Inside Our Schools: Gresh, EV board to address staffing

At East Valley School District’s board meeting Tuesday, Interim Superintendent Tom Gresch said he would present the board with a modified educational program at the next meeting, April 8.

“That’s just the formal process of having to look at our staffing,” Gresch said, explaining there are several steps contractually the district must make before it moves teachers from one position to another and before the district starts the process of a reduction in force.

This process has been used before in the district, and Gresch said it is usually during a fiscal crisis or a change in enrollment. This year, he said it is a combination of enrollment decline and the transition from a K-8 configuration. The changes will affect staff at the middle school and high school level.

This year East Valley High School has 999 full-time equivalent students, according to the most recent numbers. Projected enrollment for the 2014-15 school year at the high school is 925 full-time equivalent students.

With the reintroduction of the middle school, the district will need to streamline its needs for all of its facilities.

“I’ve been looking for the easy button on this and there isn’t one,” Gresch said. He said he is working with the teachers union now and there are still a few more meetings before the district will know how many teachers will be affected.

“I wouldn’t even guess at this point,” he said.

Meritorious Service Awards

The Central Valley School Board has named its 2014 Meritorious Service Award recipients. The annual awards honor contributions by employees, teams, community members and organizations who support student achievement in the district.

The winners are: Jennell McLaughlin, a fifth-grade teacher at South Pines, certificated employee; Scott Krentel, principal of McDonald Elementary, certificated employee; Cheri Willis, child care lead at the Early Learning Center, classified employee; Rustin and Lynda Hall, parent volunteers at University High School, community member/organization; Sandy Mills and Doreen Dagon, secretarial team at Sunrise Elementary, the team award.

There were at total of 88 individuals, eight community organizations and 13 teams nominated for this year’s awards. To see the full list of nominees, visit www.cvsd.org.

Valley Tech hosts preview night

Spokane Valley Tech, 115 S. University Road, will host a preview night April 3 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. for students who will be juniors and seniors next school year and their parents.

The evening will include tours of the building and information about new program offerings. Courses next year include advanced bioengineering applications, advanced biomedical applications, advanced engineering applications, AP computer science and app development, business and entrepreneurship.

For more information, visit www.spokanevalleytech.org.