The Uintah School District has responded to a new claim in the ‘Did You Know?’ paid advertisement in the newspaper that the school board violated the Open Meetings Act. According to the Uintah School District, the claim is false. “On May 9th, 2018, the school board voted 5-0 to approve construction projects at Uintah High School, including an overhaul of the school’s baseball and softball fields,” shares the district. “The unanimous vote included the full cost of lighting for the fields. Board approval of a construction project grants district administrators authority to decide the details of performance unless an adjustment would require increased funding. During the meeting, Uintah School District Business Administrator Derek Anderson told the school board the district had reached a tentative verbal agreement with representatives from Uintah County, Vernal City, the Uintah Recreation District and private donors to reimburse the district for the cost of the ball field lights.
On June 19th
, the school board was informed that Uintah County, Vernal City, and the Uintah Recreation District had decided not to approve the proposed arrangement to reimburse the school district for the cost of the lights. Board members were also informed that, based on this development, they could decide not to have lights installed at the renovated ball fields. They were advised that no formal vote would be required to make this change because it would represent a cut in funding for a project they had already approved, not an increase in funding.” The District explains that after the
June 19th
meeting, Anderson contacted all five board members by phone or email asking if they wished to re-address the lighting issue. Four of the five board members individually responded that they stood by the original approval of the project
on May 9th.
The fifth board member did not respond to any attempts to solicit his input and the approved plans from the
May 9th
public meeting moved forward. The District stated they are ready to defend any legal action that may result from the false claim and are discussing with legal counsel potential action that could be taken to address inaccurate statements already made and any future inaccurate statements that attempt to “erode the faith and confidence people have in the Uintah School District.”
