By Richard Uhlhorn
The Lake Chelan School District hosted a special guest at its Monday, January 12 school board meeting to present his interest in collaborating with the district to help with its housing needs.
Brad Wilson, superintendent at the Lake Chelan School District has said in the past that it is losing students in the District because of the lack of affordable housing in the area.
Following is Venugopal’s presentation to the school board.
Raja Venugopal’s presentation:
“Although I was raised in modest circumstances, education proved to be my pathway to opportunity and advancement. I firmly believe that every family deserves access to a safe, affordable home and equal opportunities for health and education.
Couple of years ago, I met with the Chelan School Superintendent to better understand the district’s needs. He noted that the shortage of affordable housing in Chelan is impacting staffs and families, ultimately affecting enrollment. Providing housing, particularly affordable housing, remains a central focus of our efforts, and we hope it will help address these challenges.
I appreciate the opportunity to introduce myself to the Chelan School Board of Directors and look forward to collaborating with the district to support the future of Chelan’s schools.”
In other business:
January is School Board Recognition Month. It’s a great time to recognize our elected community members who selflessly give their time and energy in support of high-quality public schooling for our youth. School board members in the Lake Chelan School District are entrusted by this community with responsibility for an annual budget of $24 million, 1273 students, 230 employees and 8 buildings.
School boards are charged with making decisions that can sometimes be quite difficult or require sifting through a great deal of information. They also bear responsibility for developing a vision that will guide the school district for years to come. Through collaboration as a team, and with school district staff, their governance and advocacy are building the future of education in our Chelan community.
This January, we’re encouraging all members of the community to thank a board member. Please thank them for volunteering their time and playing a critical civic role that helps form the bedrock of our democracy—public education. As a crucial bridge between the local community and the school district, their efforts are instrumental in helping all of us realize the hopes and dreams we have for the children of our community.
The dedicated leaders serving the Lake Chelan School Districtand their years of service are: Board Chair Kim Thorpe (6 years), Vice Chair Stephanie Fuller (4 years), Barb Polley (4 years), Christy Nielsen (2 years), Jennifer Puckett (newly elected)
Student Reps: Joslyn Bobadilla-Chavarria, Eva Whiteman, Imani Goings-Marrero.
The Bond failure stats:
The failure of the recent bond issue to replace MOE was a disappointment to the district. Two hundred seventy four (274) more YES votes were needed to reach the 60 percent super majority to pass the issue. Three hundred eight (308) eligible voters did not vote.
The District will be conducting new FOCUS GROUP LISTENING SESSIONS regarding the bond failure and its ongoing planning to improve its facilities.
Our goal is to hear from our community what they did and did not like about the last bond measure and what direction the District should consider to address its facility needs. The listening sessions will be followed up with a community wide survey based on what the District learns from the listening sessions.
The upcoming listening sessions will be held on Thursday, January 22 at the District offices.
The listening sessions will be held Thursday January 22nd at our school district central office at the following times: 8 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
| The District can accommodate up to eight people per session. RSVP to schedule your preferred time to: Phone (509)682-3515 Website chelanschools.org |
| Email wilsonb@chelanschools.org |
FCCLA:
Officers from the FCCLA club presented its activities to the school board. It currently has 15 active members and 35 inactive members.
It’s mission is to help students build confidence in public speaking, teamwork and decision making skills.
Student members will be performing community service at this spring’s Earth Day event and will be attending Regional Competitions and the State Leadership Conference in March.
Migrant Program:
The District’s Migrant Program is in full swing and a detailed presentation was made to the board on its basic tenants.
The board was told that the program has a current grant amount of $111,103 and a carryover from last year of $51,896 for total of $162,999 but that the program is facing a lot of uncertainties in the coming year.
Chelan’s Migrant caseload works with 111 migrant students in the district. This includes 44 students at the high school, five at CSI/CDA, 27 at the middle school, 31 at MOE and one in pre-school.
The funding helps staff connect with parents and guardians, connection with resources outside of the school for food, clothing, school supplies, and family resources, home visits and most important, helping these students feel welcomed in the school system.
Migrant students must meet the following criteria:
- Ages between 3 and 21
- Have not attained a high school diploma or equivalent
- Moved due to financial need from one residence to another and from one school district to another.
- Made a qualifying move in the previous 36 months, i.e. as a migrant farm worker; migratory fisherman or with a parent/guardian or spouse who is a migrant farm worker or migratory fisherman.
The administrative staff all gave their customary reports on school activities.
All Things Lake Chelan 