001So I want to give a warm welcome to everyone to our regularly scheduled board meeting, and I will ask for a roll call. If we can wait one more minute to begin. We're 5:59. Because usually I'm late, so now-- We're good. It's 6:00. OK. Let me start all over. I would like to welcome everyone tonight to our 6:00 board meeting, regularly scheduled, and with that, I'll ask for a roll call, please. Can we do a Pledge of Allegiance first, please? OK, I'll get it right. Welcome, everyone. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. 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. All right. The third time is a charm. Now I will
002ask for a roll call, please. Director Tidholm? Present. Director Hagos? Here. Director Petrini? Here. Director Alvarez? Here, and our Director Van has an excused absence for tonight. And with that-- hang on for a second-- I will ask for a call for changes or additions to our regularly-- for our board agenda. Any calls for changes or additions? Seeing and hearing none, we'll move on to recognitions, and with that, I'll pass it over to Director Hagos this evening. OK. I wanted to take a deep breath because this one is near and dear to my heart. This one is for our school library programs. Whereas-- you can keep clapping if you want to. They deserve it. Here we go. Whereas the school library program is to ensure that students and staff are effective users of ideas and information,
003and whereas the school librarian's role is to provide the leadership and expertise necessary to ensure that the library program is an integral part of the instructional program of the school, and whereas the Board of Education has entrusted the school librarian in each school to teach the skills of locating and using information through traditional resources and new technologies to provide literature appreciation activities and to guide and encourage content and recreational reading to every student. And whereas lifelong learning begins and is symmetrically developed through the school library curriculum of the elementary and secondary schools, and whereas the school library program contributes to the individual growth and development of all students while fostering both excellence and equity in education. And whereas the school librarians of Highline Public Schools have dedicated themselves to work for quality library programs for
004all students, so now, therefore, the board and the superintendent of Highline Public Schools do hereby proclaim April 2024 as School Library Month in Highline and urge citizens to join in recognizing the importance of our school libraries and the dedication of our school librarians. And I believe Kirsten Gunn from Highline High School is here? All right, thank you. Welcome. Are there others who'd like to have-- yeah, please, [? whoever. ?] We got a couple of other-- Please come up. Please come on up. Come on up. OK, sorry. I haven't actually done this part before, so this is new to me. All right, so for School Library Month, good evening, my name is Kirsten Gunn, and this is my 20th year as the librarian at Highline High School. Thank you, Dr. Duran and Highline School board members,
005for recognizing School Library Month. I would like to take just a couple minutes to talk about our awesome Highline School District librarians. So I love the proclamation, but I'm going to say my guess is that when most people hear the word "library," the image that comes to mind is a space with lots of books, and I would also guess that when most people hear the phrase "school librarian," the image that comes to mind is an elementary librarian during story time. So although both of these images are accurate, libraries and school librarians are so much more than this, and so for school library month, I'd like to recognize our librarians for their multifaceted talents as teachers, collaborators, research experts, literature lovers, makerspace learners, and safe space creators. And I want to share some specific examples tonight,
006so I asked my colleagues to send me something they were excited about from this school year. And I think their examples really illustrate that list of qualities that I'm talking about. So Kelli McSheehy at Evergreen High school has a fun program running right now for National Poetry Month. Using a March Madness-style bracket, students are listening to and reading poems and then voting for their favorites to move on to the next bracket, and you should totally check out her Instagram because it's got all the details in the poems that they're using. Lisa Carlson at Mount Rainier High School has been working on a huge collection development project this year, weeding and updating and moving her print nonfiction collection. Her goal is to make nonfiction more appealing to teens, and she's already noticing students gravitating towards this
007reorganized section. And it's made even more appealing because she can have displays and dynamic shelving with the space that she's created. Josie Hodge at our Chinook Middle School loves that her library is a chosen safe space for students throughout the day. Some students choose the library as their reward for meeting their daily goals or as a safe place to reset themselves before going back to class. Students check in with her, say hello, talk about their interests, and she loves these informal ways of building relationships with students. Bob [? Vigar ?] at Tyee is most excited about collaboration work he's done this year with teachers, teaming up to refresh the library's nonfiction collection connected to classroom curriculum. Together, they've decided on and added over 200 new titles and he's loved reminding teachers that the library is
008a partner in helping them make sure students have what they need to be successful in class. Bethany Black at Glacier Middle School also shared a story about collaboration. She's been working with seventh grade ELA classes, and during their library visits, in addition to checkout time, she does a lesson that's connected to the class topic. And then they end with a hands-on activity. So for example, they were studying teen brains, and the students ended up making their own brains using the materials in the Glacier Makerspace. And speaking of Makerspace, which is new to our libraries this year, Nancy Frederick at Pacific Middle School and Dawn Lindgren at Cascade Middle School are both excited about how students are engaging in the new games and the STEM activities. Each activity encourages critical thinking, planning, and organizing. The students
009are playing and learning together in groups that are really transcending original usual boundaries with students. The button-making machine is super popular. That's true at high school. And as the word has spread, the new favorite is Cubelets, which are these little modular robots. Stephanie Detweiler at Sylvester Middle School received two grants from the Highline Schools Foundation this year, and she's super excited that one of them is allowing her to take 120 of her most avid readers to the Cavalcade of Authors West Conference in May, where they get to participate in writing workshops with well-known young adult authors. And me, after leading a PD lesson for teachers last August on the SIFT method for evaluating online information, I've been able to work with ELA, social studies, and science classes incorporating these techniques and helped plan a field
010trip for three classes to attend the MisinfoDay at the UDub campus last month. So as I hope you can see, our Highline School District libraries are vibrant places that support our students, and I firmly believe that this is because in my 20 years here our school district has made sure that our libraries are staffed by educated, certificated teacher librarians. And for the last six years, we've been allocated funds that make it much more possible to maintain up-to-date, diverse collections to support our students' wide array of needs and interests. So thank you very much for that support and for valuing strong library programs. We really appreciate it. Happy School Library Month. So please join us for a picture and so you can get handed your proclamation. I will leave that and my glasses right there. Don't
011let me forget. Yeah, absolutely. Just a quick comment-- I love that you got to share all the wonderful stories about what's happening in our schools with our school librarians. I get to see this in a different capacity, and so hearing these stories of Highline and the Highline experiences that our kids get is powerful. I do love a couple of other things I just wanted to share out. I love that the National School Library Standards include standards to promote future readiness. When I saw that, I was blown away. I did not know that was a part of what you all did. You all have created standards of practice to help our students be innovative creators, problem-solvers, and thinkers. So I personally have experienced literacy to be a liberating experience for me, and it is freedom. Thank
012you for what you do. So thank you again. Thank you again, everyone. I'm not sure if anybody else had a comment for our librarians before we move on. No, I also-- I'm so thankful for our libraries, just a really good place for my grandkids to attend and a place for them to learn anywhere, and my grandson in his school as well appreciates our library. And with that, we are going to move into recognitions of our community partner, and I'll ask for Lolita-- she's the director of our family and community partnerships-- to come on up. Glasses on here? So good evening board directors and Superintendent Duran. I'm delighted to be here this evening for the recognition of the Museum of Flight. The vision of the Museum of Flight is to inspire all through limitless possibilities of
013flight sparked by a singular experience or a lifetime connection. Tonight, we are honored to shine a spotlight on the impact this partnership has had on our educational endeavors. I would like to invite Dana Riley, vice president of education at the museum, to share more about our partnership, but before that, let us hear from some of our remarkable staff who have directly experienced the benefits of our collaboration. I'd like to invite Renee Olsen, who represents Puget Sound Skills Center, Marcie Wombold from Raisbeck Aviation, and Dr. Tanisha Brandon-Felder, our director of pre-K elementary success, up to the podium to share a few words before we hear from Dana. Distinguished School board members and Superintendent Dr. Duran, first, I'd like to thank you all for your service to Highline school district, and we appreciate what you do for
014students, families, communities, and the employees. Tonight, we have the honor of sharing with you a little bit about the great partnership between Puget Sound Skills Center and the Museum of Flight, specifically the Boeing Academy of STEM Learning, which happens to be the largest educational department within all air and space museums. We at Puget Sound are most familiar with the Aeronautical Science Pathway Program that has served so many students within Western Washington. This program gives students a solid foundation in Aviation and the aerospace industry. Their students receive the knowledge and skills to catapult their college and career choices. I have been very lucky to teach some of the ASP graduates, and in my classes, I am so proud to say they have gone on to do great things with their lives, becoming pilots, engineers, educators, advocates
015for the aviation and aerospace industry. The ASP program is an afternoon session. And students attend after their school day, but you never hear a complaint. They love it. Students realize the importance of this additional education. They will earn college and high school credits, and many will graduate with their AA or AS degree upon graduation. This opportunity has a huge impact on their educational journey and future lives. None of this would happen without the leadership of Matt Hayes, CEO of the Museum of Flight, Dr. Dana Riley Black, the vice president of education, and Robert Prosch, the lead instructor and coordinator. So on behalf of the Puget Sound Skills Center, I'd like to congratulate the museum on this recognition. We look forward to many years together supporting students. Thank you. It's my honor to be here today
016to talk about the Museum of Flight. I'm Dr. Duran, and board directors, it's a privilege to be able to exemplify and amplify, and I use that word intentionally because "amplify" is our new science curriculum. And the last conversation we had, where Rafael hosted us at the Museum of Flight last week, was really talk about the intentional integration of the work that Museum of Flight is doing with our new science curriculum. And in that, partnerships and opportunities to collaborate started blossoming. What I've appreciated about this partnership, which is new for me-- because I just started in November-- is that there is a really eager opportunity to really think about collectively how we can work together to bring out the best in our students through representation of modelship, information, and content. And I had a chance to
017observe two classrooms in action, fully engaged, fully excited, doing high-rigorous and high-challenging work that really helps, I think, break the stereotype threats around what's possible for STEM access for our students of color and students at the margins of our systems. So I'm really excited to be able to celebrate the Museum of Flight today. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Marcie Wombold, and I'm honored to represent to you the teachers and families that make up Raisbeck Aviation High school and to speak about the impact that the Museum of Flight has had on all of us. As a founding teacher, I've had 20 years of partnering with the Museum of Flight in all kinds of ways. Not only do they have a beautiful space that has provided safe, inspiring experiences for students. They've hosted everything from AP tests
018to student presentations to guest speakers to our annual PTSA auction, where they support us in raising funds for our award-winning Science Olympiad and robotics teams, our Women in Aviation, and Aerospace Careers Experiences clubs. Their partnerships help make our programs happen. They have buoyed us in very specific logistics and spatial ways. On a personal note, being a teacher, it was my privilege to teach US history, and we know how important the stories of US history are to all of us, as citizens. And the museum partnered with me by bringing in docents and volunteers and training them and then helping me bring my students and their volunteers and docents in conversation together. We have heard over the years stories of veterans all the way back to World War II, and that's an extraordinary gift for our students
019to be able to talk with people who have experienced real life. It makes history real. It makes understanding their role as citizenships-- personal, and they get to see themself in the work. And then not only bringing their docents and volunteers, but then they invited our students to join to participate in living history, to present next to the beautiful artifacts wearing costumes from the costume collection. And these are experiences that make learning come alive for students because they're wearing it. They're standing by it. They're speaking of it, and they're speaking to their communities. Their families got to come in and see them perform. Members of just the open public got to see them as scholars in that space, and that is instrumental in helping just them see how far they can go. That partnership with the
020museum, their willingness to connect students with real life and with their communities-- as a teacher, as a parent, I could not be more grateful for the partnership, and so it's an honor to tell you that that's the role that they've played for so long in our communities. Thank you, Museum of Flight, for that role, for the open doors, for the expectations, for the vision for what is possible. Thank you for helping us inspire young people to see their futures in aviation and aerospace, and thank you for so very often saying yes to our kids. Thank you. Renee, Tanisha, Marcie, thank you so much. It's really humbling to sit back and listen when someone talks about and your work. I do want to thank you, Superintendent Duran and board directors, for inviting us here to talk
021about the school district's partnership with the Museum of Flight. My boss, Matt Hayes, our president and CEO, did want to be here tonight, and I'm not making this up. He had an invitation to join the small delegation that's meeting with the Crown Prince of Norway this evening, so he shares-- I see where we rank. He shares his regrets but asked me to affirm appreciation of our partnership as it's aligned to one of the core components of the strategic plan, the museum's new strategic plan. That is the focus on local communities and, very specifically, focusing on local learners. As well, we have so many of the same partners and advocates, so it just suits us well to partner. So I'll talk through a few of the things. Some of it-- I'll try not to replicate anything
022that we've heard, but Raisbeck Aviation High School-- our partnership is significant. The innovative spirit of this school's students and staff-- it's contagious. Just this last week, Rafael Gallardo, one of my colleagues who's here, our director for programs and initiatives, and I were hosting another school district. And we were over at our collections and library, and our director of collections made a comment about the Aviation High School Students, talking about a project that they were working on and how innovative and exciting that was. So you all are well known through our entire museum. As it goes, we believe the Museum of Flight has a rather unique program model. Formerly known, as you heard, as the Boeing Academy for STEM Learning, the museum's education portfolio follows a career-connected learning model or format. Our continuum offers programs that
023are designed to foster innovation, to foster exploration and preparation. I'll talk about each of these in the context of Highline Public Schools. An example of our programming designed to foster inspiration is in the grade 5 partnership with the school district. You may know this as the grade 5 rocketry curriculum. This experience was developed in 2014 as part of the Washington Informal Science Education Network. In addition to the classroom-based rocketry experiences, the museum supports each Highline grade 5 classroom for a visit to the museum, and this includes a gallery experience as well as an inquiry-centered workshop entitled Suited for Space in which students engineer spacesuits for marshmallow astronauts, which are then tested in small vacuum chambers. The participation engages about 1,300 students each year. With your new science adoption, museum staff are working with districts teaching
024and learning team to develop a new museum experience, which will complement the newly adopted amplify curriculum. An example of our programs designed to foster exploration is our Michael P Anderson Memorial Aerospace Program. Designed in legacy of Washington native and shuttle commander Michael Anderson, the six-month program centers the contributions of BIPOC community in space and Aviation for middle school students. Approximately 15% of the participants are Highline students. Director Vaughn and Director Hagos were guests at this year's Michael P Anderson reception, and Matt Hayes and I-- even though he's not here-- were honored to receive a school board "Living in Our Promise" pin at that event from these directors, so that was quite an honor. We both came back and talked it up. Our partnership with the Puget Sound Skills Center is an example of a museum
025preparatory program, one of our programs designed to engage learners in preprofessional opportunities. The museum serves as a satellite program of the Puget Sound Skills Center. As a satellite program, the museum assets are leveraged, our exhibits, our collections, and our people. We also do a lot of other work related to this program. We recruit the instructors, ensuring that they have both the FAA and CTE qualifications, and we manage an aviation-focused CTE advisory committee. The satellite program was first launched in the summer of 2015, when Reba Gilman established a private pilot ground school program. We continue to offer ground school as a summer school course. We now host hundreds students per summer, having hosted just under 700 students since 2015. On average, 20% of the ground school participants are Highline school district students. And then, starting in
026the 2016/17 academic year, the Skills Center launched the Aeronautical Science Pathway Program, which you heard about. Also a part-- this is also a partner with Green River College, and this program is set up to offer the most dual credits of any Skills Center program in the state of Washington, affording students 3 high school credits and 30 college credits per year. Affectionately known as ASP, on an annual basis, this program introduces 50 juniors and seniors to aviation careers, including pilots, but also drone operations, air traffic control, airport management, airline dispatch, and more. Since the launch of the program, the program has supported 350 students, and just over 25% of the students are Highline Public School students. So I'll close with an open invitation for you to visit the museum, particularly more education programs, as well as
027a sincere thank-you for the opportunity to truly partner authentically. And finally, the museum would very much like to extend, before he retires, a special thank-you to Scott Logan. Scott has facilitated our quarterly meetings, which are support so many of the behind-the-scenes details of all the above-mentioned programs. So thank you all, and thank you and congratulations, Scott. Don't run off just yet. I think we have a couple of comments coming. Dr. Black, don't run off just yet. There's a few comments coming. Hold on for just a second. Go ahead, Director Tidholm. First, I want to note that Scott is also a pilot. If you did not know, he flies planes. The other thing-- I have a child who is a student at Raisbeck right now, and I'm just really grateful for the partnership and the experiences
028and the opportunities. He talked my ear off for hours about his marshmallow man and how that was going for him, and the backdoor access to the museum is like elite for these children. He's been to the museum before, and it's something that he enjoys. And he does not go any more than he has in the past. But the fact that he can walk through a back door and get into it is just the best thing about that school. So I greatly appreciate, again, just the experience and the opportunities for our children. Yeah, it was a true honor to be at that event, the Michael Anderson event that you spoke of. I personally know students who talk about the life-changing experiences they go through in that six week course, when they're talking about not just STEM-related
029things. They're talking about themselves and finding out who they are and looking at those STEM standards that you guys talk about in terms of course content that's created and activities and opportunities to explore all the things that come with career interests that are aligned to who they are. It is incredibly powerful, and I have seen it change some kids who had the most dire experiences. So that Living the Promise pin was true from my heart. I know that Director Van was the one who initiated it. As I was talking with him, he's like, this is what it's all about, getting to know our kids, letting them see what is possible for themselves, and finding an avenue to pursue that so they have a successful future. So just thank you for the Museum of Flight and
030Dr. Black. The work that you do is greatly appreciated. Thank you, Director Hagos. Director Petrini, any comments? Just a quick note, I was saying that I have never been to the Museum of Flight, but my children have. They love it. So I would love to come and see what you guys are doing. I think what an amazing experience and opportunity for our kids to have this. I don't know if any other district has that kind of opportunity and partnerships with aviation and things like that, so I think it's fantastic. So thank you. And myself as well, thank you to you all and to your staff and to your team, so thank you for being here as well tonight. Thank you for all you do for us. Good night. And with that, we're going to move
031on to scheduled communication. On behalf of the board, we would like to thank you for coming and speaking this evening. Our norms and rules are posted on the screens. Please be mindful that you're here to speak to the board and that there may be students here or watching, that they're paying attention to your words. In addition, the board will not be able to respond directly to you about your testimony during the meeting. Thank you again for coming and speaking. Our first scheduled communicator is Joe Lipp. Good evening, Board Members. I wanted to talk on the emergency supply purchase order that's going to come up tonight. I went to the ESSR funding site, which is the COVID funding that's been given to the country for schools. It says, the state should make every possible effort to
032prevent the upcoming drop in education funding that low-income districts are likely to face. This kind of fiscal cliff could mean layoffs, school closures, and programming cuts, all that which will negatively impact students, already happening in the state of Washington. Public education must be a priority. Lawmakers shall undo costly tax cuts-- that's funny. The state of Washington hasn't have a tax cut since 2012 for tobacco-- who's relevant and instead look for opportunities to raise revenues to buffer against the loss of federal funding. There's still 22% of the ESSR 3 funding still left in the coffers of the state of Washington, which is another monster that's created by COVID. 26 states in this country did tax cuts, and now they're all going to pay the price because there's no funding left. Now they have to raise the
033taxes back up, which we can't possibly do in this state anymore, 7% excise tax on capital gains for people taking out 401(k) on their stuff, which generates in the state $500 million a year, which we could tax into. One other thing I want to bring up-- Midway Elementary, Highline High school, and Pacific Middle School are not closed campuses. At recess there's no-- Thank you for your comments. --Cotlove? Good evening. My children, now adults, went to Seahurst, Sylvester, and Highline. The ability to read at grade level is the key to a good education, yet today in the Highline Schools, large numbers of students read below grade level, many substantially below grade level. Poor readers miss out on the literature and history of their culture. Poor readers have difficulty with their schoolwork. Frustrated, some misbehave or skip
034school, and later in life, poor readers are not prepared for advanced education and many careers. To achieve equity, you must strive to have students reading at grade level. Imagine, for example, a ninth grader reading at the seventh grade level, two years behind. If this student's reading improves only one grade level during the year, they will become a tenth grader reading at the eighth grade level, still two years behind. For that ninth grader to catch up, reading must improve by three grade levels during just one year. I encourage school board members to inquire about reading improvement efforts. Ask how long it will take for poor readers to reach grade level. Ask what has been the most effective at rapidly getting students to grade level. Ask for funding solutions to expand their use. I also encourage you
035to ask for frequent reporting that tells you how many students are reading below grade level, how far below grade level they are, and how quickly they are catching up. Reading at grade level is the path to equity. For students reading at grade level, reading educates. Reading motivates. Reading emboldens, and reading empowers. Thank you. Our next scheduled communicator is Sarah Polda, I hope. Good evening. I've been a teacher here at the Highline school district since 1998. We've got three daughters who graduated in 2005, 2006, and 2008. One of my daughters is an ESP at White Center Heights and has been since 2018. Historian Heather Cox Richardson said that, quote, "America began with a great paradox, and the struggle to resolve this paradox continues to this day. What's the paradox? It is that since our founding in
0361787, we, the people, have not all enjoyed the blessings of liberty that our founders wrote about." I teach students at MRHS every day who belong to groups that in our country's past were denied their civil rights. The 13th Amendment to our Constitution abolished slavery. The 15th and 19th gave formerly disenfranchised Americans, Black men, then all women, the right to vote. The Supreme Court less than 10 years ago struck down all bans to gay marriage. What do these all have in common? These steps forward, attempts to resolve this paradox, have all met with fierce opposition. That opposition continues today. There are some folks who want to repeal the 19th Amendment, the one that granted women the right to vote. There are some states in our country that tried to adopt textbooks that claimed that enslaved Africans
037brought to our shores were simply migrant workers. There are some folks who are big mad that Highline educators advocate for all students, and that brings us here tonight. Educators must advocate for all children. When I went to high school in the 1970s, LGBTQ students were closeted. They had to be for their own safety. We don't have some secret agenda. Simply put, we will not marginalize students, period. As the Reverend Dr. King stated, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." We are not going back. Thank you, Nicolette, for your comments. Our next scheduled speaker is Paige Sikorski. I'm sorry. Go ahead. I skipped one. You're good. So sorry. My name is Paige Sikorski, and I have been in the Highline School District since kindergarten. I am currently enrolled in Mount
038Rainier High School, where myself, my peers, and my teachers are all unhappy with the current state of our school. Students feel ignored and as though their words aren't being heard, and as a student myself, I agree completely. So far this school year, there have been two long-term substitutes that were either inappropriately talking about or acting around students as well as a substitute that I myself found to have brought alcohol onto school property and reported to an administrator. We are limited to three bathroom uses during each class in every quarter. The rule was implemented to prevent drug use and students from skipping classes, but my peers and I have seen no difference, as we are all still weary of using the bathrooms due to the people hanging out in them. Students openly hang out in the
039halls during class and are told to go back to class without any further action being taken to promote them to actually do so. Teachers have said they feel unappreciated, unsupported, and as though they are blamed for issues without being guided on how to address them. A few of the teachers I talked to wouldn't even speak about the topic until I told them I was going to leave their names out of it as they feared repercussions for speaking against our district. I've been told by teachers that the curriculum is not good enough and that they are expected to purchase supplies that is necessary to students learning with their own money, one primary example being a teacher having to bring extra chemistry goggles from home to school as there weren't enough goggles provided for the entire class,
040and not wearing safety goggles in the chemistry lab was a very big safety hazard. Our teachers are given one 50-minute planning period every day, which isn't nearly enough time to prepare lessons for five separate classes. And one of the teachers I spoke to even said they had to work seven hours on a Sunday to complete their lesson planning, which is all unpaid. Our teachers feel as though they aren't able to properly teach students as the sophomore and freshman classes are too big as well as not having the proper support from paraeducators, which leads them to spend most of their time teaching one individual student instead of the whole class. The change we need is in support for our teachers, whether it's through physical-- Paige, thank you so much for your comments. You can send your
041comments in also. If you email it to Adriana, she'll give them to us. Thank you so much for being here. And with that, I'm sorry. I had skipped over Nicolette Neumann, our next scheduled speaker. Good evening. My name is Nicolette Neumann, and I am a future former teacher at Highline High School. After not quite three years as a teacher, I am currently on mental health leave for severe depression, panic attacks, and suicidal ideation. I will not be returning next year. Highline has lost four students this year. Three were my former or current students. The compounded grief of those deaths continues to have a major impact on my mental health. However, I want to focus my time today on the preventable. First, I believe that, as a new teacher, my inexperience and ignorance of my right
042to set boundaries were taken advantage of. After a successful and fulfilling first year teaching biology, I was assigned all the sheltered newcomer multilingual biology classes despite having no EL endorsement, no prior training, speaking almost no Spanish, and having expressed no interest in taking on those classes. The only training I received was a single introduction to glad strategies course offered that summer over Zoom. My reward was to teach an advanced placement class in an entirely new subject area as well. Second, there is a culture of sexual harassment that is not being adequately addressed. I can only definitively speak for myself, but anecdotally, I know at least four other young female or feminine presenting teachers who have been sexually harassed by our students. I reported my incident, and after the initial response of "It's a cultural difference,"
043I was promised that an advisory lesson would be developed to present to students this school year. That advisory lesson was never created. I don't ask for sympathy. I miss my students dearly, but I chose to prioritize my health and my daughter. And I do not regret that choice. I'm not alone in this. I implore you to listen to my amazing colleagues, the new-to-career educators, women, teachers of color. Please understand that you cannot pledge to support our students without also ensuring educator well-being. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Nicolette. With that, our next scheduled speaker, Sandy Hunt. Greetings, Board. After hearing that, I'm thinking of jettisoning my original comments. Let me invite you-- I was going to give you this handout. We are having a forum at the Burien Library on Tuesday, April 23 at
0445:30. It's about reducing violence in our neighborhoods, including our schools. So we have a project that we've been working on at Evergreen High school and New Start, which is now Innovation Heights. And I will say that we had teachers who advocated at Mount Rainier High School to actually implement this, and they were turned down by the administration there. We've also talked about it last year at Highline High School, and it went nowhere. So this program is going really well at these two high schools, and so I really encourage you to attend and to consider expanding it to other schools. We're working on getting funding for that. The other half of my comments-- I do have a handout for you. I'm here to reintroduce you to the defenders of North SeaTac Park, whose mission has expanded
045this year to cover what we are designating as the Highline Forest. This month, as we celebrate Earth and Arbor Days, we're here to advocate for trees. I'll jump right to my asks-- today, the defenders of Highline Forest are asking you to, one, put land stewardship policies in place that would protect, preserve, and grow existing tree canopy on the properties you control. Number two, we ask you to direct staff to use existing channels of communication, such as the Highline forum to advocate with the board to end tree canopy destruction and finally encourage you to ask the staff for local tree preservation laws and policies and align your work with that. Thank you, Sandy. With that, our next scheduled speaker, Deborah Lipp. Hello, good evening. I am a school bus driver for Highline School District. Next year
046will be 20 years. I pray to be retiring. So we were promised on that bond a building. I saw the bowling alley over here go up. The kids bowled this year, which was a storage place, I thought, when we did the bond. I've seen Evergreen almost-- wow, beautiful school. I've seen Tyee going great. We've had a water test at our transportation building and no building, no nothing. Sylvester-- we just voted on the new track there. Boy, they're tearing it up. It's getting going. Devon's retiring. Scott's retiring. Right after the budget talk, I just want to know, does transportation ever get what you promised us? I've been there 19 years, and [? Gordy ?] promised us a building. Everybody's promised us a building. COVID, we got a couple of air conditioners, wow. I have pictures of
047the bathrooms, really disgusting. We've been saying this for 19 years I've been there. Susan did get us carpet because her shoes stuck in the carpet. They were so old and dirty. So we just are wondering what's going on at the transportation. Feels like forgotten, lost. And I agree with everybody on the violence. We just had Glacier-- buses loaded. All the kids were told to get off the buses, go. Drivers are sitting there like, why? They can't leave a bus once it's loaded. But they all ran off, our union reps yelling, what's going on? Drivers aren't told anything. Security's in. Charge they'll tell you what to do. So I don't know what happened because everybody got off the radio. But safety is a real issue Highline better get a hold of. Thank you, Deborah. Our next
048scheduled speaker, Alex Myrick? Good evening, directors. I know that you want the best for the 17,000 children in your care. For you to advocate or even condone a life-changing intervention for a child, you must have compelling evidence. I submit that this evidence is lacking. This is not an issue of left versus right or religion versus science. The people who agree with what I am presenting here include liberals and conservatives, people of faith, and atheists. As humans, we are dimorphic, either male or female. Nearly every cell in our bodies is male or female, and scientists have documented over 6,500 sex differences. Since time immemorial, puberty has been known to be a normal physiological process. The activists who promote so-called "gender-affirming care" have redefined puberty as a disease which requires endocrine and surgical treatment. We're talking about
049hormones affecting fertility, brain, and bone development and the amputation of healthy body parts. The two assumptions-supporting gender affirming care are, one, puberty blockers are reversible and low-risk and, two, physical and psychological outcomes will be improved in later life by suppressing puberty. I am providing each of you with an abstract of a peer-reviewed article and a link to the full article that refutes both of these assumptions. Some of you have tuned me out. Others will forget what I said as soon as I sit down. This may be because I have been expounding on the same theme in this forum for over a year and a half or because it is tedious to hear summaries from the Journal of Sexual Medicine and the Archives of Sexual Behavior. When you get past the medical terminology and scientific research,
050what it boils down to is this-- there are only two sexes, and you don't get to choose. Thank you, Alex. Our next scheduled speaker is Patricia Bailey. Good evening. It's only a matter of weeks before Highline policy 3211 will need to be corrected to conform to the recently passed Parental Rights Initiative, which becomes law in June. Policy 3211 regarding gender-inclusive schools currently requires staff to be secretive regarding students who identify as the opposite sex at school without their parents' knowledge. This policy must be corrected to be respectful of the primacy of parental love and authority and the well-being of their children. Staff will be required by law to be upfront with parents and guardians regarding any changes in the mental health of the students in their classes. This correction will also help rectify a strange
051incoherence in the school board procedure. It demands a teacher address the student with the child's preferred name and pronouns at school and also demands the teacher keep secret the new name and pronouns from those in the students of the choice-- of the student's choice. One is forced to conclude these requirements are solely aimed to keep the child's new identity secret from parents. Not only are the most important people in the student's life left out of this essential knowledge. This requirement creates a hostile work environment for teachers. Such duplicitous directives, one can reasonably predict, inevitably create stress in the teaching staff leading to greater absenteeism and resignations. The correction to the present Highline School Board policy, which assumes the worst about parents, will be a welcome change. It will bring about an inclusive and collaborative spirit
052that needs to pervade all relationships in the education of children. Thank you, Patricia. With that, we move to our superintendent's updates. Dr. Duran? Thank you, Director Alvarez. Yes, last Wednesday, we had the Superintendent Student Leadership Team and interactivity with our students and talking about potential areas we can do further investments or strategies or things that support them. We asked some questions. We asked them what small things make them feel successful, what helps you learn, and what gives you a sense of belonging at school. It was a really powerful conversation and a really great opportunity to listen to our students, to hear what they had to say. One of the things that struck me was so many things that the student said cost no money, the things that they talked about that really matter to them.
053They talked-- thinking about how when teachers recognize them and sometimes greet them in the morning or the afternoon or just give them a smile, knowing how they're doing academically and what they can do next. And they also talked about just being able to connect with each other and build relationships, so really grateful for our students for providing some feedback and some opportunities to think about what we can do. And despite the challenges that we may face with our budget, we know that some of the things that our students are asking for, again, do not cost any money. It's an important reminder for me to always just remember to keep asking our students about their experiences and what they need and what our educators are doing to help support them because our students were pretty clear
054that our educators make a big difference in their lives. Actually, today, I returned from the ASU+GSV conference, and the conference actually had a couple of different strands. But it really focused on supporting school districts and school districts' implementation of artificial intelligence. There were so many different sessions, everything from a day in the life of a kindergarten student experiencing artificial intelligence to very sophisticated generative AI programs that are actually doing tutoring programs that were just pretty fascinating based on some really solid research. I left there today really thinking about artificial intelligence not going away. It is going to be ubiquitous across our organization, across our environments, across every aspect of our learning, and we really have to think about how we're going to utilize it in a good way to empower our students, to our empower
055educators, and really be aware of the potential it has. So we've been learning so much about it, and I look forward to sharing more with the board and our community around some of the things that we're going to be planning in this area. All right, I now would like to welcome Jeb Binns, our Highline education board president, to share some remarks. Welcome, Jeb. Good to see you. Good evening. As always, I'm writing my speech right now because you know I don't like to prepare words. Good evening, Jeb Binns, HEA president. Thank you very much for the introduction. We had a very collaborative day today, bargaining, discussing substitute shortages and planning time and personal days. And I just want to continue to talk and appreciate the collaboration and the collegiality of our process. Collective bargaining, when
056done right, as we call it, the Highline way, is not divisive. Rather, it's a process for us to do right by our students and our staff, and I just appreciate the time and the commitment that people have put into this process. So folks are back. Spring break recharged them. We got about eight weeks left, lots of stickers running around. Things are good. But we just had a wonderful time, and I'm really looking forward to the work for the rest of the year to close out '24 strong. So thank you very much. Have a good night. Thank you, Jeb. With that, we'll conclude our superintendent's updates, and we'll move to our school board reports. Any legislative updates? We don't have any legislative updates at this time. Thank you very much. With that, we'll move into director
057reports. Director Petrini, we'll start on your side. You guys always start with me. That's all right. Well, I think since we last met-- and I know Director Hagos is probably going to speak to this, about the Gold Star Banquet that the HEA put on or the Highline Forum put on. Am I getting that wrong? Highline Foundation, thank you. It feels like a Monday. And just was really great to celebrate with the teachers, administrators, Director Hagos and Director Tidholm as well, and just to hear and highlight the wins of Highline and the amazing things that some of our teachers are doing. And so I just really appreciated being in attendance. Also, I think since last time we toured Evergreen. Or did we already talk about that? But anyway, it was fantastic, and I can't wait to
058see that building done. The architecture is just really impressive, and yeah, those kids are going to be spoiled. I love it. And just coming back from spring break, it was a great opportunity to engage with our family. We got to see the eclipse out in Texas, which was just a fantastic once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, just a learning experience as well with the kids, and so I just loved doing that. And then just last on my list here, it looks like Big Picture partnered with UDub Medicine's OB-GYN residents. Big Picture students teamed up with the UDub Medicine WWAMI Institute, focusing on hands on medical training. And students practice suturing, simulated laparoscopic surgery, and CPR. That's amazing. They even tackled the code-blue simulation, which gave them a feel for an emergency situation. And then the students had a privilege
059to hear from OB-GYN doctors, who shared their journey into the medical field, offering both inspiration and guidance, so a big thank-you to Big Picture and UDub for that collaboration. And that is all I have for today. Thank you, Director Petrino. Director Tidholm? Yes. So graduation is right around the corner. Goodness gracious. That went fast. We're creating a campaign to celebrate our seniors, so if a senior, you have a senior, you can help them fill out the Senior Success Stories form. You can find the link to submit their stories in the Senior Success Story banner on our website. You have until-- they have until April 30 to get that done. I also had the pleasure of serving lunch at a couple more schools recently. The one day that my child decided to be sick, I was
060serving at his school. I don't know if he knew I was going to be there or not. I suspect somehow he found out, but don't worry. I will reschedule that. And then my regular friendly reminder-- White Center Heights Elementary has their Family Resource Center on Thursdays from 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM, and Fridays 2:15 to 3:45 PM, they have a food bank with fresh fruits and vegetables, clothing bank. They have household items. Pretty much everything that you can think of they have it or have a resource to direct you to, open to everybody in the district. Please do utilize it. And that is all that I have for today. Thank you, Director Tidholm. Director Hagos? Yes, so the Gold Star winners and Gold Star breakfast-- the Highline Schools Foundation announced the winners of its 2024
061Gold Star Award, and these awards highlight the outstanding work of our educators, our staff, our volunteers, and alumni. Educators' workplace condition is our students' learning conditions and experiences. They go hand in hand. You cannot expect one to be successful without the other. So there are eight individuals who are being recognized this year, and visit Highline's website to see a list of this year's winners. The Gold Star winners will be celebrated again at a fundraising breakfast on May 3 at Cedarbrook Lodge in SeaTac. So get your tickets, and support this foundational work, please. I have one more thing I'd like to share if I can. I know Director Van is out and STEM Fest is pretty important, and I don't want to miss out, unless, President Alvarez-- were you going to speak to that? That's fine.
062[? I can ?] leave it? Go ahead. OK. So for STEM Fest there were 127 promise scholars participated in STEM Fest at the Museum of Flight last month. Students got a chance to visit the Museum of Flight, where they not only did their first plane landing in a flight simulator but also learned about the different STEM and summer programs the Aerospace Lab offers. Students built self-propelling cars, and each school competed in races. Congratulations to Highline High School students for taking the victory. STEM Fest was developed in partnership with Highline Public Schools, iUrbanTeen, and the Museum of Flight, a very good event. So thank you, Director Hagos, and with that, for myself, just the Gates Horizon grant-- we heard a little bit about this last time. The Gates Foundation has awarded $2.2 million to a partnership
063that includes Highline. The funding will help students transition from high school to postsecondary education. The goal is to help more students in our community access an apprenticeship, career certificate, or a two or four-year college degree program. We will partner with Puget Sound ESD, Highline College, and community-based organizations in the work. I also wanted to talk a little bit about more recognitions in April. I know that alongside the recognitions that we showcased tonight, we have many more throughout the month of April. We invite you to visit our website calendar to explore these additional recognitions. We have the Month of the Military Child, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, National Poetry Month, Occupational Therapy Month, International Children's Book Day, School Librarian Appreciation Day, National Encourage a Young Writer Day, School Bus Driver Appreciation Day, and the National Student
064Leadership Week. So thank you, everyone, for your report. And with that, we moved into our consent agenda, so I need a motion and a second to approve our consent agenda for tonight. I motion to approve the consent agenda. I need a second. I'll second it. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Our consent agenda has been approved. With that, we moved into action items. So we have a motion to approve Resolution Number 04-24, Authorizing Interlocal Agreement with Auburn School District, Number 408 to Access Competitive Bid Contracts. Any questions, comments? Seeing and hearing none-- I took my thing off, so now all of them are kind of messed up, but I think we're good. So I move that the resolution-- to approve resolution 04-24, which establishes a cooperative government agreement between Auburn School District and Highline Public
065Schools. This agreement enables both entities to collaborate and jointly pursue procurement of fresh produce products for the mutual benefit and efficiency of the community. I'll need a second. I'll second. Roll call, please? Director Hagos? Yea. Director Petrini? Yea. Director Tidholm? Yea. Director Alvares? Yea. This motion passes four to none. Our second motion is motion to approve New Policy 2415 High School Graduation Pathways. Any comments, questions? Director Hagos, who is-- Just some comments. These are just comments. So I wanted to share a couple of things as I was looking into this pathway. I know that we already have eight pathways, and this is a ninth one. And I am really excited about the idea of being able to match the High School and beyond Plan's interest-based learning along with the credit and academic pieces. I think
066it's a really powerful work. There's a couple of things that caused me some pause and some hesitation. This pathway in particular is meant to, of course, declare students are ready for success and propose secondary education and have access to gainful employment after high school. There's a couple of things that, as I was reading, I thought, let me share this out with the rest of the board team. One of the things that I had asked was I was curious about not having had a yes or no checked off on the community engagement piece. And one of the things that I realized is we do have a policy that speaks to best practice around adopting new policies, and one of that-- one of those pieces is to ensure that people have an opportunity to either write in
067and comment or provide oral comment when you're introducing or considering new policy. And I don't-- that's not-- I believe that's not happened just yet unless this time that's been given between the original opening reading of this, and now we're getting to the second. I just don't know if people were aware that we are looking into policy that's not required or mandated but really-- I think it's a great policy, however. We are providing opportunity for our community to see what this is all about and share their piece, share their piece with us. So that's one thing that gave me pause. Another piece is that I loved when we had the mastery-based learning policy. That came in with some really good opportunities for one-on-one coaching and consulting as well as some professional learning that came with a
068cohort, and that was provided through legislative funding. And this policy doesn't yet have that. It may come, but it doesn't-- we don't have that yet. And I hear a lot from our educators about workplace-- not workplace but just the burden of workload, and I'm curious about how the pieces around creating new content, whether it's project or interest-based or looking for industries to partner with kids who are creating projects and programs around this pathway-- those are all things that are unique and innovative. However, nothing has been created yet, so I worry about the burden on our educators to help support our students with this policy or with this pathway, I should say, not policy, with this pathway. So that was another thing that came up. And the third one was looking around the bill itself. For
069the House Bill 1308, one of the pieces that it talks about is having an annual-- making sure that not only our students but our families, our families are clear around these pathways, starting from eighth grade on up. And I don't see that included as well as any kind of annual data reporting that's also spoken in this bill that's promoting this new pathway. So although I'm greatly in favor and looking into expanding and offering this pathway for our schools, there were several things that caused me to pause, and I thought I'd share the pieces that I've learned with you all as you are making your consideration around this vote today. Thank you for your comments. Any other comments or questions? I have one. Kind of piggybacking off of Director Hagos, just learning about the different pathways
070that students have I think is always a great idea but also hearing from parents who are in schools that are using mastery transcript and these project-based learning and the lack of structure or lack of STEM curriculum that they're having, the unclear pathways that they feel like they're experiencing. So it kind of causes me to want to reflect more on what kind of foundational learning and literacy are we making sure is present, but also, would there be opportunities for annual review of the data to make sure that the students are meeting those standards and really are prepared for that future they choose? So that's just some of the conversations I'm having with parents and concerns that they have going forward. Thank you for your comments. Any other comments? Seeing and hearing none, I will move that
071the Highline School Board approve the New Policy 2415 High School Graduation Pathway, and I'll need a second. I'll second that. So roll call, please. Director Hagos? It's not a no, but it's a pause. I guess that's a no. Yeah. It's yea or nay. Nay. Are you-- Yeah, [? yeah. ?] Director Petrini? No. Director Tidholm? Yea. Director Alvarez? Yea. This motion does not pass, and the vote is 0 to 2. Thank you. So with that, we'll move to our 8.3, motion to approve the Roof Replacement and Restoration Contract with Garland/DBS, Inc. Any comments or questions? Seeing and hearing none, I move that the Highline School Board approve the Roof Replacement and Restoration Contract with Garland/DBS, Inc., to perform services at various sites at a net cost of $2,492,328 plus Washington State sales tax of $254,217.46 for
072a total contract amount of $2,746,545.46 with any minor additions, deletions, or modifications deemed necessary by the superintendent. And I'll need a second. I'll second that. Roll call, please. Director Tidholm? Yea. Director Hagos? Yea. Director Petrini? Yea. Director Alvares? Yea. This motion passes 4 to none. So our last action item we have is motion to approve Tyee School Replacement Project, Approval of Contract, Absher Construction Company, Change Order Number 6, Purchase Order Number CP230091. Any questions or comments on that? Hearing and seeing none-- oh, I'm sorry. I was reading 8.5 instead of 8.4. Do I go back then to 8.4 or just to approve this one? [? Continue? ?] Yeah, we can approve this one. And that was a 8.5. Sorry about that. So now I'll make a motion that the Highline School Board approve Change Order
073Number 6 for Absher Construction Company on PO Number CP230091 in the amount of-- so I think I'm going to have to start over because the amounts that I had read were different. So-- Yeah, start at 8.4. Yeah you can start with 8.4. Let's just start over, yeah. OK. So I don't need to make a motion to start over since no motions were made. We just continue, so corrected. So now I will read the correct one. Motion to approve 8.4-- I'll go back to 8.4. That way, we just follow the rules. So thank you, guys. Motion to approve Evergreen High school Replacement Project, Approval of Contractor, Cornerstone General Contractors, Change Order Number 9, Purchase Order Number CP230035. Now, any questions on this particular one? Seeing and hearing none, now I got the right one. I move
074that the Highline School Board approve Change Order Number 9 for Cornerstone General Contractor on PO Number CP23035 in the amount of $3,795,773.50 plus Washington state tax, bringing the total revised contract amount to $147,123,246.13 plus the Washington state tax with any minor additions, deletions or modifications deemed necessary by the superintendent [INAUDIBLE].. I second that. I think I got it now. We got a second. OK, thank you, second. Thank you for Director Hagos. Roll call, please. Director Petrini? Yea. Director Tidholm? Yea. No, it's [? fine. ?] Director Hagos? Yea. Director Alvares? Yea. This motion passes four to none. OK, now we'll get the correct one, 8.5, motion to approve Tyee School High School Replacement Project, approval of Contractor Absher Construction Company, Change Order Number 6, Purchase Order Number CP230091. So again, any questions, comments? Seeing and hearing
075none, I move that the Highline School Board approve Change Order Number 6 for Absher Construction Company on PO Number CP230091 in the amount of $516,439 plus Washington state sales tax, bringing the total revised contract amount to $118,772,776 plus Washington state sales tax with any minor additions, deletions or modifications deemed necessary by the superintendent. So I'll need a second. I'll second that. Roll call, please. Director Hagos? Yea. Director Petrini? Yea. Director Tidholm? Yea. Director Alvarez? Yea. This motion passes four to none. All right, so now we go into introduction items, so motion to approve Surplus of District Property in Vehicles-- questions, comments? Does anybody come up to-- no? No questions, comments? The next one is a motion to approve Microsoft Infrastructure Licensing. Remember, these are all just introduction items for tonight, what I'm reading. So questions,
076comments? The next one is a motion to approve Resolution Number 05-24, authorizing interlocal contract with Harris County Department of Education to Access Competitive Bid Contracts. We do have a presentation for this one. OK. Thank you, Jackie. If we can to address 10.4 also. Good evening. So I am here to address both 10.3 and 10.4. They're both Interlocal agreements actually allow us to access competitively bid processes and contracts without going through a formal RFP process. These interlocal agreements also provide the highest level of auditor recommendations, so it really-- it helps us prevent any audit findings when it comes to procurement. And so RFPs typically-- request for proposals-- typically take six to eight weeks to complete for a single contract, so this allows us to-- these RFPs have already been conducted for all the contracts that are
077within these interlocal agreements. We currently have over 15 interlocal agreements already signed, so these two will be in addition to those. Many of those are for out-of-state interlocal agreements. It's a federal agreement when we sign into it, so we can access contracts with other states as well. Some of the contracts that we currently have under interlocal agreements are American Reading Company, so ARC, Curriculum, Office Depot, Home Depot, Amazon, some of the big companies that we do a lot of procurement with. These two that you're looking at now have over 125 contracts that we'd be able to access. Two of the ones that we know we would probably access are Panorama and HopSkipDrive, which provides Mckinney-Vento transportation for our students. These two interlocal agreements-- actually, the contracts within those offer rebates, so it's actually a savings
078to the districts in a lot of ways, too, with these rebates that we can receive through the contracts. One thing to know when we sign up with these interlocal agreements is we are not-- there is no financial commitment. We are not signing contracts with any of these companies. It just allows us access to look at these contracts and access the pricing and the rebates for each. So I'm happy to answer any other questions. Any questions or comments for Jackie around this interlocal agreements? I have a couple. So in this, it says contracts over $250,000 will be board-approved, so even though this gives us access to other contracts they have, nothing else is being actually approved without board, and there's no transfer of money in this approval? No, we are not signing a contract, and there's
079no financial commitment by approving these interlocal agency contracts. What it is it allows us to just look at the contracts they currently have under these interlocal agreements, and yes, everything over $250,000 would still have to come to the board for approval. So what is our partnership? What's the-- I think it's called Choice Partners, Harris County, out of Texas. So why are we interlocal with agreements with these? So these two in particular were recommended by ASBO when we went to their procurement meeting earlier this year. Harris County is-- the interlocal agreement-- they have the Panorama contract under it, which is a contract that we sign every year. And so we wouldn't have to go out through our three competitive bid process and the request for proposal process because these have already gone through that process. It
080would just allow us to sign the contract. Does this in any way change our current contract? You mentioned Panorama. Is this going to change that at all? Not the current contract, so it would be for future contracts. OK. Do we have any staff members that are going to be part of this process? Who's looking at these contracts and kind of deciding which ones we're picking and choosing? So we have a procurement team within business services. They are the ones that look through the contracts and ensure that we are complying with all the guidelines within those contracts. And then we do have-- once a contract is approved, we have a process that we go through, and it's reviewed by cabinet if it's under $250,000. If it's over $250,000, it comes to the board. OK. Is there
081anything exchanged in approving this at all with data of panorama or receiving anything from this? No, this is simply access to the contracts. OK. Any other questions or comments? No, [? no. ?] OK. Thank you, Jackie. Our next motion is to 10.5, motion to approve Evergreen High School Replacement Project Granting of Declaration of Covenant Inspection and Maintenance of Stormwater Facilities. I think when we walked-- we all have been through the Evergreen High School, and they talked to us there about the stormwater and showed us where it was going when we were all there. So the next motion is to approve Beverly Park Roof Replacement, the Final Acceptance of Purchase Order CP220029 OMNIA/Garland Roofing. Questions, comments? And our last intro item is motion to approve Districtwide Emergency Supply Purchase Order, and we'll have-- And we do
082have a presentation for this one. Thank you. Dr. Grubb? Good evening, Steve Grubb, chief talent officer, excited to be bringing this one for introduction. It's emergency supplies, and we've put out a bid to-- and had five different groups. We've heard back from three. One is above $250,000. The other two are below $250,000. We're evaluating those now. That's why we're bringing this forward in the event that it's how we select based on responsiveness and quality and the higher one that would trigger the $250,000 threshold. Not all of the companies had all of the supplies that we needed. That's why there's the variation in the bids. It includes things like first aid kits, emergency tools, emergency radios, things like that, and I've been in the district a while. What's really exciting-- every school will have the same
083baseline. There's variation right now. We've done an extensive inventory of what's in the schools so that we're not duplicating our purchases, but this will ensure that across all of our sites there's a basic standard. Any questions or comments? Thank you, Dr. Grubb. And with that, that concludes our intro items, so I just-- since Director Van is not here, we're not moving anything to our consent agenda. And so I just need a motion to adjourn. I'll make the motion to adjourn. I need a second. I'll second it. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed of adjourning? All right. Thank you, everyone.