West River Eagle

Eagle Butte School Boards meet for a regular session



The Cheyenne-Eagle Butte School Boards held a co-op meeting on Tuesday, September 17, 2019 at the Upper Elementary School.

Meeting was called to order and roll call was performed. Present were Board Chairwoman Alissa Benoist, Vice Chairwoman Rhea LeCompte, and board members Brad LeCompte, Bart Ward, Kyle Ward, Katherine Morgan, Lexi Keckler, Melissa LeBeau, Sharon Lee, Candace Lee and Carla Veaux. Absent were board members Cody High Elk, Sammi Ducheneaux and Jay Cook.

Also in attendance were school officials Keith Watt, Cora Petersen, Les Logg, Vicki Birkeland, Francine Hall, Angel Lee, Dr. Juanita Becenti, Allen Benoist and Carol Veit.

The board approved the regular minutes from the August 12 board meeting before they proceeded on with order of business on the agenda. The board moved on with the public comments section.

Parent Kirby Peterson stood up to address the board to share his concerns about the alleged disciplinary action after some class floats were reportedly vandalized by some students. The penalized students were reportedly prohibited from participating in some homecoming activities, which Peterson said he did not agree with.

Benoist informed him that there is a five-minute time limit to speak and express concerns, and to refrain from using names of individuals during statements. She also stated that discussions and decisions would not be made during the public comment period, rather, she gave the option to Peterson to follow the process to get on the agenda for the next board meeting.

Peterson asked if he could ask questions during his statement. Benoist responded, “You can, but don’t expect any direct answers during the public comment period.”

“I’m very upset about the decision that was made to cancel all activities. The decision — did you guys even think about it? People have money involved in this to put this [parade] on. Myself, I took time off work to do this and I bought candy for the parade, I can’t get all that back. They [students] worked their tails off. There are two big events that people forward to all – homecoming and prom,” said Peterson.

After expressing more concerns Peterson thanked the board for their time.

Benoist thanked Peterson for his concerns and asked if there was anyone else who had public comments. There were no more comments, and no action was taken.

Eagle Butte School Boards take action during their meeting on September 17.

Benoist then moved on with the agenda and reports were given by Sharon Lee and Brad LeCompte, who reported on approved previous meetings and gave updates on other actions, which included information about the future plans of a new gym, which is in the planning process, said LeCompte.

Principal Cora Petersen then gave her report, which she said would be short “because there was only four school days in the month of August.” She said that she is working with counselors for interventions for all grade levels within her school. Petersen reported that there is no Physical Education teacher at her school, but the school has adapted by having Shannon Jewett teach PE a few times a week to grades 2, 3 and 4, and that certified teachers for grades 5 and 6 have sports PE sessions, stated Peterson.

Acting Primary School Principal Les Logg also gave his report, and said the school got off to a great start and although they are short staff, having substitute teachers is “making it work.”

High School Principal Francine Hall gave a report from the August 29 meeting. Hall stated the school year began with 265 students and now there are 281 students. Also included in her report was the average daily attendance and average daily membership. Hall also expressed her concern about how early homecoming was this year. After her full report, no questions were asked.

Other school officials including Angel Lee, Vicki Birkeland also gave their reports before the board closed the meeting.

The next regular meeting is scheduled for October 14, 2019.

 

 

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