Students present accompishments

Odessa's FFA eighth-grade First-Year Member Team made a presentation to the board on their project involving improvements to the ag department's greenhouse. They placed ninth out of 45 teams at the state FFA competition in Pullman. Members of the Odessa FFA Food Science Team also told the board about their participation at State FFA.

FFA advisor Erica Whitmore asked the board to consider giving approval to overnight stays at the national FFA convention to be held in Louisville, Ky. in October. No Odessa students have attended the national conference for several years, and Whitmore wanted to help build up the FFA program by giving the first-year team in particular an opportunity to see what national competition is like (even though the Odessa students will be spectators and not competitors). They will work over the summer and fall months to earn travel money if the board approves their request for the overnight stay.

Odessa students involved in Advanced STEM Research projects told of their successes this year in regional, state, national and international competition. Thorsen Wehr, Alexa Boss and Elizabeth Larson each presented a one-minute overview of their research topics, using their poster boards as a reference.

New yard waste haulage rates

Landon Lobe, representing the Odessa town council, told the school board of changes in garbage pickup service, specifically for yard waste. The district will be provided a dumpster for lawn clippings which will be dumped once a week during the summer months at a cost of $75 a month. During the winter months the dumpster can be removed, with no charges applied during these months. The district would then pay $29 for a new dumpster to be delivered when needed again in the spring.

Personnel/policy

The board approved contracts for the following personnel: Marianne Iksic, National Board Certification payment; John McGregor, Traffic Safety Education; Bruce Todd, head high-school football coach; Heath Voise, assistant high-school football coach; Mark DeWulf, volunteer assistant high-school football coach; Lanae Carper, head high-school volleyball coach; LaRee Kuchenbuch, assistant high-school volleyball coach; Larry Weber, head junior-high football coach and LaMarr Larmer, assistant junior-high football coach.

The board accepted resignations from Deb Walter, retiring from driving bus at the end of the current school year; Heidi Lee, as junior-high volleyball and track and field coach due to moving out of the district; and Jeannie Read, special education teacher, National Honor Society advisor and special education program director (retiring at the end of the 2014-2015 school year).

The board approved contracts for occupational and physical therapy for 2014-2015 with Odessa Memorial Healthcare Center and with Bev Scherr as the Carol M. White Physical Education Program grant coordinator for both the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years and as the Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator.

The board approved junior-high and high-school volleyball camps to be held in Odessa this summer, as well as a high-school football camp at Whitworth University in Spokane and a high-school basketball camp at Soap Lake.

The board approved Policy 4215 Use of Tobacco and Nicotine Products (dealing with e-cigarettes).

Principal's report

Principal Ken Schutz reported that every student in the school, except for three, took part in student-led conferences. Two of the three who missed the conferences have made them up and Schutz expects the third to do so soon. Grandparents Day was also celebrated successfully at school this year, Schutz said.

Newly elected associated student body officers for 2014-2015 will be Trevor King, president; Carsen Weber, vice president; Sam Schafer, secretary; Katie DeWulf, treasurer and Alexis Burdick, assistant treasurer.

All K-8 students have been afforded the opportunity to go to Mobius Science Center or the Children's Science Center in Spokane through a grant which also included reciprocal visits by Mobius staff members to Jeff Wehr's high-school science classroom and at two family science nights.

Schutz reported on the National Honor Society induction of new members, final data collection for the Carol M. White Physical Education Program grant, FFA involvement in Spokane's Junior Livestock Show and the FFA state convention in Pullman, as well as the fact that high-school English teacher Laura Caler's junior and senior advanced-placement English classes took the exam that awards college credit for students passing at the appropriate level. Other required state testing remains to be completed, but the pilot exam of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium has been completed.

Superintendent's report

Superintendent Suellen White reported that the instructional staff met with Ian Hanson from the school district's technology contractor, Innovation Computing, during early-release time last week. She said last year's meeting focused on the lack of connectivity and problems with the elementary/junior-high computer lab. With the decision to put in a robust wi-fi network and replace older computers in the lab, there are now fewer issues, thus freeing up time to consider ways to improve the available technology. Two items discussed were a computer cart to be used upstairs for the high school English and social studies classrooms, both of which need computing capacity for research and data processing, and an iPad or tablet cart in the elementary school to allow students to become familiar with the technology used for administering new computerized state tests. Many of the concerns brought up by the staff can be handled by tech support through the help desk. There were also a few requests for presentation hardware which the district will consider.

White said last week's meeting of the steering committee involved a broad-ranging discussion of agricultural education needs now and in the future. There will be one more meeting over the summer and then the committee will resume work next fall. Board member Travis Wagner said he felt the facilities project needed to proceed much more slowly than it has been.

Wagner also asked Schutz about the progress of the program for peer mentoring. Schutz admitted this is a project that gets more attention when certain issues come up and also let the board know that the project takes time to implement. He will meet with contracted school guidance counselor Dr. Jerry Schwab about the project and get some action soon. Wagner announced to the board that he was resigning at the conclusion of the meeting. Board chairman Marcus Horak thanked him for his service over the past several years.

Horak reminded the board of the required Open Public Meetings Act training implemented during the last legislative session. All board members must take the online training within 90 days of being sworn into office following the July 1 implementation of the law.

Facilities report

Facilities director Justin Parr reported that May is a busy month for the custodial staff, given the many outdoor activities on playgrounds and sports fields.

White reported that the facilities committee asked her to get bids for a new window facing west in the elementary school office. The district received one bid for $5,000 which White recommended that the board reject. Part of the high cost was due to the fact that the project is small but requires as much mobilization effort as a larger project. The window project could instead be included with other future construction projects to reduce the cost, White said.

White also said the facilities committee has been working on obtaining a new electronic reader board. The original project of the Odessa Parent/Teacher Organization was paid for by donations from the community and the school. Once the sign was unable to be kept in working order, the vendor was no longer able to be contacted. The facilities committee began looking at what it would take to obtain a different sign. School board members indicated that they wanted to continue pursuing the purchase of a new reader board. They also proposed talking to the town council about changing its location to the area in front of the town's maintenance shop.

Misc.

White said enrollment decreased by two students in May, bringing it to 203.3 full-time equivalent students. The district ended the month of April with $729,340 in the reserve fund following spring tax collections.

The board approved a resolution to give the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association authority to regulate interscholastic activities for 2014-2015.

The board approved the fee schedule for 2014-2015 with the only change being the addition of preschool tuition of $65, $32.50 or free based on qualification for the school lunch program.

The board approved a summer school program called "Chef Camp." The search for a program coordinator continues.

The board approved the preschool program for four-year-old students for next year. The teaching position is still open but closes June 4.

The next regular board meeting will be held June 25 in the high school library. There will be an athletic cooperative board meeting jointly with the Harrington Board in Harrington on June 11 at 7 p.m. in the Harrington school's mutlipurpose room.