Aberdeen Schools

With a Wild West theme and with wild enthusiasm, A.J. West Elementary School hosted its annual fun run on Friday. As friends and family lined the sidewalk to cheer them on, the students ran, walked or jogged three times around the block -- which equals a mile. It's all part of a health and fitness initiative the school started several years ago. Former A.J. West students who are now on the Miller and AHS track teams returned for the fun. Afterward, there were more games and a family barbecue.

The annual SkillsUSA Cowboy BBQ which helps send students to the national competition in Atlanta, Ga., is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, in the Commons at Aberdeen High School. Tickets are on sale at the high school, Miller Junior High School and at the door the night of the event.

State gold medalists from Miller Junior High School are Jaycee Kost in Extemporaneous Speaking; Emily Dominguez in Prepared Speech; the team of Elizabeth Emmett, Aubriel Munoz and Braylee Stallings in Promotional Bulletin Board, and the team of Calvin Evanson, Jaycee Kost and Ian Giffin in Engineering.

Aberdeen High School's Oliver Bryson captured the state gold medal in Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning. In fact, it was a sweep for AHS with Luis Mazariegos and Saul Fonseca taking silver and bronze.

Medalists from the high school also include Trevon Ramos, who captured silver in Electrical Wiring.

Miller's medalists also include Yesenia Bojorge, bronze in Extemporaneous Speaking; Indie Pavon and Simon Reed, silver and bronze in Pin Design, and Ian Giffin and Macey Wallen, silver and bronze in Prepared Speech.

The students' advisors are Chuck Veloni at Aberdeen High School and Janet Dayton, Ashley Emmett and Hailey Pfeiffer at Miller Junior High School.

If you're not able to attend the BBQ but would still like to support the students' travel to Atlanta, you can make a donation online via RevTrak. Be sure to specify it's for SkillsUSA.

Students in Cory Martinsen's Construction 2 class at Aberdeen High School fired up the new Kubota excavator they now share with the district's Maintenance Department.

Introductory operations began in late April following bookwork and safety testing. Martinsen said he and the students are excited to add excavating to their tool box. "We can build the buildings," he said in a reference to the popular sheds they construct, "and now we will learn to move the dirt!"

Link to the Agenda

President Jennifer Durney convened the regular meeting of the Aberdeen School District Board of Directors at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in the Community Room at Aberdeen High School. In attendance were Directors Jessica Jurasin, Annica Mizin, Suzy Ritter and Jeremy Wright, along with Student Representative Mikyla Gunter, Superintendents Lynn Green and Traci Sandstrom and 15 patrons and staff.

The meeting began with the flag salute.

Consent Agenda

The Board approved the Consent Agenda, which included:

1. The minutes from the regular meeting on April 15, 2025;
2. Three trip requests:
   -- A trip request for the Harbor Learning Center to travel with juniors and seniors to the Job Corps in Astoria, Ore., on May 8;
   -- A trip request for the marching band at Aberdeen High School to travel to Victoria, B.C., on May 17-20 to participate in the Victoria Day Parade;
   -- A trip request for students in the SkillsUSA program at Miller Junior High School to travel to the National Leadership and Skills Competition in Atlanta, Ga., on June 22-28, and
3. A gift to the district from Melinda Luark of Elma who donated a 2005 Hyundai Accent valued at $1,758 for use in the Automotive Technology program at Aberdeen High School.

Comments from the Board

Vice President Jeremy Wright commented that he has four children graduating at various levels this spring – middle school, high school and college – and he’s grateful for the education and opportunities they’ve received as students in the district.

President Durney observed that it’s National Teacher Appreciation Week.

Policy Revisions

Updates and revisions to three policies were presented for adopted:

• Policy 3124 Removal-Release of Students,
• Policy 3126 Child Custody, and
• Policy 4200 Safe and Orderly Learning Environment

Comments from Student Representative

Student Representative Mikyla Gunter reported that students at the Harbor Learning Center are mulling their options for summer school; planning for year-end field trips for career exploration, and the ASB is planning year-end activities including an elementary field day and the school’s Day of Service on May 23. She also noted that 30 students have earned their GEDs so far this year and 16 are prepared to graduate on June 5.

Superintendents’ Reports

2025-2026 Budgeting Update

Superintendent Sandstrom provided an update on planning for the 2025-2026 budget. She reviewed the priorities underpinning the process and shared that restoring PE and music educators and restoring 30 minutes to the school day remain priorities, but the district won’t be able to accomplish those in 2025-2026. She noted that work on other priorities, such as maintaining a 5 percent fund balance, maximizing available grants and meeting the district average class size, are part of the work in progress. She noted that the board had approved a reduced educational program of up to $3 million, but additional funding from the Legislature of about $35 per student for operating costs and additional funding for special education have helped lessen the gap. Superintendent Sandstrom also reported that reductions in certificated staffing are being accomplished through attrition. She said reductions in classified staff are still under review but those employees will know before the end of the school year what positions are retained.

Superintendent Sandstrom also reported that the Hopkins Building will no longer be used for preschool. The preschool teachers and support staff will be assigned to classrooms at the grade schools, she said, and the staff impacted by this change will be informed of new assignments this week.

Seismic Schools Update

Superintendents Green provided an update on planning for new schools under the Seismic School Safety Grant. She said the state budgeted $150 million, but the bulk is going to schools further along in the process. That means the elementary schools and Miller Junior High School are paused in Phase 1, while the Harbor Learning Center will continue planning and design in Phase 2.

Following a presentation by Superintendent Green, the board approved a master services agreement with TCF Architecture to work with the district in the Seismic School Safety Grant program.

Policy 3205 Sexual Harassment of Students Prohibited

Policy 5011 Sexual Harassment of District Staff Prohibited

Following a presentation by Human Resources Director Christi Clinkingbeard, updates to the sexual harassment policies to align with Title 9 regulations were accepted for first reading.

PLU Student Teacher Agreement

The board approved an agreement with Pacific Lutheran University for the placement of student teachers in the district.

Imagine Learning

The board approved an agreement with Imagine Learning, which is the main curriculum provider for Grays Harbor Academy.

2025-2026 First Aid Agreement

The board approved an agreement with Denny Bickar to provide first aid instruction in the district.

Flashlight Agreement

The board approved a data sharing agreement with Flashlight Learning, which is being piloted at Miller Junior High School for use with English Learner students.

Surplus Equipment

The board approved a list of supplies and equipment as surplus.

Personnel Report

Following an executive session, the board approved the following:

• The Personnel Report
• 2025-2026 Certificated Staffing List
• 2025-2026 Certificated Salary Schedule

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

The next regular meeting of the School Board is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, at A.J. West Elementary School.

Those who attend regular meetings are welcome to sign up at the meeting to provide public comment on agenda items. Written public comment for the record can also be submitted up to noon the day of the meeting by writing to schoolboard@asd5.org. Comments or concerns not on the agenda can be brought to the attention of the district by contacting the Superintendent's Office or by contacting individual board members.

Please note that Friday, May 23, is now a school day to make up for a weather closure

that occured this past winter.

Thanks to a grant from the Grays Harbor Community Foundation, the Coast Trio will host a string concert for 4th and 5th graders on May 15 at the Bishop Center for the Performing Arts at Grays Harbor College.

The Coast Trio includes Debra Akerlund, violin, Leslie O'Brien, viola and John O'Brien, cello. For several years now they have visited our schools to play for students. This new outreach enables students to experience live music inside the Bishop Center.

Ms. Akerlund said the 40-minute concert will feature music from the 1700s to the present day. "We believe this is a great opportunity for young students to visit the Bishop Center, hear a wonderful concert and see what Grays Harbor college has to offer," she said.

Transportation is available and thanks to sponsorships, students from Grays Harbor are automatically eligible for scholarships to register for camp at no cost.

The 2024-2025 school calendar included two weather makeup days, if needed. After closures in February due to snow and freezing, those makeup days are now be school days. The first makeup day was March 21, and the second will be Friday, May 23.

The calendar pictured above has been adjusted to reflect the new schedule.

The Washington Student Achievement Council has launched a new page intended to help students and families explore education and career training options, as well as explore the various options to pay for it. Tap the photo above or you can find the resources here.

• Co-Superintendent Lynn Green, lgreen@asd5.org
  Co-Superintendent Traci Sandstrom, tsandstrom@asd5.org

• Business Office, Elyssa Louderback, elouderback@asd5.org
• Human Resources, Christi Clinkingbeard, cclinkingbeard@asd5.org
• Special Education, Rick Bates, rbates@asd5.org
  
• Career & Technical Education, Lynn Green, lgreen@asd5.org
• Teaching, Learning & Technology, Traci Sandstrom, tsandstrom@asd5.org
• Food Services, Jaime Matisons, jmatisons@asd5.org

A.J. West Elementary School

• Office Hours: 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• (360) 538-2130 / Principal Nani Villarreal

Central Park Elementary School

• Office Hours: 8:15 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• (360) 538-2170 / Principal Ruth Erwin-Svoboda

McDermoth Elementary School

• Office Hours: 8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
• (360) 538-2120 / Principal Mindi Hammill

Robert Gray Elementary School

• Office Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
• (360) 538-2140 / Principal Daniel Olson

Stevens Elementary School

• Office Hours: 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• (360) 538-2150 / Principal Tosha Love

Harbor Learning Center

• Office Hours: 7:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.
• (360) 538-2180 / Principal Lisa Griebel

Hopkins Preschool

• Office Hours: 8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
• (360) 538-2190 / Principal Darby Carroll

Miller Junior High School

• Office Hours: 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.
• (360) 538-2100 / Principal John Meers

Aberdeen High School

• Office Hours: 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• (360) 538-2040 General / Principal Aaron Roiko
• (360) 538-2060 Attendance Line

Columbia Wellness, a behavioral health agency serving Grays Harbor and Cowlitz counties, has launched a Youth and Family Mobile Crisis Team on Grays Harbor. A PowerPoint presentation explaining Columbia Wellness and how you can access services in a crisis is posted on the ASD5 website. Visit the Columbia Wellness site here.

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The Aberdeen 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: Christi Clinkingbeard, Title IX Coordinator and Civil rights Compliance Coordinator, 216 North G St., Aberdeen, WA 98520; (360) 538-2222; cclinkingbeard@asd5.org; Dr. Richard Bates, Section 504/ADA Coordinator, 216 North G St., Aberdeen, WA 98520; (360) 538-2017; rbates@asd5.org.