Time to celebrate National School Board Recognition Month

    The calendar is littered with celebrations of certain dates, such as nationally observed days like Labor Day or Memorial Day. There are even months dedicated to a variety of things from July being National Baked Bean Month to October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And January is National School Board Recognition Month, making the audience at the Monday, January 14 school board meeting a little more reflective of the hard work the school board puts in for the Cascade School District.
    In fact, one former educator, tax payer and audience member - Bob Stroup - spoke up at the meeting to recognize some of the hard work the school board and Superintendent Bill Motsenbocker has put into the Cascade School District.
    "My observation, strictly from the outside, I can't wait to get in the rest of the facilities when they get done, is very positive. I think we've built something here that's going to be here for a long time," said Stroup.
    Motsenbocker then passed out certificates of recognition from Washington State School Directors Association for each board member. He also gestured toward the posters in the back that highlighted the support from the students within the school district as well.
    "The board is that governing body that makes no money, costs you a lot of time, a lot of energy and have to deal with conflict on occasion," said Motsenbocker.
    Following this upbeat recognition was to review emergency response plans that are in place for Cascade schools.
    After kissing Sue on the forehead and double checking Johnny didn't forget his lunch on the counter, parents send their kids off to school with trust that the school will keep their child safely tucked behind a desk.
    In order to keep all of the Cascade students and staff safe, there has to be plans designed, practiced and ready in case of emergency.
    "We are dealing with a lot of different things than we ever dealt with in past history as far as having to be prepared for school shooting situations. We've worked over the last semester working on those plans," said Motsenbocker.
    Emergencies can range from not only school shootings, but student suicides, environmental hazards, seizures and even a nearby cougar. The Cascade School District has prepared an emergency plan with many layers that make it transparent a lot of time and commitment was concentrated on ensuring students safety. Motsenbocker went over the steps, the team, possible outcomes, individual crisis plans and even explained the reunification center in the aftermath for parents and students (Icicle Creek Center for the Arts is the spot).
    Motsenbocker touched on hard and soft lockdowns, the incident command flow chart to follow in case of emergency and explained possible scenarios that would induce lockdowns (i.e. drug dogs coming through the hallways or a student suffering from a seizure).
    "We've been pretty busy with this type of thing, to have good plans," said Motsenbocker.
    Carrie Sorensen, school board vice chair, pointed out that last year Stroup had asked about the safety plan in place at a board meeting a year ago which had somewhat triggered the start of crafting a more formal safety plan.
    "We had a rough, there were pieces in place but that question started conversations that led to some of things that went into place. So this process is important and you as the public to come and show up and ask questions. So thank you because your question prompted discussions that put a whole cycle of events into place," said Sorensen.  
     Worst case scenarios do sometimes come to fruition and Cascade School District appears to be prepared.
    The new year brought three new employees to the district: an additional Cascade High School Wrestling coach, Colin Sternegal, a Peshastin-Dryden Special Education Para who is a dad in the district, Phelan Piestrup and a Cascade High School auditorium coordinator, James Mitsuyasu. There was also one resignation: Anne Conrad is leaving her position as the choir director for 6th grade through 12th in the Cascade School District and a certified music instructor from Wenatchee originally.
    "She's doing a great job and we're very, very fortunate to have somebody at her capacity be able to be available," said Motsenbocker.  
    
Some other business attended during the meeting:
- Several policies previously discussed at meetings were approved.
- A review of five board goals that have been met or are in the process of being met.
- The meeting circled back to the realm of student safety to approve the School Resource Officer contract.