The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – More than two dozen Dayton residents have banded together to support the permanent hiring of Dayton Middle and Senior High School Principal Kate Wenzl. They call themselves "Keep Kate," and last Wednesday they appealed to the Dayton School Board to do just that.

"As a group, we just want you [the board] and her [Wenzl] to know that we support her and hope you decide to keep her where she is," said Dayton resident Mary-Jeanne Smith. Smith also apologized to the board, on behalf of the group, for not attending the public meetings last month aimed at helping the board decide whether to retain Wenzl permanently.

"I think we just sorta thought it was a slam dunk and that we didn't need to participate," Smith told the board. Members of Keep Kate plan to make up for this oversight, she said, by attending board meetings and continuing to let the board know their minds.

The group has started a private Facebook page, with 28 adult members as of last Thursday, to build support; they approve of Wenzl's approach to student discipline, her work to keep the campus free of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, and her support for the teaching staff.

"I support her, on behalf of myself, my office, and law enforcement," Columbia County Prosecutor Rea Culwell told the board. "I am a member of Keep Kate, and you'll be hearing more from me over the next several months."

In November, the school board authorized a series of public meetings offering the public, students, and district employees a chance to get to know Wenzl and ask her questions. The idea was for attendees to complete a feedback form to be reviewed by the superintendent and board members as they made their hiring decision.

Then in December, the district announced it would interview additional candidates for the post. Superintendent Doug Johnson said at the time that soliciting applicants would "provide Mrs. Wenzl an opportunity to defeat all comers and ensure there is no question that she was the best candidate."

The selection committee has already convened to begin making arrangements for the application and interview process, Johnson said. "It is hoped the board will have a candidate selected and approved by the end of March," he said.

Wenzl was hired as the interim Middle/Senior High School principal last summer to replace Andy Maheras, who resigned in July.

"With Mrs. Wenzl at the helm, I think we're finally starting to see this ship turning," Jeff McCann, a Dayton Middle School teacher, told the board. McCann is also a member of Keep Kate.

McCann, as well as Smith and others in the group, believe that Wenzl has done much to turn things around at the middle and high schools, academically as well as socially.

"She has provided more structure," Smith said. "There has been less bullying – last year, before she came, was horrible. She really cares about the kids and it's wonderful to see. I think we're all just disappointed with the decision that the board made."