In a vote of no confidence for the National School Board Association (NSBA), the Sublette County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees unanimously approved a motion to withdraw all local funding for the organization at its May 12 meeting.
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PINEDALE – In a vote of no confidence for the National School Board Association (NSBA), the Sublette County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees unanimously approved a motion to withdraw all local funding for the organization at its May 12 meeting.
SCSD1 pays approximately $2,600 per year in direct dues to the NSBA, according to an invoice submitted to the district. A minimal fraction of the dues SCSD1 contributes annually to the Wyoming School Boards Association (WSBA) also goes to the NSBA.
The motion passed on May 12 removed SCSD1 from all financial obligations to the NSBA. The language included direct dues along with money paid indirectly through the district’s annual membership fees to the WSBA.
SCSD1’s goal behind the vote was to remain consistent in its message that none of the district’s money is going to the NSBA, said board chairman Jamison Ziegler. The district is still a member of the WSBA.
Trustee Charles Prior made the motion and introduced the item to the agenda. He believed the NSBA was “not going in the direction of parents and that the schools should be going.”
Prior told the board he did not support an organization that “criminalized parents,” adding that the NSBA was “not good for constituents.”
Board member Marie McGuire asked where the WSBA stood in terms of paying statewide dues to the NSBA.
Trustee Chris Nelson, a member of the WSBA, said the state organization would remain affiliated with the NSBA while monitoring “where the NSBA is headed” in its commitment to being “non-partisan.”
WSBA directors participated in a “good discussion” about paying dues to the NSBA in April, Nelson added, and planned to make a final decision regarding the NSBA in June.
Nelson said the amount of money set aside from SCSD1’s dues to the WSBA that eventually go toward the NSBA was “minimal.”
McGuire expressed concern that withdrawing from the NSBA might “cut off national connections.”
Alternative national organizations and conferences existed, Ziegler responded, allowing SCSD1 to maintain ties with other school boards.
Fireworks
Trustees discussed a request by the Town of Pinedale to host its annual Fourth of July fireworks display at the Dudley Key Sports Complex. SCSD1 owns the property where the new ballfields are located and leases it to the town for minimal rent.
Pinedale traditionally holds the display on the hill next to the Pinedale Clinic. The Sublette County Hospital District owns the hilltop site where it plans to construct a critical access hospital and long-term care center pending approval of its loan application through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Hospital District had “no issue” with the town using land adjacent to the Pinedale Clinic for the fireworks display as long as there was no “active construction” taking place on the proposed hospital, SCHD board chair Tonia Hoffman told the Roundup.
At its April 25 meeting, the Pinedale Town Council considered alternative locations for the fireworks to plan ahead for the contingency that the Hospital District receives its loan and begins building. A majority of councilmembers supported reaching out to SCSD1 for permission to relocate to Dudley Key Sports Complex.
On May 12, SCSD1 Trustee Stacy Illoway discouraged the town from moving the fireworks display, expressing frustration that the status of the critical access hospital and long-term care facility was still up in the air.
The hilltop site by the Pinedale Clinic offered “great topography” for the fireworks show, Illoway said, and the town needed to “look elsewhere.”
Nelson agreed, saying the hilltop site allowed people to watch the fireworks from their homes. If the fireworks were moved to Dudley Key Sports Complex, they would not be visible to many residents and would add to congestion in town, he added. Firework displays were “not part of the lease agreement,” Nelson said.
Lisa Ruckman, SCSD1 transportation director, voiced worries about fireworks going off near to above-ground natural gas tanks at the district’s bus barn. SCSD1 attorney Doug Mason said the town would provide insurance to cover the event.
Prior and McGuire also agreed the hilltop next to the Pinedale Clinic offered the best location for the fireworks.
The SCSD1 trustees did not make a formal motion, but came to the consensus that the Town of Pinedale could not use the Dudley Key Sports Complex and needed to “keep looking” for a different site to host the fireworks.
Staff Members of the Month
Trustees recognized two Staff Members of the Month – Pinedale High School custodian Lee Bryant and Pinedale Middle School math teacher and high school sports coach Brady Schaefer.
PHS Principal Brian Brisko praised Bryant for keeping the athletic facilities in “amazing condition.”
“Lee is diligent in serving the students,” Brisko added. “The day that he leaves us, we are in trouble because he does everything.”
David Thrash, PMS principal, thanked “Coach” Schaefer for stepping up to help the school and district.
“No matter what needs to be done, he’ll do it,” Thrash said.
Thrash also gave Schaefer a shoutout for “going above and beyond” to help facilitate Thrash’s transition back to PMS.
Additional district news
