The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg School Board met on May 20 for a regularly scheduled meeting. The board now meets in person at the elementary library but will continue to offer Zoom access.

Secondary principal Stephanie Wooderchak shared that the 2021-22 ASB Student Officers had been elected. The new officers are President Brayden Mohney, Vice-President Monte Pettichord, Secretary Chloe Gleason, and Treasurer Makenna Barron.

Letters have been sent home to parents regarding multiple year-end activities, ranging from the 8th Grade Promotion to summer-learning opportunities.

DW Athletic Director Sam Korslund gave a quick recap of the softball and baseball seasons and provided a brief update on the basketball season. Four spectators per athlete will be allowed for the basketball season at-home games. The allowance will vary for away games. He said that there had been no issues with spectators not wearing masks or adhering to guidelines.

He said that he is working closely with the school’s IT department to correct live streaming issues, and he recently created a DW Athletics YouTube channel that should be running soon. Korslund said the YouTube channel allows Smart TV owners to stream the game directly on their TV, while controlling comments and chat features. He said they did have some issues with negative comments on Facebook live streams.

Korslund said that the Wolfpack Team Store is open for anyone who would like any DW apparel or gear. Flyers are available in the high school, and the links are available on social media. The new website, DWSports.org, is currently being built, and it will provide all schedules and other sports information. Korslund did not have a date on which the website will go live.

The current AD is working on a DW Code of Conduct and Coach’s Handbook that he hopes will be ready to go before the start of fall sports. Korslund said he would be submitting the books for review to both schools in June.

The school board heard presentations from three Fifth Grade students as part of a public speaking and presentation project that the class has been working on for roughly six weeks. Fifth-grade teacher Tracy Barron said they would have a Family Night on May 26 for all of the students to share their presentations.

During the Elementary Principal’s report, Superintendent Mark Pickel shared that repairs are still ongoing at the baseball fields.

Pickel provided a copy of the Academic and Student Wellbeing Recovery Plan, seeking approval from the board so he could submit the plan to the state. He said that the deadline for the submission is June 1. The board later approved the plan during the business portion of the meeting.

The Washington State Fall Testing guidance was discussed. The state had applied for a waiver for spring 2021 assessments, but the request was denied. All spring testing will happen in the fall and will be based on the previous year. Fall 2021 fifth-graders will take the fourth-grade assessment, fourth-graders will take the third-grade assessment. The end of October is being considered for the testing week. Pickel said there might be some changes.

Pickel quickly reviewed the vaccination clinic held on May 19, where 11 community members received the Pfizer vaccine first dose, and one person received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The board approved Resolution 052021A: WIAA Membership renewal. Pickel said this was an annual renewal, keeping the school’s athletics with the Washington Interscholastic Athletics Association league.

The school is moving forward with the high school reroofing project. The project was awarded to SQI Commercial Roofing, based out of Mukilteo, WA, for an approximate cost of $296,000. The work is set to begin on June 9.

The board voted to move the June meeting to the 22nd, at 6:00 p.m.