Othello to fold Desert Oasis students into OHS, create 'Husky Hub' and success teams to reduce dropouts

The Othello School District presented a transition plan to integrate Desert Oasis High School students and programs into Othello High School for next year and to expand targeted student supports through a newly named "Husky Hub." The hub is planned for the district’s technology building near the tennis courts and will host staff and services to support students with short- and long-term needs.

Josh Tovar, principal of Desert Oasis High School, said the presentation would be DOHS’s last in its current standalone form and thanked former staff and community partners for the program’s history. "This is our last presentation for Desert Oasis High School. And I have the privilege of being the principal at this school," Tovar said during the meeting.

Administrators described three core aims for the integrated model: strengthen relational trust and student support; align services so interventions match student need; and make students’ status visible across attendance, behavior and academics. Staff proposed weekly "success team" meetings that include counselors, administrators, an ESD student assistance professional, school psychologist, career partners and partner agencies such as SkillSource to triage students in "green/yellow/red" buckets and assign supports earlier than the end of grading windows.

The Husky Hub will provide alternative scheduling and a supervised learning space for students who struggle with a full school day, brief suspensions or short-term crises. District leaders said the hub will host staff to provide on‑site instruction and counseling so students can continue course work while receiving supports. Administrators also said current DOHS students will be "grandfathered" into DOHS graduation requirements if needed, and that credit alignment and online/digital programs (Edgenuity, Odysseyware) will continue to be offered as options.

Principal Kat Atchison described visits to Sunnyside High School to study a similar model and said Sunnyside’s practices influenced the hub and success-team design. The district plans to take students to Sunnyside for further learning and to finalize the first 45 days plan for integrating DOHS students. Board members asked whether a combined graduation ceremony would proceed; administrators said the decision was pending but that combining ceremonies would both recognize all district graduates and reduce duplicative family expense.

Administrators emphasized that the hub and success teams are district-wide supports, not a program only for DOHS students. "This is going to meet the needs of all students," an administrator said, noting the model will be used to identify and intervene for students across the high school population.