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

At the School Board meeting on July 18, the Naselle Grays River Valley School Board adopted the proposed budget for the 2023-2024 school year, discussed policies, board goals and the next community survey. With updates from Superintendent Lisa Nelson and Principal Justin Laine, it was a meeting full of energy and promise for the coming year.

Keeping in mind that the School District carries no debt at all and with news of funding coming for an important capital project next year in the amount of a $4.88 million grant, the future of the school and its student body is full of hope and promise for the coming year.

This summer the track’s new surface and lane striping was finished, new carpet is being installed and the new scoreboard for the football field was completed. The board approved funding for a new van for the school to help take students to games and other events. Hopefully there will be a report on that purchase at the next board meeting on August 15 as school gets started.

The school district is in line for a facility renovation grant of approximately $4.88M for renovating the music/vocational wing next summer. The board passed a resolution supporting that grant request. In addition, the board was reminded that strategic planning needs to be done as well, as part of prioritizing both capital projects and board/district growth projections. Board goals were on the agenda but tabled until the August 15 meeting.

The board signed the contract with Pacific County for a part-time nurse ($41,160), and discussed another community survey tool to be sent out by the end of July. They hope to gather input from the community including taxpayers, parents and others invested in the success of our school as well as our youth.

The budget resolution passed with these projected expenditures for the 2023-2024 school year: General Fund: $6,707,875; Capital Projects Fund: $5,458,000; Transportation Vehicle Fund: $343,250; Debt Service Fund: $0; Associated Student Body Fund: $127,400.

Nelson reported that she was invited to participate in a Task Force regarding future use of the Naselle Youth Camp facilities. She will report to the board as the group makes progress.

A public record request was made by this reporter for inspection of the consultant’s report on the music/vocational wing renovations. An assessment was made of the current structure and recommendations were made for renovating the wing. That report was funded by a $50,000 grant available for School Districts. That report will give the community information on the building’s condition and what will be done in the renovation project next summer. Access was granted to this reporter for July 31 when the document will be available for perusal. Anyone in the district can make a public records request at any time. The form for those requests is on the district’s website.

Most people want the general fund numbers when they ask about budgets. Keep in mind, it's a budget and we don't have that money in hand. That is especially important in regards to the vocational wing grant, which is a reimbursement to us, not a get the money up front grant. That is why we had to budget such a large capacity amount for capital projects.