School board sets goals, including a levy

The Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors met in retreat Monday night to set goals for the current school year.

Money is the thing that greases the wheels of education, and will play a major part in shaping the goals set by the board.

The board agreed, and the administration set passage of a school tax levy as one of the goals. The levy would go to voters sometime in the spring.

A levy committee is being formed and will make recommendations to the board on the amount, the number of years, and how the funds would be used. Superintendent Paul Turner said this information should be ready for the board at its October meeting. Karen Depew will chair the levy group.

Turner said he would like to see some levy funds be directed to facilities.

A second goal for the district is to follow through with its discipline training program that was set by the board for this year. The first full staff session is scheduled for today (Wednesday) at 12:30 p.m. in the commons area at Lake Roosevelt Schools.

The district is scheduling seven staff training sessions, and has secured the services of the North Central Educational Services District to lead the training.

A third goal set by the school board is in the area of facilities, the sale of Center School and the development of a possible skills center at the former middle school.

Turner and board Director Ken Stanger have visited the skills center at Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center and would like to pursue a similar project here.

That center, part of a high school, offers technical classes in trades, such as welding or baking. Turner said Tuesday he would like to focus initially on early childhood and healthcare education.

Currently, the district has the expense of the upkeep of the former middle school, as well as utilities.

The district still uses the gym facility and other parts of the building, and its annex, where preschool is held this year.

Turner has stated that the bottom floor could be used for a skills center, but the finances to make this possible are lacking.

The district will collect levy money in its final year of the current four-year levy in 2018.