San Juan School Board swears in new member, approves budget and host of policies

The San Juan School board had a busy meeting with approvals of the district budget, and policies related to bullying, extracurriculars and cell phone use at their June meeting.
The San Juan School District swore in Don Mose III as the newest member of the board at the beginning of the board meeting on June 17. Mose was selected by the board to replace Nelson Yellowman at their regular May meeting after Yellowman stepped down after serving on the board for 19 years.
While not addressed at the board meeting in June, the district does have a new business administrator who will begin work on July 1. Members of the board appointed Jacob Swanson as the new business administrator with contracts approved for two years at a special May 28 meeting.
The San Juan School District also held an annual public budget hearing before adopting the revised budget for 2025 and the upcoming fiscal year 2026 budget.
The board approved the tax rate at the auditors certified rate. With an increase in assessed property valuations across the county, the certified rate will result in an overall tax reduction for residents.
The district's capital fund was reported to ve in a healthy position projecting over $20 million in savings even after accounting for the new Blanding Elementary school and the four entryway remodel projects. Members of the board approved the budgets as presented.
Members of the board approved a new policy prohibiting cell phones, smartwatches, airpods for use during classroom hours. The policy is district-wide and mandated by state law, the policy does allow individual schools to have stricter rules if desired.
While use during instructional time is prohibited, open campuses would allow use during lunches while schools with a closed campus would have the option whether to restrict device use at lunch.
Enforcement will have a tiered approach with the first offense having the students place a device in a designated holding area, a second offense requiring a parent to pick up the device and a third offense triggering a support plan.
With similar programs recently implemented in San Juan and Monticello high schools the district has received input from student advisory councils, student government and community councils to inform the policies.
Additionally the district noted the emphasis on administrators plans to communicate the policy to students and parents at the start of the school year.
District staff anticipate the start of the year may be extra work for administrators but they believe enforcement issues will decrease significantly as the year moves forward.
With regards to potential parent concerns for contacting students the district says if there is an emergency calling the main office will allow the schools to relay information to students quickly, and lockdowns at schools would also be a time permissible for students to use their phones.
Members of the board also approved a change requiring students to be enrolled in at least half of their high school’s scheduled periods to participate in extracurricular activities, with CTE and college courses counting toward that half-time enrollment. The district used to mirror the Utah High School Activities Association rules but with a change in the UHSAA allowing seniors to take just one course and compete in extracurriculars the district moved to change back to a half-time enrollment required for participation.
Members of the board also approved updates to policies addressing student bullying to align with new requirements from the state legislature. Among the changes include the definition of bullying with clarification of what is not bullying, such as “ordinary horseplay, arguments or pure conflict.” The policy also states that while students can share recordings of bullying with administrators they cannot share an incident of bullying with the purpose to encourage additional acts of bullying.
Members of the board also approved a new policy replacing the state’s Teacher Salary Supplement Program (TSSP) with the district-run SHINE program or Salary Supplement for Highly Needed Educators.
The program is aimed at attracting and retaining qualified teachers in assignments that are more difficult to fill by offering modest supplements to salaries. The new policy offers $2,500 to 7-12 grade math and science teachers as well as all district special education teachers and offers $1,000 to Kindergarten through 3rd grade with LETRS certification.
The district will review its high-need areas once a year and make adjustments based on funding and participation in the program.
Members of the board also approved other policies. Among them were financial administrative policies intended to safeguard public funds and make sure the district is in compliance with regulations as well as generally accepted accounting principles. Among the aims include segregating duties to prevent fraudulent activities, detailed processes for cash receiving, cash disbursement and procurement. As well as outlines for time and effort tracking, purchase orders, bank account management and other items.
Members of the board also approved policy changes to data security to address biometric data and align data privacy and breach procedures with state law.
Another policy update was related to nepotism including updating definitions to align with state code.
Members of the board also approved bids by TriHurst Construction for the safety upgrades to entryways at Montezuma Creek Elementary and San Juan high School. Entryway projects at ARL middle school and Monticello High are in design phases.
The board also received yet another positive update on the new Blanding Elementary School with the construction ahead of its original schedule and exterior work nearing completion. Interior work underway includes framing, skylights and rooftop units already being installed. Staff also noted the contingency fund of $1.6 million has remained largely untouched indicating efficient management of the project.
The district is looking at potentially upgrading a portion of the construction as they are receiving pricing and engineering on the potential of moving the retention pond that would be on the property from above ground to underground.
Members of the board also heard reports from head of district departments including Food Services Director Anna Fredericks.
Fredericks shared that the district served over half-a-million meals during the year and noted the success of the second chance breakfast program at the high schools which have seen an increase in participation. Challenges for district food services include finding substitutes, changing USDA regulations, food supply chain issues and rising food costs with federal reimbursements not keeping pace.
The board also heard a report from Paul Murdock, director of the district Special Education department.
Murdock shared a demographic breakdown of students served under 13 disability classifications. Challenges for the department include improving student achievement and helping students exit services when appropriate, the district did note a celebration hiring a full-time Speech-Language Pathologist.
Members of the board also approved responses to formally submitted suggestions and comments regarding improving education of Native American students. An additional annual review of extracurricular participation data for Native American and non-Native students showed no significant changes from the previous year.