Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Classes started in Colfax Monday morning, and the school board met that night for a full agenda.
Among a list of items approved included $472,916 in accounts payable/payroll, for the budget status report; the hiring of Heidi Koenig, para-educator at seven hours per day and Carrie Phillips, kitchen assistant at three hours per day, and Matthew Morgan, junior high football coach.
Resignations were approved for Emma Klaveano, secretary two and Sarina Roberts, para-educator.
The board also signed off on overnight trip requests for fall 2018, from varsity volleyball trips to tournaments in Okanogan and Spokane and this Saturday's football game at Wahkiakum High School, in Southwest Washington near the mouth of the Columbia River. The Colfax team will stay overnight in the school's gym.
“The only people complaining are the coaches,” said Superintendent Jerry Pugh, with a grin.
The Colfax board also approved an overnight trip request for the sixth grade to Camp Grizzly Sept. 12-14.
Other items included confirmation of Busch Distributors for another two-year deal to supply fuel for the district at eight cents over rack price.
The board then gave their nod to a bid from Terry's Dairy, based in Colville, Wash., to supply milk for the district. Terry's Dairy's bid was for a carton of 1 percent milk at $0.2071. Food Services of America was the other bidder, coming in at $0.22. The contract will also include chocolate milk.
The school board meeting also included a report on the newly extended sidewalk at Jennings Elementary and near the high school, a City of Colfax project. New six-foot fencing is being put up around the playground at Jennings, a school district expense to replace three-foot fencing.
Also Monday night, the board met new teachers Molly McNeill, seventh/eighth grade social studies, English Language Arts and the varsity volleyball coach; Kiran Dhillon, 7-12 science and math; Jordan Magrath, high school English/Language Arts; Andrew Penwell, 7-12 social studies, and Rhonda Penwell, English/Language Arts at the junior/senior high school.
The district's official first day count for students was 553.
Senior Kylie Kackman, the board's student representative for a second year, gave her report after the first day of school, relaying the word from the hallways on new teachers, how ASB officers met twice over the summer and will hold a back-to-school assembly Wednesday.
“Then it's Homecoming, Homecoming, Homecoming,” Kackman said. “It's early this year, Sept. 16.” The theme is “Back to the Future.”
The school board will meet next at Sept. 10 at 7 p.m.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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