Scheduling for students — School board plans to vote Feb. 12 on calendar type
Weston County School District No. 1 board members have a lot of perspectives to consider when they decide whether the district should have a four-day school week starting this fall.
The board held town hall meetings Jan. 27 and Feb. 3 in Newcastle High School’s Crouch Auditorium for community members to voice their opinions and ask questions. About 30 people attended the first event, and about 75 people came to the second.
Many people who spoke were parents, students or staff members. Based on a show of hands, most people at the Jan. 27 town hall want to keep the current schedule, but the opposite was true at the Feb. 3 event. Issues raised included teacher burnout, school-outside life balance, teacher-student contact time, students’ job schedules and children’s attention spans. Other concerns included schedule consistency, supervision and food security for children.
Chair Dana Mann-Tavegia told the News Letter Journal after the second meeting that she intends to have the board vote at its Feb. 12 meeting whether the district should adopt a four-day week or retain its current schedule of a five-day week with early release Fridays.
Mann-Tavegia told the NLJ that she was pleased to see the amount of participation.
“We had a lot of input, which is very helpful to the trustees,” she said. “We appreciate the amount of dialogue, as well as how civil the discourse was.”
After each meeting, Mann-Tavegia invited community members to reach out to the board with any additional insights. Contact information for board members is on the district’s website, at wcsd1.org/apps/pages/Board_Members.
“I want you to know we are taking this extremely seriously,” she said at the conclusion of the Feb. 3 event. “We have heard what you have said. We have read our messages and our emails. We’re going to do the best we can. We know we will not please everyone.”
A video recording of each town hall can be viewed on the News Letter Journal YouTube.
School Shorts
Notes from the Jan. 29, 2025, meeting of the Weston County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees
The Weston County Rec Board voted to table a request for the extra-duty year contract amount for the pool manager to increase from $3,690 to $6,210. Superintendent Brad LaCroix said that a state official inspected the pool and shut down the pool twice because the district needs to be testing the water more frequently for chlorine and pH to remain in compliance. He advised the board to table the issue until the next budget item for its budget meeting because of uncertainty regarding funding.
In a 5-3 vote, the school board voted to renew its membership in the National School Boards Association, a $900 dues cost. The Wyoming School Boards Association is no longer part of the NSBA, board Chair Dana Mann-Tavegia said, but she believes that the resources the NSBA provides are worth the investment, especially for new board members. She and trustees Billy Fitzwater, Joe Prell, Dana Gordon and Tyler Mills voted in favor of renewing the membership, and Jason Jenkins, Paul Bau and Sean Crabtree opposed it.