School Board Discusses Hybrid Education Next Steps

The Cascade School District (CSD) Board meeting on Oct. 26 over Zoom began with two presentations. First, Teresa Disher, Director of Facilities, gave an overview of snow removal procedures in the past and anticipated changes for this winter.

In previous years the district contracted out the snow removal for most of the large parking lots, while taking care of smaller areas in-house. The annual costs averaged $18,500.

The preferred vendor is no longer in business, so Disher recommended the board consider doing more in-house this winter, while still calling on a list of smaller contractors to help when needed. This would avoid having to go out to bid for this work.

The board will study the issue and asked for information about the equipment and personnel needs if snow removal is done more in-house.

Peter Jelsing, Director of the Wenatchee Valley Technical Skills Center (WVTSC), gave a second presentation. At WVTSC, high school students from the region can take more vocation-oriented courses, ranging from culinary and automotive, to criminal justice and video game programming.

Students do not have to give up their regular high school experience. They split their time, spending a half day at each school. Students can still be involved in their local school sports, clubs and activities. They earn equivalency credits for their WVTSC classes, and some qualify for college credit through Wenatchee Valley College

The WVTSC programs help a segment of teenagers thrive through more hands-on learning and off-site work opportunities with local businesses. Having to go virtual due to COVID-19 has lowered enrollment this year, but generally WVTSC averages about 350 students.

In other news, after a policy review, there was a short discussion about the Osborn property. The City of Leavenworth’s appraisal did not match that of CSD, but the discrepancy was due to the building not being included in the former. The city council will discuss the appraisal and some concerns about asbestos removal and soon inform CSD if they want to buy it. At an earlier session of public input, there was a lot of community interest in the Osborn property being converted to a green space.

The board made several decisions in terms of the next stage of hybrid education. First, they voted to approve the one-week delay of starting some in-person education at Alpine Lakes Elementary. It was originally slated for Nov. 2, and now this will start Nov. 9. This gives more time to communicate with families and solidify the transportation plan. The schedule will look similar to that of Peshastin Dryden Elementary, which has been in-person for a few weeks; each student will be in a pod of about ten and will attend either Monday and Tuesday mornings or Thursday and Friday mornings.

The board approved the reopening of Icicle River Middle School and Home Link for some in-person instruction on Nov. 30. Similarly, they approved the reopening of Cascade High School on Jan. 4. While the in-person instruction will look different for older students, who have multiple teachers, they will still attend only for two half-days per week.

All schools in the district need to follow a similar schedule for the sake of the bus routes. Superintendent Tracey Beckendorf-Edou also mentioned that they’re trying to match up sibling schedules so they are in school on the same days as much as possible.

Eight hours a week of in-person instruction is an important first step toward eventually bringing students back to the classroom for longer stints. The superintendent and the board don’t want to rush the process. “It’s better to make a little progress, so we’re advancing with caution,” said Beckendorf-Edou.

On a final note for the good of the order, Emily Ross, principal of Peshastin Dryden Elementary, described what she was seeing in the classrooms these days. “There was joy. But it also felt relaxed, and the children were learning,” she said. “Everyone had to work hard to come together and make this a smooth transition.”