Aging infrastructure reaches a crisis point for NSSD

MT. PLEASANT—The North Sanpete School Board confronted a mounting infrastructure crisis at its Jan. 20 meeting while also approving new programs aimed at helping struggling students and at holding young offenders accountable through restorative justice.
The nearly four-hour meeting saw the board approve up to $300,000 for an emergency boiler replacement at Mt. Pleasant Elementary; discuss options for replacing a condemned 36-year-old bus lift; and direct Business Administrator Kobe Willis to develop a capital asset management plan to address the district’s aging facilities.

Facilities Director Dalan reported that one of two boilers at Mt. Pleasant Elementary had been red-tagged as unsafe. He said he discovered the problem when he could see flames glowing through a hole blown in the heat exchanger.
“As you’re going into the mechanical room you look in the back of that boiler as it is running and you can see like this bright glowing flame,” Dalan told the board. “So as soon as I found that, I red tagged it and shut it down.”

The district is currently operating on a single backup boiler, which works adequately in mild weather. But there is no redundancy if that unit fails. The manufacturer quoted $41,000 for a replacement heat exchanger with only five available nationally, making repair impractical.
Because the two boilers operate as a tandem system, both must be replaced together at an estimated cost of $250,000 to $300,000. Dalan recommended waiting until spring to begin work since shutting down the system during installation would leave the school without heat for roughly a week.

The board approved spending up to $300,000 for the project.

The district’s 36-year-old bus lift has been condemned and out of service since late fall. Mechanics are working with mobile lifts that add 45 minutes to an hour to every service job, reducing capacity from servicing two buses per morning to one bus per day.

Dalan presented options ranging from approximately $300,000 for a new in-ground lift system to $4.8 million for a new bus garage facility with multiple bays. He noted that every comparable district he contacted uses Stertil-Koni brand in-ground lifts with 25-year life expectancies.

Board member Joe Cook, who has extensive experience with vehicle lifts, suggested having Gunnison Hydraulics inspect the current lift and recommended the district consider subcontracting some bus repairs to local shops when workload becomes overwhelming.
Willis, drawing on his experience at Piute School District, noted that Piute built a larger bus facility than North Sanpete’s for under $600,000 by having the transportation director do much of the work himself.

The board did not approve lift expenditures right away but directed Willis to develop a comprehensive capital asset management plan identifying all major infrastructure needs, estimated costs and timelines over the next five to 10 years.

“We need to have a planning meeting,” said Richard Brotherson, the school board president. “We sound like we need to collect a lot of information first.”

Several people at the meeting noted that most district facilities were built in 1988 and are now showing their age simultaneously. Discussion touched on the middle school lacking air conditioning, the high school track crumbling, Fountain Green Elementary being at capacity, and Ephraim Elementary using converted spaces for classrooms.

In other discussion, Jeff McQuivey, the school resource officer, and several supporters presented a proposal to establish a youth court at North Sanpete High School, modeled on existing programs in Manti and Gunnison.

The program addresses a gap created several years ago when the Legislature removed many offenses from juvenile court jurisdiction.
Youth court handles misdemeanor-level offenses including vaping, truancy, tobacco possession, minor fights, and even traffic tickets. In order to participate in youth court, students must admit to the offenses, making the court a restorative justice program rather than a court to determine guilt or innocence.

Student judges hear cases and assign consequences such as essays, community service hours, a drug education curriculum and a $25 court fee. Kyle Parry, a restorative justice specialist from South Sanpete School District who worked with the juvenile court for 19 years, will help facilitate the program.

Principal Christy Straatman noted that youth court provides an alternative to suspension, keeping students in school while still holding them accountable. The board approved the proposal unanimously.

Principal Steve Solen from Pleasant Creek School presented a new state-approved program called the Focus Graduation Pathway. The program allows severely credit-deficient juniors and seniors to use GED test scores to satisfy core requirements while still completing remaining credits through traditional coursework in order to earn an actual high school diploma.

Solen emphasized the program includes strict eligibility requirements. To be admitted, students must demonstrate they have enrolled in and attended required courses.

“We want to make sure it’s the best thing for them,” Solen said. “This is really only going to be used in the really extreme situations.”
He specifically mentioned group home students who arrive late in their high school careers with minimal credits, and homeschooled students who transfer in as seniors hoping to earn a traditional diploma. Solen estimated perhaps 15 students per year might use the pathway.

The board approved the program unanimously.

Ryan Syme, the new middle school principal who had been on the job two weeks, alongside counselor Tammy Millett, presented data from the latest SHARP survey, a survey of eighth graders administered by the Utah Department of Health.

They reported that while depression and suicidal ideation rates decreased compared to previous years, other indicators got significantly worse.

Most striking was the food insecurity finding: 25.4 percent of students reported skipping meals because their family could not afford food, more than double the 11 percent reported in 2023 and far above the state average of 12 percent.

Sleep deprivation also went up dramatically compared to earlier results. Only 29 percent of North Sanpete eighth graders reported getting eight or more hours of sleep per night, down from 53 percent in 2021. The state average is 46.6 percent.

The survey found screen time was interfering with sleep for 55.8 percent of students and with family time for 60.4 percent. Social isolation had increased compared to the last survey, and students reported feeling less safe at school.

Meanwhile, Millett noted the school’s counseling program received the highest possible rating in all categories during its recent six-year state review.

The meeting carried an emotional undercurrent as multiple board members and staff paid tribute to Tammy Jorgensen, the outgoing business administrator who served the district for 36 and a half years.

Speakers described her as treating everyone like family and maintaining an open-door policy throughout her career.

“You think of someone like Tammy retiring and you kind of look back,” said Superintendent Odee Hansen. “Her connection to people is just amazing.”

The board approved Jorgensen’s retirement with early retirement benefits.