South Summit School District

Among the incidents reported by the Summit County Sheriff’s office, a domestic violence call on Wednesday brought out a heavy response, and led to a very short lockdown notice given to schools in South Summit.

Sheriff’s Lieutenant Andrew Wright said they got a call at about 1:45 p.m. from Oakley.

The suspect was a 45-year-old husband whose whereabouts were unknown at first. Officers were told that he had threatened to shoot his wife, and possibly his children. Lt. Wright said the call brought out nine county deputies, a Highway Patrol officer and two Kamas police officers.

Local Nonprofit Youth Sports Alliance provides after school activities to students in the Park City School District, originally the program was focused on involving elementary students in winter sports activities but has since expanded into more activities and more grade levels. Last year YSA expanded their programing outside of Park City to South Summit Middle School where they had 20% of the school participate in the program in the first year.

School kids are out of classes for the summer, but school administrators are hard at work on the budget. Its required that preliminary budgets are made available to the public before budget hearings occur. There are a few regulations districts have to follow before a budget is finalized.

The South Summit School District is making changes in the executive administrative team. They’re adding the new Executive Director of Support Services position beginning July 1 hoping to achieve a more efficient management operation.

South Summit School District Business Administrator Kip Bigelow has been named to the new role of Executive Director or Support Services. Some of the requirements of the new position are areas with which he is familiar. The IT director is retiring this spring and he says it made sense to reorganize.

The South Summit School district celebrated high school seniors during a scholarship gala event night. Tuesday night. The education foundation raised about $155,000 which will be distributed to graduating seniors who qualify.

The Scholarship Gala has multiple purposes which includes fundraising and awarding various scholarships from Kamas Valley Organizations and the Community Foundation. Over half of the graduating seniors qualified and received $1,000 scholarships. South Summit School District Superintendent, Shad Sorenson says the criteria to apply is simple.

The South Summit School District finalized negotiations and both associations and administration have committed to salary increases this year.

South Summit Superintendent Shad Sorenson says the negotiating team is not ready to release the final numbers on salary increases but they have reached an agreement on teacher contracts for the next two years. The conversation delved into the challenges of offering a competitive package that includes good medical benefits and salaries that compare with other school districts such as Park City where starting salaries are $50,000.

Over 200 residents in the Wasatch Back gathered at Wasatch High School’s Wright-Tree Stadium on Tuesday morning to celebrate the schools most popular athletes.

 Tuesday  is  National Teacher Appreciation Day. It’s part of a week-long celebration of educators and staff. It includes a smorgasbord of treats, meals, processions and pampering. Parent Teacher Organizations, along with students tend to take charge in the week long celebration of teachers and staff. Schools tend to have their own theme and approach to show their appreciation for teachers and staff members.
In South Summit School District, PTO President Andrea Richins says they’re doing an outdoor, camping theme.

The South Summit School District recently approved all- day kindergarten beginning in the fall.  To accommodate the change, they’ll be hiring two new teachers.

South Summit Elementary School Principal, Linda Flinders believes the transition to all day kindergarten will assure a more equitable opportunity for all students. She says early literacy is critical for success in life.

The South Summit and North Summit School Districts had dozens of students participate in the 2019 Sterling Scholars Program held last month at Utah Valley University. There are 16 subject categories in which a student can apply and students from the entire North Eastern Utah region compete to win the coveted Sterling Scholar award.

Concerned about the financial hit to residents-the South Summit School Board has decided to lower the ask for a bond to build new schools to deal with growth. The board is moving forward with plans to put a $75 million bond on November's ballot-that's down from a $90 million bond the board had considered earlier. 

The South Summit School Board has a meeting set for next Tuesday night, February 26th, to look at the School District’s major priorities.

The School Board is set to meet on the 26th, 5:30 pm at the District office. Superintendent Shad Sorenson said the focus of the meeting is on their Master Plan.

Utah consistently ranks last in per-pupil spending, as it struggles to keep up with more students enrolling in school. So, what did the Legislature prioritize in its education budget this year? 

The Legislature’s Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee forwarded its final budget recommendations to the Executive Appropriations Committee for approval Tuesday, with more than $300 million allocated for ongoing funding and $104 million for one-time funding.

School safety is on minds of educators throughout the country, administration at the South Summit School District is no exception.

Shad Stevens is the Assistant Principal at South Summit High School he’s also the chair of the district safety coordination committee. He explains what the committee does.

South Summit School District is bonding for a new high school after a 2017 bonding effort failed. The district is considering some innovative designs to maximize space and offset eventual growth.

The district owns around 150 acres west of Kamas where the new high school will be built if the bond passes. Superintendent Shad Sorenson says that although not all of the property is developable, the majority of it is.