Smooth sailing first day goes well at Royal Schools

ROYAL CITY — New Royal School District Superintendent Roger Trail spent the first day of school, August 24, in the different school buildings.

“It was a great day,” he said. “All of the kids went where they were supposed to go.”

Trail, a first-time superintendent who was sworn in by the school board last week, has been readying himself for his role. He went to a working retreat with the board early in August.

One focus of the retreat and of the regular school board meeting last week was his entry plan. He gave a brief presentation to the board, and the plan will be on the district website and Facebook page.

An important part of the plan is to learn the community’s culture and its thoughts on education as quickly as possible. He will interview stakeholders, from staff to students to community members.

“I will be asking everyone the same questions,” Trail said. “I want to hear what’s working and what’s not working and what the obstacles are for that which is not working.”

The board also heard from an Educational Services District 105 representative about a comprehensive safety program the ESD offers. Trail said the ESD’s program would do a comprehensive inspection of safety measures throughout the district.

The ESD would conduct emergency drills, including a lockdown of schools, Trail said.

Unofficially, the first day enrollment throughout the district was 1,704 students. That number included an estimated enrollment for kindergarten, which started on August 29.