Dayton School BoardDayton School Board

DAYTON—The Dayton School Board held its work session meeting at 6 PM on Wednesday, January 5, 2022.

The work session meeting was held in person and on Zoom. All the directors were in attendance, opted to meet in person except for Grant Griffin, who chose the remote option.

In November, the superintendent administered the Oath of Office to Aneesha Dieu, Jeffrey McCowen, Grant Griffen, and Korinda Wallace. The newly elected directors swore to support the Constitution of the United States and the State of Washington and faithfully discharge the duties of director of Dayton School District. Zac Fabian had been appointed and sworn-in in December.

As the first order of business, Grant Griffen nominated Jeff McCowen for Board Chair. Mr. McCowen was subsequently elected 5-0 without discussion. McCowen moved to elect Grant Griffin as Board Vice-Chair, likewise, elected unanimously.

Nine positions do not require a board vote, and board members decided to defer appointments until the issue could be studied thoroughly. The positions are expected to be filled at the January 19, 2022, meeting.

Tim Garchow, the Executive Director of the Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA), congratulated the newly elected school directors on their elections. He said that there was no better time than right now to be a school director because their decisions have an impact. He introduced himself as a teacher and principal. He served twelve years as a school superintendent, and for the last six years, has been the Executive Director of WSSDA. He stated that WSSDA is a state agency that supports the 1,477 school directors with policy and legal resources, leadership development training, and advocacy with the legislature.

Garchow said that WSSDA is not a regulatory agency and has no power over local school boards but operates only in a support role. All their advocacy positions are developed from the member school districts. WSSDA has a wealth of resources to connect the districts with similar challenges.

He said that he had been talking to the Governor’s Office and Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to address rumors of statewide school closures and mandatory student COVID-19 vaccinations. Both offices have said there is no intention of shutting schools down or a plan to implement a vaccine mandate for students, according to Garchow.

Vaccines for other diseases, including measles, chickenpox, and mumps, are mandatory and implemented according to state law through the State Board of Health using committees of pediatricians and other specialists to review data and make recommendations.

Should the state decide to include COVID-19 vaccinations, the next step would be to allow for public comment. The State Board of Health has begun the process, but it has not reached the point of seeking public comment. A meeting will be held on January 12, where the SBOH will receive a briefing from a Technical Advisory Group (TAG), which may make a recommendation at a later meeting to require vaccination. The SBOH will not receive that recommendation until later this year, and they may go against the recommendation if determined that it is the right path. As of January 11, there is no COVID-19 vaccine requirement for school-aged children. If the SBOH moves to require a vaccine, the process will take considerable time before the provision could be implemented.

The Superintendent Guy Strot asked Garchow what he would recommend to a school board consisting of two new members, one member who has served a month, one for six months, and the senior member with two- or three years’ experience. Garchow’s advice was to be transparent, ask for data, get public comment, don’t surprise one another, and adhere to the open public meetings act. He also recommended new board members attend “Board Boot Camp,” a one-day intensive course offered by WSSDA.

He reminded the board members, “The people elected you. They literally put a mark next to your name saying that they trust you with two of the most important things in their lives, their babies and their money, and you take that seriously. So, they’re going to come to you, and they’re going to want change, and there’s going to be some change you can provide them as a group of five and as a board and superintendent team of six, but there’s going to be some things you need to advocate for with your legislators. Staying on top of what bills are in play, who chairs what committee that’s hearing it, and are they going to executive session it out and move it to a vote of the whole chamber... All of those things are important to stay on top of.”

Dieu requested an executive session with Garchow present as she had a few questions she wanted to ask him. Dieu said she wanted the session “regarding questions around a complaint we have against an employee or a board member.”

“So that would be to review the performance of a public employee or to receive and review a complaint of an elected official. So those would be the two reasons you could use in that case for an executive session...” said Garchow, who reiterated that no action could be taken in an executive session, not even a straw poll.

Before the executive session, the board voted to continue with hybrid meetings with the in-person and zoom option. The motion passed unanimously.

The board adjourned the meeting after the executive session. The next board meeting is scheduled for January 19, 2022