School board talks COVID sick leave, new school, recreation funding

The Albany County School Board met Wednesday. The meeting was live streamed, but in-person attendance was also allowed. The trustees moved a number of topics forward.

The Albany County School Board met Wednesday, discussing a range of topics — from the school lunch program to new playground and exercise equipment to the creation of a one-room school in northern Albany County.

The following are some highlights from the board’s meeting.

During a brief update on the COVID-19 situation, Superintendent Jubal Yennie said omicron has been unpredictable. “We had hundreds of cases last week with students. Now we have 10-15,” he said. Requests for substitute teachers are significantly higher now than they were this time last year, and are more likely to go unfilled. In the first week of February last year, there were 173 substitutes requested and only 6 went unfilled. In the first week of February this year, there were 328 substitutes requested and 36 went unfilled.

Upcoming reports could detail school climate and the effectiveness of the district’s free lunch program. The school climate report is currently in the works and Yennie said a survey would be available soon. There will likely be more information at next month’s board meeting. At that same meeting, the financial reports could include a look at the district’s meal program. “How much would it cost the district to just keep serving free breakfast and lunch?” Trustee Nate Martin asked. Trustee Jason Tangeman added, “Is there any way we can qualitatively and quantitatively assess the food program we’ve been lucky enough to provide for the community during COVID? I would like to know if it’s gotten more kids to school.” District Business Manager Abbie Connally said she could look into the topic and report back.

The school board accepted recreational facility funding from the Albany County Recreation Board. Wyoming communities are allowed by state law to institute a property tax of one mill (1/1000th of a property’s assessed value) to fund recreational facilities. Albany County School District No. 1 is receiving a total of $152,345 for projects across the district. The bulk of that amount will go toward outdoor equipment at the new Slade Elementary School. The rest will be divided between a mountain bike and trail project at Laramie Middle School and gym equipment for Laramie High School.

The board created a new administrative position. The Director of Student Services will serve as both Title IX coordinator and attendance officer, taking the load off of administrators in other roles who currently bear those responsibilities.

The board approved 600 additional COVID leave sick days. The original proposal was for just 300, but Yennie said 600 should get the district through the end of the school year. The district had approved 890 COVID sick days before Wednesday’s meeting.

The trustees also approved the creation of a new, very small rural K-6 school. Buckle School will serve just one or two students in northern Albany County, who would have difficulty getting to Rock River, or even Cozy Hollow — another very small rural school. Buckle would utilize a trailer that has been used as a one-room schoolhouse before.