DAYTON- The Dayton School Board held its work session meeting on Zoom at 6 p.m. on November 3, 2021.

The first agenda item addressed by the school board was to review the strategic plan. The first aspect of the strategic plan the board looked at was the Board Operating Protocol. Using the protocol adopted by the Reardan-Edwall School District, which Superintendent Strot provided, the board members began a preliminary discussion. The Times intends to cover the proposed strategic plan in greater depth at a later date.

The second agenda topic was a review of the Dayton-Waitsburg Athletic Combine by-laws. The committee submitted three revisions for approval, which changed the membership from one student from each school district to two students, one male, and one female from each school district. Because of this increase in membership, the quorum numbers were adjusted. Finally, the meeting date was changed from being held on the second Wednesday of each month to being held before the second Wednesday of each month to allow more flexibility. Finally, a paragraph concerning holding the meetings in accordance with the public meetings act was removed.

School board member Fred White questioned how the committee would handle public comments without such public comments being disruptive. Athletic Director Sam Korslund pointed out that the meetings are not closed, and community members could approach him to be put on the agenda. Alternatively, they could contact the community representative (names and contact information will be published once positions are filled) to provide comments. The Athletic Director promised a better effort to publish the agendas for the committee meetings in advance and make them available to the public.

Next, Superintendent Strot updated the board on the process to obtain grants for infrastructure improvements at the schools. The district is partnering with McKinstry, an outside consultant, to write grants for items including improvements to the electrical systems, HVAC, windows, and facade bricks. Some preliminary design work has been completed, and a contractor walk-through should be conducted soon. Contractor estimates should be available in December, and McKinstry will review these estimates for accuracy. The district will submit the grant applications to the state by May 2022.

There was some discussion about interviews for the candidates for the vacant school board position, for which there are three candidates: Bryan Martin, Zak Fabian, and James William Wyant, Jr. There was some discussion on whether the position could be held open longer and the best meeting format to interview the candidates. The board tentatively settled on conducting the interviews during the regularly scheduled board meeting on November 17, 2021, using Zoom.

The board voted to approve the Combine Committee Bylaws, hire Suzie Butler as a new kindergarten teacher, hire Roy Ramirez as the Head High School Girls Basketball Coach, and finally, hire Carly Benavides as an Assistant High School Girls Basketball Coach. All votes were unanimous.

There was no public comment, and the public portion of the meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m. to go into Executive Session to discuss the Superintendent’s evaluation.