Superintendents of School Districts Talk to Legislators

Superintendents Scott Stults, SCSD#2, Jeff Jones, SCSD#1 and Chase Christensen, SCSD#3, approached the legislators with their concerns on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at the Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce Legislative forum.

Stults said that he felt that he had expressed most of his concerns five days ago, so he did not have a whole lot more to share, but he did say this,

He also talked about scheduling and the conflicts if students want to take college courses. He added that SHS seniors have a flexible high school schedule and that allows them to attend college classes. He said the school did have concurrent and dual enrollment of high school and college.

Senator Dave Kinskey and Stults had this exchange on CTE (Career and Technical Education)

Stults added that they are working with a consulting group about CTE and they work with Sheridan County employers to discover how they can make SHS students more employable. He said that 70% of the SHS kids go on to post-secondary education, but 30% go into the military or into the workforce.

Jeff Jones, Superintendent of SCSD#1, talked about some of the challenges in his school district. He asked the legislators to:

He asked the legislators to honor their profession, and he added that teachers positively shape the future of the country.

He added this,

Chase Christensen of SCSD#3 talked about school choice, mental health and retirement for school employees.

He also mentioned state funding, and said

He felt that schools should not be shut off from state funded grants if they are not a part of some federal programs. He felt the conversation should be re-visited again in the future.

Kinskey responded,

Legislators attending the forum were Senators Dave Kinskey and Bo Biteman, along with Representatives Barry Crago, Cyrus Western, Mark Jennings and Ken Pendergraft.