Dayton School Board Update

The Dayton School Board held its monthly meeting using Zoom at 6 p.m., December 15, 2021. All board members were present for the Zoom meeting, David Bailey (Chair), Zac Fabian, Grant Griffen, Jeffrey McCowen, and Fred White.

Fred White made a motion to approve the consent agenda, comprised of the minutes for the November 17 and December 1, 2021, meetings, and recommendations to hire Jerry Dedloff Jr. as a custodian and Angie Whaley as the youth & government advisor. Also included in the consent agenda was approval for a stipend for the HR/Benefits Director, a stipend for the robotics club advisor, Jeanne Walter, acceptance of the resignation/retirement of paraprofessional Peggy Robanske, and approval of Dan Rushing’s leave of absence for the remainder of the year.

There was no public comment offered during that portion of the meeting.

Dr. Molly Kreyssler from Bloom Consulting reported on the Student and Staff Workshop results, held as a part of the superintendent’s school improvement plan. The complete report is available on the district’s website as part of the School Board Packet for the December 15, 2021, meeting.

The report contains results from feedback forums conducted with students from fifth through twelfth grades to understand why students are leaving the district. The most common response from students was the wish for a more positive community in and around their learning environment. Students sought more positive leadership and modeling from teachers and staff.

Some participants cited bullying and the lack of a culture of kindness as problems. The school has received some positive feedback on the recently launched kindness campaign.

Students expressed a willingness to accept positive change; however, students did not express a high level of optimism that the district would implement positive change. Dr. Kreyssler recommended staff keep a positive tone when talking about issues in front of students as negative remarks may color students’ overall perception of the school.

Feedback from the students said some do not feel cared for or wanted in the Dayton School. Furthermore, students stated they are willing to accept necessary disciplinary actions but want their discipline to be a learning experience.

Jeff McCowen asked Dr. Kreyssler what the staff provided as feedback. Dr. Kreyssler had spent an hour with the K-5 staff and the 6-12 staff. Both groups identified modeling as their primary action to address the issues raised by the students. Teachers also expressed how difficult it is to distinguish between teasing and bullying by someone who has not heard the whole exchange.

Trista Villaro, ASB president, reported that spirit week has been postponed until January and will be a basketball spirit week. She also said that the ASB wrapped up homecoming in October.

Kol Medina, president of the Blue Mountain Community Foundation (BMCF), gave an overview of the Day Estate Trust. The BMCF is a charitable bank and manages trust assets donated for funding charitable causes, often in grants and scholarships. The Day Estate Trust was established in 1972 by William Day’s estate with two beneficiaries, the Dayton School District and the Columbia County Hospital District, each receiving 2.5 percent of the assets each year.

A local bank initially managed the trust, but after a series of bank acquisitions, the Day Estate Trust is now managed by Bank of America as a trustee. Bank of America is a for-profit institution and required by law to distribute funds based on the value of the total assets, not just the income each year.

For example, Bank of America manages a similar trust consisting of a farm with two schools as beneficiaries. Since the appraised value of the farmland has been increasing rapidly, the required distributions are depleting liquid assets. The bank may soon be forced to sell off the farmland to pay the required percentage of assets to the trust’s beneficiaries each year.

In the interest of keeping the Day Estate farm intact, other trustee options are being sought. The BMCF is a non-profit organization and is not constrained by the same distribution rules as Bank of America. As trustees, they would keep the farm intact with lower management costs.

Depending on the farm’s profits, the income to the school and hospital would be roughly comparable to what it has been in the past, perhaps slightly higher. Bank of America has asked to sign off on the Non-Judicial Agreement authorizing the transfer of assets to the BMCF. Beneficiary agreements to the asset transfer are not required by law but sought as a courtesy. Earlier in the day, Mr. Medina asked and received approval for the transfer from the Hospital District at their board meeting.

The school athletic director, Sam Korslund, reported that a COVID-19 symptomatic player on the boy’s high school basketball team attended practice last week, causing the week’s games to be canceled. All players were tested the following Monday, and none tested positive. Mr. Korslund will be able to make up the games lost by picking up a couple of games over Christmas break.

On Friday after the board meeting, Mr. Korslund sent an e-mail to parents informing them that the Washington State Department of Health, in response to an increase of COVID-19 cases linked to interscholastic sports, has increased the testing requirements for all indoor, high-risk sports. Testing will now be required for all athletes, regardless of vaccination status, and will increase from twice per week to three times per week. Testing of athletes will be done on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week beginning in January.

The middle school boys’ basketball season concludes this Saturday in Burbank. The girls’ middle school basketball team begins practicing on January 3, 2022. Sign-ups for spring sports have been good, and the football schedule for next fall is complete with a full nine-game slate. All the athletic combine committee positions are filled with the first meeting to be scheduled in January.

Elementary school principal, Amy Cox, reported the school counselors would be running social-emotional workshops along with art workshops for select students during Christmas break. She also discussed the student of the month program where their teachers would choose a handful of students based on criteria, not necessarily academics.

Principal Cox addressed the behavior plan, calling it a “work in progress.” The school is working on restorative practices and looking at proper consequences to address behavior problems, emphasizing natural consequences. In short, the program is being designed to solve behavior problems, not just assign punitive actions.

Kristina Brown, the secondary school principal, also spoke of the student of the month program, saying the program focuses on character strengths, not just academics. For example, this month’s awardees were based on the character attribute “respect.”

Superintendent Guy Strot reported no significant changes to the district’s COVID-19 numbers or policy.

The district’s full-time enrollment report showed that in August 2020, compared to December 2021, the elementary school numbers increased from 174 to 177, middle school decreased from 94 to 77, and high school decreased from 108 to 92. Overall, the district has 346 students now compared to 376 in August 2020.

Strot has ordered signs to be posted notifying the general public that school property is closed to the public during school hours and after dark.

The board took care of several administrative items and adjourned the meeting at 7:01 PM