School board members recognized for service to Odessa

The Odessa School Board held a workshop in the school district office prior to the regular board meeting January 27 for the purpose of discussing facilities issues. Present were superintendent Dan Read, principal Nelson, board chairman Ed Deife, board members Heather Valverde, Roland Singer, Chris Crossley and Janie Steward and facilities director Justin Parr.

When the board held its regular meeting in the school library, school district business manager Juli Weishaar and Odessa Record reporter Terrie Schmidt-Crosby were also present.

Superintendent Read gave the oath of office to Janie Steward for Position No. 1 and Roland Singer for Position No. 3.

Chairman Deife appointed board members to serve on the following committees:

• Facilities: Roland Singer and Ed Deife

• Curriculum: Chris Crossley and Janie Steward

• Negotiations: Heather Valverde and Chris Crossley.

The board approved payment of various bills, accepted the resignations of Pam Williams as the payroll/budget specialist (effective as of 8/31/2016) and Lanae Carper as junior-high assistant track coach and awarded contracts to Jeff Nelson to serve as junior-high head baseball coach and Lanae Carper as high school assistant track coach.

The board also approved travel by students/advisors to the state FFA Leadership Conference February 19-21, the state FFA Trapshoot to be held in East Wenatchee April 15-16, the Junior Livestock Show in Spokane May 3-7 and the FFA State Convention to be held in Pullman May 11-14.

Principal's report

Nelson reported a current headcount of 240 children enrolled in preschool through 12th grade in Odessa. She said an end-of-semester K-12 academic assembly was scheduled for January 29. A STEMposium Science night hosted by the junior and senior high science students has been scheduled for February 23 from 6-7 p.m.

She reported that staff members have been spending early release days analyzing questions on the SBAC tests and aligning and supplementing their curriculums to meet the standards being tested.

Elementary staff members have narrowed the options for math curriculum adoption to two programs, Engage New York and My Math. Staff members have scheduled site visits to schools where both curriculums are being implemented with success.

Nelson concluded by reporting that FFA students will attend the Ag Expo in Spokane February 4, FBLA students will attend their winter conference in Spokane February 3 and the junior-high leadership students will serve lunch to senior citizens on February 9 at Christ Lutheran Church.

Superintendent's report

Read reported that enrollment (not including preschool children) is holding steady at 223.4 full-time equivalent students.

Read reported on various bills being considered by the state legislature. His report included his prediction that the SBAC assessments will remain in place for accountability but will no longer be tied to graduation. Bills have been presented to address both the substitute teacher and teacher shortage. Discussion continues among legislators on establishing a requirement for a simple majority to pass bond issues. Additionally, with the levy cliff looming in 2017, many bills are being proposed to address the issue. A bill has passed the House which would allow retired teachers to serve as substitutes for up to 630 hours a year without affecting their retirement. The bill has yet to be heard in the senate.

Athletic director's report

Read gave the report for Bruce Todd who was attending the Harrington school board meeting. Todd reported district basketball will be held February 8-13 and February 16-20, followed by regional basketball February 26 and 27, and concluding with the state "B" basketball tournament in the Spokane Arena on March 3-5.

Spring sports will begin on February 29 for high school athletes. Spring sports offered will include track and field, baseball, tennis and golf. Due to the low interest shown in softball, the program will not be offered this spring.

Facilities report

Facilities director Justin Parr reported the roof repairs have been holding up during the recent rainy days, with only a couple of ongoing trouble spots that he is taking care of. A new compressor was installed on the walk-in freezer in the cafeteria over the winter break. Parr said he is pleased with the user-friendly software for the new reader board sign, making it possible to program numerous events to display as scheduled.

Parr reported winter weather turned out to be fairly mild, with only one snow make up day necessary in March. Parr concluded by reporting that the 2014 GMC van purchased by the district has been put into service.

Financial report

Read presented the ASB balance sheet for December. He further presented the Financial Activity reports for General Fund for December showing revenue at $319,231 and expenditures at $342,719 for an ending balance of $522,722. Read reported January's allocation was based on the district's actual enrollment numbers versus the budgeted figures used in September through December's apportionment reports, which resulted in an increase of approximately $64,500.

Read said that an informational levy brochure was recently mailed to all patrons of the district.

The next regular board meeting will be held Wednesday, February 24, 2016 at 6 p.m. in the high school library. The board scheduled a board workshop at 5:30 p.m. before the regular meeting.

Executive session

Chairman Deife announced the board would be entering into a 15-minute executive session to consider employment of a public officer or employee per RCW 42.30.110, with no action to follow.