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Show A-6 Wed/Thurs/Fri, April 3-5, 2019 The Park Record Youth to discuss gender District budgets for new fluidity in panel discussion positions, top teacher pay They will share personal stories as non-binary teens CAROLYN WEBBER ALDER The Park Record At Teen Council meetings, conversations about gender and identity are common. But Annabel Sheinberg, who helps run the council, knows many people in Summit County are not aware that other gender identities exist besides male and female. She and the rest of the council hope to spark conversations about gender in the broader community. The Teen Council, a program through the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah in which teens learn reproductive and sexual health information and teach their peers, is hosting a panel discussion to discuss gender. The event is titled “Beyond the Binary: Teens talk about gender,” and it is part of the Project for Deeper Understanding, an initiative that fosters community dialogue about relevant issues. The event is scheduled to take place on Thursday, April 4, from 7 to 9 p.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. The panel discussion will take place for the first hour, and it will be followed by a question-and-answer session. A panel made up of high school and college students will speak about their own experiences as non-binary individuals who do not identify as exclusively male or female, said Sheinberg, vice president for learning and partnerships for the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah. Meghan Zarnetske, an instructional coach and teacher at Treasure Mountain Junior High, will be moderating the panel. Teen Council focuses on educating youth about healthy sexuality and health education, and Sheinberg said understanding body image and who people are attracted to is a large part of healthy sexuality. The youth on the panel have had both positive and negative experiences when talking to people about their gender fluidity. Sheinberg said it is important to give them a place to share those experiences. “Traditionally, there is sort of a box around expected behavior for men and a box around expected behavior for women, and when people express themselves in ways that are outside of the box, they often get stereotyped,” she said. “We want to broaden acceptance, and the way to do that is to create We want to broaden acceptance, and the way to do that is to create some dialogue and give people a chance to share their stories in a safe and supportive way,” Annabel Sheinberg, Planned Parenthood of Utah some dialogue and give people a chance to share their stories in a safe and supportive way.” She said the bulk of the questions will be about when panel members felt supported because of their gender identity and what steps the community can take to help non-binary individuals feel included. Panel members will also explain the different ways people can express their gender, including how they use pronouns. The event will include a short workshop about pronouns, which will teach attendees the appropriate way to ask a person how they identify themselves. Bonnie Owens, safe at school coordinator with Planned Par- It will likely raise taxes to maintain high salaries CAROLYN WEBBER ALDER The Park Record COURTESY OF ANNABEL SHEINBERG Teen Council helped organize a panel discussion about gender set to take place on Thursday. enthood, will provide the training, Sheinberg said. Sheinberg selected youth for the panel because they often do not feel like they have a voice, she said. Plus, she said, it is important to learn about topics from people who can speak from a first-person perspective. Two of the panel members are in high school and two recently graduated from high school. “Representation matters. If we want to learn and hear from people’s experience, it’s best to get it from the people themselves,” she said. Alessandra C. Marrè, a member of Teen Council and a senior at Park City High School, will be one of the panel members at the event. As a member of the LGBTQ community, she said she has seen the harm that can come from categorizing people, and she is eager to share her stories. “We need to listen to non-binary and trans folks and understand how this binary has created pain and trauma,” she said. “We are lucky enough to have access now to endless terms, perspectives and stories, and as community members, parents, educators and friends it’s our responsibility to listen and to look beyond the binary.” Please see Panel, A-7 Budget talks are underway at Park City School District. The Park City Board of Education is currently reviewing the proposed budget, which includes a reshuffling of district cabinet members, the addition of districtand school-level positions and the continuation of a three-year contract to raise teacher salaries. It also includes a tax increase that, according to business administrator Todd Hauber, will likely be similar to last year’s amount. The tax increase approved in 2018 totaled $5.6 million. Hauber said the district knew it would have to increase taxes in order to pay for the three-year compensation agreement it made Continued from A-5 Bond reduced the construction of a new high school in Kamas.” The announcement stated that the district will revisit an elementary school in the Silver Summit area in the future. The Board considered adding an elementary school in the Silver Creek area to the bond because of the growth expected in the area. The district would build a new high school on a property it owns west of Kamas. The district would then use the current high school for grades in 2017 to raise wages for all licensed staff in the district. The upcoming school year will be the final year of the agreement, and Hauber said the Board and teachers will have to go back to the negotiating table next year, most likely in January or February. The 2019-20 budget includes funding for a handful of new positions at the district level, including a chief academic and a chief operations officer. The chief academic officer would oversee curriculum and professional development. Hauber said it would replace the associate superintendent of teaching and learning position, which is currently held by Traci Evans on an interim basis. The chief operations officer would be in charge of safety and human resources in the district, as well as other duties that are currently spread among a handful of district leaders. Hauber said the associate superintendent of human resources position, which is currently held by Tim McConnell, would have different responsibilities. Hauber said the cabinet-level changes are expected to be budget neutral. The district also intends to hire someone to coordinate the district-wide efforts for English as a second language and dual-language immersion programs. The dual-language immersion program is in its 10th year, and the first cohort of students will be juniors in the fall. The district plans to create a new central registrar position who would ensure that the registration process is uniform at every school, Hauber said. Parents with kids in multiple schools could also use the central registrar to register their students in one place. At the schools, the district plans to hire more special education instructors, particularly for high school-age students at Treasure Mountain Junior High, Park City High School and the Park City Learning Academy. The district has emphasized funding more special education positionsC six through eight, the middle school for grades three through five and the elementary school for preschool through second grade. In the preliminary plans, the new high school would include indoor and outdoor athletic facilities and fields. Leading up to the failed bond in 2017, many community members disagreed with the Board’s decision to include athletic facilities at the new high school because the current high school already has well-maintained facilities. The district announcement stated there is still a need for more athletic facilities. “Currently we do have nice facilities, in fact so nice that the demand far exceeds availability,” the announcement stated. According to the announcement, the current facilities were built when the school did not have men’s and women’s soccer or spring baseball and softball. It said including the athletic facilities in the bond would only raise the cost $5 a month for a $438,000 home market value. The 2017 proposed bond to build a new high school on theC same plot of land was $58.65 million, but Sorenson said the cost went up because of rising construction costs. He expects that construction costs will continue to rise in the future. The district plans to build a new high school to address the student population growth it has had in recent years. All the schools in the district are at or above capacity, and the stui dent population is expected to h increase 48 percent in the next s 10 years, according to the diss trict’s announcement. The district plans to host t community meetings about the w proposed bond on April 16, 23, s 25 and May 9. a o Please see District, A-7 End of Season CLOTHING SALE Month of April 20 — 50% OFF *Pendleton *Filson *Ryan Micheals *Not your Daughters Jeans Excludes Blankets,Bags, and Accessories Park City Clothing Company | 550 Main Street | 435-645-9177 1790 E. Kings Peak Circle 4 Bedrooms | 4 Bath | 3,650 Sq. Ft. MLS 11805689 | $1,195,000 Get the top local news stories delivered directly to your inbox with a new weekly email update from the Park Record! Sign up now at bit.ly/prrecordroundup 1146 N. 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