Joshua Heyer, Superintendent, Ogden Community School District, July 28, 2026

On our program today, visiting with Joshua Hyers, superintendent from the Ogden School District, our opportunity to get to visit with you. You know, Josh, thanks for coming by the way. Absolutely. Thanks for having me. Good morning. But the next time we visit, school will be back. It is right around the corner. It’s been a wonderful summer, but yeah, it’s, it’s, boy, it’s knocking on the door. It goes, it goes fast before we know it. Yep. Our, this week is the no, what we call the no contact week, but otherwise as hot as it’s been, probably nobody wants to do any contact anyway. Yeah. Maybe it’s been a blessing that is dead week this week. And you know, when you got heat indexes of over 110, 115, oh, it’s a good thing that’s, we don’t have open gyms. Well, we do have a number of different things to talk about. I guess probably the big one, special meeting held last night held the public hearing again on this is on the elementary project. And this is something you guys have really been moving towards and actually moving fairly quickly because you want to get a bunch of this work taken care of before school starts. Yeah. Yeah. Last night we had a public hearing and then the board went ahead and presented a contract to the winning bid. And we have been moving fairly fast on that. We’re really trying to strategically get some of those things done before school starts, you know, and it’s going to be in a location where they’re able to work during the school year. So it doesn’t impact instructional whole lot, but there is naturally going to be some things that need to try and get done. And we know inevitably whenever you’re doing a construction project, there is going to be some of it. But you know, that short turn, I guess complications for a long-term gain. So yeah, we’re excited. The big part right now is to get started because you got some demolition that needs to be done. Yes. Down below is Belor gymnasium, when that was a middle school, actually used to be a lot of the locker room space. And we’re repurposing that space into some academic spaces. And then when those locations that are currently in our building get vacated into the new spot, we’re going to remodel those next summer. So we’re excited. We actually last week, we, the closed bids was on Tuesday when Raghbri was coming through town. But we ended up receiving 10 bids. So I think we’re really excited for the fact that there is a number of businesses that express interest in the project and ultimately submitted their bids. Bids themselves pretty much, I’m guessing, probably had quite a few of them might have been under the engineer’s estimate. They were right at, so the winning bid last night was by R.H. Grayball. So locally, you guys probably know that business. It’s based here out of Boone. And the 10 bids that we received, all of them were probably within a 45-mile radius of Ogden. But to answer your question, all of them were probably, they were a little bit higher than the engineering estimates. But boy, when you’re talking a $2.5 million project, and I think the spread amongst the 10 of them was $300,000. So really pretty tight overall. So, and folks need to realize that just the first part, this is the first phase of this project, right? Because this is a little more extensive. I mean, we’ve got more work coming after this is done. Yeah, the bid that was actually accepted is an overall comprehensive package. But it is going to be done in phases, so to speak, that we’re getting phase one done during the school year, which then we will move the furniture down into that new beautiful space. And then we will renovate next summer, which is phase two of this project. But it was all bid and accepted last night by the board. It’s the older portion. It’s the older portion of the building, really, that needed, I mean, you could do better use with it. Yeah, right now, it’s been a lot of storage. And boy, you never can have not enough storage. But we also wanted to maximize that brick and mortar that we have on that campus. And, you know, if we were wanting to do programming, such as, you know, we actually will talk about it shortly, a TK program, we needed some additional space. And rather than working outward, we actually just wanted to make sure that we were using that space effectively that we currently had. All right. Well, now they get to come in, I’m guessing the, I’m guessing a number of them came and took a look at it beforehand before they submitted bids and stuff like that. Because that’s one of the opportunities they get to do for something like this. Yeah, so we had a pre construction meeting where, you know, subcontractors or the the general is able to come in and really, you have your blueprints, but it’s able to actually be able to walk through that space and visualize and really get an accurate estimate on what you think this is really going to take with labor. So they have been in. But now that the project’s been accepted, the contract will be issued. I imagine in this next week, we’re going to have a sit down pre construction meeting and really kind of figure out the scope of the work when they’re actually going to get started. And just I look forward to working with them over the next year. Like you said, the sooner the better because of demolition, that’s the part you’d love to get taken care of before school starts. The rest you can kind of cordon off and facilitate. So yep, you got it demolition is always a little noisier and a little messier. So well, earlier in the month, you did have a regular meeting coming up in not an overly long agenda, but you had some interesting things on here. And let’s talk a little bit about the elementary programming because you were definitely taking a look at what you could do there. So I’ve been I’m actually starting year four in Ogden. It’s hard to believe, Jim. There you go, folks. Yeah, things go by quick. But you know, I listen to our patrons in our community, and we have not provided a transitional kindergarten program in Ogden community schools. And I started doing an analysis and listening to parents and really what their hopes and wants are and needs. And we actually have probably about four to seven kids on a yearly basis that just aren’t quite ready for kindergarten. And they’ve already been in the volunteer preschool program. So it’s really a question mark of what do we do if our kids aren’t ready? That might be maybe socially, it might be academically, or it might be just simply they’re a young child, a young five year old, you know, with a summer birthday. And some of them are kind of their hands are forced to enroll them in kindergarten, maybe not quite ready. Or some of them choose to open enroll to, you know, a neighboring district. And we started to really look at, could we afford a transitional kindergarten program? And the reality is, is doing that for simply four to seven kids is not sustainable. That’s that’s hard. Yeah. So we really started to really figure out programming. And I looked at a number of other schools around us and what they’re doing. And what they are doing is is they’re offering a kind of a hybrid where you have a TK program, and then you do a full day preschool program. In the morning, they’re doing the volunteer preschool program. And then it would be a paid a fee portion for that additional, not paid by the state. And then when you start to put all those things together, I think that we were able to and my message to the board was is that this is financially sustainable, and it’s a need within our community. So I made the recommendation to add an additional full time employee for the 2728 school year. Okay. And that seems like it’s a bit early, but there’s a lot of planning and preparation that needs to take place and communicating, etc. So that we can get ready to go for really, well, probably in January, February, we’re going to start doing that registration and enrollment. So yeah, we’re not that far away. It really isn’t. Yeah, in the board, as you guys probably have seen in our minutes, they did approve that. So we’re excited that Ogden will be having a full day pre-K slash TK program for the 2728 school year. And one of those things, too, as you know, because your initial number showed somewhere around four to seven, that can grow. It could grow. You know, I think if it is, it gives you that you’re already got something started. Absolutely. We have that flexibility to grow and or adjust based off of those needs. So if it’s a lean year, we might accept more of the full day preschool kids. If it’s a longer, you know, need more than that seven, and we end up getting eight or nine kids, that’s great. It would just simply reduce the amount of students that we would accept into the four, the full day preschool program. Because you want to do something that’s beneficial that, you know, if they’ve been through the preschool, yeah, you don’t want them to just sit there and go, well, I did this last year. Absolutely. Kids will do that. So we’re excited about it. We think that this is going to be a successful program. And boy, we’re really looking forward to the 2728 school year. So last time when we talked, we were talking about screen time, taking a look at that. So just going along with most districts, I think, feel pretty comfortable about, you know, they’re going to assess what’s being done, but they’re not overly concerned. We aren’t, you know, and I think that legislators, they wanted to make sure that kids weren’t just simply sitting behind a computer all day long. And, you know, I think maybe there’s some stories of that occurring. But when I actually sat down with our building principal and said, okay, let’s do an audit of where are we currently at? I mean, that’s going to be the first place, you know, and it’s really hard. We don’t want to put certain restrictions on when all of a sudden those restrictions maybe weren’t applicable. But we’re going to sit down and we’re going to look and say, how are we using those instructional tools, those computers in our classrooms and be really intentional with those lesson plans and development for that. And if we’re over 60 minutes, then we’re going to have to adjust those things accordingly. But our initial thought process is that we’re really not probably not exceeding that. Yeah, I think for most districts, and we know whatever the Department of Education comes out with, but is there like if it is instructional use within the classroom, something, does that count? There are certain exemptions. So let’s say we’re going to be giving a benchmark assessment, you know, that is actually computer generated. That would be something that would not apply. If a student’s IEP, which is an individualized education plan, identifies certain things that need to be happening and the use of that computer, again, that’s not going to qualify. So, you know, we’re looking at what those exemptions are, and then also we’re looking at how we are currently using it in our curriculum. And we’re going to make sure that we’re following the law. Most seem to be moving along. They don’t seem over too concerned, really. I mean, obviously, it’s the law. You got to adopt the policy for it and all of that. But it’s a matter of how it gets all gets incorporated into the overall scheme. More to come when our teachers come back with pre-service. That’s going to be one of those. Once they go through professional development, stuff like that, they’ll know what they want to do and how to go about it. It’s going to be one of those things, too. It went through the insurance. What can we say, folks? All the districts are looking at it. I’m guessing like all the districts that premiums have not really backed off. They haven’t. You know, and EMC is our insurance provider. And, you know, naturally, we have to have property liability. We have to have that insurance. Our claims have been actually fairly low. But ultimately, when you look at, I think, the storms that have happened in the Midwest and some communities have maybe been impacted a little bit more than, fortunately, Ogden or the Boone County as a whole. Ogden had their fair share a couple of years ago. Let it go with that. Yep, yep, absolutely. But no, ultimately, we made that recommendation and the board accepted that renewal. So, it’s going to be one of those where I know, Ogden, also, you did some of the, kind of, got into that group, didn’t you? A risk group. We did get into a risk group, which is really, we’re pulling some of our assets together and it reduces that liability. Districts kind of got to, said, we got to have a better plan. Yeah, specifically for Hale is really kind of what that is and significant. So, that was able to really help us out. But, yeah, I think we saw a 9% increase in our overall premium from the previous year. Okay. Not really a surprise. No. Well, you got your buildings and everything else. And now that they’re all pretty much well now, you’re working on the inside, the outside parts of all. You’re pretty well, pretty good shape. All the roof and we got great roughs. Boy, all of them have been replaced. Let’s not let them get hailed on. Okay. And that’s why you have insurance and that were to happen. Okay. Well, we’ll do that. Other things, what else came up for the board at their meeting? We had, you know, some pretty basic things, but we actually do have a cell tower that’s on our ground. And we just renewed a lease for that. So, it is a US cell T-Mobile. And we have a lease for every five years and an opportunity for that to renew up to like six different times. And that’s continual revenue that is generated that can go into our overall general. So, the board did accept and approve that. You got that. We have to find a new golf coach. Yes. Yeah. I think Randy went ahead and stepped down. He’s been there. I don’t know how long he’s been there as long as I’ve been in Ogden Community Schools. But yeah, I appreciate all that he did for us for the number of years. And we will be looking for a new golf coach. Well, right now, I think it’s actually open. So, if you’re interested in doing some of that, look at Ogden Community Schools and our employment tab and you can apply to be our next coach. It’s one of those. I think he’s going to keep busy doing other stuff, but he’ll be around. He’ll be around. So, yeah, he’s done a lot out on the golf course with him too. And he’s had some pretty good competitors on the golf side. They have. Yeah. We did wrap up softball, baseball season. I mean, you’d always like to go that extra game, you know, one more. But you ran into a couple of tough teams. Some tough teams overall. Yeah. So, the teams that ultimately eliminated us, one for the girls side, Grandview Christian, they ended up qualifying for state and actually went in the 2A state title. Yeah. So, you know, and we were tied going into the 7th with them. Had a great game and just really proud of how our girls responded. They had a great year, a little bit over 500 and a lot of individual and team accolades throughout the year. So. And some younger players. And some younger players. We did have some seniors. We’re going to sorely miss them. But overall, it was a successful year for them. And then the boys program, again, right around 500. And they had lost earlier in the year to I-35. And we saw them in second round. And we beat them up in Rollin’ Story, which was a great win for them. And they ended up ultimately losing and eliminated from postseason play from Rollin’ Story and Rollin’ Story qualified for state. So, again, overall successful summer for the Bulldogs. Again, that’s one of the things. So, let’s talk a little bit about Reed and everybody else sit down and start talking about eighth graders participating. Because this is one of those things. I think, what is the district doing? What is Ogden going to do? I know what others are looking at. A lot of it’s being set up. Or, basically, you got to start with your coaches. That’s exactly how we ultimately are elected to move forward. So, last legislative session, they actually enacted and allowed starting August 1st, eighth graders to be able to participate in varsity sports. The one thing that I think is really critical is, is once that student is established on a roster, that is where they are going to be for that year. So, they can’t be jumping back and forth. And quite honestly, I think that’s challenging for that student. Oh, yeah. So, the way that we are going to operate, and I think a lot of schools are going to operate, is that the varsity coach of that specific sport is going to identify and say, I am interested in said person to come up because I think that they can contribute because it’s going to be a healthy experience for them. Physically, they’re ready for it. And then we’re going to actually sit down with the parents, the athletic director, the individual student. And we’re going to go through all of the things that if you make this decision and move up, these are the consequences. Those consequences are you’re forgoing your junior high experience for that specific season. And there’s some other nuances to it. But ultimately, through that conversation, just have clarity and make sure that everybody understands what will be happening. And then ultimately sign it off on kind of just an agreement that everybody is signing off on. And I think that this is going to be a good process to have the varsity coach kind of they’re looking at the overall success of the ultimate program, you know, from their seventh grade students all the way up to their varsity athletes. And I think just because the varsity coach is making the recommendation, the student or the parent at any point can be opting out of that through that through that conversation to a meeting that we’re having. I know most people right away, they think football, but there are so many others, so many other things that they could be involved with. You might have an exceptional eighth grader that maybe wants to do a cross country. You’re right. Or something. I think I actually, I think a football is probably a rarer case that we would be moving an eighth grader up. Just when you think of the physicality of that sport, I it’s going to take a special athlete to be able to be moved up to a varsity roster. And when I say varsity, I’m using that pretty all inclusive that it is basically high school sports. So you could move an eighth grader up to maybe your JV or freshman team with the intent that maybe their freshman year, they are actually competing in varsity. But you’re exactly right. If this were to happen, I anticipate it to be in some of our more non-contact sports or maybe in wrestling, where there may be a lighter weight where they think that they can compete. So, you know, maybe a cross country, maybe a golf, maybe, maybe a wrestling. Sure. So there be select different things that you might be able to do. Now, you do share with some other schools. If you had an exceptional eighth grader that was swimming, you would, you would probably work out some, I don’t know, how does that work for those? We would just have to making sure. So in that situation, we share with Boone, you know, for, for swimming as well for soccer. So it is on an individual season or individual sport. So we might have a student that is playing eighth grade football, a junior high student, but be an exceptional swimmer. Now they’re moved up to varsity for just that specific sport. And we would have to probably follow what’s Boone’s criteria or expectations for that. I think that would supersede Ogden’s. Yeah. I think it’s probably the same thing you guys are looking at. It’s start with the coach and we’ll go from there. Yes. See what happens. So again, those are the kinds of things that have been going on. Other things this summer that the board’s been taking a look at or you’ve been working on outside of professional development getting all the planning together. Really, it’s been just a great summer overall. There’s been a lot of construction work. We’ve got the, the parking lot project. I would say that they are probably closer to 85 to 90% done. They have some sidewalks to do. They’re going to start pouring some concrete columns for the light fixtures, some backfilling, some paint striping. But I would say that we’re two to three weeks away from that project being done and pretty close to on time. It might be maybe a week behind what they initially thought, but I’m fairly confident they’ll build or release it back to the owner here before the start of school. Good. And it looks like there’s more space. There is a lot more spaces. When you look at it, everybody that I’m saying is that’s a lot more concrete than they had anticipated. Well, it’s a, that’s why it cost what it cost. There’s a bunch out there. Had several, of course, Rangbri went through and you did the school, had a lot of different groups out there doing different things. They got some pretty good recognition. Yeah, it was great. Ultimately, we ended up having our music boosters, our girls wrestling program, and then Ogden Elementary. They set up boosts and it’s just really a great moment. I sat back proud, you know, when you got 10 to 20,000 writers coming through and kind of able to showcase your community and what you’re about and our band was out there performing and playing and you’d hear people ride by on their bikes or walk their bikes by and say, wow, that is one of the best bands you’ve heard. So those type of simple comments that you heard and it just makes you really proud of ultimately leading the school district. Oh, we had a lot, a lot of folks coming through and the weather was substantially better. Had a little headwind coming up from Perry, but they had a headwind, but boy, they weren’t complaining about that because the day before, it was, you know, that 105 degrees. Yeah. No, they said they would take the headwind anytime. So anyway, again, we get back into the regular things. Like said, your next meeting will be coming up, what, August 10th or so? August 10th, we’ll have a regular board meeting. And then we’re actually inviting, well, welcoming our staff back on August 19th. And then our first day with kids would be August 25th. So, boy, it seems like it’s just right around the corner, but we’re excited to welcome everybody back and ready for a new school year. And again, all our professional development plans put together and everything else. We have all the PD ready to go and we’re excited for our staff to come back and start to do the work. Staffing full at this point and everything outside of finding a golf coach. Yeah, just a few odds and in positions. I think we’re finalizing something for an associate, still looking for bus drivers. I think that we maybe have a lead, but we would always accept and welcome either a full-time bus driver or even somebody that wanted to do some night nighttime activities, you know, and you kind of are able to pick and choose, you know, if you want to do a Tuesday and not work for another week and do a Friday. I think that would be something that Denny Good, our Transportation Director, would certainly entertain that opportunity. He’s just looking for more help. Qualified drivers. Qualified drivers. If you got your CDL and want to be around kids, we’d love to have you. Joshua Hyer, Ogden Superintendent. Thanks for joining us. Thanks, Jim.