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Celebration, collaboration, curriculum discussed at school board meeting

Lauren Blair

With the excitement of homecoming pervading the halls and grounds of Moffat County High School, the Moffat County Board of Education meeting Thursday at MCHS library began with a celebratory air.

Students, teachers and staff from the Moffat County School District crowded the room to receive recognition from the board for a variety of achievements. Ridgeview Elementary School principal Amber Clark and gifted education teacher Vera Turner were each honored with statewide awards, Clark for her excellence as an elementary school administrator and Turner for her work on Moffat County’s gifted education program.

East and Ridgeview Elementary Schools received awards from the board for their continued strong performances, and Sunset Elementary was honored for its improvement.



All four elementary school principals spoke to the board following the awards, replete with Sandrock Elementary principal Kamisha Siminoe decked out in firefighting gear. They expressed their commitment to working together, thinking of themselves not as four separate schools but as one unified Moffat County elementary school.

“We are here to celebrate each other’s successes,” Siminoe said.



Board members followed up the celebrations with reports on their efforts to connect more closely with schools in the district. Each member has been charged with the task of getting to know one or more schools and departments in the district, touring the facility and discussing strengths and challenges with the principals and staff.

Superintendent Brent Curtice reported that he has visited 19 classrooms thus far as part of his goal to be in every classroom in MCSD before January. Next week, he said he plans to ride every bus route, and also intends to tour the food service program.

“My congrats to all the admin and directors. We have a different feel and a different look and I hope you see that tonight,” Curtice said.

Community members Denise and John Williams expressed discontent during the public comment period about the Common Core curriculum. Denise Williams called for the board to remove Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” from the recommended reading list for 11th-grade students and to remove it from the school library due to its depictions of rape and incest.

Curtice responded to both of the Williams’ that “no curriculum can be used without approval of this board… We have local control in Moffat County of our curriculum, the books, of everything we do.”

Curtice also announced some community collaborations the school district is working on, one of which is with the city and county to combine resources to address internet connectivity in Craig. A Statewide Internet Portal Authority meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at The Memorial Hospital.

Contact Lauren Blair at 970-875-1794 or lblair@CraigDailyPress.com or follow her on Twitter @CDP_Education.


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