Ashland School Board members to talk about possibility of police officer returning to campus
By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news
Incoming Superintendent Joseph Hattrick plans to address Ashland School Board members and the community in person at Thursday’s board meeting.
School Board members unanimously selected Hattrick, 46, for the school district top job in February, but he will officially start in his new role on July 1. Hattrick, of Longview, Washington, is currently superintendent of the school district in Rainier, Oregon. It will be Hattrick’s fifth visit to the area since being selected by the board.
Hattrick has served as a teacher, social worker, principal, and superintendent of public, private and online schools in Washington and Arizona school districts, in addition to Oregon.
Ashland.news caught up with Hattrick by phone on Tuesday afternoon ahead of his visit.
He said he plans to update the school board and the local community on his most recent visits to the area in March, which included a tour of the district given by outgoing Superintendent Samuel Bogdanove.
“This trip starts a series of three trips every three weeks leading up to the move (in mid-June),” Hattrick told Ashland.news, noting he and his partner are looking for a place to live.
He noted his philosophy and his approach to his new role will revolve around building relationships in the community.
“I’m a big fan of developing relationships early on, I don’t want to wait until July 1. I want to hit the ground running,” Hattrick said.
Leading up to his interview for the job, Hattrick said he met with 18 community members and leaders.
More info
The Ashland School District board meets at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 11, in the Ashland City Council chamber at 1175 East Main St., Ashland.
To see the meeting agenda, click here.
“I work for the community and I want to make sure that the work that I am doing is going to be reflective of what the community and the board want, as well as the staff,” he said.
During his visit, Hattrick is also scheduled to be at the Ashland Food Co-op, 237 North First St., at 4 p.m. Friday for an Ashland Schools Foundation fundraiser.
Samuel Bogdanove is retiring from the school district on June 30.
School board to hear presentation regarding possibility of district SRO
School board members will also hear a presentation about the possibility for a school resource officer (SRO) to return to the school district.
Student leadership at Ashland High School has been spearheading an effort to bring a fulltime SRO back to school campuses in Ashland. There hasn’t been an officer on campus in the dedicated role since 2015, according to Dan Moulin, deputy chief at Ashland Police Department.
No action is anticipated to be taken on Thursday, according to School Board Chair Rebecca Dyson.
The potential position at this time would be funded 100% by the Ashland Police Department, according to Moulin.
“We want to make sure that both students and families are comfortable with this decision,” Dyson said. “It seems like it will move forward unless the board specifically says no.
“No. 1, I support what our students and families want … and so, if they feel like this is something that will better support our community, then absolutely.”
Dyson said what the board really wants is to find the right fit, if that’s the direction the board decides.
“The whole point is to really build a solid relationship between an individual and our student body,” she said. “We want to be very mindful that we are not targeting certain populations, that this is really supporting all of our students and won’t be seen as disciplinary against one subset of students.”
Reach Ashland.news staff reporter Holly Dillemuth at hollyd@ashland.news.
