Like we could actually we could do a 2% raise and everything else that has been costed out with the exception of the EL student ratio change. those that is the only thing in conflict like you know you can either have a race or you can have that basically with the numbers um even the ones today that we added. Yeah. Um it just I I'm not including anything that doesn't have a number next to it right now. So there are some things that would cost money but I don't know how much money those would cost and no one is here to tell us how much money they would cost. So I have no idea how we would make a decision about that. Right. So for example, um like the sped case manager stuff, the internal advancement stuff. [Music] Okay, then it would not cost money, right?
I'd like one. Thank you. Yeah. So we could do a 2% raise for 600 and we could do the sub thing, right, for 30. Um and that would Oh, well. Um thank you for Wait a minute, Daniel. Wait a minute. I just want to have everyone then Ivon. We have $200,000 for compression. So then that would be the longevity stuff. And then also the recommendations. Um the longevity we just have to change the percentage. I just I I just don't want to lose goal of the money that we have and I just want to make sure that everybody's on the same page um when they hear numbers. So I I mean if I um if I think like what would get us the most done the quickest, I think we should talk about the EL ratio change. If people like that and we go for it, that takes a huge chunk of money off our our plate.
And then if people don't like that, then the next thing we talk about is raises, right? And then we just pick a number for raises. And then whatever we decide takes money off our plate and then we have less and less to talk about, right? With every decision we make. So we can just go down the list in terms of spending. Start with the biggest ticket items that'll have the most impact. Okay. Um, go ahead, Eve. You're here. Use mine. Do we need to vote on that or are we going to Okay, we're having a conversation. We're ready to have a conversation. Yes. Okay. Um, so I I want everybody to hear this loud and clear. I do think that class size matters. I do think that um our EL students need to take priority. However, I did my own little study on class size with math achievement and in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade and there's not a statistically relevant correlation right now.
So without having that information and data about our EL students, I'm not sure that investing in that is the way to go this year. I think it's something that we should continue to collect data on and see if it's as effective as we want it to be. Um, so I would recommend tableabling that, not taking it away, just tableabling it until we have more specific data to support that, especially because it is a cost at a time that we have very limited resources. Um, oh, okay. So, um, and I totally get that and I've done and read a ton of research as well. And I think it could be twofold and I I respectfully disagree because I think it also um speaks to just class size in general because of our demographics and it's kind of a workaround to try and reduce some of the class sizes because we also are including sped in there as well and what or that one isn't sped.
I can't remember. Okay. Um but just in general looking at our you know when we look at research studies unfortunately many are not targeted with our demographic often and so just in testing what I'm seeing is the lack of language development in all of our kiddos and I feel if we had smaller classes um and you know every anyone who knows when I came here ELLL was like 100% I felt that Kraton was not doing what it needed to do. I still stand by that with our ELLL students and so I think I I would like to still keep this as an option for this year. Um yeah, I'm on the stack. I was going to say that I think I agree with tableabling it, but for different reasons. Um I disagree entirely that class size is not um a contributing factor. And I mean you said it yourself, you looked at research for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade.
The recommendation is not for that. Uh the recommendation is basically if you have like looking at our schools and the proportion of students they have. Our schools with the most eelss um are going to be the schools that are most strained for resources because when a student comes in and doesn't um have like English proficiency um not only do they have higher needs via like the actual EL support, right? But you're also going to see an increase in behavior. You're going to see an increase in need for like social emotional um stuff that goes in with like EL students, right? If you have kids who feel alienated or isolated because they're not speaking the same language as their teachers. It's harder for them to form connections with their teachers, those schools um need more resources and support. Um and so like those schools like this cost out would get our district five extra teachers and presumably those teachers would go to the five schools that have the most EL students, right?
And then it would be up to those sites to determine how to use those teachers. And so, for example, it might be that um like Otis was saying, like a school gets an extra kindergarten teacher. It's not necessarily that they're going to do um smaller class sizes or like in the upper grades or they they would necessarily need to do ELD pullout. It could it's just that that school is going to have more resources to um because they have more EL students who are going to have like higher needs. Um, in regards to like why I think of tableling it is because um, you know, I think I spoke earlier that like I think at a $500,000 ticket, I think it's just too expensive this year to pursue. Um, because it would basically mean that we can't afford a raise. Um, and I think that we would have five new positions and then we wouldn't have anyone to fill them because we're not competing with school districts near near us, right?
And so it won't actually be successful in getting staff for our schools in my opinion. Um, if we had more money to spend, I would be in full support of keeping this and implementing it. I honestly don't feel like it I think that we should move forward with it, but also don't think that money should come out of the available dollars for raises. The district made a commitment to DSHG, ABCD um goals. I honestly feel like that we need these five additional teachers in the district because we're getting kids who are coming over, you know, past the third grade and they're coming after reading intervention is available for them. So, what happens to the sixth graders who come in who don't speak English, who's not reading in English, who's teaching them those things? We need pull out teachers for the older kids for SEI but with a reading group focus.
And I don't feel like it should come out of our available funds for raises. I think if the district's making a commitment to s the ABCs the ABCs then it should be something that the district find additional funds. Okay. isn't it? Um, so I just wanted to add something to that as well. This current year we had applied for an SEI grant and we were able to um use that grant to provide additional SEI teachers at some of the sites. We are in intending on applying for that grant again. Um, I'm confident in our grants department that we would be able to get it. We never know. But that would be one way to offset uh chabling this option for this year. That's what I was going to um mention too was at the last board meeting um in addition to reacting to the word fear, there was also a lot of information provided by CIA about a new coaching model that's going to actually provide additional coaches also in the area.
So they're like doubling the number of coaches so that there'll be coaches for literacy and coaches for language instruction and there's more professional development being planned. Like I think that the the board and the district CINA department have a pulse on this and have plans moving forward to support this population. I agree that this population needs more support, but I think there's already some funds set aside to specifically support SOFG goals and this is one of them that's getting extra money, extra coaching. So, you know, I I don't think it's a this or nothing for those students. So um so the um I I I do understand some of the uh the approaches and things that uh district is coming up to address this in terms of professional development. I have my own reservations about that uh mostly because the people that apply for those positions are good teachers and it takes good teachers out of the classroom.
So, um, it it solves one problem, but it creates another. And I I feel like the spirit of this is anytime, and and this is a personal thing, anytime you have a decision about having the most effect on a child's academic success, it's you want to get as close to that kid as possible, which means teachers in the classroom. And the further away you get, the less effective, in my opinion, you can be. Um, there's that piece and then the other piece. Um, I know that she mentioned the grant. Um, uh, and I don't know what's going on, but I did not hear that message that there was confidence in that being, uh, in that grant happening. Um, I I've we are actually making plans right now with the assumption that those positions are not going to exist next year. So, but you may have more information than I do.
Um, well, it seems like we're divided on that. So, I was going to say it seems like Well, it seems like we should just vote, right? I I I just want to say two comments. Uh, the district, whether it's a department or a school, we're all the district. So, don't detach yourself in your comments saying somebody else is going to, it's us, all of us. So I just want that cohesiveness to leave in this group because that's the reality in the in in the district. We're all the district. Number two, I really want to caution for many many reasons, political reasons, um for facts, the unknown fear for all of those for this sales of the buns that we're gonna do all of those things. Let's stick to the money that we have, which is the 750 plus the 200 of compression. That's just not even going to carry forward.
The money is for the kids. It's not interesting the bank account for the adults. and if we're committed to seeing, you know, our students improve. Um, I was saying that the money was never meant to just sit in the account. The money was given to us to educate kids. And so, if we are really serious about helping our ELDs, which is our largest demographic, I think the money should come out of Carrie for it. I don't I don't think it should be one or the other when it comes to raises or supporting students. If we're committed and sof I don't remember the acronym S OG oh S oh yeah I think it should come out of carry for it. I don't think it should be either or. Um, can I just say just um we have 18 items that require money. Last year what we did is we didn't have 18, but we tallied and I think I kind of think that's where I'd like to go just to see where we're at and take a break.
What do you mean by we tallied? So we'll list like right you mean or I know what you mean by tally. Tally and then wait. And I just want to see what we would come up with by doing that. So an example, you mean like prioritize? We did. We did rank choice voting. Yeah. Yeah. Just to see what where we're at. Some of these we might not. Okay. So we would do like okay so number three requires money. Okay. So someone would come up here and you would rank on one to four. Like is number three your highest? And you can only select four. Okay. We're only going to select four. I just want to see where we're at. And then um if you look at your paper number seven is also one that requires money and that's what I'd like to do just to see but the thing is we don't know how much money for some for many for about half of them we don't know how much money and I feel like we're disregarding all the ones that we don't have the amount for in lie of just looking at the ones that we do have the amount.
Is that is that really what we want to do? Like I'm I'm uncomfortable with the process we're following right now. I get where you're coming from, but then I'm thinking what Daniel just said. This is our last meeting. We don't we don't have is it I mean contracts. Well, yeah. This this is our last meeting before contracts are due. Yeah. So that's the problem we're running into for all of these just it could be non contracts are due. So, so I was going to say the only the only like okay if we I'm going to say let's say imagine we thumb a 2% raise the only thing that that takes off the table like really is the the E stuff right so if we're ready to move on from the E ratio change that means we can then thumb a raise and then we can do all the non-financial options and we can move into our next meeting with reviewing the finances for all the remaining options yeah I was just going to remind us that the board direction was very clear about staying to the recommended budget.
Um, so that's something else that you want to keep in mind as we're having the conversation. So if you start to use the idea of carry forward as a possible solution, I I just wanted to remind you that that's not the direction of the board. So yeah, I think what Ariel was saying is that we as this committee should prioritize what we have with our money and that this is a good idea that the board could take up and spend money on of their own valition. Sure. Yeah, I get that. Okay. So going back, we'll do a consensus vote to Daniel's suggestion about agreeing on the 2% raise, right? and not doing the ELLL money. Uh, where are we okay with that? Are we thumbming arrays right now? Are we thumbming the idea of talking about a raise? Well, it would help if we had money for each of these items, but we don't.
So, um, all right. All right, here's what we'll I motion we open discussion for option 13. Can I get a second, Kelly? Can I second? Wow. All those in favor? Okay. Option 13 is all district employees receive a 2% increase.
Does anyone have any discussion they'd like to add on this topic? Option 13, all district employees receive a 2% increase. This is our biggest budget item, $656,489. That would leave us with about a 100,000 minus 4 to do um any remaining financial options not related to compression. And it again we have a lot of options that don't have a financial cost. We have some that do. The only one that this would completely take off the table that we are aware of right now is um the EL support. um less I don't know what's on the thing 102 there's a in the folder M andC 1% has all that information so I'm just asking if you had a 1% raise would that fund the ELLL no 1.5 N Okay, go ahead. You do a point. So, it feels like the discussion is in between like we're voting on either thumbming up 12, option 12 or option 13, right?
So, Dorothy, since you put option 13 on the table, do you want to tell a story about it? And then Oh, rationale. Rational is probably better than story. Yes, it's not a story, but go ahead. Just what your reasons would be. Oh, so my reasons for preferring 13 over 12 have to do with um some of what Ivonne's talked about in terms of not having a divisive um recommendation going forward to the board and feeling like the percentage is very low right now. And it to me it is divisive to try and wrestle between you're worthy of a 2% but you're only worthy of a 1% and you're worthy of a.5. And I know that's not what we mean when we tear the raises because it's really about knowing that a 2% raise for someone who makes $150,000 is a lot more money than a 2% raise for someone who makes $60,000.
I know that's our intent. I don't know that that's how it's received by most people who aren't in the room and don't understand that we're looking at well there's a there's a shortage in this position there's not a shortage in this position I understand all those nuances but I worry about the messaging that goes out to the rest of the people um that are watching and that are paying attention and how they feel as well as the message to the board because to me like I could care less if we get this 2% raise or not. I'll just drive a few more hours at night in order to make up the difference for my second job. But I I want us to be able to recruit new employees in every area. And if all of the surrounding districts, and yes, I know that they're different from us and we are unique.