Parents from each grade level and community members without children will be a part of a committee, along with school administration, staff and faculty, to review the Park County School District 1’s current book policy. 

Superintendent Jay Curtis discussed the process for assembling the committee during the superintendent’s update last Tuesday at a board meeting. The policy for censorship of books and other instructional materials was unanimously approved to move to committee for review earlier this month as part of the school board’s review of Administrative Regulation/Operational Procedures.

Curtis said a message will be sent out to all parents to ask who would like to be on the committee. The district will pick at least one parent from each school level via a lottery system. The committee will also be opened to one or two community members without children, who will be selected in the same way. This call for community members will be posted on Facebook. The committee will also consist of Curtis, an additional administrator, trustee Laura Riley, district librarians and school representatives from the elementary, middle and high schools.

“It's been fine for a lot of years [the policy] and we just hadn't had much interest in it,” Curtis said. “But once there becomes interest then we find out our policy really is not very good, then you need to see some different, better ways of doing things.”

He noted that this will be a large committee and the process to revise the policy will take time. 

Also discussed during the meeting was the annual Shoshone Learning Center and Park 1 Virtual Academy update. The 2021-2022 school year was the first combined graduation year for the Park 1 Virtual Academy and Shoshone Learning Center. Principal Steve Lensegrav praised the staff and the graduation rate of between 90-100%. He noted that across the state the chance of graduation is often “fifty-fifty” at alternative high schools. 

Lensegrav informed the board that there are currently 19 full time students and five part time students at the Shoshone Learning Center. At Park 1 Virtual Academy there are 32 students, consisting of former home school students, PHS students, Cody and Lovell students. 

Curtis said that the virtual school was funded for two years through grant money and that it will need to be evaluated for financial feasibility moving forward. He said taking a student from one school and putting them into the virtual school does not generate the funds to support the virtual school. Curtis said he is not ruling on whether or not there is a market for the school, only saying that the demand for a virtual school will need evaluation.

Also on the meeting agenda was a Wyoming School Board Association update, Northwest Board of Cooperative Educational Services update and Powell Valley Community Education Board of Cooperative Educational Services update. The positive accreditation of PCSD1 was also discussed, the official report will be released in the coming weeks.

The next school board meeting is scheduled for Nov. 8 at 6 p.m.