Booster club reports revenue/ expenditures

The Odessa School Board, meeting October 22, 2014, heard from junior-high math teacher Larry Weber on the activities of the Odessa-Harrington Athletic Booster Club. The Booster Club has raised almost $90,000 since it began. It has used $66,914 of these funds on promotional activities, award celebrations for athletes, camps, facility and equipment donations, food at games for athletes, gifts, a digital sign for Harrington, mascot apparel, medical kits, peewee sports, repairs, sponsorships, scholarships, support for teams going to state tournaments, T-shirts and uniforms. He also reminded the board that the club’s biggest fundraiser for the year is coming up with a dinner and auction on November 8.

The board received a thank you card from the 6th graders who attended Camp Wooten in September.

Superintendent’s report

Superintendent Suellen White told the board that September and October are difficult months in the district office because the schedule of reports required by the state, the extra spending done at the beginning of the year and the new employee contracts for all staff for the new fiscal year add to the regular lineup of duties. She thanked Juli Weishaar and Pam Williams for their patience and recognized all of the extra work they have to do this time of the year.

White reported to the board that she has taken over the role of vocational administrator. Former principal Ken Schutz used to handle those activities. With the hiring of Ben Burbank as the new agriculture science teacher and a change in the direction of the program towards more hands-on learning in the shop, there is a need for change in the program approvals at the state. The vocational business department remains in very good shape, White said, under the guidance of business teacher Terri King.

The quarterly technology committee meeting was held with the district’s technology contractor, Innovation Computing. The majority of the discussion concerned the adoption of the Google Docs and Google Drive platforms. The need for guided practice for staff in using the new format is needed, and a plan was made to have early implementers mentor other interested staff members in need of assistance in becoming proficient with the new technology.

Principal’s report

Principal Jamie Nelson reported on the status of the Running Start program in the high school begun in conjunction with Eastern Washington University. Larry Moffet’s Current World Problems class has 14 seniors registered for Running Start. Math teacher Travis Schuh is hoping to offer a Running Start college pre-calculus class during the spring semester.

Nelson said the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery and the ACT will be administered to high school students in November at school in Odessa.

Nelson told the board about the large turnout for the Mobius Science Family Night. Bev Scherr organized the evening’s events, and Maria Schuh’s art class prepared a fruit bowl of a watermelon with fruit pouring out of its carved mouth and cupcakes with fondant decorations made by the class.

The FBLA fall conference was held in Spokane. More than 30 Odessa students attended. Teachers Ellen Holman and Terri King have arranged college tours for juniors and seniors in lieu of attending the annual college fair.

The FFA members will be holding their annual Halloween Carnival on Wednesday, October 29.

Parent/teacher conferences are coming up on November 5 and 6. Elementary student conferences will be arranged by appointment and secondary school conferences will be arena style in the multipurpose room on November 6. There is no school on these two days.

There will be a Veteran’s Day assembly November 10 for all students to honor the nation’s veterans. There will be no school on Veteran’s Day, November 11.

School board chair Marcus Horak reminded the board of the Washington State School Directors’ Association conference to be held in Spokane November 20, 21 and 22. All Odessa board members had already registered to attend.

White reported that the legislative dinner for school board members and administrators in Lincoln County will take place November 18 at the Odessa schools, with attendance by 13th District Legislative Representatives. Judy Warnick, who will be the new state senator has accepted the invitation, as has Representative Matt Manweller. Dani Bolyard, candidate for 13th District representative and her opponent Tom Dent have also been invited. Bolyard has replied she will be happy to attend, but Dent has not yet responded. The dinner will be catered by the Odessa FBLA chapter at 6 p.m.

The board approved the drafting of a letter to legislative representatives and the State Board of Education representative requesting that the state drop the requirement students to pass a state test as a graduation requirement. The state test for graduation is still in development. Teachers do not yet know what is on the two-day English Language Arts test, so cannot prepare students for it. The passing level for the test has not even been established and will not be until after the test is administered. No evidence exists that the test is valid and reliable. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction has also called for the removal of this graduation requirement.

Facilities Director Justin Parr accompanied Principal Jamie Nelson to a training session on dealing with disasters at school, including the use of the school mapping program. The school had an earthquake drill this month. He also reported that Fifth Avenue is still under construction and that the paving project at the grandstand should take place in two weeks. He proposed a meeting of the facilities committee in the near future and will confer with board committee members Ed Deife and Joe Schlomer about it.

White asked about having a meeting of the ag building steering committee but board member Ed Deife suggested waiting until January or February due to the changes in the agriculture program.

White reported that enrollment remained the same as for September with 207.8 full-time equivalent students. The district ended September with $504,587 in reserve. She said the large reduction from the end of the fiscal year balance in August was due primarily to the number of teachers receiving per diem pay for work done over the summer and expected high accounts payable in September due to buying beginning-of-the-year supplies.

The next regular board meeting will be November 19. On November 20, the board will meet with the consultant assisting in the search for a new school superintendent in an executive session in Spokane.

The board agreed to hire Dr. Mike Dunn of Northeast Washington Education Services District 101 to conduct the superintendent search.

Curriculum Director Bev Scherr submitted a request from the business education teacher for the board to adopt a new textbook and program for Adobe Illustrator. The board approved its adoption.