Board approves levies

On November 18, superintendent Dan Read; principal Jamie Nelson; board chair Ed Deife; board members Heather Valverde, Joe Schlomer and Roland Singer and board member-elect Chris Crossley met in the school district office at 6:30 p.m. to review board policies and procedures and to discuss both the maintenance and operations and capital projects levy resolutions.

This workshop was followed by an open meeting of the Board of Directors of Odessa School District #105 in the high school library at 7 p.m., with the same above-mentioned persons present plus Juli Weishaar, business manager; Justin Parr, facilities director and Terrie Schmidt-Crosby from The Odessa Record. Board member Marcus Horak was absent.

Roland Singer requested the addition of new business item “E. Board Member Resignation: Joe Schlomer, Director District #1,” and the agenda was then approved by the board as amended.

There was no staff or public input.

The board approved the consent agenda which included the minutes of the October 28, 2015 regular meeting; bills and payroll warrants for November; direct deposit warrants; general fund A/P warrants; ASB Fund A/P warrants; travel to the state FFA Leadership Conference at the Cispus Learning Center February 19-21, 2016 and the second reading of Policy #6126 – Reimbursement for Goods & Services.

Principal Nelson reported that 243 students are currently enrolled in preschool through 12th grade. Additional items reported on by Nelson included the successful Bi-County STEM Challenge held recently at the school under the direction of high school science teacher Jeff Wehr and junior-high science teacher Julie Wehr.

Parent-teacher conferences, Nelson said, had 100% turnout in the elementary school, and junior-high students enjoyed a school-sponsored activity night over the weekend.

Nelson commended Larry Moffet for organizing last week’s Veteran’s Day assembly and gave a special thank you to Nancy Glines and the students who prepared a luncheon for the veterans in attendance. Nelson concluded by reporting on the FFA Halloween Carnival and that FFA will also assist with the upcoming Lions Club Turkey Carnival.

Read gave a presentation on the district’s SBAC scores. While student scores at some grade levels and subject areas for the district historically have been above the state average, Read reported a dip in this year’s scores. The superintendent felt there were two main reasons for the lower scores.

Read explained this was the first year testing was done on computers versus the traditional paper and pencil format. He felt that many students may not have been prepared for and/or comfortable with taking the test online, especially in the lower grades where a lack of keyboarding skills forced students to use the “hunt and peck” method to enter their answers, significantly increasing the time needed to complete the testing. Read said the district will be taking steps to allow students to practice taking these type of assessments via computer.

The second reason, Read said, was that he felt students were not given enough time to adequately complete the tests and may have felt rushed. The testing schedules for next year will be developed with this in mind, and more time will be allowed for each grade level to complete the testing process.

The district’s test results are available at the website of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction under the State Report Card tab.

Read delivered the AD report in Bruce Todd’s absence. Todd reported that the high school volleyball team placed 8th at the state tournament while the high school football team made it to the first round of state play-offs.

Todd reported the NE District is gathering information for decision-making purposes to possibly switch junior high sports seasons. Following a short discussion, the board came up with a number of concerns to share with the athletic director before endorsing the proposal.

The athletic director recommended hiring Larry Moffet as the junior-high head boys basketball coach. Todd also reported that there are currently no applications for junior-high assistant boys basketball coach or winter cheer coach.

Justin Parr said the school’s facilities did not suffer any damage from the previous day’s wind storm. The storm did affect completion of installation of the propane heater in the greenhouse. The job will be finished as soon as emergency repairs needed in Spokane are completed.

Parr said the Washington State Patrol came for an unannounced inspection on 25 percent (three) of the district’s buses. He was pleased to report that all passed inspection.

With the improvement in weather conditions, Parr said installation of the reader board sign would be completed soon.

Superintendent Read presented the October balance sheet for the Associated Student Body. The General Fund for October showed revenue at $387,313 and expenditures at $297,747 for an ending balance of $590,520. He presented computer printouts and balances for all funds.

Due to the upcoming Christmas holiday, the next regular board meeting will be held Wednesday, December 16, 2015 at 7 p.m. in the high school library. A board workshop will be held at 6:30 p.m. before the regular meeting.

Read presented a curriculum adoption request from high school English teacher Laura Caler for the John Grisham novel, A Painted House, to be used in her sophomore English class and the S.E. Hinton novel, The Outsiders, to be used in her eighth-grade English class. Both novels were approved by the curriculum committee. The board approved the request.

The board approved the Maintenance and Operations Levy:

“Whereas, the funds available for Odessa School District #105-157-166J through presently scheduled programs are insufficient to meet the needs of the district, and...

Now, therefore, be it here by resolved that a special levy be held in the aforesaid district on the 9th day of February, 2016, ...

Which shall be submitted to the electors of said district for their approval or rejection in the form of the following ballot title: “Shall a replacement excess levy of $698,000 be collected in the year 2017, requiring approximately $3.12 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for Maintenance and Operation of Odessa School District #105, Lincoln County, jointly with #157, Adams County and #166J Grant County?”

The aforesaid resolution was adopted at a regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the aforesaid district on the 18th day of November, 2015.”

The board also approved the resolution for a Replacement Capital Levy for School Improvements:

“Whereas, the funds available for Odessa School District #105-157-166J through presently scheduled programs are insufficient to meet the needs of the district, and ...

Now, therefore, be it hereby resolved... that a special levy be held in the aforesaid district on the 9th day of February, 2016, ... Which shall be submitted to the electors of said district for their approval or rejection in the form of the following ballot title: “be authorized to levy a one-year replacement tax levy to be collected in the year 2017, requiring approximately $0.49 per $1,000 of assessed valuation... to be placed in the Capital Projects Fund to be used to support the modernization of school facilities... of Odessa School District #105, Lincoln County, jointly with #157, Adams County and #166J Grant County?”

The board accepted the resignation of Joe Schlomer, board director for District #1, effective December 16, 2015.

The board approved the hiring of Larry Moffet as junior-high boys head basketball coach as recommended by athletic director Bruce Todd.