The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

The uncertainty of the Naselle Youth Camp continues to be the main issue of discussion at the Naselle Grays River Valley School Board meetings. On March 17, the Department of Natural Resources announced they would be pulling forest work crews at the camp at the end of May.

Aaron Toso, communications director for DNR, said it has nothing to do with potential camp closure. He said DNR is unique because they are forced to make the difficult decisions before the Legislature announces their budget.

“It is definitely bad times,” he said, adding if they could, they would keep crews at all facilities.

Toso said the timber market is down, and that affects DNR employees. Eighteen months ago, timber was coming in at $340 per 1000 board feet, or mbf; in February that number was down to $152 per 1000 mbf.

Even if operations are back up in the spring, crews won’t be ready for this year’s fire season, he said. In all, 36 DNR employees will be affected. It is unknown how many will be affected at NYC.

In other business, Superintendent Alan Bennett read a proclamation from Governor Christine Gregoire honoring classified employees. Classified employees include those involved in all aspects of education, including but not limited to, those maintaining buildings and grounds, those preparing and serving meals and office staff. In the state of Washington, there are 50,000 employees considered classified.

Naselle resident Steve Gacke commented he appreciated the work that has been done on the school’s website. He said he believes there to be real improvements and thanked Bennett and his staff for implementing those changes.

The board accepted the voluntary severance agreement of Deborah Stenvall, PE teacher and elementary reading specialist at the high school. The board was unanimous in the hiring of Amber Haataia as assistant softball coach.

Karen Wirkkala, K-8 principal, said this year's Science Fair is scheduled for the end of May. Students will set up on May 24 and will continue the next day.

“We encourage you to come and take part in that,” she told the board.

Naselle-Grays River Valley High School Principal Jon Tienhaara reported that the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST) has given the school a grant in the amount of $25,000 for the greenhouse program.

He said CREST Habitat Restoration Specialist Amy Ammer helped write the grant and is coordinating permits with the county to install the greenhouse. A select group of students will be working over spring break planting trees.

The eighth grade Cispus trip wrapped up last weekend. Sixteen students worked on leadership and goal setting training.

“We got snowed on up there, so that was fun,” he said. “The kids had a great time and learned a lot. We look forward to doing it again”

Naselle Youth Camp Principal Lisa Nelson reported a group of residents traveled to Maple Lane to present projects on Black History Month and received a lot of very positive feedback, “not only from Maple Lane, but the administration on the kids’ roles in that.”

Bennett reported spring sports have begun with 24 boys out for baseball, 13 girls out for softball, eight girls and 11 boys out for high school track, and 17 girls and 11 boys out for middle school track.

Bennett said many school districts require annual physicals to participate in sports, while Naselle requires only biannual physicals. It can be an economic hardship to require them annually, he said, adding, however, that it could be safer for the students, especially for those participating in contact sports.

Board member Nancy McGuire said that at the Wahkiakum County Family Practice Clinic sports physicals are offered for only $10 on a select Saturday. Students sign up at school and get an appointment. She wondered if a similar program could be started at the local clinic, or in Long Beach. Bennett said it was an idea to investigate.

Even with budget cuts looming, Bennett said he still is unsure what cuts will need to be made. He said he would be meeting with Chris Burton, director of Washington State to go through the Reduction in Force (RIF) process.

“Hopefully, we never have to actually implement it,” he said. “But we need to know that if the camp were to close, we know what that means staffing wise, so we don’t make mistakes on that.”