San Juan Schools expand SHARP survey and review spend plans

Annual spend plans, expansion of SHARP surveys and replacing the district building elevator were all items discussed at the latest San Juan School Board meeting.
Members of the San Juan School Board began conversations around the annual school spend plans at their February 12 meeting.
The plans require extra-curricular programs at each school to outline costs for participation in their program. The plan not only outlines what parents can expect to pay for student participation but also outlines how much the district will be paying for low-income fee-waiver students to participate in programs.
Part of the board discussion revolved around a staff proposal that meal allocations be increased from $14 to $15. While meal allocation increases are driven primarily because costs have risen along with inflation, district staff also noted that the rise in allocation will also help with the logistics of delivering the funds, especially in schools in the river region which are located further away from banks.
Staff also highlighted that while almost all programs offer ‘spirit packs’ the district has maximums that programs can spend on each item such as a max amount to spend on a t-shirt, hoodie, or other item.
As part of the conversation members of the board members suggested parents review spend plans to be aware of potential costs and to share feedback with the board on the plans.
As part of the review the board also suggested the district look at possibly increasing program sustainability fees to keep programs sustainable. District staff also noted that schools have spend plans prepared for all potential activities even if an extra-curricular isn’t currently offered at a school a spend plan in place allows the school to adopt the program if there is sufficient interest.
The spend plans were reviewed for the first time at the February meeting with additional reviews coming in March before final approval could be completed in April.
Alongside the discussion around spend plans the board also discussed employee travel per diem. Members of the board voted to standardize that rate. The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) publishes an annual standard rate to keep up with inflation. Members of the school board approved the district employee travel per diem to be 75-percent of the annual IRS rate but not lower than the student rate. The board-approved change went into immediate effect.
At the meeting, the board also heard a request to expand the availability of the SHARP survey to all district students 6th through 12th grade.
The San Juan County Prevention Action Coalition asked the board to expand the administration of the SHARP survey for grades 6ht-12th. Previously the survey was for students in 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grades.
The Utah Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) survey is a confidential survey of students to evaluate trends in behaviors of students. A particular emphasis looks at the rates in San Juan County of behaviors such as vaping, underage alcohol use, rates of depression and other data points to give a sense of overall community health for San Juan School District youth.
Parents can opt-out of the survey during registration at the beginning of they school year and at other times.
Members of the board approved the expansion of the SHARP survey for all grades 6th-12th.
District Business Administrator Tyrel Pemberton also gave a brief review on capital projects noting that the Blanding Elementary School project is continuing as scheduled without any major delays. The district is also preparing plans in order to bid out the entryway redesigns to upgrade safety at a few different schools in the district.
Pemberton reported that an upcoming need will be replacing the elevator at the district office. Pemberton shared after fixing the elevator a few months previous it is down once again. As a result district staff is exploring options to fix the elevator and also considering a plan to modernize the elevator system in hopes of a more permanent fix.
Members of the San Juan School Board also reviewed standard response protocols for emergency situations. District staff emphasized the need for consistent language and their work to standardize training across schools. Staff also noted that ongoing training and communication between staff, students and parents regarding safety protocols remains a top priority.
Members of the board also approved their board meeting calendar for the upcoming academic year, and the school lands trust final school report.
Members of the board also reviewed graduation dates for the upcoming end of the school year with graduation dates May 21 through May 24.
At the meeting members of the board also heard from principals at the Monticello schools.
Monticello Elementary Principal Jenna Olson shared among the celebrations for the school was recognition as the only school in Utah that had Kindergarten through 3rd grade students reach benchmarks in Early Literacy Skills according to Acadience data, which matches the schools vision for proficient readers taught with high-quality curriculum. Olson also noted other celebrations including modifications to school systems including collaboration on school data and intervention and using paraprofessionals in new productive ways.
Challenges outlined by Olson include a shrinking population at Monticello Elementary School.
Monticello High Principal KC Olson highlighted the schools USBE 23-24 rank higher than 93-percent of schools in the state, as well as earned accreditation and an excellent athletic year with four trophies earned so far.
Olson outlined challenges at Monticello High including additional resources used on instructional coaching with six provisional teachers this year, other challenges noted understaffing for paraprofessionals.
KC and Jenna Olson were also recognized with San Juan Sweet Job awards as well as Whitehorse High teacher Devon Gosney.