By Collin Anderson
On March 14, the Lincoln County School Board met.
After the normal business of bills, the approval of agendas and minutes, and the reading of notes was concluded, the meeting began with the school reports.
Pioche started with a short report on their celebration of “Pi” day, where students were offered, rather unsurprisingly, pie.
Next, a student from Panaca elementary gave a report on their school’s behalf, talking about how kindness had been emphasized during the month and how it had affected them. The student also fielded a question concerning Summit Learning and stated that they really liked the program.
Following Panaca’s report, Caliente’s elementary school mentioned that they are looking forward to spring and are in the process of setting up their exterior furniture in preparation for warmer weather.
Lincoln County High School (LCHS) then reported on the successful run of their recent play, “Mamma Mia,” which opened on March 9. LCHS also talked about a recent choir concert, how their students had demonstrated their fine.
Meadow Valley Middle School reported on their recent pride trip to Brian Head. They were glad that their students got to go see a play while the matinee was going on.
Alamo schools then got their chance to report, during which Lynette Stirling, the second grade teacher, gave a quick review of the engineering projects which some of her students have come up with. Alamo also talked about other projects that included designing a lunar lander, creating robot animals and general problem-solving. The rest of the report included a trip to Chicago to learn more about Summit Learning, congratulations to the winter teams and details on the SAT.
Moving on to official business, the board acknowledged a vaccination exemption and read a policy on the possibility of reducing the workforce. Superintendent Pam Teel said that are no plans to reduce the workforce, but it remains to be seen what the schools can afford based upon new legislation.
The board then renewed the tenure of the critical-need psychologist that it has been using for the last two years. The contract requires renewal every two years.
The board announced the hiring of Tiffany Teeny as the new technology director for the school district, filling a position left by Joseph Lamb.
Following this, the board turned its attention to approbations including the PVHS roofing bid won by R&R construction, and the early graduation of a student from PVHS.
The board discussed starting a GoFundMe account to try and restore an old 1920s era school bus. According to Pete Peterson, who’s heading up the project, this vehicle is a part of Lincoln County’s history and should be restored and used in things like parades and fairs.
While many of the members of the board were excited to take on this project, others were more cautious, wondering whether the district has time and assets to focus on such an endeavor. Even if the funds came from the outside, some people opined that the board should focus all the money on the students themselves. It was also mentioned that GoFundMe is not a good fit for what the board wanted to do, and based on those issues, the board decided to table the issue until a more suitable alternative is discovered.
The next meeting will be held on April 11.
