The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG—Present at last week’s meeting of the Waitsburg School Board were Chairman Ross Hamann and members Christy House and Lisa Morrow. Member Russ Knopp, while not onsite, attended remotely with help from a video-chat app.

The Board heard presentations from two Waitsburg High School FFA officers who discussed their chapter’s success at the local fairs. Thirteen members earned a total of over $20,000 from their projects this year, as well as earning the highest showmanship accolades at both the Columbia and Walla Walla County Fairs.

Officers of the Waitsburg High School ASB were also on hand to detail their plans for the school year, including attending an upcoming leadership seminar in Pomeroy.

A vote was taken to determine which board member would fulfill the position of vice-chair, formerly occupied by Marilyn Johnson. Christy House was selected unanimously for the role.

The athletic combine is in need of assistant coaches for boys’ and girls’ basketball this winter. Those interested in the position are encouraged to contact Stephanie Wooderchak at swooderchak@waitsburgsd.org.

In a follow-up to The Times’ previous coverage of the issue, the unused chimney in the elementary school has been successfully capped off. Contrary to earlier fears, only a few bats were found inside and these were already deceased.

Projects undertaken with recent levy funds are proceeding on track and slightly under budget, according to a representative of Design West, the firm overseeing the construction. If enough funding is left over after air conditioning is installed in the auditorium, the contractors will install AC in the band room, as well.

The new Breakfast at the Bell program, in which students and teachers at all grade levels share the morning meal in mixed groups, is off to a good start. Moving ahead, secondary principal Stephanie Wooderchak says that “we’ll start to do more activities as we start to get used to each other.” In the meantime, staff say that participants of all ages are enjoying themselves.

The new field house at the football field will be dedicated at a ceremony on Oct. 19 at 6:15 p.m. An open house will follow, during which attendees can tour the new facility. For those who want to make an evening of it, the newly renovated kitchen in the elementary school will also host an open house beginning at 5:15.

Student enrollment remained relatively steady, but an interesting new metric has just been released concerning “choice transfers,” students who opt to attend school in a district other than their assigned ones. The Waitsburg School District has 21 more students who have chosen to transfer into the district than out of it.

On a related note, concerns over low student-tied funding have led the board to postpone the hiring of a school resource officer until there is an opportunity to “see how the enrollment plays out.” While $68,000 was allocated in this year’s budget to hire an officer, the district would have needed to come up with an additional $7,000 to fulfill its contribution to a resource officer’s salary, and there would be no guarantee that these funds would be available next year.

Wooderchak suggested purchasing a system of punchcode locks and security cameras to help secure the entrances to each of the school buildings during operating hours.

“At least with that type of thing,” she noted, “the expense wouldn’t be ongoing.” Superintendent Jon Mishra agreed to look into the feasibility of such a purchase.

An update was given on the Dayton-Waitsburg sports combine. Many attendees expressed frustration with the poor communication between the two districts. Charlie Barron, who sits on the combine’s advisory board, says that “it feels like our input is not worth a dang.”

He noted that friends in Dayton had the idea that “Waitsburg makes a decision and that’s all there is”, while Christy House expressed the view that “Waitsburg will say ‘we’ve already talked about it’ but Dayton will give us pushback on everything”.

It was generally agreed that this sort of squabbling was ultimately hurting the young athletes, who by all accounts “are having a blast” in the combined sports program. The discussion ended with calls to make sure “the whole story is…being passed along” between the two combined districts.

At the end of the meeting, board members interviewed two candidates for Marilyn Johnson’s vacated District 1 seat: Jason Kaehler and Joe Rhymes. The board ultimately selected Kaehler, a local father whose children are enrolled in Waitsburg Elementary.

“I think it’s huge having a vocal parent,” Kaehler said. “I want to raise my kids in this great community.” He added that attending that night’s board meeting had further increased his conviction that he would be able to make a positive difference in the district.