Garfield School Board has traveled to the district’s school communities to hold board meetings probably longer than I’ve been alive.
When I first moved to Escalante and heard of this practice, I was impressed! After all, from Panguitch to Boulder, it’s almost 100 miles and takes two hours! According to April LeFevre, Bryce Valley’s school board member, the intent of this practice was to try to unify the district schools who had historically been divided by disagreements on how to expend resources and for the board members to spend more time inside each of the schools.
In their July Board Meeting, the board voted to alter this traveling schedule to establish a more regular meeting place while still getting out into each of the communities once a year. This means one fewer board meeting in Tropic and two fewer in Escalante. Each community gets one visit a year and the remaining seven months the board will meet in the Commissioners’ Chambers of the Courthouse in Panguitch.
Jared Brems (Boulder/Antimony), Curtis Barney (Panguitch) and Ralph Perkins (Panguitch) voted in favor, with April LeFevre (Bryce Valley) and Myron Cottam (Escalante) voting against.
This decision is a mistake. Escalante and Boulder, especially, will have less meaningful access to the governing body. The connection that in-person attendance forges is powerful in communication and trust. You can’t get that over Zoom. This loss in access disproportionately affects communities that are already disadvantaged in enrollment numbers (and therefore funding), representation on the district level, and access to other resources.
The district has, however, committed to making their now-once-a-year visits more intentional and will continue to provide a Zoom option for attendance. I appreciate these efforts, and will be watching carefully to see if the benefit of more time to district staff will compensate for the effects of this loss of representation.
Sincerely,
Naketa Martel
Feature image courtesy of Abbie Call, The Byway.