OROVILLE – The Oroville School Board heard reports from the superintendent, principals and the State and Federal Programs Director at their Feb. 24 meeting.

Superintendent Dr. Jeff Hardesty talked about the district securing a grant to replace the elementary’s fire panel. The panel was damaged during the construction of the new kitchen by Halmes Construction.

“A special thank you to Darryl Mason and Karen Soderquist for helping us to secure an emergency grant of $420,000 from OSPI (the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) to make repairs and required modernization to our fire panel,” said Hardesty, adding, “Thank you to the board for urgently meeting for a special session last week to approve the grant funds.”

He also spoke about board action to revert Policies 3205 and 5011 back to the 2020-year status. The policies regard Title IX which is no longer in effect anywhere in the country. Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education. It applies to all education programs that receive federal funds, including colleges, universities and elementary and secondary schools. This includes sexual harassment.

“Courts have historically upheld states’ rights to exceed federal standards in protecting marginalized groups,” said Hardesty.

“To comply with current law, all school districts should revert to their prior 2020 Title IX policies and procedures that were in effect until the start of the current school year,” reported Hardesty.

The superintendent spoke about how the Washington School Director’s Association (WSSDA) has already updated its model policies on Title IX to reflect current law.

“We will be reissuing all related policies that are affected in as timely a manner as possible. Completed updates to model policies and procedures that comply with state laws include:

• 3205/3205P – Sexual Harassment of Students
• 3211P – Gender Inclusive Schools
• 5011/5011P – Sexual Harassment of District Staff Prohibited

The district will retire policies titled: Sex Discrimination and Sex-Based Harassment of Students; Pregnant and Parenting Students; Sex Discrimination and Sex-Based Harassment of District Staff Prohibited and Parental, Family or Marital Status and Pregnancy or Related Condition of Staffs.

OSPI has issued Superintendent Guidelines for Washington State Schools. These include following state law, monitoring legal developments, advocacy and communication and state funding considerations, according to Hardesty’s report.

Elementary Principal Amy Harris said that the elementary was able to celebrate progress toward annual typical growth.

“Our goal is to do greater than 50 percent progress towards annual typical growth between our fall and winter diagnostic. We had some good progress; overall school progress is 57 percent in reading. Some highlights, sixth grade had 161 percent progress toward growth, fourth grade had 92 percent and fifth grade had 80 percent. In math we had overall school progress of 56 percent, first grade had 86 percent, fourth grade had 79 percent and fifth grade had 56 percent in annual typical growth,” said Harris.

Harris said the elementary hosted a band on Feb. 20 with a dance that featured decorations, music and snacks, organized by the ASB group.

“We had about 70 students from grades three through six attend,” said Harris.

High School Principal Linda Achondo talked about student athletics.

“I want to extend a big congratulations to all the wrestlers who made it to state. Oroville sent nine athletes this year: Shiloh Willis, Johnny Hamilton, Ethan Reyes, Emilio Arriga, Coby Bosler, Mathias Hamilton, Juan Carlos Garcia, Skyler Booker and Antonio Savoia. All their hard work and dedication really paid off,” said Achondo.

“I would also like to recognize our varsity boys basketball team for making it through two rounds of district playoffs. It’s always a great feeling to see the team push through and keep advancing in postseason play,” she said.

Achondo said the junior class has requested to hold this year’s prom on April 1 at the Oroville Grange.

“A review of past prom locations indicates that the Grange has successfully hosted this event several times. All standard safety measures and school policies will be enforced, ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience for all attendees. This event aligns with goal two by fostering a sense of community and belonging, providing students with an opportunity to celebrate milestones in a positive supportive environment,” Achondo said.

She also talked about a field trip request that has been submitted for students to visit the Sun Bowl arena in Osoyoos for an ice-skating activity. She said the field trip supports Goal Two by “fostering teamwork, school spirit and positive social interactions, reinforcing a sense of belonging and shared experiences beyond the classroom.”

Kelly King, the State and Federal Programs Director talked about Career and Technical Education (CTE) and the fact that February is CTE recognition month.

“Teachers have been submitting student accomplishments within CTE for recognition during morning announcements,” King said. “These have included honoring student work in the greenhouse managing the fish and watering the plants.”

The results for the FBLA Regional Finals included: Ava Langford took first in Intro to Parliamentary Procedures, second in Intro to Marketing Concepts and third in Organizational Leadership; Bryan Cisneros took first in Advertising; Hazel Fogg took second in Financial Math and third in Impromptu Speaking; Luke Studard and Xaviar Garcia took third in Public Service Announcement; Larrisa Elias took fourth in Critical Thinking; David Smither took fifth in Intro to FBLA and fifth in Intro to Business Presentation and Gwndolyn Thompson took fifth in Journalism.

The Oroville School Board meets the fourth Monday of each month, the next meeting is scheduled for March 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the high school library.

Editor’s Note: In last week’s issue, we reported on comments made by the presidents of the certified and classified employee unions. They asked the board why a 3.7 percent cost of living wage increase which has been under discussion since last July has not been approved. While Mike Egerton, the chairman of the school board, said he could not comment about the negotiations, he said there was a landing page with information on bargaining on the district’s website under Labor Relations. That landing page has since been updated as of March 3 and is available for the public to view at https://oroville.ss19.sharpschool.com/labor_relations.