Omak School District

Omak School District was established in 1912.[2] Its first high school was built in 1919, following 150 out of 155 votes in favour of the development of a high school.[3] That same month, there was a discussion to create a special $US10 million tax, so the school district could pay its debts to the Washington State Board of Education.[3] Omak High School had an enrolment of 13 when it opened in 1919. Consideration of further schools in Omak began in September 1954, when land was leased in North Omak.[4] In 1955, curriculum coordinator Carl Precht announced that the new elementary school, North Omak Elementary School, would move into the location of a business. The school was damaged by fire in 1988.[5] That same year, the district purchased a larger bus to run the district's five bus routes.[6] The district's highest budget was $US847,621 during the 1966–67 school season.[7] Several people filed for school board director positions in Okanogan County by February 1952, including Dr. Fred Baines and Dr. Ralph Mundinger.[8] The cost of education services in Omak during the 1955–56 school year was $US400,000.[9] The Conconully School District merged with Omak on July 1, 1964, as a number of residents complained about the school system in the town of Conconully, which had four pupils that year.[10] Residents voted in favor of bus transportation services beginning in 1966; similar services were established in neighboring districts around the same time.[11]

In a July 1972 school board meeting, the district hired John Turner as superintendent.[12] A district-wide teacher strike occurred in September 1977, though some risked being fined or jailed for violating a temporary retaining order, according to an Omak Education Association spokesman.[13] Penalties over this issue came into effect later that month: Omak Education Association members were charged $US50 daily, while the association itself would need to pay $US2,500 until the strike ended.[13] To end the strike, consensus needed to be achieved among the teachers; substitute staff were paid $US70 rather than the traditional $US40 during this time. The situation was resolved later that month and the teachers returned to their classrooms.[13][14] Other schools across Washington also went on a strike at that time.[13] That year, 78 teachers and 1,600 pupils served the district.[15]

In March 2005, the local high school's facilities were expanded and upgraded.[16] That year, Omak School District spent approximately $US10,000 in salary and insurance so that a teacher and theater technical director, David Baker, could submit his resignation; Baker was placed on paid administrative leave in October 2005 because of sexual concerns with a former student.[17] The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction was notified about the situation.[17] Members of the school administrative board accepted this resignation.[17]

In February 2010, Omak School District became the first in Okanogan County and the third in Washington to establish a virtual school;[18] the school had been proposed in May 2009.[19] District leaders saw this process as a way to offer a number of additional services at their schools; 90 signed up for the beta test.[18][20] They also noted they would pay owner K12 about $1,700 per person who uses the service.[18] Once this service was in place by 2011, the district grew from 1,400 students to about 2,500 students, who generally used the virtual school.[20] Meanwhile, an energy-saving contract was implanted in 2010 with Schneider Electric, which would help reduce the district's energy costs by 15 percent; this would include fixing poor light quality and upgrading temperature control.[21]

The Omak School District consists of eight schools. There are three elementary schools, two middle schools and three high schools.[1] The three elementary schools are: North Omak Elementary School, which is home to 346 children from kindergarten to grade two,[22] East Omak Elementary School, which 346 students from grades three to five;[23] and Washington Virtual Academy Omak Elementary, a virtual school that educates 443 students from kindergarten to grade five.[24] Omak Middle School and Washington Virtual Academy Omak Middle School serve as the district's middle schools;[25][26] the former is home to 339 people from grades six to eight, while the latter contains 339 students and the same grade levels.[25][26]

The district's high schools include Omak High School,[27] Omak Alternative High School,[28] and virtual school Washington Virtual Academy Omak High School.[29] The first contains 435 students between grades 9 and 12,[27] while the second is home to 48 people in the same grades and the third has 164 in these grades.[28][29]

Omak offers a family access program, Skyward Family Access.[30] It states that, consistent with federal law, they do not discriminate against anybody and have a drug-free environment.[31] Omak School District's schools have a number of sport teams in the winter, spring and fall.[2] The News Tribune gave their "All-Sports Title" to a sports team in Omak in the 1989–90, 1994–95, 1998–99, 1999–2000 and 2000–01 school years.[32] Bus transportation services are available to the schools.[33] In February 2013, the state auditor criticized the district's virtual schools, citing financial concerns and error rates.[34]

The Omak School District ranks 240 of the 259 school districts in Washington. It consists of five buildings: North Omak Elementary School, East Omak Elementary School, Omak Middle School, Omak High School and Omak Alternative High School.[35][36] The district's virtual schools do not contain buildings, as they are online school courses, and the students in question are not compelled to join the Omak School District; however, every public resident is permitted to register under the district if they wish.[35][36] Omak High School maintains the highest score for the two schools tested in the district, with a 12.9 rank for college readiness, a 1.9 rank for math lessons and 3.1 reading rank all near the Washington average; scores for the Washington Virtual Academy Omak High School were below the state average, with a math rank of 0.8 and 1.5.[37] Based on these statistics, Omak High School received a bronze model in U.S. News & World Report's "Best High School" rankings for the United States as a whole.[38] A total of 2,540 students attend public schools in this district; over 1,110 of these students attend elementary schools, while over 700 are based at its middle schools and over 640 study at high schools within the district.[1] 342 people have the Individualized Education Program disability and 88 are English-language learners.[1]

There is a 19.65 student-teacher ratio, and the district handles $US18 million to help maintain its schools.[1] This district's most recent superintendent was Arthur Himmler, who died in a car accident in early 2013.[39][40][41][42][43] Himler had been hired as an assistant superintendent in 2007; he succeeded assistant superintendent Dan Jamieson upon Jamieson's retirement.[44] The district covers an area of 496.8 square metres (5,348 sq ft), with a population of 10,481 within the district at the 2010 United States Census, which is approximately 5,000 ahead of Omak's population.[45][46] There is a population of 21.2 per square mile and a 52.3 percent diversity index.[45][47] It ranks first of the nine school districts in Okanogan County for diversity.[47] Omak School District's head office used by the superintendent is located on 619 West Bartlett Avenue in Omak, located off Washington State Route 215.[1][48]

• List of school districts in Washington (state)

• Official website