The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Jan. community meeting gets green light, K-12 school counselor on target for 2017

DAYTON—Action taken by the Dayton School Board last week included a change in meeting times for December and approval of two resolutions, one of which is a levy roll back, and the other is for the transfer of funds from the General Fund to Debt Service.

Johnson explained the rollback, saying that due to changes in Dayton’s levy authority by the state legislature, the $1,460,000 maintenance and operations levy which was previously approved by voters, has been reduced to $1,374,508, which will result in a gap in funding for services to students.

However, the District believes additional state funding due to the higher than expected enrollment will prevent any cuts in programs, Johnson said.

Johnson told the directors that the district will begin the process of hiring a certified school counselor on in February, as long as enrollment stays at, or above, 400 students.

Enrollment currently stands at 412, which is up from an average of 392 during the 2015-16 schoolyear, Johnson said.

The board also approved Johnson’s request for the transfer of funds from the general fund to debt service.

The District makes two $9,750 payments a year on the only outstanding loan the district has, Johnson said. The loan provided for replacement of the high school air conditioning unit, and upgrading the electrical for lighting systems. The debt will be paid in full in 2020, he said.

During the meeting, teachers Dawn McGhan, Jeff McCann and Ginger Bryan shared their experience about STAR, which is the program that has replaced MAPS testing for monitoring student progress in math and language.

The Summative Testing and Reporting (STAR) program is in its second full year of use in Dayton, said elementary school principal Pam Lindsley.

The program provides data to teachers about student progress, and can be taken weekly for monitoring progress, while academic interventions are implemented, or it can be used over a longer period of time to determine if students are on track, according to Supt. Johnson.

Middle school teacher Jeff McCann presented some data based on the use of the STAR program in his classrooms, and he said, “I really like it because it’s user friendly.”

Principal Paul Shaber agreed.” It takes half the time to administer and we can do it every month,” he said.

“We can administer it as often as we need to. It only takes twenty to thirty minutes,” Lindsley said.

Johnson thanked the Dayton Alumni Association for its $1,674 donation for the cost of the DHS sign project in front of the high school. The donation paid for more than half of the cost of the project, he said.

In January a second survey will be sent to families who have opted to “choice out” of the DSD. Data from the survey will be used to strengthen school experience for all students, Johnson told the directors. Results from the survey will be used to determine how to keep children enrolled in school, he said.

“Every kid could benefit by coming to our school,” Johnson said.

Johnson said that DSD vision and mission statements will be developed out of a special community meeting planned for parents, students, and other interested parties, on Jan. 25. The meeting will begin with a light supper at 5:30 p. m. in the Elementary multipurpose room.

The board voted to move their second monthly meeting in December to Monday, Dec. 19, at noon. This was done because of the lack of a quorum, due to work conflicts and vacation plans over the holiday season.