Battle Ground School District appoints Toby Wynne as student representative; names Daniel Vargas alternate

The Battle Ground School District Board of Directors on Tuesday appointed Toby Wynne as the district's student board representative, effective July 1, 2025, and selected Daniel Vargas as the alternate pending Vargas’s acceptance, the board said at a special meeting to interview candidates.

The appointment followed a round of interviews with six student candidates and a short executive-session interval. The board voted 4-0 to approve the recommendation.

Board members interviewed six candidates for the student representative position during the special meeting, asking about applicants’ leadership experience, how they would gather and present student voice, and their availability for meetings and district events. The candidates who spoke during the public portion included Daniel Vargas, Nailaiah, Dinaya, Alexis, Angelia, Skyler and Toby; several described leadership roles in extracurriculars and said they would use surveys, school visits and conversations with peers to gather student input.

Julia, the district’s senior student representative who participated in the interviews, described the student role as advisory: “we're not fixing the issues. We're not, you know, we don't have an elected vote. So we're not voting yes or no and it doesn't count, but we have an advisory vote,” she said, emphasizing that student representatives bring classroom and peer perspectives that the board does not directly see.

The board’s recommendation to appoint Wynne and to name Vargas as alternate was presented during the meeting; the motion was approved by voice vote, recorded as passing 4 to 0. The motion specified an effective date of 07/01/2025 for the appointed representative and noted the alternate designation for Vargas was pending his acceptance.

Earlier in the meeting the board entered an executive session citing RCW 42.30.110; the public portion resumed and the board completed interviews and the appointment vote. Board members also outlined expectations for the student representative position, including attending regular 6 p.m. meetings on the second and fourth Mondays, occasional daytime school tours, work sessions that may begin at 4 p.m. on the fourth Monday, reviewing agenda materials in BoardDocs, and attending the three-day Washington State School Directors Association annual conference in November (travel and lodging provided by the district).

The student representative provides an advisory (nonbinding) vote on board business and is expected to represent students across the district, which current student speakers described as roughly 12,000 students. The board requested the candidates be prepared to attend meetings, review agendas and reach out to peers to collect input for advisory votes and discussion.