School District questions Reykdal in visit

REARDAN - At the invitation of Reardan-Edwall School Superintendent Eric Sobotta, Washington State School Superintendent Chris Reykdal attended a meeting with school administrators, teachers and student representatives Wednesday, Dec. 6.

Reykdal addressed concerns Sobotta had regarding student behavior, facilities, para-educators' wages, and artificial intelligence.

Sobotta told Reykdal that in the past year, the district has experienced a "rise in the quantity and severity of student behaviors."

The school formed a committee that meets monthly to review data and discuss the systems currently in place to address these issues. To help combat behavioral issues, the school banned the use of cell phones except during lunch and at designated break times.

"That was a big change for us," Sobotta said. "It's gone much better than I had expected."

Reykdal said that Sobotta's concerns are being felt by every school across the nation.

"Mental health and behavior is the number one topic for educators nationwide," he said. "Something is happening in America and the rest of the world that is bigger than our state."

Reykdal believes that access to technology is a major factor influencing students' negative behavior.

"Social media provides so much stimulation that sleep is affected," Reykdal said. "Lack of sleep affects behavior, and it is a common theme with students."

He stated Washington is responding to this issue by providing teachers with professional learning opportunities and by hiring more counselors, social workers and behavioral health specialists.

"Governor Inslee is going to emphasize behavioral health this year," Reykdal said.

Sobotta said that the lack of civility in America has crept its way into schools.

Reykdal agreed.

"Civility has been negatively affected by the anonymity of third-party media," he said. "Schools need to return to higher standards of behavior inside their walls, even though they're being ignored in society. We are reinventing civility in America right now."

Sobotta expressed frustration with the district's past difficulties in passing capital levies and bonds which are used to replace aging buildings.

District Finance Director Justin Flaa said the district did not have the tax base to fund major building projects. He cited several examples as to what it would cost to replace buildings in different districts based on the assessed value of a taxpayer's home.

In the Bellevue School District, a building costing $80 million would cost taxpayers 4 cents per $1,000 of the assessed value of their home. For the same building in the Reardan-Edwall School District, the amount would be $4.62 per $1,000 of assessed value.

"It will be challenging getting capital levies passed in the current economic climate," Flaa said.

Another factor that inhibits the district from a large-scale building project is that its bond debt capacity is limited to 35 million.

Reykdal said he is pushing the state legislature to enrich grant programs to help rural school districts that don't have the tax base to replace buildings.

The last topic Sobotta brought to Reykdal's attention was the prevalence of Artificial Intelligence in the school. Sobotta acknowledged the rapid growth of AI and stated that it is not going away.

Reykdal agreed.

"Washington state will lead on this issue and will be one of the first in the nation to develop AI standards for our schools," he said.

He encouraged the district to "embrace AI with caution."

"We should be more critical about the quality of work our students produce rather than about the quantity," Reykdal said. "AI will come with awkwardness. Some will say its use is cheating, much as the calculator used to be banned, so it's crucial we instruct students when it is appropriate to use and when it is not."