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(Lander, WY) – At (last) week’s Fremont County School District #1 meeting, we voted to grant a short-term contract to Pinnacle Behavioral Services, LLC, owned by Trustee Taylor Jacobs. I want to address some concerns raised about this decision.
One of our two district psychologists is on leave until December. We are both legally and ethically required to provide psychological services to our IEP students and others in need. With 34 critical evaluations due by winter break, we cannot meet these obligations with just one psychologist.
We opened bids for these services and received two responses: one from an individual in Lingle, over in Goshen County, and one from Taylor Jacobs here in Lander. Their qualifications and bids are available on our website. After consulting legal counsel we confirmed that it would be legal to hire Mrs. Jacobs if we followed Wyoming’s conflict-of-interest statute.
Taylor’s bid was superior. Both candidates were equally qualified, but she offered lower professional fees and was more readily available, whereas the other applicant could only work every other Friday due to significant travel constraints.
During the meeting, Taylor recused herself from the entire discussion. Two board members raised concerns about a conflict of interest, and her bid was initially rejected by a 3-2 vote (four votes are required to pass). When the other candidate’s bid failed to gain enough support to bring it to a vote, our kids were left without a second school psychologist.
Toward the meeting’s end, Trustee Brew, concerned about our students’ unmet needs, asked for reconsideration. At that time we approved Taylor’s bid, again in her absence, by a 4-1 vote.
As Chairman, I believe that the Board ultimately chose to prioritize our students’ mental health and psychological care over the perception of a conflict of interest, ensuring our kids receive the services they need. I feel that we made the best legal and ethical decision in a difficult situation: to put our kids first. Ultimately, our students will be better off as a result.
Sincerely,
Jared Kail
Chairman
Fremont County School District #1 Board of Trustees