NOT In Garden City Says School Board

Chris Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah. October 21, 2015. In a process initiated by a group of citizens 19 months ago, the county has finally completed a state law-mandated reapportionment of the Rich County School District and a new board member will be chosen by the school board.

A request was made of the board that the open interview meeting be held in the new district, using the offices in Garden City.  This request was made because the new board member will represent Garden City and having the candidate interview meeting there would more easily allow citizens to attend and listen.  Board member Bryce Huefner spoke in favor of that idea.  Board members Scott Sabey,  Monty Weston, and  Eric Wamsley expressed willingness to have the meeting in either the Randolph district office or in Garden City. 

Board member  Pete Cornia stated forcefully that he thought the meeting should be in Randolph as that is where the district office is and the computers were there if needed.  The board caved to his intensity and voted to have the meeting in Randolph, with Cornia, Sabey, and Weston in favor.

Huefner opposed, and Wamsley abstained. 

Editor’s note:  There was a direct conflict in the reasoning and votes of board member Cornia with respect to board meetings away from the district office.   Cornia expressed opposition to having the special board meeting in Garden City to interview potential new board members from that district, yet while scheduling the next regular school board meeting for November, the board decided, with Cornia’s active support, to move that meeting to Laketown.  When asked by a citizen in the audience how the board could do in that,  when moving the meeting would mean the computers would not be available there, board member Cornia said, “We’ll manage.”

An opportunity for good public relations with Garden City citizens was lost.

The school board was notified Oct 9 by the county commissioners that the reapportionment was effective immediately.  U.S. Census data was the source of raw data used to complete the realignment of all of the 5 districts, which will result in several significant changes.  

First, a new school board member will be appointed within 30 days for the newly formed district 5, which consists essentially of that portion of the county north of US 89 and west of Bear Lake, and county citizens in that district currently have no representative on the school board.  This area is essentially Garden City north, but includes the Swan Creek area and extends to the Idaho border.  While precise data for the boundary exists, no person or office in the county has produced that data, even when asked, rather only general maps for all 5 districts that are not clear with respect to precise boundaries.

In a school board meeting October 20, the existing school board approved the following process for the naming of a new school board member:  Any citizen who is a resident of district 5 (this may be difficult to learn for those near boundaries) and who wishes to be considered for appointment to the school board for an interim period until the next district election needs to send a letter to the school district so that it arrives not later than noon on Nov. 4.  On November 5^th at 9 a.m. the school board will have an open meeting (required by law) in the district office in Randolph, where those interested will be interviewed by the board members.   

The existing board will then select the new member.  While the interview meeting is open to the public, board deliberations afterward are likely to be conducted in executive session.  A vote, however, must be conducted in public.