Possibilities for students, periods set aside for reteaching and property bids

The possibility of allowing students direct participation with school board activity, the possibility of a fire district buying a portion of school property and the possibilities the construction on Cascade schools will offer for students' learning and activities - these are all items discussed during the Monday, Oct. 22 school board meeting.
    From graduation rate, tardies and reduced lunches - Cascade High School principal, Elia Ala'ilima-Daley, presented the "data dashboard" at the meeting to update the board on the numbers and status of the students. Full time student wise, the high school currently hosts 440 full time students. Free and reduced lunch is around 36.8% of the student body. The special education population sits at 9.3% and the migrant population 5.1%. The building budget is about $170,000. For  the 2017/108 school year, there is no graduation rate, however Daley noted that they graduated 107 students the previous year. In 2017/2018, from the start of school to the first Monday of October there was a recorded 370 tardies during first period alone - however in 2018/2019, tardies have been minimized to a total of 180. All these numbers add up to reveal that the high school is continuously producing a diverse and accomplished student body.
    Daley also touched on how to strengthen students' weaknesses and challenges that they run into academically. The flex period will become an added feature for struggling students to set aside a designated time to concentrate on problem areas.
    "By the end of the first semester Cascade High School will have a flex period of 30 minutes build into the schedule five days a week and on late start weeks, four days," said Daley. "If students are all caught up in classes, they're going to have study hall. If they're not, teachers are going to be putting out passes."
    The teachers will be hosting forums for the students to be re-taught material they had trouble with initially. According to Daley, this flex period should start on Nov. 7 and the flex period will be held at 9:30 a.m. He reiterated it's a work in progress and is an idea that fermented at the board retreat held earlier this school year.
    As construction projects continue for the Cascade School District, John Henry, gave a brief presentation to show how the construction work is blossoming. He showed photos of the currently renovated athletic area and art room for CHS. The photos showed the skeleton of the future art room which will have an outdoor feature, Henry pointed out the walkway towards the outdoor area and a door that leads to the theater area. If concerned about getting it closed in before the harsh winter rolls in, Henry stressed that the roof is in the process of being installed and that the time of completion is targeted for right around mid-Janurary. Arrangements have already been put into place for the future holiday basketball tournament Dec. 27 so the roof installation won't stall athletics.
    The other construction project touched on was the Peshastin-Dryden Elementary School. He highlighted the bus turnaround, parent drop off and the entrances - which are key points for students, especially younger students, safety with rotation of cars in and out of the parking lot. Some features in the school will be sinks in all classrooms- and as for the kindergarten cubs, their classrooms will have their very own bathrooms inside.
    "It's really neat to walk down there and see the difference," said Peshastin-Dryden principal Emily Ross. "It's really cool to see how much work is being done in the old spaces. It's nice for the teachers to see this is going to be amazing."
    After rounding out the construction update and various fine print business, the school board meeting brought up the Beaver Valley property bids. Lake Wenatchee Fire and Rescue placed the one bid for the property and several of them were in attendance at the board meeting to clarify any questions that may arise from the proposition.
    "One of the primary issue that surrounds this bid is as a fire district that cannot use any of their funding for local recreation or community spaces or play fields," said superintendent Bill Motsenbocker. "But they are still very interested in the property, they've made two offers."
    The first offer made is for $276,000 for the entire piece of property which is about 5.37 acres. According to Motsenbocker, it doesn't include the provisions for constructing, operating and maintaining the playground. The second offer is for $250,000 for 3.87 acres which means that the 1.5 acre partial that is intended to be a playground will be extracted from the deal. A qualified non-profit will have the opportunity for the Lake Wenatchee Fire and Rescue to deed the 1.5 lot to them as long as they maintain and operate the play area. This will eliminate the conflicting restriction the fire district has with funding the playground.
    The last portion of the meeting was an incentive brought up by Cindy Puckett. She directly addressed some of the seniors in the audience about the possibility of a student being a representative on the school board.
    "Then you are the in between with your other classmates and the whole school district. But you can't be a voting member, like the rest of us can," said Puckett. "It's a stepping stone for seniors who are interested in that field of work or even just participating in what we do."
    This is already somewhat on the table, according to Carrie Sorensen, there's a structure already laid out if the board and students decided to go forward with this idea.

Other business tended to at the meeting:
    •    The hire of Peshastin-Dryden Special Education Para, Lisa Tonseth.
    •    The approval of policy and procedures regarding Alternative Learning Experienced and excused and unexcused absences.
    •    Discussion of meeting conduct, order of business and quorum for the school board members.
    •    There was an announcement that the CHS Speech and Debate team will be going on an overnight trip to Pasco Nov. 30- Dec. 1. The tournament is being held at Chiawana High School in Pasco School District. 14 students will be attending.