Elementary schools stay open

The Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD 2) Board of Trustees had a packed house during their April 15 meeting at Hanna, Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow High School.

Many in the audience were in attendance to find out the fate of Medicine Bow Elementary School (MBES) and Elk Mountain Elementary School (EMES). Due to low student populations there had been speculation that a closure of one or both schools was a real possibility.

Before the decision on the schools fate, the agenda for the evening was approved. Devon Grosstick, Ura Schmidt and Taylor Widdison were recognized for going to the Nationals of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America.

Board member Dan Butler's resignation was approved and the next half hour was spent listening to the six candidates for the vacant position present their reasons for wanting to serve on the board. After hearing the candidates and asking questions, the board went into executive session to make the appointment.

The board came out and voted. After several rounds of showing of hands, the first candidate to get five votes was Phillip Michael Boardman. After the vote, he was sworn in as the new board member.

The treasurer's report was approved .

Chelsea De Witt's resignation was approved. Darci Bekka, Anne Pantle, Emily Kaluzny, Marissa Shinkle, Walker Williams and Amy Johnston were hired for their positions. Christine Anderson and Mikayla Wiant were hired for coaching positions pending certification.

The crowd listened to administrative reports but it was CCSD2 Superintendent Dr. Jim Copeland's recommendation on the two schools they were waiting for.

"The very purpose of a public school district is to provide the best education possible to its students. While a school contributes many other benefits to its community, those are not the primary purpose of a school. When a district is comprised of seven campuses in five communities spread across a vast area geographically and is governed by one board, it is a challenge to keep decisions fair and balanced; to borrow a phrase. However, this is the task of the district administration and board," Copeland started out. "The specific task of providing the best education for our students is at times multifaceted. Our campuses are various sizes and have various needs.

"While similar, at times they require different methods or strategies in order to fulfill those needs. I hear from our larger campuses questions such as 'why do I have 26 and 27 in my class while other campuses have only 5 or 6'. I hear from our small campuses 'why don't we have every option during the day that our larger campuses offer?' Therefore, at the bird's eye view of the district level, the real explanation is that the communities we serve differ in size and needs. However, it is still our responsibility to provide the best possible education for those students; serving their needs in the most equitable way possible."

The crowd was hushed as he continued his recommendation.

"There are many factors that go into decisions regarding the future, or the design, of schools. However, the most basic requirement of a school's existence is the presence of students to educate.

"When a school runs out of students, its purpose also disappears. While we may have great staff, or the hope that students will re-appear, or list the benefits of having a school present in a community, none of those factors create students, or the need for a school. There are other legitimate factors that are part of this kind of decision. For example, how far is the nearest school? Does that school have the capacity to accept students? Is the facility a quality facility? Does that campus offer more services than is readily available at their present campus? Is there a situation which may increase the number of students?"

"All of these questions are valid. The history of a school, while compelling, real, and creating an emotional tie to the community, is not in itself a reason for the continuing existence of a school. Again, the purpose of a school is to provide an education to its students. There is no set number of students, if a school falls below, it should close or combine, other than if it should have no students attending.

"The level of funding that Wyoming provides to educate its students is generous when compared to most other states. I speak from personal experience in multiple states. For example, at a minimum, the state funds one teacher for rural schools regardless of the number of students in attendance, down to one student.

Therefore, after some research, I have found that the decisions regarding possible closure of a school in Wyoming is not primarily a financial one. However, the design of personnel at the school is local and is based in part on financial capabilities," Copeland continued. "I want to thank everyone who has contacted the Board or myself to give input on this decision. I also want to thank individuals for sharing ideas of how to more efficiently provide a quality education for the students who currently live in Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow.

"Some intriguing ideas were suggested such as possible partnering with others to create dual purpose buildings with other local entities."

"Some of the concerns of parents, if either school were closed, include the increased travel time for very young students, in addition to safety concerns regarding the specific highway that would be used. I have every confidence that our head drivers in CCSD2 and their drivers make the safest decisions possible regarding student transportation. We operate a route every day on that highway as conditions permit.

However, I had to really reach back far into time to remember mine and my wife's concerns and worries as parents of three boys when they started school as kindergartners. There are valid concerns regarding distances and travel times for our young five, six, and seven year olds districtwide," Copeland said. "I also had input regarding changes to the staffing designs to make it more financially feasible to operate EMES and MBES.

"I had business manager Sally Wells run various numbers to compare our present revenues and budgets for all of our campuses and then to adjust numbers of staff at EMES and MBES to see if it was possible to keep the expenditures for EMES and MBES within the revenues generated by the two schools," Copeland said. "Therefore, my recommendation is as follows: To leave the EMES and MBES open based on the factors described above.

"The operation of both will look different as we purpose to keep expenditures within the revenues the schools generate. This will mean staffing changes, and possibly grade span differences that may vary from year to year, as we prioritize keeping the youngest students as close to their school as possible.

"Grade spans may be flexible year to year as we adjust the program to the ages of the current students. This may mean the lunch process may look different or pull out offerings may look different. This will require continued parent and community support. We will continue to keep a close eye on the state funding model as changes could require adjustments in future decisions regarding these schools.

"However, I am convinced that it is possible for Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow Schools to operate financially within the revenues they generate while continuing to provide quality education. As we are an open enrollment district, this continues to give parents in Medicine Bow and Elk Mountain a choice for their youngest students.

"In conclusion, it comes down to the fact that the state provides money to operate small rural schools in Wyoming, even down to one student. If the parents' choice is to keep their youngest students as close to home as possible in the early grades, I see no reason to arbitrarily eliminate that choice by closing schools that can be designed to operate with the current revenues they generate."

The board approved Copeland's recommendation and both elementary schools will remain open.

The crowd, made up of residents from both communities were, relieved. The next order of business was the approval of the purchase of a plasma cutter with table for Saratoga Middle High School from Rocky Mountain Air Solutions.

The board informed the public an area of concern was Wyoming Department Environmental of Quality/Abandoned Mine Land's (AML) concern about subsidence around the Hanna Elementary School and nearby football field. Both sit above Mine No. 4, which had previously been filled with sand when the mine closed back in the 1980s. The concern is the sand has shifted and the land is sinking about an inch a year. AML is coming out in the coming weeks to assess the situation and remedy any problems.

The next scheduled board meeting will be at 4 p.m. on May 20 at EMES.