Other School Board News

On August 17, after the Cascade School Board heard the presentation about the Rattlesnake Hill project, they discussed other agenda items. In terms of personnel, the district hired Daena Medina to be the second Homelink teacher, as the Homelink program had doubled its enrollment due to parents seeking diverse options in light of COVID-19.

Beckendorf-Edou announced that the Kodiak Virtual Academy has begun enrollment for students in 6^th to 12^th grade.

During policy review the board briefly discussed updates to the Highly Capable Program. The superintendent explained that a more in-depth handbook has been created to spell out what the program entails at each grade level.

Beckendorf-Edou shared that she took part in a panel discussion hosted by US Representative Kim Schrier about broadband. Beckendorf-Edou was able to share how the district has been pretty creative with solutions to internet challenges. She recognizes that one solution, outdoor hotspots, are not adequate during winter months.

The board discussed the recent Zoom meeting open to all district families that was a Q&A about the upcoming Continuous Learning 2.0. One hundred and seventy participants attended the meeting. Beckendorf-Edou thanked the administrators for their planning and gave a big thanks to Miriam Rodriguez, ALE secretary, who’s interpreter skills were critical for successful communication with Latinx families.

Finally, school board member Cyndi Garza explained volunteers would gather soon to create the Healthy Start swag bags for all students. The bags, full of donated health essentials like thermometers, cloth masks, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, would be given to students at the upcoming orientations.