North Mason schools mark midsummer transitions

Kirk Boxleitner | Jul 27, 20230

Superintendent Dana Rosenbach talked about North Mason’s summer school program, the upcoming renaming ceremony for the east addition of the community gym, and the wrap-up of the Theler property transition, at the school board’s most recent meeting.

“We’re very excited for the students who are registered,” Rosenbach said of the summer school at the July 20 meeting. “Our rising fourth-through-seventh-graders will be engaging in their developing video work. On the last day, we’ll get to see what they create.”

In June, the board OK’d renaming the east addition to the community gym as the Ed Amick Wrestling Center. Rosenbach said that “the community group raising funds to do some beautification to the center” will have a dedication ceremony Aug. 19.

“When we get the details, we’ll make sure you have those, so you can attend as well,” said Rosenbach, who added that, within a matter of days, she would be signing the final paperwork for the Theler wetlands property’s transition to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, so “I need to go down to the escrow office and sign on behalf of the district.”

“Thank you for your tenacity in following up on that,” Board President Arla Shephard Bull told Rosenbach. “There have been some loose ends, and you’ve been diligent about holding (Fish and Wildlife) to what our community has asked for.”

Rosenbach reviewed the 2023-24 version of the minimum basic education requirements report, which Shephard Bull described as “all of the things school districts are required by law to provide.”

“And in many cases, it’s a list of our unfunded mandates,” Rosenbach laughingly added.

Rosenbach said North Mason and other state school districts’ methods of reporting to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to confirm criteria such as having completed “the right numbers of hours, days and credits required for our seniors” have been significantly revised.

“It was about a page and a half,” Rosenbach said. “Now, it’s a little longer,” to which Shephard Bull replied, “19 pages.”

“There are things we can still get a little bit better on,” Rosenbach said. “And it is OSPI and the Legislature’s way to know that we’re doing what they’ve asked of us.”

Rosenbach noted how “many of those things are specific bills that say, ‘Oct. 16 is Constitution Day, and are you teaching the Constitution on that day?’ So we ensure our schools teach the Constitution on that day, (even though) we’re talking about a lot more than one day out of the school year.”

Rosenbach followed by announcing the district is a partner in the West Sound STEM Alliance, “that we now house for fiscal (purposes) at the South Kitsap School District, but that supports all the districts in our region in growing teachers’ and students’ STEM opportunities and capabilities.”

Rosenbach concluded her remarks by congratulating the transportation department for receiving yet another letter of achievement from the state, “for their work in ensuring that our buses are safe for our kids to ride to school.”