WHEATLAND – There’s been a lot going on behind the scenes in Platte County School District No. 1 to prepare for a successful 2024 – 2025 school year. In an interview last week with Superintendent, John Weigel, he highlighted some things that will be different this year. 

After receiving certification from Eastern Wyoming Community College to teach a CDL driving course with bus endorsements, school Transportation Director, Blaine Eppel, hosted the first training class in July with a nine-student class. Weigel said, in addition to the newly certified individuals, part-time substitute bus driver positions were filled, and the district received applications from individuals already CDL certified. 

“Blaine said we are set for drivers this year. I think the increase in wages helped,” Weigel said.

The CDL teaching certification Eppel received also enables him to teach students in the vocational CDL program, saving the district money since they won’t need to send those students to Torrington for the same training, Weigel added.

Professional Learning Collaboration

Though Professional Learning Collaboration (PLC) has been done in the district in the past, Weigel said it hasn’t been structured. This year, the district’s principals have completed PLC training and will lead a structured PLC program to assist teachers in working as a team, collaborating in teaching methods and choosing ways to measure the progress of individual students.

“Every step in the PLC is a research-based process,” Weigel explained. “Teachers will work as a team to help individual students…There is going to be a structured process to identify what needs to be taught to meet state standards, how to teach it, and how to assess learning – not always as a test, but somehow demonstrating individual progress of students.”

“When I was with Spring Creek Elementary in Laramie when it was selected as a high-performing blue-ribbon school, I was at the ‘round table discussion’ with other blue-ribbon schools in Washington, D.C. The question was asked in how they accomplished that success, and every one of them credited having PLC’s in place. There was not one school there that did not have a PLC,” Weigel said of the impact such a program can make.

Weigel said he is looking forward to the progress made for each individual student as the teachers become familiar with the PLC process, in which groups of teachers meet one or more times per week to collaborate on the learning progress and individualize instruction for the unique needs of each group of students.

Though it will look different between primary and secondary grades, the program is designed to customize teaching so kids who are confident in the content standards are challenged and do not become bored with the lessons; students who struggle can be helped to truly grasp the concepts, thinking outside the box when necessary; and all successes will be celebrated so students are encouraged to keep putting in the effort to push through learning challenges in order to succeed, Weigel explained. It also helps teachers keep focused on prioritize the skillsets they are teaching and use teamwork to help students succeed.

“It’s going to be a group effort, so it’s not teachers thinking ‘it’s my class,’ but rather ‘they’re our students,’” Weigel said.

“It’s going to be good, but the teachers will have to do the work and be co-active in the process,” he concluded.

Teaching positions filled

All certified staff positions have been filled in the district, the first time in several years all the teaching positions have been hired out. Some of that is due to the changes made by the school board to increase wages and making the effort to listen to the input and needs of the teachers during negotiations last year. He also said the full staff will help teachers not feel so overworked.

“It’s amazing what happens when you treat people right. It’s common sense,” Weigel said.

Old Jr. High assessment

A workshop held two weeks ago had the school board discussing options to consider in order to alleviate the financial burden of the old junior high building.

Weigel explained the biggest issue with the building is the $50,000 in utilities spent by the district for a building that, according to state’s school facility commission standards, does not provide an active education environment. “It’s a financial burden to our district … The money spent on utilities each year could go towards other things the district needs,” he said.

As of last week, Weigel received confirmation the School Facilities Commission will conduct a MECR (Most Effective Cost Remedy) study which will provide several recommendations for the school board to consider based off what the district wants and makes sense financially. There will also be additional assessments into the structural, hazmat and etc. conditions of the building, all free of charge to the district.

“It’s a hard solution, since the building is mixed with county use:  some P.E. classes and extra-curricular activities use the newer addition of the structure, in addition to Platte County Recreation District and the preschool daycare using portions of the building on a regular basis,” Weigel said.

Though this is the case, according to the State, it is not used for education purposes, so something will need to be decided to be a better steward of public taxpayer money in regards to the oldest school building in the district.

“The process will be started and finished in one year. The school facilities commission will hire specialized old-building consultants and after the study is completed, we will share it with the public and allow them to have time to give input into the final decision,” Weigel said.

ESSER Grant

Through one portion of the American Rescue Plan, a $250,000 Elementary and Secondary School Education Resource grant (ESSER) was awarded to Platte County School District No. 1 to provide improvements for health and wellness of students and staff. With the funds, TC Edwards was awarded a contract for major improvements in Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) improvements to Libbey Elementary and Wheatland High School.

There was also an upgrade of the weight / conditioning room boasting Hammer Strength equipment and a cardio workout area, in the Coach Colt Goff-designed facility that is available for both student and staff use.

Football Field Improvements

In addition to other maintenance projects district-wide, the football field renovation has been completed, fixing waterlines, divots in the field, and fixing the edging of the field which was starting to compromise the integrity of the track.