Highland School District Current Events
Authored by Julie Smith, Highland School Board
Hello there! Welcome to my web page. I send e-mail to a group of parents and patrons in the District who have asked to be kept up-to-date in this fashion. I would like this information available to anyone interested and this web page was built as a result. Below you will find a copy of the latest information sent out. If you ever have questions, please let me know; there is a link to my e-mail address at the bottom of this page. If you would like to be added to my e-mail group, I would be more than happy to do so.
Generally, information I provide to you can also be provided by any other Board member. Specifically, what you are reading is based on my own notes, recollection of events and feelings on issues. I may make a comment that is based on my own opinion and not necessarily shared by the Board as a whole. If you ever want to talk to me, my home phone number is 673-2334; my cell is 961-9875.
Here we go...
(un)official April 2008 Board Minutes.
Happy spring!!! This is my bad attempt at humor; don’t worry, I won’t quit my day job. The weather has certainly made sitting and watching my son’s baseball games interesting. I no longer care what I look like…a sleeping bag and stocking hat go with me everywhere. “Cute” is overrated, besides, it’s my job as a parent to embarrass my kids.
Last week we held our regular Board meeting for the month of April. We actually started at 6:45 with a public hearing regarding I-728 monies. Per law, we have to present an allocation of the funds we anticipate receiving which is $490,000 for the 2008-2009 school year, divided as follows:
Teaching staff for class size reduction 200,000
Professional development (optional days) 125,000
Professional development (workshops) 20,000
Preschool program 75,000
Tutorials 10,000
Indirects (utilities, insurance, etc.) 60,000
490,000
At 7 pm we moved into our regular meeting. First on the agenda was “positive insights”. This is something the Board has been doing for some time, but was always at the end of our agenda. Basically, each Board member talks about something positive in the Highland district they would like to recognize or promote. As we tend to lose a lot of our audience after Scottie Pride awards are given out, we thought we’d insert this before the awards. We often talk about interesting subjects that are impromptu (not on the agenda). It’s always interesting for me to hear the things my fellow Board members talk about. It’s not perfect, but between the 5 of us, we cover most events in the District. Topics covered Tuesday included YTID’s support of the school, the great facilities we have compared to other districts, WASL support by our teachers and the students we have fulfilling “collection of evidence” requirements and our baseball program.
I only had one Scottie Pride award to give out this month. It went to Stacy deWet, a teacher at MWC. She was nominated by Janice Sauve, principal, for enhancing the science program for all students through the Pacific Science Center. If you see her around, I’m sure she’d appreciate a “thanks” for going above and beyond.
Gary read a letter from the PASS program, congratulating Mike Delgado for his work with migrant students, and the awards they received through the Secondary Education for Migrant Youth Program.
Gary also read a letter from Jon Gores of D.A. Davidson (the company who sells and monitors our bonds) regarding the current bond market. I believe I sent you information last month that the Board authorized D.A. Davidson to refinance them if we could save taxpayers significant dollars. Our threshold was $100,000 in savings, but the current market won’t get us there. We are going to lose a window of opportunity and are going to need to revisit this soon…is $75,000 enough of a savings to go forward? This is the question we need to ask ourselves. We set the bar high, hoping to reap substantial benefit, but that might not be possible. There will be more on this…
Then the fun began. Pat Hazen, our Ag/FFA instructor, took the Board and audience on a tour of the wood/metal shop and green house. In the green house, we saw current plantings; basically what will be sold in the upcoming plant sale. We also saw sprouts planted by 1 st graders at MWC as a special project. Pat and his students have done a lot of work on shelving, etc. In the past, plants were all over the floor, but are now arranged on shelving units with fairly elaborate sprinkler systems.
By the way, now that the levy has passed and we will start accumulating monies toward an Ag building, we will be forming a group made up of folks who are interested in volunteering their time to help us determine the best way to go about it. This will be something similar to the group organized to look at MWC when we were considering heating/cooling/etc. upgrades. This is going to be at least a 2-year process so there is no rush, but if you are interested, let me know and I’ll get your name on the “list”.
The Board formally approved the allocation of I-728 monies as noted above. We also consented to have different attorneys of the same law firm work on a licensing agreement between the School and YTID. It’s a small world…our attorney and their attorney happen to work together. After the agreement is drawn up, we will have an independent third party look at it, but the original drafting will be dealt with by folks close to the situation.
For those of you who are not aware, I’ll give you some background. When HHS was built, it was hooked up to the fire hydrant out by Summitview without the approval of YTID. Nobody really thought anything of it until YTID shut down their system last year. During the same time period, a fire marshal (I could have the wrong title, but he was official) came in to test our fire suppression system. It didn’t work. We’ve went back to the original architects/engineers/contractors and nobody can find documentation as to how this came about. We’ve been working with YTID to figure out a way to continue water supply from the hydrant. It is completely understandable that they are worried about liability should the school start on fire and something not work right. They are in the water supply business, not in fire control. Luckily, we’ve been able to work out concerns through legal/insurance documentation that meets everyone’s needs. This could have been a huge expense to the District if we had to find another water source…our well doesn’t begin to cover the amount of water we need to have on demand. If you know a YTID Board member…thank them!
The Board approved two overnight trips; one for 14 Gear-up students to visit the WSU Science and Engineering Department and another for 6 FFA students to attend the Washington State FFA Convention in Pullman.
Gary ran through the budget and enrollment reports as Dean was on vacation. We approved the personnel report. Not much is going on at the moment with our state legislature so Nikki didn’t have anything to report. We paid the bills.
As far as administrator reports go...I’m going to cheat. Sharon has already e-mailed me her minutes from the Board meeting. While they are not approved yet, I’ve cut and pasted a few items so I don’t have to retype them. If the Board comes back with any changes I’ll let you know, but I don’t anticipate anything:
Barb reported that the WASL books have arrived. She also said that grants have started coming in. The last PAC meeting was lightly attended. Kid Screen will be here on May 7 th and the State and Federal monitors will be here April 29 th.
Janice said MWC students were really excited about planting seeds with FFA students. The Pacific Science Center visited MWC. There was a WASL parade for 3 rd graders and teachers filled WASL treat bags with “Smarties” and Cheerios. Janice said the students were excited and seemed very positive about taking the WASL. She added the Community Fiesta will be held April 19 th at the HHS Commons. Also, five MWC teachers received scholarships for National Board Certification studies. Janice finished the All-Day Kinder grant for next year.
Greg reported that portfolios and mock interviews are well underway. National Honor Society induction will be May 16. A group consisting of staff, parents and students went to Zillah High School to discuss the Attendance Proposal. He will be sending letters home to parents as well as talking to students, including 8 th graders, about this proposal.
Athletic Director Eric Diener said spring sports are going well and record numbers of students are playing HJH girls soccer and baseball. Eric added that he will need help for the last home track meet on April 22 nd.
At TIS, Andy reported that the WASL is fully underway and current 4 th graders feel like they’re up to topping last year’s 4 th graders’ scores. Attendance has been good during WASL week. TIS had a lockdown practice drill. TIS will be having “Highland Scottish Games” this year instead of the “Olympics” and students will compete as clans. In the way of field trips, 4 th graders are going to the print shop in Tieton and 5 th graders to release salmon at Snow Mountain Ranch. (6 th graders are going to a Mariners game in June).
Kelly reported that WASL’s started with only minor issues. Students worked hard but were not real stressed. An 8 th grade field trip is being planned and 7 th graders will have a field trip on the environment. Scheduling for next year is being worked on and coordinated with Greg. Kelly added that, while soccer and baseball numbers are up, track is down slightly (6 girls). He attended a Middle Level Principal’s meeting last month; one of the topics being worked on is leadership.
The Board will approve the minutes in their entirety at our May Board meeting and then they will be posted on the website. I would urge you to view them as Sharon does a much more thorough job than I do and with a different perspective.
I declared a recess at 8:45 to go into Executive Session to discuss the Superintendent evaluation and process. Gary, Sharon and all remaining audience members left the building as we were not coming back into regular session and we didn’t want them to wait around. Executive Session ended and the Board left the building about 11 pm.
As always, if you have any questions let me know.
Julie Smith
Highland School Board