Camas School District Earns Sixth Consecutive Clean Audit

The Washington State Auditor's Office issued the Camas School District a clean audit report for the sixth consecutive year. We are audited every year on both state and federal programs. The auditors spend about three weeks in the district studying files, financial reports, contracts, compliance with open meeting laws and many other areas that relate to the use of public resources.

The Camas School District goes to extraordinary lengths to guarantee compliance with state laws and regulations and our own policies and procedures. I am confident we have the staff expertise and the internal controls in place to safeguard our public assets.

Camas Schools in the News

Over the past couple weeks several articles have appeared in the Camas Post Record and the Columbian newspapers featuring Camas schools. One of the articles highlighted learning opportunities provided for our students because of the amazing support from the Camas community. Funding provided by the Camas Education Foundation, PTA's, as well as business and private donations, provided elementary students at Helen Baller and Prune Hill the unique opportunity to host an artist-in-residence. Students at Baller worked on tiles that will become a permanent fixture at the new Helen Baller scheduled to open this fall. At Prune Hill the young artists were taught how to paint with acrylics. The Penguins finished projects will become part of a collage that will be auctioned off at the Camas Education Foundation auction this fall.



The Annual Camas Mother's Day Plant and Garden Fair will be held on May 9th in beautiful downtown Camas. If you are looking for a little exercise before the Plant Fair and also want to support a good cause, come down to Doc Harris Stadium Saturday morning at 7:30 and take part in the Romp Around the Lake. The"Romp" is being organized by three Camas seniors as part of their Senior Project. There is a ten dollar entry fee and all proceeds will go to the O Ambassador and Free the Children Foundations to help build a school in East Africa. I hope to see you there!

Science Olympiad Team Places Third at State

I had the opportunity to attend the State Science Olympiad competition held at Clark College last Saturday. The team, which is just in its third year, did a tremendous job and, for the second year in a row, took home the third place trophy. Several of our talented students took home first place medals and only 15 points separated the top three teams. Camas High School teacher and Science Olympiad coach Ron Wright has done an outstanding job building the program. In addition to the team from CHS, this year students at our elementary schools and middle schools fielded Science Olympiad teams. Liberty Middle School also qualified for the state competition and took home several medals.

Our FIRST Robotics team also had another outstanding year finishing just points away from qualifying for Nationals. I was able to attend one of their competitions in Portland and the enthusisam and excitement at these events is electric. One of the reasons both of these programs are successful is because of the many parent and community volunteers that give their time and talent for our students.

An opportunity for you to talk to the school board about budget priorities

With the state facing an anticipated 8 billion dollar deficit school districts around the state, including the Camas School District are facing budget reductions. The Camas School Board is very interested in receiving your input on budget priorities. You will have two opportunities to speak directly to the Board about the budget reductions. Wednesday, April 22 the Board will host a listening post meeting at the Camas Public Library meeting room beginning at 10:00 AM. A second listening post forum will be held Thursday evening at the Camas High School Commons beginning at 7:00 PM. At both forums you will learn more about the budget situation in our state and the Camas School District. Board members will be positioned around the room to take your input about budget priorities. Camas School District staff will also be available to answer any questions you may have. For more information about budget development please visit our web-site here.

Welcome to my blog!

The purpose of this blog is to provide timely updates on a variety of issues relating to schools here in Camas. Additionally, I’ll share my experiences in the classroom, on the fields, in the community, and those related to all of the day-to-day operations of the district which enhance opportunities for our students.
I plan to post information on at least a weekly basis, but possibly more frequently. Feel free to send me your thoughts on issues you would like to me to address. My email address is mike.nerland@camas.wednet.edu.