OROVILLE – The Oroville School District is short one school director in the at-large position and is seeking letters of interest from people who want to serve on the board.

Perspective board members should present a letter of interest and resume to the district office, according to Superintendent Jeff Hardesty, speaking at the Aug. 28 school board meeting.

“The posting closes Sept. 15 and the board will screen applicants at the Sept. 25 boardd meeting, then interview on or before the ninetieth day, the Oct. 30 board meeting,” said Hardesty.

In addition to talking about the posting for the school director position, which became open when Ryan Frazier resigned to take a teaching position in Othello, Wash., Hardesty also talked about the various facilities projects that took shape over the summer and concluded the weekend before the meeting. Hardesty said the tennis courts had been poured, sealed and painted; a section of the high school roof was repaired; several sections of the carpet at the elementary building had been replaced; road flashers installed; high school gym floor refinished; window and seals repaired in both the high school and elementary; the elementary pick up zone painted; concrete steps poured at both the elementary and high school and one stall poured at the bus garage.

“We painted the pick up zone and did away with the drive through and fixed the gym floor. The last contract actually had covered over spilled pop,” said Hardesty, who added the newly finished gym floor came out very well.

In his report, Hardesty said that all staffing positions had been filled, with the exception of a position in the lunch service and of secretary for the high school counselor.

Ila Hall, a teacher at Oroville suggested the district consider starting a Virtual Academy for web learning.

“My sister lives in King County and the only school in Washington is Omak and they have a waiting list for their Outreach Program. It’s something we might look into with Omak trying to handle the whole state by itself,” said Hall.

According to their site, the Washington Virtual Academies are “a tuition-free online public school that uses the K12 curriculum, which is accessed via an online school as well as through more traditional methods. Materials are delivered right to the family’s doorstep – including books, CDs, and even bags of rocks and dirt.”

The superintendent said Elementary Principal Jamie Mikelson was chairing the development of the school’s truancy board. The first step, according to Hardesty, was for the board to approve an updated attendance policy. The second step is to acquire a Memorandum of Understanding with the Juvenile Court System.

“The exciting aspect of this initiative is the potential behind folding in community partnerships to help address youth attendance concerns, as these concerns can stem from both external and internal projects,” said Hardesty in his report. “We need partnerships to problem solve for student success.” The board approved several items in a concent agenda, including the District Stratgic Planning Goals for the upcoming school year and hiring Caryn McNair as the School Nurse, Sydney Doornenball as an Elementary Teacher and Jamie Portwood as a .5 Intervention Specialist. The board also approved hiring Morgan Gariano as the high school girls assistant soccer coach, Emily Rimstead as the high school assistant softball coach, Chris Patterson as the junior high assistant football coach and Chad Portwood as the high school cross country coach.

In addition, the coach’ contract was approved for the school year and Amy Harris will get a supplimental contract to act as dean of Students for 15 extra days, paid at the per diem rate.

To finish the meeting, the district’s business manager, Shay Shaw gave a short financial report.