Ephrata School District super reflects on challenges of 2024

EPHRATA — As 2025 begins, the Ephrata School District is assessing the changes and challenges it faced last year. Superintendent Ken Murray discussed several crucial accomplishments and objectives for the future and the district's continued commitment to its students and community in an interview with the Columbia Basin Herald. 

“One of the very first things to just kind of think about and consider is this is more of a mid-year review for a school district because we obviously operate on a little bit different calendar than that 365 January-to-December calendar that all of us live our lives on,” Murray said. “This has been a big year for the Ephrata School District.”  

The year has not been without change. In June 2024, Tim Payne stepped down as superintendent in an Ephrata School District statement; he cited personal, family and health issues as the reasons for his departure. Murray, who was the assistant superintendent, stepped into the role of superintendent. Then high school principal Aaron Cummings stepped into the assistant superintendent role. The district then hired Ashlie Miller as the new high school principal.  

Reflecting on the retention of student enrollment, Murray said the ESD is one of the few districts not seeing a decline in its student body. 

“Although some other districts, certainly throughout the state and the nation, have seen a decline in enrollment, our enrollment has held strong, which has been a real positive,” Murray said.  

A significant initiative in 2024 has focused on addressing the challenges posed by an increase in electronic device usage in classrooms. The schools implemented lock boxes for cell phones this school year. In middle school, phones are completely restricted. At high school, students have times where phones can be used; however, they are not allowed in classrooms. 

"We were one of the first districts in our region and even in the state to really come up with some of the things that we were doing to tackle that challenge," Murray said. 

Reports of increased student engagement support the effectiveness of these strategies. 

Beyond academic achievements, the district has also prioritized funding through active grant-seeking efforts. 

“Our high school physical education staff was able to land a very, very high-dollar grant … that allowed us to purchase and upgrade our physical fitness facilities,” Murray said. 

Similarly, Food Services Director Alain Black secured funding to enhance kitchen equipment at both Ephrata High and Grant Elementary schools, ensuring that good food is available for students. 

The communal support witnessed this year has been heartwarming for Murray. He commented positively on the efforts of the Tiger Booster Organization and other parental groups. 

“I’m just super, super excited about the parental support we have in our district,” Murray said. 

These organizations, according to Murray, have been instrumental in improving the district's extracurricular activities and facilities, further solidifying a bond between the schools and their community. 

However, 2024 did present challenges, particularly in state funding, Murray said. The Ephrata School District, he said, has one of the lowest per-pupil expenditures in the area.   

“We’re constantly kind of thinking about whether our per-pupil expenditure is appropriate,” he said. “We want to make sure that we're utilizing our funds in all the right ways. So, always doing the work of advocating for state-level funding and then at this moment the state's indicating a potential forecast up to $12 million shortfall when they're looking at their four-year forecast. But that doesn't change the fact that it's the paramount duty of the state of Washington to amply fund public education, and there's just a lot of areas that we're just not getting adequate funding from the state and so that's a definite challenge that's in front of me constantly.” 

These financial considerations are a priority, according to Murray, especially as the state faces potential shortfalls in its education funding. 

Looking towards 2025, the objectives of the Ephrata School District center on fostering a holistic learning environment, inclusive of mental health support and academic growth, according to Murray. He said there is a necessity of "being very intentional in aligning our work to our goals."  

Highlighting the significance of fiscal responsibility, Murray said the district aims to maintain healthy financial practices while advocating for adequate state funding. 

Additionally, Murray said the district is focused on improving achievement in tier-one instruction across all grade levels, increasing support for multilingual learners and enhancing student attendance rates which "have not returned to pre-pandemic levels."  

As Murray emphasized, “It takes a team to educate our kids," which includes parents, community members, administrators, and educators all contributing to the shared goal of student success. Murray said the collaboration visible in Ephrata demonstrates that education extends beyond the classroom; it is a communal effort. 

    Superintendent Ken Murray stepped into his current role after the former superintendent stepped down in June. Then the former high school principal stepped into the assistant superintendent role, which Murray had previously held and the district hired a new Ephrata High School principal at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.
  

    This year the Ephrata School District got a handful of new personnel including teachers, principals and administrators, who were introduced at the first school board meeting of the year.