School board explores moving ninth to high school

By Alice Wadley Staff writer

The Emery County School District held their October meeting at Cleveland Elementary.
Superintendent Sitterud and others went to Duchesne and Uintah County school districts to further explore moving the ninth grade students to high school and the sixth grade students to middle school. Carbon, Duchesne and Uintah districts all changed their structure due to overcrowding at the schools. The big issue will be staffing. “We will have to look into this and see what endorsements are required for the teachers to teach in their respective grades. It may require some teachers to get more endorsements. The district would have to pay for the teachers to obtain these endorsements,” said Superintendent Sitterud.
Superintendent Sitterud does not think it will be a hard transition for the ninth grade students to integrate into high school He does have some concerns about the sixth grade students going into middle school. It is more of a social issue with the sixth graders. All of the other schools have kept the sixth grade students in a separate part of the school from the other students. They do integrate for the non-core subjects. If Emery County decides to do this it will be difficult because San Rafael and Canyon View classrooms are set up in a U shaped pattern.
The school district would like to have an online survey by November for all parents to complete. There will be paper version for those who do not have internet access. They will have to work on a way so only one survey per family can be completed. All parents will be involved, not just the students immediately affected by the transition. The district will continue to look into the matter and keep everyone informed as to what is going on.
Superintendent Kirk Sitterud recommended names for approval: Jodi Olsen, resource teacher at Cleveland Elementary. Dani Tuttle, resource educational assistant, Huntington Elementary. Dana Guymon, resource educational assistant, Huntington Elementary. Desiree Allridge, resource educational assistant, Huntington Elementary. Jill Weber, student tracker, San Rafael Junior High. Lynn Tuttle, head coach, girls basketball, Emery High. Ty Jensen and Rachel Hallows, assistant coaches, girls basketball, Emery High.
The annual school plans were approved. These plans included the school improvement plans, staff development plans and elementary reading plans. All schools are required to have the plans.
The board approved the high school athletic schedules. The law requires school board approval for travel more than 150 miles one way.
The Apples for Teachers Award Program was approved. The program is to recognize outstanding teachers in Carbon and Emery County.
Principal Jerel Lofley gave the principal’s report. Cleveland Elementary continued this summer with the summer reading program. “We send out a letter every year to see if there is an interest in the program. Students are recommended by their teachers for the program. The students come to the school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and receive help reading. We also send home a summer packet with all of the students. We reward the students who bring the packet back. This year the reward was a bowling party.
“Jodi Olsen has been hired as the special education teacher. She has spent the past few weeks preparing and looking at IEPs. She will be starting to work with students next Monday.
“Every year Cleveland Elementary has two programs, the Christmas program and the Spring program. The Christmas program will be on Dec. 17 and the Spring program will be on March 10. There will be two performances for each program. The annual Veteran’s program will be on Nov. 10.
“We have a new math program and we are working on ways to emphasize science at our school. We are continuing with the 4 Rs, Rights, Responsibilities, Respect and Recognition. “Every student at Cleveland Elementary has a right to learn in a safe environment. Every student has the responsibility to respect the rights and property of others, do his/her best, and allow other students to do the same. As students do this, they will be recognized for their good citizenship.” This year we are adding kindness and friendship,” said Principal Lofley.
The school board thanked Principal Lofley, the teachers and everyone at Cleveland Elementary for all of their hard work.
Jared Black said he is working on the financial report and it should be ready for the meeting next month. The state auditor has conducted the annual enrollment at the Emery County schools.
Superintendent Sitterud gave his report. He said, Principal Garth Johnson presented a powerpoint presentation to the legislators who traveled to Emery County on Sept. 16. This was at Green River High School. Neal Peacock also spoke to the legislators about rural schools and the challenges they face. Wes Curtis organized the tour and he was very complimentary of Principal Johnson and Neal Peacock. If you look at large schools in comparison to small schools, Lone Peak High School offers 228 classes compared to 25 at GRHS. The number of clubs is also disproportionate in large schools and rural schools. We also emphasized the good points of rural schools, such as the teachers know every student and their parents.