The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON—At the regular meeting of the Dayton School District Board of Directors on July 6, Superintendent Doug Johnson outlined some goals for the 2016-17 school year for the Board of Directors.

Chief among these was increasing the number of families enrolling in the district and decreasing the number of families enrolling out of the district.

Also, by the end of 2016-17 Johnson said that a summit consisting of parents, students, employees and community members will be held to develop a five-year strategic vision for the DSD.

Johnson also assured the board that they will be given fiscal updates on capital and maintenance and operations levies, and project vendors, options and quotes, and that the levy budget balance will be presented to them on a monthly basis, during the 2016-17 school year.

Johnson went on to say that even though the capital project levy will not be collected until 2017 some smaller facility projects are being completed by district maintenance staff this summer.

Some of the projects are: replacing a six-foot-high fence adjacent to Third Street, between the gym and Ag. Building, replacing basketball hoops in the play area outside the district office, installing volleyball standards floor supports in the multipurpose room, adding top-soil to uneven grass areas on the baseball and football fields, replacing outdated data cable which will support telephone and internet throughout district facilities, and installing a new dishwasher in the Culbertson Special Education room.

A new zero-turn lawn mower, commercial rated vacuum cleaners and a hard surface floor cleaner have been purchased through the M&O levy funds, Johnson said.

Data from the Smarter Balance Assessment has been returned to the District and will be available on the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction website, soon, Johnson told the directors.

Johnson said students demonstrated a higher level of proficiency in math and English this year than they did last year, with the most improvement in grades 6-7-8, in math.

The District will continue to provide opportunities for students to engage in lessons and demonstrate higher levels of proficiency, said Johnson, who would like to congratulate students, staff, and parents for improved results.

At the meeting the Board of Directors approved the 2016-2017 budget, and they approved the assurances portion of the Carl Perkins Grant for Career and Technical Education as well.