School district names new elementary principals

The San Juan School District has named two new principals and also received approval for a land swap that will allow construction of a new school in Bluff. Jay Porter is the new principal of Blanding Elementary School and KC Olsen is the new principal of Monticello Elementary School. 
Jay Porter will replace Mark Burge at Blanding Elementary, the largest school in the district. Burge has accepted a position at a school on the Wasatch Front.
Porter has 13 years of experience in education in the Washington School District.  During his career, he has served as a classroom teacher, Instructional Coach, Title I coordinator, and Assistant Principal.
Porter and his wife, Lanelle, have three children, including Elsie (5), Eli (4), and Ivy (2). 
KC Olson will replace Julie Holt in Monticello. Holt has accepted the position of Elementary Supervisor in the district office. 
KC has worked as the Assistant Principal at Monticello High School for the past three years.  Previous to MHS, Olson served as a special education teacher in the Washington School District.
In other education news, the Utah Navajo Trust Fund (UNTF) approved a land swap with the school district that will provide land for a new school in Bluff. The UNTF Board approved the swap on April 17.
The school district owns five acres of ground in Monument Valley. The land has been leased by the UNTF and is the location of the Monument Valley Health Clinic.
In exchange, 24 acres of ground in Bluff that is owned by the UNTF will be swapped.
“The next step is to move fast for a new school in Bluff,” said Superintendent Ron Nielson, who graduated from Bluff Elementary School.
The existing school is more than 50 years old and uses an aging septic system that could fail.
In January 2015, the school district purchased 12.5 acres of ground on the western edge of Bluff for a possible school site.
A number of groups opposed use of the site because of archaeological findings that were located near the site, including human remains.