Design for new school tops $1 M

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

Twisted Sister set the mood at Thursday’s Carbon County District 1 School Board meeting, which was filled with banter, teasing and laughter, among other things.

When “We’re not going to take it” blared from the boom box at the end of the sixth-graders skit, parents, teachers and children alike had smiles on their faces. Rawlins High School freshmen class president Tanner Nicholls and vice president Brittany Gale then took the floor to present the class’s progress.

After the usual report of regular council meetings, fundraisers and event organization, Gale said, “And we don’t particularly like the lunches.” She and Nicholls said pizza twice a week is a bit much. That, and they don’t enjoy having a closed campus for lunch.

Though overshadowed by student presentations, the board still conducted its business. Duane DeWald reported on the first of three surveys being issued to District 1 teachers and administrators, which highlighted concerns about communication between the teachers and administrators.

Curriculum Director Marilyn Vercimak announced the launch of the selection process for the reading literacy series, in which elementary teachers from across the district are given a chance to evaluate each textbook’s ability to meet the district’s standards and benchmarks as well as its needs for ESL and special education students.

Superintendent Peggy Sanders talked about the Feb. 24 legislative forum, when the school board has the chance to visit the state Legislature to “see the impact the school board can have,” she said.

The board also approved on first reading a laundry list of policies and construction agreements, including the agreement between the district and the School Facilities Commission for the design of two new elementary buildings in Highland Hills. The designs of the kindergarten through second-grade building and the school for grades third through fifth should cost $707,490 and $281,290, respectively.

In the executive session, the board approved the employment contracts of the District 1 administrators for the next school year. Additionally, it worked toward the expulsion of one Rawlins middle school student and one RHS pupil. The hearing for another expulsion has been set for Thursday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m.

With her hair covered in red hair spray, Rawlins Middle School teacher and co-chair of the Carbon County District 1 Teacher Education Association Denise Ashline substituted her report on the associations progress with an explanation of why she had such a terrible hairdo.
“Some young ladies wanted a picture for the yearbook,” she said.

Ashline consented to letting the girls paint her hair for Valentine’s Day and snap the shot, but on one condition: “They have to maintain a B average for the whole year,” she said. If they don’t, they can’t use the picture in the yearbook and Ashline gets to play hairdresser on them. She said the bet was extended to others in the girls’ class as well.