LUSK – The Niobrara County School District (NCSD) board welcomed two new members at their December meeting on Monday, Dec. 14. Jeff Miller and Jeremy Nelson sat in on their first board meeting as official members. Both Miller and Nelson were raised in Niobrara County, and both have children attending school in the district. 

The board elected Lexie Ashurst as Chairwoman and Katie Kruse as Vice-Chair. Other positions will remain the same.

Students of the month for November were recognized, with Dalton Larson receiving this honor for Niobrara County High School. Dalton is a passionate and creative student. Among his many accomplishments, he can list being on the featured artist wall at the library, and he recently was accepted into the Wyoming All-State Choir. 

Jayla Cummings was the Niobrara County Middle School student of the month. Jayla’s sunny personality and kindness made her stand out among her peers. Her nomination commended her for her inclusive and cheerful attitude.

The elementary school student to receive recognition was Page Stager. Page is a new addition to the Lusk schools, and according to nominating staff member Britainy Bruegger, she is a joy to have in class. Page is an involved and cheerful student who is always trying her best to contribute to the classroom. 

In spite of all the restrictions, students appear to be thriving at Niobrara County schools. The elementary Christmas Program will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at the gym at Lusk Elementary and Middle School (LEMS). Each child can have up to four guests (this does include children and grandparents). 

Children under two sitting on a lap do not count as one of your four. Masks are required for guests five and over. The concert will be scheduled at specific times, with sanitizing occurring between class performances. 

According to administrator Robyn Heth, both students and attendees of activities and events have been very respectful of the school’s public health requirements. They have continued to come out and support the students. 

Police Chief Bo Krein provided the board with an extensive update on the School Resource Officer (SRO) position and programs that have been connected with the position. While progress is being made, COVID-19 has taken its toll on this process as well. Krein and SRO Tyler Stream have big plans for the integration of many programs across the district and community and look forward to continuing to make progress.

While Superintendent George Mirich did hand out another round of public health orders, as well as multiple emails to address extracurricular activity restrictions, COVID-19 was not the main focus of the board at this meeting. This also sends the message that while the restrictions create stress and frustration, staff have done their best to work around it. The message from all administrators was that the district is making academic progress and students are enjoying their time with their peers and educators. 

WYVA continues to experience high enrollment numbers with 1,100 students. The mid-year push is lower than usual. However, Heywood anticipates they will see more enrollment requests during and after Christmas breaks as schools adjust their classroom restrictions to meet any future public health requirements.

Along with some housekeeping items the Board approved Cass Matney and Cora Fitzgerald as the new co-directors for the 21st Century CLC program. This is a new grant-based program that will be hosted by the district and provide enrichment, education, life skills and community partnership opportunities for students at LEMS after school and for ten weeks in the summer. More information will be forthcoming.

Cora Fitzgerald was approved as the third coach for high school girl’s basketball. A discussion was held regarding the restrictions around concessions. Concessions continue to be available at events; however, attendees may not take their concession items into the gymnasium. This is at the advice of the Wyoming High School Activities Association. 

State-wide, the requested 10% budget cuts continue to be of concern to Superintendents and administrators. Last week 48 districts submitted what their budget cuts would have to look like to the state. Across those 48 districts, over 1300 employees from certified teachers to other professionals would be cut. Some additional tax considerations could relieve this burden. After the first of the year, extensive communication with stakeholders at the state and local level will begin taking place.