Citizens address concerns to Wahluke School Board

MATTAWA — Concerned citizens and teachers filled the room during a regular meeting of the Wahluke School Board on Tuesday, Aug. 13 as rumors swirl around the district in the wake of the cancellation of four extracurricular August activities.

On Aug. 2, the district’s Director of Finance, Tracy Plouse, discovered that a coding error had been consistently made over the past several years. As a result, the district’s administration made the decision to cut Junior High Jump Start for sixth-graders, Kinder Camp, Preschool Camp and Robotics Camp for kindergarten through eighth grade.

“The funds were not available like we thought they were going to be,” said Wahluke District Superintendent Robert Eckert. “As opposed to getting ourselves into trouble, the decision was made by myself and a couple other administrators. We need to analyze this to make sure we are not causing more problems. Better safe than sorry. That’s why we did what we did.”

A few members of the audience expressed their concern and disappointment over the cuts in the programs.

LaVasha Murdoch, president of the Wahluke Education Association, said that teachers and students have been preparing for the now cut programs.

“We have some really disappointed kids,” she said. “It’s not fair that kids and educators are paying for a decision made by people who are not paying attention to their spending.”

One parent said that when she told her son about the cancellations, he said that it wouldn’t have happened “if the school didn’t spend so much money on silly things.”

“Telling a 13-year-old who was so excited to be a mentor,” said the mom. “We would like a little more responsibility from you guys.”

Kindergarten teacher Linda Hubbard, who has been teaching in the district for 20 years, said that she was planning on working Kindercamp. When she called her team to tell them that it was canceled, one of them was in Costco and had to put groceries back because they wouldn’t be able to afford them due to the loss of pay. She also said that this year her child was going to be attending Kindercamp.

“This is the one year that it got cut,” Hubbard said. “Kindercamp is a big deal. It’s a time for kids to be in the school with other kids so it’s not so scary. This affects moral. We got the news a day and a half beforehand. It speaks to how the board and administration feels about us.”

Another attendee said that a lack of communication was a big part of why everyone was unhappy. She said that if there was a place on the website where things, such as the district’s financial information, could be viewed that it “would relieve a lot of the misunderstanding and confusion.” Eckert responded by saying that he didn’t realize that the public was not able to open the links on the school district’s online board agendas and would get the problem fixed.

Several attendees expressed frustration at alleged shady backyard staffing deals. One attendee expressed frustration about the school gardener and some of the conferences that administration has attended that aren’t applicable to their positions. Board Chair Lorraine Jenne said the board got hit with the funding news the same as everybody else.

“Tracy has been working really hard to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said Jenne.

“I want to apologize for the way things went down,” said Valentin Valdez, financial specialist for the district. “We had a couple of business managers in the past. Now we have one that knows what she’s doing. It won’t happen again.”

Eckert said that Plouse has “had a big mess to clean up.” One attendee scolded those angry at the school district.

“We’re finally getting our finances in order,” she said. “We have to be fiscally responsible. If you planned a big event then find you can’t pay for it, you have to cancel it. I think that’s what happened here. Education wasn’t bothered. Our district has extra programs more than other schools. It’s sad to cancel for one month. Come in planning mode and voice your opinion then.”

There were two other public comments not related to the August program cuts. One parent said that a secretary at the junior high was nasty with her.

“It was my first time in the junior high as a parent,” she said. “I can be nasty too. I am a parent. I need respect.”

The other comment was from a citizen who had submitted a letter of intent to be on the board on May 17. He had not yet heard back from the board as to whether he was going to be appointed to the empty position or not. Jenne apologized for not getting back to him and said that they had decided not to appoint him since his name was on the ballot. When pressed as to when this decision was made, Jenne said that it was “probably after a board meeting.”

“We have been told that there are others that are planning on doing a write-in,” said Jenne. “Our attorney told us we are within our legal rights to decide that.”

Eckert said that there was no legal requirement that such a decision had to be made at a board meeting or put on the agenda.