I’m baffled by the Park City School District’s handling of Jeremy Ranch Elementary construction

The more I think of leadership at the Park City School District, the more I think of this:

Except, you have to give Seargent Shultz more credit. He actually knew what was going on. I can’t say the same for Park City Schools.

As many of you know, construction was paused on Jeremy Ranch Elementary School this week because the school district didn’t go through the correct process with Summit County Planning. This includes lack of a conditional use permit, lack of a stormwater pollution prevention permit, and other violations of county code.

Park City Superintendent Jill Gildea responded to the topic with KPCW, “the legal issue centers on the question of how much authority the County has over an addition to an existing public school and whether the statute that carves out school districts from most county land use ordinances and building codes in favor of state oversight means that PCSD can proceed.” According to KPCW, “she added it is further complicated by zoning changes in Summit County that occurred after these schools were originally built. Previous school construction projects both in Summit County and in other counties, she said managed by the same design-build teams being used by PCSD, have not been subject to similar county-imposed mandates.”

I’m not sure what she even means, but I assume that she somehow feels the school district is exempt. Here is a personal anecdote. A few years ago, I replaced a deck on my house. The contractor told me I probably didn’t need a permit. I figured it was my ass on the line, so I called the Summit County Planning office. They told me I needed a permit and what to do. So, I got one.

I know you are amazed. Yes, even a blogger in his basement, who couldn’t even win a primary election for school board, figured out he needed a building permit. It’s safe to say that the bar for competence is pretty low.

So back to Seargent Schultz.

A friend of mine commented on the situation by saying, “Gildea seems to exist in a perpetual state of confusion about what laws, policies, and codes apply to her and PCSD.” Indeed. Let’s count the ways.

• When Dr. Gildea thought a rock broke her window she called in the Summit County Sheriff. The Park City School Board then chastised the community for their treatment of the Superintendent — because I guess they assumed one of us through a rock. We all later found out that the screen on the outside of the window wasn’t broken, so a rock couldn’t have broken the glass. It probably broke on it’s own. Many of us have come to know this incident as the “Magic Rock.”
• Then we have the mask mandate at Parley’s. KPCW reported in February, “County Attorney Margaret Olson released her report [on mask mandate violations at Parley’s Park Elementary]. It concluded confusion, inconsistent messaging and disputes between lawyers delayed enforcement of the county mask mandate at Parley’s Park Elementary School (PPES) by seven days.” It took the Summit County Attorney threatening to close down the school to get Dr. Gildea to issue a letter directing PPES to comply with the mandate. Enforcement began the next day. This is where many people lost trust in Dr. Gildea.
• Now we have the Jeremy Ranch mess where the Superintendent thought she was above the law. That may be too harsh. She apparently thought she was above the law because someone either acted without her consent, told her that everything was OK, or she decided it was OK. It clearly wasn’t OK. That’s on her. No matter what she blamed it The buck stops there.