The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON— At their July 18 meeting, the Dayton School Board adopted the district’s 2018-19 budget, which was based on a conservative estimate for student enrollment for next year of 394.

At that meeting, Business Manager Paula Moisio said the district is on track to end the 2017-18 schoolyear with close to $400,000, which will be “depleted considerably” due to a $223,501 budget deficit for next year.

Moisio said, “We will definitely be tightening up our belts, in every area we can. Then it will be open to ‘wait and see,’ until we get to mid-year.”

Vice chair Dave Bailey suggested the Board take some time at their August 15 meeting to discuss strategies for eliminating the deficit.

With that in mind, board member Fred White asked that Waitsburg’s final athletic budget, which was presented to the DSD Board for approval, be looked at more closely to see where cuts can be made.

Bailey agreed. “We are providing sports,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we have to provide everything.”

Johnson said the Dayton School District can expect to spend $170,000, plus transportation costs, for its share of the total cost of the Athletic Combine, and the budget for that has been built into next year’s budget. “This does not add to the deficit,” he emphasized.

Johnson said the transportation costs would result in savings for the district over the full cost of having a separate program.

The board asked Johnson to speak to Waitsburg officials about making cuts for nonessential items for sports programs.

Johnson said there have been no applications for the position of Athletic Director for the Athletic Combine with Waitsburg. “We are getting close to crunch time,” he said.

Waitsburg has already scheduled an athletic clearance night for their student athletes, and Dayton must do the same, he said.

Also at the meeting, the Board of Directors approved a recommendation from Waitsburg High School Principal Stephanie Wooderchak to hire Lanny Adams as high school wrestling coach, and Josh Wilson MS Assistant Football coach.

Supt. Johnson gave an update on the progress of the Capital levy projects:

Supplies have been delivered for the high school roofing project, which will take about three to four weeks.

Perkins grant funds were used to update the home economics room with new stoves, a refrigerator, and washer and dryer.

Maintenance Supervisor John Delp has been working to construct a permanent wall to separate the board room from the special education classroom, as a noise abatement for the classroom.

The boiler and water heater replacements are on schedule. Personnel from Honeywell will be on site to remove older units and install the new ones in the next couple of weeks.

The ag shop greenhouse will benefit from the Pietrcyzki Trust Fund with improvements to its fan and ventilation system. Local electrician Steve Brenner will contribute electrical work.

The final phase of the phone system upgrade will be done by summer’s end, with the installation of emergency strobe lights and speakers in the gyms, band room and shops.

A project to secure the front entry of the elementary building is in the planning stages. The plan is to create a safety vestibule by enlarging the office and installing electronically-controlled doors. The district will apply for a modernization grant to help with that.

A $1,500 grant to upgrade the school zone safety lights on Second and Third Streets has been received from the Pacific Power Foundation.

Middle school teacher Shayna Hutchens requested the Board’s approval to purchase 25 copies of a new History textbook to pilot in 2018-19. Superintendent Johnson said he will check into whether the District can find funds for the textbooks, which will cost about $2,000.

The Instructional Materials Committee will receive feedback from Hutchens about the new curriculum throughout the year, and it could be adopted for use in grades 6-10, in the spring of 2019.

The District vehicles and buses received perfect scores from the State Patrol inspection, with thanks to Danon Griffen, the district transportation supervisor, said Johnson.

Finally, the board adopted the 2018-2019 Budget, a budget extension for 2017-2018, and a transfer of funds from capital to the general fund.

There were two fuel bids, for 2018-19: one from Coleman Oil and one from AgLink, Inc. The Board awarded the contract to AgLink, Inc.