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2023 Operations Newsletter
Ellensburg School District
2022-2023 School Year
Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean."
– Ryunosuke Satoro
The Child Nutrition Department has so many exciting things in the works this year. During the first half of the 2022-2023 school year, we served nearly 170,000 meals to students. Our efforts have been focused on utilizing locally grown and produced items, providing more scratch-recipe choices in our menus, and improving sustainability efforts. Highlights include:
- $50,000 in Washington State Department of Agriculture grant awards for local purchasing. The majority of these funds have been used to purchase local Green Bow Farm ground beef, which is featured monthly at our elementary schools and weekly at our secondary schools in cheeseburgers. The grant also allowed us to purchase local asparagus, dried cherries, apples, butternut squash, melons, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, peaches, plums, and grapes.
- Chef Ann Foundation "Get Schools Cooking" awarded December 2022 to improve our scratch cooking practices and goals. We are one of seven schools across the nation that make up this year's cohort. This award, worth approximately $200,000 is dispersed over a three-year period in the form of technical assistance, training, and new equipment purchasing funds. https://www.chefannfoundation.org/what-we-do/get-schools-cooking
- Team Nutrition ESD 105 Cooperative Mentee recipient. Our district is part of the first cohort of this program in our region. Benefits to participation include technical assistance, training, and resources to aid in the move toward more scratch cooking.
- Sustainability efforts include introducing reusable trays in all of our elementary schools last fall, moving away from single packet items such as condiments, and reducing food waste.
Looking to the future we hope to expand our efforts and improve our program in all the areas mentioned above. We believe students deserve high quality, nutritious, and appealing food and our department is full of passionate and kind individuals willing to make this happen. Check out our Facebook to see what we are up to and get regular updates: https://www.facebook.com/esdnutritionservices
Winter Daze
To cancel or not to cancel? That is the big question every day we experience winter weather.
Our drivers are amazing professionals behind the wheel of their school buses -- even if other drivers are not. Our number one goal is for kids to arrive at school safely!
The Transportation Department evaluates road conditions each morning around 4:00 AM on days in question of driving with winter conditions.
This evaluation determines if a bus can navigate, start and stop without incident. If we feel we can (even if it means we chain-up the buses) we let the Superintendent know we are good to go. Our skilled drivers prove daily that they are up to the challenge!
Thank you Ellensburg School Bus Drivers for being the amazing drivers you are!
Being new in the role of Facilities Director in the Ellensburg School District, I want to thank everyone for a warm welcome! I have spent the first few months assessing my department and how the team can improve services for our students, staff and families!
NEW TICKETING SYSTEM
I am proud to announce the use of Incident IQ, a maintenance ticketing system to improve the efficiency and accuracy of our work schedules. Incident IQ is a great online platform to support management and tracking of facility requests! This tool will support access and efficiency for all. The district just launched this tool the 3rd week of February!
CLEAN BUILDING PERFORMANCE STANDARD
Washington State House Bill #1257 is legislation most school districts are busy preparing for. This "Clean Building Performance Standard" will require Ellensburg School District to analyze our buildings (per square feet) and work towards improving our Energy Intensity Units (EIU) to meet standard! ESD has contracted with McKinstry Mechanical Company to benchmark our energy compliance and over the next (4) years and make required changes to improve our energy efficiency! Starting with the largest buildings, EHS/MMS must be in compliance by 2027, and the Elementary Schools by 2028!
The Facilities Team has been proactive to involve our School Board, Capital Projects Committee, and our local constituents of the upcoming requirements. We are early in the process, and will have more specific information to share in upcoming months regarding efficiency changes!
GROUNDS KEEPING....
ESD has improvement goals in place for our grounds keeping, with updating our practices in mowing, irrigation and fertilization. We are currently developing new schedules and investigating products to improve playing fields with the district's increased use. Weed control is also a focus moving into the Spring and Summer months to keep our schools looking fresh!
Ellensburg School District has the finest facilities in the State! The ESD Facilities Team is privileged to keep our schools in top condition!
The Ellensburg School District Information Technology Department currently has (5) employees consisting of the Director, Network Admin, Systems Admin, and (2) IT Support Specialists. The IT department provides the necessary technology equipment, infrastructure, software, and professional development in support of academic learning environment. We base our decisions on the best interest of the students, to encourage academic success and create 21st Century Learners, within the framework of the district Board Ends.
Over the past year, the IT Department has implemented a batch of new tools for the district. A new IT ticketing system from Incident IQ has streamlined out support mechanisms. A new district filter, GoGuardian, has given the district new insights into where students are going on the Internet and keeping them safer. GoGuardian Teacher has provided teachers with tools to monitor and focus the use of technology in the classroom.
As we move forward this year, some new upgrades will be taking place over the summer. The WiFi at the High School, Middle School, and Valley View will be upgraded to match what was installed in our new buildings. The core switching will also be updated to allow for more bandwidth, to future proof the network for years to come, and to provide a stable foundation to the new WiFi network devices.
In June, we will be collecting all district Chromebooks for yearly maintenance, updates, and repairs. Please keep an eye out for more information from your school.
The building nurse role is an essential component to educating the whole child and supporting ESD's mission statement. The Ellensburg School District is fortunate to have (5) Registered Nurses (RN's) and (2) Health Room Assistants that are passionate about working with our students each day! Our health room staff provide a variety of support to students such as developing and implementing individualized health plans, conducting hearing & vision screenings, medication administration, first aid services, COVID-19 screening, providing resources and linkages, and much much more!
Over the past last year, the ESD Nurse team has:
- Set up (3) new health rooms!
- Adapted to the continuing Covid-19 DOH guideline changes.
- Implemented using the Washington State School Module for immunization! This provides students with a lifetime record they can access wherever they go, while also saving health staff time by removing the need for dual entry in systems and manually reporting.
- Recruited and trained a strong substitute nurse pool.
Ellensburg Students are the best! It is our privilege to provide the highest quality health services to our students!
NONDISCRIMINATION STATEMENT
The Ellensburg School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups.
The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Kim Snider, Title IX Coordinator and Civil Rights Coordinator, 509-925-8007, kim.snider@esd401.org and Section 504 Coordinator, Kelly Kronbauer, 509-925-8011, kelly.kronbauer@esd401.org, 1300 East Third Avenue, Ellensburg, WA 98926.