Othello SD doing well, planning for the future

OTHELLO —The Othello School District is in a stable position both financially and for its enrollment numbers, but that doesn’t mean OSD officials will stop pushing for improvement, according to Assistant Superintendent Jessica Schenck, who outlined how the district is doing.

“Were two and a half years in with our new superintendent, Dr. Pete Perez,” Schenck said. “I think one of the things that I appreciate most about him is his dedication to students and ensuring that we're focused on the right things in terms of who our students are and what they need from us. So that always feels energizing, just in terms of that level of work.”

    The exterior of the Othello School District administration building on First Avenue. OSD Assistant Superintendent Jessica Schenck said the district’s enrollment is staying fairly flat and it is in a stable financial position.
  

Shenck touched on the district’s financial position, with federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds ending statewide.

“Like, I would say every district in the state right now, we’re just trying to work on how we are handling the end of the federal ESSER money,” she said. “That I think dominates a lot of financial conversations right now, and then in addition to that, as we've been able to offer teachers, and all staff really, higher salaries, that compounds over time.”

Schenck said that the district is not in any financial trouble, simply that there will be some significant financial decisions to consider in the near future. 

“When I came on as assistant superintendent, Dr. Perez and I worked closely on identifying what we want to focus on, because I think, especially coming out of COVID, there's just the idea of initiative fatigue,” Schenck said. “School districts are just really good at coming up with a lot of stuff.”

To narrow the focus, Schenck said the district focused on professional learning communities, which is how teachers work together to plan instruction, feedback such as student data and feedback from staff and parents, and multilingual learners. 

“We're in (Educational Service District) 123, which is headquartered in Pasco,” Schenck said. “The Othello School District has the highest percentage of multilingual learners out of all of the districts that the ESD serves. So even though Pasco has thousands more students than we do, we still have a higher percentage overall. So that's a high need.”

    Othello students walk through the Othello High School gym and speak to vendors during the 2023 Othello Career Showcase in October.
  

Schenck said the way the OSD is approaching these new focuses is through a strategic planning process.

“We haven't yet created goal areas to be able to measure that progress, because that's what we're going to get out of our strategic planning process, and that's going to be completed this April,” she said. “And we're right in the middle of it right now.”

Despite not having hard numbers, Schenck said that anecdotally she thinks the district has made progress toward shifting to its new focuses.

Schenck also spoke about enrollment, which she said is staying fairly flat.

“The Kindergarten numbers are a little bit smaller, but we have, I would say, from our sixth through eleventh-grade classes right now, some very, very large groups coming through. I think this year we have about 300 seniors who will be graduating, and in the coming years, that's going to increase by as many as 100 students a year. And then it goes back down again,” Schenck said. “When we can't look ahead to the future and say, ‘Oh, we know we've got these really large groups of kindergarteners coming in, that really changes the conversation in terms of budgeting and projections.”

Schenck said that kindergarten numbers are lower statewide, and from what she has heard many people are attributing the decline to COVID-19 and more parents keeping children at home.

The OSD is also looking into the potential of building a new high school in the near future and going out of a bond to achieve that goal.

“It's definitely a very, very current need. I think even if we did pass something in a year or two, we wouldn't actually see that building for a while,” Schenck said. “But that'll definitely depend on the school board, and we have three new board members coming on, so it'll take some time to kind of get that group to see what direction they want to take.”

The OSD is expanding other offerings as well.

“We're nearing being able to offer an associate's degree through the high school,” Schenck said. “We have wonderful partners with (Columbia Basin College) and Big Bend (Community College) ... but we're still fairly isolated, so driving to one of those two locations or doing online school is not something that's an option for all students. So being able to offer that level of education to students who want to just stay here and be at our high school, I think it's going to be a really good opportunity for a lot of students.”

Schenck reflected on the district’s recent shifts and its new focuses.

“One of the things that I really liked about the idea of a strategic plan is I see it as our promise to the community,” she said. “They trust us with their children. They trust us with their tax dollars, and this is our promise about what we're giving back and what we're providing. So, it's a lot of meetings, it's a lot of nitty gritty, but I think it's the most important work in the world.”

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android.