Enrollment continues to inch up

The Board of Directors of Odessa School District #105 met in the school library at 7 p.m. on March 23, 2016, with Ed Deife, Heather Valverde, Roland Singer, Chris Crossley, Janie Steward, superintendent Dan Read, principal Jamie Nelson and business manager Juli Weishaar attending. Also present were athletic director Bruce Todd, operations supervisor Justin Parr, parent Jackie Johnston and press representative Terrie Schmidt-Crosby.

Just prior to the regular meeting, the board held a workshop in the District Office at 6:30 p.m. for the purpose of discussing policies and procedures and the superintendent’s evaluation, attended by Read, Nelson, Deife, Valverde, Singer, Crossley and Steward.

The board approved the consent agenda which included minutes of the February 24 meeting, bills and payroll, the resignation of bus driver Conny Greenwalt and travel to the state science fair in Bremerton in April.

Nelson reported a head count of 243 students in preschool through 12th grade.

She reported that school counselor Kimberly Ryan took the 8th-graders to a college introduction day at Eastern Washington University and also attended a career fair at Big Bend Community College with the 10th and 11th grade students.

Other activities: the Knowledge Bowl team placed sixth at the state 1B competition, Jeff Wehr and three students from his advanced STEM research class gave a presentation at the small schools conference of the state School Directors Association, students participated in the Honor Band/Choir Festival at the INB Performing Arts Center in Spokane, students participated in the Regional Science Fair in Kennewick and state testing began under the direction of assessment coordinator Bev Scherr.

Upcoming events reported on by the principal: Spring Break will be April 4-8; the National Honor Society Induction Ceremony will be held April 15 and a Family Fitness Night will be held April 18.

Superintendent Read reported that K-12 enrollment in March increased slightly to 224.4 full-time equivalent students.

Due to a scheduling conflict with the school musical, Read said the board will not attend the regional school directors’ meeting in Deer Park on March 31.

Regarding adoption of a new K-8 math curriculum, Read said the district is researching options and will soon bring a recommendation to the curriculum committee.

Read concluded by reporting that all but a core group of legislators went home at the close of the last legislative session. Those remaining in Olympia are working to close the budget gap between the governor’s budget and the house and senate budget proposals.

Athletic director Bruce Todd reported that spring athletic games and matches are in full swing.

Todd passed out draft copies of the updated Odessa-Harrington Titans Student Athletic & Activities Code packet. It was noted the procedure involving filing a formal complaint needs to be added to the Parent Code of Conduct section.

Chairman Deife reported the legislature has a number of bills on the table addressing ways to alleviate the statewide teacher shortage.

Operations supervisor Justin Parr said a new water line has been installed at the baseball field to make watering the outfield more accessible. Parr reported recent rainfall caused leaks throughout the facilities in areas which have historically suffered damage. He plans to schedule a full roof inspection during summer break. Justin reported the areas of the roof recently repaired in the elementary wing held up and didn’t experience any problems.

Parr said he took a recently repaired bus back to Harlow’s in Spokane for warranty work. Parr reported the district’s bus and motor pool fleet recently passed the state department of transportation inspection with a 100% rating. With the resignation of a route bus driver effective last Friday, Parr has been driving both the am and pm bus runs until a replacement can be found.

Deife, Crossley and Janie reported they enjoyed attending the WSSDA Small School Conference in Wenatchee and felt they came away with a greater knowledge of the educational process in small schools. Singer said the ag committee met to discuss the upcoming Junior Livestock Show in Spokane.

Read presented the ASB balance sheet for February, as well as the financial activity reports for the general fund for February showing revenue at $262,328 and expenditures at $281,944 for an ending balance of $522,552.

The next regular board meeting will be held Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at 7 p.m. in the high school library. A board workshop was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. prior to the regular meeting.

Board members approved a three-year contract renewal for superintendent Dan Read effective July 1, 2016.

In response to parent requests for traffic safety education classes to be held in Odessa, Read presented a three-year contract with Cruisers Driving Academy of Moses Lake for facility use. Read stressed that Cruisers will be paying to use the district’s facilities, and that the school is not responsible for collecting fees or implementing any portion of the traffic safety education program. Following a short discussion, the board voted to approve Read’s recommendation.

The board approved continuation of a leave of absence for one period a day for the 2016-2017 school year for Marianne Iksic to pursue her doctorate.

Superintendent Read presented the 2016-2017 school calendar for board approval with the student’s first day being August 31, 2016, and the last day of school being June 13, 2017. Read said input was received on several calendar options from staff and students prior to the recommendation of the final calendar proposal.

A major change to the calendar is the elimination of the three waiver days for student conferences. Next year, conferences will be held over a three-day period in both November and March with early dismissal at 12:15 p.m. on those days.

Read presented Policy/Procedure 6700 on Nutrition & Physical Fitness for first reading. Read explained the policy had been reviewed by the Local Wellness Committee and needed to be updated in order for the district to be in compliance for the food service audit being conducted in May.

Operations supervisor Justin Parr’s recommendation to surplus bus #5, a 1996 International 35-passenger bus, was approved by the board.

The board approved resolution #5-2015-16 reading, in part, as follows: “Whereas, the A.S.B. is required to set up change boxes for activities and money making events of the Odessa Associated Student Body, and; Whereas, A.S.B. activities have increased since the petty cash fund was established, and: Whereas, the A.S.B. Petty Cash Fund amount in not sufficient to cover the current needs, i.e., sporting events, concessions and extra activities all in one day; Now, Therefore Be It Resolved, that the Odessa School District Board of Directors approve an increase in the A.S.B. Petty Cash Fund from $600 to $1,00 to cover current needs, with the understanding that the fund will administered pursuant to state law and consistent with board policy. Adopted by the Odessa School District Board of Directors...”

Read recommended the board renew the operations supervisor position that was created as an interim position last July following the resignation of transportation supervisor Keith Kolterman. Read feels the position has worked out well, with the exception of a bus driver shortage in the transportation department which has been out of Operations Supervisor Justin Parr’s control.

Chairman Deife announced the board would be entering into a thirty-minute executive session beginning at 7:45 p.m. to consider employment of a public officer or employee per RCW 42.30.110 with no action to follow.

The board came out of executive session at 8:12 p.m. and, as their was no further business, chairman Deife adjourned the meeting.