On March 8, 2022, the Piute County School Board met for their monthly school board meeting. The first part of the meeting centered around various programs in the district. Assistant Coach Holly Westwood reported on the girls basketball program. The Piute Girls won state basketball this year! Holly also reported on the FCCLA program including letting the board know that they will need to find a new advisor for next year as FCCLA competes for time with girls basketball.
Lisa Allen reported on the Circleville preschool program. In the first year of the program, she had twenty two students — seven in the 4-year-old class and fifteen in the 3-year-old class. Lisa reported on the progress of each class noting that of the 4-year-old class, the students can identify 22 letters — an increase from about eight letters from the beginning of the year. They are also doing well with counting and shapes. The focus of the 3-year-old class is on social skills.
Piute drama wrote and will perform a play for region drama, hosted by Piute this year. Robert Thomas explained to the board that about eight students are actively participating in drama with some interest from the younger grades.
Students Colin W. and Corbin S. explained about the SkillsUSA Piute PROUD program. This year is the first year the school has participated in the program. The PROUD program incentivizes good student citizenship, effort and progress and is designed to recognize all students for the positive things they do. Teachers give out tickets which enter awarded students in to daily, weekly, and monthly prizes. Various businesses in Piute and Richfield donated toward the program, and the school board voted to give $400 for next school year.
Jason Strate from Central Utah Educational Services gave his report to the board on services they’ve worked on for the district including assisting with a grant to upgrade audio equipment in district classrooms. He also spoke about efforts to assist teachers who are earning a teaching license while teaching. The APPEL program is an alternative way for individuals who hold a non-education bachelor’s degree to teach while working toward licensing requirements. CUES will sit down with those individuals and develop a clear plan to licensing.
The district is considering participating in Competitive Cheer. There is some interest among community members and students. Teresa Morgan sees this as a way to fill the competitive gap that was left when drill team was discontinued. She mentioned that other schools have made competitive cheer a class. One major drawback is with cheer focusing on competing, there is less time for cheer teams to participate in school spirit projects. The board discussed the pros and cons and solutions to make the program work. It may be a process of trial and error to find a good balance. The district is seeking a qualified coach to lead the program and will proceed from there.
Superintendent Koby Willis proposed using ESSER (COVID) funds to develop or expand two additional programs that to extend into summertime. Similar to Summer Ag, he’s asking for interested teachers to submit a proposal to the district. He wants to give flexibility to teachers and students to create a meaningful program to expand summer learning and the district will fund the two selected programs.
In a special meeting held on March 21, wrestling coach Clint Randall requested permission to travel out of state with three wrestlers who will wrestle at the national tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Wrestlers Jesse J., Monty M., and McKray G. all qualified for the tournament. The board granted permission and awarded the athletes $500 plus the option to earn more by doing additional work for the district.
Koby presented staffing recommendations for next school year, especially at the two elementary schools. New hires are: at Circleville Elementary, Anna Wilde and Keatley Crump — ESSER III Paraprofessionals, Sydney Meirzwiak and Kimberly Blood — Substitute. Piute High School, Bailey Dalton — Head Track Coach, Clint Randall — Assistant Track Coach, Avigail Bencomo — Sweeper.
– The Byway
Read about the March Wayne School Board Meeting here.