SWEETWATER COUNTY — Roosevelt Day School, 440 Dewar Drive in Rock Springs, may be so anxious for a new location, if only a temporary one, that the facility and its programs may head to the soon-to-be-vacated Jackson Elementary School in Green River even if it is only for a year or two before returning to their current location.
Jackson Elementary School, a K-4 operation, is located at 2200 E. Teton Boulevard in Green River but is slated to be closed after the end of the current school year in another two months.
Roosevelt Day School is part of Region V BOCES, not Sweetwater County School District No. 1. Dan Mayer, Executive Director of Region V BOCES, headquartered in Wilson, WY near the city of Jackson, attended the SCSD No. 1 board meeting to both explain the Region V’s need for money and to outline the tentative plans involving Roosevelt Day School and Jackson Elementary.
Mayer spoke at the board meeting in Rock Springs regarding the board of trustees for Sweetwater County School District No. 2, which will meet tomorrow in Green River. “If it is cost effective…if (the move) is only for a year or two, I’ll take it,” Mayer said. “I wanted to do it anyway. (The SCSD#2 board members) don’t want to mothball (Jackson Elementary) and they’re getting very nervous.”
The board in Green River approached the BOCES V Board with the idea of using Jackson Elementary as a possible new location, Mayer said. He added that no official agreement is yet in place, pending what the SCSD#2 board of trustees decides.
At a recent Green River board of trustees meeting, trustee Steve Core said he would prefer to see the Jackson Elementary building used for some purpose once it no longer serves as an elementary school, rather than see the building go idle indefinitely.
Rock Springs-Farson/Eden board of trustees member Stephanie Thompson is a member of the Region V BOCES board of directors. Thompson thanked Mayer for his hard work on behalf of Region V BOCES.
The move to Jackson Elementary, even if only for the next couple of years, would allow major repairs to go forward at the current Roosevelt Day School location, Mayer added, including repairs to the boiler, without having students in the building at the same time as the major repairs.
.2 mill needed
Mayer said that currently there are 25 students at C-V Ranch in Wilson, which is a part of Region V BOCES, and 34 students at other Region V BOCES locations such as Roosevelt Day School, Hayden Peak Day School in Evanston, and Sunrise Day School in Hudson. The purpose of the C-V Ranch is to provide students needing it with an extra measure of discipline and responsibility.
Region V BOCES receives no public school funding for its operations, Mayer said. Around 86% of the organization’s funding comes from billable services provided, and another 11% from a mill levy, and the remaining two percent from federal sources.
Most of the money received goes for paying staff salaries, Mayer continued, adding that he would like to see a steadier source of income for Region V BOCES since changes and challenges in program funding can result in staff cuts “not year by year, but month by month”.
A .2 mill levy from Sweetwater School District No. 1 would result in $239,755 for Region V BOCES out of a total of $1,331,200.
Mayer went back to his theme of how badly he would like to see Roosevelt Day School occupy the Jackson Elementary facility if the finances can be worked out with the board of trustees in Green River. Moving to Jackson Elementary for two years and then moving back to the current Roosevelt Day School location would result in a significant victory for Region V BOCES, Mayer declared, given the boiler situation at the current RDS facility.
The SCSD #1 board took no action on Mayer’s proposed move. Any contractual agreement for the move would be up to the Sweetwater County School District #2 board of trustees in Green River.
