HHS School Community Council Meeting
January 12, 2022
Present:Jan Hansen, Brant Thomsen, Nicole Huff, Karina Park, Stacey Timmerman, Rebecca Martin, RJ Graham, Stacey Kratz, Mont Millerberg (CSD Board Member)Absent:Amir Zaidi, Steve Brown, John Olson, Suzanne Riches, Gregory Leavitt, Jeremy Wright
Previous Minutes Approval
Stacey Timmerman made the motion to approve the December 2021 minutes and Karina Park seconded; the minutes were approved unanimously with no abstentionsAPP Attendance and General Attendance
(Continuation of discussion from the previous meeting)Jan Hansen said that, this last week, we’ve continued putting in attendance and APP announcements to the students, as well as information about the 80/20 assessment ratio we’re working towards. We know attendance is a big issue; the question is the laws affecting attendance being suspended right now, and we can’t do anything to enforce attendance under the laws.Brant Thomsen said the law as it stands is set to expire in June. Unless it’s extended by the legislature, we’ll revert back to the previous laws, which help us legally force the kids back to school. If there are any proposals to change that, he things we will hear about it.Jan said that these issues with attendance that have arisen partly as a result of the pandemic are going to be an ongoing discussion. We need the kids to be here and be passionate about their education.School Safety Plan Discussion
Jan Hansen said some court cases are being worked through the system related to the earlier vandalism TikTok challenge; we haven’t had a lot of problems from TikTok challenges lately, so that’s good.School safety plans: Jan Hansen said they’re still working on school safety plans and we’re talking to the district as they make a completely new plan for responding to various types of emergencies in these new buildings. The protocols for fire will be fairly straightforward, but there are questions regarding shelter-in-place protocols, like whether we need to lock our inside doors (classrooms, offices, etc.) if our outer doors are locked. In a lockdown, the police are telling us they need access to the building, so we’ll have to build that into our protocols, as well.According to Jan Hansen, the school had a lockdown today (January 12, 2022) and were really able to take care of business. The police advised the administration right before lunch that there was a person with a weapon near the campus, so the school went on lockdown. The police were at the school within two minutes and the situation was handled within seven minutes. The administration debriefed with them afterward; the students were really good about everything. The administration just made decisions on the fly based on the situation and on what they had done before. The school doesn’t have a complete protocol from the district yet because the district is figuring it out. But everyone did well today. The kids were fantastic.Stacey Kratz said she thinks she speaks for a lot of parents when she says that, whatever they decide, we hope they take input from the leaders who are actually there working in the schools.Mont Millerberg said that one complication as we’re working things out is that the three police departments that service Canyons School District don’t share common definitions of “lockdown” and “shelter in place.” They’re working on resolving that.TSSP and LAND Trust Plans Discussion
Jan Hansen said we would like to continue pretty much the same plan we have this year and work on increasing our percentage for graduation. The data might look rough again this year because it’s been another hard year, but the counselors are working like crazy to get the kids ready.The administration and SCC plan to put together a draft plan for the February meeting that’s based on the current plan.RJ Graham suggested that we modify the wording to address the attendance issue; we hope to be able to track attendance and enforce it again after the current guidelines expire in June, but we might want to add wording that accommodates some modification of that in case the pandemic protocols continue in some form.Our spending is on track for this year and aimed at meeting our goal of getting the classes smaller.RJ Graham asked if the number of classrooms in the new building affected our class sizes, and Jan Hansen replied that it doesn’t, since the measurement uses FTEs (full-time equivalents) rather than classrooms. She said Hillcrest teachers teach six periods but are in the school for eight periods, so those openings in their schedules tend to open up rooms for other classes to use. We have some teachers who teach in three buildings, and there is always room for the classes we want to offer.The SCC will discuss the draft for next year at February’s meeting and hope to sign it at the March meeting so that we can submit it in April.COVID-19 Updates
Jan Hansen said Hillcrest has 71 cases today; you’ve all got the emails about the extra remote learning days the district has implemented, initially to try and stop the spread a little bit.Mont Millerberg said Hillcrest is doing well compared to some schools; they are addressing Alta first because they have 103 cases; the indications are that they’ve found enough kits to test the Alta population tomorrow. Corner Canyon and Brighton are right behind them and they’re trying to come up with test kits for those two schools. Hopefully, they’ll get to Hillcrest and Jordan sometime next week, as well. There’s such a shortage of test kits, it’s hard to make it happen.Mont also updated the SCC on the five-day weekend followed by a reset in case numbers that was initially approved by the county. He said that, while it was approved on Tuesday and passed by the board that night, the county told the board on Wednesday that they are not going to let the district do that after all.Jan Hansen said the five-day pause was still a timely thing to do, and Mont agreed, but said he may have voted differently had he known then what he knows now. He also noted that there is a county council meeting on Thursday at which many of these same issues will be discussed and may be changed.In the meantime, Jan said, we’ll just be here going to school and wearing our masks. Our students have really been pretty decent about that.Construction Updates
Televisions are being put in all over the building, Jan Hansen said; we have no idea how to use the AirPlay feature yet, but they’re everywhere.The heaters in the administration offices have started to function, as well. They’re still making progress across the whole school as well as on the grounds.Brant Thomsen asked when they expect construction to be completely finished. Jan replied that, when it comes to the sports fields and grounds, a lot depends on when they can get them in, because apparently sports fields need some time to settle before they are ready to be used. Those fields certainly will not be used this school year.Other items
After a short discussion, the SCC decided to offer the hybrid attendance option for the February meeting, so members can attend either in person or via Zoom.RJ Graham made a motion to adjourn the meeting.Next meeting: February 9, 2022
