001[music] >> I would like to call the meeting to order and acknowledge that the following districts the following school districts are present and she has people. I think these caretakers of land who lived on and continue to live on the land since time immemorial, they thrive as our leaders in Blackfoot. Superintendent Logan, have there been any changes or additions to the agenda since it was published? There There really wasn't a substantive change, but I do want to just note that we added under the information section at the very bottom of the agenda, there was an OSBI asset preservation program update that was provided by Nomura, and there was a memo wasn't included in that, so the report was in there, but no memo. So the memo helps further clarify, so that was added as an
002All those in favor of approving the agenda as presented say aye. Aye. All those opposed. The agenda is approved as presented. Thank you. We will now move on to the meeting minutes review. The minutes from the February 26th meeting have been distributed to the board. Are there any changes or corrections? All those in favor of approving the meeting minutes of February 26th, say aye. Aye. All those opposed. The meeting minutes are approved as presented. We will now move on to the consent agenda. The items on the consent agenda have been distributed to the board. Are there any questions or discussions on those items? All those in favor of approving the consent agenda as presented, say aye. Aye. All those opposed. The consent agenda is approved as presented. And we will move over to the student
003parts. The question for Marks is regarding extracurricular activities. What is your assessment of the opportunities and access to extracurricular activities at your school? And what can be done to increase access, inclusion, and excitement around these opportunities? And we're starting with Cooper. Hello members of the board. I hope everybody has been well since the last meeting. With the question provided, the opinion of the students on extra extracurriculars are generally positive. However, the engagement levels vary due to challenges related to awareness, time constraints, and communication. The students also value inclusivity and accessibility that uplifts. Learning barriers are diverse, a variety of options are available, and they have freedom to participate at their leisure. For those who are aware of the opportunities, extra curriculars are seen as meaningful part of school life. Despite this positive perception, a significant
004number of students expressed neutral disengaged attitudes. Some responses such as they exist, fine, or no strong feelings suggest that extracurriculars do not have strong impacts on all students. This disengagement is often linked to practical barriers, particularly time constraints. Many students, especially seniors, report they're too busy to participate, while others simply lack interest in and other options. As a result, even though opportunities exist, not all students take advantage of them. One of the most consistent issues identified in student feedback is a lack of awareness and communication. Several students mentioned they don't they haven't heard much about the extracurriculars and wish they are more obvious and feel like they need more communication. This indicates the problem is not necessarily the absence of opportunities, but rather the students are not consistently informed of when and where. Uh students
005most frequently recommend improving promotion and visibility. Ideas included using more posters, flyers, and announcements to make opportunities easier to find. Increasing participation was another common theme, with students suggesting that schools should actively encourage or invite students to join activities. Some students also expressed the interest in expanding opportunities by offering more events and additional clubs or increasing the number of days activities are available after school. There is an interest in a range of activities, including sports such as tennis and strategy-based games like chess and creative activities like arts and crafts, fashion, and pottery. Additionally, some students identified the need for more practical supports such as better access to community service opportunities and improved systems for tracking service hours. One suggestion called for informational program about drugs focusing on education, safety, and factual information rather than bias.
006Overall, the feedback suggests that while students currently view extracurricular activities in a positive light, participation is limited primarily by primarily low awareness, communication issues, rather than dissatisfaction with the activities themselves. Students appreciate the variety, inclusivity, and community-building aspects of extracurriculars. But many are either unaware it's available or too busy to participate. Improving promotion, increasing visibility, and providing a clear information, especially regarding services opportunities, could significantly enhance student engagement. Additionally, offering a wider range of creative interest-based activities may attract more students who are currently disengaged. By addressing these challenges, schools might create a more engaging and accessible extracurricular environment that better serves the needs and interests of all students. Thank you. Thank you, Garrett. Good evening to the Clover Park School Board. Tonight, I'm here to represent Clover Park High School's student body to share feedback
007about how students feel regarding the availability and accessibility of extracurricular activities at our school, as well as ideas for increasing access, inclusion, and overall excitement. Based on the responses from students, the overall perception is that extracurricular activities at Clover Park High School are generally strong. A large number of students described opportunities as very accessible. Students appreciate the wide range of sports offered and shared that it is often easy to join a club or participate in an activity, especially for those who actively seek out opportunities or are already connected with peers, family, or staff. Several students also highlighted the positive environment created by coaches, teammates, and advisors, noting that extracurriculars are a fun way to stay active, build friendships, and grow personally. At the same time, student responses Some student responses revealed some important areas for
008improvement. A consistent subject was that while many many opportunities do exist, awareness can be limited. Many students have admitted they missed activities simply because they were not advertised clearly or frequently enough. Others mentioned that information about sign-up schedules or meeting times can be difficult to find. In addition, some students feel that while sports are well represented, there are fewer non-sport extracurricular options available, particularly for students with different interests or physical limitations. A few also pointed out logistical challenges such as limited transportation, scheduling conflicts, or or Students also shared thoughtful ideas for how to increase access, inclusion, and excitement around extracurricular involvement. The most common suggestion was improving communication and promotion. Many students recommended more consistent announcements, posters around the school, and an increased use of social media to share information. Others suggested creating events such
009as activity fairs, style days, or more interactive assemblies to help students explore opportunities and feel more comfortable getting involved. In addition, students expressed interest in expanding options by adding new clubs, activities, or sports that reflect a wider range of interests. Some mentioned the importance of making activities more affordable or providing financial support, while others emphasized the need for transportation options so that all students can participate. There were also suggestions to create more inclusive environments by offering flexible meeting times, increasing club frequency, and ensuring that all groups feel represented and supported. Students value opportunity, but also value visibility and inclusion. While many students feel that extracurriculars are accessible in theory, participation becomes much more realistic when students are well informed, supported, and able to fit activities into their schedules. Students are not necessarily asking for a
010complete overhaul, but rather for clear communication, expanded options, and thoughtful support systems that make involvement easier for everyone. Overall, Clover Park High School offers a strong foundation of extracurricular opportunities that many students enjoy and benefit from. However, increasing awareness, expanding non-sport options, and addressing logistical barriers like scheduling and transportation can make these opportunities even more accessible and appealing. Overall, students want to feel informed, included, and excited about activities available to them, and they believe that with these improvements, even more students could get involved and benefit from these experiences. Thank you. Thank you, Garrett. Good evening, everyone. I'm Jewel, the student rep for Black Hills High School, and I sent out an anonymous survey where Black Hills students were asked about their involvement in extracurricular activities. Some of these activities include sports, clubs, and community service.
011From this survey, a majority of students responded that they were involved in one or two extracurricular activities. Students were asked to rate how satisfied they were with the current selection of extracurricular activities. The average score from these responses was about a six out of 10, with most responses being a five out of 10 or higher. Many students reported that they enjoyed participating in these extracurriculars for friends, community, socialization, skill-building, competition, creative expression. An overwhelming amount of responses noted that there is not enough advertising or awareness of those activities. Students recommended extra promotion in the form of posters, announcements, CAT TV, which is like our school's television network, and homeroom slides. Additionally, several responses note that they feel like there's not enough variety in these extracurriculars, especially non-sport options. Some of these students suggested that they'd
012like to see the addition of badminton, boys bowling, lacrosse, ceramics, ultimate frisbee, and debate among many others. Therefore, students expressed the need for a clear process to provide info on new extracurricular activities and ways to create them. Moreover, there's been feedback regarding the flexibility of participation in current activities. Students expressed that they would appreciate more time during school for clubs and more flexible hours for activities outside of school. Similarly, they mentioned that providing school transportation after these after-school activities would be extremely beneficial. Overall, students are generally satisfied with the current with their current extracurricular activities. However, they would greatly appreciate a broader selection of options, increased advertising, and greater flexibility. Thank you, students. We appreciate that. We will now move on to public comment. Before we begin, I would like to remind the members of
013the public that if you wished to have addressed the board during the public comment portion of this meeting, you would need to fill out the public comment form available on the district website by 9:00 a.m. today. If you missed this opportunity, you are welcome to sign up for the next regular board meeting or email comments to the board and or the superintendent. Contact information is available on the district website. Did we receive any any submissions? No. Sick. Thank you, uh and good evening. Thanks to granting me voice at the meeting tonight. My name is Bob Sick, and I'm the grandparent to a student in the district with an individual education program, or IEP. An IEP is a legal document, and students are entitled to receive all the services outlined in the IEP. My wife and
014I have been very actively involved in the direct upbringing of our grandson. I want to make the board aware of our situation and speak briefly about what our has lived through and what we continue to deal with because of decisions made by the Clover Park School District special education department. Our grandson has dealt with behavioral challenges most of his life. In 2021, an IEP was established for our grandson. As he has aged, the behaviors have become a barrier to his learning. So, the IEP was updated in 2025 with better provisions written in. These supports provide safety for him as well as other students. They include a one-on-one paraeducator, a safety plan to ensure proper supervision, and no homework rule unless under direct supervision is we're not put as optional suggestions. They are part of the
015legal contract put together by the team of professionals that we believe the district would abide by. The district has continually failed to uphold providing the services they agreed to and are legally bound to provide. And now things are falling apart exactly the way we warned them they would if not fully implemented. The one-on-one para was assigned for a reason. The provisions are needed for the safety purposes of our grandson as well as other students. We were not notified in October that the district would be fading the one-on-one para from periods one and two. Sometime between October and December 3rd the district decided they knew best and went ahead and faded out the para without notifying us that it was happening. Um you have three minutes for the public comment period time. Um I I believe
016I I have time left, is that correct? Um maybe you maybe you could talk to me and invite you to please come back at the next meeting if they are on your public comment or please um send it to the board or if you would like to personally reach out to me, I would be more than happy to meet with you personally. Thank you very much, I will do that. Thank you, doctor. Good evening, board members. My name is DJ Brymer, I'm the president of the Tumwater Education Association. Draft policy 5254 staff expression is a discretionary WAC policy. This means the board is not required to adopt and implement a policy 5254. WAC defines a discretionary policy in the following way. Model policies in this category are developed to support boards who want to address
017a circumstance important to them but not necessarily addressed by any law or regulation, address a circumstance unique to the district, promote a philosophy to employees and to the community. It does not have a legal mandate or liability and it's board driven initiatives. It allows the board to reflect local values, needs or philosophies. Um and that's straight from the WAC website. Policy 5254 limits our union organizing for um every bargaining unit in Tumwater and the first amendment free speech protections as employees. The policy does this by giving the board of directors and the superintendent the power to arbitrarily discipline employees leading up to termination of employment for taking part in union activity and exercising our rights to free speech under the first amendment. So brings up questions for us as employees. Um I'm receiving many of
018these questions from bargaining unit members in our local bargaining unit and and from the other three from PSE, Tumwater and Olympia. Is limiting our union organizing and our personal rights to free speech a circumstance that is important to the board? Is limiting our union organizing and our personal rights to free speech a circumstance that is unique to the district? Is the board promoting limitations to union organizing and our personal rights to free speech as a philosophy to employees and the community? If there is no legal mandate or liability, then why is the board driving this initiative to limit our union organizing and our personal rights to free speech? Why is limiting our union organizing and our personal rights to free speech a local value, need or philosophy of the board? And these questions are emerging
019from the language on the WAC website. So if policy 5254 is adopted and implemented by the board, then the policy will apply to every employee of the school district. The policy will stand for years into the future long after the current board and superintendent are no longer with the district. This means that future boards and future superintendents may use policy 5254 according to their own agendas arbitrarily. It gives us great concern within our bargaining units because more questions emerge. Who decides which employee expression has an adverse impact on district operations? Who decides which employee expression negatively impacts an employee's ability to perform their job? And what are the standards by which these decisions are made for disciplining employees and terminating their employment? Please consider these when considering policy 5254. This has drastic impact on every
020employee of the school district. Thank you, Jessica. Thank you. Looks like you got a diversity of topics. Wait. Um good evening, board. My name is Daniel Meice. I'm standing here today to ask for your support in developing a permanent home for the Tumwater Farmers Market. Specifically, I'm proposing we transform the empty lot at 6600 Capital Boulevard park outside of Peter G. Schmidt Elementary into a professional community plaza we might call Eagle's Landing. I envision a space that operates strictly outside of school hours, primarily weekends and summers, serving as a bridge between our rural and our city residents and acting as a permanent anchor for the Tumwater Independence uh Day Parade. Currently the market is a seasonal guest in a parking lot there at the school. Um often they are needing to utilize indoor school facilities.
021This isn't ideal for the market or the district. By anchoring this project with our schools, we can create a living classroom for our students and a professional front porch uh for the Capital Boulevard corridor. So in order to do this the vision really takes a three-handed handshake in order to make this happen. Coordination between the district as the land owner, and the educational steward, the city of Tumwater for the infrastructure and the operations, and then the actual farmers market as the administrator. So following Mel Murray's presentation at the last board meeting on February 26th, I just felt like the right time to start exploring this. This idea actually came to me from a neighbor while I was on the campaign trail. And I agree with our neighbors that the district should be a leader in
022community stewardship and I believe developing this lot into a market is the perfect way to bring all of Tumwater together. I'm asking the board today for your interest in exploring this partnership further. Thank you. Thank you. We will now move on to reports from the board. I believe we have Carrie Akers up first. Good evening. So this is our February um February financial statement of reports. I'm going to go over each fund here. This is our general funds. Um as you can see, we are balanced at 1.1 negative um which is a little more than we expected this um this year or this month, but um we expect that to to turn around next month with um grant revenue um and then as our uh levy payments start coming, you can see it there at
023the top. We also received about half a million in levy payments already for April um for the upcoming second of April. So So we'll continue to see that um that 1.1 negative fund balance increase um back to where we're um where we're projecting to be at the end of the year. So you can see the health by this projection. The negative fund balance. Negative status there. Couple of projects we have at 13.6 million and that's about Um we expect for this year starting to come in in some of the previous years as well. But for this that's 2.9 we're just collecting interest. Um so we're balanced. Maybe we on that. And regulations regulations And in our ESP at one just a little over one million. And continuing summaries and spending and I do expect 2020
024to increase and then we're going to slow down a little bit for the fiscal year. And in transportation and then you can find um we have two buses so that encumbrance will will go away probably next month for two buses that are going to be delivered. And then I think actually next week I heard the board is coming in order to move buses um to spend down some back and balance. So that's a pretty healthy fund balance of 1.4 Are there any questions for me? February That switched all the way up to Ronald Reagan. Thank you Karen. Are there any are there any other questions? So moving on to March and our March enrollment of course Um you can see that it's um extremely up and actually It's showing a different trend from what we've
025seen in the last few years. Um so this is usually the time of year when I expect the decrease. Okay. And we're still ticking up um in our K-12 in our K-12 and you can see that's A lot of it is um the district in LA and it's increasing. So we've seen an increase in both Castaic and William Hart High School. At Castaic but we have seen a few more students at William Hart High School um this last month. So in this case um just putting more in our K-12 Any questions about enrollment? Okay. Thank you very much. So you think that's good news? All right. I know. It is very good news. Thank you Karen. We'll now move on to the first reading of policy 5254 via the adrenal insufficiency Hey board. Um so
026in full transparency uh you're on second read on the majority of the health policies and Chris is the adrenal insufficiency policy. So we're on first read on that one. Um this one has to do it's a very small subset of students but that we would make sure we have health plans to accommodate these kids and if we need to have an adult in the building who is providing care for them but they are actually a trained adult providing that. Any questions on this one? Uh reminding correcting assuming that we're already following we're already doing what this policy says which is we are already doing what we're speaking. I think this is what this group is. And this is actually what we do for any child that needs this type of care not just the adrenal
027insufficiency but there is a policy specific to the adrenal. So we are going to make sure we have that one. Thank you Chris. Thank you. Right. That's for the medical student. What's the adrenal insufficiency? the adrenal insufficiency? So it is a glandular issue um and it just means that in theory they have less production of a specific hormone and then they lose their usually fatigued and if they don't have the injections of you die one. If that Imagine if you don't have adrenaline how you would feel. She's for the adrenal Yes. I know. We've got other We've got other health policies coming in a minute. Thanks. Thanks Chris. Okay. Next up is uh Oh first reading policy 5252 safety board standard expression super and then voted in is going to change this. We moved this
028back to first policy reading because there was more information available and board members would be requested to process and receive and Jeremy is currently compiling that and so that's why it's here but I know when Speaker said we're going to get a quick update on that. Yeah I I don't I don't have to have a lot to add other than you're right. It is back to first reading but I think I just want to make sure the fact isn't confusing or it is maybe confusing to folks who are here. Since the last last meeting there's a request for a lot of additional information and so just in the last week or so the board has received Um I don't know probably I mean just a bunch of additional information regarding this policy. Um a chunk
029of it was included in the memo And one and one of the things is if you can see if you get to the bottom of that memo like it's a number of pages long. One thing that was added was a section to the beginning of the um the laws and it makes sure that that was included so you have that additional background information about the policy a little bit about this amendment and your personal advice. And towards the bottom um there's a request from the board to do more of a crosswalk of multiple policies and so um Director Beard helped put that together and take a crosswalk of all the different policies. And there is just a lot of information in the board just as we received that um this was in the last few
030days and just posted to the public in the last few days I think on Monday. And so I think just um in interest of not taking quick action on this allow the board to process this further further that's why we moved it back to first reading and allowed you to do that. And obviously with the public comment there's still some interest around making sure the board has more information. Thanks to everyone who made contributions during our spring on question and this information is getting out there so we can get more information and we'll keep you updated as they're doing the research. Uh I don't want to don't think that I have any questions for Karen. I just want to thank um you and the board for putting it on first reading and that making us
031have this conversation today actually so thank you for that. So I think the idea was to process this over time so I think we're going to move on to the meeting. I want to make sure we be sure. The idea is to not have a big discussion around this but if you want to have some that's okay. If we're already moving on we can move on but I'm going to leave it open for people to jump in jump in if they want. Can I just I'll just share that um the model policy references references two policies um 5215 5240 which is pupil collective activities and religious activities um but you know been here a while and I remember oh we have the civility policy as well that also you know to um Director Kelly's point
032he's asking about the civility policy we have which is is also a discretionary policy so it's uh I don't want it to seem like we never pass a discretionary policy. Um but uh No I'm I'm I just want to say if I was lost I just put this up. Is that the one that you're talking about? So the first one I said is we've been doing a lot in this community. I'm sorry go ahead. Okay. Um uh so when I like I said the uh the draft model policy referenced two policies but was realizing that our civility policy that we passed a couple years ago with Carol Carol brought it forth to us who are blindly doing this. Um turns out there's good reason why we needed it and um so I brought that into
033this uh this table of comparing the policies the existing policies we have and and what that does for us and then kind of with having 5254 um overlaid on top of that felt like we we have the policies in place to do what I think we need to do um if there's concern and in fact if we have 5254 I think it adds some um confusion. Uh so I I if we're going to be talking about this in a at a at a future meeting I just wanted to bring up the civility policy 5117 for people to look at to see if that might meet the needs that you feel 5254 um you know that the the concerns that you feel 5254 addresses I would love to you know look at so you can look
034at 5117 to see gosh so many numbers. The civility policy sorry. Uh civility policy and see if that meets the needs that that of the concerns that we may have. I I think my my biggest my my biggest concern that you know when we go into discuss this that that I'm coming at this conversation about um is what what Carol of concern in this in the memo which was which shifts shifts the burden. So, it makes employers responsible for public perception, not the actual conduct. That is probably the most confusing and it may look to be the most um Yeah, issue could be a concern, you know, that that would would cause a lot of concern um and confusion for administrators or for superintendents or a principal and I think the civility policy addresses this
035if there were problematic um language that the civility policy would cover. So, something to do between now and our next meeting is look at civility policy, look at 5254 and see if if the concerns are met with the civility policy. Um and what was civility policy that you 5217 Oh, oh, you're I am. Yeah. Go ahead, Rob. That that document you put together for us, is it is it public? It's incorporated into the minutes. Is that Okay. It's a public document, so anybody can go and Yeah, that's correct. Okay. And that's kind of why we did this, too. I love this kind of work. It's very productive and fun. That feels so good to me. Um I don't know, session was over and I needed something to do. Like So, I thought I'd just do
036some policy analysis, why not? We all have our strengths. Thanks. Okay, we'll now move on to action items. We have minutes to approve. We do. There's you and there's you, Hugo. K-5 English language arts curriculum adoption. Ooh, this is exciting. This is the moment. This is the moment. Yay, thank you. Good evening, members of the board. Thank you for allowing me to come before you this evening to speak about our elementary ELA materials adoption process. Do you remember last week, not last week, I guess it's a couple weeks now, um at the last board meeting, we came I came in front of you with some some of our teachers to talk to about the process that we have been going through as it relates to the ELA adoption process and you should have in your
037board package the instructional materials review committee packet still. So, it's a repeat of what I brought to you before, but I just wanted to kind of cover something with you. So, at tonight's board meeting, you will see that we are now on a step six of that IMDI process. It is a six-step process, so we are on the last step of that process. Prior to that though, I just want to give you a quick review. Over the past two years, our K-3 ELA instructional materials committee has carefully reviewed instructional materials and conducted a pilot of magnetic literacy in 46 classrooms across our elementary schools. During this time, we found that the newly revised magnetic literacy materials provide a strong foundation in essential literacy skills while also meaningfully integrating science, social studies and writing, which is
038excellent. The program is also closely aligned to the newly revised OSPI ELA standards, which are just now coming out, which is perfect timing. Based on the results of our piloting, feedback from our pilot teachers, changes to the newly revised materials, input from families and community reviews and alignment to the new OSPI ELA standards, the instructional materials committee is requesting board action to approve magnetic literacy as our new K-3 ELA instructional materials. For our side, we'd be happy to answer any questions the board may have. If I remember right, the costs are about what we're paying now. They are. They would be, yes. And all the teachers love it. Yes. I was actually really excited to see how excited the teachers were and hear their stories about their use and piloting of this and so um
039really excited to um have something uh really tangible, um something that's got our teachers so excited. Absolutely. Um when was the last time we adopted K-5 English language? 2014? 12 years ago. Thanks. Mr. Caine, this has been great. We've been piloting it great for great things last year and we're you know, we're hopeful that we can get I'm glad that we're here. Congratulations and this is a good program. Thanks for getting it done. Thank you. Good morning, Larry. You have the floor tonight. I move adoption of the K-5 English language arts curriculum. I second. All those in favor of adoption of the K-5 English language arts curriculum as presented say aye. Aye. All those opposed. This is a congratulations. Thank you very much. And everyone that worked on this, thank you, everybody. Okay, next, we're
040going to move on to a second reading for policy 4310, uh district relationships with law enforcement and other government agencies as well and board special meeting and policy 3226, interviews and interrogations of students on school premises. Thank you, members of the board. Did you want me to do them separately? No, both of them. Okay, okay. I will pay for doing them together. Okay, so just um a little review that first reading of uh 3226 um I brought in January um and then first reading of 4310 I brought in February. So, um I took the two memos and smashed them together, just a technical thing. How you put them all in one memo? Um so, the 3226 is part of the students um policies and um 4310 is part of community relations. Um And so, 3226
041is guidance for us on um when government officials like um police, sheriffs, um Department of Health, um DSHS or federal agents come to schools, what's our relationship with them and um when do we schedule interviews and interrogations? And then 4310 is more of like what uh how do we respond as community members? Um because these community agencies um obviously work closely with our agency students. Um so, these two policies just clarify the roles responsibilities and limits of different agencies and gives our schools guidance on um like access to schools, um interviews, access to student records, um just clarifies all that. Any questions? I so I move adoption of policies um 4310 and 3226. Second. All those in favor of adoption of policy 4310 and 3226 as presented say aye. Aye. All those opposed. Policies 4310
042and 3226 as presented Thank you. I do have a quick question on my my minutes for this week. We'll be doing the ELA curriculum. There's a little bit of last night. Thank you, Ty. Our meeting starts at 6:00. All right, so next, we're going to move on to second readings of a whole bunch of stuff. I don't know. I expect that same clapping for these health policies as we had for ELA. We may even take a break because you're so excited. I I know. I know. So, let's clap. Let's clap for the second reading of the agreement policy. I think Okay. Then it'll be the whole package then, you're right. Um yeah, so again, we worked with ESD 113 on a study of our health programs and they came up that we had a wealth
043of health policies to either incorporate or update. So, that is the list. We talked about Do you want me to do it as a package deal? I think I would do it as a package. Okay, yeah. So, it really is our functioning of what we do in our health rooms and with our school nurses at this point, but making sure we're updated. I think the biggest update in this is probably the concussion one now and the student student cardiac arrest as well. And so, we will be posting the information from WIAA and U Dept. I put both of those in the packet with that as well. And then I know the voluntary administered marijuana is a very exciting one. Is this the youth program language new? New? Oh, for the No, that was already part
044of the concussion portion of the show that the youth programs also had to acknowledge concussion knowledge of it, but um now the cardiac arrest portion of it because that is also a leading cause, not just the concussion. in the school also. Is there a motion to adopt all of these? by name and by number. versus on one evening. I can do it. Uh so, can I can I ask and you can say no. Uh could we also use to second the meeting and pass all of them at once or do you want it to come back to the next meeting? Is that a journal? Uh I would think Well, maybe we want to wait. Listen to what the chair said. It's easy to do it this way. You don't have to use it It is
045perfectly legitimate to do it this way. It's just that somebody might say that it's not a standard or whatever whatever policies. However, I would certainly entertain a motion to approve 3425. I'd like to see Chris. I'd like to see you too, but there'll there'll probably be more policies I have for you, too. See more, Chris. So, don't let that get in the way. Um Go ahead and vote. Okay. Yes, I move uh adoption of policy 3410, 3411, 3422, 3423, 3424, and 3425 as presented. Okay. Has anybody seconded it six times? Oh, I I I and and I and so I second it. Also said she's been watching the entire time. Casey is on the letters. I need some computer help, but mostly giving now. All right. Well, I know I know Dan Rankin and Dan
046Rankin takes care of me. Uh you need to foster your relationships better with Dan Rankin. Uh So, I second it. I heard it seconded. All those in favor of approving policies 3410, 3411, 3422, 3423, 3424, 24, and 3425 as presented here tonight, say I. I. All those against? Thank you. I'm sure Ty voted for us. Thank you. Look at us, knocking stuff off. Okay, well, all that time we saved, it might just go away right here. All right. Oh, come on. Okay, so This is going to be good. This is the first time. Go ahead, Winnie. Yes, so yes, so I'd like to present the '26-'27 school year calendar. And I just want to take everybody back in a little history for those that weren't here last year. Um we had in our after our
047first reading of the calendar, there was a lot of questions about should we continue with two weeks of conferences for our elementary middle schools. We went back, took time, surveyed our staff. Um it was a very close margin, but they had said we want to go to one week uh conferences. So, we came back with a new schedule new proposed calendar for this school year that had only one week of conferences. So, um I was really hoping that fast forward to this year, um I was really hoping as I had said I think at one point in time that I was really looking forward to trying to get a multi-year calendars out in in in front of everybody. Uh and but I think uh if you'll see in my calendar memo, what we ended up
048doing was we trying to be incredibly inclusive. We we had sent out a survey to every single staff member in the district. And you know what? Only administrators were the only ones who wanted calendars more than one year. Everybody else wanted it year by year. And I have a theory on that, and my theory is because there was such an overwhelmingly disapproval that we had gone to one week of conferences. And they quite overwhelmingly at the elementary uh fact 100% of the principals and I think it was something like 74% of the the elementary staff said we want two conferences back. And so, I think there's some hesitancy of for changing the calendar again that we might, you know, and so I think they wanted us to see an established calendar that they really like
049before maybe we can convince them to go on a multi-year calendar. That's my theory, don't know correct, but they did come back this year and say it's really important. They felt their families gave them a lot of feedback and said that they really missed the connection to their earlier in the school year about their students really connect with their teachers more around that that academic piece and social emotional piece. And so, we So, what we had proposed in this calendar is going back to two weeks for our elementary and middle school. One of the things that we also added for those that you know, maybe you have a student here, so you might have Yeah, this is a change to you, but it just for the history of it, we also added last this this
050school year new to Tumwater was adding a conference week for our for our high school. And the reason that we did that is in large part is we have a lot of you know, requirements under the high school and beyond plan. And part of our strategic plan had was really developing that talking about what the portrait of a graduate would look like, really tying it to that the high school and beyond plan. So, that was where we felt like it could best be served and to continue those connections for early interventions with our students and things like that. So, so this calendar fast forward to this year with all of the feedback from all of our stakeholders and including our the all of our parent feedback, with the minute notes as I kind of go
051down the proposed key dates on the memo, I'll just highlight the important ones. Um the first day of school is going to be because Labor Day is so late this year, it is actually going to start before Labor Day this year. So, it starts uh first day of school will be September 2nd. So, it's hard It's funny to say it's going to be before Labor Day and we're still in September. So, that is the September. Otherwise, we'd be September 9th. That's really late. We don't want to go into nearly July. Um and so then the next big key date would be that um conference week in November again for that early really having that earlier time in the year for parents and teachers to really connect. And then again um the second conference week. And
052if you notice there it is not for um for the senior high Senior High School where the high school would still be um going to school that week. The conference week, the second conference week, is going to be March 29th to April 2nd. And then embedded in that conference week will be the the senior exit interviews. So, we'll have that done at that time as well. And so, we we did get some really great feedback on our senior conferences. Um you know, we have a lot of work to do to uh around that and and preparing our schools to be just more prepared of what conferences look like. Um but I think we've got some after all of the feedback, some really great ideas um developed out of that and some really some really great
053feedback. Um and then you could guess the last day, the important one there, June 18th. All right. This is a question. >> Yes. Any comments, discussion? Yes. Please just let you off. I don't think you're going to get off. I know. I know. All right. I second talking now at the end. We're working on it. We might be talking. I don't Okay. There we go. Okay. Would uh who would like to go first on this one? I'm going to see Okay. I have a I do have a question. Um So, on the calendar it says June It looks like June 11th It is June 11th. I think that was an error in mine. Yep. Okay. Yep. Great. Cuz we're starting early, so You're correct. You're correct. Okay, awesome. Yeah, but I had said that in
054error. I think that was It was early June holiday. Oh, yes, one day. Okay, got it. Yeah. Uh So, one I love like you were There were some There were teachers that asked us to move this conference week and I love that we tried it. You know, that we got feedback. And I love that we got input to move it back. So, I I love that we we tried that. Uh and so, people could could feel and make a decision. And also, I appreciate you know, you always have complaints to the kids are going to school past June 20th. Yeah. And so, thank you. Uh I know starting before Labor Day might be a little odd, but I personally like going for three days and Well, actually it's it's in the TEA contract that they
055have to they have to vote. And so, um the TEA did vote. And so, Yes, thank you. I just like using like using the school. So, peace. I would I appreciate uh the deciding before Labor Day. I agree. I like the if it starts if it starts school in the middle of summer, nothing better than a three-day school week and then a four-day school week. You have to be able to That's five-day school week that we talked about a lot. These things are So, I like that personally as well. I understand it may not always work this way, but it lines up well. I do I'm not going to I want to acknowledge a lot of the elementary school teachers, specifically the ones in the PTAG that were very I think that maybe most of
056them are talking on slightly I'm not going to speak for her, but there were teachers that said no, we would rather go back. So, I'm glad that we tried it. We tried it out. I'm sure there were some pros to it on some level, but overall we want to switch back. We take this what I think is substantial and that's what matters most to thinking what you're taking that on and I think we're all willing to accept the overall feedback that you Um overall I like this. I think they have to I think so. Um I think this is my first calendar. Very I know, right? Everything's great. This is the shortest calendar conversation we've ever It is. Yeah. Well, and if if if if everybody loves it, maybe next year we can get a
057two-year. I'm going to I'm going to keep pushing it in my survey. I'm going to just push it. >> Just one question. Do we Do we coordinate with other school districts? >> We do. It's actually easy. Yeah. Over things like spring break and those things. Yeah, it's actually in the TEA contract or the CBA that it says that we will consult with North Thurston and with Yelm. So, we we try to really closely align. If possible. Yeah, it's absolutely yeah. Okay. Now, I'm assuming you see that this one. If it is an action item if you want to take that a note. Oh, yeah. We did this last time and then I heard about it from the PTAG, the elementary school teachers. But I am not going to stop. I'll pause here and let we
058can certainly do that. I'm moving to adopt um the 2026-2027 calendar as presented. I second. Let's do a quick discussion. Are we I mean you feel comfortable in this? You like what's what's different? Like what what's the hesitation there? What was There is no hesitation. This is the first time that usually they said this is the quickest and the most agreeable. So, it's usually been at least twice just to They do a lot of labor when you and the TGA do a lot of labor history. They lay that out, but they also want to make sure they get the best comparison to the community, everybody else. Um I think that's why we did it in two before. Since we actually didn't do it I tried not to put you on the spot to make a
059decision on something you haven't had a longer period of time forever. Um I think this is one we have to I think last time we did come back with it. But well, I was going to say that normally it's there's a tight timeliness to this and that a lot of people are starting to ask where's the calendar for plans for next year. And the reason that we're putting it this late, normally we would have had it earlier in this in already, it's just that we waited to get the feedback from conferences. So, we didn't want to send out surveys until after those conferences were over because we wanted people to get a fair, you know, an actual feedback and so we're kind of late in the year and people are really pushing for that calendar.
060And correct me if I'm wrong, I think we we kind of asked you to do a survey after you brought it to us. We asked you after that to do the survey. So, you've done the survey already. Well, and when it's been they've been designing the survey and been filing a hearing and I think they're they're putting it on it. We're just trying to get it started. I think that's the biggest one. Yeah, it's holding to the way we planned for. We got a little feedback on that last time as well, too. So, Um I think it feels like we're comfortable with this as well. Now, too late. Too late. We got to fill up in person if you want to do that on there. So, I just want to know my thought that was
061enough. Is there Is there Is there any other discussion here today right now? I think all those in favor of approving the 2026-2027 calendar as presented say I. I. And those opposed? And the 2026-2027 calendar is approved. Congratulations, Randy. Thank you. So much applause tonight. And none is done. You know, there's no applause. No applause for that. This is a tough buddy and we're with you. Don't expect much applause. Okay. Go ahead then. Good evening, board. My pleasure to present to you on on the reduced educational program resolution in the packet, which is resolution 09-25-26. Um there's both a memo and the resolution and this one to be clear in the record of the board that the memo is important. Um because there's a couple of places where things are pretty clear with the numbers.
062But they provide clarity of intent which is part of why you take this resolution. So, just to take a minute to explain why you're even taking this resolution at all. Um reduced educational uh school program resolutions are not uncommon practice that districts have to make uh reductions or adjustments in their uh budget. Um it really is a requirement when you're talking about reducing certificated staffing and actually the resolution kind of emerges from the certificated staffing. More and more districts are taking these resolutions um as they apply to classified staff because it provides a mechanism to be transparent to the community about what is happening and why it's happening. And it also provides the board a mechanism to demonstrate to the community and stakeholders that these are not arbitrary and capricious acts, but this is a
063situation where positions that are being reduced are publicly discussed with the board in the last analysis discussed with the board. Signals that they understand that rationale and they take that resolution from a morning work session. Um And so in this particular case, um this resolution identifies uh four positions and I want to be clear that these are positions, not people and that's a very important distinction. Um when we get to the end of the year we um need to execute on these in some some cases. I might even say in many cases we just don't know. Um Uh I would say in some cases um an individual may not lose their job. It may be in fact that the materializing uh return is not a layoff or transfers or reorganization. Um that tends to be
064more common with our classified staffing. And so um just keep in mind as you vote on this that we're talking about positions. Uh not necessarily people in every instance. Um the resolution identifies uh four positions. There are more positions in the list that won't be in the next year's budget, but some of these are like one-year-only positions where the position is literally expires on its own um because it only existed for a year. Um and so these are not all the positions that won't roll over into next year, but these are the positions that would otherwise go away for another specific reason. Um Two evening custodians are identified in this resolution. Um the district had been sort of comparing itself to peer districts in terms of protocols of how floors are cleaned and companies of
065high schools in this year. Uh the team was experimenting with what we call an AB schedule uh where common areas like cafeterias and places that have a heavy volume continue to be cleaned every evening, but certain classrooms are cleaned every other. Um that was successfully piloted this year in certain cases. Uh and the administration believes that we can implement this model with no without substantial disruption to the program and we think that we think it's successful. Um this is one of those situations where I would be surprised if we don't have uh two returning resolutions going on next year that will allow for this to happen uh without adversely affecting particularly people in the district. Um there's also a transportation tech router position. There are the history of this district where there are times when
066the district has operated with two of these positions and there are times when the district has operated with one. Um it is the opinion of management that we can operate the transportation program with one um transportation tech router position. Um and we again believe that we will not have a substantial disruption to the program in doing so. And finally, uh number three in the memo is an office professional position. Probably strictly speaking not required for the resolution, but wanted to provide clarity to you. This is a situation where we have a contract where certain enrollment figures exist where if the school gets above a certain enrollment level, they are entitled to more staffing in the office professional level. As you have previously been apprised, the district is changes to the program even special education. We
067are moving programs by the two like the local home initiative. I think this is really the local home initiative. So, we are moving a lot of our RISE kiddos back to the neighborhood school. This is going to have impacts on enrollment. Um we anticipate we lose one case um that change and other changes will mean that one school will receive one fewer of office professional support positions. Now, if that doesn't happen, we'll still have to comply with the contract. But, what happens in this case is due to the consideration for the impact of individuals. You want to notify them well enough in advance so they can avail themselves of the other opportunities uh that might materialize throughout the spring. Again, if if miraculously there is a change in the enrollment due to the availability of
068this position coming back, we will of course comply with that contract. As to the need for this, um well, I should say estimated that um we anticipate this is to cost approximately $335,000. Um the reason why this resolution is not really as expensive in the scope as last year's is that we are making demonstrable progress financially. And yet, we sit before you this evening with a posted fund balance of -1.1 million. So, we are making progress, but we are in no place to consider the impact of the budget and our ability to make decisions. And remember this. One final point I want to make is that um we just learned that the legislature did enact a reduction in our impact aid. Um we expect to lose we $100,000 um we were taking including the terms
069of the funding that we we received to support our PK program this Um that has been the key an initiative for our strategic plan and that everybody believes is having like really significant impact for our kiddos that are in that program. Um at least we're planning internally to try to keep that class afloat even though the state is not currently funding it. Um so, that coupled with the fact that every year the district incurs costs just by moving staff up steps, you know, before any discussion of enrollment. There's a cost that goes into the district for moving staff that um these are some of the hidden costs that follow um the enactment of the school district budget. Okay. For those reasons, um we recommend these assistant principal positions Do you have anything to add about
070the resolution? Questions? Go ahead, please. Uh this Uh this positions this reduction uh starts in the 2016-2017 school year. Not not right now. It will certainly later in the 2016-2017 school year. But, there are certain situations with these positions where if the superintendent believes it's in our best interest to do it earlier, we we will do so. That's noted in the memorandum. Um and for classified staff, the contracts operate differently. There's not guaranteed in almost every case not guaranteed a full year of school year contracts. So, we retain the right to make the transition that makes the most sense to do so. And that might be different for each case. Do you have any questions? We'll just note you know, with our this is the topic that is talked about at the superintendent level. Um
071every I think every district except for nine in in our region except for Olympia Capital um in the year they all they took this resolution. And also varying degrees. Um some of our neighbors in I think it's the first time in quite a few years they actually they have not had one in a while. I think it was in the paper. Um there was a resolution in this area. So, the legislature really this is a impact of the legislature not keeping pace with the increased costs and non-personnel costs. And you know, we see us you know, we're we're increasing enrollment, but if you look at from the previous year, we are still declining enrollment. So, that generally is the trend across the region and across the state. Um we're seeing a decline in enrollment. So,
072this is this is really a reflection of us right-sizing and organization as we continue to move forward and the legislature not keeping pace. So, that's what this speaks to tonight. And most notably, away from the costs and the support of positions today, but consistent with the principles that the board adopted and asked the staff to use. Um and then we can talk about this later. And then not related to this, I think it's noticed to the board um that we are um opening for kindergarten enrollment outside the district a little bit earlier um with the hope again that we know that there's still wanting to attend some of our schools. And so, trying to get that process going earlier and see if we can get some of our kindergarten numbers up a little bit earlier
073in the year rather than waiting until August. So, we're trying to do some strategies to Well, we're going to I mean, we're talking positions, but just practically, this guess four positions, but you're guessing that those four people are either going to be voluntarily retiring or moving to somewhere else in the district, you think? Yes, I understand your question. That's a good question. It's an extremely delicate question because I'm talking about four personnel I'll still ask it. Yeah, and I don't want to and >> I don't want to make any representations about any individual and by the way, I don't have that information. But, if you'll if you'll allow me to stick to a summary statement, which is that in all four in three of in most of these cases, I can't tell you right now
074exactly um the person that will be impacted by this because in some cases you've got seniority bumping rights, for example. Um there might be So, I don't want to overrepresent here that um we know in every case. We we know in you know, maybe one or two and but particularly in the in the COPE situation, for example, um it could be uh a couple of people moving between buildings, but perhaps a more likely scenario is no no individual actually is no longer employed with the district, but it does entail um some internal So, if you'll allow me to stay at that level, that's a great question. We'll get it you know, we may we will know probably by the budget adoption time. Remember when you said Remember when you asked me that question? Now I
075can share that. Great. Thanks. I have a few maybe to be short to be long. Let's see that. So, that in spite of we're sort of we're having you can write it out, but here I have the district meeting in the budget. So, you mentioned enrollment in the area that the area enrollment is declining. Do you see two or three in town? Are there any other districts that have seen any increases in enrollment? I'm not really sure. Some districts don't know their numbers I think it's pretty Yeah, we have a pretty flat enrollment this year. So, I don't I think ours is pretty steady. I would call it flat. Yeah, it's great. It's positive. They but it's certainly we've seen the trend that always goes down unless the district is wrong, right? This is the
076spring decline where it just disappeared, right? And I don't know if we want to draw it up again, but but if you get down to like the the the detail of it, it's once it's growing, it's the end of it. All right. Our district is more than those kind of small. Yes, it is. It's great. So, uh let's So, these positions we're going to kind of jump on with the list of our deliberations here. These positions and and then we plan for them. We committed to the free budget of these all four of these positions for this school year. Uh we made commitments to these folks and the answer was are we going to have these positions in the next school year? And the answer was no, but there was some of the it it
077sounds like these could answer. So, that is my concern tonight. Um I'm not asking a question here. I'm going to raise my concerns first. It's we budgeted for these. We saw a need. Um we made a commitment and we agreed upon that. Um it makes If we are ending these early before their contract is done, that's different. It it does reduce the number for the next year. So, when we talk about this, it's the The resolution is on this meeting. I'm not saying that at all. This is exactly what's going to happen. Um but, the thought is that I think the natural assumption is that these positions which you know, we wrote up last year last year, I believe most of those positions were included up through their contract. So, that's what concerns me here
078and is ending these early. And I believe the attorney used the word that the superintendent discretion. Um not call people out, but I just think that's what we're looking for. So, is there any clear This is my question. So, is there any clear indication as to which positions will be eliminated and what they Is there any clear indication You're looking for some certainty on Are we ending any of these positions early on their contracted time? I would I would venture to say, yes, that at least for of these would would potentially be earlier. Are you comfortable today getting as specific as you want, or do you want to leave it to the general public? I'm giving you that option. We haven't talked about this at all. Yeah, I mean, I didn't want to get into
079the Well, nothing's happened yet. You haven't passed a resolution. So, I guess as we sit here right now, I'm speculating about these four particular positions. If you're asking me in good faith if there is if we have plans to eliminate any of the positions, yes. Um if you're asking me to identify in each case in the I definitely can't answer that one. Do you think I guess I think this is my last question. Does this have to be Is there a timely decision in this area of the next 15 days that comes out there? How many is the timing of the decision dates that need to be updated? The staff, um do you need a decision on this today? Absolutely. This is this is urgent. We have to do As part of the So, stated
080differently, what would be the consequence of you not passing this tonight, basically? Um That's a good question. Let me think about that for a second. Um I'm not sure I'm prepared to answer that right now. It might be different for each of the positions. Um Yeah, and I'm not sure I'm prepared to answer that. That's okay. Um Could the superintendent make a decision to end an economic contract even if you don't pass it? Yes, that's the solution tonight. An economic contract under an economic contract. So, Cuz I I was just trying to separate this resolution from that other Like, yeah, uh-huh. Yeah. So, strictly speaking, um passing this resolution um just kind of puts the district on the side of airing on the side of caution. Um one could argue, and I if I had
081to, would argue that the superintendent has the ability um to make some of these changes. Um Is the board getting a bad rap, or is it some other thing? Um But, in these situations, we're receiving uh legal guidance that it is best practice for school districts to use these reduced education program resolutions even if you are dealing just with classified staff. And that's the best position for the district, which is a different question than whether it is strictly speaking required. But, it's the best position for the district. So, in trying to best position the district, we bring this resolution forward tonight. Right. Thank you. Can we read it? Yep. Can we change the resolution to just say you can eliminate additional positions before the end of the school year? Is that a question to me?
082Um I guess I think there's a piece of information that's relevant to the conversation. So, let me just make sure I think what might be in terms of the district's policies, what is controlling here, I think, is policy 5280, um which provides some clarity on what a contract is. We use that term pretty loosely here. Um But, a certificated contract is quite different than a classified contract. The statutes treat them differently, and our policy is pretty clear as it pertains to classified contracts. Um what representations are made and how we are able to um terminate contracts for financial or other reasons. Um And then we take the legal route, but the night uh since the question is asked, is a section called program and staff reductions. There's a subsection called classified staff separation from employment.
083And the um again, there's individuals being impacted by this, and I speak for that. I'm trying to speak legally for a second here. Um This section of the policy um makes it clear that the district is within its rights to separate from a classified staff employee unless a full year of employment is guaranteed by an individual contract or collective bargaining agreement. And then 5280 in page two, um and so, having a contract that is signed when you become an employee of the school district is different than having a contract that guarantees your employment um for a full year under the law. And so, just be mindful of is that a capital C contract or a lower case C contract that you're talking about? Most employees sign something when they start working. But, that does not
084mean that the law provides for a guaranteed one-year or three-year or six-year appointment. Now, this was I mean, you know, this has simply I mean, the last years have been very, very challenging for the band, for the relays, for teams, for the principal, lots of conversations going on, reduction in force. And if you recall last year, you know, we we did this twice. Um and then once we notified folks, we we lost a ton of people in the middle of the year. So, this goes kind of both ways. Like, we end up saying, "Hey, we're looking at this year's head. We're giving you this notice." They start looking for a job, and we lost a good chunk of folks in the middle of the year. Um by this time last year, folks were giving their
085resignation notice and taking new jobs. Um so, they they had that opportunity to do that. And so, I think part of we bring this forward and again, wanting some flexibility and understanding from the board that we don't take this lightly, and we are continuing to be asked how many future economic reductions are possible and possible decisions on behalf of this community. Our current administration continues to work without getting paid this year, and they're working all of their days, and they're all undertaking what the people in this room are also doing that. Um and so again, I think they they also see us in the actual debate um at this level and what we continue to ask folks to do. So, I think we're we're trying to be mindful of the expenditures. I mean, we have
086a position we're saying is say we think we can operate this and have minimal impact. That's what we're asking that this you know, at least give me your notice. Whether there's a kind of legality, I think we're trying to be transparent and give you your support in that. We do understand that these are people impacted, and we don't come to ask them this lightly. We we know that. Um this organization only will be strong by having people who are dedicated to working here, and we intend to continue to support them. We don't This is the last thing that we would ever want to do. I know we I was hopeful that we didn't have to come with this resolution. Um but we kind of end up in this situation where we think, based on kind
087of again, the legal guidance, that this is the best opportunity here. I know it's not I I appreciate the parent concern for the employees of this district, and I and I know we have to do this also. Let me be clear, the decision to withdraw an employee certificated employee is it is not staff that this is guidance from our lawyer as to best position the district even when dealing with classified staff. M- M- Mandy, thank you. I appreciate that. This is strictly the policy 5280. What it states there in the last paragraph Yeah. It's not a legal stuff on uh for sure with people talking to this, but it is it does not come in this this is what they do. If I may clarify one thing, this resolution doesn't have the effect of ending
088the new positions at all. This resolution would be effective as acknowledging the superintendent's authority to do so. I need with that, Jeremy. You mean Okay. Ronnie, anything? I would just say that these are tough conversations, and I really, really appreciate how you presented it and why you presented it. And I don't hear you saying you like this. I hear you saying this is what we need to do, and we need to do what's best for the people. That's the best we can, so I appreciate that from from all of the staff. We appreciate that. Okay. We're still asking. I haven't heard a motion yet, so we're still in the asking phase. I'd like to wait for the discussion. I I think I'll wait for the discussion. Yeah, do you have any questions for Mandy or
089or Gavin if you want to ask them? Yes, I do. >> I move we adopt resolution 09-25-26. Second. Thank you. Sorry, Melissa. Very, very quick. You have to step back a minute. Do you want to do it or go first? Um yeah, sure. I I just want to I really hate reductions in force. My own contingency is going through same kinds of conversations we went through last year. It's exhausting demoralizing. Um and nobody wants to do it. I don't think anybody here wants to do it. Um I also feel like um people need certainty uh at this point in the year about what is coming. Um and we need to allow the process for this process and the bump process play out. Um so I'm reluctantly speaking in favor of this. It's not a position
090I want us to be in. But we have a responsibility um to to address the non-fund balance. That's why all of us are here. I think it's why all of us heard from the community um when we were, you know, running for office to secure the importance of addressing our budget issues and I feel like we have a responsibility uh a responsibility to take this action um even though I don't enjoy it. And then I'm sorry I don't think they're getting applause tonight. Um but we'll come back another time and maybe we'll clap for you. Right. I I I can understand it. And this was a You didn't have to do this. You could I mean you have the authority to do everything you're talking about doing without a resolution. You're just asking, I think,
091for agreement with us and staff who are making these tough decisions. I mean I Can I answer yes and Yes. Basically yes, but also got to be clear. Our attorney advises us it's not just a presence but our attorney advises that this best position for the district in these sort of situations where you have you have multiple positions. Even when the process that the advice we got from our attorney. So there's a dimension of this that's beyond just sort of asking for a little extra. I mean there is a dimension where our attorney is in this position that's legally separate from our client. You don't mind that we're together in spirit. Thank you. I just I just like last year uh we let people know where they were and while some people resigned voluntarily, I
092know that a number of people found other positions because of that. Um so people who did end up being affected were able to find other positions in the district. So that also again was early. I mean theoretically yes, I I understand where you're going but in part this could be done before the budget passes and you wouldn't have to find out until the summertime. Um so that's that's what I appreciate about about this. Um just letting people have more opportunity to decide and control their future. I don't think anything that I think all three of you have done this perfectly. So thank you very much. I need the same thing on this. This is the transparency I think it's like We agree on the same thing to try to do and wait this the second
093if you need me to. All those in favor of approving resolution 09-25-26 say aye. Aye. Let the vote 09-25-26 The motion is carried. Thank you, Dan. I appreciate it. We will now move on to the superintendent's report. Go ahead, Dan. Okay. I'm going to try to make this a little more possible through this section here. So um just recall we we I'd like to to share a little bit of of some of our strategic spotlights. And so this is a picture of um students from across Tumwater gathering to perform at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts for our night of percussion. So this evening featured the wind ensemble from Tumwater Hill. It also was percussion ensembles from both Black Hills and Tumwater High School. The big choir our choirs also took the stage um
094and that gave our students experiences performing in a professional venue. What else what stood out the most was the opportunity for students to collaborate across schools, perform in a new setting, showcase the results of their hard work. Experiences like this reflect our strategic plan by providing unique opportunities for students to grow, take risks, and build confidence while sharing their talents with the broader community. So I want to thank our music educators for performing in a memorable event. I want to acknowledge Cascadia High School. This is a photo of our student leadership who recently organized and led a clothing drive to support members of our community. So students collected, sorted, prepared a large number of donations making a meaningful impact beyond the classroom. What stood out was how students took ownership of the effort from start
095to finish. This is a great example of our portrait of a graduate in action specifically developing responsible and empathetic community members. Students saw a need, stepped up, turned that into awareness and into action. It's great to see our students not only taking up talking about service but actively living it out in ways that support others in our community. This also um I think is related to our strategic plan around the creative arts that we do. And so this is I just want to share some pictures recently from um students from high school Tumwater High School, Black Hills High School. They participated in the ESD 113 regional art show. They Our students submitted approximately 35 pieces of artwork. And out of 132 total submissions across the region, several of our students were selected to advance to
096the state competition. In addition, Tumwater students earned the Central Washington University Scholarship Award, um the ESD 113 Board of Directors Choice Award, and even Best in Show. Um so the level of recognition supports both the level of talent of our students and the strength of our art programs. Our two high schools are led by uh Tumwater High School teachers Louise Judici and Jason McGauley, and Black Hills High School teacher Dave Wageman. As you'll see in these um they're showing some creativity, thoughtful, high-quality work across a variety of mediums um from painting and ceramics to graphic photography and digital art. Um their success reflects not only what their artistic skills but also creativity, persistence, and a willingness to take risks and learning. Please join me in congratulating these students and their teachers for representing Tumwater so
097well at the regional level and we wish them the best. Um this week, March 17th to the 21st, I guess that was last week, um recognizes Washington School Retirees Appreciation Week. It's a great reminder that the impact of our educators and staff um doesn't end when they retire. Many of our retirees continue to show up for students in our schools volunteering in classrooms, um supporting classrooms, and even preparing scholarships and community grants that make a difference for kids. In Tumwater, we've been fortunate to have generations of educators who remain connected to our schools and community. Their experience care for our students and ongoing support continues to shape the culture of our district in meaningful ways. I want to take a moment to just thank our retirees for everything they've done and continue to do for
098our students You might not have heard this one. This is just I want to recognize occasionally these come and kill you. This is one of these that I get these letters in the mail. This is acknowledging outstanding achievement by one of our students this year. Adeline Rice from Black Hills High School has been awarded the Pacific Lutheran University President's Scholarship. This is a full ride scholarship in addition to $4,000 per year in this scholarship to her in addition to her $31,000 per year academic scholarship. So Adeline's selection reflects not only her hard work and dedication but also the support of her teachers, families, and the Black Hills High School community. Proud of Adeline and we expect to see uh what lies ahead for her. And lastly, I just want to just acknowledge a couple of
099big big events that have occurred over the last week and one that's happening uh not tomorrow. It's probably Saturday. So one of the things that makes this community special is just how our community supports um our students beyond the school day. So um on March 14th, Tumwater Athletic Boosters, they had their SOAR Hall of Fame and Auction. Great evening of um celebrating the history, tradition, and people who have contributed to Tumwater um athletics while also raising important support for our student programs. And this weekend, Black Hills is hosting their annual Black and Gold Auction March 28th This year's theme is A Night in Wonderland. And so unlike SOAR, it brings our community together to support student opportunities through athletics and activities. Both events reflect pride, generosity, and commitment to see our communities thrive. Maybe we'll
100see you at Black Hills. Congratulations to both schools. They're raising a lot of money for athletics and activities. Just what we talked about here today for our students. >> All right. Thank you secretary to the board of education. We will now move on to board member reports. Uh legislative update which will be presented by myself. This is very short. It's not good. It's doesn't It's exactly what they listen. Um been highlighted earlier one of the biggest impacts. Nothing's good. It's bad overall. However, one of the biggest hits that we'll notice I think is our two kindergarten assistants. They were getting cut about $20,000. We knew that was going to get cut significantly. They told us that was coming. So, um and I I'm not speaking for anybody else on this board, but I believe that
101program is very impactful in getting kids ready to show up to school on the very first day. I know that kindergarten is very important and so, um that's unfortunate. I really That's That's where we're going to feel it the most. The rest of it is all bad. There's nothing good coming to the people. Cuts to grants starting on the biggest biggest impact. Um we're arguing over from 1.4 to 1.3 1.3. We didn't go to 1.2 the biggest cuts. The biggest Not a bit, but still. Um so, that's all I have at this point in time. And then again to kind of wrap up the the You know I said it earlier that the legislature is up and done and we did what we could. Um quite frankly, we didn't ask for money really. We just
102wanted to build relationships and have a vision of what we see for our school district and being positive at least with the parents. Maybe we'll do a little bit more in that December because we have a lot of stuff. Minds down, but then it starts ramping up right away again here with lots of stuff. I don't think I can hear you elected first student as a board member. Please repeat that. We are moving on to board comments. Please keep in mind the instructions because approximately two to three minutes to speak. Uh I'll go first tonight if that's okay with you guys. I'll do anything. Um I wanted two reps to come in and talk. Um I'm sorry, but um this one was the most valuable to me as far as questions and what I can
103do as a board member. I was trying to think of you supporting a lot of these things that you brought up. I can't promise anything, but I can ask questions. Honestly for me and there was a very consistent theme across all three student reports. You were able to fully have mentioned multiple things. So, I have check marks on each. I saw her speaking privilege, but I saw her doing some writing and check marking at the same time as I did. So, I think you were heard tonight and really appreciate you you you the time and effort that you all three put into it. So, I'll let people know that we were expecting to go back to work. Uh wanted to the school retiree service pretty cool. I was I was at the bookstore last night
104with my son Max and he ran into a teacher that was a retiree and my gosh, we had a fantastic conversation waiting in a way too long to buy a book. No one to buy a book and done with the last thing. It was great. Um you're right. They are they I think they get more passionate. Where did they get retired? She did not want to stop talking. It was absolutely fantastic to see and have that experience. Um and then lastly the calendar when you thank you the gosh this is great. The board thank you for moving on this. TA thank you for the work that's the leg work for sure. I know that takes a lot of opinions and there's some input on it and so, I really appreciate that work and coming together
105that we I think we're getting closer. Um maybe the dates helped drive that a little bit, but nonetheless we're going to take it. So, thank you all on that calendar. I know for sure the parents appreciate that as well. I don't think so I'm going to go. All right, Rob over. I I found that the a lot of the conversations I've had with parents are getting addressed by you guys. So, I wanted to say that I appreciate that. I sent down the questions, conference questions, and all kinds of other questions too and it seems like um I'm happy to report to them to hear you. Staff hearing you and the board are trying to do what's best for kids. And I wanted to appreciate this confirmation for that. So, thank you to staff in particular.
106Thank you. Um well, I also I as Casey noted and yes, I was taking notes. Um as you guys were kind of sharing your response because that I do believe that the access to extracurricular curricular activities is super important for all of our students. And what I noticed is um sometimes when you guys come to your reports to us that sometimes the different schools have different um kind of takes on things. Um and what really struck me is I heard the same thing across all three schools which was the need for more communication, same set of ideas around after school participation. I also heard transportation being an issue. Um so, the the thing about the the more communication is I was excited because that feels like a problem we could solve. There are so many
107things, but it feels like we just really struggle to solve a problem. So, I'm really excited and just always appreciate you guys being here and sharing your insights with us. Um and also just wanted to note I had a great time at the closing night for the Great Gatsby and wanted to thank the director there who's been doing a perfect job and really excited by the performances were just fantastic. So, on behalf of all the kids. So, that was great. And also with the end of the state legislative session my my day job gets a little different and I have more flexibility and more time and I'm really looking forward to getting out into the schools and having opportunity to visit some classrooms and volunteer. Uh so, I was at the profession night. It's a
108great partnership with the city. I think they get I think those are their two nights and that it gets gifted from the Performing Arts Center to the city. The city gives it to us to use um and the kids were really excited to be on the stage like that and they really um they thought they were there practicing ahead of time and the staff um you know to do them like 12 times like every hour. So, it was just a really great experience all the way around not just performing, but also the way in which they prepared for it. Um and uh I also um want to say uh thank you. We we had a retreat a couple of weekends ago and I think what um what we are all I will speak for myself.
109Um that we we understand that that we have an effect on the district. And I think all of us are committed to making sure we have more of a positive effect on the district and I'm really glad um I I had a I I think we had positive we choose. All right. Are we going to translate or are we going to let them talk? What do you what do you want to do here? All right. I want to thank the public speakers for for us to come out and speak. Thank you for our student reps for their reports. We need more opportunities for students to feel included and part of the KSD community. Calendar was great, good work, good feedback, and happy to have it approved. It's been one of the biggest questions I've been
110asked in the past what's the plan? Thank you Ben and Kevin for the tough conversation on the resolution. Job well done and look forward to be there in person for next meeting. Specific technical difficulties we had. So, we said With no further business coming before the board, the regular meeting is adjourned at 7:42 and thank you everybody. >> [music] [music]