The Cheney School District School Board resolved issues ranging from contract disputes to construction timelines at their Sept. 19 meeting, approving a new two-year contract with teachers and addressing a variety of new policies.
The board first heard an enrollment report from Jamie Weingart, the district’s director of finance. She presented the board with numbers reflecting a growing sixth-grade class. The district was anticipating a total enrollment of 4,655 students for this year, but as of the beginning of the school year, enrollment is at 4,732, 77 students higher than projected.
Superintendent Rob Roettger announced the successful agreement between the district and the teachers’ union, thanking the Cheney Education Association for all its hard work.
He also provided a brief update on the work the district is doing with professional learning communities, showing a short video of Dr. Anthony Muhammad’s lecture on the subject. Muhammad will be visiting in February, teaching Cheney educators how to achieve “equity of outcome” for students.
Following the superintendent’s report, a concerned citizen addressed the board to ask questions about the low nature of the test scores recently released from the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
“We have some achievement gaps that need to be addressed,” Roettger said in the meeting. “I don’t make excuses. Our data is what our data is and we need to do better.”
Roettger noted that the district’s graduation rate is about 87.5 percent, and every one percent gained is 3.5 more kids graduating from the system.
Board members then unanimously approved multiple policies in rapid succession, including one OK’ing the use of credit and procurement cards for district purchases and acquisitions and one putting a routine in place for when the district is looking for property. The latter noted that the district will attempt to acquire building sites substantially in advance of the actual need to construct facilities in order to minimize project delays.
The district also unanimously approved an agreement with the Spokane Transit Authority to put a bus stop on district property.
Student advisor Kaiden Robbins announced that there will be a new school motto, “Choose Greatness” and a logo change to incorporate two feathers in addition to the large “C” present in the high school’s emblem. The two feathers will incorporate Chief Blackhawk back into the schools logo since many students may be unaware of his existence and impact, Robbins said.
Shannen Talbot can be reached at shannen@cheneyfreepres.com.
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