August 28, 2018 School Board Meeting Transcript
This is a transcript of the Aug. 28, 2018 Iron County School Meeting. We have strived for accuracy and believe this is correct although some voices are very similar. The attendees at the meeting were: Stephen Allen, Michelle Lambert, Mary Ann Kemp, Harold Haynie, Michelle Jorgensen, Shannon Dulaney, Kent Peterson, Kevin Garrett, Steve Burton, Rich Nielsen, and Monica Torres. One of the things many find disturbing is that no one in this meeting suggested that transparency with the community should be considered. Readers should determine for themselves the propriety of the actions of the school board. You can follow along reading while listening to the audio recording which can be found at the following link. Please note that the recording starts 15 seconds before the transcript:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=9aDdBg85_Rk
ICSB 08-28-2018 Tape Time 1:43.52 Rich Nelson & Board talk about mascot vs. bond.
<Rich Nielsen >I asked Shannon if I could discuss this with you. Um, I’m going to just throw this out to you, and let you decide, talk through it. But it just feels like this fall there’s a lot going on, um in terms of our Strategic planning and the bond election, and I am a little concerned that the messaging will be um conflated kind of just combined into one issue with the District. Um, and that people will look at while they feel passionately about this issue so I’m going to be against this issue, this issue, vice versa. So I’m wondering if it would be umm, be wise to still do the process this year, but delay the, umm the meetings that we need to have until November, December, January, somewhere further down the line so that we can work through our strategic planning and our bond elections and then be able to devote more of our efforts to that.
<Kemp> When’s the elections, Nov. 6th? ….. I mean I concur exactly, that’s kind of what I was concerned about as well. I, I, I, just think there are a number of sensitive issues that deserve a lot of time and discussion and I think we may get a more focused discussion if we separate the two of them. I so I would be in favor of that. I think it’s really important that we proceed but it might be wise to wait that would be my vote.
<Lambert > I think it’s wise too. Ya a lot going on but also because there are those times some of you have been involved with surveying, and you do one thing someone doesn’t like and they mark, don’t like, don’t like, don’t like, just check the whole thing. Yeah and also I think the timeline letting time pass is a good idea like the information you sent out seemed like the more time they allowed people to ruminate, the better the success and so put a little bit out there and let it set for awhile.
<Shannon Dulaney> That seems fitting, ….telling into our strategic planning as well to that matter we’ve got an agenda we’ll get out in an email tomorrow in format we wanted, so we have our first strategic planning meeting with the entire committee next week on the 6th. And I can see that, I can see that dovetailing nicely after November, ah in our, our um area in our community and possibly even using a part of that conversation to inform the effort on the mascot. I think it’s going to be a little bit tricky, but we need to let those conversations feed each other, so that our community feels like their being listened to as well, as well as putting together a committee, of individuals that that are passionate about this, but are level headed as well.
<Harold Haynie> My problem is I did call Rich last week cause I wanted to know where we were at. Um I guess in the conversation Rich and I had, where in our discussion before we thought there was a possibly we could transition beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, um he thought it might have to be pushed back another year. I completely agree it needs to wait until after the bond election I think I have no problem with that, Umm I guess from a personal prospective I’d still like to see an organization of the committee’s and something so that we’re, we’re in a position to start not necessarily Nov 7th, but dive right into it and, and I would still like to see the any effort possible if the timeline feels like it could still do it for the 2019-2020, I mean start with the 2019 year I would still push in that direction, personally but the timing of it does need to have the community support obviously and so in the creation of I spent a little bit of time with Becki Brunson last week and a she had names of people who are Redmen Graduates who have expressed to her they would like to be a part of the community committee, who interestingly enough there were a hand full of them that were very much in favor of changing the mascot even though they were Redmen for life, but anyway she had suggestions, she said she could come up with some names if we were doing….she she wanted to know how we were proceeding, I said we will definitely have the community committee, we will have people from the community.
<Rich Nielsen> …and I have already contacted a number of people um from the Paiute tribe representatives they already have been made aware. The SUU folks are already aware.
<Lambert> Can you tell me this, cause I get all these rumblings like “you’re really not going to change it are you” you know and they claim that the tribe is split, that part of the tribe wants it to stay the same and part of it, is that anything you never heard?
<Nielsen> It wouldn’t surprise me but nobody has ever told me that. I mean we’re all ???? <conversation crossover>
<Harold Haynie> It was that way in the meeting that I had you know the one we had originally with John Dodds a year and a half ago. There were people in the tribe that would just assume to leave it the way it was. The difference back then was they had all of this pressure from the national groups telling them you better drive this thing through, we can’t keep doing this. So….
<Nielsen> That wouldn’t surprise me at all. So on Harold’s point, for timeline I don’t um, if we were to to still organize and I can get all of the committee in place, um through October and then um what I had initially put was November, December to hold 2-4 parent community so I moved those parent meetings through November and December. January you could hold as part of your board meeting have a vote on whether to keep or change, that still allows Feb. Mar. April, May to select, which is plenty of time . I think you could still choose to do that for the fall if you wanted, Um, it’s obviously going to take a couple of years to totally change .
<Harold Haynie interupts> Oh Ya (something about transition team) The transition time to get everything done will be added upon but I think, I guess part of my reasoning is because for lack of a better term, The cat’s out of the bag, there’s discussion. They know that we’re talking about it so in the community they’re talking about it, and to me to, to push it back to an additional year, I think is not going to help our cause.
<Allen> Well I think,
<Harold Haynie> Continues: I want time to do it, but I don’t want to make it feel like we’re dragging this out, because now people are talking, they’re going, so what are you going to do, what are you going to do?
<Stephen Allen> I think you’re fine to think through it that way. I wouldn’t be opposed I actually put on here August for the implementation, August 2019 or August 2020 depending on what you decide, so.
<Harold Haynie> Right, and that’s, so anyways that’s my position I just, as people talk about it, the cat’s out of the bag they’re there, the discussions ensuing, by several so
<Michelle Lambert?> so it would be wise to help guide the narrative
<Harold Haynie> Right. So I, I, I’m totally cool with pushing it up you know to start meetings in December, instead of November so I just feel like we, we kind of made an announcement we’re , we’re talking about this mascot again. Um so let’s do, let’s do something about it (……..?) That’s the way I feel about it.
Chatter….end of Mascot issue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=9aDdBg85_Rk
ICSB 08-28-2018 Tape Time 1:43.52 Rich Nelson & Board talk about mascot vs. bond.
<Rich Nielsen >I asked Shannon if I could discuss this with you. Um, I’m going to just throw this out to you, and let you decide, talk through it. But it just feels like this fall there’s a lot going on, um in terms of our Strategic planning and the bond election, and I am a little concerned that the messaging will be um conflated kind of just combined into one issue with the District. Um, and that people will look at while they feel passionately about this issue so I’m going to be against this issue, this issue, vice versa. So I’m wondering if it would be umm, be wise to still do the process this year, but delay the, umm the meetings that we need to have until November, December, January, somewhere further down the line so that we can work through our strategic planning and our bond elections and then be able to devote more of our efforts to that.
<Kemp> When’s the elections, Nov. 6th? ….. I mean I concur exactly, that’s kind of what I was concerned about as well. I, I, I, just think there are a number of sensitive issues that deserve a lot of time and discussion and I think we may get a more focused discussion if we separate the two of them. I so I would be in favor of that. I think it’s really important that we proceed but it might be wise to wait that would be my vote.
<Lambert > I think it’s wise too. Ya a lot going on but also because there are those times some of you have been involved with surveying, and you do one thing someone doesn’t like and they mark, don’t like, don’t like, don’t like, just check the whole thing. Yeah and also I think the timeline letting time pass is a good idea like the information you sent out seemed like the more time they allowed people to ruminate, the better the success and so put a little bit out there and let it set for awhile.
<Shannon Dulaney> That seems fitting, ….telling into our strategic planning as well to that matter we’ve got an agenda we’ll get out in an email tomorrow in format we wanted, so we have our first strategic planning meeting with the entire committee next week on the 6th. And I can see that, I can see that dovetailing nicely after November, ah in our, our um area in our community and possibly even using a part of that conversation to inform the effort on the mascot. I think it’s going to be a little bit tricky, but we need to let those conversations feed each other, so that our community feels like their being listened to as well, as well as putting together a committee, of individuals that that are passionate about this, but are level headed as well.
<Harold Haynie> My problem is I did call Rich last week cause I wanted to know where we were at. Um I guess in the conversation Rich and I had, where in our discussion before we thought there was a possibly we could transition beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, um he thought it might have to be pushed back another year. I completely agree it needs to wait until after the bond election I think I have no problem with that, Umm I guess from a personal prospective I’d still like to see an organization of the committee’s and something so that we’re, we’re in a position to start not necessarily Nov 7th, but dive right into it and, and I would still like to see the any effort possible if the timeline feels like it could still do it for the 2019-2020, I mean start with the 2019 year I would still push in that direction, personally but the timing of it does need to have the community support obviously and so in the creation of I spent a little bit of time with Becki Brunson last week and a she had names of people who are Redmen Graduates who have expressed to her they would like to be a part of the community committee, who interestingly enough there were a hand full of them that were very much in favor of changing the mascot even though they were Redmen for life, but anyway she had suggestions, she said she could come up with some names if we were doing….she she wanted to know how we were proceeding, I said we will definitely have the community committee, we will have people from the community.
<Rich Nielsen> …and I have already contacted a number of people um from the Paiute tribe representatives they already have been made aware. The SUU folks are already aware.
<Lambert> Can you tell me this, cause I get all these rumblings like “you’re really not going to change it are you” you know and they claim that the tribe is split, that part of the tribe wants it to stay the same and part of it, is that anything you never heard?
<Nielsen> It wouldn’t surprise me but nobody has ever told me that. I mean we’re all ???? <conversation crossover>
<Harold Haynie> It was that way in the meeting that I had you know the one we had originally with John Dodds a year and a half ago. There were people in the tribe that would just assume to leave it the way it was. The difference back then was they had all of this pressure from the national groups telling them you better drive this thing through, we can’t keep doing this. So….
<Nielsen> That wouldn’t surprise me at all. So on Harold’s point, for timeline I don’t um, if we were to to still organize and I can get all of the committee in place, um through October and then um what I had initially put was November, December to hold 2-4 parent community so I moved those parent meetings through November and December. January you could hold as part of your board meeting have a vote on whether to keep or change, that still allows Feb. Mar. April, May to select, which is plenty of time . I think you could still choose to do that for the fall if you wanted, Um, it’s obviously going to take a couple of years to totally change .
<Harold Haynie interupts> Oh Ya (something about transition team) The transition time to get everything done will be added upon but I think, I guess part of my reasoning is because for lack of a better term, The cat’s out of the bag, there’s discussion. They know that we’re talking about it so in the community they’re talking about it, and to me to, to push it back to an additional year, I think is not going to help our cause.
<Allen> Well I think,
<Harold Haynie> Continues: I want time to do it, but I don’t want to make it feel like we’re dragging this out, because now people are talking, they’re going, so what are you going to do, what are you going to do?
<Stephen Allen> I think you’re fine to think through it that way. I wouldn’t be opposed I actually put on here August for the implementation, August 2019 or August 2020 depending on what you decide, so.
<Harold Haynie> Right, and that’s, so anyways that’s my position I just, as people talk about it, the cat’s out of the bag they’re there, the discussions ensuing, by several so
<Michelle Lambert?> so it would be wise to help guide the narrative
<Harold Haynie> Right. So I, I, I’m totally cool with pushing it up you know to start meetings in December, instead of November so I just feel like we, we kind of made an announcement we’re , we’re talking about this mascot again. Um so let’s do, let’s do something about it (……..?) That’s the way I feel about it.
Chatter….end of Mascot issue