Pasco teachers, students left with unfinished ceramics after fire marshal halts kiln use

Board President Amanda Brown heard multiple public comments Wednesday detailing the sudden closure of school kilns after a Pasco Fire Marshal review, leaving students’ ceramic projects uncompleted and teachers seeking a clear plan to bring equipment back into service.

The issue matters because ceramics instruction involves multi-week projects that students often keep as mementos; teachers and union leaders said the shutdown affects final grading, student morale and the practical completion of coursework.

Trevor Dunston, who identified himself as a Pasco parent, district teacher and vice president of the Pasco Association of Educators, told the board he was “saddened for a recent loss the district has taken to the arts department” and asked what the district’s plan is “to try to get those kilns back up to code in those buildings.”

Crystal Luttrell, identified in public comment as the ceramics teacher at Chiawana High School, told the board a district staff member and the Pasco Fire Marshal recently inspected her kiln room and instructed her to…