Uinta County School District No. 1 Board of Education discussed a facility plan to present to the school facilities commission on Nov. 18 during its regular Tuesday meeting.

Three goals are outlined in the long-term strategy plan.

The first goal presented is to reduce square footage by utilizing community partnerships; the second goal is to reassess services through the buildings as a way to reduce overcrowding and the third goal is to remodel and reconfigure school boundaries and grades.

The district will propose to transfer the deed, lease or enter a cooperative use agreement for designated classrooms within Evanston High School and Davis Middle School with local partnerships in the community.

The rooms in the high school will be used for high school certification programs and vocational programs and the auditorium and music rooms at Davis Middle School will be utilized to offer additional fine art programs.

In order to reduce the square footage problem, the current Kirlin complex buildings will be demolished.

The Horizon students will be removed from the BOCES facility as it is not in compliance with educational standards and a new projected alternative high school is to be built behind Evanston Middle School.

Support services would be relocated to the new alternative high school.

Filling in the high school pool will open space to create a multipurpose room and art and vocational classes.

This will reduce overcrowding and eliminate the ongoing pool maintenance and repair costs.

The boundaries of the elementary school students will be reconfigured in order to equalize the enrollments in each school.

The proposed plan will help UCSD No. 1 concentrate on utilizing the existing buildings in the district and eliminate square footage by leasing space to local partnerships.

The reduction in the HVAC operational costs by shifting responsibility of the square footage will give the district an option to apply for facility upgrades under the HVAC.



Other business

Insurance for retired employees is still being discussed by the insurance committee, which consists of Superintendent Dennis Wilson and two members of the teaching staff.

The committee is in negotiations with Greg Minter, the associate executive director of the Wyoming School Boards Insurance Trust, for an insurance proposal that will benefit the Uinta County School District employees.

“Any Wyoming resident can be insured through WSBAIT, however, the UCSD No. 1 is not a member, therefore the employees would have a 20 percent increase in premiums,” said Ryan Thomas, the assistant superintendent for operations in the district.

A three-year contract was approved for Dan C. Hoffman LUTCF, the district’s insurance representative. It was verified that he was not affiliated with Altus Insurance; therefore he would be able to represent the UCSD No. 1 regardless of the plan that is chosen in 2009.

Results of the parent survey were presented, with 335 parents participating in the survey during parent teacher conferences.

The survey confirmed that most parents were in agreement with the school mission, climate, and achievement in the educational programs such as the importance of the 21st century skills and the new technology that the district has implemented in the schools.

Michael Davis and Kendra West welcomed the new board members. They both expressed thanks and praise to the Uinta County School District No. 1 and the other Trustees in the district.

Superintendent Dennis Wilson presented Davis and West with farewell plaques and jackets to show the district’s appreciation for their service.

“I’d like to thank Davis and West for the commitment they have demonstrated on the board and in the community as Trustees and the tremendous job they did,” said Superintendent Dennis Wilson.