001--to be heard. Assume best intentions, and seek to be understood-- or seek to understand and then be understood. Before we begin, can we please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance? Roll call, please. Director Van. Director Howell. Here. Director Garcia. Here. Director Bradford. Here. Director Alvarez. Here. All right, please note that Director Van has an excused absence. We are now on agenda item 1.4. Is there any changes or additions to the regular board meeting agenda? I have none. All right. Then we'll move on to scheduled communications. Is there a Katie Kressley here? All right. Please go ahead and jump over to the mic over there. Hi. Is it OK if I drop the mask so I can be heard? It actually work [INAUDIBLE]. Good evening. My name is Katie Kressley, and I live in SeaTac. I'm
002an aunt and a caregiver. And I see clearly how the current Washington state school masking policy is harming our children and our community emotionally, socially, and possibly irreparably. It hurts my heart every time I see a wide-eyed, terrified child gazing at my smiling face. I'm a monster in my own neighborhood walking down the street. Fortunately, this evening, I am here with three other Highline women and people to support in these lovely T-shirts. But I'm here with three other strong Highline women from the Washington Parents Alliance to read a letter of hope and support so that you as the Highline School Board will be empowered, empowered to keep our children safe and emotionally healthy for the long run. Dear Highline school board directors, never before in the history of Washington has your job been so difficult.
003I extend my gratitude for your service, for your service. Since the National School Board Association has attempted to weaponize the FBI against concerned parents, I am unfortunately compelled to state this disclaimer. This letter and the enclosed documents are in no way meant to make you feel threatened in any way. I hope that you see these documents as an opportunity to receive support. The enclosed public disclosure records have been served to all directors in the Highline School District, as well as many districts across the state, including Seattle School District and several more throughout King County. So either they will be or they're on the way or they've already been served. The same documents will be served over the next 30 days by thousands of parents statewide who've come together as a unified voice. To ensure that
004this effort is recognized as a demonstration of support, the King County sheriff has also been given a copy of these documents and informed of our peaceful intent. We recognize there is a fundamental conflict of interest between school government and the parents. School government has a vested interest in the system as a whole, while parents have a vested interest in the children. We have identified that the source of this conflict may stem from the fact that our local school boards have been forced to give away increasingly more and more decision-making authority to the Washington State School Directors Association, also known as WSSDA, and other state agencies. The superintendent of public instruction, Chris Reykdal, has clearly threatened to withhold taxpayer funds that rightfully belong to our school district based on whether or not we comply with health
005policies we may or may not agree with. Nowhere in the revised code of Washington power granted-- is granted to Mr. Reykdal or the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, also known as OSPI, to withhold or bribe with the funds that they are tasked to dispense to local school districts. Is it possible that if Mr. Reykdal indicates or acts on the threat of withholding funds that this would imply extortion on his part? Thank you. [APPLAUSE] [BEEPING] Thank you. Is there a Maeve Gribble in the audience? Did I get your name right? Yes, you did. Thank you. I appreciate that. Sorry. Yeah. Do you want help me? We should [INAUDIBLE]. Can you guys hear me? I can hear me. OK. Oh, sorry, there's a question. Oh, yeah. A point of order. I thought we had a
006mask mandate in these public meetings. Yeah. So as a reminder, pursuant to the governor's-- Inslee's statewide indoor mask mandate, masks must be worn at all times indoors by all regardless of their vaccination status. So just a reminder, please. OK, thank you. Well, my name's Maeve Gribble. I live in Des Moines, and I work at Des Moines Elementary. And I'm really grateful for the opportunity to speak to all of you guys today. So I appreciate that everyone's here and willing to listen. We the people founded this country with a structure that was designed to keep the greatest authority at the local level of government, yet our governor and state agencies have made unilateral decisions for the whole population while ignoring the voices of local school boards and, most importantly, parents. Perhaps we lost sight of that
007original vision of strong local authority when we let state and federal agencies like WSSDA, OSPI, and the National School Board Association gain enough control to withhold our state funding over matters that should be a personal medical choice for every citizen. All of us share the responsibility of getting ourselves into the dangerous predicament of a few people dictating to the masses. We also share the responsibility of getting ourselves out of this predicament. As a paraeducator working in primary special education, I've seen firsthand the negative impact that mandatory mask wearing has had on students' growth and my ability to support their social emotional learning. I feel I speak for the entirety of students in Highline, not just kids in special ed, when I say that they've been denied the opportunity to observe and read their classmates' and
008their teachers' emotions and expressions on their faces. In my five years in working in the school district, I've seen the positive benefits of learning face to face for all students, especially those on the autism spectrum. But since the beginning of the school year, I've asked myself and I'm now asking all of you board members, how am I supposed to teach emotional learning to a kid whose face they cannot see and how I'm supposed to support their developing language with a voice that they can't even hear? Thankfully, there is a solution and a path forward. The documents enclosed that all of you have our are first act of helping you, our local school board, take back your rightful authority to determine how best to represent the parents of this district. Please use these public disclosure requests
009as an opportunity to educate yourselves and us so we can better understand the entanglement that we find ourselves in with OSPI, with WSSDA, and other agencies, who were overstepping their lawful boundaries. According to RCW 28.345.020, all Washington state school boards are required to be members of WSSDA. Most other states don't have these laws that compel membership. Their school boards still have the authority to choose whether or not they want to take guidance from various state agencies, but not here in Washington. In RCW 28.343.100, school board members are again compelled by law starting in 2022 to take governance training in cultural competency, diversity, equity, and inclusion standards. Those words are referring to critical race theory, sexual education for children as young as five years old, and curriculums that support transgenderism. These are just two examples of
010how our state legislature has taken away your local authority to choose what you're taught and what you'll be compelled to promote to our children. Thanks for listening to me. [APPLAUSE] Is there a Tamara Vandenberg? There is. [LAUGHS] That's good. Hi, I'm Tamara Vandenberg. I'm from Burien just up the street, and I'm grandmother of many children. But anyway, [LAUGHS] represented Joel McIntyre attempted to introduce a bill in the current legislation session that proposed the local school board membership in WSSDA to be optional rather than mandatory, making membership optional, where we turn decision-making authority back to the local level and send a clear message to WSSDA that we erroneously let power become too centralized. WSSDA has been treating Washington students and parents as if they belong to one large district and parents as they belong to one
011large district rather than representing the authority of 295 elected school boards in this state. That's 295 individual school districts. Unfortunately, Joel McIntyre was just recently strong armed into dropping this bill under pressure from WSSDA. We the parents of Washington finally comprehend how little authority you have left to represent us. It is time we come together through to restore your authority and ours. In addition to providing the information requested in these documents, we ask that Highline School Board do all of the following. Number one, reach out to representative Joel McIntyre to give him your support of the bill that proposed WSSDA membership be optional, not mandatory. Whether it's this year or next year, that bill must get passed for the future of our children. Number two, strongly urge WSSDA to withdraw membership from the National School
012Board Association. Currently, almost 20 other states have left that organization, and Washington parents are very disappointed to WSSDA's silence on the matter. Number three, pass a resolution acknowledging and affirming that parents are the primary stakeholders in their children's future. Several other districts in Washington have passed this resolution, and we need to pass this resolution to let parents be the primary stakeholders. That has been gone by the wayside, and it needs to be brought back. And my personal story, just so you know what harm has this whole mandate situation has become, is my little grandchild, when it started happening, was two years old. He was smiley, open, arms wide, loved everything. When this mask thing hit him, his eyes became downcast. His mask was on. He was just beginning to talk. And to this day, since
013he's been wearing masks to preschool, when he takes them off, we can't understand him. And it sounds like he has a mask on when he's talking to us. The only way we can interpret this is his younger brother-- I mean, his older brother tells us what he's talking about. This mask has done harm to him, and it's not right. It's done harm to a lot of children, and we need to have this taken off. And all the other mandates that are happening are causing harm to our children. So please look into passing this resolution, and let's all work together. Let's all work together for the benefit of the children. And also thank you for hearing us. I am deeply gratified that you let us talk and tell you our concerns. And God bless you all.
014Thank you. [APPLAUSE] Thank you. Is there a Jennifer Hoffman in the crowd? Hello. My name is Jennifer Hoffman. I live in Burien. I'm a wife and a mom of three kids. I've been a part of Highline School District for 7 and 1/2 years. As we finish the 2021-2022 school year, we envision a harmonious partnership between parents, the school board leadership, and legislators to restore the freedom of personal choice over what our teachers and students wear on their faces or put into their bodies, as well as restore authority to the local government-- the local level of government. However, if these freedoms are ignored by the Highline School District School Board, we will take our children out of the public school system by the fall of 2022. As you are aware, over 55,000 children, including one of
015my own kids, has been withdrawn from the Washington state public school system over this year. That's 55,000. And that number will more than likely triple if the mask mandates are upheld and a COVID vaccine is made a requirement of the attendance to go to school. As a body of parents across Washington state, we have heard your collective plea for cooperation and help. You have been sincerely telling us that your hands are tied by WSSDA and OSPI. We understand you now. So together, please let us help untie your hands and restore your authority to represent us, the parents of Highline School District. Sincerely, Highline parents of the Washington Parents Alliance. Now I have something I want to share That's. Personal. Because of the policies of CRT and equity and the new Washington state sex ed curriculum
016and now the mask mandates, I have pulled and withdrew my daughter from the school district last year. I also have a kindergartner that I never registered and I don't plan to unless these things can change. And I know many parents who have done the same, including even moving out of state or planning to move out of state if things cannot change. And they will, especially if the COVID-19 vaccine is to become a required immunization to attend school. If you want my kids and others back in the school and to stay, then please listen to us, the parents, of what we want for our children. The parents always want what is best. My oldest is still in Highline public school system. Somewhere someone said that it's adults that are complaining. That is false. My child complains
017almost every day on our way to school. He struggles with the breathing, and we've tried multiple masks. His nose has constantly been stuffed up because of the masks, and I always make sure he has clean ones to rotate on a regular basis. Also, I listened to one of the school board meetings last summer when you were looking for a replacement on a school board. One of the selling features the candidates were saying was, please listen to the parents. Well, here we are, sharing our concerns. Please hear us out. Do not ignore us. We are the primary stakeholders, the parents of Highline School District. Thank you. [APPLAUSE] All right. Thank you, everyone. That now concludes our scheduled communication. I'll just add that folks are always welcome to send us email, set up times for us to
018meet individually and hear your concerns outside of this more formal structure. So thank you very much. We're going to move on now to superintendent updates. Dr. Enfield is not here tonight, but I wanted to open it up to see if there's anybody from the cabinet that wanted to have any announcements on her behalf. No pressure. All right, I also just wanted to give a moment for Sandy if you have any HEA updates to give at this time. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to address the directors. And I'm sorry I was a little bit late. So I'm just stepping in on this. But I do also want to express our appreciation for the thorough superintendent selection process that we are underway with. The teachers had an opportunity-- educators, the ESAs had an opportunity to meet
019with the first two candidates for half an hour and really learned a lot from hearing about their experiences and of having the opportunity to complete the feedback form. So it's been very, very helpful for that. And we're looking forward to tomorrow to meeting the final candidate. And then as far-- I know we are in the process of getting ready to go into a open bargain year. We are going to once again have a COVID memorandum of understanding that will describe the working conditions of the HEA members as well as other represented and unrepresented groups. I imagine people are aware there is what's underway called the Great Resignation. We are in the process of surveying our teachers to understand how they perceive the mask expectations, the vaccine expectations, and the other MOU requirements for maintaining health
020and safety in our buildings for as high as possible standards. Currently, at least 15% of HEA members that completed over 400-- over 400 teachers completed a survey, and 15% of those did come down with COVID during the month of January. So that was a big change over the previous year where I think we probably had-- instead of 15% of 400, we had 15 altogether that had gotten COVID at school. So we want to be prepared in case there is another similar outbreak, a similar strain, and make sure that we've really learned lessons from this last strain of COVID. Masking is an important layer of protection for my members. In looking at the survey results, I'm meeting with HR on Friday to go over those. And we requested that the parents be surveyed as well. We
021believe that listening to the parents is really important. But it's not just listening-- just not listening to me standing up here, not listening to people that just come to school board meetings, but making sure that we really understand the expectations of our community for people who have already put their children into school. They made that choice with the understanding that masking would be there. And so our concern is if we switch horses, let's say, midstream, that those people are going to be unhappy. Teachers are not really that interested in policing student mask wearing if the mandate is lifted, I can say that, because it will be challenging to know which family expects their child to wear a mask and which one doesn't. So I think our community needs to understand that once we lift the
022mask mandate, maybe beyond kindergarten, first, second grade or something, it would be very hard for teachers or other educators in our buildings to be noticing whether students are wearing the mask or not even though the parents might expect them to be doing that. So I think people need to think carefully through how that is going to work and thinking about the community as a whole because some families have very high risk people living in their households and can't even get a vaccine if they needed it. And so we have been all in this together. We appreciate the level of support that we've gotten for our protocols and safety procedures, and we just want to make sure that science continues to rule. So thank you very much. Thank you. That now concludes agenda item number four.
023We're now on agenda item number five, school board reports. 5.1, legislative report. One of the updates that I'd like to give you all was yesterday was actually the cut off mark for bills that would advance during this legislative session. So I haven't had a chance to review our legislative priorities and see which ones made the cut. But I will try to get to it this weekend and see if I can give you all an update. But that is all I have in regards to our legislative reports. Board updates. Director Bradford. Thank you. I don't have so much as way of an update. But I do have a question, President Garcia. And I'm feeling a little vulnerable right now in sharing something personal. But my 74-year-old mother is in the hospital with COVID complications. And I
024do want to know what is our recourse and our responsibility to the public and to myself as a public when folks will come to the meeting and not properly wear the mask or wear the mask at all. And so I would like to know-- I don't know if we have that answer right now. But I would like our district of staff to help us and understand that, what is our recourse and our responsibility when upholding the law? Yeah. [LAUGHTER] [INAUDIBLE] Show me the sign that says [INAUDIBLE].. We're not going to get into a-- We don't exchange good discussion at this point. Thank you. So point of order, we move on. So yes, that's a good question, and I think for the future, next time somebody in our district will let us know. But for now,
025I think, point of order, let's just move on to our next item on our agenda. Yeah. Thank you. Director Howell, do you have an update? My only update is that the 2022 Gold Star nominees were announced. And if you haven't looked at those, they're wonderful. As a parent of students in this district, I nominated a teacher at my daughter's school, and I'm very excited to attend the Gold Star Bash on Thursday March 24. I encourage everyone to get tickets. It will be a great celebration of our outstanding Highline employees. That is all. Director Alvarez. Just a quick update around-- not an update but a comment around the superintendent search. We've had two amazing candidates so far. Looking forward to tomorrow's other candidates. So we can really have an opportunity for us to deliberate and see
026who is the best for our district. I'm looking forward with having-- now all my children gone but now grandchildren in the system, looking forward to choosing an amazing candidate to really keep our work going forward. That's all. Thank you. The only update I got is just a deep amounts of appreciation for this Highline community and the Highline School District that came together over these last couple of weeks, these last couple of months to support us in this process of identifying our next superintendent. I think we have some amazing candidates. And if you haven't had a chance, I'm going to remind folks to tune in tomorrow at 6:15 to see our town hall. And you can also watch the town hall from the previous two nights and give your feedback. So this is a great chance
027to see our future leader and how they're going to be directing us and moving us into the future. And just thank you to the staff and teachers and students who were part of that process. It really has made it an amazing week. And that is all I have. So we're to move on to our consent agenda. Is there a motion to approve our consent agenda? I make a motion to approve our consent agenda. Is there a second? I second it. Go ahead. I'll second that. Director Alvarez seconds. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All right, the motion passes. Oh, and I just-- sorry. I wanted to give a quick shout out to the Museum of Flight for their $22,000 donation to the Raisbeck Aviation High School. Amazing. I was supposed to do it
028before the consent agenda, but I still wanted to give them a shout out. We are now in agenda item 8.1, purchase of districtwide Promethean boards for classrooms. Is there a motion? I would make a motion to approve the purchase of districtwide Promethean boards for classrooms. I second. Quick clarification-- for the amount of $5,915,006.90. Yep, I make that motion. I second. Thank you. Roll call, please. Director Bradford. Yea. Director Howell. Yea. Director Van. Director Alvarez. Yea. And Director Garcia. Yea. This motion passes four to none. All right, next agenda item is 8.2, T-Mobile agreement for students and staff hotspots. Is there a motion? I move that the Highline School Board approve the T-Mobile agreements for student and staff hotspots in support of student learning and instruction. I second. Thank you. Any comments? All right, roll call,
029please. Director Alvarez. Yea. Director Bradford. Yea. Director Howell. Yea. Director Garcia. Yea. This motion passes four to none. We are now on agenda item 8.3, Highline Memorial Stadium track resurface project approval to contract with Beynon/Field Turf for resurfacing of the track at Highline Memorial Stadium. Is there a motion? I move that the Highline School Board approve the expenditure of the King County Youth and Amateur Sports Fund Grant, approve the contracting with Beynon/Field Turf for resurfacing the track and replacing the northwest shot put area at the Highline Memorial Stadium, and authorize the superintendent to sign a contract upon receipt of all submittal requirements from Beynon/Field Turf in the amount of $444,665.27, including Washington state sales tax and performance payment and bond fees. Thank you. Is there a second? I second. Thank you. Any questions? Roll call,
030please. Director Alvarez. Yea. Director Bradford. Yea. Director Howell. Yea. Director Garcia. Yea. This motion passes for four to zero. All right, we are now on agenda item 9, 9.1, Evergreen High School design project approval of increasing purchase order of P201331 Bassetti Architects, Architectural and Engineering Services. Do we have anybody on staff that wants to give us a quick review of this? Thank you, President Garcia and directors. I'm happy to give an update on this. You'll actually see this update will apply to both 9.1 and 9.2 on the design for Evergreen and Tyee High School. As everybody in the room is aware, I'm sure our original intent was to run a construction bond in November of 2020. And because of the effects on the economy from COVID and everything shut down, our decision at that point
031was to not run that levee. We didn't think it was within the capacity of the community to support at that time. We suggested delaying it for two years. As a result of that delay, we have additional time available to us to complete the design phase of both of those buildings. The advantage to completing that design phase now is we'll be shovel ready when we pass our next bond, which eliminates years of escalating costs of construction. Each year that we delay, we assume each building costs $5 million more to build. So the quicker we can be ready to go when we pass a bond, the more cost effective we are with those bond dollars. That's the logic that we used for expanding the design phase to take them out to 100% drawings. We did have the
032capacity within the previous bond allocated toward full design if we had the opportunity to do that. So this isn't spending above what the original bond expenditure plan was in the 2016 bond. Does that help? Mm-hmm. That is helpful. Thank you. Any other questions from the board? I don't have any. All right. Just go. As this is an intro action item, is there a motion? Yes, I move that we approve intro action item 9.1, the Evergreen High School design project approval of increasing purchase order P201331 for Bassetti Architects, Architectural and Engineering Services-- In the amount of $2 million-- --in the amount of $2 million. Sorry. Thank you. Sorry. I had to scroll down. In the amount of $2 million. All right. To continue the design of Evergreen High School. [LAUGHTER] I second. Thank you. Any other
033last minute questions? All right. Roll call, please. Director Bradford. Yea. Director Alvarez. Yea. Director Howell. Yea. Director Garcia. Yea. This motion passes four to none. We're now in 9.2, and it's very similar to the last one. So unless there's any other questions, is there a motion? I move that the Highline School Board approve increasing purchase order of P201436 with Integrus Architecture PS in the amount of $2 million to continue the design of Tyee High School. A second, please? I second. Thank you. Role call. Director Alvarez. Yea. Director Bradford. Yea. Director Howell. Yea. Director Garcia. Yea. This motion passes four to none. All right we're now on agenda item 9.3, King County SBIRT grant. Is there someone from the team that has any updates? Good evening, President Garcia and school board. This item has come to
034you for introduction and action on the same day because the RFP for the SBIRT grant was released after the deadline for getting it on the February 2nd board meeting. And the due date for the RFP is before our next board meeting. It's due next Tuesday, Wednesday? The 22nd. This is a renewal grant. We applied for and received the King County SBIRT grant in 2018 to implement middle school screeners, mental health drug and alcohol screeners. So this is a renewal grant. We will be applying for $1.8 million to continue the work that we have been doing for the last few years. I don't have any questions. Certainly, again, thank you all for continuing this work and continuing to pursue this funding. Just as always, again, thinking about the sustainability, as we always talk about as to
035if these dollars were to permanently to go away, how are we building out our infrastructure to support this work? And that's not necessarily a question right now. No response? But I mean, if you want to give a response. It is something we absolutely think about. And one of the things that we're doing, while it may not exactly be the SBIRT, should the grant go away, it's funded through the Best Starts for Kids. So as long as taxpayers continue to approve that, I would presume that this would continue to be a part of that. That being said, we have a current grant, additional grant with Kaiser Mental Health, and the intention of that grant is to infuse tiered mental health interventions into our existing behavior and academic support. So my hope is that we will build
036infrastructure to support students in this area. We do have current staffing that does support, including our social workers and counselors and others. And so I think that while it may not be this program specifically, that we are working towards building infrastructure that does support students' mental and behavioral health. Thank you, [? Keysa. ?] I appreciate the intentionality. Any other comments? No. All right. Is there a motion, please? I move that the Highline School Board approve the grant application for the King County Best Starts for Kids SBIRT program. And I second. Thank you. Roll call, please. Director Alvarez. Yea. Director Bradford. Yea. Director Howell. Yea. Director Garcia. Yea. This motion passes four to none. All right, we are now on agenda item 10, introduction items. We have agenda item 10.1, resolution 0122, state bond guarantee. Approval
037of this motion would approve resolution number 0122, state bond guarantee; agenda item 10.2, resolution 0222, bond-refunding delegation. Approval of this motion will approve resolution number 022, bond-refunding delegation and agenda item 10.3, state fuel contracts, number 08721 with the PetroCard, Inc. for 2021, 2022. Approval of this motion will approve the contract with PetroCard, Incorporated for the 2021-2022 school year in the amount of $350,000. Do we have staff who want to give us any brief updates on these three agenda items? Point of order. Normally, we don't take the time, unless there-- normally, this is-- because it's an intro item, we have time if we have any questions or anything. We contacted them, and then-- unless you would like it otherwise. No, you're right. So we bailed you out there, Scott. [LAUGHTER] If there are no other agenda
038items, we have reached the end of our agenda. Is there a motion to adjourn? I motion we adjourn. I second. All right, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All right, thank you. Have a good night, everyone.