Heavy turnover at San Juan School District

by Bill Boyle
San Juan Record Editor
There continues to be significant turnover among the staff and officials at the San Juan School District and it has continued with the resignation of the school board’s longest-tenured member.
Nelson Yellowman is resigning from the San Juan School Board after 19 years of service. He will serve through May 31, giving time for the school board to find an interim replacement. 
The turnover in district administration in recent months includes the resignations of the business administrator, an assistant superintendent, and student services director.
Recent resignations include Tyrel Pemberton, the school district business administrator, in addition to assistant superintendent Julie Holt, and the student services director Trevor Olsen.
Holt will be replaced by Paul Murdock, who has been the district special education director. Olsen will be replaced by Lennert Erickson, who comes to San Juan from Idaho.
In other administrative changes, Donald Gandy, the principal at Monument Valley High School, will be replaced by Theresa James.
As these positions are filled, there may be additional changes, in addition to the standard year-end turnover of school administration, teachers and staff.
The school district introduced a new organizational chart at the recent board meeting.
While all other workers are employees of the school district, the superintendent and business administrator are employees of the school board. The recruiting effort to replace Pemberton is handled by the Utah School Board Association. The deadline to submit an application for the position is May 5.
In addition to operating a dozen schools across a massive geographic area, the district is currently working on $40 million in capital projects, including a rebuild of Blanding Elementary School and major remodels to San Juan High School and Montezuma Creek Elementary School.
In the effort to replace Yellowman on the school board, San Juan County residents of the school board district #5 can complete an application – found on the school district website  at sjsd.org – and contact Laura Palmer at 435-678-1270 or email lpalmer1@sjsd.org. Applications are due by May 9 at 3 p.m.
The applicants will be interviewed beginning at 3 p.m. at the May 14 school board meeting in Blanding.  An appointment may be made at the meeting.
Yellowman’s district #5 covers the southwest portion of San Juan County, including Navajo Mountain, Oljato and Monument Valley and large portions of western San Juan County stretching up to the Blanding area.
Yellowman said he is resigning from the school board in part because he retired from his job several years ago but is unable to start drawing on state retirement until he completes his school board service.
Yellowman said he enjoyed his years of service on the board, “including funding, capital projects, instructional development, and - worst all all - the pandemic. We had to paddle through the rough waters on that one.”