001Welcome, everyone, to our regularly scheduled board meeting. And I'd like for-- ask to stand up for our Pledge of Allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, everyone again. And with that, I will ask for roll call, please. Director Alvarez? Here. Director Holien? Here. Director Espinoza? Here. Director Espinoza? Here. Director Tidholm? Present. President Van? Here. So thank you for everybody being here. As you can see, there's some of us here and some of us on Zoom. And to my left is our superintendent, Dr. Duran. And tonight we're going to be doing the selection of the director liaison roles, so I hope all the directors had an opportunity to
002really look at some of the roles in their interest. And so we'll be going one by one. All of the positions are a one-year position except the legislative position. That one is a two-year commitment, and it runs until June 30. And if we have a new person, that would start on July 1. And with that, I would say that, I'll open it up to see around-- we can start with the Capital Facilities Advisory committee, CFAC. To see-- I've been currently attending that. That's been, to me, very interesting. I've learned a lot around the needs of our schools and what the process is as we move forward to see which schools are the ones in most need. And it's amazing because we have an opportunity to connect with our community. So we have some staff, we
003have community, we've had a student that sits on and facilitates as well. But we also had a student sit in our audience and at some tables to help us make decisions. So is anybody else interested in the CFAC committee? I would be interested if you're not interested in continuing, Angelica. I actually am interested, but I'm willing to give it up because you I I've been on-- well, I just started on it, so I would like to stay on if that's OK with everybody. [INTERPOSING VOICES] It's all yours. All right. So then our next is the Capital Oversight. That's the one that meets quarterly on a Tuesday from 4:00 to 5:00 on Teams. The '26 schedule was presented. And that one, again-- it used to be in person, but it's no longer in person, correct? It's
004all Teams? Or is it in person sometimes? It's all on Teams. OK, so being that it's all on Teams and it meets quarterly from 4:00 to 5:00 on Tuesdays, any interest in that? I know-- Joe, were you previously on that? Yes, I have been on the Capital Oversight for the last two to three years. It has been very interesting and helpful for a board director to be on this to oversee the funding for all of our schools for the bond and stuff. So I would like to continue to be on here, but I understand if other directors would like to jump in and learn about it. But if no one else is interested, I'd love to still stay on it. [INAUDIBLE] I would actually be interested to. I heard Director Holien and then I'll come
005back to you, Director Tidholm. So Director Holien, you mentioned? Yeah, I would be interested in that. OK. And Director Tidholm? I was going to say I've also sat on it for the last couple of years. I would like to continue unless somebody else is interested. I'm happy to give somebody else an opportunity as well. And I think we had-- and I'll leave it up to President Van. But in the past I know that two years ago or so, we had put two people on a committee, and then it became at times a challenge. So I don't know, do we want to go back to that one person? Or what are your thoughts, President Van? Our recommendation is that we go back to a one person liaison role per committee, unless there's an event that another
006director would like to come and just participate and be an observer. But at this time, I'll step down and let Director Holien, if he wants to jump in, to learn more about the capital oversight. That would be great, President Van. And so with that being said, Director Tidholm, are you OK then with stepping down and leaving Director Holien on there? I'm happy to. OK. Thank you, everyone. Man, this is a lot easier than I thought. So the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association-- the WIAA. I know there's a couple people interested. I've sat on there on the past. This doesn't meet regularly. I would meet with Phil. I would call him and set up a meeting with him and just check in with him as things were coming up or questions or things that I would see.
007He's the Director of Athletics currently. And so I saw there was a couple people being interested, so I'm willing to give it up. Who would like to be the liaison for this WIAA? If no one else is interested currently, I would be happy to take that one on as well. Sounds good, Director Holien. The next one is the Highline Schools Foundation. Currently is Director Tidholm. They meet eight times a year for about two hours. Is there anybody else interested in-- or are you still interested in staying on, Director Tidholm? And is there anybody else who is interested as well? I'm happy to continue if nobody else is interested, but I'm also happy to step down if somebody else is. [INAUDIBLE] I would be-- so I would be interested, but I just wanted to-- you know,
008one of the other positions-- I want to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to be part of a committee. I know that we're going to be talking about the-- what is it-- the Highline Forum. I would say, due to scheduling conflicts, since it happens during my workday from 2:30 to 4:30, I'm not able to attend. So either I would like to take on the Highline Schools Foundation and the other directors pick up the Highline Forum or the ledge. So-- I do have one question. Because of the challenge of the timing of it, would it be possible to share it with another director? President Van? I know we discussed about-- or we talked earlier just that you'd like to have one person. But for this particular one, since it's-- and since you've been attending, is
009it something that can be shared? Or is it best where it's just one person? So I know that there has been quite a few times where I have not been able to attend, and I reached out to Vice President Tidholm at the time to have her fill in for me. And I know that's not fair for her to jump in at the very last minute-- two or three days advance notice, and it's not fair for her. So I just want to be respectful of everybody's time to have that. My recommendation is to stick with a one person liaison role. If you are unable to make it, that you reach out to the Board President or Vice President to sit in in lieu of. That makes sense. I think the other part I'll just add with
010the Highline Forum is that I also try to attend those. And I think that if there's a board director who's assigned and they can't go, I can make sure and be the one to represent Highline in those cases. And in my experience, having covered for Director Van-- President Van, apologies-- it was great information. I was happy to be there. But it was some information that seemed to be ongoing and as happy as I was to be there, it seemed like it'd be hard to juggle between two people continuously. So I don't work too far from here, so I'll take it on if nobody else can, just so we can have representation there. And I'll do my very best to always be there. And that means that I would give up CFAC because like you said,
011I want somebody to-- I want every director to have a role. So I'll go ahead and take on the Highline Forum if nobody else is wanting to fight me for it. Doesn't seem like it. So I'll go ahead and take it on. And then we can come back after the legislative to see about Capital Facilities Advisory Committee-- to see. I apologize for jumping the gun there. And I know we were on the Highline Schools Foundation portion. I just wanted to make sure that there was a position so-- OK, so going back-- you're right. We never settled the Highlines-- thank you for bringing that back. We never settled the Highline Schools Foundation. So I know that you showed some interest, but Director Tidholm would still like to stay on. And because there is only literally one
012other one, the legislative-- Apologies. I'm happy if somebody else wants it. I'm happy to step down. I-- you know, Director Tidholm, I was thinking that you could still stay on that. And I was going to swap with Vice President Alvarez in regards to the CFAC if that's OK with everybody, to make that a smooth transition there. Are you guys OK with that? [INTERPOSING VOICES] I'm happy. But to jump ahead again, I am interested in continuing with legislative, so just to throw that out there. Sounds good. So then you'll stay on with the Highline Schools Foundation, then, Director Tidholm? That's fine. I can do that. OK. And then we'll move on to the Highline Forum. And I said that I would take that on. Seems like it's hard for others, so we'll make it work. Director--
013I mean, Superintendent Duran and I will-- if I, for some reason can't, I will definitely connect with you [INAUDIBLE]. OK, we'll tag team then. So I will take on the Highline Forum. And then the only one left is the legislative. It's a two-year term based on our policy 1220. And this particular rule tends to watch the legislative conference. Usually it's January 9 and 10-- and regularly communicates and coordinates with Holly, especially during the legislative session, because she manages the district's legislative advocacy with our district lobbyist. Currently in 2025-- and this position is a two-year position, and it ends this June 30. And then the new two-year cycle starts July 1. And I know currently you have that, Director Tidholm, and you mentioned that you're still interested in continuing with that. Yes, I am. I know
014it's a two-year term, but the first year, it was split. I mean, it was split, so I really had one year on it. But I have been continuously networking, being in contact with different people across the board in politics up to Olympia and King County Treasurer's Office, just working on some agendas. So I'd be happy and I would like to continue that. OK, and I think that there was others interested in that as well. So there was other interests. And I think-- no? Yeah. Yes, I was interested in it as well. OK. So I think-- and President Van, you can help out here and see what you think. I think Director Tidholm, if Director Espinoza can join you for this part till the end of June 30. So she can kind of shadow and join,
015and then for her to start July 1. She's not on any other committee so far. Well, that's the last one. And I think this way she could get also from you some of your expertise. How do you feel about that? Are you asking me or Director Van? You. [INTERPOSING VOICES] Oh, both of you. Yeah, that's fine. That's fine with me. Yes, that's fine with me. OK. What do you think about that, President Van? Most definitely. Director Tidholm has done a great job in the last two years. I know the first year was a split. But this is going to be a group kind of-- we're all advocates for our school district with our ledge. So this would be a good transition. And Stephanie-- or Director Tidholm can continually advocate with her connections and introduce-- Dr.
016Espinoza to our-- OK. Well, thank you, Director Tidholm, for your flexibility. And I think for you both to work together until June 30, will enhance her connections as well. And I think she will be the liaison but I think our current board members have an opportunity to learn a lot more from each other this time around. Because many are starting a new liaison role and can figure out if we can-- we talked about this in the past. How can we bring an update on each of the roles to our meetings? And that way we're each learning, because I think that that has been missing from our agenda. Just-- I know we quickly say what's going on, and sometimes there's nothing. But I think just making it consistent as-- what's happening with capital, what's happening in
017oversight, the facilities, all the roles. So then with that-- so, President Van, you said you'd like to take on CFAC? All right. Yes. So with that, Capital Facilities Action Committee-- our new liaison is President Van. Capital Oversight Committee will be Director Holien. Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, Director Holien. Highline Schools Foundation-- Director Tidholm will stay on that. Highline Forum-- I will take that on. And the legislative-- Director Tidholm will finish out till June 30, and Director Espinoza will join you until then. And then she'll take on starting July 1. Did that sound like what everybody agreed to? OK, so then I'll need a motion. I move the school board approve the following director liaisons for the 2026 calendar year with the exception of the legislative liaison, which is a two-year term beginning July 1-- for the
018capital Facilities Advisory Committee, President Van, for the Capital Oversight, myself-- Director Holien-- for the Washington, Washington Activities Association, Director Holien, for the Highline Schools Foundation, Director Tidholm, for the Highline Forum, Vice President Alvarez, and for the legislative position, Director Espinoza. May I get a second? I'll second. Roll call please. Director Tidholm. Yea. Director Espinoza. Yes. Director Alvarez. Yea. Director Holien. Yea. President Van. Yea. This motion passes 5-0. Well, thank you, everyone, and I'm looking forward to getting back. I did the Highline Forum many years ago, so I'm looking forward to seeing what has changed when I get back on there. With that, we're going to move on to our-- just calls for changes or additions to our current board meeting agenda. Seeing and hearing none, we'll move to acknowledgment and appreciation. And with that, I'll
019turn it over to Dr. Duran. Thank you, Director Alvarez? Yes, [INAUDIBLE] since 1995, School Board Recognition Month has been celebrated each January to honor the commitment and service of locally elected school board members. 2026 marks the 31st anniversary of this observance. More information can be found on Highline's website. I have a proclamation that I'd like to read from the governor for our school board today. "Whereas the mission of Washington's Public School System is to ensure that all students achieve at high levels and possess the knowledge and skills to be responsible residents of a democratic society and enjoy productive and satisfying lives, and whereas Washington's 295 locally elected school boards and nine elected educational service district boards are the core of the public education governance system in our state, and whereas the districts and regions they
020lead serve more than 1.1 million students, have a combined annual budget of over $16 billion, and employ approximately 120,000 people, and whereas school directors play a crucial role in promoting student learning and achievement by creating a vision, establishing policies and budgets, and setting clear standards of accountability for all involved, and whereas school directors are directly accountable to the residents of their districts and regions, serving as a vital link between members of the community and their schools, and whereas school directors and educational service districts provide a passionate voice of advocacy for public schools and the welfare of school children, and whereas it is appropriate to recognize school directors as outstanding public servants and champion of public education, now therefore, I, Bob Ferguson, governor of the State of Washington, do hereby proclaim January 2026 as School Board
021Recognition Month in Washington. And I encourage all people in our state to join me in this special observance." This was signed on the 31st day of December. And we all know that board service isn't easy. It's often thankless at times, with the hours and time that you have to put in to do the work. So I just really want to take this time to thank each of our board members for their commitment and our service to our Highline community. I thank you for your leadership, your tireless efforts, and dedication supporting each and every one of our students in our district. And I look forward to working with you this year and beyond. I have a certificate for each board member recognizing your service in School Board Recognition Month, and I'll get that to the directors
022who are virtually attending this evening. And we'll make sure and plan a photo hopefully for one of our upcoming board meetings where everyone's present. So please join me in thanking our school board members this January and beyond for their service. [NO AUDIO] So alongside the recognition showcase tonight, we have many more throughout the month of January. We invite you to visit our Facebook page to explore these additional recognitions like the National Mentoring Month, Martin Luther King Junior Day, the National School Choice Week, which is January 25 through the 31. So please get on our website and you can learn so much about-- I've learned so much. I get on the website and there's sometimes months that are being-- some kind of theme or something that I didn't even know. And so I appreciate us having
023that up on our website, so thank you. And with that, superintendent report-- I send it right back to Dr. Duran. Thank you, Director Alvarez. I just want to welcome everyone back to the first board meeting after winter break. Hope everyone had a moment to recharge and spend time with family and friends. I want to start with our strategic plan also. We're going to be doing a refresh around our strategic plan. We have heard clearly over the last past year from our students, family, staff, community that Highline's strategic direction is the right one. The passage of our levy, along with the recent polling and survey results, show strong alignment around our goals and our Highline promise. This is the last year of our current strategic plan, and this winter we will begin a refinement process of
024the district plan with a focus on how we implement our strategic plan goals and how we measure progress. Over the next couple of months, there will be several opportunities for providing feedback. Families can look for more details in Highline Headlines this Friday, staff on Highline Insider, and community members will find information on our website. I would now like to invite Clare Gloede, our Executive Director of Foundational Supports, to the podium to share an update on the district's Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. Welcome, Clare. Happy new year to you. Good to see you again. President Van, Superintendent Duran and the board, it is a privilege to be in front of you today to talk and share a strategic update out of Foundational Support and Community Safety. I do want to start by giving thanks to Tana Nelson,
025our Director of Community Safety, and Pattijean Hooper, our Emergency Manager, for their work and dedication to updating this plan, implementing it in our schools, and elevating our preparedness to all hazards. What-- it buzzes. I'm here to introduce the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan that serves our district. And I want to share a little bit about how we came to this space and a little bit about me and why this work is so important. Some of you may or may not know that I started my career as a police officer, and I was a responder to emergencies in the city of Madison. I had the privilege of being a mental health officer in a co-responder unit that was nationally recognized for prevention, for diversion, and for creating programs that look at response differently. That changed my trajectory
026to where I am today. That is where I fell in love with schools, serving children, and finding different ways to serve communities outside of policing. I had the privilege of working as a behavioral threat assessor in a school district in Denver that worked on intervention and getting on the front end before something happens. What this plan does-- I'm going to go back-- is it takes a standardized approach to all hazards. It prepares the district in response, recovery, and preparedness. It takes a holistic response with many community partners and district entities to serve our children in a trauma-informed way before and after something may happen. What also isn't named, but also work that's happening behind the scenes, is that our school emergency operation plans-- the individual plan for each site-- those plans have been updated. And
027the Community Safety Team is working with each site to train and elevate understanding so that if something happens, we all have a shared understanding of how to approach that situation. What also is really amazing about these plans is, there is a continuous improvement element. We look back, we reflect, and we always strive to be better next time at each phase of this plan. These are some of the benefits. I'm not going to read this list to you. It's far beyond this list. It serves in hopefully identifying hazards before they happen. When they do happen, serving in a way that is informed-- based on data informed practices, and that really serve everybody, and is inclusive of everybody that we serve as students, staff, and community. An example of this recently in action-- it was recent. There
028was, I believe, a levee that failed nearby. And we implemented an emergency operations room, where leaders come together to serve and evaluate risk and hazard using the ICS structure, and ultimately make decisions with life safety first and foremost. And in that case, we were able to identify that we needed to look at some transportation routes. We needed to divert those routes to get our students and staff home safely. So that's just one example of how we can use this tool to respond. But what was helpful is, we were prepared. That team was ready. We were ready to take action necessary to get kids home safely. And just one example of how this tool is of great service to the district. The framework is in planning, training, exercises-- the practice-- doing before the thing happens. And
029it's about the buy-in of, we want to prevent. We want to intervene, but sometimes it rains a lot and we're ready for that. And I have a high level of confidence that we're prepared and that we have the team here ready to go to serve with whatever hazard may arise. And we're committed to always looking at how we can elevate and serve better. We will be sharing the comprehensive plan in the next Friday packet. And I'm happy to take questions at that time once you have time to review it. And I'm happy to take questions now if you have them. Directors, any questions? I can start with Director Holien. I don't know if you actually know this yet, but how often will there be trainings once there are updates? Will there be maybe a training
030at the beginning of every school year? Or how-- what does that look like? Yeah. Currently, Pattijean Hooper is working with each individual site to review the new and updated site plans. There's a federal training. It's called the ICS NIMS training. That is a standardized training for leaders. And then we're working at developing a more comprehensive training schedule to train different topics within the plan. And when we solidify that, I'm happy to share that back with the board. Great, thank you. Director Tidholm, any questions? I'm excited to look through the packet, but I don't have any questions at this time. But I'll certainly get back to you if any come up. Director Espinoza, any questions? No, I don't have any questions, but thank you for all the information. President Van, any questions for you? I actually
031have a couple-- one comment. I had the opportunity to meet with Pattijean a few months ago when we were up at Waskowitz. And she was sharing all of the hard work that her and the team-- Clare-- were putting together to present this to the board. And I was really excited to see that, and thank you so much. What is really important-- and you shared this earlier in your presentation-- is about the community partnership and collaborations with our partners-- with King County and our local officials. So looking forward to seeing this packet and following up with any other questions. So thank you. Thank you, President Van. My only-- I have a wandering around. I know that we have amazing counselors and social workers as well within our district. And so how is that-- I know we
032have a crisis team. How are they connected or partnering? Yeah, in the ICS model, they have a really important role, especially in recovery, and then a really large role on prevention and identification of hazards that may be student facing, staff facing, community facing. And we partner with them if there's a space where they can support, come in after the fact, and provide spaces of debriefing, counseling, support for students and staff. That team is engaged and they are notified of incidents, and a plan is communicated together about how that team can serve. Thank you. Just because a lot of times we have a lot of expertise within our own district, and sometimes they're so close to us that we don't really see them as-- because we're just-- not that we take them for granted, but we're
033so just used to having them. So I'm thinking, like even when we get to see the emergency management plan, what is their role in that plan so that it's laid out? Because I know that we've had some crisises here before and they've showed up. I know that our counselors-- social workers are amazing. So thank you. Thank you. No other questions. And just thank you for-- like Joe was saying, putting this presentation on and the hard work that it takes to get it done. So again, I'm excited to see what that looks like. Thank you so much. And thank you, Clare. And I know there are some members of your team here. So if you can just have them stand real quick, we can acknowledge them for the work that they do. Jean and-- thank you
034all. Thank you. All right, thank you. I'd like to welcome Jeb Binns, president of the Highline Education Association, to the podium to share a few remarks. Welcome, Jeb, and happy new year to you. Happy new year, my virtual friends and my in-person friends. Good to see you all. So just welcome back to the new year. Looking forward to a few things. And so in the idea that it's a new year-- the idea of New Year's resolutions-- I thought, let's think about some things for 2026. So Sean and I were sitting around having a meal and decided to come up with a few things for our hopes for the future of 2026. And I'll start and end on a silly note, and then we'll get to meet in the middle. The first one is, besides the
035obvious, that Greenland continues under Dutch authority. Apparently the audience is not paying attention to the world around us. That's OK. We'll work on that. Thank you. That we spread awareness in the 2026 legislative session about the need for the simple majority, for bonds-- just spreading awareness. It's not get it done this year because we don't have the game plan to get it passed this year. But let's talk about the fact that it's really important and be thankful for our community. That we are productive and have a productive and forward thinking bargain that honors students, educators, and our community. That we value and have the accountability and support to truly put students first. That we honor self care, knowing when to tap out and knowing when to ask for support. That we continue to collaborate legislatively
036at the state, national, and local level for what's right and best for our students. And to officially define IPT, something that I have been asking for for years. And with that, I am done. Very good. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. That concludes my comments tonight. Thank you, Superintendent Duran and President Van. With that, I'll ask to see-- we'll need a-- to approve our consent agenda. We need to do director reports. Oh, I was already getting to-- all right. I was trying to-- I missed that. So Director reports-- so we'll start with President Van. Back to you, President Van, with your director report. Well, thank you so much, Vice President Alvarez. I appreciate you facilitating today's meeting. Just in Dallas for work here, so thank you so much. Welcome back, everybody. I hope you all
037had a wonderful holiday and just came back rested and ready to go. If you haven't heard, Glacier has an open mic during lunchtime during their Friday lunch. So students and staff can take their stage and share their talents. There's student performers who are cheered on by their classmates and often by family who come and watch. So it is fun and welcoming, and it's really thinking outside of the box that just brings everybody together. And this is a really great example of building a culture where everybody feels like they belong and they can share their talents. So if you have an opportunity, if you have students that go there, please go and watch them on Fridays during lunchtime. So with that, that's it for my director's reports. Thank you. That sounds fun. We'll have to get
038a time when that is-- what time the lunch is happening, and make sure that we check in with you or Superintendent Duran to let them know that we'd love to come. I'd love to come observe. So I'll have to get some times when their lunch is happening. Thank you, President Van. With that, I'll pass it over to Director Espinoza. Hi, everyone. Thank you for allowing me to participate via Teams. I'm not feeling well this week. Let's see. So at Highline, we have many options for middle and high school students and families. The Schools of Choice application closes at the end of the month for many schools of choice, including Maritime High, the new Health Sciences program at Tyee High School, Big Picture, and Choice Academy. Schools are hosting information nights for families and students and
039tours this month. My family-- so I have a fifth grader who's going to be a sixth grader pretty soon, and we participated in an information night in December and are touring schools in January. So it's a really great opportunity for families to be well informed about the opportunities for students. And you can find more information on our website. And I look forward to seeing you all in person soon. Thank you, Director Espinoza, and I hope you feel well soon. Director Tidholm. Hello-- excuse me. Afternoon, folks. The Highline Schools Foundation has been busy. They awarded 40 Excel Impact grants across our schools. They totaled more than $83,000. These funds are going to support the STEM, art, athletics, mental health, special education, college and career learning. Just a huge thank you to the schools-- Highline Schools Foundation--
040apologies-- for investing in our students and our educators across Highline. And that's all that I have. Thank you, Director Tidholm. And Director Holien. Thank you, Vice President Alvarez. I have to get used to saying that now. Happy new year, everybody. Had a great little break. Wonderful to be back. We did not escape the sickness, so that was a bummer but we made it through. I'm here today. I drove by the Pacific Middle School site two weeks ago, and they put up the first steel beam. And the site is on budget, on time, and it should be ready to go come September 2027. So thank you. Wow. My grandson goes to kindergarten right next to Midway, and so we've been-- all the time he loves the pictures. He's in kindergarten, so anytime to see the big
041trucks, to see big machines, he's just excited. So we get to see almost a couple times a week myself. Thank you for the update. So for myself, Hazel Valley celebrates literacy, art, and community. So I just wanted to tell you about a couple of recent events that took place at Hazel Valley. Festival de Invierno brought families together around literacy with reading, writing, art, and goal setting activities inspired by winter traditions. Principal Coffee Chat and Family Art Friday welcomed more than 60 families to connect, create art, and share how they celebrate together. Student art projects, including self-portraits, reflect family traditions and personal celebrations. So if you guys want to see some amazing art, I encourage you to visit Hazel Valley as they're celebrating-- they have celebrated that. Actually, that's in the past. But that is my
042report and that's all I have. And with that, we're going to move on to scheduled communication. So the public testimony-- on behalf of the board, we sincerely appreciate you taking the time to join us and share your thoughts this evening. You'll notice that our norms and guidelines are displayed on the screen for your reference. Please remember that you're addressing the board, and there may be students present or watching who are listening carefully to what you say. Please note that while the board is unable to respond directly to your testimony during this meeting, we value your input. Thank you once again for being here and speaking with us. And our scheduled communications-- I want to call Alex Merrick. Thank you. Evening, directors. We are living in interesting times. Some middle schools equip their bathrooms with litter
043boxes for students who identify as cats. Some high schools provide tampons in the boys' bathrooms. Mothers are relabeled as birthing persons finishing the role of motherhood. As long as there have been humans until recently, everyone knew that males were males and females were females. What is it that makes some people today think they are smarter and better informed than all preceding generations? Highline School District encourages impressionable students to think they might have been born in the wrong body and can change to the opposite sex. Furthermore, your policy 3211 requires teachers to conceal this from the parents unless the child agrees to the disclosure. Allowing a child to make such a decision is unconscionable, given that the brain's frontal cortex, which is responsible for decision making, is not fully developed until the mid 20s. Puberty blockers
044are being sold as a safe time-out for cases of gender dysphoria when a child is not identified with his or her biological sex. This is dangerous misinformation. Puberty blockers have their own harmful side effects, and 95% of children prescribed puberty blockers go on to cross-sex hormones. Females taking testosterone have a seven-fold higher rate of erythrocytosis, an increase in red blood cell concentration that can lead to heart attack and stroke, as well as three and a half times increase in heart attacks. Males taking estrogen double the risk of thyroid cancer and have a 48-fold increase in invasive breast cancer compared to men not taking hormones. Please take these medical findings seriously [AUDIO OUT]. With that, that concludes our scheduled communications and we'll move on to the approval or consent agenda. So I'll need a motion to
045approve our consent agenda. I motion to approve the consent agenda. I need a second. [INTERPOSING VOICES] I'll second. So all in favor? Aye. Yes. Aye. So with that, our consent agenda gets approved. There haven't been any items removed from our consent agenda, and we don't have any action items. And we don't have any introduction in action items either. So with that, our introduction item-- we have motion to approve board resolution 01-26, Bond Refunding Delegation. And we have a motion to approve board resolution 0226, Issuance of Bonds. And with that, I invite Jackie up to the podium. And we have two presentations tonight-- one presentation to cover both of the introduction items. Yes. Good evening, thank you. I'm here tonight to introduce two resolutions. As mentioned, the first one is the Bond Refunding Delegation, and the
046second one is the Issuance of Bonds. These two will work together, and we'll execute these at the same time. The first one we call bond refunding, but it's really a refinancing of about $33 million of outstanding bond debt. These are from the issuances back in 2015. And this would allow us, if interest rates are favorable when we go to market in the spring, that we could actually refinance these and secure a lower interest rate. Ultimately, that means that the district and taxpayers would save money on interest long term. The second agenda item is the issuance of bonds, and this is exciting. It is the final issuance of our 2022 bonds. $98 million is what is remaining of the $520 million that we were authorized in 2022. As you know, we've used those funds to build
047Evergreen and Tyee and open those on time and on budget. The remaining $98 million will continue closing out those two large projects and go towards the continuing build of Pacific for the September 2027 open. In 2023, we sold the first package of bonds, which was $280 million. And then last year we sold $140 million, which leaves us to the remaining $98 million that we are bringing forward tonight. Hopefully, favorable market conditions will also mean lower interest rates on that new debt as well. I'm going to turn it over to Andrew Burgess, our controller, and he's going to introduce our experts that are here to answer questions tonight. Thanks. Thank you. President, Director, Superintendant, Dr. Duran. I was telling our familiar friends-- they've been here before-- that I came up with a cool-- this is going
048to age me-- but A-Team-like titles for the things that they do. So Jackie's the "Bond Boss." This resolution is going to give her the authority to take action on the sale and refunding these bonds. I'm kind of like the "Glue Guy." I am facilitating and getting documentation and organizing and helping folks gather what we need to make this happen. Mark Prussing is not here today. He was at CFAC the last time we met, but he's kind of "The Planner." Works for ESD 112. He's our financial advisor. And so he's been working with Highline for probably two, maybe three decades around this kind of work. Works with districts throughout the state-- help them with tax strategy and making the best decisions for our taxpayers that we can make. So that's Mark. Lee Marchisio with Foster Garvey--
049I think of him as "The Brains." He's our legal representative. He knows all the ins and outs of these complex, high dollar amount transactions. And so he's going to bring that expertise. And then lastly we have Trevor with Piper Sandler. I'm calling him "The Tactician." So his team-- when the time comes to sell these bonds, they're going to go into the market. And they're going to be trying to get the best interest rates, the best deals for Highline. And so I'm going to have Lee come up and speak briefly about his role a little bit more. Trevor's gotten a couple questions from you all beforehand that he'll answer. And then if there are other questions that come up, we are here to answer them. So first, Lee. Thank you, Andrew. Again, Lee Marchisio with the
050Foster Garvey law firm. We serve as bond counsel and special counsel on levies for the district. Congratulations again on the great ringing endorsement from the community. Vice President Alvarez, Dr. Duran, President Van, and members of the board, pleasure to be here for this, again, last sale for this series of bonds that were ultimately approved by the voters back in 2022. As bond counsel, as Andrew mentioned, our role is to make sure that all legal steps are met and satisfied to ensure that the bonds are validly issued and are binding obligations on the district, and that you ultimately receive the proceeds and then can go off and spend them in a timely fashion to finish the projects, again, that the voters authorized. So I'm happy to be here and to answer any questions that you might
051have on the resolutions that will be before you for final consideration at the next meeting. Thank you. Great, thanks, Lee. Good job. My name is Trevor Carlson. Thank you for having me, President Van, members of the school board, Dr. Duran. Thank you. Appreciate the opportunity. As was mentioned, we're here to answer questions. I work for a firm called Piper Sandler. And as Andrew mentioned, we're "The Tactician." We will enter the market, sell bonds, lock in borrowing costs with investors on your behalf. That's our major goal when we enter the market in March. Happy to answer any questions. The thrust of these resolutions-- the most important piece-- is the new money piece, as we call it-- the dollars that will be deposited into your capital projects fund to complete projects. The tail of the transaction is
052the small refinancing piece. At this very moment, it does not meet the minimum threshold that is embedded in the resolutions that are there for your consideration at the next board meeting. It's a relatively short maturity. It matures in December of '26. So the optionality-- the amount of interest that is being accrued or will be accrued is relatively minimal. So it's one that's really a game-time decision. If we can hit that minimum savings target, great, we add it in. If not, we remove it. And it's a relatively short maturity. It doesn't-- again, we don't want to have the tail wagging the dog on the transaction. So that's the refinancing piece that is before us right now. There are bonds that were issued in 2017 that we will have an opportunity to review the refinancing viability later
053this summer or this autumn. Those are a much more sizable transaction. The maturities go out for a longer period of time, and that is one that will be-- again, one we'll brief you on in the summer or autumn when we're coming back for the timing to be optimal. Any detailed questions? Happy to jump in. I know that our-- thank you to both so much for being here and for taking our questions. I know that we did have some questions. So I know Director Holien, did you-- I know that you had a couple questions maybe. Yeah, I think-- thank you very much for being here and for all the work that Jackie and the team have put into this. I think with the-- we probably answered it regarding the reduced interest rates and what the changes.
054Looks like we would be possibly saving over $1 million with this change to [INAUDIBLE]. Do we have an idea of what the savings would be [INAUDIBLE]? Yeah, the minimum savings target is 1% in the resolution, which would equate to $329,100. We are below that target right now. I updated the refinancing this morning using interest rates for bonds that we sold yesterday for Tahoma School District. So it's relatively minimal. But we are doing everything possible to optimize your debt portfolio, so this is one of the tools in our toolkit. OK, great. Thank you. Yeah, great question. Any other question, Director Holien? No? Director Tidholm, any questions? I don't have any questions, but thank you for the information and all your work. Thank you. Welcome. Director Espinoza, I think you had some questions as well. Yeah, I
055did, and I think it was answered. But I'm going to go ahead and ask just to be sure. So this was for 10.1. And in the bar it says that it would allow us to likely decrease our debt. Correct. Yes. So my question was, what factors would not allow for a decrease in our district debt? Yeah, the overall level of-- the differential in the borrowing costs on the bonds that are on the books today, think of it as a refinancing, very similar to a mortgage. If you're able to reduce the borrowing cost and have a economic benefit, it makes sense to move forward. At this point in time, it doesn't look like there is a benefit. But we have many, many weeks until we are actually going to enter the market. Interest rates move. Sometimes
056volatility is high. So we want to create some optionality if interest rates do decrease, to be able to lock in that relatively small amount of savings. Again, based upon your large assessed value and your tax base, it will be minuscule-- unrecognizable to the property taxpayer. But in the grand scheme of things, again, we're trying to create and utilize all the tools in our toolkit to optimize your debt portfolio. OK, thank you for that. Yes. Great questions. Any other question, Director Espinoza? No, thank you though. President Van? Not a question but just, thank you, Trevor. Great to see you again and team for taking care of our taxpayers, making sure that we get the most bang for our buck. So thank you, and it's great seeing you again. Great seeing you too. Thank you. My only
057other question-- I only have one, and maybe just to help me. So I know that we're doing this simultaneously-- the refunding of the-- the bond refunding delegation and then the issuing of bonds. So can you explain to me how does that work? Or why are we doing them together or why do them together? Great question. The advantage of pairing them together, as opposed to having them be individual transactions, is really economies of scale. We're leaning pretty heavy on the finance team for data to help us produce an offering memorandum to investors. So there's some work there. There's additional benefits from a cost of issuance perspective of having them paired together, which could then benefit the refinancing even more. Where if it was a standalone, it would be bearing the full load of cost of issuance
058versus putting it together and having it be more economically viable. So that's really the impetus plus timing. Without getting into tax law-- happy to do it-- there's a window where we're at the optimal time to be able to refinance based upon a procedural window. And then we're trying to marry that with the opportunity that the bond market may or may not give us. Again, the thrust of this is to deposit the last of the '22 bond authorization into your capital projects fund. That's what we're going to do. The refinancing will happen if we can achieve savings that are significant enough for us to move forward. Thank you. I mean, it made sense to me as having-- and I thought, maybe if he could just explain it, it would- but it totally makes sense. Because then
059I was thinking then it would also help our credit rating and all of that because it's all happening at the same time so-- Yeah. Well, we're having-- again, economies of scale-- one conversation with the credit rating analyst instead of two. That's a prime example. Yeah, that's what I thought is like, it'll help our credit rating. So it's not bringing our credit rating down. Thank you. That is all the questions that I have. And I think that the board-- so thank you to the board for-- President Van, did you want to-- I see you wanting to say something. I do. Thank you, Vice President Alvarez. I had the opportunity to talk with Trevor during our meeting at WASDA in regards to everything that was going on. And I just wanted to thank you all there, I
060know. I am not there in person, and I had asked you, Trevor, if you're going to be around. And this just came up suddenly. So one of the things during-- one of the things that Highline Schools does is present pins to our partners-- people that take care of our kids, and our community for doing what they do. I would like to present to both of you our Highline Promise. And Dr. Duran, Vice President Alvarez, can you please present to them our Highline Promise? This pin represents you taking care of our kids like they're one of your own. So we just want to thank you so much for your support and just taking care of our taxpayers and our kids. I'm just rambling on right now, but thank you so much. If you guys can present
061them with those pins, that would be great. Absolutely. I also want to say-- Thank you, President Van. Thank you so much. Because as soon as I walked in, it's like it feels like they-- like family. They walked in. They were so thankful to see us and keeping up with just all our things that are happening here at Highline. They could speak personally to some of my stuff. And I'm like, wow, they do care about and they watch everything. So I just want to say, as well as President Van was saying, just thank you. Thank you for caring for our kids and for our district to make sure that we have the best that we can offer so we can continue to build the schools that they deserve. So thank you. Thank you. [NO AUDIO] Thank
062you, President Van, for doing that, and Superintendent Duran for providing those for me. And with that, with nothing else on, we ask that-- now we call for any additions for our upcoming consent agenda. Appreciate that. So now I'll ask for a motion to adjourn. I motion to adjourn. May I get a second? I'll second. All in favor? Aye. Let's go home. Thank you, everyone, for being here today. Thank you. [INDISTINCT CHATTER]