Thursday, March 28, 2024

January 12th School Board Meeting Highlights

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The School Board meeting on January 12th began with introductions of visitors, including five Cascade High School (CHS) seniors. One student, Aidan Ringel, shared a statement expressing his concern about students returning to the high school while the COVID-19 infection rate was still high. Ringel believed the benefits of returning to school did not outweigh the risks, and pointed out that, while students could be face-to-face with their teachers, the actual amount of teacher/student interaction time would be reduced in this new model. Ringel worried that students’ grades might suffer and teachers would be more overworked. Ringel ended by saying he feared having to mourn a classmate because of the risk.

The school board listened but could not comment, due to legal constraints. Board member Zachary Miller asked to see Ringel’s statement in writing to allow more time to reflect on it.

Later, CHS principal Elia Ala’ilima-Daley said, “Socialization and the tangible qualities of in-person instruction is the main draw and what is missing socially and emotionally for our students in fully remote learning,” Daley said. “The schedule allows for families to opt-in or opt-out. The choice lies with the families and their comfort level.”

As for health safety, Daley said, “There have been zero cases reported for school transmission. Mitigation of the virus is key. Masks work, physical distancing works. Both will be a major part of our plan to return.” He also noted that 80% of students were planning on returning to in-person instruction.

Next, superintendent Tracey Beckendorf-Edou announced that January is National School Board Recognition Month. She voiced her own gratitude, and then shared a few notes. Kindergarten teacher Tina Richardson wrote, “Thank you for your steadfast support of students, staff and citizens within the Cascade School District. It is wonderful to know that we have such a dedicated group guiding us, especially in the unusual times of the last several months.”

Beckendorf-Edou read the governor’s proclamation for the observance of National School Board Recognition Month, which includes, “School directors and educational service districts provide a passionate voice of advocacy for public schools and the welfare of school children and… it is appropriate to recognize school directors as outstanding volunteers and champions of public education.”

Transportation director Tim Bentz then gave a presentation of operations in his department.

In terms of purchasing new buses, he said, “The State funds an extremely basic model of a bus so the additional items we need for our winters here or for carrying sports equipment under the bus are all costly options. Our fully equipped trip buses now cost over $150,000 before tax. Of that, the State will reimburse roughly $110,000 over a ten-year period. We call this process our ‘depreciation schedule.’”

“Currently we have ten buses still on the depreciation cycle. Since we have 25 buses in our fleet at CSD, far less than half of our fleet is contributing to the Transportation Vehicle Fund. It takes us two years of depreciation dollars at the current level to buy a regular route bus.” Thus, in the future, the board might have to consider looking for other funding, such as adding this to the EP&O levy, to make up the shortfall.

Over the fall semester the number of bus riding students grew on an almost weekly basis, from 30 originally to 230 now, so the route schedules have been continuously recalculated. Some side roads have been removed from the routes to prevent extremely long bus rides. A few families are affected and have to drive their students to the bus stop.

The bus drivers were commended on their tracking of student seating every day. This information is needed if a student gets COVID-19 to confirm who the close contacts were. Beckendorf-Edou and the board shared gratitude for Bentz’s leadership redesigning operations and the drivers’ adaptability.

After the approval of two retirements and a few minor changes to policies, the board approved the official construction completion of Alpine Lakes Elementary. Beckendorf-Edou took a moment to thank the local community for supporting the bond.

The board started planning their upcoming annual evaluation of the superintendent. Each board member will compile input from the schools and departments to inform the evaluation.

For communication, Beckendorf-Edou read a letter from former school resource officer, Deputy Michael Morrison, who stated he’d enjoyed working with all the staff and would remain a staunch supporter of the district. Also, the Chelan Douglas Health District wrote a letter thanking the district for assisting their efforts in free COVID-19 testing.

Finally, the superintendent shared that CHS science teacher Molly Ravits and her classes’ field project on the effects of climate change on pika populations was mentioned as exemplary in a paper published in the Journal of Science Policy & Governance

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