OCR Text |
Show Garfield School Board Will Continue Complete School Program at Ticaboo On the recommendation of Superintendent Henry Jolley, Garfield County School Board members decided to retain a modified K through 12 at Ticaboo after eight Ticaboo residents, concerned about the possibility of . losing their high school, traveled over 250 miles to attend this month's school board meeting. Purpose of their lengthy trip was to present a letter drafted by the Ticaboo-Bullfrog Ticaboo-Bullfrog Parent, Teacher, Student Association (PTSA) setting forth their concerns. They assured board members that they were committed to staying in Ticaboo and felt they were responding to Utah's need for economic development develop-ment in Southern Utah by pioneer'ng in the remote Southeastern tip of Garfield County. In return, they said, they hoped for an equal commitment from the school board to the education of their children. One Ticaboo resident remarked, "If you only have a partial educational system, you will only have a partial community." The representatives from the small desert community commented that as a reuslt of the rumors of the possible closing of their high school, some families had already been discouraged from moving to Ticaboo. Their letter to the school board pointed out that even before the first bulldozer had plowed into the first sand dune to begin the construction of Ticaboo, significant meetings had been held which the Garfield County School Board had adopted a resolution committing com-mitting the district to "establishing a comprehensive Community Education program in Ticaboo." They noted that the student population at Ticaboo during the school year 1979-1980 had fluctuated between 24 and 42, the first year of the school's operation. They claimed that critical decisions regarding their school are being determined without communication com-munication between the decision makers and parents in Ticaboo. The original agreement for education at Ticaboo called for the developers, Plateau Resources, Inc., to work with the Garfield County School District in funding the educational facility under a cooperative agreement. Supt. Jolley pointed out that the 120 students guaranteed by Plateau Resources for the school by January of 1980 did not materialize, nor did it appear likely that the proejeted 200 to 300 students proposed for the school year 1982-1983 would appear. "School districts can't be expected to pay the 'up-front' costs of a developer," Jolley stated, and since Ticaboo generated no tax revenue for the county last year, the school district could not bear the burden of Ticaboo educational costs without assistance from Plateau Resources. 1 While noting that he "appreciated the willingness and support of educational programs Plateau Resources has offered of-fered to this point," he nevertheless expressed his "irritation, personal and professional, that we as a public entity seem to care more about the situation than the impactor." He said that the Ticaboo situation is typical of those which may result in the drafting of state legislation to make developers responsible for such initial costs to an impacted area. More than one factor may alter the perplexing conditions with the likelihood of an enrollment for the new school year of at least 62 students and additional growth for the community projected. Further, Ticaboo will begin to generate tax revenue for Garfield County which will alleviate the problem as the number of students increase in the area. |