Dayton School Board special meeting to assign duties, hear from DSD lawyer

DAYTON - The Dayton School Board held a special meeting at 6 p.m., January 26, 2022, to complete business from last week’s regular meeting. Due to increased community COVID-19 cases, the regular meeting had been limited to consideration of bills and vouchers requiring council approval.

As a part of board organization, the first order of business was to appoint board members to sundry additional duties. The board elected Aneesha Dieu to the Legislative Representative position without opposition.

The Board Chair made the following appointments for the rest of the positions:

Zac Fabian - Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) and Dayton/Waitsburg Athletic Combine Representative

Grant Griffen and Zac Fabian - Facilities Representatives

Korinda Wallace - Curriculum Representative

Grant Griffen and Korinda Wallace - The Budget and Finance Representatives

Jeffrey McCowen and Zac Fabian - Community Outreach and Public Relations

Zac Fabian - Custodial Contract Negotiations

Jeffrey McCowen - Classified (non-teacher staff) Negotiations

Aneesha Dieu and Grant Griffen - Certificated (teachers) Negotiations

The board approved the Consent Agenda, which comprised the minutes from Board meetings on December 15, January 5, and January 19, and mileage reimbursement rates.

The ASB president reported that basketball spirit week was cut short because the secondary school returned to distance learning this week. The ASB has plans for activities promoting kindness and positivity and some Valentines Day activities in February.

Learning Center Teacher Jeanne Walter gave a slide presentation about the Dayton ASB Robotics Club. The club is a joint venture with 4-H. Despite COVID-19, the club was able to travel to three competitions in the state. Each year, these competitions offer a specific challenge, and clubs have a year to design and program their robots to meet the challenge. Walter said the activity was about innovation, fun, discovery, and community service. Walter hoped that the school might offer programming courses as the members are now self-taught.

School District Attorney Rockie Hansen hosted a question-and-answer session.

Superintendent Strot asked, “From a legal standpoint, what is the role of a school board member?”

“The role of an individual school board member is to be part of the team; no member has a role outside of their role as a member of the school board team,” said Hansen.

She explained that the board primarily has a policy-making role; it guides and elects, whereas the administrative team’s role is to administer and operate.

Regarding board members sitting in on union negotiations, Hansen said their role is as liaisons to the entire board. Liaisons are only a conduit for information to other board members. They cannot make decisions or offers independent from the Dayton School Board.

The same principles would apply to board members acting as liaisons to the Budget and Finance Committee; they cannot inject their personal opinions into the discussions. Instead, they only serve as an information conduit to the entire board.

The last question posed by Strot was whether a board member could express a dissenting opinion in a board vote to which that board member voted in the minority. Hansen said the board is not acting judicially, and members are part of a team. A good board member accepts that the board’s vote represents the district’s position. In some cases, the State requires school boards to approve specific policies.

Hansen was asked if a board member may be involved in the procedural changes implemented to carry out the board’s policies. Hansen said the board’s role is to provide oversight and seek input on progress made.

A board member asked Hansen what local powers the board has, should he feel their hands are tied? Hansen spoke at some length on the matter. Her answer seemed distilled down to this fact: the state legislature endows powers granted to local school boards; therefore, the legislature may override those powers.

The Athletic Director Sam Korslund reported on Secondary School sports’ status, but the bulk of his information will be moot by the time this article is published. The Athletic Director said Spring sports are still scheduled to commence on February 28, 2022.

In the Elementary Principal’s report, Amy Cox emphasized the critical work of the school counselor but mentioned she is spread very thin between the elementary, middle, and high schools.

Cox described professional training the school’s teachers have undergone on student early release days. The training is facilitated by personnel from ESD 123. Some of the training helps teachers clearly convey learning targets to the students to understand the purpose of their studies.

Some elementary staff is working on how to implement restorative practices as applied to student discipline. Restorative practices seek to prevent discipline infractions from being repeated and involve discussions with the students involved and ties to use natural consequences to address behavior problems.

The superintendent reported the secondary school still expects to return to in-person learning on Tuesday, February 1, 2022.

He said that as of the meeting date, the State Department of Health requires basketball players to wear masks while practicing, but not during games. Testing need only be done before each game. This announcement seemed to surprise and disappoint many members of the board. The superintendent said COVID-19 protocols for sports are ephemeral, and it is difficult to predict what they will be from week to week.

Currently, the district will have to make up one snow day. The union will decide which day they would like added to the school calendar in a proposal to the administration for School Board approval.

The superintendent discussed plans to establish a sex-education committee before the fall to approve a curriculum, as required by law. The committee’s composition is the intended topic of discussion during the next community forum penciled in for 6 p.m. on February 8, 2022.

At 7:30 p.m., the board adjourned to hold an executive session, expected to last about 45 minutes, with no action to be taken afterward. The reason provided for this executive session was, “To discuss with legal counsel representing the agency matters relating to agency enforcement actions, or to discuss with legal counsel representing the agency litigation or potential litigation to which the agency, the governing body, or a member acting in an official capacity is, or is likely to become, a party, when public knowledge regarding the discussion is likely to result in an adverse legal or financial consequence to the agency. RCW 42.30.110”

The next regular Board work session is scheduled for February 2, 2022.