School board

The Board of Directors of Odessa School District #105 held a workshop in the district office at 5:30 p.m. for a legislative update, to review a district policy and to review the budget. The board then met in the high school library on Wednesday, March 28, 2018 at 6 p.m.

Present were chairman Ed Deife; board members Heather Valverde, Chris Crossley, Janie Steward and Carmen Weishaar; Superintendent Dan Read; Principal Jamie Nelson and Business Manager Juli Weishaar. Also present were Facilities Director Justin Parr, Athletic Director Bruce Todd, parent Traig Weishaar and Terrie Schmidt-Crosby of The Odessa Record.

The board approved the consent agenda which included minutes of the February 22, 2018 regular meeting; March bills/payroll warrants #610805-610830 and direct deposit warrants #900006074-900006137 for $255,487.43; general fund A/P warrants #610831-610878 for $58,703.70; ASB fund A/P warrants #610879-610893 for $22,926.16; general fund comp tax wire transfer for $346.98; ASB fund comp tax wire transfer for $153.66; the acceptance of Amy Schaefer as the volunteer JH assistant track coach; the resignation of Craig Holman as K-12 music teacher; travel to the State FFA conference May 9-13, 2018 in Pullman and Policy #4130 Title I Parent and Family Engagement (second reading).

Superintendent Dan Read reported a March enrollment of 241.9 full-time equivalent students.

Read shared with the board the OSPI pivot tables with projected revenue allocations for years 2018-2019, 2019-2020, and 2020-2021. Tables showed an estimated increase of $214,352 for the 2018-2019 school year and roughly $50,000 each for the following years. Read will attend a meeting April 10 to learn about the logistics of the new funding structure and possible salary mechanisms.

Read said he planned to provide additional tutoring for students who have not yet passed state mandated tests.

Read also said additional clean-up days are scheduled for the recently purchased property diagonally across Fourth Avenue from the school with hopes of having a yard sale to benefit both the FFA and FBLA chapters on Saturday, April 28 of Spring Fling weekend. Demolition of the house is planned for later in the summer once road restrictions are lifted.

Read gave an update on the sidewalk repair projects indicating that scheduled repairs during spring break may need to be postponed due road restrictions during street repairs being conducted by the town of Odessa.

Following the most recent school shooting in Florida, Read said the district will be receiving a quote for security upgrades that will include camera/intercom access at both the elementary and high school entrances.

Read shared three possible 2018-2019 school calendars which will be distributed for obtaining input. A final selected calendar will be presented to the school board at the April board meeting.

Principal Jamie Nelson reported a PreK-12 headcount enrollment of 263 students.

Nelson reported that many students enjoyed attending the prom on March 10. Two recent assemblies, covering topics from cyber-bullying to conflicting points of view, were well received by students in grades 6-12 who attended. Nelson commended Julie Wehr and the students on their wonderful musical production of the Wizard of Oz. Nelson reported student-led conferences and the annual Book Fair are in full swing the remainder of the week.

Nelson reported upcoming activities including the band marching in the Lilac Parade, FFA competitions and their annual plant sale and the FBLA state conference being held in Bellevue.

Carmen Weishaar praised the students for the fantastic job they did at the Bi-County Honor Band practices and performance.

Ed Deife commented that the sound system at the musical performance was an improvement over previous years. He was in awe of the backdrops and staging.

Deife also reported on his attendance at the recent Small Schools Conference in Wenatchee.

Bruce Todd congratulated the boys basketball team on their fourth-place state finish. Two athletes are traveling to Harrington to compete in tennis. Junior high track practice has begun and junior high baseball will start after spring break.

Todd reported he was approached regarding the formation of a girls soccer team with athletes from a number of neighboring towns. There are currently three high school girls interested in playing soccer.

Todd, Jamie Nelson, Carmen Weishaar and Donald Valverde met to discuss the athletic code. Todd will present a revised athletic code to the board for approval at the next school board meeting.

Todd passed out pictures of the proposed locations for the track and field events to move them off the football field. He also had a picture of an above ground enclosed dugout for the baseball field for the board to consider.

Justin Parr reported bus and vehicle inspections all passed with a 100 percent rating. Leland Smith’s last day of driving for the district is March 30, which leaves Parr and Kevin Schaefer covering that route for the remainder of the school year.

Read presented the ASB balance sheet for February, the Financial Activity reports for the General Fund for February showing an unassigned fund balance of $787,756.

Carmen Weishaar has a bid for $55,000 for the concrete work needed to re-locate the track and field pits and is working to secure a second bid to bring to the board for approval at the next regular meeting. Read reported $9,000 of the cost will be covered by a previous Booster Club donation.

Justin Parr presented a three-year action plan recommendation from Planet Turf to rehabilitate the current football field. A discussion was held debating the merits of restoring the current field versus replacing the entire field with new grass. Traig Weishaar will bring a proposal to the next board meeting with costs and fundraising commitments to replace the entire field with new grass. The general consensus of those present, regardless of which route is taken, was that the district will have to make a major commitment in time and resources to maintaining the football field in the future.

Traig Weishaar told the board that the current football field has differences in elevation that amount to 36 inches from the highest point to the lowest. Therefore, he urged that the field be replaced rather than spending additional time trying to turn the current field into a good playing surface. He has talked to someone who can do the sod removal, leveling, filling, resodding, etc., within a span of seven days.

The issues will be debated further at the next meeting.

The next regular board meeting will be Wednesday, April 25, 2018 at 6 p.m. in the high school library, with a workshop scheduled at 5:30 p.m. before the regular meeting.