The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Nov. 19, 2018

WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg School Board met for a regular business meeting Monday. Members in attendance were Ross Hamann, Christy House, Jason Kaehler, Russ Knopp, Lisa Morrow. Also in attendance were school secretary Becky Dun, Superintendent and Elementary Principal Jon Mishra and Secondary School Principal Stephanie Wooderchak.

The board approved several Dayton-Waitsburg Athletic Combine coaching appointments. Josh Wilson was approved as high school assistant boys’ basketball coach. John Donnelly will be the new high school head girls’ basketball coach. Tamira Culley will be high school assistant girls’ basketball coach. Kayla Lewis is assistant cheerleading coach.

For middle school teams, James Su’euga is head girls’ basketball coach, with Karen Huwe as assistant coach for girls basketball.

The board also approved the resignation of Tracy Pearson, high school assistant football coach as well as the termination of custodian Rick Suchadolski.

The District office will be closed for Winter Break from December 24 - January 4.

Preston Hall Middle School continues its support of the Character Strong program which focuses on social-emotional learning, with the goal of creating well-balanced students. Two faculty members lead different activities. They’ve just completed the seventh lesson, reinforcing the simple kindness of saying ‘thank you.’

Secondary Principal’s Report

Students and faculty presented the Veterans assembly on Friday, Nov 9.

The Leo’s Club advisor Gabe Kiefel has begun work with the Lions Club on the annual food drive.

On Nov 15, the juniors completed the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, commonly known as the ASVAB. The scores will be interpreted for students with the test proctors on an individual basis. Most people consider the ASVAB to be a military test, but it is a career awareness and personality test that may enable students to make career decisions.

Preston Hall band members performed in the Mass Band in Asotin on Nov 6. It was Mrs. Pomerinke’s first field trip and was a success. Mr Knapp is appreciated for driving the school trailer with instruments.

Both Preston Hall and Waitsburg High School have completed their parent teacher conferences. The high school conferences were student-led, while the middle school conferences were teacher-led. Each event had excellent attendance, and teachers were happy with the productivity of the conferences.

Athletic Director’s Report

Fall Sports Awards were held in Waitsburg and honored football, cheerleading and volleyball students and parents. The coaches spoke about each of the students’ contributions.

Winter Sports practices began on Nov 13.

Johnny Watts, Head Baseball coach, has been working with Maintenance Supervisor Colter Mohney to prepare for the baseball season this spring. The first practice is Feb. 25, 2019.

Combine Update:

Paula Moisio, Dayton Business Manager, has been assigned to take minutes for combine committee meetings.

Stephanie Wooderchak, Waitsburg Secondary Principal/AD, has been assigned as the permanent facilitator

Next combine meeting will be Nov. 26 at 6:45 at the Dayton high school library, with the minutes posted on the school website.

Dayton has hired Nicki Luper as its new athletic director. Luper has worked in Washington State as an administrator, overseeing athletics with over 30 years’ experience.

Facilities/ Maintenance/Transportation

Using the city’s fairgrounds facility and $2,500, the district will create a new pitcher’s mound, plus a practice pitcher’s mound for the spring season. Facilities staff on hand mentioned the importance of doing this before the soggy season.

Next month fuel for the boilers will be ordered.

The district is making plans to outfit the press box and field house at the Waitsburg football field with internet connectivity. Of the $5,000 necessary, federal dollars will cover the majority of the cost. The action to move forward with the work was approved unanimously. The District will cover the remaining $1,000 balance.

Elementary Principal Report

Field trip to Mrs. Parr’s house to pick pumpkins.

The first graders Salmon in Schools is going along swimmingly.

Superintendent Report

Middle School Mass Band Performance in Asotin gym included 10 schools.

Book study with certified staff is reading Talk About Teaching by Charlotte Danielson

Dr Mishra hopes to initiate a superintendent advisory committee with students, staff, parents and community members advising on district matters. The Committee will form officially after Winter Break.

Board and Public Comment

Both a board member and several impassioned parents who attended the meeting discussed a current rise in bullying. Parents told individual stories of children kicked in the head twice, then that same child who hit her son immediately punched another little girl in the face while a teacher saw it.

“If you talk to kids,” said one parent, “they know you can do it at gym time because that’s when you can get away with it.”

The district’s policy prohibits harassment, intimidation and bullying. Students being bullied are referred to fill out a form to report instances of abuse if they go unseen by faculty. Otherwise, staff members should intervene when witnessing harassment, intimidation, or bullying.

Parents brought up concerns regarding incident notification once an emergency has taken place. They also suggested using technology to accept anonymous tips from students being bullied or from witnesses who may be too afraid to act.

Old Business

Enrollment is dropping by a couple students per month. Losing each student is $15,000. Some students are transferring to Dixie for smaller class sizes. One student is transferring to Dayton because of bullying.

New Business

Several faculty and staff members attended the Washington State School Directors Association Conference held Nov. 14 through 17 in Spokane. There they attended mandatory training and learned about how the McCleary Decision will affect the teaching profession going forward.