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Fremont County School District No. 1 wins five-year literacy grant; students honored for biliteracy
Summary
District staff said they were awarded a competitive five-year Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant to support evidence-based reading instruction and professional development; the board also honored three students with the Seal of Biliteracy and heard a presentation on Special Olympics programming.
Fremont County School District No. 1 officials told the board they have been awarded a five-year Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant intended to support implementation of the states new K-12 language and literacy law.
Deidre Meyer, introduced by the chair as the districts director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, summarized the grant as a multi-year award that will fund diagnostic intervention tools, job-embedded professional development and evidence-based instructional materials. "This will cover the professional development balance for classified and certified staff for five years," Meyer said, and staff indicated the grant will reduce local budget pressure while helping the district meet the new literacy reporting and growth requirements under Senate File 59.
Separately, the board heard a presentation on the districts Seal of Biliteracy. A Spanish teacher described three students who earned the seal for proficiency in English and Spanish: Alondra Osorio (attending CWC to study speech pathology), Sofia Rogers (University of Wyoming, art education) and Zoe Symansky (University of Utah, pre-health). The presenter explained the criteria included scoring 3 or higher on the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam and achieving an ACT ELA composite near the district threshold.
The meeting also included a presentation from Landau Valley Special Olympics representative Chasely Jacks, who requested district support to hire a paid coach so the program can qualify for a state unified-champion grant that would cover equipment, uniforms and travel. Jacks said the program currently fields nine Special Olympics athletes and three unified partners and that a district coach would provide consistency and allow the program to access additional grant funds.
Board members praised the literacy grant and the biliteracy recipients and thanked staff for pursuing competitive funding that can offset local costs tied to new state literacy rules. Meyer said the state is still finalizing lists of approved evidence-based materials and resources and that the grant will help the district implement the new requirements over a phased approach.
Next steps: District leaders said they will finalize the grant contract language with the state and return to the board with implementation details and any necessary resource requests.
