Personnel changes highlight school board meeting

By KARLA POMEROY
Personnel and policies highlighted the Big Horn County School District No. 4 Board of Trustees meeting last Tuesday.
The board of trustees accepted several resignations and filled a few vacancies Tuesday night. Resignations accepted were Patrice Riley, Riverside High School language arts teacher who has been hired as the curriculum director for Big Horn County School District No. 1; Cory Sova, Title 1 director, head girls basketball, assistant football and assistant track coach and Laura Irwin Elementary lead teacher; and Sherry Sova, special education paraprofessional. The Sovas are moving to Rock Springs.
New hires included Holly Hoffman as a middle school volleyball coach, replacing Dineen Mueller who resigned last month; Lindsey Schaffner as LIE lead teacher and Cindy Triplett as Title 1 director and grants manager and assistant track coach, replacing Cory Sova.
Jennifer Simmons has been hired as the new language arts teacher to replace Riley.

Policies

The board also took action on seven policies and adopted the 2009-2010 professional development calendar.
The board adopted a new policy for student use of electronic communication devices. Superintendent Mary Fisher said in an interview Monday that student use of the devices have been handled with each building’s handbooks but there had not been a district-wide policy. Each building can adopt additional rules regulating use of electronic devices and those rules will be in the handbooks.
The policy states that use of electronic devices shall be limited to the period before classes begin in the morning, during the student’s lunch period and after the student’s last class in the afternoon. Devices, including cell phones, are not to be used during instructional time or in passing time between classes unless it is during an emergency.
Other electronic devices, such as an MP3 player or camera, will be allowed in the classroom only when the teacher or principal deems it part of a lesson plan.
The board amended several polices as indicated below:
• Acceptable Use Policy for computer and Internet will require that each parent or guardian read the policy and sign a form to either “opt out” or not.
• The Support Staff Employee Due Process and Employment Procedures policy combined several policies into one policy. Fisher said the policy also provides a progressive due process procedure for employees. While Wyoming is an at-will state, Fisher said the policy gives employees due process and the chance to correct unsatisfactory performance or conduct.
• Changes to the Classified Staff Time Schedule were “organizational,” and content was not changed.
• The Classified Staff Holidays policy was changed to remove the word office from “District Office Personnel” in the section where district employees are granted two additional paid days. Fisher said this change makes it equitable for all full-time employees.

Other business

In other business last Tuesday, the school board:
• Had first reading of the 2009-2010 budget. The district is tentatively planning for a slightly larger general fund budget due in part to grants and to the out-of-district placement of a special education student. The $7 million proposed budget also includes additional funding for technology equipment.
• Heard a presentation from Leanna Morton and Cynthia Triplett on the district’s writing program. Triplett said it is not a curriculum but a tool to use with the district’s curriculum.
The proficient writing program goes beyond spelling and punctuation but also includes idea development, organization, sentence fluency, word choice and voice.
Summer Riley and Eliana Karhu both read some of their respective writings that they completed this school year.
• Approved a home-school application for two elementary-aged students who have just moved into the district.
• Approved three non-resident students, one at the high school level and two middle school students.
• Heard a report from Superintendent Fisher that the district’s state audit review of consolidated grants went well. The audit occurs every three years and usually takes two to three days but she said the district records were well-organized and the audit team was only in the district one day.