School board passes budget, discusses accreditation

Wahkiakum School District board members approved the budget and discussed teacher qualifications and school accreditation at a July 24 meeting.

After District Superintendent Bob Garrett presented the draft 2012-2013 fiscal year budget to the board, the members voted to adopt the following expenditures: General Fund: $4,953,734, Associated Student Body Fund: $156,530, Debt Service Fund: $662,000, Capital Projects Fund: $460,000, and Transportation Vehicle Fund: $50,000.

Salaries and benefits comprise 65 percent of general fund expenditures, said Garrett.

He explained he had budgeted about $120,000 as contingency money into the general fund to alleviate the need for the board to approve small budget extensions. General fund revenue from property taxes is projected at $920,720, an increase over the $888,131 in the 2011-2012 budget.

Debt service fund expenditures appear considerably more than normal because the district borrowed money from the county to cover cash flow, explained Garrett, citing two large grants which require up-front expenditures with later reimbursement. Local property taxes will supply $206,540 of the debt service fund budget, $3900 more than last school year.

Enrollment is projected at 435 students, three more than last school year.

Audience members commented on accreditation and staff teaching outside their endorsed areas.

Retired teacher and former school board member Mary Thomas urged the board to consider accreditation, commenting “Being accredited would probably alleviate some problems that we are having now. We need to have fully certified teachers who teach in their endorsed areas or their comfort zone, and if you are accredited I think that would be the case.”

Board member Mike Quigley asked Thomas to explain the benefits of accreditation in her view. Thomas referenced the increasing selectivity of the military and restrictions on scholarship opportunities.

School accreditation was dropped in the late 1990s because school administrators concluded the process was an unnecessary burden of time and effort for a state-recognized public school. It has not been a barrier for students to gain admittance to big-name universities or to receive scholarships, said Garrett.

“I’m not opposed to or vetoing accreditation,” said Garrett, adding “if you as the board want to gather more information, authorize your principals to research the process and provide their opinions.”

“I think there’s been enough discussion. Why not take a look at it?” commented Quigley.

By consensus, the board asked the administration to provide further information about the process.

Parents Suzi Mackey and Holly Pfenniger voiced their support for making sure that teachers are teaching in the subject areas of their endorsements.

Garrett explained that due to the size of the district, occasionally teachers need to teach multiple subject areas rather than remaining only in their endorsed areas.

“Every year the school board is provided with a list of those teachers and an explanation for the situation and then the administration attempts to help those teachers become highly qualified. We will provide assistance for them taking classes and taking the WEST-E (an acronym for Washington Educator Skills Tests – Endorsements, which assess subject knowledge),” said Garrett.

A visit to the website of the state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (www.k12.wa.us) states that “Highly Qualified” refers to a federal definition for a teacher who is certified and demonstrates competence in each core academic subject area in which the teacher teaches. Endorsements and WEST-Es are two of the designated ways to demonstrate subject area competence.

“It’s very difficult in a district of our size to get all of our disciplines filled by certified highly qualified people, but the district is actively working to get there,” said Garrett. “We are here because we care about kids and want them to have the best education they can. But this will be another year with some teachers teaching out of their areas,” he concluded.

High School Principal Stephanie Leitz told the board she had selected a new provider for the district’s online educational program and would present further on the program at the board’s August meeting. Students will be able to stay on campus to work on their online coursework. This year, an application and essay will be required to enroll.

Via approval of the consent agenda, the board accepted the resignation of high school teacher Marc Niemeyer as athletic director; Garrett is taking over the duty.