The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Construction and maintenance projects are also on tap for this summer

DAYTON – Eighth-grade math teacher Kristen Frankie gave a presentation at last week’s meeting of the Dayton School Board about a national middle-school math conference she recently attended.

She said the purpose of the conference was to explore curriculum and support materials designed by MidSCHOOLmath, for middle school classroom use.

Frankie demonstrated a sample lesson from the curriculum, which provides student-based learning, which is the best kind, she said. She told the board she does not use a math textbook in her instruction.

That is fairly common, according to Superintendent Doug Johnson. Johnson said tools for teaching math come from a variety of sources. “There is no one tool where every kid is going to find success,” he said.

Frankie will be allowed to use the materials from MidSCHOOLmath as a pilot program during the 2017-18 school year. The district will explore purchasing the entire six-year cycle.

Principal Paul Shaber said a qualified candidate has not been identified for cheerleader advisor, but there is a coach in Waitsburg with some experience in that field, and the cheer program for football will be placed under the direction of that coach.

Project proposals for the asphalt project at the elementary school and the bus drop off will be prepared for advertising by the end of May. Johnson said the asphalt project should be finished by Aug. 17.

Johnson is working with head custodian John Delp on a summer project list that includes replacing planks on the football field bleachers, building some stairs, and installing hand rails at the west end. “We don’t have anything major,” Johnson said about projects on the list.

Principal Shaber, Delp, and the ASB are involved in a landscaping project in front of the high school that will also take place in the summer.

The district is experiencing issues with an oil-fired boiler and two smaller boilers in the ag building and in the wood shop. According to Johnson, the Honeywell Corporation is performing an energy study and providing cost estimates for switching from oil to electricity. “There is no cost to us to Honeywell for the survey,” he added.

The district has been looking into a student impairment policy, and has heard back from the state School Directors Association about that topic. “Asking students to perform sobriety assessments in order to determine impairment is a search protected by the Fourth Amendment. As such, it is imperative a clear probable cause exists,” said Johnson.

Johnson said if a student smelled of alcohol most people would agree there is probable cause. He went on to say the policy the district is exploring has potential items of probable cause which are far subtler and are not likely to be recognized by the court as probable cause.

“The goal for the district is not harsher punishment, but opportunity for assisting the students to make healthier behavior choices. We will continue to explore this issue,” Johnson said.

The all-district dinner for school employees and board members will be held at 6 p.m. on June 6 at the fairgrounds pavilion.

Business Manager Paula Moisio updated the board about the status of the budget. “This is a good time of year for school district finances,” Moisio said about recent tax collections.

With regard to next year’s budget, Johnson said that regardless of any decision made by the state legislature concerning the McCleary ruling, the district will have a “status quo” budget in place.

Moisio said the budget needs to be done by June 10, but that budget extensions could be implemented if necessary.

Director Katie Leid asked the board to consider having only one school board meeting each month, beginning this September. Information will be gathered and considered at the next meeting, on June 7, with possible action taken.