travel back and forth with her.  She requested that out-of-state tuition be waived for him to attend school in Randolph.  The board granted her request.

The School Board discussed and passed the proposed school calendar for next year.  There hasn’t been any negative feedback from the public so the motion was made and ratified by the board.

An RFP had been sent to several auditors who work with school districts to see what the costs would be for the required audit for the next few years.  Two companies responded to the request.  It is the general policy to choose a company and give them a contract for the next five years.  Squires and Gilbert & Stewart were the two who responded.  One company was much cheaper than the other.  It was decided to contact several schools who use either of these companies for their opinions concerning these companies.

Superintendent Lamborn has been working on Policy 300.  It contains several different procedures that have been used in the past.  However, because of changes over time, many of these procedures are no longer used.  He has removed the old methods and deleted things that no longer apply to the school setting.  The Board made a motion to adopt Policy 300 with the changes.  It should be ready for ratification next month.

The principals and teachers decide in the fall how trust land monies will be spent each year.  At this point in time, the report was made showing that the monies had been spent according to the plans made earlier.  There were very few variations from the original plan.  One group bought computer hardware instead of software but made sure the monies went into the computer area.  Upon hearing the report of how the monies have been expended, the Board made a motion and approved how the trust land monies had been spent.

Personnel insurance for the school district costs about $100,000 per month.  Because of the size of this expenditure, the district is always looking for ways to keep all of the benefits without having to increase the amount required to provide this benefit.  This past year, Rich School District entered into an agreement with several other schools to obtain a policy that would be cheaper for them because of the number of individuals involved.  However, the claims made against the insurance company exceeded the amount put into the pool.  Also, medical costs went up another 10 percent this past year.  Thus, it appears that the cost of insurance will increase by at least 21 plus percent.

The Board requested that the accountant look into some different pools to see if Rich can join with some other groups to continue to offer the same benefits and keep the costs down.  The accountant said he would check out several other options and present them at the next Board Meeting.

Six students from the robotics class went to Logan to try out what they had learned thus far.  A couple of Board Members went along.  They noted that the students did really well.  This program seems to be doing especially well.  The Board Members noted that the program was pretty impressive, and the trip to Logan was an especially good experience for the students.

The State is looking into the non boundary schools to see if they can’t come up with way to make tournaments and games a better experience for the schools involved.  At least the State is looking into the matter.

The next board meeting will be held April 20.

Rich School District Positions Open

March 28, 2016

POSITION OPEN: High School Science/Spanish Teacher
REQUIREMENTS: Utah Secondary Teaching License with endorsements to teach biological
sciences, physical sciences, and Spanish.
SALARY: Salary based on Rich School District Certified Salary Schedule.
Medical Benefits
TO APPLY: Applications available at our web site www.richschool.org employment
or the district office. Completed applications may include resume and
any available professional biographical data.

Send application to: Rich School District
Attn: Superintendent Dale Lamborn
P O Box 67
25 South 100 West
Randolph, Utah 84064
Phone 435-793-2135 x 101
Fax 435-793-2136
Email dlamborn@richschool.org

CLOSING DATE: This position will remain open and applications accepted, until a
qualified candidate is hired.
BEGINNING DATE: August 2016

March 28, 2016

POSITION OPEN: Elementary Teacher, Early Childhood Endorsement Desired
REQUIREMENTS: Elementary Education License
SALARY: Salary based on Rich School District Certified Salary Schedule.
Medical Benefits
TO APPLY: Applications available at our web site www.richschool.org, Employment
or the district office. Completed applications may include resume and
any available professional biographical data.

Send application to: Rich School District
Attn: Superintendent Dale Lamborn
P O Box 67
25 South 100 West
Randolph, Utah 84064
Phone 435-793-2135 x 101
Fax 435-793-2136
Email dlamborn@richschool.org

CLOSING DATE: This position will remain open and applications accepted, until a
qualified candidate is hired.
BEGINNING DATE: August 2016

Rich School District does not discriminate in the provision of services due to gender, race, color or
national origin and works in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Good Stuff

A Different Kind of Prom

By John Brown, The Man

The first time I attended a high school prom in Rich County, I thought the Rich County people were from another planet.

I was married. My wife Nellie had grown up in Rich County, and said that we had to go to her little brother’s prom.

“Your brother’s prom?” I asked. Like, what?

“Yes, my brother’s prom.”

Weird, I thought. Because in the big city, older brothers and sisters who have graduated simply do not go to high school proms.

But I’m always up for strange new experiences, and so we went.

And I can report that it was indeed strange. In the big city, grandma and grandpa do not attend the prom, nor do mom and dad or little brothers and sisters. And they most assuredly do not sit in the stands and watch the junior class perform a dance.

But that’s what they did in Rich County. And so I sat next to grandma and grandpa who were nigh unto eighty years old and watched an announcer present the junior class. There was a makeshift stage. And the announcer would announce the names of a young woman and a young man. On the stage, the young woman would take the arm of a young man, and then he would escort her out to the center of the floor to the applause of everyone in the gym. The couple would then perform a little action—he might twirl her, or she him, or she might jump in his arms, or he in hers, or she might lift her dress enough to show she was wearing cowboy boots that matched his, or dozens of other little creative things, and then they’d walk to the side to make room for the next couple.

In Rich County, there are only forty or so kids in a class, so it didn’t take long. When the juniors were all announced, the whole junior class, in their tuxes and dresses, spread out and took their places on the floor. A song began to play, and then they performed a dance that had been choreographed specifically for the occasion.

When it finished, the mother or father of each junior went out onto the floor and danced a slow dance with their son or daughter.

They then presented the seniors in the same way, after which the parents of the seniors went out and danced with their sons and daughters.

Only when that dance ended did the lights dim and the “normal” dancing begin. Nellie and I danced a few songs, and then she said it was time for us to get some refreshments and go.

And that’s what we did, leaving the teens to their evening.

I had never before seen anything like it. I laughed and wondered. Those funny hicks, I thought.

I took a job in San Francisco for a few years, then another in Columbus, Ohio. And then, years after that hick prom, Nellie and I moved from the big city to Rich County. That was almost thirteen years ago.

This last Friday I watched as my third daughter was announced and walked down from the makeshift stage. She was escorted by a young man, looking handsome in his tux. I watched him twirl her and another girl (he got to escort two). And when all the seniors had been presented, I got to dance with my girl at the prom.

I cannot tell you how sweet that was to look in her eyes, to see my little girl grown up into this beautiful, strong woman. I thought about how she was soon going to leave us, and tears threatened to spring into this papa’s eyes, but she smiled and said, “Don’t you dare.”

What’s a man to do? I obeyed. And instead of blubbering, we danced.

When we finished, I gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead and returned to the stands.

I’ve danced six times with my girls at these Rich County proms—once when each was a junior and once when they were seniors. And I love this tradition.

I love that a huge part of the community comes out to the dance. I love that we honor and applaud these great kids. I love watching the juniors in their gorgeous dresses and handsome tuxes perform these beautiful, formal dances that remind me of something you might find in Victorian England, something that seems to have stepped right out of Pride and Prejudice.

Junior class performing their dance

Dancing with parents

What an excellent evening.

How lucky I am that places like Rich County exist, and I get to live in one of them.

***

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