Transportation update given

BIG PINEY – The Sublette County School District No. 9 Board of Trustees presided over a brief agenda on Jan. 17.

Following a short executive session, board members passed a unanimous motion to offer a contract to Dr. Charles Jenks to continue in his role as district superintendent for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Trustees then approved a second motion, 5-0, to renew the contract for Amy Anschutz as chief financial officer for the 2023-2024 school year.

Each board member present – chairman Alan Vickrey, Cody Raza, Darby Hoffman, Bill Tanner and John Chekan – expressed their gratitude to Dr. Jenks and Anschutz for their service to the district and for their leadership.

Transportation update

Transportation director John Copeland presented a summary of recent activities in his department.

The district bussed an average of 122 students per day to district schools in the morning during the month of December, while averaging 88 students in the afternoon, Copeland reported. Fewer students took the bus in the afternoon because of after-school activities, he added.

The district bus fleet traveled an average of 356 miles per day over the course of the 2022-2023 school year to date, Copeland told the board. While the district was hauling “fewer students” than past academic years, buses were still “going the same distance,” Copeland said.

Fridays posed a challenge in terms of staffing due to the additional buses needed to transport students to sports events and activities, Copeland remarked. He thanked Big Piney High School Principal Jeff Makelky, Big Piney and LaBarge Elementary Principal Amy Bell and Michelle Hymas, the district technology coordinator, for lending a hand to help with transportation logistics on particularly busy Fridays.

Roughly one and a half months remained in the winter sports season as of Jan. 17, and Copeland estimated 18 more bus trips over South Pass to take athletes to different events.

In other district news

The Superintendent’s Office will begin posting monthly newsletters electronically to update the community on district happenings and news, Dr. Jenks announced. The district’s new mission statement and vision will be shared in one of the first newsletters, he added.

Principal Makelky thanked Trisha Scott, Sublette Prevention Coalition coordinator, and Cassie Crumpton, Sublette County Treatment Court coordinator, for offering a course on suicide prevention to faculty and staff during a recent in-service day. Makelky emphasized the goal was to “make sure the door is open” for students to seek help through a trusted adult at Big Piney High School.

Big Piney Middle School Principal Tyler Walker announced three new students at the school. In a recent survey, 88 percent of middle school students reported they had a trusted adult in the school they could talk to, Walker reported. Faculty and administrators planned to focus on the remaining 12 percent of students that did not report having a trusted adult in order to achieve the school’s goal of 100 percent, Walker added.

Principal Bell thanked SCSD9 district nurse Tonia Hoffman for leading a course on teacher and staff self-care during the in-service on Jan. 16. Students and teachers at both elementary schools were “embracing” the new district mission statement and vision, she said.

Big Piney Elementary added two new students, Bell told the board, with LaBarge Elementary’s enrollment “holding steady.”

Trustees passed a motion accepting the retirement of Jacqueline Sare at the end of the 2022-2023 school year.

“We really appreciate (Sare’s) years of service with the district,” said Vickrey.