School board approves fund balance bonus

by David Boyle
News Director
Members of the San Juan School Board approved one-time bonuses to employees, approved a change requested by USU for their Monument Valley building and discussed in depth participation in the Utah Fits All Scholarship program at their latest meeting.
At their October 8 meeting members of the San Juan School Board were advised to consider designation of $9.4 million remaining in the fiscal year 2024 unassigned fund balance.
District Business Administrator Tyrel Pemberton outlined the large fund balance the district maintains noting factors for the large fund balance include in recent years covid relief money as well as the significantly high interest rates the district has been earning on fund balances.
“That's money that goes into the available funds for the school district to address needs that puts no additional burden on any taxpayer local funds.”
As part of the meeting members of the board approved a staff-recommended one-time two-percent bonus for employees, or $750 whichever is greater for employees.
That leaves $8.6 million for other one-time expenditures. Administrative staff and members of the board weighed in on possible uses with the recommendation to bring the item back next month for more discussion.
Possible one-time upgrades related to safety, upgrades to district football lights, and gymnasium seating and assignment to the district capital funds balance were all recommended for consideration.
Pemberton also shared a breakdown of the $9 million the district received and spent as part of the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
With access to the funds coming to a close, an overview of the uses for the funds meant to address pandemic-related challenges was shared.
Uses included technology upgrades, facility improvements and support for students and staff.
Pemberton also gave a brief update on the new Blanding Elementary School sharing so far the project is on schedule, noting slab pours should be happening soon.
Members of the board also received a report from leadership with Utah State University on the new building being built in Monument Valley.
Members of the board approved a request from USU to change the holder of the land lease for the building, which is being built on land owned by the district.
Members of the board had asked for additional clarity on the process at their September meeting.
The change will have Aggie Sandstone, a non-profit controlled by USU, hold the lease for the next seven years before it returns back to Utah State University.
The requested change is to access new market tax credits.
The program will allow for Wells Fargo to invest in the project and in return receive a tax credit from the federal government over the course of seven years.
The Aggie Sandstone Foundation was created specifically for this project to facilitate the complex financial transactions required for the new market tax credits, and has been used at projects at USU Moab.
At the end of the seven-year period, USU would assume full ownership of the building.
USU leadership also clarified building projects don’t begin unless they have secured all the funds needed.
Members of the board thanked USU representatives for their report and approved the requested change during action items.
Members of the board also had an in-depth conversation about whether the district should become a vendor for the Utah Fits All Scholarship Program
District Superintendent Christine Fitzgerald shared background noting that the Universal School Choice program was signed into law by the state in 2023. The program was originally funded with $42.5 million from the state but was nearly doubled to $80 million during the 2024 legislative session.
The program uses public education funds from the Utah State Income Tax to provide up to $8,000 per eligible student.
Those funds are eligible to students who opt out of public school, and can be used for educational opportunities and programs at approved vendors, ranging from an online school, tutoring service, art classes or other opportunities.
Recently a handful of parents have requested the district become an approved vendor to allow non-publicly enrolled students to take some classes.
Fitzgerald shared one challenge for the district would be extra work on the backend.
“We have a student who says, "I'm just going to come in and I'm going to take this one class." And yes, we can set our fees scheduled. Most other districts are charging $1,000 for a one credit. So let's say the student comes in for one class. So now we have to support that entire program to be able to provide that one class and that includes programming from our IT department.”
Fitzgerald added other systems and mandates would also be required for the district with duplicates.
“Once every three year we do sexual abuse prevention, even though they're there for one class, we're still going to have to manage all of those mandates for that one student. I'm not sure when that would happen or what that would look like. We'd have to figure that out because oftentimes that's happening during the school day. We set up sessions where somebody comes in and does the training right then, but if they're only do their one hour. That's going to be very difficult to manage all of those mandates.”
Fitzgerald shared that currently there are nine districts in the state that are working as providers, and she was surprised to learn that the majority of the districts have less than 10 students using the voucher.
The Superintendent added that to administer the program would require the adoption of a school board policy, a fee schedule, work to digitial programs, and designation of an administer of the program, as well as ensuring that mandatory training would be completed.
“My recommendation stays the same as it was in June that I think this is not the time for us to become a Utah fits all provider. It would take some time to develop the system, I think the overall cost in resources from our staff would be more than what we would be able to take in charging a fee schedule. My recommendation stays the same that we wait and see how this continues and we could look at it again next year.”
Members of the board offered different views on the implementation of the program. Board member Nan Barton asked administration begin working on possible policies and fee schedules for the district to approve ahead of administering the program next year.
“My hope if we chose to become a vendor for some of the things that we could get some of these students that don't otherwise come into the schools and as they start to participate that we actually increase our enrollment. I know that that there is a trend to where people are moving away from public school and I think if we can get them back into our public schools maybe they're going to choose to participate more.”
Board member Nelson Yellowman raised questions about how the program could work for students on the Navajo Nation.
“A lot of these families do not have internet, and it’s not enough. If they were to get a live person to come and give that music lesson. Where are they going to find such a person in Monument Valley, Aneth, Montezuma Creek? Those are the things that I like I said earlier I would like to get feedback if this is possible.”
Board member Steve Black said he’d like to see the district develop a reputation as being an expert provider on subjects to draw people into using district programs.
“There's some things I really like about the possibility of this program. What's been done has been done as far as the the legislature taking that money and and allocating it toward that. I feel personally probably we need to rather than fight to embrace it”
Board member Colleen Benally said for her the issue comes down to needs versus wants.
“We have to think of the students that we have overall within our district first. If we're going to accommodate one student who qualifies for the scholarship and who wants to do one class, my worry would be we're going to take funding for the one student when we can use that funding for more than one student.”
Board member Merri Shumway suggested the district embrace opportunities to bring constituents into the district.
“Let's be partners with the parents. We talk about in in education all the time, partnerships with parents and and working together. So, this this doesn't feel like trying to work together. And it it feels more like we don't agree with the law, so let's let's just take this a little bit slower.”
Board president Lori Maughan said the district isn’t being hard nosed about the program.
“We've got to take into consideration everything that comes with it. You can't just say here, come on in, pay your money at the door, welcome, and here you go. I think we have to look at the fiscal tag that belongs with that. You may collect $500 or a thousand per credit, but have we looked at how much is it going to cost our admin to roll this whole thing out? And we have a principle of looking at policies for three months. So you can't just write the policy today and have it done tomorrow.”
Fitzgerald added it wasn’t her intention to imply that the district should not use the program because it is a voucher program.
“My intention is to say if we are adding an additional program to San Juan School District that is a very complex program in a very complex school district and so it is a bit of a heavy lift to get it going. So, if the board decides this is the route they want to go, we need the time to put that together.”
For this year three San Juan County families who are recipients of the scholarship have asked that the district become a provider.
One of those families provided public comment asking the board to approve the program at the meeting.
Courtney Shumway asked the board move sooner rather than later on becoming a provider.
“The longer you keep these students from courses or the classrooms, the more they are missing out on. Those fine art classes that you mentioned withband and drama that can really set them back if they're out a full year from that. And so every year of growth is substantial for a student. so please help us move forward now so these students can get into the classroom this year even if it's in the next semester, we'd appreciate any time that they can get in.”
Members of the board also received annual School Land Trust Training from Assistant Superintendent Julie Holt.
The presentation reviewed requirements for school community councils, emphasized the importance of compliance with state guidelines and outlined timelines for final reports and plans for the upcoming year.