Board hears request for varied machinery

They had a full agenda at the Wahkiakum School District Board of Directors meeting on Tuesday night.

After a meeting with his advisory board, Vo/Ag teacher Kyle Hurley asking the school board to approve the purchase of the following items for his classroom: a track hoe/excavator, a bender for aluminum or steel, and a saw for channel tubing.

He estimated that the items could cost between $65,000-80,000 in total. The items would be paid for with the money made in the recent timber sale from the farm forest.

Hurley suggested that maintenance would be able to use the track hoe/excavator as well.

“It could be a good program where our kids work with maintenance,” Hurley said, suggesting that they could be given jobs to do around the school. “I don’t think you’ll get the kids out of that thing.”

“I’m having a hard time visualizing this,” Board Member Shawn Merz said. “Only one kid can operate it at a time.”

Concerned that the track hoe/excavator would not be used all the time, Board Member Paula Culbertson asked Hurley to find out how much it would cost to rent one. She also had concerns about how it would affect insurance at the school for students to be operating the machine.

The board agreed to declare the Vo/Ag department’s three phase welder as surplus at Hurley’s request, but wanted time and more information to consider the purchase of the other equipment.

Hurley reported that someone was coming out soon to quote him a price for thinning the farm forest.

“I think it’s something that needs to be done there,” Hurley said. “It’s not going to get better.”

Michele Haberlach, who teaches mathematics at the high school, gave a presentation on math curriculum for the school board. Middle school teacher Jeff Pillar followed up with his own presentation about teaching math at the elementary and middle schools.

The board accepted Bill Parks’ resignation. He was hired as the kindergarten teacher for the 2016-2017 year, but resigned recently for personal reasons. Later, after an executive session, the board reopened the meeting and approved the appointment of Cindy Fudge to replace Parks in the kindergarten classroom. Fudge is already a member of staff.

The vacancy for the K-8 principal position has been posted, according to Superintendent Bob Garrett, and will close on March 29. According to Paul Johns, a teacher at J.A. Wendt, several teachers would like to be involved in the hiring process.The board was open to the idea, but uncertain how to make it work. No decisions were made.

Finally in other employment matters, Culbertson suggested that the school district add an administrative assistant position in order to free up their two principals to “devote the majority of their time to the education of students by increasing their ability to spend more time with educational staff in assessing student needs.”

The board scheduled a special meeting to discuss the matter. It is set for April 11 at 5:30 p.m. in the high school library and will be open to the public.

Garrett reported that the district was considering more cameras and several different kinds of barricades at the high school after another vandal drove a vehicle onto the football field.

Garrett also reported that the last day of school had been moved back again due to another school day. The last day of school will be June 15.