Medical Lake Middle School student Nate Moody makes modifications to his group's robot during the third day of the 2016 camp hosted by the MLHS robotics team. The team will hold a STEAM camp in August.
Although school is out for the summer, the Medical Lake School District will have several courses and activities for students in July and August.
During its June 27 meeting, the school board of directors approved the district's summer school and enrichment programs.
Michael Anderson Elementary School will have its extended school year for special education students from July 31-Aug. 17. During that same timeframe, Hallett Elementary School will once again host its summer reading program for fourth-graders.
There will also be programs for middle and high school students at the alternative high school such as a math tutor they can work with in the morning.
The district, in collaboration with the Department of Vocational Resources, will host pre-employment skill workshops where students with disabilities on a plan under Section 504 can earn .5 career/technical education credits.
High school students who failed a class during the school year will have an opportunity to make up those credits through GradPoint, an online credit recovery program.
Some of the enrichment programs over the summer include StageWest Community Theatre's children's theater workshop, July 10-22 at the high school for children 8-14 years old. The workshop culminates with performances of "Dorothy in Wonderland," on July 22, at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
The MLHS Circuit Breakers STEAM camp will be held on Aug. 14 at the high school.
In other action items, the board changed its July and August meetings to an earlier time. The July 25 and Aug. 29 meetings will take place at 4 p.m.
Director of Finance Chad Moss announced the district's deadline to submit a budget is extended to July 17. He and consultant Don Johnson have been working to put together a skeleton budget without new revenue. Moss said he would later do a budget revision.
The board approved the district's technology plan. Trevor Meade, director of technology, explained the purpose of the plan is to help staff integrate more electronic tools into the curriculum and lesson plans. Staff will also work with parents to increase their awareness of the devices their children use.
"We wanted to try and increase the way we use technology and come up with something ideal for each grade," Meade said.
The board approved the first reading of updated policies "Alternative Learning Experience" and "Nutrition, Health and Physical Fitness."
For the first policy, staff will now have to send a report to the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction on the number of full-time equivalent students enrolled in the alternative high school, as well as documenting their expenses.
The second policy ensures that the district is feeding children well-balanced meals and is implementing a comprehensive wellness policy in compliance with state and federal requirements.
Superintendent Tim Ames highlighted another change in the policy where staff cannot take away physical activity, including P.E. and recess, from students as punishment.
Budget Meeting
The Medical Lake School board of directors will meet on Tuesday, July 25 at 3:45 p.m. at Medical Lake District Office to consider adoption of the budget for the 2017-18 school year. Anyone who is interested may appear at this meeting and will be given the opportunity to be heard for or against any part of the proposed budget. Any inquiries regarding this notice should be directed to Director of Finance Chad Moss at (509) 565-3119.
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
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