Paul James

The Piute County School District Board of Education held a public hearing to present and approve the Fiscal Year 2025 Final Budget and Fiscal Year 2026 Original Budget. The budgets include all governmental funds for which the Board is legally responsible, such as Maintenance and Operation, Local Building Authority, Student Activities, Debt Services, Capital Projects, Food Services, and Scholarship Trust. The board may vote to amend this budget after adoption if necessary. The mission of Piute County School District is to "Prepare Children For The Future." The budget process is a continual cycle that includes data collection from many sources that are updated regularly. The largest expenditures category is salaries and benefits. The school district started an online school in FY25 called Utah Peak Academy, which provided a significant increase in funding for the district. The school district will issue revenue bonds in early FY26 in the amount of $5 million. Starting in FY26, the school district will share the costs of a full-time food services director with Garfield School District.

The council is reviewing the upcoming school plan for 2025-2026 for Utah Peak Academy. The plan focuses on maintaining or showing growth in Language Arts and Math curriculums, with at least 80% of students showing proficiency of 70% or higher. Key actions include providing additional instruction support, purchasing online books, dyslexia testing, educational field trips, I-Ready licenses, and back-to-school kits. The plan outlines estimated expenditures for salaries and benefits, books, transportation, software, and expendable items. It also includes funding estimates for 2025-2026 and a summary of estimated expenditures.

The school plan for Piute High focuses on enhancing student proficiency in math and science by 10 percentage points, measured through end-of-year RISE testing. It aims to improve college and career readiness by offering English 1010, Spanish, and completion of at least one CTE Pathway. The plan includes retaining qualified teachers, providing tutoring and credit recovery programs, purchasing classroom supplies, and supporting student participation in leadership conferences to foster college and career readiness and mental health.

The school plan for Circleville School focuses on improving student outcomes in language arts and mathematics. Key strategies include lowering class sizes, providing targeted interventions, and enhancing curriculum resources. The plan also emphasizes building background knowledge in social studies and addressing students' social and emotional skills through PBIS and character education programs. The plan includes integrating art and music to augment general classroom instruction.

The Piute County School District outlines its plan for using $193,258 in Teacher and Student Success Act (TSSA) funding during the 2024-2025 school year. The framework prioritizes three key areas: 1) High-Quality Teachers: 25% of the funding will enhance teacher salaries to improve recruitment and retention. 2) Expanded Course Options & Digital Learning: Funding will support additional upper-division science, technology, and art courses, along with opportunities to develop technology skills. 3) Differentiated Instruction: Funding will help minimize multi-grade classrooms to facilitate more effective differentiated instruction. Funding will be allocated as follows: $48,315 at the district level (Priority #1), $79,663 to Piute High School (Priority #2), $50,896 to Circleville Elementary (Priority #3), and $14,384 to Oscarson Elementary (Priority #3).