Dayton School Board hears concern over Combine

DAYTON—The Dayton School Board met for its regular meeting at 6:03 p.m., July 20, 2022. School board members Zac Fabian, Grant Griffen, Chair Jeffrey McCowen, Korinda Wallace, and Superintendent Rich Stewart were present at the auditorium. Aneesha Dieu attended on Zoom.

The regular meeting followed a budget hearing held at 5 p.m.

The board began the meeting by approving the Consent Agenda.

During the public comment period, Jeremy Trump, a parent, and member of the Dayton-Waitsburg Athletic Combine Committee spoke.

“Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you tonight. I come in confusion, I guess. I came to a special board meeting to talk about some issues with the combine. You guys discussed discipline, middle school athletics, finances, and joint board meetings moving forward. I guess the biggest thing I’m concerned about is that there is a lot of questioning about whether to continue a combine for middle school. It had been recommended by our AD (athletic director) to not do so.

“At that time, no decision was made whether that was going to continue or not. There were going to be further discussions. So, another joint meeting was set for later in the month. It happened on the 29th. At that time, I was surprised when the announcement for the meeting came out, basically stating that we are going to stay in a full combine. No further discussion as to why that is going to happen, no further discussion that night by the boards.

“So, we’re left to question what is going on. Also, in that meeting, there was a list of things that were to be discussed and agreed upon. I did not hear any agreement at that meeting. Items were discussed, but there was no action taken to agree to these things.

“Many of these things that I look at, also as a committee member for the combine, will take away power from the committee and the athletic director, which I think is not right. So, I guess I’m just left a little bit confused as to what we’ve agreed to, what we haven’t agreed to, and where we are going forward in the combine,” commented Trump.

The Board did not offer an immediate response to Trump’s comments other than to say it was an ongoing process. It also noted that changes in the school’s administration made it difficult to answer his concerns. Stewart said the combine would be discussed further at the board retreat, scheduled for August 3, 2022.

Stewart announced during his comments that he planned to hold a small retreat for the school administration on July 21, 2022, at the Best Western Plus Motel. The purpose was to discuss the working procedures for the new administration.

Stewart said he enjoyed meeting everyone at the school and catching up with those he knew when he worked at the district fourteen or fifteen years ago.

The board quickly went through the budget status report.

The board approved the 2022-2023 Fee Schedule, the DW Combine Athletic Code of Conduct, the DW Combine Parent Code of Conduct, and Resolution 2021-06 Fixing and Adopting the 2022- 2023 Budget. Each item was approved individually, without further discussion or dissent. The budget approved almost 8.9 million dollars in spending for the next fiscal year. These items approved by the Board can be reviewed on the school district’s website.

The board chair adjourned the meeting at 6:30 p.m.