Soap Lake School Board asks for superintendent’s resignation
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 3 months AGO
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | March 26, 2024 5:12 PM
SOAP LAKE — First-year Soap Lake School District superintendent Aaron Chavez will not be returning for the 2024-25 school year, following action by the Soap Lake School Board on Monday.
“My status is, I’ve been asked by the board to resign,” Chavez said Tuesday.
Chavez has been asked to stay through the end of the 2023-24 school year.
Board chair Curt Dotson and board members Signe Knudson, Donald Clark and Nicole Frazier did not return phone calls asking for more information on the decision.
“They feel we’re not a good fit,” Chavez said.
Chavez is the fourth Soap Lake superintendent since March 2022, when then-superintendent Sunshine Pray resigned. Dotson was named interim superintendent and held the job until the board selected Kim Casey for the 2022-23 school year. She resigned in summer 2023 to take a job as interim superintendent in the Prosser School District, being named as the permanent superintendent in November 2023. Chavez was hired as superintendent in July 2023.
Board members also approved a resolution declaring a financial emergency.
“The financial resources of the district will not be adequate to permit the district to maintain its educational programs and services at substantially the same level for the 2024-25 school year,” the resolution said.
The board resolution cited a number of factors, including declining enrollment, increased expenses for the district’s special education program, increases in wages and benefits, inflation and increases in the cost of insurance.
“In order to maintain the level of school district expenditures within the level of reasonably anticipated revenues, it may be necessary to make certain reductions in the district’s staffing levels,” the resolution said.
It did not specify what the staffing reductions would be. District administrators will be directed to prepare what was called a modified educational program.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
Soap Lake School Board chair Curt Dotson during a 2023 meeting. The board asked for the resignation of Superintendent Aaron Chavez Monday.ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Moses Lake man arrested on suspicion of rape of a child
OTHELLO — A Moses Lake man has been arrested on suspicion of second-degree rape of a child and sexual exploitation of a minor, according to a media release from the Othello Police Department.
Connell man arrested in connection with Othello-area assault
EARLY BIRD
OTHELLO — An Othello man was airlifted to an out-of-area hospital after he was admitted to Othello Community Hospital Tuesday night with multiple stab wounds. A Connell man was arrested later in the evening and booked on suspicion of first-degree assault in connection with the incident.
Reservation fees established for Mattawa park covered facilities
MATTAWA — Whether or not to charge Mattawa residents to reserve some of the facilities in Hund Memorial Park, and how much, was the subject of lively discussion at the Mattawa City Council meeting Monday.