Local students earns national champion honors and the school board receives other reports

by David Boyle
News Director
The San Juan School Board heard from a student national champion, got an update on the new Blanding Elementary School and approved allocation of TSSA funds at their latest meeting.
At the September 23 meeting, the school district recognized National SkillsUSA competitors from the district, including several who qualified for national competitions.
Students from Albert R Lyman Middle School who qualified include Faith Flannery in public speaking, Camille Dally in prepared public speaking, and Elsie Grover in extemporaneous public speaking. 
Grover not only competed in the national competition, but was also the winner.
Grover said she competed at the National Skills USA convention in Atlanta, GA where she reported having a great experience.
Grover said the extemporaneous public speaking event gives competitors a prompt, with five minutes to write a speech and deliver it to judges.
“It’s pretty on the spot and you have to really know what to say and how to fine-tune it while you’re standing up there,” said Grover. “So, it’s kind of scary, but it was a great experience.”
Grover won the Utah state championship to qualify for the national event. The board offered congratulations to the national qualifiers and National Champion Elsie Grover.
Noah Padilla from Monticello High is competing in community service projects. San Juan High national qualifiers include Magenta Crane in job interview and Coley Cross in future business educator.
Members of the board also approved allocations of Teacher and Student Success Act (TSSA) funds. The $1.3 million in funds are given out in priorities including over $300,000 going to teacher salaries, $600,000 going to school support services including counselors, social workers and school psychologists.
The remaining $332,000 is divided among the schools based on enrollment, with individual schools choosing priorities.
It was noted that secondary schools have used funds to hire help and resources aimed at reaching higher goals in areas like attendance and literacy, as well as providing support for school resource officers.
Elementary schools have used the funds for software, personnel and stipends.
Members of the board unanimously approved allocation of the funds.
Members of the board also approved Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports substance use prevention plans for three high schools.
The plans are mandated by the State of Utah and focus on prevention, building protective factors, and educating students about tobacco, alcohol and controlled substances.
The plans for Monument Valley, San Juan and Monticello High schools are personalized to the school communities. Members of the board unanimously approved the plans.
Business Administrator Jacob Swanson also provided updates on capital projects in the district, noting that the construction of the new Blanding Elementary School remains ahead of schedule. Substantial completion is projected for May 2026, with an estimated move-in window between early April and mid-May.
Entryway upgrades at San Juan High and Montezuma Creek Elementary schools are progressing with demolition work nearing completion and no reported disruptions to student learning.
Swanson reported on a recent trip to Washington DC for the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools conference, where the district advocated for Impact Aid funding meeting with four of Utah’s six congressional delegations.
Impact Aid provides funds from the federal government for districts that have non-taxable federal properties within the district.
District Career and Technical Education director Jeanna Grover presented spending plans revisions for Medical Anatomy and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) courses.
The school board also reviewed data related to the Quality Teacher Incentive Program, also known as QTIP, as presented by Assistant Superintendent Derrick Begay.
The program is aimed at recruiting and retaining experienced staff in the district.
Data shows that the percentage of teachers with 14 years or more of experience has risen in every school over the past decade. The one exception is a slight dip from 29 to 27 percent at Monument Valley High and no change at Navajo Mountain High.
The program has found success to retain veteran teachers through teacher-led stipends and honoring gap years in salary tables.
Also highlighted were goals to increase efforts to attract and retain quality teachers in the six River Region schools located in the southern part of the county. The district implemented $1,500 to $5,000 signing bonuses and retention bonuses for non-QTIP elementary teachers and non-QTIP core secondary teachers.
Begay outlined efforts to grow local teaching pools, especially Indigenous teachers.
The district noted three Diné teachers hired through a partnership with Utah State University program in 2019-2020 are still working at River Region schools.
Also, 12 Diné paraprofessionals working in the River Region Schools have begun teacher certification programs at USU through the SJSD Native Youth Grant.
The percent of Native American teachers also increased at all schools across the river region over the past decade.
Members of the board also reviewed proposed changes to the parent stakeholder surveys.
Among the changes are to have a triannual format, meaning the surveys will be three times a year and be non-anonymous to provide feedback teachers can act on regarding student learning and support.
Members of the board raised concern that a loss of anonymity could potentially discourage frank responses.
Administration agreed to explore other options for a separate, anonymous feedback link, alongside the specific, actionable survey.
School board members also received a report on the new state initiative known as the Teacher Merit Award.
The five-year pilot program looks to increase retention at high-poverty schools. Teachers in the state who achieve top rankings could see significant financial awards including up to $20,000.
District administration also reported significant success in addressing temporary staff licensure.
The list of employees requiring LEA (Local Education Agency) specific licenses or endorsements is notably short, with zero licenses required at the time of the presentation. This demonstrates progress in recruiting and retaining certified educators. The board approved the LEA specific licenses and endorsements list.
Members of the board also received reports from principals.
Monument Valley High Principal Terri James shared goals this year, include increasing literacy, supporting students with disabilities and establishing relationships with community businesses to offer summer job priority to those who complete CTE pathways.
Reading levels were also identified as a need for improvement. 
Challenges for Monument Valley High include high student absenteeism (made worse during poor road conditions in bad weather) and low academic achievement linked to reading and vocabulary deficiencies.
Among celebrations include a back-to-school night that drew more than 300 people, increased student participation in sports and activities, and successful teacher collaborations.
Tse’bii’nidzisgai Elementary School Principal Heather Amado also provided a report.
Challenges including a drop of 20 students in enrollment with noted challenges with online registration. Amado anoted struggles for multilingual learners, particularly as it relates to conversations with families who may not have multilingual vocabularies for academic discussions.
Celebrations included a successful 30-minute daily intervention system and effective data meeting. Also celebrated were high academic proficiency among incoming sixth-grade class and teachers expressing excitement over the new math curriculum.
Members of the school board presented Harrison Miles of Monument Valley High School and Amanda Lincoln of Tse’bii’nidzisgai and Montezuma Creek Elementary schools with San Juan Sweet Job Awards, recognizing their dedication to students in their schools.