School board hears Impact Aid report as principals highlight gains, concerns for Native American students

The Uintah School District’s annual Impact Aid meeting on Nov. 12 at Eagle View Elementary brought school leaders and district staff together to review data and outreach plans tied to federal Impact Aid funding.

Business administrator Troy Timothy said the district conducted the 2025 Impact Aid survey, initially receiving a single response and, after extending the deadline, receiving seven completed surveys. "Most respondents reported they feel comfortable visiting their child’s school," Troy said, adding that the district will expand in-person and recorded outreach next year to improve participation.

Principals used the meeting to spotlight classroom progress and persistent gaps. Eagle View Elementary principal Chris Jones said schoolwide RISE results showed increases — about four points in ELA and math and seven points in science — and that, "for the first time, we had a class above 30% proficient." Jones emphasized, however, that the school’s demographics complicate the picture: "We have about 80% Native American students, so the gap matters; the strategies working for some students are not closing the gap for all." He described district interventions including language-for-learning supports, UFLI early-literacy strategies, a consultant focusing on Native American students, and teacher professional development in culturally responsive instruction.

Jones also credited an intentional implementation of the Second Step social-emotional curriculum for a steep drop in bullying reports at Eagle View: "This year we have had one report of bullying," he said, while cautioning that the district’s definition of bullying requires repeated incidents and numbers can change over time.

LaPointe Elementary principal Emily Arnold described gains at her school, including multi-year increases in math and language arts and two kindergarten classes that finished a prior year with all students at or above grade-level reading.

Troy and the superintendent, Dr. Rick Woodford, said the district will publish summaries of services available at each school, continue culturally competent professional development, and strengthen front-office accessibility and messaging software to better connect families with counseling, tutoring and extracurricular supports.

No members of the public signed up to speak at the Impact Aid portion of the meeting. The district said the work session and business meeting earlier in the evening included a first reading of the Impact Aid policy and that an action item will appear on a future business agenda to finalize required steps tied to federal reporting and tribal consultation.

The district identified limited survey participation as a priority to address: "We will revisit our approach, including additional outreach and in-person engagement to improve participation for next year," Troy said.