NASELLE — During public comment at the Naselle-Grays River School District Board meeting on Sept. 16, Bay Center resident Kathleen Moncy told the board about a new organization called Liu Xing (Rising Star).

Moncy said the mission statement of the organization is, “To organize and financially support all aspects of the Mandarin immersion program at Naselle Schools.”

Moncy explained the group’s goals: “To be an advocacy group for parents; Communication with the larger Mandarin community; Outreach within the Naselle community to build support and sustainability of the program; and, to seek and secure funds to sustain the Mandarin immersion program.” She noted she is currently the president of the organization. Accompanying her were Astoria resident Crystal Weston, vice president and Naselle resident Marijane Anderson, secretary.

All three women have children in the first or second grade at Naselle who were in last year’s immersion program. Moncy noted that Marilyn Strange is the treasurer and Robin Andrea is executive committee member. The group intends to seek 501(c)3 non-profit status from the IRS during the coming year.

Moncy announced meetings will be held on the first Sunday of each month in the high school commons at 6 p.m. She stated the group will keep the board periodically apprised of their progress during the year.

Under new business, the board approved: 2014-16 teachers’ contract; fuel bids with Wilcox and Flegel and Ferrellgas (propane); overnight athletic trips for the 2014-15 school year; and Comets Booster Club activities for the 2014-15 school year.

Superintendent Lisa Nelson provided a description of policies developed by the Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA) for first reading this month and up for adoption at the board’s October meeting. Those policies are: Disability History Month; Student Conduct Expectations and Reasonable Sanctions; Classroom Management, Discipline and Corrective Action; and Student Sports-Concussion and Head Injuries.

Following adjournment for an executive session to review the performance of an employee, board Chairman Bob Torppa noted, “No decision was made, it was only a review.”

Naselle Youth Camp (NYC) Principal Alan Bennett discussed the cooperative relationship that exists between NYC and the Naselle public school system. He noted that a laser engraver and number of computers that are still in good working order were recently replaced at NYC and passed on to the Naselle public school. Bennett reported NYC students have been a big help to the Washington Department Natural Resources in fighting the recent wildfires. He noted, on one evening all but 11 of the night students at NYC were involved in firefighting activities.

Nelson provided an end of year financial report noting the new school year is starting out with a balance of $616,537. Looking back on the 2013-14 school, Nelson reported there had been an average of three students in the Running Start program, 275 full-time-equivalent students in K-12, and 81 at NYC.

Nelson provided a summary on last year’s Columbia Virtual Academy (CVA) program. The summary noted the program at Naselle had been staffed by half of a principal’s time, 4.17 certificated teachers and 1.5 classified staff members. CVA served the average full time equivalent (FTE) of 227 students. She reported the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) conducted a statewide survey of CVA students and arrived at an approval rating of 4.5 out of 5.

Noting that not all students are full time and thus FTE numbers can be different from the actual head count, Nelson reported that, as of the Sept. 5 reporting date, there were 269 FTE students in the K-12 school, 39 in the CVA program and 81 at NYC. Nelson reported the reduction in the CVA program will likely have an impact on the bottom line.

“We’re planning on taking a conservative approach. I’ve already put some things in place to be more conservative with our spending,” Nelson said. “The CVA teaching staff has been reduced from last year’s level of 4.17 teachers to one half of a teacher.” She noted, “The only other option regarding CVA was to hire a number of people and then hope the program populated enough. I just was not willing to take that gamble. I wouldn’t do that with my own money and I am not going to do that with the district’s money.”

Nelson reported that district staff responded to a very time consuming public records request from a company called “Smart Procure.” According to Nelson, “They requested every month’s accounts payable sheets from the start of 2008 to present. It amounted to hundreds of pages and required a considerable amount of staff time to pull together the requested information within the time frame required by law.”

Following a discussion on scheduling time for the board’s review of the superintendent’s performance and the possibility of a board workshop, the meeting was adjourned.