001We'll get started here momentarily. We're going to get Director Alvarez online, and we'll get started. All right. We're going to get started here. Thank you so much for patiently waiting. Welcome to our regular School Board meeting. Today is Wednesday, March 4. Can we all please stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance? And roll call, please. Director Espinoza? Here. Director Tidholm? Present. Director Holien? Present. President Van? Here. Vice President Alvarez will be joining us here momentarily. And to my left is Dr. Duran, our Superintendent. Any changes or additions to our Board meeting agenda this evening? And seeing none, we're going to kick it right off to our appreciation and acknowledgments this evening. We have three great ones. The first one is Read Across America. Can I please have Dawn Lindgren come on up? She's our librarian
002from Cascade. And any of the other librarians, come on up. Director Holien's going to read something here. Hey, Dawn. Thank you for being here. Whereas the citizens of Highline Public Schools stand firmly committed to promoting reading as a catalyst for students' future academic success, their preparation for America's job of the future, and their ability to compete in a global economy, and whereas Highline Public Schools has provided significant leadership in the area of community involvement in the education of our youth, grounded in the principle that educational investment is key to the community's wellbeing and long-term quality of life, and whereas National Education Association's Read Across America, a national celebration of reading on March 2, 2026, promotes reading and adult involvement in the education of our community students. Now, therefore, the Board and Superintendent of Highline Public
003Schools call on the citizens of Highline Public Schools to assure that every child is in a safe place, reading together with a caring adult. And be it further resolved that the district enthusiastically endorses National Education Association's Read Across America and recommits our community to engage in programs and activities to make America's children the best readers in the world. Thank you. I'm Dawn Lindgren from Cascade Middle School. This is Sarah Gasamis from Shorewood Elementary School. We just want to Thank you, Dr. Duran, School Board members, for recognizing Read Across America. As educators, we all know how important developing strong reading skills is to fostering academic success. And we also know that reading is ultimately about more than just academics. Helping our students become lifelong readers also supports their future in various ways. One, reading supports better
004mental health. Did you know that reading just six minutes a day can reduce stress up to 60%? In these stressful times, reading offers simple yet effective way to alleviate daily pressures. Two, reading, especially fiction, enhances our ability to empathize with others. Wouldn't you agree that everyone could benefit from a little bit of empathy today? Three, reading sharpens minds, improves memories, and increases attention span. In this era of TikTok videos and social media reels, it's vital to remind students, and maybe even ourselves, the value of sustained reading. School librarians recognize these benefits and are passionate advocates for fostering a culture of reading in our schools and instilling a love of reading in our students. We relish engaging with students over books, whether through book talks, reading contests, book tastings, or storytime. There's much joy in discussing
005all things literary and handing the right-- sorry, and handing the right book to the right student at the right time. We deeply appreciate your continued support for libraries, which demonstrates that investing in the reading lives of our students is of utmost importance. Thank you so much. Can you come on up for a picture, please? Our next acknowledgment is Social Workers Week. Can I please have Val Allan, our Director of Social Services, come on up? And Director Tidholm will read something. Whereas school social workers in Highline Public Schools and across the nation serve as vital members of the educational team, playing a central role in creating a positive school climate and partnerships between the home, school, and community, to ensure students' academic success, and whereas school social workers support the educational, social, and emotional development of
006all students by decreasing the impact of barriers to academic success, and whereas school social workers participate in the development of global citizens by promoting skills for a lifetime and lifelong learning, and whereas school social workers provide interventions to address challenges, such as mental health, behavioral difficulties, disabilities, crisises or crisis response, poverty, bullying, abuse, grief, addiction, et cetera to enable students to achieve academic goals, and whereas, school social workers provide staff development, training, and consultation to school staff and family members on topics impacting students' ability to learn, and whereas, school social workers assist families and accessing resources to improve their circumstances and their readiness to learn foundation for their children, and whereas it is fitting that school social workers be recognized for the important role they play in the lives and education of students and their
007families. Now, therefore, the Board and Superintendent of Highline Public Schools do hereby proclaim the March 2 to 6, 2026, is National School Social Work Week in Highline and urge citizens to join us in honoring and recognizing the dedication and hard work of all school social workers. So I am honored to help support a dynamic group of student staff. Some of them are directly hired school social workers, and other ones are MSWs performing other roles. And so I would like to announce-- can they come up to the-- So we have Anne Marie Littleton, who supports Innovation Heights Academy. Who's lined up? We have Jana, whose part supports the Special Education EBC Program. And then we have Nancy Trang, who supports Cascade, Lauren Tran, who's also at Cascade, and Tessa Kotowski and her almost baby-- second baby.
008So thank you. You guys get to go up take a picture. Come on up for a picture, please. And our last recognition is Education Support Professionals Week. We're going to have Sean Morrow come on up. He's our Director of Human Resources. OK. So whereas education support professionals are involved in nearly every aspect of education, maintaining buildings and grounds, preparing and serving meals, keeping school facilities clean and orderly, assisting in the classroom, providing information technology services, administrative functions, safe transportation, a secure and healthy environment, and many other services, and whereas these individuals deserve the recognition and thanks for the outstanding work they are doing in their communities and for the children enrolled in Highline Public Schools, and whereas there are 1,353 education support professionals working with and helping children enrolled in Highline Schools, and whereas education
009support professionals are instrumental in fulfilling the district's paramount duty to prepare all students for the future they choose, and whereas, by supporting the learning environment, education support professionals are crucial partners with teachers, parents, and administrators in our Public Schools. Now, therefore, the Board and Superintendent of Highline Public Schools do hereby proclaim March 9 through the 13th, 2026, as Education Support Professionals Week in Highline. And we urge all citizens to join us in honoring the dedication and hard work of all education support professionals. Thank you. Can you folks come up, those who are here to be recognized? Brett Conley, Ellen, Emily. So thank you, Director Van, the Board, Dr. Espinoza, for recognizing these folks, who I have an opportunity to support every day. It's a privilege to support them. Until I started working in the public
010school systems, I didn't realize how much went into educating students. It starts every day with a safe bus. Brett, as a mechanic, makes sure that the bus is rolling down the road is safe. Conley Pells And Vicki-- sorry, Vicki Bender are the ones navigating the streets of our cities, picking up the students, making sure they're getting dropped off safe, where they're showing up to a clean and healthy work environment because of Emily Mansella and-- sorry, Ellen Tester, Evergreen High School and PSSC, respectively. And then while they're at school learning, they're being protected by Deon Jackson and Ross Matheson of Safety and Security, who are making sure those who are coming into our schools belong there. Our students are being safe and protected. And that's not to mention the hundreds of other people-- the Nutrition Services,
011office staff, paraeducators, Nutrition Services, I said. So anyway, thank you for letting me introduce you to the Board and recognizing you during this week. It's well earned. Thank you so much, Sean. Can we have you guys come on up, please? Dr. Alvarez, can you hear us? Send this to Melissa. You're currently muted, Director Alvarez, if you can hear us. Yes, we heard you. One more time? Hello, Director Van. Thank you. All right. Looks like Director Alvarez is joining us this evening. Thank you so much. With that, that concludes our recognitions for this evening. I'll move on to our superintendent's updates/reports. Yeah. Thank you, President Van. Yeah, thank you, everyone for being here tonight. And I'm going to keep my opening really short this evening because I have a number of comments that will be shared
012this evening under my update. So I'd first like to start by inviting Jeb Binns, our Highline Education Association President, to come to the podium to share a few remarks. Welcome, Jeb. Good to see you. Thank you. And welcome to what we educators call the Long March, the seemingly unending weeks prior to Spring Break. So it begins. I, too, am going to be super brief tonight. I want to start with a thank you. We have, for probably the last 10 years, been trying to change the title of one of the forms, 5270, around this idea that it's about a non-represented grievance. And then it's like, wait. It's actually a complaint, which a grievance technically in the dictionary is. But in my world, a grievance is a contract violation. And in this case, this is a complaint
013form when you have something that is extra contract. So it goes through there. So we've changed most of it. So I'm excited about that, except for it still says, "non-represented employees. And the only way that all employees can file a complaint is going through there. So we're almost there. So we can continue to the good work and change it all the way. We'll be super excited. And my UniServ director said she's been trying and plugging away, trying to make this change for 15 years. So we're really close. We've made a lot of progress this year. So let's bring it all the way home because that would be great. Another thing that I want to bring up-- and I've mentioned it in other leadership circles-- is some concerns that my members are having around Thursday PLNs.
014It is a day when all administrators-- it's a day when all administrators are out of the building. And so then it puts great stress and tax on systems. And from that, we have a system. And I want to recognize all of the admin designees and appreciate them for their hard work. But the wheels fall off the bus when the admin designee happens to be out sick because the flu that's come through and rocked us recently that's out there. And so some sort of a change to go through to either make it so that not every administrator is out on Thursday, or maybe half the team, or stagger it somehow, or change the date because you might see a spike in things going on at schools on Thursdays, and it might be a really positive thing.
015So it's been something that's been coming to all of our HA leadership. And it came again on Monday. I feel compelled to talk about it to ask you to think about that, especially as we go into planning for next year, as we can potentially make some changes that will make some folks' lives a little bit better. And with that, thanks a lot. Appreciate it. Wonderful. Thank you, Jeb. All right, I would now like to invite Kisa Hendrickson, our Assistant Superintendent Student Support to the podium to introduce Sara Marie Ortiz and Lolita O'Donnell to share an update on Native Education tonight. Welcome, Kisa. Good evening, President Van, Vice President Tidholm, Board Directors, and Dr. Duran. I am so very excited to be here to share an update, or for the team to share an update with
016you around our Native Education Program work. And so joining us this evening will be Sarah Marie Ortiz, our Native Education Program Manager, Lolita O'Donnell, our Director of Family and Community Partnerships, and unfortunately, John Reamer was not able to join us tonight, but Sara Marie will be his proxy this evening. There we go. OK. You are probably very familiar with our land and people's acknowledgment, which you can read here. But rather than read it this evening, I just want to share with you a practice that many of us in Highline have instituted, really, around bringing it alive and making it a real thing, really understanding where we are in space, how we're connected to the original-- the first peoples of this space, and what we can learn, both from what has happened in the past, but
017also what is happening present day. And so I just want to invite you to, when you read it, be thinking about ways that you can engage in that practice. And if you are interested, we're always happy to share ways in which we do that. And like most people in Highline, we root our work in our Highline Promise. And I just, to my core, believe that the work of Native Education is so deeply rooted in knowing our students by name, strength, and need, so they are prepared for the future they choose. And you will see that reflected this evening as well as our strategic plan goals. Again, the work of Native Education really touches on all four of our strategic plan goals. And you will hear that more in depth this evening as Sara Marie talks.
018And with that, I'm passing it over. [SPEAKING MUCKLESHOOT] That's how you say, "Hello. How are you?" in the language of this land, Lushootseed Muckleshoot language and, also, my Tribal language. It's so good to share space with you esteemed leaders. And just thank you so much for letting us share tonight. I am an enrolled citizen in Pueblo of Acoma. I've served in this capacity as Native Education Manager for a long time-- feels like a long time, since 2013. And it's been my privilege and honor to do so. And I just have appreciated spaces like this, where we're able to share and celebrate our students and families and all the good work that our Native Education program does. So what you're seeing here are but a few of our Native Education priorities, definitely not an exhaustive list
019because we have big work to do every single school year, but we did want to touch on some major highlights. Compliance is always top of our mind, always a priority, especially in making sure that we meet all of those big, important state and federal requirements and guidelines of which there are more than ever, which is a testament to the power and importance of Tribal sovereignty. We are preparing for Tribal consultation, which is coming up in April. I'll share a little bit more about that before the end of my time. But it's all connected to our substantial amount of title funding and the fact that we remain in good relationship with our Tribal partners there at Muckleshoot Indian Tribe is of primacy. And we are continuing to hold ourselves accountable to our state mandate to implement
020the Washington State John McCoy, lulilas, Since Time Immemorial Tribal Sovereignty Curriculum. And we have some great updates to share about our progress last year and this year and our ongoing commitment. And then we wanted to share-- and I'm so sad that my co-pilot, my Lieutenant, my side-by-side Native Education Literacy Culture and Specialist, John Reamer of both Makah and Lakota descent-- he's not able to be with us this evening. But he is very much here with us in spirit. The work that he leads, it's a pretty big scope of work. And so we did want to share some of the good, wonderful work that he does in direct student support across multiple schools. And so I'll touch on just a few high-level points. A shout out to our Since Time Immemorial Tribal Sovereignty leadership team. We
021are regarded as a leader in Washington State and Highline. The fact that we set the bar very high and that we have a leadership team composed of our top-- some of our senior-most leaders, directors of secondary elementary, members of cabinet, and the list goes on and on. But Bernard Koontz, who was also showed up in the space as a tremendous leader, has pushed forward some pretty big priorities for us for the Tribal Sovereignty Curriculum implementation. Once again, it is mandated. It is a requirement across local education agencies in Washington State. And it's a special thing for us to be at the top of the list and the top of people's minds when it comes to our implementation efforts. Last year, we set the bar very high in making sure that all of our secondary teachers
022had some really meaningful exposure to the Since Time Immemorial content, and the reporting requirements were put in place for those teachers. This year, elementary has been a priority, and we are proud to report that there will be a report that's required and will be available publicly in June of this year. And we're always proud to celebrate our relationship with Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. And in the course of consultation, but also beyond that, we make sure that we're continuing to tell the story of our implementation journey and that they know that not only are we accountable to them and we are accountable to our community, we are absolutely in compliance and making sure that we're implementing this curriculum with fidelity and authenticity, but that we are also holding ourselves accountable, that we are making sure that we're
023continually setting the bar higher to make sure that our teachers have the resources that they need and that we're constantly in relationship with our community, with our staff, and with our Tribal partners in doing that implementation work with Fidelity. And I'm going to do my very best. I'm still very much a learner leader myself. This is in the Muckleshoot language. [SPEAKING MUCKLESOHOOT] is the language of this land, and we're so proud to be able to work in partnership with them. Most of you have seen signage throughout the entire district. We were very lucky to be able to receive a Tribal language grant from OSPI and work with Muckleshoot Language Department. So I'm going to get as close as I can. It's [SPEAKING MUCKLESHOOT], which means working together. And it very much is at the heart
024of our Highline Promise as well. So it's perfect that there's that alignment that nothing we do is out of relationship without each other, our families, our students, and also being in good relationship with the land itself. That flows directly into the-- it is a federal requirement that we have to meet annually connected to our millions of dollars of tidal funds, where we do have to be in good relationship. We do have to hold ourselves accountable to those responsibilities, many of them based in treaties, which precede so much of what we know as our now and the election process and all of that. We still are beholden to promises that were made to our sovereign tribal nations in the United States and here in Washington State. And so this consultation requirement flows directly from that. We
025have many American Indian and Alaska Native students, even though our data of just our Title VI students that are technically enrolled in the program and then students who are cross-qualified after taking the WIDA, the language assessment, we know that our numbers are actually much higher, that we have descendants and enrolled members from American Indian and Alaska Native communities all across the nation. The requirements that I will go through very quickly-- and you did receive some pre-materials.. So if there are any questions that I can field about the technical requirements around consultation, I am happy to do that. But the main requirements, let's start with the purpose. If you want to take it back real quickly, I'll just read that really quickly-- is just to make sure that we're doing tribal consultation with fidelity, we're doing
026it in a timely and a meaningful way, in a substantive way, a way that has all parties come to the table where we're talking about how the funding is affecting our Native students and our community at large, but we're also truly tending to the relationship. We're talking about how we're actually in relationship with one another and how, ultimately, we are doing our best to uphold the treaty responsibilities. So the requirement is clear. And you can go to that slide just very quickly with the title just to give you a sense of all, the title funding that's associated with this federal requirement. Particularly pertinent is Title Vi funding and Title III funding, But our work is also funded by Title I as well as basic education. But all of these title funds are directly connected to
027our consultation requirement. Consultation date-- just the details, April 24. It is going to happen on Zoom. We actually encouraged people to gather here in Highline to do the consultation in person, but they declined our offer. It's easier for all of our sister agencies, all of our districts to gather on Zoom, but fingers crossed that we'll actually be able to gather and share a meal, share space very soon. And the bright-line requirement's pretty straightforward. It does have to be substantive. It is meant to be conducted in a timely manner. We only conduct consultation once a year with Muckleshoot. We defer to them. They're the ones who set that precedent, that schedule. Some tribal nations opt to consult as frequently as every other month. Yakama Nation, they do consultation all year round. So it's a mixed bag
028in terms of us meeting with them for this big, big gathering once a year. And it does require-- it is a government-to-government process that's essential. And critical to note is it is elected officials to elected officials, but we show out in a big way in Highline, and we show up with many of our senior-most leaders in addition to our elected officials and Superintendent Duran. And I will shift to the slides that John was supposed to be covering, but it's my honor to do so. I co-wrote, along with Bernard Coons, and a leader, Rachel Klein, who doesn't work in Highline anymore, but we created his position years ago when it didn't exist, where we're able to meet the very specific culturally related needs of our American Indian and Alaska Native students, specifically in the House of
029Literacy and Language Development. And this is funded partially in large part by Title III funding. And that was a supplement that had not ever happened in Highline. So we made early investments in Indian Native Education way back in the '70s. And we continue to do so in the chapter, where I started in the district. And then we've had multiple incredible folks who have served in the capacity of literacy and culture specialist. So I'm going to go very quickly through some of this, and we can definitely share more information. But there are multiple supports that we offer all year round, not just during the main school year, but we go all year round in the summer. Our Native Student Success Summer Academy-- we continue to provide mutual-aid, non-academic resources as well throughout the entire year, 365,
030anything that our students and families may need. And a lot of the work that John leads-- which, I'm so proud of him. He is across middle schools, elementary schools, and high schools, providing culturally grounded literacy support and also providing any resources that teachers may need connected to the implementation of the Tribal Sovereignty curriculum and also meeting some of those non-academic needs of our students, those wraparound supports that we know that they absolutely need and deserve. We also host evening events. Our last one was at Glacier. We taught stick games. We had catering. It was by a Native caterer. It was incredible. And I'll just touch on very quickly the future of Native Education in the district. Visibility is of a top priority. We want to make sure that more people know our story, know how
031deep the history actually goes. they understand the requirements and the technical aspects of our work, but they also feel like it lives in their hearts and their minds. I am going to go very quickly. We have some quotes from some of our students in the district. Andrew Hayward from the great Lummi Nation-- "The Native Education program makes me feel seen. I am not a very social person in general settings, the program allows opportunities for me to feel included, and to meet other people that I normally wouldn't have the chance to meet. I feel seen when I can be myself amongst my peers. I am thankful for the opportunity that the program provides." And those really authentic connections that John makes with students in his schools, that is essential. And I actually took Lita's slides. So
032I'm going to have her read this. She's going to read this quote. That is OK. I just wanted to share the work that John does and the importance. Dr. Duran and I had the opportunity to watch John with a presentation that he did for our students at Hazel Valley. And he shared about his Tribe, the Makah, and the traditions of whaling family and the potlatch in a way that really drew our students in. And at the end, during the Q&A, a young student raised her hand and proudly shared about her powwow tradition. And in that moment, it just said everything. John's presence opened a door for her to feel pride, connection, and recognition. And that really is the power of the work that he does and the work of our Native Education program. Thank you,
033Lita. And just really quickly, because our work really runs a gamut. It really does touch on every single focus area, four pillars of our strategic plan and goals-- innovative learning, culture of belonging, for sure. But we also wanted to-- did you want me to read the quote, or should we move on? OK, I'm going to go ahead and read the quote from our other student from Highland High School-- which, we have a great group of students at Highline assembled this year that love to meet with John. "I think having a Native Education program is important, as it allows native students to connect with each other and build friendships. I enjoy the learning opportunities and the field trips because it allows me to further explore my heritage. One of the things I am proud of is
034sharing Native American foods with my peers." We took a great group from Highline High School to the Food Expo down at the waterfront this year, the beginning of the school year. And it was incredible thinking about food sovereignty and our connection to our land and our traditional foods. So our students get to benefit from those awesome opportunities. There we go. Real, real quick-- so because we do touch on all the four pillars and innovative learning, culture, belonging, but like I mentioned about our language, our Language Project, while we don't have the language grant anymore, the work continues. And a lot of the funding that comes through Title VI and Title III, all flowing from our student enrollment-- we are still able to support resources going to our teachers, going to our families, whether they speak
035Lushootseed, or Lakota, or Tlingit, or Diné, whatever it may be, if there's a resource out there, we will find it, and we will get it to them. And then our Future-Ready goal-- please come to the Highline Native Student Success Summit. It's our 10th annual. We've been doing this for 10 years, so it's our primary, secondary offering. And we are so proud of our partners all across the region, particularly in the Seattle South King County area, who have wrapped their arms around it. We have a dedicated budget from Highline College. And Muckleshoot has donated $15,000 this year to our Highline Native Student Success Summit. And it's all for our school students. But it's not just Highline. It's Kent and Renton. But we really wanted to make sure that our Native students in South King County feel
036seen. OK, I'm going to wrap us up. It gets really exciting to talk about Native Education, and I'm sure that we could stand up here for a much longer time and share more because we're so proud of the program. But I just want to close this by saying, as a Highline leader, I'm continuing to learn every day about what it means to walk alongside our Native students, families, and tribal partners. I'm taking a learning stance in this work because it deserves humility, curiosity, and a commitment to getting better together. Just last week, I had the honor of meeting with Warren King George, the historian for the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. He shared kind words about Highline's partnership with the Tribe, and he spoke with deep respect for the work that Sara Marie and John are leading.
037Hearing that affirmation from someone so deeply rooted in this land and its history was powerful. It underscored the responsibility we have and the progress we're making. Tonight's presentation reflects not only our priorities, but our promise that Native students in Highline are known by name, strength, and need, and that we honor their cultures, languages, and futures. I'm grateful to our team, to our Tribal partner, and to all of you for your support. And with that, we welcome your questions and any reflections that you might have. Thank you so much for that. Directors, any follow-up questions that you'd like to ask? Thank you so much for your presentation and your team's work. So in addition to upholding compliance, I know there are some training Board directors have to do to uphold compliance. Attending the tribal consultation event
038in April, and then there was the other event in May that you showcased. What can we do as Board Directors to support the work? I would recommend that the pre-work materials that I sent along from OSPI-- those are head-and-shoulders above a lot of even the National resources. I am a great resource when it comes to preparing for the actual consultation space. It's kind of like this. It's pretty rushed. We don't have a whole lot of time because all of the districts go back to back. But I would say, all the pre-learning that you can do, particularly meeting those training requirements, those required number of hours. And also, extending beyond that, the state of Washington is great in offering the resources that our board directors across the state need. But there's a lot of independent work
039that can be done to just inform yourself about tribal sovereignty, about the Indigenous history of this land, what the treaties actually say, and the many promises also that haven't been kept at the state level and the federal level. So learning more about that before you enter the consultation spaces is critical. Thank you for that. Director? Thank you for your work. I've been to a number of the different spaces that you've held, and I really appreciate the work that you're doing. It was really empowering to be in that. I really appreciate the work in supporting the students and helping them stay connected and learn more about their cultures. But one thing that you said, I think is really important that a lot of people don't recognize, too, is the visibility-- how important it is, not just
040for our Native students and our Native population to learn about their culture, stay connected to it, but for the greater population to do so, and just to remember that the land that we are standing on belongs to the Native people. And I appreciate you. I appreciate you speaking. I think that's really essential. And that's one of the essential teachings included in the Since Time Immemorial curriculum is that these teachings are not just for the benefit of American Indian and Alaska Native people, local Tribal people. It really is for the great benefit of our whole citizenry in Washington State. It's good to know a fuller history always, always, always. But it also connects us more deeply to this place that we all call home. A lot of people don't know the original place names or even
041Tahoma or [SPEAKING MUCKLESHOOT] of our mother mountain. But to know those things, to know that there were names before the names that we know now in English is essential for just having deeper knowledge in general. Thank you so much. Thank you. We appreciate that. All right. Now I'd like to invite-- I'd like to invite Jackie Bryan, our Chief Financial Officer, to come to the podium for a budget update. And as she comes up here, this is our regular cadence we have to provide more transparency and information around our budget, where we are, and what's going to be coming up. So welcome, Jackie. Thank you. Good evening. I'm here tonight for the monthly budget update. And all the numbers that you will be seeing tonight are as of January 31. So I will jump right in.
042So February enrollment was submitted to OSPI in the middle of February. And you can see we're trending very similar pattern that we've seen throughout the year-- slightly higher than projected, which is, again, always really good news. Very slight movement from the previous month. So we're anticipating holding steady through the end of the year with similar numbers. When we look at our year-to-date information, you can see our revenue. We've received 36% of our projected revenue. And for expenditures, we're at 40%. This is normal for this time of year. And the reason for that is because we receive our local revenue, as you know, twice a year-- so November and April. And so right now, we've received half of what we anticipate for our local funds. And will receive the second half of the levy, which will
043be slightly higher, in April. So we'll see that number increase. The rest of the numbers for revenue are trending as we would expect this time of year. For expenditures, very similar, trending as we would expect. The one that is trending slightly higher, which is not new, is Special Education. While the expenditures are trending higher, we also have higher enrollment in Special Education. So the revenue is also trending higher than we had anticipated this year. And moving into '26-'27 budget development-- so budget development for next year is well underway. We have our resource alignment meetings with our schools coming up beginning next week. And allocations went out to schools at the end of February. So along with that, this month, we communicated $8 million being reduced for '26-'27 fiscal year. What that means is 8% of
044each central department was asked to reduce by a minimum of 8%. Some were in excess of that as well. Personnel reductions-- so 31.5 FTE positions were reduced. Those were centrally funded positions. So most of those positions were here in this building. We also proposed an elimination of an inflationary adjustment. So that's IPD is what it's referred to at the state level for some roles. And those roles and positions are also mainly here at Central Office. Non-personnel item reductions include reductions of contracts, travel, supplies, materials, and applications. As we move forward with '26-'27 budget development and actually looking at our long-term plan, so beyond '26-'27, we know that additional reductions may be necessary. We have our minimum fund balance, unassigned fund balance at 3%. So that's the Board policy. That's what we will definitely be above
0453%. But that may include making additional reductions going into '27-'28-- so looking forward another year. We're also currently exploring the possibility of a renewal of our capital technology levy. This is a levy that we passed back in 2020 with a almost 74% approval. And so it's something that we're looking to renew possibly this fall. And the initial consideration would be a $12-million-a-year levy. And that would support mainly technology. So it would support things like student and staff devices, cyber security, applications. It also could support some of our facilities needs that are over and above what we're funded for-- so things like, this year, we've had almost $4 million in boiler replacements that was not budgeted for because they were emergency replacements. So it could also offset some of those costs. This technology levy is very
046common throughout the state of Washington. In fact, in February, a number of districts throughout Puget Sound and within the state ran and passed these levies. And so it continues to be a local funding source due to the underfunding at the state level. So we will continue to gather information and bring it to you as we continue to explore this. Some of our next steps for our budget development going into '26-'27-- we have our second Budget Board Work Session in two weeks from tonight, so March 18. Part of what we'll talk about that night is our '25-'26 year-end projections. So we'll look really in depth at where we are currently and where we anticipate ending this fiscal year. And then we'll look at our initial budget projections for next year-- so for '26-'27. The legislature's last
047day in session is March 12. So we'll have all the information we need to share hopefully by March 18. And then we'll also look at '26-'27 and beyond. So we'll look at a five-year plan starting in '26-'27. And we'll look at two different scenarios. So we'll look at scenario A without a capital technology levy, and scenario B will be with the capital technology levy so that you're all fully informed as you make a decision of how to proceed. And with that, I am happy to answer questions. Thank you so much, Jackie. Directors, any follow-up questions? OK. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Jackie. I want to just thank everyone, our Highline staff, for all the work you do to support our students on a daily basis and for being here tonight. And that concludes my
048Superintendent's Update. Thank you very much, Dr. Duran. We're going to move to our Director's reports. I'm going to start off with Director Holien. Thank you, President Van. I wanted to first say, thank you to the rest of the Board and Dr. Duran. While I was away on paternity leave with my family, I had a great time. It's always challenging to come back and adjust, but it was wonderful. Another group I would like to thank are both the long-term and short-term substitute teachers that work within our district to make it possible for educators to use their paternity or maternity leave, along with current faculty that step in when needed when subs are not available. There are a lot of moving parts in situations like this, so thank you for all that you do. In other news,
049there's a lot of family engagement work happening at Pacific Middle School. This week, the school is holding a parent night for families to strengthen school connections. They're also hosting student-led conferences with about 90% or higher family and student participation. Next month, the school will host a multicultural night, where more than 100 students, staff, families, and community members will be attending. I've also seen some fun happenings across the district for Read Across America, which I had previously brought up, which is wonderful to see. Thank you. And that is all for my Director report. Thank you so much for that. Director Tidholm? In February, Mount View Elementary held the Little Hearts Family Dance. The students and families got to enjoy music, dancing, crafts, and food. And the school mascot, Sky the Tiger, even joined in on the
050celebration. Mount View also held its first ever Young Authors Night, where the student shared published writing from biliteracy units in English and in Spanish. Many of the babies even read their work on stage. As for the legislative session-- so we're in the final weeks of the-- forgive me. We're in the final weeks of the 2026 session. Budget negotiations are taking center stage right now. Several bills that would have really supported districts, including the Levy and Bond Communication Clarity and Public Records Reform, did not advance, unfortunately passed early cut-offs. However, on the positive side, the Surplus Technology bill has passed the Senate, as has House Bill 2257, which would exempt K-12 schools-- [CLEARS THROAT] excuse me-- from the recently expanded sales tax, which is costing us half a million dollars, if I recall correctly. Additionally, that
051continues to move forward. It could really save significant funds. Revenue discussions also include the proposed millionaire's tax, which, if enacted, it could provide long-term support for K-12 funding. It's a long road to implementation if it is passed, but we shall see. Proposed reductions to transition to kindergarten and other educational programs are also concerning. It raised concerns about the reduced early-learning access and increased pressure on district budgets that are already pinching pennies. If the district-- I'm sorry, the district. If the state would fulfill their paramount duty to fully fund education as opposed to additionally cutting the funds, that would be great. But we shall see. We got a couple weeks, a week and a half, no, yeah, about a week and a half, a little bit more to go. So stay tuned. And that's all that
052I have. Thank you so much for that. Dr. Espinoza? Yeah. So February was Black History Month. And students and staff at Chinook Middle School marked it with a school-wide assembly. Chinook's band open the event, followed by a special speaker, Judge Jones, who shared his story and the choices that shaped his path. Let's see. So I also attended a Galentine's at Evergreen High late February. It was a special invite. I was really happy to be able to make it. The students were really thoughtful in their work and their presentations. I was also at Big Picture on Friday for senior project presentations. And I heard about the incredible work that the students are doing, specifically from a student who was mapping youth spaces throughout King County and using very sophisticated tools. And so I teach at the
053UW, and her presentation was at the level of UW students. And I was truly impressed and really proud. And her mom was part of the presentation, too, as an audience member, which I thought was very special. Let's see. I was also at Family Night at Seahurst. And they had a gym full of math games that were really engaging for children and families. And then Seahurst also launched their reading group session 1 this week. And my second grader's participating in that. And I just want to thank Seahurst staff for creating those opportunities for second graders and others to have more time to develop their reading. Thank you so much for that, Dr. Espinoza. And my reports-- sorry about this, Dr. Duran. But even after the Seahawks' win of the Super Bowl, they made the trip to
054Beverly Park as part of the 12 Days of Reading. Even Seahawks legend Ben Obomanu did see dancers blitz, engaged with students, and read books with them. All students received free books and enjoyed school supplies they were giving away. So thank you to Pemco Insurance and the Seattle Seahawks for creating an unforgettable day for our students. Greatly appreciated them to come out. I had a chance to attend a Learning Walk at Maritime, so I just want to give a quick shout out to principal Jamila Gordon, Bernard Koontz, Gil Parsons for that great morning. I had the chance to tour four classrooms and just be an observer of how our teachers taught and how our students received all of that. It was really great to be in that space with them. So thank you so much for
055that opportunity and look forward to that. And that concludes my Director's report. It looks like Director Alvarez is offline. But she was going to share a little bit about Seahurst celebrating the Read Across America week. Like we heard earlier today, Cedarhurst Elementary is celebrating Read Across America with activities all week on Monday. They kicked off with Reading Buddies. On Friday, the community will wrap up with school assembly, where students will share book recommendations. And the assembly will end with the character parade, where students will dress up as their favorite book character. So I'm hoping we get a lot of pictures from that. Thank you. And that concludes our Board reports. With that, we're going to head to our scheduled communications with our public testimony. On behalf of the Board, we sincerely appreciate you taking the
056time to join us this evening and sharing your thoughts. You'll notice that our norms and guidelines are displayed on your screens for your reference. Please remember that you're addressing the Board, and there may be students present who are watching that are listening carefully to what you're saying. Please note, while the Board is unable to respond directly to your testimony during the meeting, we value your input. Thank you again for being here and speaking with us. Our first speaker is Alex Korsunsky. Yeah. You got that last name. That's not a common thing to do. Hey, everybody. I'm Alex Korsunsky. I live in the district, and I am a public educator not here, but at South Seattle College. So I have the pleasure of working with many of your graduates. I was moved to come speak today
057because I heard about some misguided social media outrage regarding a recent walkout by students. And as someone who works with recent high school grads and teaches them and sees what leads to student success at the college level, I wanted to come share my appreciation for my union siblings, and the teachers, and everybody at the district for supporting these students. What makes a student succeed in college? The ability to think and act independently, to take initiative. The students I see who really succeed are students who don't abstract their learning from their lives, but relate their studies to the issues that matter to them. And so many of our students, whether in their families or their friends at school, are experiencing the impact of ICE. And it's natural they're going to want to express their opinions about
058that. Student activism is messy and often a little chaotic, and I've experienced that on all sides and from many directions. But learning to participate in civic life in a safe, structured, supportive way that gives students room to express themselves, to practice skills, to learn how to be engaged, responsible citizens and members of the community-- that is exactly what they need, and having the opportunity to practice it at school with the room to make mistakes, and the room to express themselves, and the room to explore without teachers micromanaging, but giving friendly, wide support is exactly what they need. And I appreciate that the students who I'm going to be teaching in a couple of years are getting that support here. So thank you. Thank you. Ben Folgers? Good evening, everyone. I'm speaking on the budget and
059standardized curriculum. So as you guys are considering further reductions within our district, I hope that you can focus on this. It's important to invest in people and instruction, not products and standardization. In hi book, A Teacher's Guide to Instructional Resistance, Paul Sutton, who's a professor at PLU, writes, "You do not get to great through standardization. You get to mediocre, maybe good enough. However, the core danger of standardized curriculum is that it communicates to teachers a fundamental distrust and skepticism of them, their expertise, and their ability to improve over time." I argue that apps and curriculum that we've invested in, like Formative and Inquiry by Design, are expensive. While they might provide a safety net for a struggling classroom, it comes at the cost of your best educators. Those educators are demoralized. They move to districts
060where they have more freedom to teach the way that they know meets the needs of every student within their classroom. We need to invest in instruction over infrastructure. Sutton goes on to say that many districts or school leaders assume the problem is curricular and not instructional. Or they see a curriculum, not instructional leadership, as the best way to solve a problem. Subscriptions and contracts to these items, like Formative and IBD, are reoccurring costs that don't build long-term institutional value. That value comes in the shape of a well-trained teacher. As we know, kids don't find inspiration in a data dashboard. They find it in educators and mentors. So let's cut the software and scripts before we cut specialists and staff. Lean on educators. Lean on their expertise. Fund the educators who know the names of our
061students, their strengths, not the companies who see kids as profit margins. Thank you. Angela Burgess? Good evening, Board Directors and Superintendent Duran. I'd like to appreciate the efforts of our district to ensure our schools are safe spaces in our rapidly evolving political context. In Tinker versus Des Moines, the Supreme Court ruled that students don't lose their First Amendment free speech rights at school. As a parent of four Highline students, I see each of my children grapple with this in their own individual way. One of my children was passionate about walking out with their fellow classmates to stand up for community members who are being targeted by ICE, organizing sign making before school with friends. Another one of my children chose not to participate in the walkout at their school because they didn't want to miss
062out on learning-- nerd. And that is the beauty of individual exercise of free speech. All of the schools my kids attend did a great job of ensuring safety during student-led walkouts. At Highline High School, the principal was given some advance notice and, in turn, was able to provide parents with detailed information before and after the student-led walkout. Cascade Middle School wasn't given the same amount of notice, but sent information to families as soon as possible and took extra measures to ensure the safety of students when leadership became aware that an adult posted a threatening video online. To quote Frederick Douglass, "Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one's thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist." In my view, ensuring our students' safety in Highline preserves their right to life. Providing an education so they
063may graduate, prepared for the future they choose aligns with their pursuit of happiness. And preserving their freedom of speech is liberty. The district partners with families to protect these unalienable rights for our kids-- life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thank you. Vance Galavi. Love this book. It's called The Constitution. You should read it sometime. My name is Vance Galavi, and I refuse to remain silent while our children are indoctrinated into being used as political pawns for a radical movement. What radical movement, you ask? The radical movement that tells our children that law enforcement are the bad guys and that criminals are the good guys. That's a flip scenario. The other one is telling our kids that American citizens are being deported, manipulating our children. It's not true. It's not happening. So your argument for
064allowing kids to leave the school premises is because you cannot stop their constitutionally protected activity. Refuse to believe that you care about their protected activity. You do not know the Constitution. "We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America." I know it better than any of you in this room. I digress. A few school days prior to the protest, the kids were already gathering together and making signs. My son was asked to make a sign. He said no. The teacher asked him if he can make him a sign. He said no. That's
065participation. When they left the school, they participated by joining them in the march. That's participation. Now, there's plenty of time three days before the protest happened to notify parents that their kid is leaving the school. That is initiative I-2081. Civil rights for parental rights were not upheld. I want everyone to know in Washington State that we have district 1 and district 2 in the midterms. They do not have any Republican candidates. I am an independent voter, but a constitutionalist conservative. And I'm telling you right now, Democrats have failed us year after year. We have had a politician in office as a Democrat since the '90s, and it's only gotten worse. Our our taxes are high. Cost of living is high. And no one can disagree with that. Let's change it. Get in there, and run
066for office. Thank you. Next up, Mason Constantino? Last call for Mason Constantino. Not here. OK. Jennifer Fichamba. Thank you so much. Good evening, Board Directors and Director-- or sorry, Superintendent Duran. I'm Jennifer Fichamba, a proud alum, proud parent of an alum, who is now an educational support professional at Chinook Middle School. And we are both unafraid educators. I want to express gratitude for the support that both the district and our school leadership have shown in supporting our young people as they exercise their First Amendment rights from the Constitution. So many of our young people are adversely affected by the actions of this current administration. They shared their voices in support of their peers, their family, and their community. I also want to say how thankful I am that our district doesn't just share words, but
067actually follows through. Today, a parent alerted our community rapid-response team that ICE was in one of our school neighborhoods. And the rapid response contacted the district, and the security showed up to ensure that our young people, families, and educators were safe. I really appreciate that, and it makes me very proud to be a person in the Highline School District. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Next up is Aidan Vongkenshan? Dear members of the School Board, my name is Aidan Vong, and I'm a student at Raisbeck Aviation High School and PSSC. I'm asking to request a review of a recent scheduling decision involving my third-period Algebra II class in the approval of the new block schedule at Raisbeck. I previously asked Principal Tipton for permission to drop my third-period Algebra II class. However, my
068request was denied. I'm asking for your help and reconsideration because I'm already earning my third-year math credit through PSSC. Since this course fulfills the graduation requirements for third-year math, being in Algebra II at Raisbeck is redundant. In addition, the recent approval of the schedule was changed to block schedule at Raisbeck has created scheduling conflicts. I now must either leave PSSC early and miss class time in my auto tech class, or leave at the normal time and be late to Raisbeck and miss class there. The situation negatively impacts my learning and attendance. My goal is to make the most effective use of my schedule while meeting graduation requirements. Adjusting my schedule would allow me to focus on coursework that better aligns with my academic and career goals. I respectfully ask the School Board to review my
069situation and consider granting approval for this schedule change. I remain committed to meeting all academic and graduation requirements, and I appreciate your time and consideration. Thank you. Thanks, Aidan. Luciano Totello? Not here. TJ Lacifa? Patricia Bailey? Good evening. As a retired public school teacher, I want to see the Highline Schools succeed. But the handling of the student-led ICE walkout last month was troubling. However, I was impressed by the local charter school, Summit Atlas, and their professional common-sense response to the possibility of a student-led ICE protest. Summit's administration contacted families in advance, laying out their policies so that no one would be angered, confused, or left in the dark. They showed themselves to be highly respectful of parents, concerned for the continuity of student learning as well as student safety. As a former teacher, I would
070have felt respected and encouraged with this kind of solid administrative planning. Her letter to families read in part, quote, "Classes will proceed as usual, and students who stay on campus will be actively supervised and supported throughout the day. If a student decides to leave campus for reasons unrelated to school programming, families will be contacted. While we cannot physically stop a student from leaving, please be aware that students may not return to campus once they have departed, and the school cannot assume responsibility for off-campus activities. We encourage caregivers to connect with their students ahead of time to discuss expectations so everyone is clear on both school policies and family plans." And they thank them for the continued partnership and trust, unquote. I must congratulate Summit for their thoughtful foresight in this matter and hope that Highline
071schools will take note. Thank you very much. Next up is Tasha Faith Cobansag. Good evening, Directors and Superintendent. My name is Tasha Cobansag. I have a senior at Tyee High School, a freshman as well, and a middle schooler at Chinook Middle School, who is entering freshman year next year. I'm here to advocate for bringing back the Tyee Football program at Tyee. As you all know, we do not have one currently, and we combine with Evergreen. Forgive me, my eyes have to get situated with the closeness. In 2022, voters, we approved a $500-plus million bond, in part to rebuild Tyee High School, right? This was an investment for our children. To have a brand-new field without a home football team is a little disheartening. My students are part of the athletics-- volleyball and basketball-- the last
072couple of years. And some of their peers have noted they feel like a guest in their own high school right now. It is new, right? It's relatively new. They're coming back. The population is coming back. But it was built for them to use for all types of athletics sports. And it's missing football, right? Football is one of the many outlets that can keep many students engaged in their academics. The students of Tyee want to represent their school pride in their school colors, create memories, tradition. By Tyee having its own team, we create opportunity and participation and increase the number of students who can be held to high standards of being a student athlete. My son has currently finished his youth football spiel, and he wants to get into high school football. He's made a decision
073to stay with Tyee and see where it goes instead of moving him somewhere else. We also need to talk about equity. Even with school buses having students travel to another campus, it's like a transportation tax on our families. A Tyee-only team means students can walk straight from class to the field and go practice, right? Thank you very much. Adiana de Guia? Hi, everyone. That was my mom. My name is Adiana de Guia. And there are four high schools in our entire school district. Yet only three of them have an official football team. Evergreen, Highline, and Mount Rainier all have a program to call their own. There have been several kids who said they want to see that for our school. There was even a petition that was signed by hundreds of kids and adults who
074agreed to this idea. I'm here today to speak on their behalf, explaining why we should take the chance and start building a football team for Tyee High School. I was told that the main issue is because there won't be enough kids to actually have a team of our own. So it's easier to continue to share a program with Evergreen because many believe that there won't be enough kids who have enough interest to commit to a football team. And to that, my response is, how will we know if we don't try? Two years ago, I was a sophomore. And I saw that flag football had came to our school. And when I walked in the room, I thought to myself, man, how many of these girls would have wanted to play if someone didn't give them
075the opportunity to do so? The team was slowly but surely solidified within the span of two years. So as far as having our own school football team, with the amount of interest I've seen, I believe it could be done even quicker. We took a chance on flag football. Why not take a chance on American football as well? As a student athlete with major involvement in several community-related events at Tyee High School, like assemblies, dances, and fundraisers, I know how difficult it can be to get kids to do something and commit to it. But no one is convincing these kids to play football. They're asking to play football. And more importantly, they are asking for a team of their own. With a new school, it is time for newer and bigger things. Thank you so much
076for that. Kelsey Lloyd? Hi. My name is Kelsey Lloyd, and I'm a senior at Tyee High School. I'm blessed to have been a part of Tyee Athletics for the past four years, playing various sports. I'm standing up here today to advocate for Tyee boys football team. Tyee is the only school in the district, like Adi said, without a football program. I'm not sure why this is because Tyee has shown their incredible student athletes and what they brought to our community. A football program isn't about the sport itself. It's about leadership, teamwork, commitment, and other things. These skills benefit our students in the classroom and in life in general. Beyond the students in a football team, they can bring a community together. Friday night games can become a part of our tradition, a place where families,
077alumnis, and local residents can connect and show their school pride. This increased engagement can lead to a stronger relationship and a greater sense of belonging. I hope you guys consider a potential football team to build a stronger, more connected school community for the Highline School District. Thank you, Kelsey. Nicole Lloyd? Good evening, everyone. My name is Nicole Lloyd. Kelsey is my daughter. I am a mother of two at Tyee. I've had two others go through the Highline School District, so we've been part of this district for 19 years now. All of my kids have played sports throughout the district. And Tyee has a brand-new, beautiful school, and Football is important. My youngest is a freshman right now. He chose not to play football this year because he wanted his own team. He wanted to be
078able to play for Tyee and represent Tyee itself. He's hoping, next year, it'll be different, and he can play. As Tasha was saying, transporting to Evergreen, it just takes more time for our students. It's making them get home later. It's harder on them. It's harder on parents. And they want to be able to just be able to-- we want to come together and just be one school. This basketball season was great. The school actually had six teams, which is a huge improvement from last year, when they were trying to pull together kids to have enough for one team. So we can see that sports is growing at Tyee as the numbers of kids are coming back. And I think we should give Tyee football another chance. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. And
079Katie Kresly? Good evening, Highland School Board Directors and Dr. Duran. My name is Katie Kresly, and I'm the editor and writer of The Highline Journal, an independent local media source. I appreciate that the district highlighted the Read Across America tonight because literacy matters. But here in Highline, two out of three students are failing to meet state literacy standards. That reality makes the books and materials that we place in front of students especially important. As noted by one of tonight's presenters, we are handing the right book to the right student at the right time. When I reviewed the materials connected to these literacy efforts, I saw that some books introduced complex topics, like gender identity and social justice themes. These are Indeed complex topics for young students to process. Yes, confusion is part of growing up.
080But when children face identity questions, major life issues, or consider leaving school during a date of protest, parents must be involved. In Highline, that's not always happening. Under policy 3211, schools may treat a student's gender identity as confidential, meaning information may be withheld from parents unless the student permits disclosure. However, this Monday, US Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 in a California case and rejected the idea that keeping parents in the dark about a child's gender identity makes the child safer. They reaffirmed that parents are the primary stakeholders in their child's upbringing. We just heard parent Vance Galavi speaking tonight. He's still fuming about being shut out of decisions involving his own son during a protest, and has offered to speak on behalf of parents who are afraid to speak to the Board themselves. At
081The Highline Journal, we are willing to publish accounts anonymously, if necessary, to see that these concerns come to light. Parents matter. Students matter. Transparency matter. Schools and parents work best when they work together openly and honestly. Thank you. And that concludes our speakers for this evening. I appreciate everybody coming and speaking with us. With that, we're going to move to our consent agenda. May I please have a motion to approve our consent agenda? I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda. Second, please? I'll second. All in favor? Aye. Yes. Any opposed? Hearing and seeing none. Thank you very much. That concludes our consent agenda. We're going to move to action items. 8.1. This is motion to approve the Evergreen High School replacement project grant of easement for the Seattle City Light. This was revised
082since our introduction. Any questions or comments? All right. Can I please have a motion? I move the Highline School Board approve granting an easement to Seattle City Light for the Evergreen High School replacement project. May I have a second? I second. Roll call, please? Director Tidholm? Yea. Director Espinoza? Yes. Director Holien? Yea. President Van? Yea. This motion passes, 4 to none. Thank you very much. 8.2-- we have a presentation tonight. Kisa, if I can have you come on up. This is motion to approve the HealthPoint license agreement at Highline High school, Tyee High School, and Evergreen High School. Hello again. I think we are following up on a request to hear a little bit more about HealthPoint. And while this agenda item is specifically about the license, the agreement to use the space, I think
083it's also important to hear about the program, and the partnership, and the services HealthPoint provides to our students. So I'd like to welcome up Katherine Gudgel, who's our Director of Community Programs for HealthPoint, to share a little bit more about the program and our long, long, longstanding partnership. Thank you very much. There you go. Hi. Thank you all for having me tonight. Thank you, community, for being here as well. As noted, my name is Katherine Gudgel, and I have been at HealthPoint for about eight years. But our school-based health program is 20 years old, having started at Tyee High School in 2006. It's been a very rewarding partnership for the three mighty people who staff those school-based health centers, as well as my team, who writes the grants and things like that to keep the
084doors open. But what I really hope-- [CLEARS THROAT] excuse me-- is that it is helpful and meaningful for the students. And I did forget my notes tonight, but there are a few things that I'd like to highlight. One is that this year, so far, we have provided services to 354 students and in about 1,300 visits so far. That is happening with only Highline High school having an open and functioning school-based health center. So when the two are opened at Tyee and Evergreen, we hope to really increase the number of students that are served. The care that we provide is integrated primary care. We have both behavioral health and medical providers, as well as our very important clinic coordinators, who keep things moving. We provide things like vaccinations to allow students to continue to attend school
085because there are many vaccines that are required by the state in order for children to be able to attend classes. And when they have the ability to walk down the hall and get those shots, it keeps them in school even more. We also do hundreds of sports physicals every year. And that allows students-- we had a really moving testimonial from a Highline High School student when that school-based health center opened in 2023. And she talked about how she hadn't been able to get a physical because her parents worked, and they just couldn't get her to an outside clinic to be able to participate in sports. But once the health center opened, she, again, was able to walk down the hall and received that sports physical and continued to have a great couple of years playing
086high school sports. Those are the things that I can remember that were on my notes. Does anyone have any other questions that I might be able to answer? Thank you so much, Katherine. Directors, any follow-up questions? I have a question. There's a lot of conversation just in the country right now about health care at schools and what we are and are not doing and parents' rights and whatnot. So what gender-affirming cares do we provide in the HealthPoints at the schools? We have behavioral health consultants who are available to talk to students who are wondering about those sorts of things, which is typical in adolescence. Our medical providers will have the same sorts of conversations. We don't provide any medication that would affect a student's progression to their gender assigned at birth. We provide primary care.
087So no hormone therapy, and no surgeries in the HealthPoints on the school campuses? Thank you. Any other follow-up questions? I just wanted to thank you. I think the request for more information came from me, and I really appreciate it. Having had partnerships with school-based health centers in the past, I just know how important it is to be there, as you say, down the hall and accessible to students. And I know it does make a difference also for families, when students are able to be-- or have their agency to be able to pursue their health care. So thank you. Thank you for inviting me. It's been an honor. Thank you very much. With that, I'll reread the motion here. This is motion to approve the HealthPoint license agreement at Highline High School, Tyee High School, and
088Evergreen High School. Can I please have a motion? I move the Highline School Board approve the license agreements with HealthPoint for school-based health centers at Evergreen High School, Tyee High School, and Highline High School. I'll second. Roll call, please? Director Holien? Yea. Director Tidholm? Yea. Director Espinoza? Yes. President Van? Yea. This motion passes, 4 to none. Thank you very much. Thank you. That concludes our action items for this evening. We have one intro and action. This is motion to approve temporary construction easement to the city of Burien for 4th Avenue Southwest Frontage improvements. Any questions or comments? Hearing and seeing none. Can I please have a motion? I move the Highline School Board authorize the superintendent or their designee to execute the temporary construction easement granting limited rights to the city of Burien for roadway
089frontage improvements along 4th Avenue Southwest. May I have a second? I'll second. Roll call, please? Director Espinoza? Yes. Director Tidholm? Yea. Director Holien? Yea. President Van? Yea. This motion passes, 4 to none. Thank you very much. And that concludes our intro and action. We have three introductions this evening, and with one presentation. 10.1, motion to approve the Microsoft infrastructure licensing renewal-- this motion would approve the Microsoft infrastructure license renewal in the amount of $586,303.23. Any questions or comments? I'm seeing none. 10.2-- Jackie, can I have you come on up? This is motion to approve Sylvester Middle School emergency corrective action for the 100 building corridor floor remediation. Good evening again. This is in reference to an emergency contract that was executed at the end of August, right before Labor Day weekend and before school started.
090It is coming before you now because we have been in negotiations with former construction, and we settled on the total amount. And we are bringing that to you tonight. This was an emergency contract because as we went in and started moving in to begin the school year, there was a noticing of some moisture buildup in the 100 building. And so most of this moisture is coming from the steam tunnel leaks underneath the building. And so as we continue to work on-- as you know, Sylvester is a very older building. And so steam leaks continue, and we continue to work on that. But with this instance, there was some damage done to the concrete slab, and the floor, and the carpet. And so with that, we knew we had a very small amount of time before
091school started to get in there and get it fixed before we had students in the building. And we needed to have it fixed prior to having students come on site. And so that's what resulted in this emergency contract. Over the course of, I think, four days, FORMA Construction went in there and worked 24 hours a day, different shifts, to get it done. And they completed the work prior to students showing up for the first day of school. So that was great. Within those four or so days, they removed approximately 10,800 square feet of carpet. They did a full abatement and mechanical removal of the mastic underneath. So that's the layer underneath the carpet. They sealed the concrete slab with an epoxy moisture mitigation, and they installed new carpet once the slab treatment was completed. And
092so we are bringing this to you for a contract value of $402,691.89 for that work. And I also want to recognize our Executive Director of Capital Planning and Construction, Ellie. She was on site over that weekend almost 24 hours a day as well to ensure that our students would be welcomed to a safe environment on the first day of school. So I'm happy to answer questions. Thank you Jackie. Directors, follow-up questions? I do have a question. So because it was an emergency, there wasn't time for an open bid for a contract? Right. So what's the process? Do we have a list of folks that we work with? Yeah. It's a different procurement method when it's an emergency contract. And we have a list that's already pre-approved that we can choose from. And FORMA was on
093that list. OK. And this price or this amount is reflecting the emergency-- Yes. --four days, 24 hours? Yes, and it was over a holiday. Right. So that adds to the cost as well. OK. Yes. Directors, any other questions? I do have one, Jackie. In regards to you stating that it's fixed, is there a full warranty on that bad boy? That, I can get additional information from Ellie on that. I will say, there's no warranty on the steam pipes underneath. That was not part of this contract. And there continues to be leaks because they're aging rapidly. But there is the floor and the concrete slab is sealed now. So we won't experience any more moisture leaks. Thank you very much. That'll do it. OK. Thank you. Appreciate it. That was 10.2. And then our final intro
094item is 10.3. This is motion to approve final acceptance and closeout of CP-240095, lighting and construction upgrades phase 2 at Central Admin Building South. Any questions or concerns on that one? So I have a few weeks. If there's anything that pops up, please email Dr. Duran. OK. That concludes our intro items. Any calls for additions to the consent agenda? I don't see any. With that, can I have a motion to adjourn? I have a motion to adjourn. May I have a second? I'll second. All those in favor? Aye. Yes. Any opposed? Hearing and seeing none. Thank you, everybody, for being here this evening.