Rachael Moore, Reporter
Rich Civic Times
RANDOLPH, Utah. September 17, 2019. In attendance were Dale Lamborn (Superintendent), Eric Wamsley (Vice President, presiding), Pete Cornia (member), Scott Sabey (President, via phone), Scott Tolentino (member), Cyndi Caldwell (member), and Jennie Johnson (business admin).
A motion was taken and passed for both consent items on the agenda, previous meeting minutes and expenditures.
In the 2019 General Session, H.B. 391, Modifications to Governmental Immunity Provisions, passed which required the Utah State Board of Education (Board) to create a model "appropriate behavior policy". Each Local Education Agency (LEA) is required to adopt an ‘appropriate behavior policy” that cannot be less stringent than the one provided by the State: “This model policy is provided for use by Utah’s Local Education Agencies (“LEAs”) to assist in complying with the mandates of Utah Code Ann. §63G-7-301. Waivers of immunity, as amended by HB391, 2019 General Session. The amended law requires each LEA to adopt an “appropriate behavior policy” applicable to all LEA employees. The LEA’s policy must be no less stringent than the model policy created by the State Board of Education. It must establish a standard of care for preventing and prohibiting any sexual conduct between an employee and a student, including the sharing of sexually explicit or lewd communications, images, or photographs. In addition, every employee must be provided training and sign a statement acknowledging the employee has read and understands the policy.
Utah Admin. Code R277-322. LEA Codes of Conduct, (formerly R277-517), has been in effect for several years and requires every LEA to adopt a code of conduct for all staff members. To avoid duplication in creating both an “appropriate behavior policy” and an LEA Code of Conduct, the Utah State Board of Education amended the rule to include the requirements of HB391. The Model Policy mirrors the rule as amended.
The amended law and rule require all staff members receive training about this policy and acknowledge, in writing, receiving the training and understanding the behavior mandates of the policy. To assist LEAs in this process, USBE has developed and made available a Code of Conduct Training and sample acknowledgement form. LEAs are encouraged to supplement the basic information provided in the training with LEA specific requirements in applicable areas. Additionally, the sample acknowledgement form may be amended to fit the needs and circumstances of the individual LEA”
See the full policy at: https://schools.utah.gov/file/c138a448-1376-4095-8685-7c13651c04a3
It required training to be provided and acknowledged in writing to existing employees prior to the 2019-2020 School year commencement. Superintendent Lamborn stated that training was provided to current staff prior to school starting during opening institute. Any new staff that is hired will need to complete the training and acknowledge in writing within 10 days of their beginning employment.
HB391 and the policy was discussed in the August school board meeting. In this meeting, no changes to the model policy were proposed, however, there was discussion regarding where to place the policy in the policy book. Options were to put it in section 100 or also in both 600 and 700 and adjust the numbers. The board opted to cover all the bases and put it in both the 600 and 700 sections adjusting the numbers. A motion was carried and passed.
New staffing was discussed. The number of hours an aide can work is dependent on class enrollment. If the number of children in a classroom exceeds 20 students, a part time aide can be hired. If the number of children in a classroom exceeds 25, a full-time aide can be hired.
South Ridge Elementary Kindergarten class enrollment currently is at 24 students. The required waiting period of a month before hiring has already transpired. An interview panel consisting of 4 people interviewed 5 candidates and decided that Mindy Hoffman would fill this part time position. Hoffman has subbed and volunteered previously and has already passed all required background checks etc. as a result. A motion was carried and passed
North Rich Elementary Kindergarten class also needs a part time aide. A candidate is being interviewed on 9/18/19 for the aide position. The thirty-day waiting period will expire on 9/19/19. Rather than waiting an additional 30 days for the next board meeting to grant approval, a request to get a consensus for the President of the Board (Scott Sabey) to approve after the 19th so the position can be filled was made. A motion was carried and passed.
A similar request for pre-approval for Hoffman to move to full time if enrollment changes to 25 for the kindergarten class at South Rich Elementary was made. The underlying reason for the request was that according to Superintendent Lamborn, they received some information that a new student would be enrolling which would put them at 25 for enrollment. Hoffman has already stated that she could move to full time in such a case.
A new bus purchase was discussed next. No new bus was ordered for this year. However, in order for the bus to be obtained and delivered for the fall of 2020, it must be ordered by October of this year. Robyn Esterholdt reported that the fleet is in pretty good shape. One of the 2005 buses was sold at a public surplus site this year to a charter school in Santaquin for $7700. She shared a funny story about them coming three days earlier than arranged and taking the wrong bus, but it was returned and exchanged for the correct bus. That leaves the district with only two left that are running “dirty diesel”, the rest are all the new exhaust.
A new bus would get that number down to one “dirty diesel” bus, which is an old handicapped equipped bus that has a difficult time getting through the canyons, has no power, and has no retarder. A question was asked about how many miles are on the buses that get sold. The most recent had 270k miles on it. The one she is driving now just turned over 260k but it’s a bit older. They have been getting buses with a 78 seat capacity. The last new bus cost around 134k, this one would be expected to be a little more expensive. An estimate and requisition need to be made for the next board meeting, which Esterholdt said she could do. A motion was carried and passed to get a new bus for school year 2020, fiscal year 2021.
Scott Tolentino asked if the Rich Middle School Activity Bus drop off locations could be modified. He had received calls from a couple of concerned parents. Currently the bus drops the kids at the LDS church in Garden City and they were requesting a stop at the Chevron instead or in addition. Reasons given was that it was dark, they must cross the highway, walk along the highway with no sidewalks part of the way (safety issues), and sometimes the parents can’t pick up right away and there are no activities at the church. It is the responsibility of the parents to pick up their children, however, this would get them a little closer to home. Esterholdt conceded that it is not much farther to go and its doable, it just needs board approval to make the route adjustments. The board decided that it should be done for both routes not just the Activity Bus. A motion was carried and passed.
Home school requests were approved for a one-hour early release. During the release hour the school district will not provide supervision, the children will be the responsibility of the parent and requires the parents to sign a release form. These students will be going off campus.
State law allows parents to release their students from school for dual enrollment. Dual enrollment applies only to a situation where a student is enrolled “dually” in a home school or private achool, for part of the day, and in a public school for the other part of the day. We have some students that are half day release and some that are a single period release. Since the requests were not discussed by name, an executive session was not needed.
A building update was given by Richard Limb,building and maintenance. All projects are completed except one. Construction is moving forward but various teams are having to work around each other. The bus pads are going in, the electronic locks are going in. The state fire inspector came and inspected, he was concerned about the dust collectors, but was not really concerned about evacuation. Drills have been done to educate kids about the different routes to take in an emergency. The inspector will be back in 30 days.
Board members can attend Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) meeting if they want. They will be discussing a sportsmanship policy and RPI ranking.
There is a meeting for Utah School Boards Association in Logan 10/9/19 and one in Park City 10/29/19 at 6pm that could probably be attended as well. The board decided that Park City date would be more convenient for them. Superintendent Lamborn will make a request to attend the Park City meeting.
A meeting occurred with Bridgerland Technical College since the last board meeting. They went over policies dealing mostly with the Logan campus. President Campbell is requesting that the board provide a written statement of support in their initiative to request a new science health building from the school district. The University of Utah also offered their support for state legislature. Bridgerland has set up a donation page that the public can contribute to at https://btech.edu/donate
The next board meeting will be Tuesday 10/22/19 at 6pm.
References:
https://le.utah.gov/~2019/bills/static/HB0391.html
https://schools.utah.gov/file/c138a448-1376-4095-8685-7c13651c04a3
https://rules.utah.gov/publicat/bulletin/2019/20190701/43787.htm
https://www.schools.utah.gov/File/b82f3b30-876a-4a84-af2b-d0117acf6b30
https://www.schools.utah.gov/File/361b6bd8-90ef-49ff-bfaf-ce88b42deb4b
https://www.uhsaa.org/index.php
https://usba.cc/about/about-usba/
https://btech.edu/
