Naselle Grays-River School Board

The Naselle-Grays River Valley School Board met for their monthly meeting on December 17, 2024. Board positions for Chair and Vice Chair were voted on. Robert Torppa was voted to continue as Chair, and Amy Hunt was voted to continue as Vice Chair. Natasha Crater resigned as the Legislative Representative due to lack of time in her schedule. An agenda item will be added for the next meeting to nominate and vote on a new Legislative Representative.

A few Personnel actions were voted on and approved including the acceptance of resignation of Technology Director Karl Johnson at the end of the school year and the hiring of wrestling coach, Christopher Wood. Lisa Nelson expressed her appreciation to Karl for giving a significant amount of notice to be able to find his replacement.

During Public Comment, a parent brought a concern about the athletic banners in the gym not being kept up to date. There were several minutes of discussion related to what level of achievement should receive a banner, the difficulty hanging the banners, and having enough space in the gym. The administration said that they have been doing their best to keep them up to date. The board encouraged the parent that brought the concern and anyone else to inform the administration of banners that are missing.

There was no update regarding the stadium light retrofit project. Lisa Nelson has been having a hard time obtaining proposals from vendors. The board approved the contract with Pacific Tech Construction, Kelso, WA, for the renovation of the STEM/music wing. The grant funded project, exclusive of tax, is $3,323,221.00. The target date for completion is June 25, 2025.

Principal Justin Laine gave an update on school events including status of sports programs, the start of the wrestling program, and the Christmas program. Superintendent Lisa Nelson gave an update on enrollment numbers. There was an increase in enrollment in December to 306 students.

Board Member Natasha Crater would like to add an agenda item to a future board meeting to discuss the possibility of fencing the grass area next to the playground to extend the play area. Bob Torppa has a friend in Cathlamet that offered an invitation to Naselle Grays River Valley youth, up to 6th grade, to join their Cathlamet youth wrestling program.

The board left the room to hold an executive session to discuss the questions for the superintendent interviews that will begin in January.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 21, at 6:30 p.m. in the school library. Meetings are also available to be attended by Zoom.