District approves $430K budget amendment

Sweetwater County School District No. 2’s board of trustees approved a budget amendment to increase spending in the district by $430,000.

According to Chris Dean, the district’s business manager, part of the amendment is to cover an additional $293,000 in costs incurred by out-of-district student placements.

“Not only do we have a few more students, but the prices of those placements increased this year pretty significantly,” she said.

Other portions of the budget amendment would cover increased costs associated with transportation, natural gas, commercial insurance and the cost of wireless access points the district will be paying up front for.

The trustees unanimously approved the budget amendment.

Bids sought for inclusionary playground equipment

The school district is seeking bids to add inclusionary playground equipment at Harrison Elementary.

The district plans to replace the upper playground at the school with inclusionary playground equipment, which is designed to accommodate children of all ability levels.  The district’s board of trustees approved a request for proposal Tuesday night. According to board documents, the proposals will be capped to $100,000.

Alan Demaret, assistant superintendent of the district, said the lower playground at the school has proven to be a hit with both the programs utilizing the space and Green River’s residents. Demaret said the playground project was already approved by the Wyoming Department of Education. It will be paid for with funding the district received from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, part of $135 million granted to Wyoming as part of federal government’s COVID-19 relief packages.

The board approved the request unanimously.

Make-up day approved by district

The board of trustees approved a make-up day for the snow closure the district had last month.

April 6 will now be a half-student day according to Superintendent Craig Barringer. The day was originally set for staff development, but that development day was moved to May 22.