The North Beach School Board of Directors is again looking for a new member after Doreen Harden-Cato, currently serving as Board president, announced she was stepping down for health reasons.

During her final meeting on Aug. 21, Cato gave the oath of office to newly hired Supt. Andrew Kelly, and then set out the process for finding a replacement. Cato said her home recently had sold and she would be having to relocate for medical care.

Cato represents District 4 in Ocean Shores. She also was the driving force behind the joint effort by the North Beach School District and the city of Ocean Shores to compile the first North Beach Resource Guide as part of her Ad Hoc Committee on Homelessness and Hunger in the area.

At the same meeting last week, board members ratified goals presented by Kelly and adopted them as their principles too. The goals include:

• Create an adult culture with high expectations, simple support and rigorous accountability that ensures an equality in outcome for each of our students.

• Understand the detailed data profile of our North Beach Student Achievement and what that data indicates about the systems and structures that are working in North Beach. Use the data to create metrics to ensure the continual growth of our students.

• Become the highest performing district in Grays Harbor by June of 2020, and become the highest performing district under 1,000 students in the state by 2024.

• Build a system of support to ensure the social, emotional and academic success of each of our students.

• By January 2020, create a long-term facility use plan that endures the long-term health and vitality of our district properties, including a plan to utilize the old district office and build a new Pacific Beach Elementary School.

One of Kelly’s first decisions since taking the superintendent’s position in July was to move the district office from its old headquarters in Ocean City that was detached from the schools and move it to the North Beach Jr./Sr. High School.

Newly named Board president Jane Harnagy noted the other directors all believed that Kelly had laid out goals in concert with their objectives.

“As a board, we chose that our goals for the year would basically be his goals, and that we would all be working together and trying to achieve all of those things that he set forth for us,” Harnagy said.

With Board member Jeff Wilson absent, the others voted 3-0 to adopt the goals.

Cato and Kelly laid out the process for selecting a replacement from District 4. Applications can be submitted to the district office to either Kelly or to Patrice Timpson, district administrative assistant. A list of qualifications is on the district’s webpage.

Applicants must be registered to vote within the North Beach School District attendance area and within the director district they wish to represent.

Applications must be made by noon on Sept. 7. The District 4 boundaries in general are south of Ocean Lake Way and West of Duck Lake in Ocean Shores, excluding the jetty area, which is part of District 5 (see map on District online announcement).

Applicants will be invited to the September board meeting, at which time Kelly said it is hoped the decision on a replacement can be made. It would be for the remainder of Cato’s term, which ends in 2020.

“It’s a very, very important position from my perspective,” Kelly said.

One of the first issues will be what to do with the old district office. Kelly said a community group would be convened over to determine “what’s the right thing to do with the property in Ocean City, how do we take care of that or revitalize that, or make a different decision with that property.”

Kelly told the board he wanted his goals to serve as his work plan for the year and that they should be part of how he is evaluated in the future.

“My expectation for myself is that I am going to produce evidence for the board that allows you to weigh my performance based on those goals.”

Contract agreement

At the School Board meeting, Kelly acknowledged Will Oaks of the North Beach Education Association and Sabrina Carmichael of the Public Schools Employees of Washingtion and pledged to work in a “collective manner to resolve our contracts and to be able to bring the very best service we can to our kids.”

On Tuesday, he confirmed that both sides had reached a tentative agreement on pay raises and other details for the school year, and that the new contracts would be completed after being ratified by the teachers, employees and the School Board. Contract details will be published next week.

Cato honored

Cato was given an emotional salute from the city of Ocean Shores to start the City Council meeting on Monday by Mayor Crystal Dingler, who read a proclamation “recognizing and honoring the contributions of Doreen Cato to the community and declaring Saturday, Sept. 21 as Doreen Cato recognition day.”

It noted that among her accomplishments, Cato served as the former director of First Place Schools in Seattle, and with Grays Harbor Youth Works:

“Thanks to Doreen’s efforts, dozens of high school students in Grays Harbor County have a better chance of getting and keeping good jobs, and so many more will have that opportunity in the future.”

A tearful Cato replied: “My existence is for the children, it really is. That’s our legacy . . . I am truly going to miss Ocean Shores very much.”

She said she wouldn’t have been able to do half of what she accomplished without “the support, the blessing and friendships” from the community.

New hires announced

Among the new hires announced by Kelly were North Beach Jr./Sr. High School principal Cynthia Valdez from the Wenatchee School District, who started on Monday. Others were Guy Capoeman as the new Indian Education Coordinator; Ted Chamberlain, third grade teacher at Ocean Shores Elementary; Katherine Kent, Special Education Services Director; Kimberly Roberts, fourth/fifth grade teach at Ocean Shores; and Chelsie Shipman, custodian at Ocean Shores; Vernon and Rettai Bruni, who will each have several positions.

Retun to school

Classes start on Wednesday, Sept. 5, except for youngsters in preschool and kindergarten, which have the first day on Sept. 10.