2024-25 Minutes

School Community Council

Summit Elementary

 9/25/24

The council nominated and ratified Jasmine Wilhelm as the new committee chair and Clarissa Rich as note taker. 

Teacher Hilary Bair proposed and presented the meeting schedule for 2024-2025. All meetings are open to the public and will be held at 3:45 in the school conference room on the following dates: 

• Sept. 25
• Oct. 9
• Nov. 13
• Jan. 8
• Feb. 12
• March 12
• April 9

Principal Aimee McNeil informed members of the council of the SCC Online Training to be held on Oct. 8 at 6 pm.

Principal McNeil then presented the Title 1 Plan to the council for approval.  The ELA goal states 80% of K-5 students will demonstrate reading proficiency.  The school wide goal for math proficiency states by the middle of the year 75% of students will have demonstrated growth in their math diagnostic.

Title 1 funding will be used to focus on the school's “7 Steps” strategies, engagement strategies, professional development, and classroom aides who help with Tier 1 and Tier 2 interventions.  Money has been allotted for iReady MyPath for use in Tier 2 intervention. 

At the next community council we will be going over the school report card.

The council reviewed the Summit Elementary Parent and Family Engagement Policy.  Number 8 was the only new addition to the existing policy that states: “Inform parents of available community programs and resources.” The family engagement team will discuss how to implement this addition to the policy.

The council also discussed and made a few wording and formatting changes to  the School-Parent-Student Compact to be sent home with students or discussed at Parent Teacher Conference.

Principal McNeil also made the council aware of the Communities that Care event being held Oct 1 and 2.

Principal McNeil updated the council on the cross guard situation. She was able to meet with city officials on Monday, September 23 and was informed the city has no budget for crossing guards.  A mandatory city guideline for intersections needing a crossing guard is a reduced speed zone sign with flashing lights. Summit has a unique situation where students are leaving in all 4 cardinal directions by bus, car, or on foot. Teachers are currently acting as crossing guards in order to ensure the safety of students.  Sheriff’s have been filling in or being present at school arrival and dismissal when they can. It is the responsibility of the city to provide crossing guards and flashing signage for school zones.

City manager, Justin Lewis, has been great to work with and has committed to ordering flags and flag holders for students to use as they cross at the intersection of 100 W and 100 S. Trees at that same intersection have been trimmed or removed so as not to block school crossing signs. Some changes to parking were also planned to make room for a new bus and to make the crosswalks safer for cars backing out.

Next steps are to wait to hear from city officials about requesting a traffic and engineering study.  The council also discussed training students who walk to and from school to use the flags and crosswalk button. The invitation to city officials and members of the sheriff’s department to attend a community council meeting has been extended.

No Meeting Held

School Community Council Meeting Notes

Summit Elementary Library

 11/13/24

3:45 pm

Council members In attendance: Clarissa Rich, Jasmine Wilhelm, Elizabeth Sant, Beth Jenkins, Stacy Maughan, Aimee McNeil, Hilary Bair, PTA president  Missing: Melissa Shelton

Community Members in attendance: Tara Jensen, Tiffany Hinkson, Jan Shaw, Mary B. Taylor, Sofia Nava,  Matt Hansen, Seneca Holt, Mikelshan Bartschi, Jen Davis, Kenzy Stephens, Teri Rhodes, Cathy Christiansen

2024-2025 Budget was presented by Principal McNeil and provided on the back of the agenda. It is early in the year and it is expected to dwindle more as the year goes on.  The goal is to have less than 10% of the budget to roll over to the next year.

The Smithfield Sheriff department was in attendance for the Crosswalk safety discussion for the intersection at 100 S 100 W.

• Principal McNeil welcomed the Sheriff’s department and gave details about improvements and steps that have been taken. Stop signs at the aforementioned intersection replaced yield signs. Teacher supervision was added to the intersection after the pick up line was moved to the west behind the school.  It is not the responsibility of the teacher to be a crossing guard under their contract and school liability, but teachers are doing it to ensure the safety of students.

• Principal McNeil met with Smithfield city and the following actions were taken: removed trees for better visibility, signs with flashing lights for crossing East and West, new parking for buses.

• The city does not recognize it as a reduced speed zone and will not be paying for crossing guards.

• Principal McNeil hopes to see flexibility and more choice offered by the city of Smithfield. The driving force for this conversation is the safety of Summit’s students and teachers. Summit has a unique layout with Front and Rear pick-ups, buses, and walkers including those going across Main Street.

• Lieutenant Bartschi wants to see multi-disciplinary problem solving between the city, sheriff’s office, and school district. 

• Lieutenant Bartschi introduced Safe Routes provided by UDOT and explained that as a community group we can decide on safe routes. 

The conversation continued:

• Stacy Maughan, a community council member, raised the point that most of our council is from Newton and not affected by the crosswalk situation.

  • Lieutenant Bartschi in response stressed that we need to have the right people in the room. It is the responsibility of the community to come up with solutions and work with the city and district.

• Tara Jensen, a community member who owns a daycare accessed by the crosswalk, asked, “Why do kids cross in front of pick-up traffic in a u-shape forcing them to cross 3x?” 

  • The response was there is no sidewalk on the southeast corner of the intersection.

  • Principal McNeil said the decision was made to also help teach students to cross as safely as they can in the right crosswalks with the eventuality that teachers won’t be provided as crossing guards.

  • Tara mentioned writing a grant from Safe Schools to add the needed sidewalk on the southeast corner of the intersection.

• Seneca Holt stressed the importance of training kids how to cross safely and teaching parents not to park in the crosswalk. She also proposed permanent cones for a dedicated pick-up line.

• Hilary Bair shared the teacher/crossing guard perspective. She explained that the cones they have used in the past are confusing to drivers and they don’t know how to use them.

• A person in the back said she lives on 100 W brought up that there is a lack of education for parents for pick-up.

• Deputy Holt reiterated that educating parents about the pick up line is crucial.

• Summit Teacher, McKenzie Stephens, suggested rerouting pick-up to the empty parking lot between the library and Smithfield going around the circle drive and exiting to the south on Main Street. Mrs. Stephens also stressed that her own children cross the intersection in question and she just wants them to be safe.

• The following solutions were brought up:

  • One community member who lives on 100 West suggested creating an engaging animation or graphic to educate parents on the pick-up process. 

  • Tara Jensen suggested handing out the pick-up instructions in the pick-up line as parents sit and wait.

  • Stacy Maughan also suggested PTC as a time to pass out pick-up education materials. 

  • Jasmine Whilhelm suggested an Awareness-raiser

  • Deputy Holt brought up the green ribbon safety week the school did at the beginning of the year being a success.

  • Teri Rhodes, from the school board, proposed a concrete median to divide 100 west between walkway and pickup.

  • Cathy Christiansen, from the school board, mentioned that Birch Creek Elementary makes the road along 1st West going North a one-way road before and after school suggesting that a one-way road could be a possibility.

  • Lieutenant Bartschi reiterated that education is a huge piece and a free solution. He also said governing bodies need to be present to make decisions.

  • Teri Rhodes also suggested reaching out to Bruce Parker at the district who recently completed the Sky View project to change bus drop-offs.

  • Lieutenant Bartshi mentioned that bus and parent pick-up in newly designed schools are in different parking lots.

• Principal McNeil said that these were all good suggestions: educating parents, streamlining processes, changing the Safe Routes as a community and writing a grant through Safe Schools. We will continue this conversation at the next meeting on January 8. The community is invited and encouraged to bring solutions to discuss.

• Sofia Nava expressed a concern on 1st North that people are not stopping when it is not school hours.

  • Principal McNeil and Cathy Christiansen said this was valuable feedback for Smithfield city and encouraged reaching out to the city manager.

Principal McNeil proposed a Trustlands Budget amendment. The budget as it stands had $12,000 set apart for professional development for teachers to attend a PLC conference. The district provided a PLC training for elementary school teachers so that money could be reallocated to the Paraprofessionals budget.  There was also $36,922 allotted for technology improvements across the school under Instructional Supply.  Principal McNeil explained there was TSSA money also set aside for updating technology and proposed reallocating the $36, 922 to the parabudget as well. The proposed amount of $48,922 moved to the Paraprofessional budget was voted on and passed unanimously. 

A motion was made and passed to move the discussion on School Safety and Safe Routes to the next meeting. The meeting was adjourned.

No Meeting Held

School Community Council Meeting Notes

Summit Elementary Library

 1/8/25

3:45 pm

Council members In attendance: Clarissa Rich, Jasmine Wilhelm, Elizabeth Sant, Beth Jenkins, Stacy Maughan, Aimee McNeil, Melissa Shelton, Teri Rhodes, Cathy Christiansen

Missing: Hilary Bair

Other Members in attendance: Summit Guidance counselor Kaylene Streator and Summit Librarian Heidi Grange

Principal McNeil let the council know 2024-2025 Trustland Budget had been approved by the school board. An updated version wes provided on the back of the agenda. 

Kaylene Streator explained the school-wide Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS):

• Tier 1: Students are rewarded yellow tickets for each letter of HERO. Once a student gets 4 tickets they get to sign the corresponding letter and participate in a HERO run. 
• Tier 2: Check in/check out system is for students who need additional support. These students check in with a paraprofessional at the beginning of the day and receive points throughout the day. They check out at the end of the day with a different paraprofessional. 
• Tier 3: Student Specific Goal is provided for students who need more specific and direct support beyond tier 2. 

Heidi Grange then explained the school wide Digital Literacy Program. See the provided attachment explaining the different resources used in the curriculum. PTA president Elizabeth Sant confirmed that White Ribbon week would be happening and they plan to partner with Miss Grange. 

Principal McNeil gave a follow-up on the crosswalk safety initiative:

• She had reached out to Bruce Parker about the property on the north side of the school. He was recovering from surgery and she plans to reach out again soon when he is back in the office. 
• Mayor Morgan Monson reached out to Principal  and is scheduling a walk of the corner in question and possibly proposing a 4-way stop. Smithfield city manager, Justin Lewis, and Summit Teacher serving as the school safety specialist, Kenzie Stephens, will also be at the meeting. 
• The groundwork is being laid to write a Safe Routes grant to pay for the cement work required for the proposed crosswalks. 
• February is still the proposed time to remove teachers from crosswalk duty. 

Technical difficulties from the UDOT safe routes website required a motion for the safe routes approval to be tabled to the next meeting. The motion passed. 

Action Items for next meeting:

• Principal McNeil will include in the invitation to the next SCC meeting a link to look over the UDOT safe route for Summit Elementary. 
• Also to be added to next meeting agenda is reviewing of PTA grants

Meeting Information:

Summit Elementary Library 2/12/25 3:45 pm 

Minutes:

• Attendance
  • Council members In attendance: Hilary Bair, Jasmine Wilhelm, Elizabeth Sant, Beth Jenkins, Stacy Maughan, Melissa Shelton, Teri Rhodes, Cathy Christiansen
  • Missing: Clarissa Rich, Aimee McNeil 
• Mrs. Bair led the council in a budget review included on the back of the agenda.  
• Feedback to Crosswalk Changes were discussed:
  • Teachers have been withdrawn from crosswalk duty for the intersection at 100 S 100 W.
  • Tara Jensen is working with law enforcement to fill out papers for a grant to turn the intersection into a 4-way stop.
    • The grant is through Safe Routes and will request funds for flashing lights, flags and a crosswalk on all 4 sides.
    • Project to student use ratio is what Safe routes will be looking at to determine approval for funding.
• The council voted on the approval for Safe Routes map as it currently stands, it was approved
• Mrs. Bair presented the mid-year progress report for the school:
  • Math - The school shows median progress and typical growth. In grades 1-6 the proficiency grade is 75% of the EOY iReady Diagnostic
  • ELA - 80% of students in K-5 demonstrate reading proficiency on Composite Acadience
    • K 70%, 1 72%, 2 69%, 3 72%, 4th-78% 5th 78%
    • The median reading proficiency for the school is 73%
• Elizabeth Sant said the focus for PTA grants will be on Field Trips.
• Safety backpacks have been purchased and prepared. Each teacher has one to take during safety drills/ or emergencies. Each one needs a First Aid kit which may be paid for by the State. 

View printable February 2025 minutes

Meeting Information:

Summit Elementary Conference Room

3/12/25

3:45 pm

Minutes:

• Attendance
  • Council members In attendance: Hilary Bair, Jasmine Wilhelm, Elizabeth Sant, Melissa Shelton, Teri Rhodes, Cathy Christiansen, Clarissa Rich, Aimee McNeil
  • Missing: Beth Jenkins and Stacy Maughan
• Mrs. McNeil led the council in a budget review included on the back of the agenda.
• Update to Crosswalk and Student Safety were discussed:
  • The grant through Safe Routes requesting funding to turn the intersection into a 4-way stop is underway and awaiting approval.
  • Principal McNeil had a discussion with Bruce Porter at the District office about the possibility of creating a new thru lane on the North side of the school for parent pick-up.
  • Mrs. Stephens is asking Smithfield City to approve use of the entrance off of main street just south of Smithfield Implement.
  • Next steps are procuring money for an engineer to do a survey for the project.
  • The committee also discussed increasing parking spots as part of this project.
• The council had an in depth conversation on provided data.
  • Things to celebrate as reflected by the data were: 
  • Math proficiency and growth are commendable
  • Attendance is impressively high with the schoolwide attendance rate YTD at 95.4%
  • Principal McNeil and teachers attribute the popcorn attendance by grade incentive and officers enforcing chronic absences as important factors to this successful attendance rate.
  • Things to improve on based on the data:
  • The council had an in depth discussion on the high median growth percentile and proficiency percentages in Math versus the lower median growth percentile and proficiency percentages in ELA.
  • On Friday during staff meeting Principal McNeil will discuss the data with her teachers and write an ELA specific goal for the 2025-2026 school year and for the School Community Council to vote on before the next meeting. 
• A brief discussion ensued about what steps are needed to update playground equipment.
  • The district business administrator is working on a 15-20 year plan to upgrade district playgrounds and make them ADA compliant.
  • In the meantime, Summit has money saved for upgrades and needs district approval for compliance before purchasing or upgrading any equipment.
  • Cathy Christiansen will follow-up and ask the district business administrator questions specifically related to Summit’s playground situation.
• Action Items for Next Meeting:
  • Principal McNeil will discuss the data with her teachers and write an ELA specific goal for the 2025-2026 school year and for the School Community Council to vote on before the next meeting. 
  • Cathy Christiansen will follow-up and ask the district business administrator questions specifically related to Summit’s playground situation.

School Community Council Meeting Notes

Summit Elementary Conference Room

4/8/25

3:45 pm

• Council members In attendance:
  • Hilary Bair, Jasmine Wilhelm, Elizabeth Sant, Melissa Shelton, Teri Rhodes, Cathy Christiansen, Beth Jenkins, Stacy Maughan, Aimee McNeil
  • Missing: Clarissa Rich
• Mrs. McNeil led the council in a budget review included on the back of the agenda. 
• Update to Crosswalk and Student Safety updates were given:
• Mrs. McNeil will submit a proposal to the district before November 30th for a Capital Improvement Proposal for an added drop-off/pick-up lane on the north side of Summit Elementary. 
• School boundaries were discussed.
• The discussion on steps to update playground equipment continued from last time.

  • In the meantime, Summit has money saved for upgrades and needs district approval for compliance before purchasing or upgrading any equipment.

  • Cathy Christiansen will follow-up and ask the district business administrator questions specifically related to Summit’s playground situation.

• The council discussed changes to next year’s school community council.

No meeting held.