The Sublette County School District No. 1 board of trustees approved updates to the Smart Start Building Component Plans and the winter sports activities protocol at their Nov. 12 meeting.

The trustees unanimously passed a motion to approve the winter sports protocol that included guidelines for Nordic and alpine skiing. District Superintendent Jay Harnack said that the district is working with the Wyoming High School Athletics Association to develop rules for indoor track.

The approved winter sports protocol included allowing up to four athletes or students to stay in a room during activities trips. The request was made by Activities Director Jake Rich to "keep opportunities open" for as many students as possible.

The board also passed a motion to change cleaning schedules at schools to open more time up for teachers and staff.

Harnack told the Roundup on Thursday that the approved changes follow all current mandates as of this writing, but are subject to change in accordance with public health orders as the COVID-19 situation continues to develop.

"We are committed to remain in Tier I as long as we can," Harnack told the Roundup. "We will hang in as long as we can" to keep the school buildings and

activities open and operating.
Tier I is the first stage in the state's Smart

Start Plans where schools are allowed to offer full in-person instruction. Tier II is a "hybrid" between in-person and virtual learning, and Tier III is a closure of all schools – similar to the shutdowns last spring.

Harnack also emphasized that the schools were already following the regulations in the countywide mask mandate that was approved this week. He added that the only change will be at activities and sporting events where spectators and all participants except those athletes and students on the court, track, pool or stage must wear masks. This is in compliance with regulations released by the Wyoming High School Activities Association.

Other board news

• The board approved Lisanne Fear as head alpine ski coach and John Flint as assistant alpine ski coach.

• In a unanimous vote, the board approved a "transitional" executive secretary position to fill in following Keni Underwood's retirement at the end of the year. Harnack told the board he accepted Underwood's resignation "with regret."

• The board approved a list of "approved" full-time employee positions for the 2020- 2021 school year. The trustees also passed a motion to accept new life, long-term disability, accident, death and dismemberment insurance for district employees.