North Wasco County School District 21 school board approves budget, swears in new members

During his presentation, District Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Randy Anderson stated that the aggregate amount of the budget, as well as individual funds, remained the same as it was approved by the budget committee, though some changes were made.

“Particularly in the general fund, we did … pull from one building to the other,” Anderson said. “It’s just helpful if we can get it as close as we can before we drop the budget information into the accounting system to keep track of next year, but overall the budget remains the same as was approved by the budget committee.”

He noted that the resolution consisted of four parts: Adopting the budget, making appropriations, imposing and then categorizing the tax.

With a motion made by Director John Nelson and seconded by Director Judy Richardson, the board unanimously approved the adoption of the budget for the 2025-26 school year, which will take effect on July 1.

Other business items included the adoption of four supplemental budget resolutions and a transferring of appropriations of funds, addressing grant revenue that was ultimately allotted after the initial budget; a donation from Les Schwab towards the completion of a new press box for sports events; and the “tail end” of ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund) money that had been received and transferred to Mosier Community School. All four resolutions were unanimously approved.

Other action items included approving a contract extension for Nutrition Services with the Sodexo food service management company, declaring one parcel of district-owned land on Columbia River Heights as surplus property, and approving the re-appointment of three budget committee members.

Following Financial statements, the board also approved two sports co-op agreements with Dufur School District, the first being a one-year agreement with girls soccer and the second being a one-year agreement for boys and girls cross country. Both co-op agreements will take place during the 2025-26 school year.

Finally, the board unanimously approved to accept the election results of the May 20 Special District Elections. Following the approval, the board swore-in new board members Betsey Hedge (Zone 1), taking over for Adrian Lopez; David Polehn (Zone 4), taking over for John Nelson; Kevin Kramer (Zone 5), taking over for Joel Vaught; and Katie Kelley (Zone 7), taking over for Judy Richardson. The board also swore in Rafael Camacho as a student representative to the school board.

The entire meeting can be viewed on the district’s media channel on YouTube.