Interim Superintendent attends School Board meeting

DAYTON – The Dayton School Board met at 6:08 p.m. on Wednesday, July 06, 2022, in the High School Auditorium and on Zoom. The meeting was delayed for eight minutes because of technical problems with Zoom. All board members were present except for Grant Griffin.

Rich Stewart was in attendance for the first time as part-time interim superintendent. The newly hired secondary principal, Guinevere Joyce, was not present.

Stewart discussed developing a three to five-year plan to construct a budget that reflects the priorities of the school district. Stewart set a projected time of January 2023 to start firming up the budget.

Stewart spoke about setting priorities and topics for future study. The search for a permanent superintendent and whether that superintendent would be full or part-time was also discussed.

The board scheduled its annual retreat for August 03, 2022, at 4–8 p.m. and most likely will be held at the Best Western in Dayton.

Jenn Crane presented plans for the FFA’s August 9 – 11, 2022, trip to Leavenworth, WA, for board approval. The trip offers elected FFA officers a chance for team building and to plan the FFA program of activities for the coming year.

On the trip, FFA members will conduct tours to see aspects of agriculture not common in the Columbia County area. The group hopes to visit Rocky Reach Dam with an interest in how the dam affects agriculture.

All participating FFA students will be female this year and expect to lodge at an Airbnb. The FFA would pay food, travel, and lodging expenses with the money it raised. Crane expects the cost of the trip to be about seven hundred dollars. The FFA group requested the use of the school district’s van for transportation.

The school board is required to approve any club functions that require an overnight stay even though the club is not asking for funds. Four student officers and two adult advisors would be participating on the trip.

School board member Aneesha Dieu was concerned that without a solid itinerary, some of the officers might spend their time shopping.

She said, “We’ve heard of missing – there were instances in which kids missed things that they were supposed to be doing on an educational trip because people needed food, or they needed to go the mall and go shopping. Or they did things that are out of character for what the trip was meant to be. So that’s where we are just trying to make sure that this is going to be educational, it’s for the kids and what they are going there for and not to be a fun trip.”

The board approved the trip contingent on the FFA submitting a detailed itinerary, a budget for how the group would use the funds it raised, and receives approval from Principal Joyce.

School board member Zac Fabian dissented in a three-to-one vote. Fabian did not voice the reason for his “nay” vote.

The board approved the resignation of Sue Ellen Butler as an elementary teacher and approved Jacob Crawford as a high school science teacher. The board also handled several administrative items, mainly concerning the recent turnover of administrators.

The meeting adjourned at 7:44 p.m.