News – Sheridan Media
At the June 9 SCSD#2 Board Meeting, Troy Decker introduced Shayley Cooper, who gave an update on the Fifth Street Greenhouse. In his introduction, Decker used the letters of Shayley to describe Cooper, saying she was self-motivated, hardworking, accomplished, youthful, learning, educator, and yay, for the fact that SCSD#2 has Cooper. “What a gain,” he added.
Cooper talked about the grants they had received for the greenhouse, and how much produce they are growing. She said that student involvement was important at the greenhouse.
Trustee Lansing said he felt there should be more advertising for the greenhouse, so people know what they do.
Shane Rader, board chair, ask Cooper if she found it challenging to know what the students would eat.
Kasey Garnhart presented a WHSAA Good Sportsmanship Award to Erin Newton, and he then introduced Ashley Lecholat who talked about Sheridan being named as one of the best communities for music education in 2025.
Superintendent Scott Stults in his superintendent’s report talked about a meeting he and Brandon Finney had recently attended via zoom.
He added that some legislation was being considered where the state would move funding from the block grant into other programs, such as CTE and Special Education.
Stults said that some things were not funded in the model that should be funded, like School Resource Officers, which SCSD#2 chooses to fund from other sources. “We choose to find money for SROs in our schools.”
He said that if safety is a priority in schools, SRO officers were a big part of keeping schools safe and should be funded.
In the audience comment section, five community members spoke to the board. Shelley Pollak, expressed her concerns about the addition training for concealed carry, she felt that board policy on volunteers needed clarification, and that the policy was open for interpretation.
“If a person already has a concealed carry permit, they should be able to present that permit and not be required to take further training.” She felt if the school requires more training, the school should pay for the training.
The other speakers, Erik Jorgensen, Anna Bailey, Robin and Sam Hoffman, all approached the board with concerns about the books in the library that many consider obscene and that they feel undermine family values.
Stults reported on the community meeting on May 13, on the repeal of the gun free zone legislation. This story was published on Sheridanmedia on May 14.
Stults said that in the survey of the teachers and staff, 87%, supported the trustee’s writing policy about concealed carry. When surveyed, 78.3% said no, they would not carry a firearm.
Stults talked about some other questions that were presented at the roundtable. One question that Stults addressed was “When will the additional training be facilitated?
There were questions about how this might affect the students in the district as well.
After some discussion, the board moved to approve the concealed carry policy on first reading in an 8 to 1 vote.
Stults reported on YouScience, which helps students decide on their life goals by combining interests and aptitude assessments for each student.
Next meeting will be July 14 at 6 p.m.
More Like this
Last modified: June 11, 2025