Joshua Heyer, Superintendent, Ogden Community School District, February 24, 2026

On our program today, visiting with Joshua Hire, Superintendent, Ogden School District, Snow Day and all. Well, you had another one. I mean, who would have thought?

Yeah, we had those 70-degree weathers, and next thing you know, Mother Nature shows its true colors, and we have a snow day. Oh, we kind of had January. It was really nice at the beginning of the month and then got really cold at the end of the month.

Here, well, I guess I'm not surprised by snow at this time of the year, and unfortunately, we didn't want to get it all in one night, but that's what happened. We did indeed, yeah.

It seems like whenever it's wrestling post-season and or, you know, you get girls' basketball season, we always end up having some type of a storm. Something to stop. So it's just kind of expected. We'll take it. I think farmers like it anyway.

It's going to be some more moisture. And I know that, you know, you guys were looking at a two-hour delay, and as I recall that morning, it was probably not a good travel morning. It was not a good. A lot of blowing snow out there.

Yeah, you know, we ultimately made that call last week around 8, 39 o'clock to have a two-hour delay, allowing our parents the ability to know kind of what that morning looks like.

We had that time then to kind of assess the roads, and quickly by 5.36 in the morning, we knew that it just wasn't going to be able to work. And part of that is not only just the safety of our students, but just the safety and the safety of the school.

So we're all just kind of looking at how we can, how we can, how we can get our campuses up to stuff. And, you know, with high winds, a good amount of snow, we were seeing a lot of drifting in and we just knew it was going to be the right call to not have school on that Friday.

Well, you know what, we'll wrap up the month here and get ready for March and see what we can do then. And we've got that done. But what a busy meeting you guys had. Actually, you've had a very...

regular meeting and we knew that you had already, we had talked about it before, went for the notes, capital loan notes and you were gonna be, by again, moving forward with some of your projects and everybody got a chance to see what was being proposed because after your meeting and they did approve it, they put the information out.

Absolutely, yeah, we're really excited. I feel like I've talked to you now for about a year and a half about, hey, we got these ideas, we got facility assessment work and now we're actually coming to fruition with some of those.

Yeah, parking lot, parking lot, we talked parking lot a lot. We have talked a lot about parking lot.

It is one of the challenges you guys have because it was pretty confined when you start getting some of your events that you hold there and just the amount of people that turn out. Large. It was just not talk among the school, it was the city and everybody else, too.

There's a lot of nuances that go into that but no, ultimately we're excited and as you indicated, we went ahead and opened up the bond note and we ended up having six bidders and the board did accept that low bid for that general obligation which is that pepl note.

So we're not raising taxes.

Our patrons in November approved the continuation of that dollar 34 and we went ahead and we're taking out that note with those proceeds to be able to do some of these projects such as the parking lot and we've been having some conversations about doing some work at the elementary.

So it was, yeah, at our last regular February meeting, we ultimately presented to the board, Piper and Sandler, shared information about what all took place that day when they opened up the electronic bids and then presented that awarding bid to the board and they ultimately accepted that.

So and they're ready to go ahead and then the plans and everything else, you get approved and then we go forward and bids will be coming March, right?

Yeah, so simultaneously at that night, we went ahead and Bishop Engineering is who I've been working with to design our parking lot and we presented the final schematics and design work to the board after again, a year and a half plus work on it, they went ahead and approved that and what that does, it allows Bishop then to go ahead and post that for bidding purposes and that's really where we're at right now, Jim.

I did actually reach out to them and kind of got an idea on are we getting people that are pulling our documentation off of the bidding and we have not received a sealed bid yet but with the number of people that have been pulling, I think there's a high level of interest.

That will be on March 2nd when bids are due and then we'll open those up and then we'll present the awarding bid to our board for our regular March 9th meeting. Okay, it's one of those things where, like you said, we're spending a million dollars on a parking lot.

Well, hopefully it'll be less. We'll see how the bids go but it is apparently, Bishop said, this is a good time to bid on this. It's a great time to bid.

I think they said that a lot of people are eager for it and we're getting kind of a jumpstart with the ability to start that project anticipating March, or excuse me, April 20th.

So we're gonna kind of phase it in in the summer to be able to do before school dismisses and then when school is out, we'll go ahead and close down and do the remaining part. So we're excited about it. We have kind of a base portion and then there's some alt bids included.

So depending on how low those bids came in or conversely, how high they come in, the board will have some flexibility on what they ultimately choose to move forward with this summer.

I told Ryan, I said, when we were talking about it on the morning show, I said, the big thing is, I said, it's gonna be how we handle or how it's handled going forward because trying not to inconvenience and still wanna get started early enough so we could get done by the time school starts the end of August and then we've still got baseball, softball track.

Probably not gonna host like the conference track meet or anything like that. We were fortunate enough to do that last year, Jim, and we won't get that this year.

But no, those are things that I've been working with our athletic director and it is gonna be a little bit of an inconvenience, specifically for commencement. So we're aware of those things. We're gonna figure out what the best accommodations are and what that looks like.

And then hopefully we have a successful event. For softball baseball, we have parking in the back. So long as we have a typical drier summer, we'll be able to allow some people to park on some practice fields, et cetera.

So I think this is the right plan so long as Mother Nature holds up with us and supports us through this project. Keep our fingers crossed. Then you had another work session meeting to talk middle school or elementary. The elementary, because we had touched on that too.

You said, got some inside things, some infrastructure work that needs to be done. Really excited about the work with FRK.

They've been with the school for a number of years and with the approval of that general obligation bond, we're really trying to tackle the projects that were identified in our facility assessment.

And some of that work is repurposing some of the physical space that we have at our elementary. We're landlocked on that campus. We can't really expand out. So we're really just trying to maximize all of the brick and mortar that we currently have.

We're excited about the work that they're doing. And during that work session, FRK just really wanted to get in front of the board and say, are we on the right pathway here? Do the work- This is what we're looking at. Is this what you're both thinking that we should do?

Yep, absolutely. So they're, you know, just really good discussion overall. And I think the board was very receptive and encouraged about the initial preliminary design.

They're taking the feedback that they're getting from the individuals that are gonna be impacted, those groups, as well as what the board said. And they're working on some initial schematics.

That will actually be presented in March 9th for them to actually get approval so that they can start to get down to that really granular level. And then we can really move forward. Getting into the design and get ready to go.

And then, I'm guessing, probably sometime next school year would be looking at it. You know, if things go well, Jim, they're actually anticipating doing demolition this summer. So that dirty work, that noise, and those types of things are actually done before school starts.

And then during the winter months, when work is a little bit lighter, people can move indoors. And the location that we're really looking at doing isn't going to impact instruction. So we're able to do that work during the school year.

And then ultimately make some changes and adjustments as school is dismissing almost a year from now. Okay, all about planning. Planning and coordination. It is a lot about planning. And all the logistics that go with it. School calendar did get approved?

School calendar got approved. Again, we've talked about that. It's very similar to this year. We just forwarded and we sent that information out to our families as well. I believe it's posted now on our website.

So yeah, it's good to kind of get that done and over with so that families can start to plan either vacations and those types of things moving forward for the next school year.

I looked at it and I'm going, well, it's for the 23rd being on Sunday this year, instead of Saturday, everything else looks the same. It really does. That was easy. It was an easy calendar this year.

Some of the other things that came up, I know that the board did have a number of other things they were talking about at the meeting. We're getting into budget time. We are getting into budget time.

One of the things that we need to do as a school district is we need to provide our max tax rate to the auditor so that they can actually send out their mailer. So we went ahead and put in some assumptions and working with the Department of Management. We don't have SSA yet.

So we're kind of anticipating what we think it might be. And the board ultimately approved what that maximum tax rate would be. Now, once we start to get more information and we can dial that in, it may go down and may stay right where it's at.

But nonetheless, in February, our board did take action in setting that max tax rate so we could share it with the Boone Auditor. I was gonna say, because different districts do it differently. If they don't know what it is, then they assume no increase.

And it's a size, the maximum rate, it's pretty high. It will go up substantially, I should say. But a lot of them calculated, okay, it looks like it's gonna be 2%, which kind of looks like after this weekend, that's where they're at. We'll see if it ends up there or not.

And those are really some of the conversations that I have with our SBO. And we try and figure out, okay, what is the legislation saying? What's the House? What's the Senate saying? What's the governor's recommendation?

We try and put in a fairly realistic, but also a conservative number. Because the last thing that we wanna put in there is, is that we're gonna get a 6% SSA, and then we get something less. That would definitely impact those numbers.

It is one of those that's not quite meeting inflation. Last time we talked, you said, I would love to see what inflation is. Yeah, ideally, you know, I- Around 2.5 or 2.7, somewhere in that neighborhood. It's a 2.7 is what's the consumer price index at CPI.

That's ideally where I would love to see it or higher. I think based off of what the House recommended, it's gonna probably be around that 2%. And they're really gonna, if you're on budget guarantee, there's some dollars that they're gonna do.

So making sure that they're not pushing that off into the property tax. Yeah, well, we do know that all the districts are doing the same thing. And I think everybody did the budget guarantee getting ready.

Most schools are gonna have to get ready for that because either with a lower SSA and or some of us that are having declining enrollment, typically that would put you on budget guarantee.

Don't hold me here to this number, but I think there's around 175 schools if we were to have a 2% SSA that are gonna be on budget guarantee this year. So that's a bunch. Well, that's roughly about half. It would be just north of half of them, yeah.

So there's a lot of challenges there too. Other things that came up at your meeting? I'm thinking because I'm trying to remember what was all on the agenda. Overall, that was really it.

We did have a work session afterwards, and we already kind of indicated that we had one work session with FRK. But we also had a work session just to kind of talk about early programming for some of our younger learners.

Currently, Ogden does not have transitional kindergarten, and it's something that some of our community members and families have asked a little bit about.

And we're just trying to figure out if this is the right time, if there is a need, and if there is a need, what does that exactly look like? So we can, here we are in the midst of possibly some remodel redesign at the elementary.

We wanna say, hey, if we're gonna do something like this, this is the most opportune time to actually add some additional programming. Try to plan for it and facilitate that.

Absolutely, so no decisions have been made, but it was really a great conversation just talking about how do we prepare our students for kindergarten, and is there a need for transitional kindergarten in Ogden Community Schools, and can we actually afford it?

Yeah, those are some of the challenges you need. And I know that, yeah, some districts do it. They've got a pretty solid group of people that take advantage of them.

It's usually for those children that probably have their birthdays real close to the beginning of September or something like that, and would be a little bit younger coming in.

A lot of times you would see the transitional kindergarten being more of those summer, those June, July, August, sometimes even those early September, that a cutoff is September 15th when you turn five years old is really that compulsory education.

So yeah, some of those young learners, and you know, it's really what do we do with that? Yeah, and get them started. Wanna get them started? Start them right, let them keep going there too. Well, the legislature's been working on a few other things.

I know they keep talking about libraries and stuff, and I know you did have an appeal. You had your committee had to go through and take a look at one of the books that was being, or was available. Yeah, absolutely. Yes, I don't know if it was part of the curriculum or.

We have in our board policy the ability for somebody if they're concerned about some instructional materials and or something in our library, there's board policies to follow.

And in this situation, we had somebody that was concerned about some materials that was being used in the classroom, and they followed board policy, and so did we. And ultimately, if you go to our board minutes, you saw some additional sessions.

What that is is a reconsideration committee is formed by the, excuse me, by the superintendent, and they actually vet through those materials. We had very productive meetings, and ultimately they came to me with a recommendation of 6-0, that the material should stay.

So ultimately, again, we're following board policy, as well as our patrons are following board policy, and that's exactly why they're in place. And again, that was a couple of different meetings. Amy got to chair. Amy was able to chair those meetings.

I, as the superintendent, cannot be president of those, but ultimately the committee makes a recommendation to me, and that I need to decide what ultimately I am going to move forward with. And again, they did their due diligence with it. They heard everybody's comments on it.

They read the material, I'm guessing. They all had to go through that, and then they did their vote on it.

They did, yeah, and that's honestly, it's quite a bit of time when you're thinking about those additional meetings, but really objectively looking through those materials, and yeah, reading.

I think it was a 300-page book that they probably read from cover to cover, so that they could make an informed decision on is this book appropriate or not. And again, those are things that we still have, have always been there.

Those things have always been in place, and in this situation, I'm just again proud that we follow policy as well as our patron, and that's exactly why we have those things in place. Okay, so let's see, big things still coming up here. Don't we have a booster thing? Fundraiser?

Well, I'd like to mention, yeah, this Saturday we actually have, Ogden Alumni Association is having the Bulldog Ball, so if somebody is, doesn't have plans on February 28th, which is Saturday, it's gonna be at the Boone County Fairgrounds, you can certainly look at our website, and under Ogden Alumni Association, you'll find information about the Bulldog Ball.

And support. Support, you know, honestly, those- That's our big thing.

Those things have been just wonderful, you know, I've been in the district now for three years, and the community support, almost on an annual basis, of $40,000 to $50,000 that they are actually generating and giving back to our programming.

And this year, we're actually gonna be doing some therapy dogs, so we're really excited about kind of the goal of getting four dogs in our building for the next school year, and that partnership of the Ogden Alumni Association and helping us out.

Okay, I know that, yeah, you got a couple in right now, don't you, a couple of therapy dogs? We do not, we've passed board policy to do that.

and all those things, but ultimately, it's been kind of a slow roll, but we've been waiting for the Bulldog Ball to be able to get that funding so that we can advance and move forward. Go forward with it. Okay, keep working at it, here we go. Other things that are coming up?

You know, it is Parent-Teacher Conference week on Monday night, so last night, we actually had our first, but Monday's in Thursday, we have it in the fall, as well in the spring.

It's just a great opportunity for our families to get in and be able to connect with our teachers and see how their students are doing. With that, then, on Friday, we have a Teacher Flex Day.

That would be an ability for teachers to either come in and work and do some professional development, and or if they want, they can choose to take that off. We've kind of moved to that model. So that will be this week. And their choice.

That is their choice, but with that Flex Day, they have to work so many of those days throughout the year. So it just gives them a little bit of flexibility on what they wanna do and what their family needs are.

I know that we did talk a little bit about it, but didn't specifically talk about what was going on in Ogden as far as even at 2%, your general fund portion of that. Have you been looking at, and is it getting tighter?

Because I know enrollment is one of the driving factors for just about every district. Yeah, absolutely, Jim, and it is getting tighter. We are declining enrollment, and I would argue that with a SSA of 2%, it is not meeting quite the threshold.

So we're gonna be dealing with less money, but still trying to do the same amount of things, as well as giving teacher salary increases, as well as insurance increases. So we're gonna have to really tighten up and really look at those things.

The good thing is, is that we do have a solid UAB right now. So we're able to hopefully weather this storm and kinda as we're, I would argue, we're right sizing Ogden a little bit.

We have two or three classes that are gonna be a little bit higher that are graduating, comparative to what we've seen with enrollment in that kindergarten. So hopefully with that higher UAB, it's able to allow us to get through these next couple years.

But I do think at some point, we're gonna have to really look at our programming and really decide on what are things that are in Chapter 12 and are requirements, versus what are things that are additional things that are nice to have.

I know we've had, really, well, we just watched Gilbert go through what, an $800,000 shortfall. And I think a year ago, I think Pella had 900,000. So again, Boone had worked at 665, somewhere in that neighborhood.

But this time it did hit some program, which is, again, I know most districts, you try to work it with your staff and what's happening, who's retiring, and working that way. But at some point, you get down to something's gotta give.

Absolutely, and right now we're not there, but it's certainly on our radar, some things that we're looking at. And hopefully we can get that right size, we can get some good SSA, and or we can get some additional enrollment.

And those concerns that we have, we need to be aware of that, but also hopefully they do not come to fruition.

And that's one of the things for Ogden, for the school district in particular, I know at Boone it's no different either, but looking at the housing projects and the things like that, you're looking, we'd like to get some new families in here. Yes. Add to our enrollment that way.

Yeah, and I would argue and tell you and our listeners, the Ogden Legacy, that's a group that's been together for a number of years, they're keenly aware of that. And part of that was is they get fairway in, but also they wanna be able to support and complement the school.

And they know that they need some new housing, they know that they need some new families, and they're working on those things as we speak right now to be able to meet those goals. Let them keep working on that too.

In the meantime, otherwise we're starting to get ready for spring activities and stuff. You probably already have cross country runners out there. I'm sure they are.

They just, especially when the weather was like 60 degrees, I'm pretty sure they were out there running if they had a chance. Anyway, we know they get there. They do that. No, honestly, yeah, like you said, we're getting ready for spring activities.

We do have a number of things that are still kinda wrapping up. I wanna mention show choir and jazz band, and we also have a speech that's kinda wrapping up some of their seasons.

If anybody is available, we're actually having a jazz band show choir performance tonight at Ogden High School. So people are able to come out and see our students. They're pretty darn talented. So that would be at seven o'clock tonight if they're interested.

Okay, and they just show up, or do they need to get a ticket out of bound? They can just show up and we'll take care of it then. Do it right then. Absolutely. Joshua Heyer on our program today. Thanks for joining us this month. Thank you.