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I’m sure many of you know that the School Board approved a reso-lution to adopt the recommenda-tion of the Multi Track Year Round (MTYR) Task Force to adopt

MTYR when absolutely necessary, with the provision that all other strategies be explored to delay the implementation. The best solution, as noted by the Board, would have been to build the needed schools.

As parents and members of our com-munity you may be wondering where we go from here. The first order of business will be searching for all remaining strate-gies that might delay implementation of MTYR. We have a few slots left for portables but each school will need to study options for the other crowding is-sues, such as eating in classrooms due to limited cafeteria space, how to meet PE requirements due to limited gym space, how to address evening programs for parents and other similar infrastructure challenges brought on when schools are built for 480 yet already serve nearly 900 students.

Multi Track Year Round school is not something that can happen overnight

or even next year. It will take months of planning and the soonest we could shift into a MTYR schedule would be 2013-2014. We will analyze enrollment vs. space early next October before making that call.

We will not shift into MTYR lightly. When and if we have to adopt a MTYR schedule at a school, it will be for a minimum of three years. The amount of time, plan-ning, budgeting, communication and the disruption to transition would not be something we would do for just a year. If we only needed to use a strategy for a year, double shifting would likely be the better option. The highest enrollment schools would phase in first with others following as they hit enrollment ceilings.

Make no mistake; no one wants to shift to MTYR. But if that time comes we will do what we have to do to ensure that we continue to provide the best education possible to serve the children and fami-lies of our community.

Sincerely,

Saundra L. HillSuperintendent

Dear Pasco Neighbors:

YOUR PASCO SCHOOLS is published by the Pasco School District Public Affairs Department as a community service to Pasco citizens. Questions and/or comments may be sent to Leslee Caul, Director of Public Affairs.

Superintendent Saundra Hill

Pasco School District Board of Directors:Sherry Lancon, President

William V. Leggett, Vice PresidentRubén Peralta, MemberJohn Hergert, MemberJeffery Dong, Member

Trinidad Chavez and Sergey Gorbatyuk, Student Representatives

Superintendent: Saundra L. Hill

Editor: Leslee CaulDesigner:

Annie Warren

Lock Down vs. Lockout: A Guide for Parents and GuardiansIn the instance of an internal or external threat—as occurred Sept. 15 when Pasco police responded to a burglary call on North 15th Avenue—nearby schools go in to lock down or lockout mode in order to keep students and staff safe.

School administrators, the District incident command team, and local law enforce-ment officials all participate in making the decision to declare lock down or lockout. However, schools immediately respond when law enforecment directs a lock down or lockout.

Lock Down: No Movement AllowedIn a lock down situation, no one may enter or leave the building, and students and staff are restricted to the classrooms or school areas where they are when the lock down occurs. Teachers are instructed to keep students away from visible areas such as windows and door entrances.

Lockout: No Movement In or OutOften officials will declare a lockout fol-lowing a lock down. During a lockout, the building’s external doors are still locked pre-venting anyone from entering or exiting the building. However, students and staff are free to move about the building. A lockout often occurs when law enforcement officials do not want students leaving school and walking into a potentially harmful area that is still under investigation or when officers believe someone dangerous may be in the neighborhood.

No one, including parents, is allowed to enter the school nor are students allowed to leave the building with their parents until the lock down or lockout is lifted. Parents and guardians are encouraged to stay away from schools when these actions are ordered.

All district administrators are trained to handle these issues using established inci-dent command procedures. “We also have excellent communication with law enforce-ment officials,” says Executive Director of Operations John Morgan. “It has proven very effective in keeping students safe while allowing law enforcement officials to do their job.”

The District uses a number of communica-tion methods to relay the news of a lock down or lockout to the public. The status of a school, or schools, is updated regularly on the District website, www.psd1.org. Local radio and TV news media may also relay the news as it unfolds.

This fall parents and guardians can also sign up for SchoolMessenger, a quick alert mes-saging service. This service allows parents and guardians to receive a text message in the event of a school emergency or important school related events, such as the cancellation of classes due to inclement weather.

Sign Up to Receive Emergency Alerts! Parents and guardians, fill out the SchoolMessenger

Opt-In Form on our website to receive alert messages from Pasco School District!

Visit http://www.psd1.org/page/578 or go to the ‘Student Health and Safety’ page under the ‘Families’ tab on the District web site,

www.psd1.org.

District to Run Renewal Levy in 2012

52% of levy dollars sup-port teaching and

learning, including:

•Curriculum and teaching•Art, music, and drama programs•Elementary assistant principals and nurses•Librarians, library clerks, and library books•Substitute teachers•Elementary Counselors

41%of levy dollars fund Maintenance and

Operations, including:

•School security•Maintenance, custodial and district-wide support•Utilities and Insurance•Student transportation•Portable classrooms

This Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, Pasco voters will be asked to show their love for Pasco students and their schools by approving the regularly scheduled

Maintenance and Operations Levy.

Levies support all of Pasco’s 15,633 students. The District runs replacement levies every two years to renew the

expiring levy, which provides educational programs and services for students. Similar to a magazine subscription,

a levy must be renewed every two years to replace the expiring levy. This levy is not a new tax. All school

Districts in Washington run replacement levies to pay for educational programs and operations not included state

and federal funding sources.

Where do Pasco’s levy dollars go?

7% of levy dollars fund student activities, including clubs and athletics

I PascoSchools

Furlough Days in Effect Due to State Budget Cuts

School Furlough Day Release Time

Pasco High 10:20 a.m.Chiawana High 10:30 a.m.New Horizons/Discovery 10:40 a.m.McLoughlin 10:15 a.m.Ochoa 10:15 a.m.Stevens 10:15 a.m.Whittier 11:20 a.m.Frost 11:20 a.m.Emerson 11:20 a.m.Chess 11:20 a.m.Longfellow 11:20 a.m.Robinson 11:20 a.m.Angelou 12:00 p.m.Livingston 12:00 p.m.Twain 12:00 p.m.McGee 12:00 p.m.Markham 11:50 a.m.Captain Gray 11:55 a.m.

On Oct. 14 Pasco students attended a half day of school. This was no ordinary half day, but rather the first of four unpaid half days for most District employees.

The State legislative session came to an end in May with millions of dollars in reductions to education and some dif-ficult consequences for public schools, including Pasco. In the final budget State lawmakers reduced the salary schedule for teach-ers by 1.9 percent and by 3 percent for school adminis-trators.

The task of deter-mining how those reductions would be put into effect was left to the indi-vidual districts. In Pasco this resulted in the equivalent of two unpaid furlough days for every employee.

“Each individual school district has collective bargaining agreements that define the wages, compensation, and working conditions for the employ-ees,” says Superintendent Saundra Hill. “The Legislature’s action meant that each district, including Pasco, had to open contract negotiations with each of its four labor unions to bargain the reductions made to employee income. Understanding the difficult economic times in our state, Pasco’s employee

groups were willing to agree to fair and reasonable solutions. Teachers are the largest employee group and have the contract ability to negotiate the school calendar, which was impacted by the Legislature’s salary reductions.”

In order to maintain the required 180 days of school, District teachers agreed to four half day unpaid furlough days on Fridays: October 14, February 17,

April 27, and May 25. These will be the furlough days for most District employees. District administrators will have two full un-paid furlough days on Dec. 27 and 28.

This will be in place for the next two years, as the legislature applied the reductions this year and next year. The District has agreed to reopen negotiations if there is further legislative impact.

“The state had previously given unpaid furlough days to state workers when it was necessary to reduce costs,” says Hill. “We believed that this approach in our contract negotiations was most equitable with the approach the state had taken with its own employees. We also tried to choose days that would have the least impact on students and families.”

PascoSchools

Kiwanis of the Horse Heaven Hills

Partners in Educating All Kids! (PEAK!)Thank You for Partnering with Pasco SchoolsFor the fourth year local businesses and business leaders are participating in the education of Pasco students through the Partners in Educating All Kids!, or PEAK! Program.

Each of Pasco’s 18 schools has two PEAK! Partners. Businesses make a $500 donation to their partner school; however, the program is about much more than just financial support, says Community Relations Manager Gracie Valle-Chimal. “It’s about building valuable relationships,” she says.

Throughout the school year, each business participates in a minimum of three in-school programs. These range from something as simple as reading to elementary school children, to more involved projects like school carnivals, career fairs, contests, and even internships for students. The activities are designed to fit both the school and the PEAK! partner.

“We support our PEAK! Partners as a district and as individuals whenever we can,” says Public Affairs Director Leslee Caul. “We hope that everyone in the community will continue to support these businesses that make such a difference in the lives of our students.”

Participating businesses are listed on the District website and in print publications. They are honored for their accomplishments with a final reception in the spring. Every week, the best PEAK! project—or “PEAK! of the Week”—is featured on the District reader board at Edgar Brown Stadium and on the District website, www.psd1.org. “We appreciate everything our PEAK! Partners do,” says Caul. “We want to let everyone know about the great support they offer to our schools, students, parents, and our whole community.”

If you would like more information about the PEAK! Program contact Gracie Valle-Chimal at gvalle@psd1.org or 543-6743.

Curtis & Susan Dahl

Joe Peterson & Maria Montoya

Angelou KADLEC Clinic, 942-31709605 Sandifur Pkwy., Pasco, WA 99301

El Chapala, 586-4224 107 E. Columbia Dr., Kennewick, WA 99336

Captain Gray

Advanced Pediatrics Dentistry, 543-49487425 Wrigley Drive Suite 201, Pasco, WA 99301

Northwest Agri Products, 547-8234PO Box 3453, Pasco, WA 99301

Chess GESA Credit Union, 946-1611 x 34002202 W. Sylvester St., Pasco, WA 99301

Fiesta Foods, 547-5356 115 S. 10th Ave., Pasco, WA 99301

Chiawana State Farm Insurance, G. Scott Sintay7007 Burden Blvd. Suite 103, Pasco, WA544-9500

John L. Scott, Curtis & Susan Dahl5109 N. Rd.68 Suite E, Pasco, WA 99301Susan: 531-3660, Curtis: 531-2729

Emerson Pasco Christian Church, 545-85891524 W. Marie St., Pasco, WA 99301

Tire Town and Auto Service, 542-0244404 N. 20th Ave., Pasco, WA 99301

Frost Pasco Vision Clinic, 547-84091906 N. 20th Ave., Pasco, WA 99301

School Employees Credit Union of Washington1500 W. 4th Ave. Suite 100, Spokane, WA 99204209-7816

Livingston Lourdes Health Network, 547-7704520 N. 4th Ave., Pasco, WA 99301

Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, 783-42471321 N. Columbia Center Blvd, Ste. 202, Kennewick, WA 99336

Longfellow All Star Motors, 544-96002715 W. Sylvester St., Pasco, WA 99301

Kiwanis Club of Pasco, 545-6700PO Box 556, Pasco, WA 99301

Markham Country Gentleman, 783-01289221 W. Clearwater Ave., Kennewick, WA 99336

Circle H Farms, Inc., 266-46571520 Dayton Dr., Pasco, WA 99301

McGee Advanced Pediatrics Dentistry, 543-49487425 Wrigley Drive Suite 201Pasco, WA 99301

Partnership Still AvailableCall 543-6743 to sign up!

McLoughlin Grand Canyon University, 509-301-88157743 N. Mt. CarrolDalton Gardens, ID 83815

PEMCO, Joe Peterson & Maria Montoya 8927 W. Tucannon Ave. Suite 102, Kennewick, WA 99336, 736-3599

New Horizons

Fat Boys Fleet Service, 547-5044210 S. Oregon Ave., Pasco, WA 99301

U.S. Cellular, 544-92805024 N. Rd. 68, Pasco, WA 99301

Ochoa Genie Tours, 946-14001846 Terminal Drive, Richland, WA 99354

Department of Labor & Industries, 454-370715 W. Yakima Ave. Suite 100, Yakima, WA 98902

Pasco State Farm Insurance, Craig J. Griffiths1915 Sun Willows Blvd. Suite BPasco, WA 99301, 547-9571

Columbia Fitness, 585-2366433 E. Columbia Dr., Kennewick, WA 99336

Robinson Kiwanis Club of the Horse Heaven Hills10 S. Irby St., Kennewick, WA 99336947-6816

Edward Jones, Ryan A. Brault, AAMS® 3616 W. Court Street Suite I, Pasco , WA 99301 545-8121

Stevens Bank of America, 736-1750350 W. Lewis Street, Pasco, WA 99301

PARR Lumber, 544-9731 2105 N. Commercial Ave., Pasco, WA 99301

Twain Fiesta Mexican Restaurant, 543-68845210 Rd. 68 Suite L, Pasco, WA 99301

Advanced Pediatrics Dentistry, 543-49487425 Wrigley Drive Suite 201, Pasco, WA 99301

Whittier Tri-Cities Community Health, 543-1906515 W. Court St., Pasco, WA 99301

ConAgra-Lamb Weston, 736-03338701 W. Gage Blvd., Kennewick, WA 99338

Ryan A. Brault, AAMS® 545-8121

Kiwanis of Pasco

F or the fifth year in a row a Pasco teacher has been named the Education Service District 123 Regional Teacher

of the Year. Longfellow Elementary 3rd grade bilingual teacher Jaime Silva received the award on Aug. 29 at the District’s annual Welcome Back Rally.

“I was so surprised,” says Silva. “I think about how many districts there are in ESD 123 with so many capable teachers.”

Silva is the epitome of the “local boy makes good” story. A longtime resident of Pasco, Silva attended elementary school at Captain Gray and McGee, attended both the “old” and “new” McLoughlin, and is a graduate of Pasco High. He earned his Associate of Arts degree at Columbia Basin College and went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts in K-8 Educa-tion from Washington State University.

Silva worked as a teacher’s aide in Pasco while earning his degrees. It was while he was completing his student teaching at Amistad Elementary in Kennewick that he got a call from Suzanne Feeney, then Human Resources director for Pasco School District, alerting him about an opening in Pasco. Fee-ney retired as superintendent of the Finley School District last spring, but Silva first met her long before she was a school adminis-trator. “She was my kindergarten teacher,” explains Silva. “And, she gave me my first job at McGee Elementary.”

Since he began working for PSD in 1994, Silva has worked as a bilingual teacher in grades K-3 at McGee, Emerson, Longfellow, Twain, and Angelou elementary schools and as a summer migrant teacher at Whittier, Chess, and Frost elementary schools. At Angelou he helped launch the Two Way Dual Language (TWDL) program. For the past several summers Silva has taught his fellow PSD employees at the District’s annual Spanish Camp.

Throughout this journey Silva has been in good, and very familiar,

company. Younger brother Juan Silva is a 2nd grade teacher at Robinson and twin brother Victor Silva is a 3rd grade teacher at Frost Elementary. For five years Jaime and Victor worked side by side on the TWDL team at Angelou.

When asked if sibling rivalry has come into play with this prestigious award, Silva says “Not at all. My brothers are really happy for me, but they are surprised too. I’m not the one who likes a lot of attention.”

Although friends and colleagues have sug-gested that Silva move into administration, he has no desire to move beyond his class-room. “I am still teaching because I enjoy it,” says Silva. “I don’t see myself doing anything but that.”

The last week of September he joined the other regional award winners in Olympia to vie for the title of Washington State Teacher of the Year.

“I first met Jaime while he was still a student at Pasco High! It’s been such a pleasure to watch him grow as a professional over the past years,” says Superintendent Saundra Hill. “We are all very proud of his accom-plishments and happy that he chose to stay here in his hometown to make a positive difference in the lives of our students.”

JAIME SILVA NAMED REGIONAL TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Events CalendarJoin Us for These Exciting Opportunities to

Visit Pasco Schools and See for Yourself

November 16: Superintendent’s Bus TourGet on the bus! Join Superintendent Saundra Hill for a tour of Pasco High School and Twain Elementary School. Morning coffee and lunch are provided.

November 30: Superintendent’s Bus TourGet on the bus! Join Superintendent Saundra Hill for a tour of Chiawana High and Angelou Elementary School. Morning coffee and lunch are provided.

January 18: Superintendent’s Bus Tour, BilingualGet on the bus! Join Superintendent Saundra Hill for a Spanish language tour of Pasco High School and Captain Gray Early Learning Center. Morning coffee and lunch are provided.

February 1: Student Shadow, Pasco High SchoolJoin a Pasco High student for the first half of their day. Meet Principal Raúl Sital and PHS instructors. Morning coffee and lunch are provided.

February 22: Student Shadow, Chiawana High SchoolJoin a Chiawana High student for the first half of their day. Meet Principal Teri Kessie and CHS instructors. Morning coffee and lunch are provided.

March 1: Superintendent’s Bus Tour, BilingualGet on the bus! Join Superintendent Saundra Hill for a Spanish language tour of Chiawana High School and Ochoa Middle School. Morning coffee and lunch are provided.

Sign Up Today! Contact Community Relations Man-

ager Gracie Valle-Chimal at 543-6743 or gvalle@psd1.org to reserve your

place. Visit the Public Affairs page on our website, www.psd1.org, for more

information. Spanish translation is available for all events. Please call

ahead for other languages. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Guests visit Pasco High during a Superintendent’s Bus Tour last year.

Pasco School DistrictvPublic Affairs Departmentv1215 W. Lewis Street, Pasco WA 99301v(509) 546-2686vwww.psd1.org

District Searches for Space Solutions as Enrollment Climbs SteadilyPasco School District student enrollment continues to increase as projected, averag-ing about 620 new students per year for over a decade. The official enrollment num-ber on Oct. 1, 2011 was 15,633, an increase of 506 since Oct. 1, 2010.

According to projections by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and a study conducted by an independent consulting firm, the stair-step growth will continue; the student population in the Dis-trict is estimated at about 20,000 by 2016.

While the District has opened six new schools in ten years, nearly every building is currently at or over capacity. The District is identifying short- and long-term solu-tions to the challenges posed by its steadily increasing enrollment.

Among the possible solutions offered at the Facilities Summit and by Task Forces in 2010-11 were impact fees for new construction,

the bond initiative—which citizens voted against on April 26, 2011—and modified student schedules including multi track year round (MTYR) school and double shifting.

A MTYR Task Force was created and met from February to August. The task force presented its recommendation to the Board of Directors in September; it recommended the District reconfigure the middle grades to create K-6 elementary schools and grades 7-8 middle schools.

The Task Force recommended adopting a multi-track year-round school calendar to be implemented in elementary schools dis-trict wide when the school board deems it to be absolutely necessary to do so in order to preserve an appropriate instructional environment.

On Oct. 11, the board voted to accept the recommendation with several parameters.

November 2010: Participants in the Facilities Summit study the issues and provide suggestions to the school board.

January 11: The Board of Directors unanimously approves a bond scenario to build much needed schools and make improvements.

January 20: The Pasco Facilities Task Force meets in a public meeting; special guest Paul Dugan presents the Reno, Nevada schools Multi Track Year Round (MTYR) experience.

January 25: The Board of Directors approves parameters for a MTYR Task Force.

February 9: District admin-istrators present the first of several public bond information sessions; additional public meet-ings are held March 1, 31, and throughout the spring.

February 24: The MTYR Task Force meets and will continue to meet through September.

February 8: The Board of Directors approves the constructability of Elementary No. 13. The constructability review is a state requirement for projects receiving state matching funds.

March 8: The Board of Directors approves the ballot language for Resolution 814, Bonds for Construction and Improvement of School Facilities.

April 26: Pasco citizens vote against the bond initiative.

July 25 & 27: The MTYR Task Force holds informational pre-sentations to increase public understanding of the MTYR sys-tem and to gather feedback.

September 13: The MTYR Task Force presents its recommendation to the Pasco School District Board of Directors at a board meeting.

September 20: A special MTYR board meeting is held to receive public comments and questions on the MTYR recommendation.

October 2011: A MTYR survey is taken and approximately 50 information meetings are held for parents, staff and community members.

October 11: The Board of Directors votes to accept the Task Force’s recommendation to implement MTYR at the elementary level only after all other strategies to address overcrowding have been exhausted.

RECENT ACTIONS TO DEAL WITH A DECADE OF GROWTH: 2011

Multi Track Year Round Recommendation Approved with Provision to Delay

The Pasco School District Board ac-cepted a recommendation by the Multi Track Year Round Task Force at the board meeting on Oct. 11 with the directive that all other strate-gies possible be used to delay the implementation of a Multi Track Year Round (MTYR) schedule.

In September the Task Force, after months of study, recommended to the Board that MTYR school be adopted only at the elementary level when absolutely necessary. They also recommended that sixth grade students remain at the elementary schools in a MTYR system.

The board’s vote and direction to use every strategy to delay the imple-mentation addresses the issues brought forward by parents, patrons, and employees during information sessions and in a survey conducted by the District.

Among the strategies being explored to house the continued enrollment growth that could delay MTYR school are: maximizing the use of portable

classrooms in the District, having students eat in classrooms instead of cafeterias, finding alternatives to traditional physical education classes, looking at alternative schedules, and busing students to schools that may have open slots.

The earliest the District could make a move to MTYR would be fall 2013. It will take at least a year to work out the details and to negotiate with employee bargaining groups in order to have a smooth transition when it becomes necessary.

The highest enrollment schools would phase in to MTYR first with others following as they hit enroll-ment ceilings. Existing operations budgets would pay for MTYR when the time comes.

“Given the time and planning re-quired, any move to MTYR would be a three-year minimum commitment,” says Superintended Saundra Hill. “We are doing everything we can to delay this process and examining every strategy possible.”

Students crowd the lunchroom at McLoughlin Middle School.

Pasco School District has completed many large capital projects over the last ten years. The high school projects are still finishing up. How did the district arrive at which projects would be undertaken?

Prior to the 2006 bond, the district con-ducted 17 public forums in which all comments were recorded. In addition to the forums, online surveys were available to the whole community, paper surveys were sent to every Pasco address and then sent again to parents of elementary stu-dents through their Wednesday envelopes. Architects also met with more than 300 Pasco patrons and employees in planning sessions. Staff members further refined plans through the educational specification process. A key message was to upgrade Pasco High to the extent possible in a building over 50 years old to offer equi-table experiences for students. All of this input provided pivotal guidance as plans developed and came to fruition.

Did everyone agree with all the plans? No. Were there enough funds to accom-plish all the projects that folks wanted? No. However, the bidding climate at the time meant that good bids for the major projects allowed the district to complete several smaller projects that had been identified and prioritized. One of those was the refurbishment of the Pasco High baseball field and the repair of the tennis courts.

The baseball field has been an area of concern for many years, at least since 1969, and the district had received many complaints from the baseball community. It was said to be the worst field in the league. It had been slated for upgrades in the 1990’s bond. However, the bidding cli-mate was not as favorable and the project had to be scrapped at that time.

There were several parts of the field that were subpar and old enough to no longer meet code or just worn out after so many years. The 1954 construction meant that dug outs and the concession stand were at the end of their useful life. Restrooms, concession serving area, and bleachers did not meet ADA requirements and were not accessible to patrons and parents with disabilities. The field was uneven and pot-holed, the bullpens were exposed to game play, and the 1954 bleachers could no longer be repaired, all creating safety concerns. Attempts to repair the items and even out the field over the decades became insufficient. Several other issues result-ing from 1954 building standards along with the nearly 60 years of normal use and wear and tear made it a reasonable project.

The 2006 bond specifically called for up-grades at Pasco High, as well as the con-struction of Chiawana. As planning for the PHS upgrades progressed, the need for an improved baseball field continued to arise. The district has heard from some patrons who say it should have been scrapped again. However, other patrons have ex-pressed their approval and gratitude that, after decades, our PHS athletes can play in a functional and safe field.

As part of the PHS upgrades in 2006-07, the tennis courts needed to be used as a “lay down” yard for construction equip-ment. The four western tennis courts were already in need of repair, so those were selected with the expectation that they would be repaired when construction was finished. Remember that construction crews were working while school was in session with 3,500 students (making PHS the largest high school in the State at the time) on a campus with limited space. Now that the construction is completed

HOMERUN OR STRIKE OUT?

PSD RECOGNIZED FOR FISCAL EFFICIENCY

and the tennis courts are no longer needed for construction equipment, the final repairs are being done on them as part of this project.

The next project for Pasco High will be to reroof the last remaining portion of the roof, which has caused leaking problems. The good news is that the district has received a matching grant to complete the work, which will be done within the next year. The current Pasco High facility has served thousands of students well for the last 57 years. With care and attention, it

can serve this community another 50.

Reasonable people can disagree on which smaller projects should have been com-pleted and which should not. But, this is a valid and worthwhile project that had been set on the back burner too many times. The need was certainly there. Now our community has a safe and welcoming en-vironment to cheer on our student athletes at both Pasco High and Chiawana High. And, all of our student athletes can safely PLAY BALL.

Pasco School District was identified by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Schools (OSPI) as a district with best practic-es in fiscal management.

As part of a statewide analysis of school district practices in non-instruc-tional areas to be issued in 2012, the State Audi-tor’s Office has identified best practices in Pasco School District that lead to efficiencies in general administration, opera-tions and maintenance, and food services, accord-ing to Washington State Auditor’s Office Commu-nications Director Mindy Chambers.

Districts are being exam-ined in comparison to their peer groups based on three criteria: enroll-ment size, the number of

free and reduced meals, and whether the district has a high school or not. Pasco’s peers are those districts that have enroll-ment over 7,500, are in the upper tier of free and reduced meals, and that have one or more high schools.

“Pasco has had rapid growth, but has main-tained the cost per student,” says Dale Sando, a performance auditor working on the state-wide school study. “It’s an economy of scale – you are forced to do more with less.”

Among the cost saving efforts noted by OSPI was the District’s change in school starting times to increase transporta-tion efficiency, a freeze in administrative hiring,

and the adaptability of the nutrition program. “In the area of administration there has been no new hiring and no replace-ment of administrators in the past three years. Another example would be kitchens that are set up for four employees serving 450 students that are now serving nearly 900 students.”

According to Sando the area of K-12 education is of great interest to State Auditor Brian Sontag. “We are hoping to identify what is going on in the Pasco School District so that other districts can emulate these efforts to bring down non-instruction costs so that more money can go into instruction,” he says.

Pasco students will be walking more safely this year thanks to a grant from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission’s Safe Route to School Program.

The City of Pasco, working in cooperation with the Pasco School District, secured a $120,000 grant to install 32 flashing bea-con assemblies at nine Pasco Schools.

“We are currently awaiting the arrival of parts which are due for delivery by the end of the month,” says City of Pasco Communications Specialist John Funfar. “All of the flashing beacon assemblies are scheduled for installation by the end of October.”

The flashing beacons will be in-stalled at Robinson, Whittier, Longfellow, Emerson, Frost, Chess, Twain and McGee elementary schools, as well as Captain Gray Early Learning Center.

“This is a great example of the City and School District working cooperatively to improve student safety,” says Pasco

School District Director of Support Ser-vices Randy Nunamaker.

According to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission pedestrian deaths are the third leading cause of death for Washington children. “The lights are just one more reminder for drivers to slow down and pay attention in school zones,” says Nunamaker.

Even driving a few miles over the speed limit drastically decreases a driver’s ability to stop. According to the Pasco Police De-

partment, the total stopping distance for a driver going 20 mph is 63 feet when you factor in reaction and decel-eration time. When

you increase the speed limit by only five miles an hour to 25 mph the stopping distance increases to 85 feet.

“Those 22 feet could mean the difference between being able to stop and hitting a pedestrian,” says Nunamaker. “It’s always best to just slow down and observe the posted speed limits.”

New Flashing Beacon Lights Help Keep Students Safe

Stopping Distance Guide

20 MPH 29.3 ft. 44 ft. 63 ft.25 MPH 30 ft. 55 ft. 85 ft.30 MPH 43 ft. 66 ft. 109 ft.35 MPH 59 ft. 77 ft. 136 ft.40 MPH 76 ft. 88 ft. 164 ft.45 MPH 97 ft. 99 ft. 196 ft.50 MPH 119 ft. 110 ft. 229 ft.NOTE: These numbers take into consideration that the driver of a vehicle is not distracted, that the roadway is dry, that the vehicle is equipped with adequate tires, and that it has full braking efficiency.

SpeedDeceleration

Time1.5 Second

Reaction TimeTotal Stopping

Distance

Help Keep Everyone SafeSLOW DOWN

in school zones and for crossing guards!