001Heat. [music] Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Everybody. >> [music] [music] >> Stay on brand across every [music] platform. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. [music] Heat. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> airport. >> Good evening everyone. I would like to call the meeting to order and acknowledge that the Tom school district sits on the ancestral land of the Misquali Swanson Island and people. I thank these caretakers of the land who've lived on and continue to live on the land since time. Please rise as I lead us in the flag because Superintendent, have there been any changes or additions to the agenda since it was published? >> No changes or additions to the. >> All those in favor
002of approving the agenda, please say I. >> Agenda is approved as presented. We'll now move on to meeting minutes reviewed. The minutes from the October 20th and 23rd meetings have been distributed to the board. Are there any changes or corrections? >> See none. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Minutes are approved as presented. On be the consent agenda. The items on the consent agenda have been provided to the board. Any questions or discussion? None. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Consent agenda is approved. Thank you. We will now move on to student work reports. >> The question for November is regarding the high school and beyond plan. >> How do students feel about the relevance of what they're learning to their future goals? What changes would help
003students feel more prepared for life after high school? And whether that's college, career, or another path. Uh for Black Hills High School, the vast majority of students said that the high school and beyond plan that is required in their home classes provide little to no benefit to how prepared they felt uh for their postgraduation endeavors. Specifically, students said that the high school beyond plan felt more like a tour rather than an actual helpful tool. Quite a few students said that even their home room teachers are not putting quite an attention on it. Considering that the high school and beyond plan is controlled by the state rather than the district, there's not much uh that can be done. Therefore, it is crucial that our schools take extra steps beyond what is just required by the state.
004A few examples of pathways that made students feel more confident in their journey after high school were the following. New Market Skill Center program due to the great job that the program did to set up students for a successful career in various trades and fields. Number two, a after school clubs which directly relate to their careers that they want to pursue. Those students said that there are extremely few clubs to join at least at Black Hills and the ones that do exist do not really cater to every student in schools. Number three, Running Start, which allows students to fast track their education and get a glimpse on what college education could look like before investing thousands of hours and dollars into a four-year in the university. Some students suggested having more events such as career
005fairs as well as uh built-in school time for clubs. Specifically, many students suggested uh that more club days are needed rather than assemblies on Friday or extra days could be uh allotted for club To wrap everything up, the current relevance of aftergraduation preparation is pretty mediocre, at least from the responses I got. While there are a couple pathways that negate this deficiency, more options which require less of a commitment are needed. >> Hello, members of the board. With the question provided, the students in well as I believe high school beyond is generally a good thing to have and retained a bit of relevance in our future pathways but lacks the proper formatting. I had quite a few students explain the dislike for the systems predetermined job placement or college recommendation based on our answers to
006the assignment. I also noticed >> the common reoccurrence of students saying they also dislike the vague reasoning for these placements and recommendations. To follow up with the last statement, a few students expressed their troubles with finding an apprenticeship or trade school information that is readily available as college. They expressed their personally felt the system was guiding them into more of a college mindset. There were students who had even said that they were starting to get questions closer to the pathway they enjoyed and reported, but they continued to get the uh questions opposite to the choice they made in their opinion. They almost always had systems trying to sway them in the path. With the students I've spoken with and with the survey both on paper and online, I received a high frequency in requests to
007change the format in which high school students the high school and beyond website is set up. A lot of students feel as it's too complicated and leaves students more confused rather than prepared. a few students that had expressed dislike in the assignment based work as they feel it is discouraging to do an assignment instead of not taking an explorative research. Students feel like it would be beneficial to them if it was either more explorative or more personalized to them. A lot of students did not know what they wanted honestly and felt overwhelmed planning that far ahead. >> Thank you. >> Excellent. Do we have any questions or comments first? I don't know. watch because I think you know there's we're shifting platforms. So most of you know we've shifted the school ways which is a
008program um that was pretty highly highly thought of and so kind of um again maybe sometimes um when we talk about student voice being important this may be one of those examples where folks making some decisions and involvement and I know we did schoolings I think we've adopted schoolings prior to the state adoption so while it's a safe system now everyone we were on that pathway before the state adopted it so again there was some using a program to help help students on this pathway. Clearly, we need to do some more work with this takeaway. We will um we'll have to do some tutorial on this and continue to kind of figure out how to make what we have meaningful as well as, you know, listening to the ideas that they're talking about how to
009expand, make sure because it this really like lines right up to our promise and to our strategic plan. So, we have clear connections to this and It's we're in the early steps of our strategic plan, but it's clearly like we have work to do. >> Yeah, I'm not gonna I'm gonna ask that figure out how to work with students like I have all sorts of ideas, but I'm not going to tell you that. But I we ask this question every year. I want a different answer next year. >> So, however you want to do that, uh I would love a Yeah, it's fascinating because um we we had heard this response to you know the questions about how is this going to be on plan going since I've been on the board and when it
010was not you know our students it was actually one of the things that I will continue to point to as being such a great example of how student voice is important because our student reps during that time said this is not working it's just really not the intent and that was part of the reasons for switching to a different system. So, it's um discouraging to to hear similar kinds of concerns that you have as students um and also just to validate your concerns. I I'm familiar with some of the back end of schoolings from my previous position I was working in. You are absolutely correct that it is set up unfortunately to gear people more towards the the fouryear college and university and the kinds of data sources that it uses to bring in it's
011linked to very specific regimented like job fields which is why you're getting kind of that locked in response and so it's imperative what you mentioned that there should be supplement the club fairs and and all I uh just wanted to thank you guys for for bringing this up. And then I also just I appreciate I think it's fun sometimes to just listen to the high school reps over here and help blunt um some of the information coming from them and some of their fellow students. So keep that coming. I like that aspect. It's a different kind of conversation. I I just want to add I don't know how you know that's what I thought. So I I also like You could probably talk to every one of these people out here of work. It the
012process is not and I don't know how to translate to students. You don't have to pick it. Mine said I was supposed to be a street. >> Really? >> Maybe because of your height. >> But I don't I don't know how to I don't know how to balance this idea that it feels like you have to choose something, >> you know, but then we all reality is whatever you choose, you end up doing a bunch of different. So I I think it's real life. >> Yeah, I think it is about trying to do both things. It's like giving you some options just to say the question you miss while you're answering this. This is sort of some pathways that are open to you that look like you might be interested in. So I think we
013have some work to do on just having those conversations and >> again completely linked to go forward. So this is exactly what we're wanting to improve is making sure that our students are prepared for the future that they're envisioning. So um this also gives us some options opportunities to maybe connect with schools. I CEO talk about like there's some work that they could do on that subs and then also been thinking a lot about like people who want to volunteer in our schools and especially parents we see that there's not much of a conne school. It feels like these types of conversations, you know, that maybe you listen to your own parents about it, but you listen to other parents and other talk about maybe that's an opportunity to bring that community into the schools
014and be able to help just talk to kids about what it is they want to do. So, it's not just some buttons on Thanks again students. We will now move on to public comment. Before we begin, I'd like to remind members of the public that if you wish to have addressed the board during the public comment portion of this meeting, you would have needed to fill out the public comment form available on the district website by 9:00 a.m. today. If you miss this opportunity, you are welcome to sign up for the next regular board meeting or email your comments to the board andor superintendent. Contact information is on the district website. Hello everyone. My name is Laura. I am a current uh three kids in the school district. Um we specifically moved here to put
015our kids into this district and we have long ties to this area. Um I have two kids at Michael T, one at Black and I've got very academic driven children. They love to learn. It is a blessing and a curse at the same time. Why I want to talk to the board today and why I've already talked to the superintendent private students earlier today is because the balance and the shift in safety for students and prioritizing that over giving opportunity to students that are disruptive um and violent in classes I feel like is a big um shift. Um I'm going to give quick examples and I'm not a stranger to the school. Why I'm here today and why I was allowed to have a meeting with the superintendent is because I went through all the
016necessary steps. So this is no surprise to any admin or the superintendent. Um my children have had to mind you no retaliation to this point. No history of behavior for my students. Um they had been physically assaulted and emergency visits. Um res officers being called to the school. Um, unfortunately, it doesn't stop there. I'm not the only parent. Um, right now, Michael T has a third grade class with children that are so violent um and non nonconforming to an atmosphere that is conductive for a learning opportunity that there have been classes um as I mentioned resource officers calls um There are so many incidents. My log was so long when I met with your superintendent today. Um and I couldn't even begin to tell you. Um I want to stress the number one importance by
017ad especially when we get changing is escalate the situation of communication talked about today. I believe the biggest pitfall is communication. I shouldn't be here today talking. I shouldn't have had a meeting with the superintendent. I should have been handled at the school level. I should not have to be here. It's sad that I have to take your time to do this and it's sad that I have to take Mr. Bill Gotten's time today as well and he knows all the details. But I urge you as a board to make sure when you look at matrix for schools on behavior, when you look at staffing, when you think about budget, understand those are very related. A lot of times a student needs the most help is not getting it and they will begin to reach
018out in other ways. We started with the disruptive behavior in the class. It is now at a violence. >> I urge you to ask questions. I urge you to look at the matrix. >> Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. >> We're moving on to reports to the board. So we'll have Cara Aker, director of financial services, present first reading of policies 6101, 6016, and 6570. Okay. Good evening. >> So, we have three uh policies to bring forward tonight um for first reading. Um these three are ones that um in an audit that we've been reviewing our um our policies or overall policies that we found needed to be added. >> Um so, they are they fall under the the um the audit threshold and will be reviewed by auditors. So we want
019to make sure and get those on the get them in front of you. Um one is the federal cash and financial management. And this is really this is policy 60101. This is requiring the district to have a financial system um in place to track all of our um our expenditures especially under that um that federal um new federal awards. That's one of the reasons that the auditors so heavily is they want to make sure that we have a system in in place to um to track our federal expenditures and the federal cash that's given to us. And that's basically the same with our um with policy 6106 where um we need to have a a substantial system in place to track our internal controls and um track what we're purchasing. um purchasing allowable activities on
020the use of financial federal federal grants. And then the third is property and data management um which is requiring us to have a student information system so that we can track um information in um within the schools um as well as maintaining our property and inventory records um showing the assets and what's affordable and what's not. That was the just between between those those three policies that we're recommending. >> There questions. Do you have a process already to inventory these or have to be? >> No, we have a system. Okay. Yeah, we have a system for all all three of these policies. This is just really memorializing a process that we've had in place for years. um on also on 6570. Um, so in reviewing this, I was was curious to me that a specific
021vendor was called out in the policy and I was curious about like the cross reference why that specific do we have any background on why that's >> No, I you know I did um I did some research and didn't see a connection with the RCW. I think that it's more a placeholder in the um just in the well done model policy because many most of the districts in in Washington use the sips product. Um I think that that you know if there was a different product that was used that would be would be put in place um on the policy. It's just a a place for that. Um, I did reach out to um and did hear back from their representatives from the policy um department, but um I'm sure I'll hear back and if
022I hear anything differently, I'll follow up. >> Well, I think when we come back with a second, we'll have a little bit more information. >> So, Tom is question. Thank you. >> Next, we'll have superintendent present on for and against. >> Yes. Um, this seems a little out of order, but just kind of the way we organize board meetings um having report before we have action items. So, one of your action items today is around moving forward with our capital levy. And so, one of things though that we also need this to get on on track. So assuming I'm making some assumptions here. So in my report it's saying is assuming you pass today and move forward with a capital levy, we are required to advertise um for a for and against committee um for
023any of these elections. And so and ultimately what that means is we do an advertisement. The advertisement needs to happen fairly rapidly. So like by by the next week given the kind of the timeline. So that's why you're getting we're making a public announcement today at this meeting as well as we do a formal written announcement out advertising this right after you approve this. So it all happens really rapidly. So again you're getting that from me but a pretty common this is required by our state law and so we will do an advertisement. I think one of the things we usually have a pretty clear pro committee that will write their statement. the against committee sometimes um doesn't come up and doesn't they don't reach out as quickly and so we um if we don't
024have one they make a second do it again and they can appoint like a form against committee. So again we really do encourage anyone that's maybe watching this actually um for against committee to have a a legitimate statement that would be against the user. I know it seems counterproductive but it actually is is helpful right there is a reason to also be against these >> that's really it's really this report is really about kind of giving us more questions. >> All right. Thank you. We'll now move on to action items and we'll start with Megan Dawson, assistant superintendent, presenting on the second reading of policy 2020, course design, selection, and adoption of instructional materials. Thank you. Good evening board. Um so in our last meeting there were some questions um about how the water school
025district um the tools that they use for their curriculum adoption cycle, the screening tool and the procedures we follow. Um and so in this month's board meeting, we um provided the following in the board packet. Um our Tom Water School District curriculum adoption cycle um from 2013 to looking into the future 2030. Uh this timeline outlines the years in which committees were convened to review and recommend instructional materials for adoption and implementation typically occurs the following year. And you'll see that there's a shaded area in kind of in the middle of the um timeline and that indicates the postponements that took place um due to the CO 19 pandemic. Um the next piece of information we included is the OSPI um screening for biased content in instructional materials. And this is the model tool that
026assists school districts in complying with Washington state non-discrimination laws by providing criteria to identify and eliminate bias in instructional materials. So this is kind of part of the screening process that our IMC um uses EV valuate content. Um, as you probably know, our IMC is the instructional materials committee. Um, so it encourages school districts to look for diverse roles, character traits, multiple perspectives and contributions, multicultural representation, um, inclusive imagery and language, varied family structures, and appropriate teacher guidance. And then the next two documents are the actual um process that our team has gone through for the first one is the K12 ELA adoption. Um so it goes through step by step um kind of our evidence of how we followed our policy and procedure. Um we just adopted our 612 ELA curriculum last summer and
027then we're still going through the K5 ELA adoption. We're currently in between steps five and six. Um and there's going to be an additional parent review session in January um with our um antibbias screening tool will be reapplied because um within the updated materials to the vendor that we're working with before we bring a final recommendation to the board. And then the last thing we included in your guys's packet is our um basic science curriculum process. Um it's a current example of our K6 science process. Both our elementary and middle school teams are at step four and um are actively piloting science materials. The elementary parent review is planned for late February. Uh the antibbias screening tool will be completed in November and then we're anticipating bringing a recommendation to the board in spring 2026.
028I think those are all the questions that you had last month. >> Oh yes. >> Um the the procedure that I had in last month's um packet um is redlined with the changes and then in this month's packet page 10. There's a blue paragraph that was also part of the W model policy because of the Mach Taylor case in Maryland in July. Um so the wording it says that um upon a parent or guardian's written request based on sincerely held religious beliefs, the district will excuse a student from an identified lesson or materials and provide a reasonable non-stigmatizing alternative. Excused students will not be penalized academically and the request should specify the material or the unit and the district will respond within five school days. Any questions about the materials or the >> policy or
029procedure? >> So that case that you mentioned that was a federal um yes it kept going up until um then they overturned the state. >> The school district did not give parents with the right to opt out. So that's why it kept on going >> and so that decision is included in this policy as a overarching decision for our state policy. Yes. Thanks for all this information. >> So, as we talked about the last meeting, um the law for this says that we're supposed to approve both the policy and procedure. So, I will entertain a motion for action. I move that we adopt policy 2020 and procedure 2020 as presented. >> A second discussion in >> favor I policy 2020 and procedure 2020 are approved. Thank you. Next we have talking about the 26 28
030contract. >> Yes. So this um this memo and attachment is the same from um October 29th and um I'm formally recommending the adoption of the updated 2026 to 2028 interlocal agreement between the Tom Water School District and the city of Tomwater for the school resource officer um also known as the SRO program. There were no changes from last night. Any questions? >> Um, one thing I did ask at a previous meeting was uh when we were talking about fiscal responsibility of the district, did we ever get the sheriff to tell us that he he verbally he verbally gave that to me. I requested in a number of emails and followed up a couple different times. I saw him in person again. that and he said, "Oh, yes. I've been really busy. I'll give it to
031you. I still have not received that." And then I felt like and I we talked I talked to Darby about this and and she said to I shouldn't bother him more. So I didn't ask again but I think he has told us that you know that he wasn't going to provide that he wasn't providing lighting. I will if I if you want me to follow up with him I know he will give that to me. He did verbalize that to me since our last meeting. Okay. >> Any other questions? >> I'll entertain a motion for action. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Hi. Okay. The 2628 SL contract is approved. Next we have Ben. Assistant superintendent will present on resolution 042526 certification of 2026 access property taxes. >> With
032the indulgence of the chair, would you like me to present? I have a memo that sort of speaks to the four resolutions. You want to do one at a time? >> Yeah, I was kind of hoping we could do vote on these. So, um, >> if you want to go ahead and talk through that one, it's will be less confusing if I speak to the memo that's in your packet. >> There's a memo in your packet. It's labeled auction item C. If you could open that up. So, there's four resolutions on your agenda and this memo walks you through each of the four and um it's a rather extensive memo of four pages. Um and three of the four resolutions were the subject of work sessions and lengthy presentations. So, um it was the thought
033of staff that we're not going to redo all those presentations to you, but we're prepared to answer the questions. But, you know, that's why PowerPoint etc. Um let's just go through the four just for clarity for the public but also here anyone who's watching online. The first resolution is the access levy certification resolution. That's the resolution that happens every year in every school district to certify the county um how much the district intends to collect based on what voters have previously authorized. We've discussed at length the effects of the legislation on that process. Uh happy to answer any questions on that one. The second resolution is the authorization from the board to go ahead and um u authorize staff to contact the county and put on the February 10th ballot the six-year capital that was
034the subject of our last work session. Um the overview of that levy is is is contained in this memo, but again for members of the public um it's recommended to be a uh six-year levy um in the amounts indicated in the memo uh culminating or total of 49 million over six years. Um, again, we've had lots of extensive conversation as a board about about the amounts per year and how that works into our overall tax rate strategy. Um, and why the amounts in the last years get higher because our our bond payments get lower at that point. So, it's all about making the whole rates remain relatively flat so that we are sensitive to our local tax payers who have been so supportive of us for years. Um, the third resolution is the only one
035we really haven't gone over in that is um what we call the board endorsement resolution. So, anytime you do a levy as a school board, there's um more and more often now there's two resolutions. The first resolution authorizes the district to actually put it on the ballot. The second resolution is an actual endorsement by the board to provide to signal its support of that resolution. Those are two separate things. Uh the reason that boards take these resolutions now more frequently is because of the evolution of the PDC regulations that are enforced on school districts. Um I've included some language in your memo about that. And if I could just include just a brief snippet of that. and realizing that maybe members of the public that are listening haven't had a chance to read this memo.
036Um, adopting an endorsement resolution helps districts comply with PDC guidelines by ensuring any expression of support for a library bond occurs openly and lawfully. The resolution is voted on in a public meeting with proper notice and allows for equal opportunity for opposing views as required by law. Here's the key point. This distinguishes formal board action from prohibited campaign activity using district resources. So normally the employee of the school district um used resources of the board during during school district working hours to uh express support for a ballot measure. Uh that's technically a violation of of state law through PD regulation. But by a board adopting um support as a body, it allows the board to take actions associated with that position. >> Um that's all I'll say about the third resolution for now. And then
037the fourth resolution is the inner fun resolution that we've spoken over at some length before. And the only sort of unresolved matter as it pertains to that resolution was the amount whether we would do the full 4 million we did last year. We had some discussion last board meeting. So we landed in an amount of 3 million. We do feel like at this point with enrollment declines being what they are, we do feel like it's more likely than not that they that we will be negative um in the early winter months preceding April um and that we will need this uh loan but perhaps not to the extent um uh as we did last year would Final point is that um there are so many board materials that we have delivered to you on each
038of these four resolutions and uh for those members of the public that wanted to review those they are linked in this memo. So uh as we go through each of the resolutions it pulls up the PowerPoint from the work session that we did on the pepper levy where it pulls up presentation that we did on the um levy lid statutes and the impacts on that. And so uh you know there's several hours of waiting here for people that want to go back through the history. I'm sensitive to the fact that there's a lot of material on the agenda and members of the public might not be aware that you've been working on this all. Right. So, so somebody that has had an opportunity to review the memo and attach the materials will get a sense
039that this is in some cases the third or fourth conversation we've had about these agenda items. And with that, I am happy to answer questions provided I can hear them. I have some but if you speak loudly I will question >> um >> about I'm I'm asking about the capital board um board support go back to that description what um it it says in you go um farther down it talks about says this allows to publicly state support for their levies. >> So what is meant by districts? Is that just the board? Is that staff? Is that everyone? >> So the um sorry let me make sure I understand your question. >> So it says the last sentence says this allows districts to publicly state support yeah >> school boards on behalf of districts. >>
040Yeah. Okay. So this this resol This resolution is our public this is our public display of support um for the um for the levy. Correct. Does that mean we don't get to talk about like this is the one time we get to say raw or do we do you know do we talk about in other board meetings? Are we allowed to say you know one way or the other about like you support the levy like and is it us and and stuff are not allowed to do that. Um like if they're talking about >> So I'm going to try to not render in in a legal opinion here because we're getting into the law. I'm going to give you my best understanding. >> Okay. >> This is more protective of boards and board members than
041it is of staff. >> Okay. >> So the PDC law applies to staff irregardless of whether you pass this or not. >> Okay. Got it. >> There has been some case law apparently and again not pretending to be expert, but my understanding is that the reason that these resolutions gain some traction, and there's a number of of districts that have taken these over the years, is cases where uh board members say, "Well, I'm an elected uh I'm an I'm an elected. I should be able to say whatever I want to say about a ballot measure." And so trying to reconcile like um how does These guidelines apply to collective board members just came from somebody like myself or the superintendent where the requirements are. So these staff are still only providing information. >> Correct. Yeah.
042But I think by by you passing this I think it would probably open the door for you to say at a future meeting with the next couple months that you're in favor of this like that there won't be a violation of guidelines. But but it kind of protects I think on behalf of the board meeting and we could speak of that outside of this any of us um staff included including the superintendent and campaign outside I think again it's always a little bit for for me personally a little bit like superintendent but for the most part most districts their committee their their committee action plan the group that's doing the yes campaign is staff and principles and oftentimes down board members that is in small districts that is the predominant members of the group. >>
043So I think this again you you are all free to do that outside of this. This I think is opens the door to a little bit more conversation actually at board meetings if you chose to and it does already like he passed this tonight has sent a message that the board is in support in addition to voting but what the memo attempted to make or is very explicit about this whether you pass this or not >> it really doesn't change our behavior >> right in terms of this and and to be clear that some districts have elected take these and some districts have them >> and it really is a board member um a board consideration. Um and so our effort was to make you aware that boards typically do this to bring it before
044you sort of different than the other three resolutions. If you elected not to do this, that's your problem, but that seems to be the trend now among elected. >> Yeah. I just wanted to make in in reading that I wasn't exactly sure if it was just for us and now this is just for us. >> Other questions on any of these four resolutions. >> Does it work for everyone to vote on them together? >> All right. So nicely they are in order. It's 42526 52567. Uh I will enter in a motion for action. I move that we adopt resolution 042526. Uh resolution 052526. Resolution 062526 and resolution 072526 as presented. I second. >> Any discussion? Uh uh just that I appreciate Steph's work on really looking at the rates um that we were going that
045we're that we were putting forth uh to keep our living our our tax rate um steady. And I know that I know that Dan and Mel are here because uh because you guys put a lot of work into what is being included in this. Um, and I I appreciate that. Uh, and I I do appreciate that the national loan amount went down because I appreciate what the memo said about that. We we've asked the superintendent to come up with a plan of how to close, you know, close this gap. And I think this is evidence that the gap is closed. I appreciate that the dollar amount is really served before me even though we talked about the fact it doesn't no matter what is because we're not losing money, but I appreciate that it's less
046because it saves my purpose. >> I'll uh I'll second that. Thank you. Um I know I I asked for a lot of stuff back a few months ago to to really try to get this pushed out into the public space and um that is a tremendous amount of work that you all have done. So appreciate it. Okay, with that, um, all those in favor of approving resolution 042526, 052526, 06, 2526, and 072526, please say I. >> I. Those four are approved. Are we on to superintendent? >> So, as um as I've started our meetings this year is really again kind of keeping our strategic spot our strategic plan um kind of in front of our community, in front of our board. And so this is an example of a Bush Middle School rise in life
047skills program. So they are outside at the pumpkin patch. They took a visit and they are doing some STEM learning through a corn corn cannon activity. So they explored physics and engineering concepts like force, motion and trajectory launching ears of corn across the field while having a lot of fun by doing that. So these experience like this um support our strategic plan focus on engaging in real world learning experiences tucking corn as well as you can get right. I do um want to take a moment tonight um to just recognize that Tuesday uh next Tuesday, November 11th, is Veterans Day. The school when um the day when our schools are all closed in observance of this important national holiday. This day provides us with an opportunity to reflect on and honor the service, sacrifice, and
048dedication of the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces. Their commitment to protecting our freedoms and values is deeply appreciated, and it's important that we as an educational community recognize them express gratitude. I'm proud of our schools that continue to find meaningful ways to observe Veterans Day and to honor the veterans in our community. Their efforts not only show respect, but also help instill in our students a deeper understanding of service and civic responsibility. So, those celebrations begin tomorrow. Um, I can't tell you exactly which school. I know there's a couple schools doing tomorrow, quite a few doing observances. If you're interested in attending that, I think Becky and we can get you some more information um to those services at all of our schools and the rules will be
049happening. Um we have continued if you remember last year we began doing just trying to find opportunities to recognize all the great employees and you know we have a we have over a thousand employees so kind of recognizing a couple feels a little inadequate but I do feel it's important to continue to call out some of the shining stars and they are they are um nominated and there there's a nice write up that we get sometimes from multiple staff members sometimes from administrators sometimes from other community members recognizing these employees. So at least this week or this month recognizing two really outstanding uh Tomar School employees are classified employee of the month is Harriet Ferris from Cascadia High School. Um one thing Harriet you've been out there recently you'll see um that students are making
050guitars like electric guitars um and maybe people will be able to share that later um as that finishes up and government example and demonstrate, but she has taken on this on her own. It's like, hey, kids are interested in this. And so, they are going through this whole process of standing and building and putting these things together and I'm sure they'll be playing them at some point. Um, and I think that's just as like the kind of person she is and um kids gravitate when I gave came and gave the award the kids were so happy for I think more so than than the staff was. So, they were great and really appreciative of her work. The other our certificated employee of the month is Vicky Nelson, our in Black Hills High School. Um again,
051um comes with a lot of gratitude of the work that she's done at Black Hills and I think kind of through that from staff and students and parents and is really making a mark on that school and as someone again a welldeserving employee of the month. So congratulations to both of them. I do just want to acknowledge that American Education Week is coming up. That's November 17th through the 21st. is a a time to celebrate the value of public education and the dedication um of our educators. This year's theme is together for safe, just, and equitable schools. It highlights the importance of working together to ensure our students have access to supported and inclusive learning environments. In Tom Water, we use this week to both honor our staff and reaffirm our commitment to strong public
052schools. Um, one of the things we're also doing, not necessarily in celebration of education week, but we're kicking off um our first kind of staff appreciation, staff recognition, we don't want to wait until May. So, we are um at Bush Middle School on Friday. We are doing um Italian sodas and our district administrator staff is there. So, just thank them for their work and make some of the sodas for them. And we're going to do that at all of our schools over the next number of months. So, um in the of the American education region. All right. And my last thing today is I I know before we close, I just want to take a moment to recognize and express appreciation for our board president Darby Kagan. This is uh presiding over her final meeting
053um and in this role and concludes six years of dedicated service to our school board. Darby has been a true champion for students. Her passion for ensuring that every decision is um the student we make is grounded in listeners for student learning um and well-being has been both unwavering and inspiring. She brings adapted knowledge particularly around student data that has elevated our conversations helped the board make thoughtful and informed decisions time and time again. Barbie's attention to detail is unmatched. Whether it's reviewing policy, developing board goals, or refining board protocols, she has approached every aspect of board governance with clarity, precision, and purpose. She didn't just create those tools. She led the way in monitoring and progress in holding us accountable for the goals that we've set. Personally, I'm especially grateful to Darby, one of
054the board members who hired me to believe in my leadership and her partnership through these past few years has meant a great deal to me. I've learned a lot from her and I'll carry those lessons forward. Darby leadership has left a lasting mark on this district. Your thoughtful guidance, steady hand, and commitment to excellence have strengthened not only our board, but our entire school community. We'll miss your voice at the table. Your legacy will continue to shape the work we do. Thank you for your service and your leadership and your heart for students. Thanks for bringing honor to the program. >> All right, we are on to our last section for comments. I imagine more than 10 minutes last >> um I'll be brief time for Barbie. But just I wanted to echo what said
055earlier really proud of all the work of that together resolutions and stuff the long history and all the all the process and all the all the work that great job. Thank you. Uh, I have a couple more schools to visit, but I've been thinking about what I was going to say tonight for a really long time. Kevin most of what I was thinking. But I will I I will highlight highlight what he said about just how amazing you are about the board goals and focusing on that. I when when we actually have a dashboard, we need to invite Darby back so she can see it. It's something that she's been wanting for the last six years. So we will bring bring you back for that. Um I you are so good at this and um
056and I've always said the beauty of a five number board is all the strengths that everyone gains and that is definitely your strength but because I didn't want to exactly copy everything that Kevin said because I fully agree with all of that. I just am thinking back to co um and the years of schoolboard the hours and hours we spent in schoolboard meetings um and uh I just always value your thoughtfulness and your intelligence and I've always appreciated that and I was so excited when you got all this support because I already knew that about I already knew that you but the fact that Homewater got to benefit also that not just me professionally got to benefit from you but that all the students in water got to benefit from you um they will be
057benefiting from you for years and I that I can't overstate whatever the right word is um I I hope I hope you know I hope you know that in my heart with my tongue we work on at least without or our goals. I will really try to bring your spirit into those conversations. It will not be as good as I appreciate it. Well, I will go as quickly as I can because I am the one standing between you and my roast meeting, but I do have a few words. Um, thank you Kevin very much for your kind words. It really means a lot to me. Um, take care that you believe I've made a difference since that was always the goal. Um, Melissa, thank you. You were the one who encouraged me to replacement in
058the first place. I really don't like to put myself out there. I probably never would have won an election. And so um it was really that encouragement that gave me the confidence to give it a good try and I am incred incredibly grateful to me for that. So thank you very much. Thank you to Casey for always supporting me for challenging me to engage in conversations in ways that were new to me for helping me grow as a leader and above all for always being so kind to my family. I remember sitting at our first WASA legislative conference and asking him all kinds of questions about wrestling which was the first of many sports conversations over the years. Um it's really been a pleasure working alongside you Casey and I wish you all the best.
059Ty, I have also really enjoyed the last year working with you on the board. You bring a very insightful perspective and I really appreciated your willingness to step in directly into ask lots of questions and make sure everyone's informed about all the directions um of an issue. I'm also very grateful for your support with some pretty tough stuff over the last several months while I know that you were dealing with the same. So, thank you. I also want to thank all the prior board members who I had the opportunity to work with, Scott, Stephanie, Lori, Jill, and even Rita back in 2019 first illuminated an issue for me of how budget problems can have an effect on the bonding for the district. I learned a lot from all of you. Some new ways of thinking,
060some lessons in what not to do as a board member. And I appreciate you all. Most importantly, a big thank you to my family, especially my husband John for all the support and patience with the time commitment and ear bending over the last six years. in particular back in February when I told him something very important has come out probably the most important thing that's ever come to me while serving on this board where my perspective is likely going to have consequences but I cannot sit this one up without hesitation you had my back like you always have and for that support I was able to be the board member I needed to in that moment in reflecting back over the last six years there have been many challenges and many rewards some of the
061challenges were things that characterize pipings of new board members how things actually work common in most districts. We had three superintendents and appointed four new board members. We have perpetually had budget problems. That seems to be a common theme every year as was the threat of some kind of labor strike while still trying to sort out said budget. All that's part of the job and in addition there were challenges that I had never met dealing with. Those of us who served during the pandemic can honestly say there had never been anything quite like it and probably never will again. During that time of complete and utter uncertainty, people came to the school board for answers and they brought their anger, their fear, their frustration, all in the face of our very limited power. And they
062brought in on both ends, which meant there were really no right answers. If you open schools, people are going to get sick and die, and that's going to be on you. If you don't open schools, you're going to have a massive youth mental health crisis on your hands, and that will be on you. Yes, those were real emails that we received. And yet those decisions were never the school boards to make. But regardless, we listened to the impassion public comment, read the hundreds of emails, had collective hours of conversations with tired and scared parents, sad and frustrated kids, and we did it because we really truly cared, and we were willing to absorb that pain. But make no mistake, it had an impact, and it was really tough. I attended not one, two, not even
063three, but four children's funerals. The incredibly sad part about that is that that was only half of the number of current or former students that we lost during the last few years. This again is not something I ever expected to have to do as a schoolboard member. But as devastating and sad as it was to do that, it's what you do when you take the role as seriously as I would. On the other hand, on a positive note, I am very proud of the things I was able to affect and accomplish over this time. The core reasons I wanted to serve and have always wanted accountability and equity, which to me go hand in hand. At the heart, what I cared about most was that every student has access to the same opportunities and is
064treated with the same level of care, regard, and respect, no matter who they are, where they come from, and what resources they have. This comes from my own experience in school, a different state, where I saw major inequities playing out. There's different rules, or as at a minimum, different enforcement of the rules depending on your status. One of the reasons I'm so particular about rules is that I've always had to follow them. I was never cut any breaks while others were. And I found this deeply unfair and inequitable. I was never as forthcoming as some of our other board members as the reason. But the teacher strike absolutely prompted me to serve as well. I didn't like what I saw being played out in the news, the division it caused, and the impending financial stress
065for the district, which was obvious even to an outsider. I am very happy to say that in all the years I've been in Sunwater as a parent and as a schoolboard member, I really didn't see any of these kinds of years of inequities that I had play out overtly in the schools and in the classrooms as we really have the most incredible teachers and robust support systems imaginable. But I did see it buried in the structure of the system. Where I believe I was able to effect this was focusing my energy and advocacy at the roots and going for the long game to change the tide structurally. I did this by pushing really hard on transparency at all levels with data with how decisions are made by following rules and procedures and doing my part
066to hold others accountable to the same. Elevating student learning as a primary goal for the board and holding the line on funding decisions regardless of the discomfort. taking action to address problems even in the face of external as well as internal resistance. My ultimate hope is that my contributions did have an effect on the structure of the system as a whole and will therefore have a lasting impact. I'd like to wrap by sharing some of my learnings and advice and suggestions for maybe new board members that are going to be joining us soon. Number one, this is a very important job and one to take seriously. At the same time, recognize where your power to influence decisions in the status quo begins and ends and try not to take it personally when people's expectations of
067you don't line up with real. This is one of the biggest learnings for me and really was clear during the pandemic. Speaking of which, one regret that I have is that I didn't question those decisions more. I was brand new on the board, worried about making a mistake, stepping outside of my lane once again, being so concerned about following the rules. But when the decisions made by top leaders really stopped making sense and people were clearly hurting so badly. That's when we as leaders have a responsibility to ask questions and push on the logical logic. So don't just pass policies without looking at them carefully, asking questions and holding everyone accountable. I learned from that and I'm so grateful that another opportunity came up before my time on the board ended to stand up and
068speak out for group students being harmed by a current polic. This is one of the core functions, responsibilities of the board, and it is so important that you're paying attention. Second, follow the rules, but stand up for what you believe in. The benefit for those of you who just went through an election is that you've already put yourselves out there, told everyone who you are, what you stand for, who you support, etc. As previously mentioned, the community and even the state may try to question you, criticize you, condescend to educate you, and even try to silence you if they disagree, regardless of how sound an argument you might make. So, you might as well stay true to what you believe is right. And you will make a difference to someone. I had never been more
069proud of a group of students than I was last spring. seeing female athletes use their powerful voices to stand up for themselves in the face of a whole lot of adults fighting against them. Someone commented that the board's actions green lit this behavior, which was meant as a criticism, but all I can say is I really hope so. If it's true that my actions and decisions as a school board member play even a small part in giving confidence to a group of girls to express their thoughts and feelings, which they have every right to do, then I've accomplished what I set out to do on these boards. Finally, we always say that if we can just keep kids at the center of it all, then we'll do all right. Well, I think it's just as
070important to remember that everyone else matters, too. You cannot have a successful school system without teachers, administrators, bus drivers, people taking care of the buildings, feeding kids, and yes, even the school board. Everyone, and I mean everyone, needs to feel they're supported and deserve respect. Without that, there's no trust. Without trust and confidence in one another, the system cannot be its very best for students. Remember that you are a team and you are strongest when you work together. I wish you all the best and I look forward to continuing to support this incredible school district from that side of the table. >> All right. Thank you all. And with no further business coming before the board, we are adjourned at 7:05. >> [music] [music]