Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Rob Smith award
Colfax Superintendent Jerry Pugh presents a 10-year service award from the Washington School Directors’ Association Dec. 21 to board member Robert Smith.
The Colfax School Board held its last meeting of the year Dec. 21, with the students leaving for Christmas break the day before.
Subjects discussed and/or approved included new hires, the school bond project to come to a vote in February and a salute for board member Robert Smith for 10 years of service.
Supt. Jerry Pugh opened the meeting with comments.
“I have a list,” he said. “You all want some tea or something?”
He noted how Colfax Junior-Senior High School was given a Washington 2017 School of Distinction award.
“We anticipate we’ll be up there multiple more years,” he said.
He then directed the board to the overhead screen, showing additions to the district website regarding the $18.9 million school bond proposal. Graphs included tax rates, tax rate trends and new state funding.
“Taxes are gonna go up this February, but it has nothing, nothing, nothing to do with the school tax rate,” Pugh said, noting the statewide property tax increase due to the McCleary state school funding requirements.
The increase in Colfax will be 70 to 90 cents per thousand dollars in property evaluation.
Pugh showed another new addition to the site, “Bulldog Moments,” which lists achievements of the high school in the past 10 years, from band to FCCLA to volleyball state championships.
On a related topic to the bond, Pugh pointed out all materials shipped for the bond project, if approved by voters, will be shipped here rather than being sent to Spokane or elsewhere, depending on the contractors involved.
“The City of Colfax will stand to make $116,000 in sales tax on this bond by deliveries to Colfax,” Pugh said.
Winding up his comments, he said he would like to publicly thank volunteer Wes Claassen for his work leading the bond proposal committee.
Moving on to accounts payable, Pugh answered a couple of questions from the board before the ledger was approved. One expense asked about was to Nolan Heating & Air, which put in a new heater in the bus garage after it went cold for three days.
Next, board member Jennifer Hauser took the oath of office from November’s re-election, and the board voted to keep the officers in place, retaining David Nails as president.
The board approved an overnight trip request for high school FFA to go to a leadership conference in Randle for Feb. 9-11. Approval followed for a co-op agreement with the Oakesdale School District for junior high wrestling.
The ASB report was next, prepared by student representative Kylie Kackman in absentia. It was a printout, noting girls and boys basketball and wrestling results, winter spirit week (three days), classroom door decorating for Christmas at the high schools — with an ASB tour for kindergartners to play “I Spy” at each door.
An assembly Dec. 13 began with presentation of a $2,030 check to Tom and Janel Stirling, proceeds from Konnor’s Kolor Run.
The superintendent then presented Smith a framed certificate from Washington State School Directors’ Association for 10 years as a Colfax board member.
The meeting concluded with discussion of the book, “Leadership and Self-Deception (Arbinger Institute, 2000) which Pugh gave a copy to each board member this fall. Pugh took them through chapters 5-6.
Also Thursday night, the board approved hiring including Cody Leander, high school assistant boys basketball coach; Kim Berquist, high school assistant girls basketball coach; Scott Raynor, high school assistant girls basketball coach, and Emma Klaveano and Carrie Lyle, Para-Educators, one hour/day (contingent upon continued enrollment of students being served).
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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