Student reps approved for school board

by Jacob Wagner

School is an institution built around educating students, and now the local school district has student representatives.

The Grand Coulee Dam School District approved the appointment of two student representatives from the student body during their Oct. 24 school board meeting.

Juniors Layla Flett and Celeste LaPlace will fill those positions.

LaPlace, the daughter of the Board Chairman George LaPlace, had made a presentation to the board back in January about having student representatives.

“A lot of my friends think no one cares about what they have to say,” Celeste LaPlace said at the time. “It’s all adults here, so we don’t see the student issues.”

She also attended a Washington State School Directors Association event last fall with her father.

Both Celeste and George LaPlace were absent from the Oct. 24 meeting, but the board recognized her qualifications to be a student representative.

Flett was present at the meeting and spoke to the board about the position.

“We have representation in the student body,” she said, “but I feel like no one really wants to get up and actually talk, and give their opinions on how us students are feeling without being biased. I feel like I’m good at not being biased. A lot of kids are scared to give their truth or their opinion on student matters, a lot don’t understand what they are going against. I want to be that person, be that voice for those people. It’s important to me that my peers are heard.”

School Board Director Shannon Nicholson asked how Flett would handle students expressing an opinion that she doesn’t agree with herself. 

“I would listen to them and how they feel about it,” Flett said. “Instead of only my feelings being involved, as a student body rep, that is kind of your job to give an unbiased opinion, listen to how they feel about things, their thoughts, and what they’re saying. I feel like I can report that back easily without having my feelings involved personally. .. We all feel different things and we all have different opinions and views, but I feel like it’s important we can come together at the end to resolve an issue. That’s the best way to handle it is to go in, don’t try to convince them ‘this is how it’s supposed to be,’ because at the end of the day they’re going to have their opinions and they’re going to feel certain things that I can’t exactly understand, and that’s just kind of how it’s supposed to be.”

 Board Director Rich Black noted that a student representative, something the board has discussed wanting for multiple years, will provide an important link in communication from the student body to the school board, and back from the board to the student body.

Director Butch Stanger encouraged her to attend the next WSSDA conference.

The board unanimously approved the two as student representatives.

The representatives will meet and discuss issues with their fellow students, report their findings to the board, attend school board meetings and offer insight for board decisions.