By Don Nelson
Recommendations from the Methow Valley School District’s facilities task force will require some time for analysis and public input, Superintendent Tom Venable told the school board last week — which means that board action to possibly place a levy proposal or bond issue request will come later than first expected.
The board had intended to consider the task force recommendations at its June 25 meeting, but Venable said the July 23 meeting is a more reasonable goal.
The task force, a volunteer group which began its work several months ago, evaluated all the district’s facilities —from buildings to ball fields to buses—with the assignment of making recommendations for replacements or improvements in eight categories, including safety, ongoing maintenance, and equity.
Venable told the school board that the task force had narrowed an original list of about 125 projects to 75. Next, he said a task force subcommittee will draft a “fund-it-now” list of recommendations for the superintendent’s consideration. Venable will then take his recommendations to the board.
At the same time, Venable said, the district will provide information about the potential projects to the community for feedback. One way to communicate will be through a brochure distributed to district residents, Venable said. Information about the task force’s work and recommendations will also be available on the district’s website, www.methow.org.
Venable said he also will talk about the task force’s work to community groups.
In other business, Venable told the board that the district will review how Anne Andersen, recently appointed as interim principal at Methow Valley Elementary School, is doing in the new position towards the end of 2014. If it’s necessary, he said, the district could begin looking for a permanent principal in early 2015.
Andersen, instructional coach for the school district, was selected for the interim position to replace Brian Patrick, who announced last month that he would resign at the end of the school year to move out of the district.
The board also agreed to conduct a retreat to discuss a variety of issues on July 15.
