001Oh, all right. Okay. Now, hello. Now you can hear me. Um, welcome to the April 14th uh board meeting for the Waxi School District. We're going to start with the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. done. Uh we're not now we're going to work through the agenda. Are there any changes board to um agenda? All right. Hearing none, uh we will move on to Oh, yeah. The items on the consent agenda were sent to the board and posted online last week. The board has had the opportunity to review the materials and ask the superintendent any questions they have about any items on the consent agenda. The consent
002agenda for this meeting includes the 3 2426 regular meeting minutes, voucher and payroll, surplus report, contracts, and field trips. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Move to approve the consent agenda as presented. >> I second. >> All right. Has been moved by Julie and seconded by Maria. Any discussion? Okay. All in favor adopting the consent agenda as presented, say I. I. >> I. >> Any opposed? All right. Motion carries. Uh Cory, you want to take over for bright spots? >> Yes, I'm excited. We have some uh some amazing students in the house. So, the bright spot is uh our time as the board and as superintendent. Uh we get the opportunity to highlight and celebrate some something that is happening in the district um and honor the great work and
003the educational experiences that are taking place. Tonight, we have the pleasure of hearing from our student energy management team. So, we're excited about that. Um, not only do I want to thank them all for being here, but I'd like to thank um, you know, our Wanche School District CTE program, our career and technical education team, our maintenance and operation folks. Brian, thanks for being here tonight. We also want to thank Patrick and Shane for the work that they do and the mentoring that they provide. Uh, a shout out to Jean Sheret and a shout out to Charlie and Ron. Ron, thanks for being here tonight from NE. And really uh uh the the group that is not here that is so supportive of our team is the Shellan County PUB um and Jim and Drew
004and and that whole team as well. So just a shout out. It uh takes a collaborative team and a community to um really have a program that's as amazing as our AEM program. So I'll invite our team up to uh the podium here. I know everyone's probably got a speaking part and uh we're excited to hear an update and see what the spring has in store for our team. Thanks everyone. Okay. We will get there. Thanks everyone for their uh patience and thanks to our team for rocking it. Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for having us here today. I'm going to let my team introduce themselves. >> Hi, my name is Rosario Navaro. >> Hi everyone, my name is Isabella Garcia. Hello, my name is Maris Nava. >> Hello, my name is Augustina. >> Hi,
005I'm Haera. Hi, I'm Annie Swasco. Hi, I'm Abby Perez. Hello, I'm Jacob Cusk. >> And hi, my name is Stephanie Salgado. >> And hello, my name is Yuriel Nava. And for me personally, I always think about the SEM program because I can better impact schools with high energy usage, which um which makes me more excited for my team to be able to present today because of their dedication and their improvements as a team. So, I'm very excited for them to present today. All this wouldn't be possible without the support from Jim White from the PUD, Anna Bergen from Commerce, our superintendent, Dr. Kalahor, Brian Brocky, the director of O andM, our teachers, and Mr. Brown. Because of their support, we have been able to have an AM class, which is the first kind in Washington
006state. Um, last week we were able to mentor eight students who have shown great learning growth through experiences like these. We have been able to help our community. Another thing that I'm excited to announce is that our team has decided altogether that we are changing our name from what was once AM interns to now student energy managers. The purpose of this change is to better describe the roles and responsibilities that we do as student energy managers and it also gives us an independent identity apart from the advanced energy management business. The term energy manager is also already an established term that energy professionals use. So it also helps us be more identifiable in that way as well. And our name also better conveys the type of work that we do. But with this new name,
007we are still delivering the amazing work that we've delivered as the AM interns. As you can see, this is a graph from our school district's monthly electricity use. Um, this is comparing last year to this year. And as you can see, we started working with all these buildings in April of last year. And to now March, we've had a 31% energy reduction. That is equivalent to 4.4 million kilowatt hour reduction. and that in money is $132,500 in savings. >> The way we have accomplish this is by creating a power playoff campaign that is designed to help teachers and staff have a fully shut off workspace. Being part of the operation and maintenance team, we have the role of making sure that every single school is fully shut off. All of this work has helped us
008have a 57% energy reduction during our spring break. Through the power down energy campaign, we have been able to achieve what we thought was impossible. And the Wanachi High School building being very old didn't hold us back. We started with a target of 97, but with all of our hard work, we have been able to maintain the decrease and are ready to meet the June deadline to meet 49 and help our school district save half a million dollars. One way we are supporting our on&m team with reducing Wacci High School's EUI through our rally camp upcoming rally campaign. We had so much fun making all the promotional materials and events for this campaign such as branded stickers, fun handouts, and celebrations along the way. This will ensure all students and staff are aware of their
009energy consumption that will not only strengthen the conservation culture in the Wachi High School, but will also guarantee that we meet the EUI by June of this year. I can't. Another campaign that our student interns have been running since the start of the school year has been the power down playoffs campaign. Um, with a lot of help from Diana, who I would like to thank, um, we've been able to have a bunch of impact not only in the Wachi High School, but also at the CVCH and the other commercial buildings that we work within. More specifically, we've seen that the Wachi High School and the CBCH have been dominating either in first or in second place consistently since the very start of this competition and campaign. So, we're really excited as the playoffs come to
010an end for the school year. We're excited to see um how well our district will continue to do as well as our commercial building clients. Here's the status of the community's clean building compliance. So, there's a lot of information here, but what I am most proud of is the middle section showing everything we've been able to complete as a team. Out of the 28 clients that we work with, we have been able to help the Wachi Public Library and the NCW library distribution center get an early compliance, meaning they were able to avoid a huge fine. The other 24 of our clients are still in process to be complied. Onto the next exciting news. The Wachi School District has been able to uh reduce a 31% in energy reduction, avoiding a huge fine of over
011a million dollar. And the Wachi Commercial Buildings has been able to reduce a 19% in energy reduction, avoiding a huge fine of over $600,000. Now, for the Wachi Valley College, we just started working with them, but our mission as a team is to help them avoid a fine of over $300,000 and conserve as much energy as possible. With the support of commerce, we have transitioned from working primarily with tier one to tier 2 buildings. In the wake of this transition, we have not only made several accomplishments, but most importantly with the NCW libraries, achieving not only compliance, but also early adopter incentive. As well as with this, the Department of Commerce has posted on the clean buildings bulletin our story, our successes, and our accomplishments. One of those being our new and improved website. >>
012SEM has started to shift focus to tier 2 buildings. This is so they can reach their early adopter incentive money and meet their early compliance. With that, our goal is to expand throughout Wache and the Shannon County PUB. Here we have a list of seven current tier 2 buildings that we are working with and our grow and our plan is to establish our growth plan by early June of this year. Now, we'd like to thank you for your time and open this time for discussions and any questions. Thank you. a lot. So, uh I know when you guys first rolled this out to the schools, there was a lot there wasn't like push back, but there's a little like concern about changes that would have to be have to be made. Um have you guys
013found that that people have kind of as you've made it more of a game that people kind of are excited about changing changing what they're doing? Um yes, I feel like we have seen that a lot of teachers and um within the schools get a little competitive and and so it's like oh we want to win the trophy. So I think that really encourages them and we've seen a lot of growth within them because when we go collect the checklist there's some schools that have all the teachers have completed those checklists. So yeah >> I just had a quick question. Uh, is was spring break your last power down opportunity or are we going to do Okay, I was just wondering if if maybe there's Memorial Day is there a Memorial Day one. Spring break
014>> was our most recent power on playoff but our final one is upcoming. It's going to be a Memorial Day weekend and that will be um for the school district as well as our commercial buildings. >> Wonderful. That's great. >> That that was my question. And so how do you how do you work with commercial buildings that say are open year round maybe with the exception of one or two holidays? >> Yeah. So we really try to be flexible and work around the days that they've set to work or to not work. And so we did that also with our for example for our district we know that they have the winter break and um which has Christmas and New Year's but a lot of um the commercial clients they don't have that break period
015and so we just shut down. We con we used like our interns. We have like account reps and they all connected with each building that they helped manage and so they were able to collect the information on when they were open and that's how we kind of work around them. So we like to be flexible in that way. This is not a question but it's more of a compliment. Um so I've been talking to the college I work at the college about the work that you guys have been doing with the school district and and your commercial building. So, I'm very excited to see that um you guys are partnering with the college and at some point um looking over at your advisors or your leads um I would love for you guys to present
016this information to the college to our board of trustees um or even our cabinet team and then our our our board of trustees because this is again this is something that I've been like asking the college to to to be part of. So, I'm glad to see them on here. Um, and what you guys have done for the school district, um, is it's it's it's it's great. And to be able to see it happening at at older buildings like, um, like for the school district, um, I'm excited to see what the college produces. >> Yes. Thank you all for being here. We're very proud of the work you're doing. We're proud of uh, watching you all grow and uh, and learn along the way and help our community in such a huge way. So, thank
017you. Um, thank you Ron and Brian for being here. We appreciate uh you you all and uh yeah, thank you. >> Kim, do we have any citizen comments? Okay, then we go straight on to special presentations. >> Perfect. Uh tonight we have a special presentation from uh two representatives from our restructuring committee. Uh this committee, thanks everyone. Uh the committee, as you all know, grew out of uh the Columbia Elementary School closure as a true partnership uh between the school district, our staff, the school board, and the community to openly and transparently discuss and make recommendations for the way in which the school district can address long-term uh restructuring and combat uh enrollment decline over time. So for two years the team has met and discussed and I'm very proud of the work that is
018uh being completed there as well as the passion and the dedication of the team. And so I'll invite uh former Columbia parent Amy Jennings and Wanche High School teacher and parent Ruben Hart to join us at the podium and uh they can walk us through their presentation. Thanks so much for being here and representing the team. >> Thank you. Uh my name is Ruben Hart. I'm a teacher at Wachi High School like Dr. Palahar said and I teach social studies and I teach uh CTE classes. Um and I'm also a parent of two boys in the district. >> Yeah. And I'm Amy Jennings. I'm an occupational therapist at Confluence Health and also assistant professor at Pacific Northwest University in Yaka. And more importantly, I'm a parent of three boys in the Wachi School District. I
019have a first, third, and fifth grader at Washington Elementary. Um, we are one of the Columbia families that were rehomed in 2024 and I was asked to serve on this committee to be a voice for those impacted by the school closure. I think us Colombia parents fear that as our elementary age kids grow and become middle schoolers, we will face yet another closure. Serving on this committee has been insightful for me. I appreciate that the district values input from parents, from staff, faculty, community members, and key stakeholders all involved in this decision. So, tonight we will walk you through what we've been doing for the last two years and the fruitful ideas that have come out of the meetings and discussions and deliberations. And um we'll jump right in. >> So, these were the members
020of the restructuring committee. There were uh we had uh quite a few meetings over really now two-year process. Um and um our core objectives really I mean we were asked to do this after Colombia was closed and um after the budget reductions of the last couple years and I think from the very beginning the goals were clear to us that it was um proposing and considering plans to con to address the declining enrollment in the district um and really to try to use resources efficiently uh in the future. Um we also I think it was very clear from the beginning we wanted to communicate we were asked to communicate clearly to the public um to be open about this process um and really I think to aim to use this uh moment to try to
021build excellent programs to continue to have the uh district provide excellent education and programs um using the resources that are available. So um we met in the beginning in the 2425 school year and again like I said I think we've met now close almost two full school years. Um the initial meetings were really focused on um kind of data we heard a lot from Sean Fitzger Fitzgerald um hearing about loss of FTEES to uh Running Start and Pinnacles but also I think really primary primarily the declining birth rates um which is not just something that Wache School District faces but that districts around the state and the country are facing um And as the meetings went on, we also heard started to hear ideas for potential solutions and restructuring ideas. Um, we heard last year
022from Jake Boltz, the CTE director, um, about an idea for a STEM academy. You'll hear more about that. And then going into this year, um, I think we also heard reaffirm data that the, um, declining enrollment has continued. um uh the birth rate. I think we continue to hear from Sean that the enrollment incoming kindergarten classes continue to decline. Um and we heard lots of new ideas over the f earlier part of this year. Um that I think uh some great ideas. >> Um again, transparency has been forefront with all of this committee work. This has been really important to me as a parent because the Columbia school closure really came as a huge shock to us initially. Um, all committee work is posted on the restructuring committee website. It's available publicly. Um, you as
023a board are updated at regular intervals and it involves multiple levels of people. Also important to point out is that we really have focused on the middle school level. We feel that we have strong consistency currently at the high school level with successful initiatives in place including both comprehensive and alternative pathways curriculums, many extracurricular opportunities, accelerated pathways where students can earn um college credit and in industry certifications while on the high school campus and a bond effort in place to construct a new building. What we're excited to present you with tonight are these four ideas that have come about with our many meetings and conversations. We'll take a few minutes to walk through each of these, but I want to point out that they are not mutually exclusive. Um we we could implement one of
024the four or three of the four. They can be implemented together simultaneously or in a phased roll out. There are many details that still need to be worked out but here are the ideas in a nutshell. So the first idea uh that um I think of the four that came to the kind of you know the most mature ideas is the idea of a dual language program uh at Lewis and Clark where I mean there's an existing program um but this program would offer um a choice only magnet school for um dual language um at Lewis and Clark it would provide consistent stant enrollment for the length of the program. I think it would be um provide uh the ability of parents to choice in um from different areas in the district. Um and really
025significantly transportation would be available across the district for families who wanted to be part of this really unique program. Um and I think that you know and then there would be the possibility of exploring K through eight where it's K through five now which could use some efficiencies in the building. Um it is really a unique program. It's um I think one of the ideas that is important is it might drive enrollment. We would hope that it would drive enrollment um because it's one of the only it's the only dual language program in North Central Washington. Um and you could potentially drive uh students choicing into the district. Um and um it would I mean the program itself is unique and wonderful and we would hopefully bring students who would learn dual language and uh
026continue. I mean the program exists now but it would be on a more sustainable footing um for the future. Um the challenge I think that uh that would be faced is really figuring out the transportation, figuring out um the boundaries which is connect to another idea um and the impact on other um elementary schools but it it could be part of a restructuring plan that would continue a really unique program. Uh the second idea is a proposal to partner with local preschools. Um and uh the Wachi Valley is very short on preschool opportunities for um students that are prek. And the idea for this would be to provide space in district buildings. Um to use those spaces to rent to local preschools and thereby use spaces more efficiently but also allow um kind of connections
027to um students who might eventually join the district. Um so there would be a need for child care. I mean there there is a great need for child care in the valley. Um it could provide provide jobs for local programs um as well as using space in the district more efficiently. Um the challenges I think would be managing and finding those local partners and figuring out any kind of licensing issues we um and figuring out time and when when programs would be. Our third idea is focusing one of the middle schools into a STEM academy which would offer real and relevant learning to help students develop those skills needed for local family wage job. Possible career pathways that are high demand in this valley and also that have readily available local community partners are medical
028occupations, sustainable energy management and IT cyber security. This is alsome also something that could potentially grow beyond the middle school level into high school. Pros of the STEM Academy include the rigorous academic curriculum with hands-on learning. It's definitely unique to the valley. It would use spaces that have been impacted by enrollment decline and financial bonus. It receives funds from CTE as well as the A BA. BEA challenges include working through many logistical details. For example, we'd have to make sure there's on-ramps and off-ramps for students joining or leaving the program, as well as making sure that middle schoolers still have opportunity to engage in extracurricular activities. Our last idea here we feel is essential and likely will be um need need to be rolled out alongside another of the three initiatives. It has been over
02920 years since the district last adjusted neighborhood school boundary lines. The declining enrollment as well as future projections of enrollment sizes as well as the closure of an elementary school um all point to needing better utilization efficiency across the physical district. Pros include reallocating students, filling the larger schools with more students. This will maximize use of space, level load resources and staff across the schools, and allow for more efficient transportation routes. Obvious challenges include the impact and disruption this has on students and families. I can personally say that we've already had to navigate a school closure and now facing a reboundary is daunting. I don't want my kids to be forced to leave their school again. Yet I also understand understand the importance of use it using using resources wisely and uh being sustainable for
030the long term and knowing that our children will continue to receive the solid education that they are with passionate and caring faculty and staff. So the next steps I mean we've met for almost two full school years now and the next steps is really to get data from parents to get survey um from parents and students to inform these choices. Um the and then following that would be to build a more detailed proposal um with this with the board's uh advice and to then uh really build a plan to implement this over the ne uh next years. Um it's been great to be a part of this work and we are looking forward to next steps. Um despite the challenges that we know are also there and we will now open it up for any
031questions that you have for the committee work for for the ideas themselves. Um we also have our admin available to help answer questions as well. Thank you for your time. >> Great job and thank you. I just want to thank Ruben and Amy for being representatives of the team and the work that's happened over a couple years. Diana and Sean and I are both there representing our cabinet team as well. Um and yeah, love to um yeah, answer questions and hear some feedback. >> All right. I don't really have a question for the committee necessarily. I may I think maybe it's more for the superintendent. um looking at the next steps. I almost feel like two and three are backwards and the community feedback should then go to board engagement and then detailed impro proposal
032and then maybe back to board. >> That sounds great. >> Um and then implementmentation because it seems like you're excluding us until it's almost final. >> Sorry, not excluding you in any way. This is part of that board engagement right here is bringing that here to the attention. But it's uh yeah, it's a fluid process. All of these things will have to happen um simultaneously as as we work through the process. So changing two to three is wonderful. Absolutely. And then I guess for the committee, I appreciate the work that you've all invested in doing this. I know it's been a very long process and these ideas are are very logical and reasonable. Um if I'm looking at two that make the most sense immediately that I've always thought would be that the magnet school
033and the redistricting the boundaries, those seem obviously and go hand in hand. I think I can't see as much value in the early learning centers. Um I I don't know if the cost benefit would be there, but with more research and and whatnot, it it could be. Um but the STEM Academy is a fantastic idea. I think that would be a long term like or a longer path to get off the ground, but but I was I loved Jake's proposal when he mentioned that to us all. So, I think it's one for sure to keep looking at. >> I was wondering if you guys did you have any ideas of how like the best way, especially Amy, like having have the Columbia experience, what's the best way to reach out to the community? Like, is
034there a way that you guys like brainstorm some of like the the outreach ideas? >> Um, yeah, I think kind of a slow exposure is nice. So just kind of a soft launch of the idea initially and let people process that over time and then start talking more seriously about it. But I I do think it's not such a shock if there's these kind of like feelers out there and giving people time to process that. >> I would just add as a teacher it's like repeat you gota repeat over and over. You got to tell people over and over so that they they're able to hear it because it takes a long time to >> Was it nine times? Sometimes you have to hear something nine times before you actually hear it. >> Y >>
035and also I think the why behind things is super important. Like if we understand the why, we can roll with it. But when when that why isn't provided, then people just have a lot of emotional feeling. Well, I can see a redistrict being a little bit easier from a parent side to handle and and I speaking from a parent of three in the district as well, especially if we can communicate early enough that this is going to be happening at some point. And so you get families prepared already and start creating for those who are on the boundaries that may be changing, start creating opportunities for them to engage with folks in the other district areas so that they are meeting kids from from the other districts maybe earlier, some of the teachers. And I
036think just knowing conceptually this time that it would be all families across the district impacted versus, you know, that was a unique experience and and yeah, a very short notice. So I think with certainly with better planning and a district-wide impact, it's a little bit easier to understand and absorb. >> And I'll add to the conversations as well that it's um one thing that we really want to focus on is how do we reach people where they are? uh we can't expect people to tune in to our school board meetings as much as we would love them to. Um we we need to make sure that the information is out there in a different platform in a different format so that it can be um palatable and understood by everyone. And again like Ruben said
037just wash, rinse, repeat and repeat and repeat. So and understanding the why. So just appreciate that. Well, and I sorry I think thank you for bringing that up because I think um you know our most vulnerable populations um will need maybe a little bit more how do we meet that meet them and get them the information where they're at? Um because um you know oftentimes whatever there's many reasons why there is a barrier whether it's language, social economic um you know lack of attendance because of of obligations um it's going to be really crucial to find different ways different avenues to share whatever what whichever direction it is that we're going to go. Um, I'll let >> I was just going to say I I think the district has improved significantly in the in its
038communication in the last couple years as both a staff member and the parent getting that information. I mean, sometimes it can feel like you get a lot of things, but uh there has been, you know, repeated necessary communication on on significant issues. So, >> thank you. >> Um, what Oh, go ahead. I was going to say just thinking one suggestion I have if we have even a year to work with something like a redistricting boundaries is a way to get ahead of it is you know when new students are you know engaging that first or going back to school in August for maybe that last year it's it's having their information packets include information that your school may be changing this next year and that way you can talk to the teachers at conferences and
039things throughout the year before you get there and and I think that would be a sort automatic way that we have to get the information in front of them. Um, but it would would certainly require at least a year's lead time to be able to do that. And >> I think even for like incoming kindergarten families, it'd be really important to make sure that they know like this is where we're starting you and then we're going to get you to the right school and that there's communication between those schools and they're they're being taken care of through that transition. First, I want to say thank you, Amy, for being here and willing being willing participant. Um, you had every reason to not delegate donate your time to um serving on committee. So, thank you for
040for um helping the district and our students through this process, giving your experiences, and I totally get um even though you know, you've gone through this process of of of being relocated from Colombia now to Washington, and the thought of possibly having it happen again at the middle school level, um it would be challenging for me as a parent. So, I I want to commend you for for um your dedication to improving our district. Um I like all these ideas. Um I I I'm also thinking okay cost effectiveness here. Um because obviously the goal is to increase our enrollment but we are facing decrease of enrollment which brings on the budget challenges. Um and I if my head I'm thinking dual language magnet dual language the STEM academy and the reboundary all seem to go
041hand inand right because you're you're you kind of have to um to to do a dual language the dual language magnet and then the STEM academy you kind of do have to re do the reboundaries um >> because Louis and Clark wouldn't be a neighborhood school anymore. >> Right. Right. And so in my head I'm thinking, okay, well, you know, you do a survey, you redistrict, then it's it's almost like a tier approach to be a little bit more cost-effective. And I could be totally off because um I'm not sure how this all works. Um but I also appreciate the early learning centers um because we do have a huge need in our community. Um, and the way I if you think I understand this is similar to our afterchool before and after school program
042where we have the Y come to our buildings and provide the service. Right. >> Right. Yes. It could be very very similar to that. Although we would offer we could potentially offer all day programming >> exactly similar to you have a contract a contract in our district. Uh and so um you know given that we right now our um our focus is prek or p TK thank you uh TK to 12 um um I would feel again with all the logistics of um the permitting and the licensing that has significantly changed throughout the years. Um and as well as as well as having um some revenue coming in from providing a service to the community and also to these other agencies that are already providing that service that lack um the space. Um I like
043it all. I want to say let's move forward with all of it. Um but I do feel like it needs to be a tiered approach and uh um and combine what's more cost effective. Well, and as you're reaching out to the community, like there's people who are going to say like, "Well, that's the thing I'm excited about." And and so if you have four ideas, it might be that people gravitate toward one or the other, but by getting that engagement you guys are talking about, you're really able to figure out where they're at. I mean, what's our like culture and climate? What's like the percentage of people that engage with those of students? >> Uh the p percentage of students that actually fill it out. Yeah, >> it's pretty high. I mean our students is
044like in the 90 percentile because we do it during class time. Parents it's like yes it's good. I think our parents and our staff are you know significantly less than that but um but we do have a good percentage and it's you know it's a good outcome >> and having met all read all those comments people are not afraid to say what they think. >> Correct. >> Anyone else? Well thank you guys for your time. two years, two years of work, I know, is a lot more than you expected to it to be, but we really appreciate it and um we're gonna keep working along at the at the project. So, thank you. >> Thanks. >> Thank you both. >> All right. Transition to our uh our dual language uh program advisory team. We have
045uh Mario and Cassie from Lewis and Clark who have been working diligently to support their goals of biiteracy, bilingualism, and biculturalism. Uh they have a strong dual language advisory committee which the the two of them lead concurrently um that helps guide them through the necessary planning steps and guidance provided by OSPI. And I just had a I just pulled this right off OSPI. And so dual language education is the most effective instructional model for multilingual learners, native English speakers, and historically underserved student groups and is the preferred model for multilingual learners in Washington State. I just wanted to throw that in there um because the work that you're doing is admirable. So we appreciate it. Thanks for being here tonight. >> Yeah, thanks for having us. So yeah, Mario Oila, principal Louisen Clark and >>
046I'm Cassie Capus, dual language coach at Lewis and Clark. So, we're grateful to be here to have this opportunity and just share an update on dual language and the work that we've been doing at Lewis and Clark. Uh, I want to start with just giving some thanks and kudos to everyone that's involved in this team at Lewis and Clark. So, obviously our grade level teams that do the work day in and day out. Uh, Cassie as our dual language coach uh full-time this year, which has been wonderful. uh our dual language advisory board which we'll talk a little bit about in this presentation who which Corey's been a part of Eric's been a part of it um Dian has played a small role just as a part of one of those subcommittees amongst other district
047leaders um Katie Sperling who has been a part of that with OSPI so that we've been very fortunate that she's been a part of that process with us providing a lot of good insight and questions for to kind of promp us and what we're doing. Um, and then we've also started a parent advisory board as a part of this. So, we'll address that a little bit too in the presentation, but just kudos to those families who have been a part of that. I'm sure there's some someone I forgot in there. Um, but we're very grateful for all those individuals. Uh, so like Corey mentioned, uh, dual language is kind of based on these three pillars that you see on this first slide. Bilingualism and biiteracy. uh pillar two high academic achievement and socioultural competence. What
048we'd like to cover um in in our presentation is really recent reality. So kind of looking at the 202425 school year moving into the current work which has been primarily this year 202526 and then just moving forward the rest of this year and down the road. And obviously the restructuring committee ideas like if anything like that was to happen that would be part of that future work as well. So, going back to last year a little bit, we just kind of wanted to start there as a bit of review. Um, we looked at OSPI's dual language program guide that they have published to help us identify needs and adjustments to better align with the guiding principles of dual language. Uh we identified through that process uh just some major needs as being establishing a dual
049language advisory board um looking at our curricular resources. And so as a part of that we we ended up diving into a curriculum adoption committee which Heidi Busk was with us at the time. And so she helped lead that along with Cassie and then our learning and teaching department. And then uh that year as well, Cassie was hired as an intervention specialist in our building and then moved to halftime dual language coach during the 2024-25 school year. And so that brings us a little bit to uh just the current work that we've been doing this year. Um we we've kind of been centering around three work groups that have been curriculum, enrollment, and then our parent advisory group. Uh with our curriculum, Cassie will be talking about that in a little bit. I'll touch on
050the enrollment. Our parent advisory group, we've met once this year and we have a next meeting coming up, I believe, next week. Uh and so we're planning that and we're again excited for the parents that have been a part of that and look forward to what fruit will come out of that meeting. Um the the remainder of the work this year has also involved uh looking at the vision, mission and goals for when kind of the dual language program in the Winache school district. And so really developing a draft for that. uh also developing a draft for just the dual language FAQ for prospective families and for putting on our website. Um again, kind of some of the work that Diana has been doing as well has just some publicity getting the word out there.
051I know that we have a billboard that's gone up again to promote the program. Uh so kind of that dual language FAQ is all in the process of promoting the program and how can we get how can we communicate what we're doing at Louiswis and Clark. And then another piece of that we hosted a couple of dual language discovery nights in the month of March. Um we did not have a huge turnout for those nights, but it was a really good process for us to go through uh where we um just thinking through different steps that we wanted to convey to families if if and when they came and it, you know, just helped us um think of other questions and other resources that we might want to have available. And I think I'm going
052to pass it off to Cassie for the next couple slides. So currently um this year I'm really excited to have the opportunity to be working full-time as the dual language coach at Lewis and Clark and a lot of that work this year has been around um our curriculum adoption. So as part of the advisory committee we have our curriculum workg group which is um which I've been leading um and sort of collaborating with grade level teams as well as our district teaching and learning team. So this year um we were able to purchase the resources for a true bilingual um biiteracy curriculum um from Benchmark. They offer advance in English and adante and Spanish. So a lot of the work um that our curriculum group has been doing is creating all these resources. There's a
053lot that goes into deciding how you create a collaborative and transferable experience in both languages. So, we've been um creating a year at a glance, scope and sequence by literacy unit plans, which include mapping out what parts of the resources you're going to use in English, what you're going to use in Spanish, which parts you're going to bridge, how you're going to spend your time in each language. Um we're working on vertically aligning bilingual instructional routines so that when students start in kindergarten um with our program they it really lowers the cognitive load when they don't have to think about how to do a routine they can move into first and second grade knowing those routines and then just adding on the new content. Um, we're starting to build knowledge of transfer of skills, um,
054trans languaging and bridging language, integrating content and literacy, and really trying to minimize reteing of the same thing and just the other language as we know that how students learn, they can transfer so many skills. So, we've been developing unit and lesson plan um, examples. So that kind of looks like me learning about the curriculum a lot with the representative from Benchmark who has been amazing dual language representative from the curriculum um company and then working with the teaching and learning team to make sure we're aligning with district um with district priorities and our Washington state standards and then I get to take things back to our grade level teams and get feedback from our teachers and those that are really going to be working with the curricul curriculum and that kind of takes us
055to the other current work that's been going on with the professional learning. So, a big part is um coming up with ideas from using the curriculum that are aligned to best practices and dual language, but then bringing that to our teachers who are the ones that we'll be implementing. And so, we're currently working with grades K2 with that um to give them here's the ideas and to get feedback from them. So they give me a bunch of ideas and I go back and do another draft and another draft and so many drafts of all the things. Um we've also had the opportunity to have um bench u Barbara from Benchmark come and meet with our grade level teams and do a day of professional learning. She's met with first grade um already. She'll be here
056next week to meet with second grade and then kindergarten in May. Um so each of those uh grade levels has had three days where they get have had the full day um to work with that new curriculum and work with me and give me feedback and um get to know what they're expected for next year so that we can really be successful with so I really appreciate our administration supporting this. It's really hard for all three teachers in a grade level to be gone um at the same time, but it's been so essential for them to be able to collaborate in their learning and give feedback. So, we are really, really, really grateful that those days have been there. Um we've also been doing some work with our 35 teachers in professional learning. So, they're
057looking at what um how they're going to work around what resources they currently have and how that they can build in more language for our students that need more support in grades three, five as we look towards um hopefully the resources for them in the future. One of the other areas that we've been working on is this enrollment workg group and um really trying to align our enrollment systems to the guiding principles of dual language. And we know that the guidance for dual language programs is that students who may not have that target language proficiency in grades 2 through five uh may not generally be successful in developing the proficiency. You know, if they're joining the program at that age, uh it may not be the best for them continuing in the program at that
058point in time. Obviously, if they're joining the program at a younger age, kinder or first, there's going to be a much higher success rate for those students. Uh, and so part of the our conversation has been on just what are those options for students who may be entering the program in later grades uh that are in the Louiswis and Clark boundaries and who may not have that target language proficiency yet. Um, and then vice versa. So if if there's other multilingual learners in the district, how can we get the message to our other buildings and perhaps have them join the dual language program? Again, kind of that going a little bit of that magnet school idea, how do we get those students to come to our program if they have that language already? Uh since
059that's who the program is designed for, uh just knowing that an equitable program aligned to best practices um will have that. And then kind of these pieces. So, we've been talking about um what does our communication and outreach look like within the dual language program? How what are our in entrance and placement processes that we have in place? And then what does their transportation look like to make this happen for them? And then looking forward to some of our future work, which some of it's already been alluded to a little bit, but we know that so we have our kinder through second grade kind of on board to begin implementing this new curriculum next year. We know that we need to then now look at our third through fifth grade looking at next year. Um
060we're we've been working with Tim Shepard and making sure that that can be purchased for them. Um he's optimistic, been optimistic. Hasn't gotten back to me though on that yet. So, we're we're just waiting on that. Keeping our fingers crossed. Um, we do know that we have some professional learning to happen in math for kinder through 2 grade staff as the plan is that that will be taught in Spanish when we have a benchmark uh in place and implemented. Um, with that as well, we know that uh just we want to be able to confirm and communicate our enrollment and transportation options to our families moving forward. So, solidifying those and knowing what those are so we can be clear on that communication and then moving on down the road, just what would this look
061like moving into middle school and high school and making sure that we have a program that's K12 uh and not just K5. All of this work cannot happen in isolation or just here at the Louiswis and Clark building. We know that it takes a team to get this done, a community. And so we've been very grateful that again as a part of the advisory board committee that Corey's been a part of that, Eric's been a part of that, Amber Burks has been a part of that, uh, among other folks. And so we know that we need that that continued support from our district leaders. We need the school board on board with us as well uh just in the work that we're doing so that we can make sure that we have a program that
062is uh guaranteed and viable for our students. And so we would uh like to take this time to open it up for questions andor comments. Um, but thank you for taking the time to hear our presentation. >> All right. So, you guys you guys heard the restructuring committee and it sounded like the magnet school. You're pro magnet school. Not to put words in your mouth, but like what do you guys think of that as an idea of of taking because it sounded like the two through five if someone moves into your boundary that can be difficult for some learners. So, does magnet school sound like a good idea or is that just a a harder idea? >> Yeah, I mean, I think there's I I think it would help us address a lot of the
063challenges that we've had. Not to say that couldn't bring new challenges. Um, so I think there's obviously questions still to be had with that and what that would look like. Um, I know Cassie's had more experience with dual language programs from her background, but you know, just At a first glance, I think that it would it could be a very positive change. >> A lot of the um challenges that we are seeing, some of them are students coming into the program without options for them to go. They maybe they would rather not be there and students that would rather be there don't have the transportation. And so, so that's one issue that that a magnet school could help solve. Also when students come in in fourth grade with zero language, you know, um that is
064a big struggle and it's also not common among dual language programs. So a lot of the the the program guide and the best practices or guiding principles for dual language um would be better aligned with a magnet program than a neighborhood school that doesn't have a transportation option. So it would help with it would help us to be better aligned with those guiding principles as well. I'm going to say and Maro, we've talked about this in the past where you say it's not a dual language school, it's a dual language program. So I saw that that slide with had talked about, you know, moving this to middle school and high school. That seems like a a a very long term. Do you have like a idea of what that would look like? Is that a
065three-year plan? Is that a fiveyear plan? Or is that just a we're going to cross our fingers and hope that we get to some point? I think that's a great question. I know it's been something that we've talked some about in our dual language advisory board meetings and so I don't know that there's it could be a three to five year plan but there's nothing solidified with that yet. I know that the work that we've been doing has has been what can we do now to strengthen the elementary program that we have in place, but definitely thinking about we need to be thinking about not just the elementary, but what are the next steps for middle and high? Um, thank you both for being here and um to to to answer your qu to add
066to your question or provide some context. Um, so I've been involved with the school district for 19 years, whether it was as an employee or on the board. Um, I think with the six-month gap there between employment and board duties. Um but um first I want to say that um I I I wholeheartly agree this is not the work of the school of one building. the district has to be committed in order for this to really work whether um and I I agree I I support the idea of a magnet school. Um because having worked with choice before um having had a student be cho my student be choice to listen and clar for the dual language program um it's I it it's it's going to be more successful if you have the students whose
067parents want the student to be there. Um and um and yeah and that and that also comes with the challenges um with having boundary students go to that school when they are entering at a I would even say at a second third second to fifth grade level um with no background in Spanish. So that in itself is is is very challenging. Um but I've also seen the program um the district programming kind of like I think actually you know what this is the first time we have received as a board um anything on dual language specifically um and so thank you for being here um but I've also seen the program where there is a lot of enthusiasm into doulis and Clark the dual language program and then growing it into the middle schools um
068and then it kind of slowly dwindles down u specifically foothills because that's where the feeder school is right. Um, and then kind of just kind of slowly offering less and less at what but at the same time we had the high school for uh Spanish for native speakers and I don't want to speak too much to it because you probably know more about it. Um, but it seems like it's kind of gone like this with with dual language. I was also um around when Mission View was a you know split dual language. Um so it's gone through a lot of phases and again I will reinforce it that it needs the support of the district on all levels. I mean I was even involved with the Maravas curriculum. Um and I remember that hu big
069push. I mean Mario you're smiling because you probably remember that too because um and so um yeah I I just I this is a great program. I think it's a gem. Um, and like the the committee said earlier, it's um it's the only one in the in North Central Washington. And I've seen this work on the west side um where people are driving their kids from um POL up all the way to, you know, different different school district across cities um to get their kid into a dual language. Um so I I I like the direction it's going. Um, I am I'm going to share that I am a little concerned with the math in Spanish if I heard that right. Um, be know this is my personal experience with my student. Um, it was
070hard mastering grade level standards in English. So to have them introduced in Spanish um, as a parent that was a little concerning for me. Um, and yeah, especially when the child doesn't have that Spanish background at home. Um but I'm not a curriculum expert so I won't go there. Um anyways, um you just again I I can't reinforce to our cabinet team how important it is to go all in just like we go all in um in all of our other programs because I think this could be the a bright a bright bright bright spot for for um well it already is but with a little bit um you know a little bit of shifting um I I I love the direction it's going in and I think if we were to make it a
071magnet school, it would shine brighter. >> Can I make one other um comment um related to what what Dr. said at the beginning about dual language being the best way for our multilingual st students to gain English language. Um when we're a magnet school or a um program that created equitable access to dual language is really going to increase our um multilingual learner success. So um I've seen tons of programs where There are 100 kids on a waiting list trying to get into a dual language program. And I think that is fantastic with a goal to increase our enrollment here as well. And I think one of the largest benefits to this program is going to be to our multilingual students and how they can earn learn more English and how our English speaking students
072can learn from them. So the magnet school being an opportunity for those students to have more access to the program I think is going to be really great too. >> I'll just add to Maria's comment because I I agree that the district needs to buy in entirely and help support this. And I think the idea of having it be a magnet school makes it maybe a little bit easier to do that because now it doesn't feel like you're putting too many resources into one building versus another. Um and instead we're putting it into this program kind of like we're doing the accelerated pathways now with with students. It's it's can only be offered here. And I see that as being because of the desire or the demand for these programs being a very good way
073to get students from around the valley, not just our own students into a different facility while while giving other families the options to either engage in that program or or stay at other local schools. So I I think I'm a little nervous about the idea of what if you decide at second grade that you want to do this now knowing that they it's maybe not the best transition. But again, if if it's a family that wants to be there, the the support and reception may be able to make that that work versus having to choose at first grade that that I want to be at this magnet school. But, um, I but I do agree that it's got to be a full buy in and and that's that might be the best option to make
074that happen. And not that not that there isn't full buy in from but like I said I've seen this this building kind of you know kind of go up and down um in in regards to the attention that it's provided or the resources I guess resources better um oh there was one more thing there that you it'll come back. >> I'll I'll say a few items and um maybe Maria will remember as well but I just want to I want to thank you two for being here. I want to thank uh you for engaging and leading the work. Um it's one thing to have the amazing opportunity of dual language, but to have dual language aligned in the way that your work is leading the building toward, I'm really excited about. Um, I think that
075it's great to have these opportunities, but to have it aligned, to have the right curriculum, to have the right support, to have the district buyin that, um, I do believe that that Lewis and Clark has, uh, we're looking for the opportunities to make Lewis and Clark and help support it to be what it can be. Um, and in a world of uh, enrollment decline and budget reduction processes, it's really hard to to do that. But we are prioritizing that work and we do have um the short and long-term goals I think that are necessary to do that. So I just want to commend you on your efforts. Um this is I Marie I think you said I it's it's a gem and it is an opportunity that um in North Central Washington families don't have
076and so we're really excited to be able to continue the legacy of Lewis and Clark and to continue to provide that opportunities. Did I talk long enough? Did you? >> Yeah. Um, well, and we're creating the pipeline to create future ready students. Um, and you know, because I could take my personal experience and Tucker's too because he speaks Spanish at the beginning of the meetings. Um, um, but the the the changing of of the workforce, right? Um, my mom always said, um, a person that's bilingual is we're two people. um because you you are you know you have that skill set to be able to communicate with different Mario you know this um and so we're creating future ready students to work in a in in the in the dem in the demands of of
077the workforce um now a lot of positions are posted as bilingual um required bilingual preferred um so I think um this goes to creating um more future ready students and meeting the needs of our community Right. I had one more question about discovery night. So like you guys said that it wasn't a ton of attendance, but like are people there from outside the district looking to learn more or is it people who are inside the district who are like I want a choice in who where people what are what are the interests? >> Yeah, I'm trying to think back to who we had. I think the the majority were in district families that were just either um obviously they they knew of the program but wanted to find out and learn more about it. Uh
078and then a one or two were in boundaries, they just were going to be uh entering the program and so they wanted to come and learn some about the program. I don't know if you remember anything else. Yeah, they they we were hoping to get people for more enrollment, but it turns out they were people that were kind of with us anyway. Um but we were able to answer some questions and um although we didn't have as many people show up, I heard around that people were seeing our bulletin or the billboards and that people knew about it. So I think for our first night, we were just happy we had some people. >> Yeah. >> This busy week, too. Yeah, I remember it was a busy week >> said in preparation for that night,
079it really helped us speed up the uh okay, these are the uh things we have to have ready. This is what how we how and what we want to communicate. So, we're able to work with um um our people from our cabinet to help get that going. So, that was it was a really good collaboration that way. >> We only had eight. >> Well, still >> Yeah. Well, and I think the other thing is just, you know, there are there are people who want this information and they're coming to you and you're providing it for them. So, I think just in terms of like even what Amy was saying with the things you're feeling like you're blindsided by, if you're in the network, if you're in in the in that neighborhood and you you're concerned
080and you have someone saying here, come come to our our school and learn, that's great. So, like even if it wasn't necessarily what you wanted, I appreciate you guys doing the taking the time to do it because I think it's valuable even just for people who are going to school there. Anyway, >> just a quick question. Did you put out flyers to like the other schools? I know we don't necessarily want to like compete with our own population, but to the extent we want to grow this program um because I have a elementary student and I'm trying to think, did I miss a flyer that maybe invited us to, you know, I'm out of district or out of your boundary, but you know, would that have been an opportunity to get more information out to
081families just throughout the district? >> Yeah, I think that's a good point. We didn't do uh printed flyers that went out to different buildings, but I think that's a great idea. We did have social media the flyers went out went out in that regard. Um >> yeah. We're really excited. I'm really excited to hear the board and the support here. So, and the restructuring committee considering dual language program. So, that is so exciting for for for our school. I'm excited to not tell our teachers about that. >> Thank you. Uh policies first read. >> Moving on to some policy here. So we have >> talk. >> Hey. Yeah. All right. Let's do it. Um I got a we so we have two policies. The way that I'm sure that you saw the structure in the
082order is it seems out of order, but there's a reason and a rationale um and my policy committee right over here. Um, and so we looked at 5401 and 5404 together because those are the two model policies that were re uh revised to reduce um basically taking the policy referencing the RCWS instead of having the RCW language uh paraphrased into the policies themselves. Um, so we talked about, you know, is this a concern because now folks can read our policies, but if they want to reference the RCW, then they have to go to a different website and open up the RCW. Um, but this really is we so we talked about that, but really seeing that this is a trend from WASDA and um in what they're producing um in late 2025 and early 2026.
083So, we're seeing that. So, we're not going to necessarily combat that. And uh and so we move forward with that. Um the first one, sick leave 5401, we didn't necessarily have a whole lot of concerns or discussions that in with that one, so we move that one forward. Um policy committee. Good. Okay. >> Any concerns from others? Go ahead, Mar. >> No, no concerns. um hearing you say that uh about the RCWS and I don't want to create any work for anybody but the thought of a hyperlink to the RCW might be a little >> I was thinking the same thing is you know now that these policies are all accessible online and we can link everything maybe not even just to the RC they're all controlled by various departments within Washington state so can
084we get a link to like labor and industries where it's going to have your uh you know the the the rights there because the RCWs themselves are changing quite a bit. I I mean I like we have the RCWs it looks like referenced there. So the legal references but >> Yep. >> we've got management resources that are all the WASDA things but if maybe we could link to >> you know some someplace there like the workers rights on >> on the state pages or something >> where yeah where where applicable in certain policies >> right like for the paid family leave because you're going to have to go open that portal anyway or something. things. So, it's just helping them get there or for more information, that kind of thing. >> Yeah, absolutely. Well, and
085it makes it so it's not just a click to another tab and then searching for it yourself. It's an easy access so we can get there. I think that would be helpful for anyone looking at policy and procedure because it can be daunting in and of itself. Great idea. Great idea. Uh 5404, family medical maternity leave. Um obviously again the same the same uh uh necessity for changes with the RCWS. Um we did have some questions that we were able to clarify um through uh the policy committee. We we had some questions on FMLA paperwork um and dates of uh FMLA leave and Kelly was able to help uh us clarify some questions there. Mark also helped us remove a highlighted section in the reading. So, just really kind of moving through the normal policy
086procedure uh work that we do as a policy committee. But other thoughts from our team before we move that forward and Julia or Tucker, any comments? >> Okay. Yeah. Yeah. This is your this is your world. Uh 5403. Uh this is emergency and discretionary leaves. This is not a required policy. Um, we did have some questions um that we were able to work through on the bereavement leave was challenging to say the least um because they referenced those groups that you were able to get a 5-day leave from and then there were other groups and so we clarified the language based on contract um and so that reads a lot better now. Um and then Mark um had mentioned um kind of combining well it was like let's combine all of these relatives unless there
087is do you remember that conversation so let's combine the relatives unless there is a distinction in the time that you are paid for your bereavement and there was so we did five for one group and then the one day for the other group as well so um and clarified that sick leave can also be used in there too. So, aside from those conversations, there was not a lot of uh dialogue unless I'm forgetting something. All right. Other and maybe questions from Julie or Tucker. Great. We can uh move those forward unless there was a comment. Julie, >> turn my mic on just so you can hear. Um I'm just trying to figure out and maybe I need to read through it a little bit more. Um where the language regarding if there's a difference between
088the policy and the CBA is that actually in the policy or or >> there should the policy sorry policy should also support our contract uh contracted bargaining agreement as well too. >> Okay. So we don't necessar this language is drafted to match the agreements versus having to say unless a contract provides otherwise this is the the policy. >> Yes. Yeah, Kelly Kelly went through it with that lens and so I feel good about that. However, if they do find something before second read, we can also always make that available uh for everyone to have. >> I guess my my practice is would be usually because the CBAs may change year over year and I rarely see that actually happening in something like this. But it for whatever reason it was a pretty hot topic this
089year was bereavement leave kept getting extended in most of my agreements. And so I'm wondering if you want to add language to the policy that basically is a catchall so we don't have to change this policy again if a CBA gets updated to to adopt something different and you know it's just one sentence unless >> and we could hyperlink it >> right in there. Yes. Absolutely. and and and and yeah, Kelly ditched up with check because um I question that if you know if you're on a staff leave, if you're on a year leave, you have to notify the the district prior to April 1 like what if they're only leave, they're on leave the first semester or the first half of the year only. >> Um so she went back and she did confirm
090that it matched CBA language, which is why April 1 was kept in here. >> Yes, exactly. Awesome. But I think that's a great uh great for us for considering things that can happen in the future that this policy might not change and WASDA may not update that but our our systems might change. Great. I love it. All right, we will take those comments and uh and then move those forward to a second read at the next uh next time we gather later in April. >> And since we don't have any actions, you get to go over the superintendent report. >> Oh, great. Good. Um if you know what is interesting, this is one of those rare opportunities that we have like three weeks between our our board uh board meetings and obviously spring break was
091in there too. But there's been a lot that has happened since we were last together. So just want to talk about um the last time we were together, Marie and I had just come from the mariachi kickoff dinner. Um so we had a festival tour on that uh Thursday as well. And just it's always a joy. I this was my third year to to uh no a fourth year I was able to go even before I was superintendent but it's always a joy to go not only to see the excitement um that our instructors have um but also just to see the students and just seeing over 500 students the beautiful Wanche Valley College campus um and just to see everyone learning together is just such a a great event and then um the student
092performance night was fantastic. I it's it just I love it when we fill an auditorium. You know, there's a reason why we have a hund thousand seat auditorium is for a community event like uh the mariachi festival. So, it's just great to see that. Um and uh yeah, the the high-caliber teaching and everything that goes with us. Um, also we had our design advisory committee loaded up into two suburbans and a 4erunner and we we went over to Seattle and we got to see Evergreen uh high school, Taie High School, Rainineer Beach High School still under construction, their entrance is still being built as we were there and and their tech center as well. Um, and we saw Samish High School and it was just it was just great and so excited about the work
093that's happening there. Thanks Melanie. See you later. See you tomorrow. Uh and just excited. Tomorrow night we have an open house. Thursday we have our third design advisory team uh committee meeting. We also have a student team. We have a staff team. We have a group of individuals that weren't chos weren't a weren't chosen for the design team. We're meeting with them at 5:00 on Thursday. So all the things are happening. Very excited. Um and then to con to to close, I just would want to share that um we had uh Chalan School District uh facilities committee come and visit the Wanche School District because they are wanting to go out for a bond again to build a new elementary school and so they wanted to look at uh both Washington and Lincoln uh elementary.
094So the letter that uh Superintendent Brad Wilson sent is Dr. Kalahar. I want to thank you, Principal Bryant, and Principal Stuber for taking members of our facility advisory committee on a tour of Washington Elementary and Lincoln Elementary yesterday. It is clear that the Wanche School District constructed two exceptional buildings that have benefited students and staff immensely with the funds approved via your 2014 bond measure. Our own facilities planning work will benefit greatly from touring your buildings, and we are very thankful for all of you being so generous with your time at the end of a long school day. So, it's just great to receive a letter like that um and validate the work that uh our school board is engaged in and that our community is engaged in and that our school system is engaged
095in to benefit students locally. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Corey. Uh Julie, you want to start us off with board communication? >> All right, that's the easy one. Mark >> just uh also went to the mariachi tour which was so much fun and it was great to see kids of all ages. There were even uh one of the instructors had their um had their son there who was playing. It was so cute. Um so that was super fun. Uh right after our last time together, I ran over to the high school to see the middle school band which was thrilling. and I made halfway through that um just as my son was playing. So that was awesome. And I just thought that the learning walk at Newberry was super impactful and um great to
096see a whole set of teachers that um a whole school that's really embracing that process. Oh, I just realized >> on that note. >> I just realized I missed a learning walk. Okay, sorry, Kim. >> That's surgery. >> Okay, so um keep it short and sweet. Um I will echo what uh Mark and uh Dr. Kellar said about the Machi Festival. Um I got the opportunity to um to do the welcome on Wednesday morning. Um, and it was really neat to see the work that the very small committee does um and the volunteer work that uh former educator Chris Krillley does and um our our our mariachi instructor um Eddie Cortez. Um I was very impressed to see that there was um schools from Idaho and college uh college students uh PLU was represented and
097Eastern. So it wasn't just um middle school and high schools. Now they've they've increased it to um higher ed and to see that um they're coming all the way here um for the festival is it's pretty amazing. So kudos to everyone involved with that and um for keeping that culture alive. >> Thank you. Uh I went to the AVID showcase right before spring break which was at Foothills which was really cool. um the work that they're doing. I would say, you know, we have the AVID program at all the middle schools and at the high school. And so it was an opportunity to learn more about AVID, which I really appreciated, but like also what they're doing at Foothills and how they're working it into their intervention process is really cool. And so it was
098it was great to go and have the students lead the tour and and kind of get a lot more information about that. So that was cool. And then um surprised Mark, you didn't bring up snatch wig. Uh Mark and I competed in a game called Snatch Your Wig at Orchard, right, as their kind of their assembly, all school assembly. It was a bunch of teachers. And um Mark brought his agame and while he didn't win, he did get my wig. >> So yeah. Yeah, that was that. Um but uh it was really cool to see that the energy that they brought to the end of the end of the spring break and uh teachers did there was a dance routine um also very impressive but uh other than that welcome back everyone we didn't Yeah
099we didn't dance. No sorry that was teachers were dancing. >> Yeah. No there was no there was no dancing for board members. Um but yeah, welcome back everyone from spring break and uh meeting is adjourned. >> Hi