Wenatchee School District Board Meeting 6/3/25

001Washi school district. We will open the meeting with the pledge of allegiance. Algiance flag to the flag for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right, I'm gonna let Corey start this meeting. So, turn it over to him. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks everyone for being here this evening. Just a special announcement. Um, in light of recent tragic events, uh, and the heavy impact that the these events are having on our community, I just want to take a moment, uh, to share that our heart goes out to the Decker family, our Lincoln Elementary community, as well as um, or as we navigate this difficult time in our entire community. Sorry, Julie. Our focus today has been entirely on supporting our Lincoln Lincoln school community through unimaginable pain. The

002last 22 hours have been very challenging as we've mobilized uh support uh for the school and assisted uh the students and the staff. The heavy lifts have really come at the building level and at the classroom level as we care for those who are struggling through the loss. At the district level, we have been working to know and understand the details and share uh through our communication planning. We want to thank the Wanche Police Department and the Chalan County Sheriff's Department for their communication and work with us. We know that tonight, actually right now, there's another vigil that's happening at Memorial Park. Um, and uh, we know many folks probably will want to be there as well. So, we appreciate you prioritizing um, the school board meeting tonight in lie of all of these things

003that are happening. Um, we continue to ask for privacy for the grieving family and for the school as we hope that they can begin the healing process in the in the next few days. Uh, with that, I'd just like to offer a moment of silence for us all if you don't mind. Thank you. Um, even in the face of such profound tragedy, the board has essential business that we need to address. Um, and it's incredibly difficult to kind of shift the focus during times of grief like this. Um, but we need to maintain continuity. um and attending to our responsibilities as part of supporting the district, our community, and our students in the long run. So, we are going to move through a little bit of the agenda and kind of separate um this announcement

004from the celebration of our retirees a little bit. So, um we're going to work through it and and we're going to do that and um so yeah, I'll move over to Tucker and then you can pass it back. All right. Well, I know that there's no we're all having heavy hearts and there's no good way to transition back to a regular board meeting, but we're gonna we're gonna give it a shot. So, we're now going to work through the agenda. Board, are there any proposed uh changes or modifications to the agenda? All right, hearing none, I'll move on to the consent agenda. Consent agenda. 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

005questions they have had about the items on the consent agenda. The consent agenda for this meeting includes vouchers and payroll, personnel report, contracts, field trips, the 2025 summer athletic programs. Have a motion to approve the consent agenda. I second. All right. It has been moved by Martin and seconded by uh Maria. Any discussion? All right. All those in favor of adop adopting the consent agenda as presented say I. I. I. Any opposed? All right. Motion passes. Uh special presentation. So Corey, you're back. Let's do it. And we are going to we're going to celebrate some retirees tonight. Is that okay? You're all here for the right reason. I love it. I've got some words that I want to share with you all and then we can um get the celebration started. And uh just so

006Craig has enough time, Principal Craig Allen from Foothills will start when I'm done here with the words, just preparing everyone. Um but honestly, thank you all for being here. Um words cannot express the depth of our gratitude for your dedication to our students, staff, families, and to our school district entirely. No matter the role that you played in our system, your efforts and what you have poured your hearts and souls into has been critical in shaping young minds, fostering a love of learning and nurturing the potential within each of our students. Your commitment has spanned years filled with countless late nights, early mornings, and an unwavering passion for the education of our youth. The impact that you've made goes far beyond the classroom and our building walls. You've been mentors. You've been confidants, pillars of

007support, and leaving your mark on generations of students, faculty, and staff. Your legacy will continue to inspire as we strive to carry forward the torch that you've so brightly lit. Your uh sorry, we celebrate your well-earned retirement and wish you the joy and fulfillment in this next chapter. May it be filled with adventures, cherished moments, and continued satisfaction of a life dedicated to making a difference. So, thank you all. How about a round of applause for our retirees? And with that, I would welcome Principal Craig Allen to the podium. We all voted and decided that I would stick to the script today. So, 20 minutes and I'll be done. Good evening, everyone. Today, I'm pleased to take this time to honor an incredible staff member and pretty great person overall, Miss Tammy Mahoney, as she

008concludes a remarkable 33 journey 33-year journey in education. Tammy's story is one of dedication, growth, and an unwavering commitment to helping students thrive. She began her career as a one-on-one para educator at Washington Elementary and Orchard Middle School, where she provided essential learning services and guidance to students. Her kindness, patience, and skill made a difference in countless young young lives, setting them on a path toward success. As her career evolved, Tammy brought her talents to Sunny Slope Elementary, where she wore many hats, whether serving as an assistant secretary, technical resource assistant, lunch cashier, playground supervisor, or ESL pareducator. She embraced each role with enthusiasm and heart. Tammy's ability to adapt, connect, and lead made her an invaluable part of the Sunny Slope community. Since the fall of 2006, Tammy has been a cornerstone at Foothills

009Middle School. Here, she has left an indelible mark on both students and staff. Whether helping a student understand the importance of attendance, they're on time, guiding them to make wise choices or instilling a belief in themselves, Tammy's influence has been profound and lasting. Her support extended beyond academics as she created an environment where everyone felt valued and definitely seen. Tammy's legacy goes beyond her professional contributions. She has cultivated lifelong friendships and built a reputation for good humor, compassion, and resilience. As she moves on to a welldeserved retirement, she leaves behind a legacy of love and dedication and will continue to inspire all who have had the privilege of knowing her. Tammy, thank you for your tireless work, your unyielding belief in the potential of every student, and the joy you've brought to our school communities.

010We will miss you dearly, but we are so excited for you as you begin this new chapter. May it be filled with adventure, relaxation, lots of time with the grandkids, and all the happiness you deserve. Congratulations on a truly extraordinary career, and thank you for everything. Don't forget to come back tomorrow. And Mrs. Rhonda Noah think we're traveling up here standing. 44 years in education. 44 years in education. I'm 47 years old. Good evening everyone. Tonight we celebrate the remarkable career and extraordinary impact of a true educator, mentor, and friend, Mrs. Ronda Noah. After 44 incredible years of teaching, Miss Noah is stepping into a well-deserved retirement, leaving behind a legacy that will inspire generations to come. Mrs. Noah has dedicated 21 years at Foothills Middle School alone, guiding sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in

011English language arts and social studies. Before joining us, she spent 23 years teaching fifth, sixth, and seventh graders in, yes, Oklahoma and Texas, along with a year of elementary intervention and even a computer class. A nod to her adventurous spirit and versatility. For Mrs. Noah, teaching has been more than a career. It's been her life's passion. Since the age of four, she has been a lifelong student and teacher, embracing every day as a new adventure. In her own words, there is no better job than teaching. Where creativity flows, silly dressup days abound, and amazing co-workers bring laughter and joy. Most importantly, she has found inspiration in her students, cherishing the opportunity to be part of their journeys and successes. Mrs. Noah often says that teachers are grown-up kids, and she has embodied that truth throughout

012her career. Her classrooms have been filled with curiosity, creativity, and the occasional unexpected lesson taught by her students. She's shown us all that learning is a two-way street, and her openness to those moments has made her an exceptional teacher and role model. As Mrs. Noah prepares to embrace retirement, she plans to fully enjoy this new chapter in Mrs. Ron and Noah style by R. relaxing. You knew it was coming. E experiencing new things. Tveling. I interacting more in the community are reading E and enjoying play every day. Mrs. Noah, your unwavering dedication, compassion, and joy have touched all of us, students, colleagues, and families alike. Your legacy is one of connection, creativity, and commitment to making the world a better place, one student at a time. As you move forward into this next adventure, know

013that you will always be part of the Foothills family. And we hope you Noah just how deeply you are loved and appreciated. Congratulations, Rhonda. Excellent. Thank you. Next up, Principal Jacqueline from Pioneer. It's an honor to recognize a remarkable educator who has dedicated an incredible 42 years to the field of education. Is that right? 43 years to the field of education. For over four decades, Susie Shman has worn many hats and made an impact in a wide range of settings from Catholic schools to juvenile hall, from elementary classrooms to middle school science labs across four different states and at several different grade levels. At Pioneer, we've been especially lucky because this is where Susie chose to spend a majority of her career as a core and science teacher, inspiring generations of students with her passion

014and creativity. Sus's credentials are just as impressive with endorsements in administration, elementary education, earth science, biology, Spanish, STEM technology, and most recently CTE. She represents the very best of what it means to be a lifelong learner and a dedicated professional. Over the years, she's taken on leadership roles such as a PLC team leader, lit co-f facilitator, and summer school administrator. Always ready to support her colleagues and champion student learning. In the three years that I've had the pleasure of working with Susie, I've witnessed firsthand the joy and energy that she brings to her classroom. Whether it's organizing science fair projects, raising baby chicks, creating an opportunity for students to plant a garden, or coordinating solar viewing experiences, Susie has consistently gone above and beyond to bring learning to life. Colleagues often describe Susie with words

015like fun, energetic, optimistic, and dedicated. And it's easy to see why. Beyond academics, Sus's impact runs deeper. She cares profoundly about her students growth as people. Every day and every period, her class begins with students reciting a pledge. Words that by the end of the year become ingrained in her students hearts and minds. They say, "I am somebody. I can succeed. The me I see is the me I'll be. I can be mindful. I can be resourceful, responsible, and kind. I don't have to think less of myself to think of myself less. I forgive myself for my mistakes. I am in charge of how I feel. And for now, I am choosing happiness. I can and will succeed. What a powerful message to give to students every single day. Even in her final year of

016teaching, Susie has continued to give back, mentoring a student teacher and passing on her wisdom and experience to the next generation. That alone speaks volumes about her commitment to this profession. Susie, on behalf of all of your colleagues at Pioneer and the countless students whose lives you have touched, congratulations on your retirement. You do leave behind a legacy of learning, laughter, and love. And you will be deeply missed. Excellent. Thank you so much. Um, next at the podium is our director of special education, Shane Renie. Did you accidentally skip Sakoro? Not intentionally. Well, just bring that to mind. All right. So, we have Heidi Schroeder with us today. I have a little bit of a different approach because Heidi's our preschool guru and our TK guru guru. So, I'm going to keep our attention span

017very short and bulleted like we do in preschool. So, I asked Heidi a few questions. I um when I start when I moved to Washington to teach kindergarten, Heidi was down the hall in special ed and teaching autism classrooms and supporting teachers. And so now back um in full circle, the one thing that hasn't changed about Heidi is her passion for kids, her passion for helping others, and her constant cool demeanor. And you can always lure her in for advice with some chocolate. I've learned that I keep a a bowl for rest in my room. So, a couple of things. Heidi um started her career in education in 1986 with a plethora of different roles, but she's been with the Mananche School District really since 1996. Um, and she's been a key member of our

018preschool program, um, our TK program, our pyramid model and trainer and coach and mentoring several teachers along the way. What is one of Heidi's favorite memories here at Wanchi School District? She states that they all lie within the staff I work with in our district, especially those working day in and day out with the students. The dedication of all educators mean educators meaning adults and families regardless of their setting is unparalleled. When put to test, they rise to every challenge and it's amazing to watch. These district educators care so deeply about the learning of their students and families. It's humbling to be a part of that energy and experience. I've especially proud of amazing, fond, caring, uplifting, and soularching memories of all the educators including families in the early childhood world. They truly get what

019an honor it is to receive a piece of every family's soul in their classroom. They never forget that families are bringing them a piece of their hearts every day. Without a shadow of doubt, I can't shout loud enough about the fact that our youngest learners have the best of the best and I get to see it in action every day. That's what Heidi leads in our building. That is who she is and that's what our model is for all of our teachers that she supports. I asked her what her favorite story, her funniest story was. So, here we go. Thank you for this. Um, I said, "What is what a funny story?" Um, and so she said, "A preschool student asked her if she knew what a shark was." And she said, "I think so,

020but can you tell me?" And he said, "Well, it's just a tooth that explodes." And that's what it's like working in our preschool. What keeps you motivated to come back each and every day working with the children across many different settings? I think the motivation for a lot of our staff is Heidi that she's always there constant. Um she's families are the best and they bring so much of value um to all of our children. And I words of advice for the rest of us who are still carrying the torch that she has created and made so heavy for the rest of us. Children are only children for a short time. Celebrate the act of them being children. Provide for your students through evidence-based practices so they can be happy, engaged, and well reggulated. support

021them to feel so valued and accepted in school and that they only have to focus on being the best children they can be so they can have the most capacity for learning new things and they can experience childhood to its fullest. Leave adult agendas, sub agendas, and all that jazz behind when working with children. Remember, it's up to the schools to get ready for children. They serve. It's not the children's job to get ready to go to school to get ready for school they go to. Thank you, Heidi. Thank you for all you've done. You are going to be terribly missed, but I'll always have chocolate for you. Thank you. Here's your official. I have to present this. Thank you. Excellent. Thank you. Um I think Shane teed it up for us. Next, we'll have

022principal Sakoro Yianz come on up here. Let's do this. Alrighty. So, I have to say that you guys have all set the bar really, really high. Oh, boy. So, um I will start by just saying that um I I we will terribly miss Kathleen. For all of you that have been to Newberry, you know that she's the face of Newberry and she is so welcoming and she does such a great job with all of our students, with our families, with our teachers. Um, one of the things that I think about is I think about our mission, um, you know, our promise to students. And I think about, you know, that's that's something that I carry with me every day when I think about my background, a single mom, you know, and actually being a student

023at Newberry, her walking through the door and what it must have felt like intimidating, but Kathleen, you do an amazing job in making our parents feel so welcome. She she uh she always tells me her stories of being a parah a recess par at Sunny Slope and uh she had a great time. There was there was a whole team of them I hear and they're all they're they're they're across the district now. Um and they still they still chat. Um but um what I will say is that um when I think about um Kathleen and her experience as a mom and her experience as a parrot, it really exemplifies how she uh carries herself each and every day to support our parents, right? When they walk in and they're upset or when they're nervous about

024being in the building, they're enrolling their young cute little child in our building. She makes them feel at ease. she gives them advice as a parent. Um, so there's a lot of resources that she has that she that she uses to take that extra mile to make them feel welcome, to let them know it's going to be okay, to let them know the phases that they're going through. And, you know, to keep to be quite honest, she has these great grandkids that she could be with now. And I know that she not great grand grandkid. Sorry, I spoke too soon. I spoke too soon. Sorry. So, the the one thing that I will say is that um Kathleen every day um she um not it's not just about uh making our staff feel welcome, but

025or our parents feel welcome, but also our staff. Um they go to her for all kinds of things. And I know that I have not known Kathleen throughout her career, but I know that she has done amazing things. Um, in the last four years since I've got to Newberry, she has uh reflected with me. I know that when I was brand new as an administrator, she'd come in and she's like, "Hey, I noticed that you're that you're like standing like you're like this at your desk. Are you all right?" And it like those subtle ways of making me reflect and think, "Okay, how am I coming across?" Um, I really appreciate that, Kathleen, because you didn't have to do that. Uh, but going the extra mile made me even better. Um, but we will truly

026miss you, uh, in the office. Um, and all the great things that you've done for not just our staff, but for the Wanti school district. You really exemplify what it means to fulfill our promise for our students and making everybody feel belonging, belonging, and a sense of worth and seeing them for who they are. And by the way, she knows a little bit of Spanish, too. Yes. Unto, right? But see, or momento. But see, this is what I'm saying is that Kathleen, she she's taken it upon herself to make sure that all our parents feel welcome. Even if there is that communication barrier, she's she's taken upon herself to know enough to make people feel welcome. So, thank you, Kathleen, for all that you've done for Newberry. and we will surely surely miss you and

027we hope that you can come back and visit us. Thank you. I I did want to say that, you know, for a second there, I was having a moment back to the LGI with my speech teacher who happens to be sitting in the room, one of one of my one of my favorite teachers. And Doug, I know you're not here, but um you know, congratulations, Mary. Congratulations, Doug. This is this is what it means as being a former student in the Wanche school district. All of these great people, right? Ron back there. Um just everybody that has done a great job in fulfilling the promise and making us feel valued and uh encouraging us to take that next step because you you didn't have to do that. So, thank you. you. It was It was

028a It was a tough first year of college, but my communication with Doug and my communication with Mary made it happen. So, thank you. Thanks, Sakoro. Thanks for sharing some some moments as well. So, I appreciate that. Ron Ron Brown, the man, the myth, the legend right here. He Ron asked me to keep it short. Um, so I'm going to honor that. I know. Uh, so when we think of sports these days, when we think of events that happen and we think of people that um make a huge and tremendous impact, we call him the GOAT, right? The greatest of all time. We have Ron Brown, the GOAT, and don't look at my notes. I see. Come on. I'm gonna have to look at him at some point, but we have we have the greatest

029of of all time. When I think of innovation, when I think of instructional or operational technology, I think of Ron Brown. And it's hard for me to think about the Wanche School District without Ron Brown. Um, and he's been helping us prepare for that. um he was able to share with us his retirement maybe early on. Um he has been he's been a planner and a thinker and a processor and so early on Ron was able to share with us and he has been spending an an exorbitant amount of time preparing this district to Don Brown itself. Um and it's going to be hard but we're going to get there. Um it's almost like an end of the an end of an era um for us in the Wanchi school district because Ron has worn

030like everyone that we've talked about today, he's worn many hats and he's evolved and he's grown into the leader that he is today and uh and he's a powerful piece of the Wahi school district. Um I I actually think that there could be a three-part Netflix miniseries that could come out eventually on that. I it could. I think it could. Um, but here's what is what I love about Ron though. Ron is a product of the Wanche school district just like Sakuro had mentioned. Um, and he he grew up in the Wachi Valley. Um, so he not only does he have deep roots here, but he also has a history that is um, second to none when it comes to knowledge and understanding of how this school district works. Um, and we just appreciate that

031and everything that he's brought in his time. Um after Winanche he left to go to Eastern and came back to teach um and marry his high school sweetheart Tanya who's here um and raise a family. In 1993 he began teaching and he had 10 years at Pioneer Middle School as he shaped and created what we know as the Tech Lab program. Uh in 2003 he became an instructional coach. Uh then he became a coordinator then ultimately a director. And so he's hel he's had many of these hats along the way and we just appreciate that. Outside of uh outside of school and outside the district, Ron was a early participant in what we knew of um in the early 2000s as Guada. Um he was an early board member. He was then a president um

032and did so much to drive Guada to what it is today and that's the North Central Tech Alliance as we know it. Um and you had Ron, you had a program that you helped found that donated computers to kids, right? Yep. I love it. Um, and then years later, um, 2023, Ron is able to was a recipient of the lifetime achievement award for, uh, North Central Washington Tech Alliance. So, he has many things that he is proud of in the in the WHI school district. Um, and he mentioned some of these to me, so I'll just share a few of them because we I could go on for a while. We're going to wait for the miniseries to come out, though. Um, the clock hour system that we have in our school district that has

033been modeled um, by many other districts uh, as well. um the the onetoone program in our district where each student has their own device um leveraging that over years and years of time and opportunity uh to make that happen. Um he's especially proud of our apprentice program and the continuation of that work as well. And how's that working out for us? Okay, that's working out. All right, I love it. Um, also most recently he's been on the high school um, high school and beyond planning advisory council. But Ron has been on committees, teams, programs, workshops. If you go to his office, how many of you have been to Ron's office at the mine? Couple of us. Okay. In the next couple of months, you need to go visit Ron at his office. He has a

034wall of fame and it has every is it every single one? Every one that I presented at. every conference that Ron has ever presented at and it looks like more conferences that I could have ever wanted to even attend, but he's presented at these conferences and he has the wall of fame to show it. It's it's impressive. Where's that going to go? In a box. Okay. It's amazing. Um, other things that Ron is proud of, um, is, uh, is the Wanche Internet Academy and the opportunities that it created for students across the district and the availability of that being here during COVID saved many, many students from leaving our school district in a lot of ways. So, um, an indelible impact on um, on the 1 school district. So, I wanted to just share a

035couple of memories of Ron. Um, most of them normally would involve Mission Ridge and skiing in some capacity, but we'll talk about some that are uh with the school district. Ron, I had the privilege of working alongside Ron as he was creating the Wanche Internet Academy in 2004, five, and six in there. Um, I think the first year I was able to be the first teacher um of the Wanche Internet Academy as I was piloting US history um in I think that was 20 2005 2006. Yeah. Anyway, it was just such a monumental time because really Ron was building this from the ground up. It was like the plane's in the air and he's building it. He's putting all the pieces together. Um, and what it grew into is it grew into US history, world

036history, uh, contemporary world problems, citizen Washington, health and also fitness just at the high school and the opportunities that it gave. There's probably more. Um, and then as COVID came into being, then we expanded that rapidly. It became its own school. 500 plus students uh, involved. So just a great process. And um another time that we had uh some moments I got to present with Ron uh once or twice I think twice um as we went to principal conference and we were showing off uh the Wii Internet Academy and we were also at the same time looking for credit retrieval online curriculum for the school district as well. And so we're at this conference and Ron's like, "Hey, I want you to I want you to come meet the guys from Apex Learning." Cuz we

037had been looking into their curriculum. This was a Paul Allen uh baby and it was made for school districts that were small and didn't have AP curriculum. Um but they also offered some um some online resources for kids. He's like you got to come meet these guys. I was like okay this is great. Um they took us out to dinner. It and it was crazy at that time. What this is this is 2005 six and uh it was just kind of wild to have we're in education. You don't take people in education out to dinner. This is so weird. So that was a great experience for us uh along the way. Um Ron is a visionary leader in the Wanche School District. He has always represented us well in the district and the state and

038nationally and we can't thank him enough. He's been the historian for our district as we moved into this district office and many of us were were new and may not have had the scope that Ron had and so he helped us along the way. Um, to me he's a friend, he's a colleague, and we will miss him very greatly. So, the man, the myth, the legend, Ron Brown, the goat. Appreciate it. Thank you. And yeah, thanks, buddy. Congratulations. Just ready to get back here. Okay, Principal Jessica Bryant. Well, for those of you who know me, you know I do love to talk, but not at these things. So, I will be uh we won't be too well, I'll be short, but um so, good evening. I'm Jessica. I'm the principal at Washington, and it is

039um my honor to be here to celebrate Kim Ground's retirement. Um, this has been a really hard process for Kim. Um, it's been we've had a lot of conversations in the gym, a lot of conversations in my office. Um, and this has been a long decision. And, um, you can tell we were just discussing because my sources were incorrect. Um, Kim is finishing up her 32nd year in education. Um, interesting enough, she started in 92 in Elwako, which if anybody anybody know where Elaco is? All right. Well, I taught just a little north of Ilaco for about seven years in a town called Raymond. So, when she and I started sharing stories, I was like, "Oh, yeah, I get that." Um, and unless you've been there or know the area, you probably wouldn't believe the

040stories that she had to share, but I can't imagine being a young coach down there. So, Kim has worked in the Wachi School District. She joined here um in 1992 and she spent a few years subbing before she joined on as a PE teacher and coach. You might not know this, but Kim then got to relocate to Aphida and then over to Yelm. Um that's what happens when your spouse decides to find some new jobs. You get to relocate with them. But in 2017, Kim got to come back when her hire husband was hired here as the police chief. Funny enough, uh I actually knew Steve before I knew Kim because he was my husband's boss. So, uh when we came on my uh when I got hired, my husband was at work and her

041husband came in and said, "I I think your wife is going to be working with my wife now." And he said, "I Washington." Yeah. Oh, okay. So, small world. So, she was really excited to come back and she we have been lucky for Kim to join us at Washington for the past nine years. I have never met anybody who keeps a gym as impeccable as Kim. If something I'm telling you guys, if you need somebody to make sure your gym looks good, that thing still looks like brand new. And if something is happening, I'm going to know about it and we're going to make sure it's fixed. And I appreciate that because buildings are expensive and we have a lot of use in our building. And Kim keeps it pristine. But beyond the drills and

042the game, Kim has taught students valuable life lessons such as teamwork, perseverance, sportsmanship, and just that value of healthy living. And I think one of the things I enjoy when I go into Kim's room, into Kim's gym, is that, you know, you see kids playing things like pickle ball and bowling and lots of activities that we might not think about, but they're going to help kids stay healthy and they might find something they love. It's not just about basketball or football or the main sports that we might all think about. We are so grateful for Kim's countless hours, the countless lessons and countless lives that you've touched, not just in the valley, but actually across the whole state clear up to the coast. One of the things that I have appreciated in my two years

043with Kim is that we have a lot of kiddos in our building that require some adaptive PE. And uh Kim's done some pretty amazing work with that. We've a you know I said hey specialist here's what we need and they jumped in and we haven't been able to offer that this year and our kiddos miss it. Um the other thing that I will say after 32 years Kim taught TK this year and taking in 15 fouryear-olds in a full-size gym that is skill. And then you give them a parachute and it is like she can keep them all outside of the parachute until they're supposed to go under. And I was very impressed that she actually went under the parachute with them. I didn't. But um you know, even with all the challenges, she she

044went in um with a smile on her face and took on the challenge and never complained. And those tekers love PE. So, as you head out on this next journey with Steve, may your days be filled with lots of joy, relaxation, some new adventures, hopefully to some national parks soon. You'll be dearly missed. I know you'll come back and visit us. I hope. But I'm super excited. You do. I'm super excited for all of the wonderful adventures that are going to come your way. and I know you'll enjoy them. And who knows, you might come back and sub. You never know. All right, so with that, I just want to say congratulations to Kim. I know she's gonna be very, very missed. Um, but she's going to have a great next step and it's going

045to be lots of fun new adventures. So, congratulations. Thank you, Jessica. Uh, Principal Eric Anderson up next. Oh jeez. All right. Sometimes this mic feels slow. That's fine. You can hear me. Um, Mary Simons right here next to me, our beloved English teacher. You already heard Sakoro talk about her. It has been 32 years in our building. And Mary has taught, I think, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong. I think you've taught every English class we we offer and probably more. She has also been our National Honor Society adviser for how long now? 15. 15 years. So, she has been putting cords on kids for 15 years and recognizing them at graduation, which has been fantastic. Mary has not only served in terms of the curriculum and the courses that that that she's worked

046with, but really one of the things that I want to focus on is her relationships with our staff and with our students because I would say that's what she prides herself on and that is what I see her as a people person. She loves people. We were talking here in the back of the room and it has always amazed me with Mary that she can name I would probably argue the majority of the students who have ever come through her class in 32 years. She can see them on the street, recognize their face, call them by name. And I don't know how you do that. I can't I mean I cannot do that. But it means a lot to her to recognize people to engage in those conversations. She makes handmade cards in our building

047that she gives to staff members. She has run our secret panther pals for as long as I have been in our building and it is about a culture piece for her about connecting with individuals about creating that space in our building and she has done an amazing job of that. So with that being said in 10 years of me standing up here and saying things about our retirees I have not once done this but tonight I am. I'm inviting three students to come up here and join me real quick because as part of this I am having this conversation today and I happen to ask one of these three young men if they would be willing to join me tonight and they said absolutely but can we bring two others? Can I bring two friends

048to talk about Miss Simons with me? And I said absolutely. So these three young men are going to say a couple things about Miss Simons here real quick. One second. I have something written down. Um, hi. I'm Matthew Butler. There's a little tall for me. Hi, I'm Matthew Butler, one of Mrs. Simon's students. I just like to say that even though I only had the pleasure of knowing her for a year, her class brought me joy and great memories every single day. Her openness with students and the vulnerability she showed in class made it very easy for students to make personal connections with what she was teaching. She's one of the biggest reasons why I fell back in love with literature and all of the treasures that can be found between the covers of books.

049Thank you, Mrs. Simons. My name is My name is Thomas Ivy. I met Mrs. Simons my sophomore year when I joined Honor Society. And I didn't really know her much my sophomore junior year besides the nice lady at the door that gave me donuts when I walked in. Um, but this year I got the opportunity to take her AP lit class and I have never had more fun in an English class. Um, I'm going to study physics in college. So, literature isn't really my thing, but I've grown to love literature, to dive in, learn to love diving into literature in class. Um, and I've learned to love the classroom. Um, I've had so many memories in the classroom where not only are we having discussions about books, but we're having discussions about life. Uh, every

050Thursday for the entire year, we got to come to class and learn about her grandson and how they saved Camelot by jousting with um toothpicks. Um, yeah. And I mean, I remember there were at least three times this year where I missed half or all of French class just talking to Mrs. Simons after. Um, it's it's okay. We made up the work. Um, but I mean, Mrs. Simons has influenced my senior year more than anybody else, and I don't think I'd be where I am without her. So, thank you. Uh, my name is Owen Patton and, uh, I've been, um, I've known Miss Simons for about two years, same thing as Thomas, since Honor Society. And besides uh eating donuts and hearing about opportunities to uh uh tend for um I didn't really know Miss

051Simons until this year, but I think that the connection was really quick and I had never had a teacher give me a birthday card before. Um but it this once she gave me that uh my birthday's in September. So basically right as school started I got a birthday card and I was really surprised because she didn't know me that well and I just um that was the first time a teacher has ever done that before and that just meant a lot to me and and after that um she's just been so influential and so caring. Um, and like Thomas said, um, I want to do engineering and so English and literature has never been something that I enjoy. It's probably one of my least favorite classes, um, to learn things in, but this class has

052just been so uh, revolutionary for me just to I want to go to my English class now and I really just want to learn um, and have Miss Simons teach me and that community is really something special. So, thank you. So these are just a few of the testimonies obviously that Miss Simons has had a huge impact on WACI High School in the 32 years and she is going to be missed but I know that you are going to have a fantastic time in retirement with your grandson Brock. We've already talked about the cowboy days and everything else. He is an amazing young man. So she's going to have a lot of fun but we are going to miss her. Um but we want to wish you the best of luck Mary. Thank you. Thank

053you. Jake's gonna come up. Yeah. Yep. CTE Director Jake Bules next. Gentlemen, thanks for joining us. Right. All right. So, it is uh it is an honor to be able to to share a little bit about Meg and uh just what she's meant to the CT program and Wachi High School. And I know Eric's got some stuff to share as well um uh regarding her time her time with us. So, I've only had the opportunity to to work with Meg for the last eight years. Um, she's been in Wachi School District or serving Wachi School District for quite a long time. I I don't know the exact number, but but that's okay. So, but I do know that that she was able to um work at at Valley Academy uh and then at at Wachi

054High School. She's a worked in the business department at Wachi High School and taught um any number of business classes in her time there. But but really towards the end in my time, what I've seen is just her passion come through and and her passion around uh helping students take the next step beyond high school. And Megan is incredibly passionate around personal finance and financial literacy. And was instrumental in pushing uh financial literacy towards a graduation requirement and helping students uh be prepared for that next step. And um with all that said, you know what I've shared uh through a video that I I did for something else. But the thing that really stood out to me that I that I want to drive home that was so important to me is is her relationships

055and her compassion and her caring for everybody that comes through uh through her doors and uh just for her colleagues as well um which includes me. And so I just want to say thank you and and we appreciate everything you've done for Nache High School. So Jake, Jake and I didn't plan well because it's basically what I was going to say. So we I was No, no, no. Stay up here real quick. But what I will say is again when we talk about personal relationships, Meg is again that individual that's walking down the hall that has a smile on her face every single day that is engaging with kids that's laughing that will give you that joke that will lift you up. I mean that's who she is and that's who who she has been

056the entire 10 years that I've been at Wache High School. I've appreciated working side by side with her. she's going to be mi missed and I will just say her passion around exactly what Jake said around the financial literacy was the first thing I thought of it she was like we got to make this happen and it wasn't just kind of like you know what about this idea it was like no we got to make this happen she was ahead of the state on this I mean so when you think about also her legacy of what she's driven in our district that is fantastic work because we know our kids need that and it's going to benefit them I mean so anyway I'm gonna I'm rambling in the same direction that Jake already went We

057are going to miss you, Meg. We really appreciate everything you've done. And again, we wish you the best of luck in retirement. Thank you everyone. We appreciate that. Have Kim, have I missed anyone? Is there anyone I'm not on the list that Okay, we're good. So, I want to thank everyone for coming. Um, and Diana wants to do something. She has her camera. This is good. She's ready. Congratulation retirees. I feel like saying graduates. Congratulations graduates. Yes. Don't Yes. Don't retirement. Don't don't forget your your clock, an an extra crumble cookie, a handful of peanuts. Don't say peanuts. A kid stole my [Laughter] house. Oh, go to the hospital. Go to the hospital. Okay. You want to give it a minute or Yeah, we'll just Yeah. Yeah. I'm able Okay. So, even though even though

058I mentioned last board meeting last week that Amelia was the main event, we knew it was Shawn and now we know it's Shawn is the main event as well and everyone has left Shawn. But we executive director of business and finance Sean Fitzgerald uh is going to join us and walk us through the first of two presentations on the 2526 uh budget. So thanks Sean. Uh Sean can do we have any citizen comments? I'm assuming I know. Okay. Just I was like I know you're you're just going rolling but okay. So no Sean you're back. All right. Thank you. All right. Which one are we presenting first? Right. President Jackson, members of the board, Dr. Kalahar, um here to present tonight our first of two presentations on our preliminary budget. And tonight we'll be going

059over three of our funds: capital projects, debt service, and transportation vehicle. All right, there we go. as background um as you're familiar with our district fund structure. Uh so the school districts use governmental accounting and operate on a fund basis. The fund is a fiscal and uh fiscal and accounting entity with a self-balancing set of accounts used for the purpose of carrying out specific objectives or activities. The district uses five funds general capital projects ASB debt service and transportation vehicle. Our general fund is our largest fund and makes up about 90% of the district budget and the other four funds make up about 10%. We'll start with our transportation vehicle fund and the primary purpose of this fund is to purchase yellow school buses. And our primary revenue sources is the state reimbursement for depreciation

060which we receive at the end of each school year. And an important thing to note about transportation vehicle fund is expenditures are recorded when buses are delivered and not when we place an order. Uh to begin with, we'll start with our year-end projections for the current school year. And so just going over the activities uh budget versus year-end projections. Uh we received we ordered five school buses and we received four of them this year. The final one has been delayed and will receive in September. So this is what accounts for our variance variances at the depreciation reimbursement level and also at the bus purchases. And then when we move into our budget for next year and the 4-year forecast, the district will receive three buses uh in September of 2025 right at the beginning of

061the new fiscal year. So the one delayed bus and two we had ordered uh and that we expect to receive on time during uh in September. So that would account for our bus purchases to be about $630,000. And some of the activity we're not noticing um in this year's transportation vehicle budget is the use of a transfer from the general fund uh to account to um uh pay off those bus purchases that will occur in September. So because we don't get reimbursed until the end of the school year in August and we're going to receive these buses at the very beginning of the school year, we're going to need a temporary transfer from the general fund to help uh pay off those school buses. And then once we're reimbursed at the end of the school

062year, so in August of 26, we will then transfer those funds back um to the general fund. And then in the preceding next year, so we'll start in 2627 and 2728, you'll notice expenditures drop drastically. During those school years, we're going to go down to one bus purchase order for each year. And this is going to allow us to uh rebuild our fund balance reserves in transportation vehicle and without the need from any sort of temporary transfer from the general fund while also maintaining our depreciation schedule and our 20-year rotation of bus purchases. Then we get to 2829 and you'll see a return uh a projection of purchasing two school buses again to maintain our schedule uh of our annual schedule of purchasing yellow school buses and maximizing our depreciation reimbursement schedule. Um and then

063just as an aside, I've built in about $25,000 in additional capacity just in case there's some additional expenditures if bus costs increase between now and September. And if we don't use it, then we don't use it. Sean, can I ask a question? Yeah. So, it looks like depreciation roughly covers the cost of a new bus. Is that right? Or are we having to kick in some for a new bus when we buy one? Um, so additional revenues and return. So, if we're looking at a depreciation schedule, it does look like from year to year, it would cost cover the cost of at least one bus. However, due to just the rising costs of buses as well, um you can see in future years, even when we get to 2829, for example, we're about $530,000 in

064bus purchases there. That's two school buses, but our depreciation schedule from OSPI is showing about $361,000 in revenue. Yeah. And and presumably we're not getting more lifespan out of the buses than cuz we're 20 years and then they're gone. We're not hanging on to them. just be like, "Well, maybe we can limp along with this." We're trying to like continue with that 20-year schedule. We try to maximize the 20-year schedule. Um, and I think it's just an ongoing discussion with our transportation director about need and whether to keep them on. It's just that we know after 20 years, we know those buses are fully depreciated. Okay. And is this used for maintenance? Is that coming out of this fund as well or is that That is a great question. That is actually a separate allocation

065uh that we received that is in the uh we receive a separate allocation from the state uh for transportation operations which is in our general fund. Great. Thank you. Mhm. All right. Moving on to debt service. So the purpose of our debt service fund is to pay off all outstanding principal and interest on any outstanding debt. Uh the district has one outstanding bond, our 2024 bond. originally our 2014 bond, but last year we refinanced it. So now it is our 2024 bond. It was refinanced in March of 24. We allowed to take advantage of lower interest rates and save taxpayers $6.6 million over the remaining course remaining lifetime of the bond and we will fully pay off this bond in December of 2033. Uh just revenues, expenditures and fund balance. So our primary revenue source

066is just our local levy uh that we collect to pay off the principal and interest and also interest income we receive from uh investing our reserves uh in the local government Washington state local government investment pool. Primary expenditures, bond principle and interest on the debt. Uh fees, these are rare transfers and underwriting. We had these last year during um our refinancing, but they're very rare. And then our principal and interest payments are based on a fixed bond schedule. So we know what we can plan for. We know what to expect. And then last but not least is our fund balance reserves as I'll go into more detail in the next slide can be used to pay off debt or lower the levy collection amount. Uh to finish uh looking at the 24 25 year end

067projections. Again the district continues to have strong returns on our interest income. So, we've budgeted conservatively about 100,000, but interest um rates have stayed high. Uh we're still projecting 4.4% on a return. So, we're looking at projecting comparable returns to last year. Uh so, well above budget, which is always welcome. And then again, bond principal and interest, no variances there because we're on our fixed bond schedule and met those payments. And then again, our bond transfer fees, that was some just additional budget capacity which was not used. Looking at next year's budget and our four-year forecast. So, what we're looking at here is bond collections will be less than debt payments, which will again reduce the overall taxpayer burden next year. Um, again, we're seeing still projecting strong investment earnings and fund balance reserves that

068helps offset the need for larger bond collections. And then our goal is to ultimately just draw fund balance reserves down slowly. Uh trying to keep down only collecting as much as we needed and keeping the tax rates as low as possible. And then that's going to free us up and give us flexibility because the question is going to remain okay we're seeing 2.9 million 2.8 million in our ending fund balance. That's what we're we're projecting over the next four years. What are we going to do with that? So in addition to just ensuring we have sufficient fund balance reserves to pay off any principal principal and interest during the year, this is also going to help the school district when we go out and pass a bond. And this is going to help us allow

069us to structure our debt more effectively. Uh we'll work with our public finance officials at Piper Sandler and kind of help us like hey we can use this these additional reserves when we pass a bond. So just to kind of structure tax rates, make them more predictable uh and to offset any sort of shock when you pass a bond and there's going to be an increase in taxes. So those fund balance reserves are going going to come in handy at that time when we pass a bond. And then just building an additional budget capacity, although unlikely to be used again, $100,000 in investment interest and then $100,000 in bond transfer fees. Again, budget capacity is there just to account for anything that may happen throughout the school year. But as you can see, 100,000 additional

070in revenue, 100,000 additional in expenditures has no net effect on our fund balance reserves. Thank you for using when and instead of if when we say passing a bond. Yes, I'm optimistic. Capital projects fund. Again, purpose of the capital projects fund, purchasing land, construction of buildings, conducting energy audits, making capital improvements on district facilities. Primary capital pro primary re revenue sources, bond sales, state matching revenues, special levies, also interest income. Just to finish off our projections for 2425. So here we see larger variances than in our other bond or our other funds, excuse me. Um and then this is just due to the nature of planning and capital projects. So last year at this time we just received a $14.5 million grant to renovate and expand the skill center. And at that time we had

071just received the funding. We didn't have Clash Group with us. Uh we didn't have a timeline. And so one of those things is we know we were going to get the money. We know we were going to use it. It was just a matter of timing and so just based on the scheduling you know we've selected clash we're working on our you know right now in the midst of our RFP process of selecting our contractor and um our architect as well. Uh so no construction has taken place. So that's the reason for that large variance. We budgeted for maybe the idea that we may be farther along in the process uh but that just hasn't come to pass. And so that explains large variance on the state special purpose line. Um if we look at

072and also if we're going down to expenditures and our sites and buildings again the larger variance there is just due to the fact that uh construction has not started on the renovation of the skill center. And then we have some much smaller variance on the local support non-t tax and the energy audit. So we budgeted some extra capacity for our clean energy audits uh that were taking place this year. Uh however, they did not pass through the district. They were entirely reimbursed by the PUD and so that capacity was built in there just in case there was a pass through. Uh it just didn't occur. Moving. Oh, go ahead. So, this might not be the time, but if we talked about what happens with the Valley Academy building, I'm assuming if we sell that, it

073goes in the capital fund. If we were to rent it, would that also go to the capital fund or is that to the general fund? That would go to the general fund. Okay. Yeah. No, great question. Thanks. Budget and forecast 2526 and the four-year forecast. Um, so now a year later, we still have our grant money for the skill center renovation. We have Clash Group. We are selecting our contractor and architect this month. And so a lot of the presentations we've seen with a proposed timeline over the next two years has shown a lot of construction beginning in the next school year and then being completed during the 2627 school year. So again I've put the bulk of the grant money in the 25 26 assuming con the bulk of construction will occur during next

074school year. Um again investment interest. So that's why we have the $12 million here at the tech skills center. And then that's off matched by offsetting expenditures down below as well. Uh so we're staying strictly within the grant. We're not going to overspend. That's we're operating within the parameters of the grant allocation. Um and then we have again strong investment interest returns. Still budget kind of conservatively. Um and if we get additional revenue, great. Uh but we're still seeing strong reserves there. And then additionally, we're going to bring in another uh transfer from the general fund for $500,000. So this year uh we did that for the 2425 school year and that allowed our maintenance department to do a number of projects and we would like to continue doing that uh for the foreseeable future

075on the right. So, the $500,000 uh in addition to the investment interest and our fund balance reserves would um allow us to pursue some of the plan projects we have outlined on the right hand side. So, 25 26 maintenance projects uh working with our director of maintenance and operations, Brian Brocky. We've identified some more uh what we consider the most high priority projects in the area for capital projects. So, boilers at Foothills, boilers and controllers at Foothills, and then an elevator at the district office. And so, our rationale for those projects are down below. So, the boilers and controllers uh go back to complying with the Clean Energy Act compliance. Uh these are energy efficient ways. And again, Clean Energy Act compliance, it's an unfunded mandate, but this is allows us uh to address some

076of these things on a year-to-year basis. And then we would follow up in the 262 27 school year uh with boilers at Lewis and Clark, Newberry, Mission View and also the Columbia campus. And then also looking at the elevator at the district office. So this year we we're replacing this summer the elevator at Foothills. And the primary reason for that is again both of these elevators were installed at the time of the completion of the building. So these elevators are decades old. They're fully functioning, but the the issue is with them, if they break down, uh there are no parts. The parts that exist that would be need to maintain them to keep them running, if they were to break down, those parts are not available. So, if anything breaks down these elevators, then we're

077going to have issues with the ADA compliance. So, that's why basically two of our projects for next year are focused on complying uh with federal uh federal or state uh mandates. Sean, I see that we're pushing the elementary school boiler projects to 26 27. Are we going to be fined in 25 26 or is it or is it because we are going to address it, we're not going to be we're not going to be hit in next year. Does that make sense? Yeah. The first the first fines come in uh the 26 27 school year and it's only for our buildings over uh 50,000 square feet. So that's the high school. Yeah. And then the other ones come online later. Yes. The 20 to 50,000 and I think start in 2728. So we're getting ahead

078of it in time which is great. Yeah. All right. Here's our budget timeline. So again tonight presenting on capital projects de service and transportation vehicle. 3 weeks from now I'll be back here. Crowds will disappear. I will claim to be the main event. I will be the follow-up to the main event and I'll be presenting on the general and ASB funds on June 24th. Um between June 24th and July 10th, the budget will be due to the ESD. They will review it over the month of July. And then again, a short follow-up presentation on August 12th. if there's any significant changes uh it'll just be a high overview of the presentations you've heard it here in June and any changes that may have occurred between you know based on feedback from the ESC or things

079we've noticed uh during the review and then again adoption on August 26 by the board to be met which will be plenty of time to meet the August 31st deadline for OSPI [Laughter] is necessary to leave that here in here and I just want to really note that significant uh factor when we look at the general fund on an ongoing basis it's there reason it's there the other Historically, it's the investment interest income that you're putting in. And I assume all of that comes from the grass timing for the tech service center. Is that correct? The investment interest income? No, it's it's separate. It's what we just received from the state from our overall reserves. It's separate from any sort of grant revenue. So which interesting income normally comes either from surface bond holdings or

080surface grant. I can follow up and get you all the data. This is the other reason you ask the question is sometimes that's used in projects fund but also used in other funds. So is there any discretion allocating that different funds for any investment interest we would for any investment interest correct? So each of our funds uh generate a certain amount of investment interest income annually and so right now the current plan is to maintain whatever fund generates that income they're staying within that fund. Yeah. on the um the 12 14.5 million expenses expenditure on exactly on time takes two years uh include engineering. So we need to focus on that and then relate to that if that drag out correct. Yeah. If the project was to go over the 26 27 school year, um

081funds would have to be reappropriated from the state. Yeah, correct. Uh just making a note in the 25.6 plan where you have to do some financing of general fund. This is a topic discusses correct demands of so this is kind of a useful reminder of the nature of that because I don't think we've actually seen that transportation budget projection yeah it's it's been a few years yes so generally though what I would say is that um I really appreciated these presentations Um it's very clear as you compare 24.5 to 25.6 What are the differences in two uh fiscal years? What's changed? We also makes pretty clear what issues are driving and what are the key variances. Uh particular if you're looking at the debt service fund, you can see the difference between the annual bond

082interest versus the bond revenue that correct. what I'm saying from from a clarity point of view, it's very nice to have this. Appreciate that. Thank you. Welcome back, Martin. All right. Any other questions? All right. Excellent. Thanks, Sean. We'll we'll have you back in a few minutes. All right. Thank you for the main event. which is coming. Yes. Can't keep saying like two main events. I know. Exactly. We're just we're going with it. Um that's me. Oh yeah. Are we doing policies? Oh yeah. Yeah. Um okay. I gota I gota explain them though. So okay. Do you want to you want to start talking about policies? We'll talk about policies here. All right. Yeah. I'll te it up discussion. All right. Awesome. Thank you for the main event. Um yes. We have three policies uh

083two uh well sorry we have two policies and a procedure uh so we have 3225 which is our uh students and electronic devices policy and I'll share the update I think you all know the update is a lot of the update is around our current policy is the removal of some archaic language referring to telecommunication devices and pagers and things like that. The language removes also the terminology that phones would be restricted only during classroom instructional time inferring that they would be used at lunch and uh passing periods. Um so we've removed that language so we would have a phone-free Wanche school district. Um so those are some of the pieces with that. Want to thank Kim for uh her work in um looking at other cell phone policies. as we know a year ago

084uh we when we started kind of talking about cell phones and it was um I won't say trendy but it was um lots of districts were looking at cell phone policies and the impact they were having on their students and so I appreciate the time that uh that we have been given in the 18 school district to kind of work through some of that with our uh community as well. So I'll stop talking. Um any uh thoughts or comments from our policy committee? I think the the only remaining question I have is um because this incorporates the most of what we discussed is because we're going to be using the yonder pouches at at least the high school. Will they be adopting a policy as a sort of separate supplement procedure to require the use

085of the yonder patch? Because what I noticed in here is we don't actually specify in here that students must deposit their pouches or their phones in yonder packs, right? But I know if that's not going to apply to all schools. I can see why we leave it out here, but I just want to make sure that loose end gets tied up before the school year starts. So when somebody going into the high school can say, "Show me the rule." There's the rule. Yes, absolutely. Great question, Julie. uh the the high school is actually once our policy and procedure is uh adopted then the high school is going to make sure that they have adapted it uh to fit the yonder pouch and then they'll have that in their uh school handbook. So yeah, good question.

086Uh I I don't have anything to add other than sorry Mark you've kind of inherited this um earlier was it last year? Uh well didn't uh earlier no inherited the policy. No. Um or was it last year? Earlier last year, we had a a a brief discussion on, you know, how the board felt about, you know, restricting cell phone use in the buildings. And I think, um, at the time, the whole board, this is what I mean, um, we had a consensus that, um, we needed to come in, um, and, um, update our policy and create a more structured, um, procedure. Um, so you know, hopefully you feel the same. Um, but it's okay if you don't. We won't hold it against you. Um, this has been a work in progress, uh, for Kim, what,

087like a year, over a year, year and a half. Kim has done most of the work. Um, and I just, um, I think the the the school district has provided, um, ample opportunity, um, and information sessions and whatnot, um, to our community and our parents um, to provide input to guide the work of the policy and the procedure. Um, so, thank you uh, to all those that worked on that um, from the district aspect. Um, Julie and I spent some time uh earlier last month working and massaging this after Kim created it. Um, but like I said, I don't have anything to add other than just acknowledging the work that has gone into this. Thanks, Maria. Anyone else? Any other other comments? Martin. Awesome. Thanks, Martin, for the comments. We have uh the luxury of

088a few weeks between uh June 24th. So, what all Kim and I will try to do is we'll get some more detail in here and then get it to you uh in the weekly so you can see that and uh have that updated by the time we have second read. Okay. Thank you for the comments. I appreciate that. I have a question about so board doesn't approve policies um I'm sorry procedures we only approve policies um in this because it is such a significant shift um and there's you know there'll be more detail added to this is it just treated just like any other procedure or should it be documented how I mean we're we're going to treat it like any other well we're going to treat it like a policy in this in this

089respect and make sure that the board um has and sees what they'd like to see in it and then we'll we'll vote on it and this we're just voting on the policy. Well, and we we also with the procedure we want it's it's a high enough um as you mentioned I can't remember how you say it but it's it's yeah it's it's it's high high level uh procedure. So we want to make sure that the board is comfortable with what we're doing because it is a change and so we'll bring that back and have it be part of uh action on June 24th if that works with everybody. And I think I want to add And I agree that because it is such an important procedure that we need to kind of approve it as

090it at least at this initial outset. But I think I'd like to see maybe when we bring it back a two-part sort of motion to where the procedure basically says we're adopting this procedure as now but districts authorized to administratively adjust the procedure. So we don't have to because I I worry about the formalities when we adopt it as a resolution and then we have to we can only amend it then through the same formality which is not the intent with the procedures. So acknowledging it that we're adopting it now because it is a cultural shift but delegating the authority to continue to modify procedures as needed without board approval subsequent board approval. I I agree too. I think we all want this to work right. I mean no no one here I think we

091all believe that this is a a good shift. So, you know, having this, like you said, culture change backed up with the the tools so that it could be successful is important. One of the things that we did um at policy committee was that we Julie uh and I, Corey, and Kim spent significant time reviewing and adjusting the procedures. Um I think it would be a welcome space um that where other board members provide input into the procedure. Um, like Martin, you just said, you know, the district writes a procedure. Um, but this is a great opportunity um for us to, you know, say, okay, what what would you like to suggest to see in there? Yeah, I think Kim and I would welcome those suggestions. And then what we can do with those suggestions

092is we can also look to see where there might be other procedures that are out there that are also doing the same thing and we can mirror some of that language as well. So, that'd be great. No. And that's more work on your on your plate, but if you want to give us some input, we'd appreciate it. That'd be awesome. Yep. Thanks for the great feedback. Okay. Uh looks like we have a policy uh 2230, which is transition to kindergarten. Uh the TK policy was created to align with the RCW and the changing legis legislation for TK. Um, as we know, our legislators have put a hold on the growth of this program by only funding those programs that are in existence based on the attendance rates of the 20 uh 425 school year. There

093were some questions in the policy committee about TK compliance, excuse me, based on there was some conflicting sharing uh at the TK uh presentation. So, we wanted to make sure that we were actually in compliance with what we were doing. um and we checked that out and shared that back with the policy committee. Um there's also some concern about the choice processing which was also part of some of the contradictory statements there. So uh we are in alignment which is great uh from this from the school district and uh yeah any other comments from our policy committee or uh the board in general? No. Okay, great. Well, we will bring uh these back on June 24th for a second read. And did I mention the main event? Okay, so we have uh executive director of

094business and finance Sean Fitzgerald who's ready to um Sean really wanted to bring back some additional information around the minimum fund balance based on conversations that we had. We moved uh this item from action to discussion so that we can host a discussion and give enough time to process the information and for the school board to hear um well the policy committee to look at the policy but also for the board to hear the general fund budget as well before we make a decision which will probably be in August now. So thank you for all of that processing and helping us make this uh better. Thanks Sean. Thank you. Thanks Corey. All right. Uh so first half presentation is kind of a refresh from last week and then we'll have some finish up with some

095additional uh data on scenarios and what they would look like and then close off with recommendation leading into discussion. So again, the purpose and goals of our minimum fund balance is provide sufficient cash flow for daily financial needs, maintain our investment grade bond ratings, offset significant economic downturns or revenue shortfalls, and address unforeseen or emergency expenditures that may arise throughout the school year. So here's a list of bullet points on risks that we know apply directly to our district. uh enrollment decline, actual and projected, local effort assistance, which fluctuates annually based on enrollment and assessed value. One year can be a windfall, the next year can be an albatross. Uh it's just one of those things that we just address from a year-to-year basis. Uh increasing inflationary costs out continue to outpace state funding such

096as insurance for example. Um, another significant uh risk that is developing maybe not when we're looking at uh is federal funding uncertainty and although you know word that's coming out from DC it's hard to read the tea leaves uh but 2526 school year it may be a little rough but we have to prepare for 2627 um and again just that element of uncertainty what's going to be funded what isn't uh it's unclear and we just have to be prepared as much as we can. Uh state budget shortfall. Uh again, we went through our legislative session. Um between January and April, they were addressing a shortfall that seemed to range from $7 billion to 16 billion. Um what is that going to bring in future years? We'll have a short legislative session next year. Uh but

097the long-term effects is something we'll just have to pay close attention to. again, maintenance and operations as we've gone through with our capital projects fund and the transfer of $500,000 uh to address preventative and emergency maintenance and also that ties in with our last bullet point of just compliance with unfunded mandates such as the clean energy compliance act. Uh again, you're familiar with this slide. It's presented in the monthly financial reports. And again, just tracking the fund balance over the last four years on a monthly basis. And as we can see here, October and April are consistently our highest uh fund balance reserve months. And that's when we collect our EPO levy uh property tax. This is followed up by July and August when we receive our largest amount of state aortionment uh funding from

098the state which is primarily based on our enrollment. And then we can see a consistent pattern between October and April as we see decreasing fund balance reserves. Uh so there is no property tax tax collection during these months between October and April and also these are some of our lowest uh months of state aortionment. So, we must rely on our fund balance reserves to get us through uh these months. And again, March usually being our lowest um month throughout the school year in fund balance reserves. I think I just wanted to say like yeah, this is the kind of thing that that I think people don't appreciate. We don't get a monthly check from the state saying you have this many students so here's your money, right? like we are we are floating all the

099payroll for different times of the years and then getting all the money at once and so you know when you look at this you say wait why is why do we have so much more money there because that has to carry us through these other times of the year so I just you know putting a highlight on Yep this isn't we don't get a a check from the state every month saying here's this is going to cover your costs yeah thank you Tucker so it's between these months that we kind of focus on and it's like between October and April it's like how do we mitigate those risks. It's like yes, you have sufficient fund balance reserves on the one hand, but as we go into the next slide, we'll know that even where we're

100currently at in March would not cover our average monthly expenditures. Uh so going in just kind of comparisons for context. So our current policy of 5% again would not cover 10.7 million which is our average monthly payments as of March 2025. And again, those reserves are needed to cover and address or mitigate any risk between October and April. And again, as we are all familiar with during our bond refinancing last year, Moody's credit rating agency uh places a large factor on our healthy fund balance reserves, especially in light of declining enrollment. It's a big factor when they're addressing our credit rating and why we were able to sustain our uh good credit with Moody's. uh the district cannot rely on restricted fund balance reserves. But not only restricted, but we also have certain things like

101committed, non-spendable, those others um fund balance reserves that are set aside to address specific whether they're federal contracts, federal programs, or they're for certain programs. So, for example, you know, if we're running low on, you know, special ed funds are for special ed, CTE funds are for CTE. Title title, federal title money is for federal title programs. They can't be used for other things that are not allowable under those contracts. So, it's just another thing we have to be aware of. And then also just in context as well, the state auditor's office and the governmental financer finance officer association do recommend a 60 days cash reserve balance. So what does that look like? So if we go to the right hand side just based on our 2425 budgeted expenditures under our current policy of 5%

102we have a $6.7 million unassigned fund balance. If we go up to 8% that would match average monthly expenditures and also what Eastmon school district's polic current policy is. Uh speaking with other school districts I heard when they were get having their credit evaluation Moody's was looking at 10.5%. And then it's like well if we really wanted to go with SEO or GFOA's recommendation 60 days cash reserve would be 16% or 21.2 2 million. To put that in context, we started this year in September of 2024 at 15.1 million. As of March, we're right below 10 million. So whether that is achievable goal, that would take many years uh to address. So that is not our focus tonight, but it's just to put it into context versus recommendations versus reality. So if we're at when

103do we take like is it just saying we have to have $6.7 million in the bank all the time because you're because you know as like you said that we have a budget of 20 million then we have 10 million just because that's the total funds that we have. No. Okay. So in a later slide I can address it now as well is what our goal would be. I mean, it could be up to the board in drafting their policy if we wanted to stay above that the whole year, but ultimately our goal would be to maintain minimum fund balance at or finish the school year with our fund balance reserves at or above the minimum fund balance level. Mhm. So, what does it look like when we start increasing our fund balance reserves for

104minimum fund balance? So, increasing minimum fund balance by 1% would increase uh $1.3 million, put an additional $1.3 million in the minimum fund balance and decrease the remaining unassigned fund balance. Of course, this looks going to fluctuate annually based on budgeted expenditures. Uh but what we're looking at uh for this next school year and consideration for future school years would be increase this balance gradually and just to avoid one just unnecessary budget reductions that may occur throughout you know each year and again going back to um Tucker your previous question the goal would be to maintain the minimum fund balance at or above policy level at year end. So if we're looking at some kind of preliminary and conservative projections, so if we're let's go to the end of the 2526 school year and if

105we're looking at a $12.5 million ending fund balance, we can see okay 5% budgeted expenditure 6.7 million. Then we have a remaining unassigned fund balance of 2.9. And then we have our other fund balance assignments of 2.9. So those other reserves are non-spendable, restricted, committed. That's where we would be moving funds for the capital projects. The $500,000 for the capital projects, you know, however much money we need to move to transportation vehicle fund temporarily during the 25 26 school year, they're in the other fund balance assignments. So they're we've completely removed them from this scenario. So we can just focus on our unassigned unrestrict reserves. So as we can see each percentage increase or our minimum fund balance is increasing by 1.3 million and unassigned is decreasing by 1.3 other fund balance assignment doesn't change

106the overall ending fund balance doesn't change it's just those two categories. So if we're kind of playing with this kind of conservative scenario if we go up from 5 to 8% that's a $3.9 million increase and so that puts us in the red on the unassigned amount. So that would signify to us that additional budget reductions would be needed to maintain our policy of you know of 8%. And so again in our previous slide our goal is to increase gradually to avoid these kind of unnecessary reductions. So an increase from 5 to 6% would be much more feasible. And again this is going to change from year to year. So for re-evaluating this one year from now, it's not necessarily that these numbers are going to be the exact same or we're going to be

107facing that. Not necessarily that it would be unfeasible to keep increasing the minimum fund balance. We're just kind of working with conservative projections of what we have now. So if we're looking at it, a target of 8% would result in additional budget reductions on top of what we've already done this year. That is not our goal. But a 6% would not result in additional budget reductions. I just want to add too, Sean, this is it's a great illustration of of playing with the numbers for next year only. And I like the idea that re-emphasizing to the board and to our community that we do not want to raise the minimum fund balance if it means additional budget reductions that we haven't planned for. So, I appreciate that clarity. Thank you. So our recommendation policy committee

108to review and revise policy number 6022 which is our minimum fund balance policy which is currently set at 5%. And to increase it to 6% of budgetary expenditures for the 2526 school year. Um we'll present this kind of as an action item along with the general fund general fund budget presentation on June 24th and then action would be taken in August of 2025. And then in keeping in alignment with our purpose and goals of to continually monitor, make sure we're not making unnecessary budget reductions, making sure this plan is, you know, gradually implemented. Um cabinet and the board budget committee will continue to monitor uh enrollment decline and our fund balance reserves during the 2526 school year uh to see if uh there would be further discussion in future years starting in 2627 of whether

109we would continue to increase the minimum fund balance. Is the policy we're going to be looking at um does it is it just going to be a we approve a 6% minimum fund balance or is it going to have some parameters where if these conditions exist then the the fund balance will be moved to 6% or is that something the decision we make at the very beginning of the school year based on where we're at. Mhm. So we would uh probably be mirroring the current language and just increasing it from 5 to 6% and say the you know the goal of the board is to uh direct our minimum fund balance to be 6% of budgeted expenditures for the school year. So there would be no like additional conditions or parameters around that. And then

110Sean would present us a budget for the 2526 school year that had that change in it. Correct. And then next year at this time, we'd be talking about does six want to become seven is presumably is like the the long-term or long-term plan. Yes. Yeah. What does the feasibility look like in a year from now? And it may it may look like there's an opportunity and it may look like there's clearly not an opportunity. Yeah. So Sean, addressing um the risk that were presented on slide three um more specific to this state budget shortfall federal funding and certainty. I mean obviously we're going to know that before August 25th, right? I mean yes. I I think the risk of the state budget shortfall for this year has been addressed for the 2526. Well, for yeah,

111going into 25 26. Yes. Yeah. The state but the federal one has I mean that's always going to probably going to be in limbo, my guess. Yes. I think there's going to be a great deal of uncertainty um going forward over the next couple years what this is going to look like. Yeah. I think we need to take a different mental look at this than from saying the policy committee reviews and revise the policy and never write a budget even if it's under 1%. Uh so I'm going to walk into this kind of from the beginning. um the there is a total unassigned fund balance and then there is a required minimum and most of the time we have had an excess above the required minimum. Um I think when we're talking about credit review

112I suspect they look at much as the total as they do at the minimum. That's what really matters as we move into 2526. I uh where I would go next is the science and economics of this is to do a budget and do add the three extra years projection. Look at your projected revenues. Look at your projected expenditures doing what you should be doing and seeing how they fit with a desire to gradually increase your uh reserves. The reserves have a payoff financially potentially on bond ratings. They have a riskmanagement payoff. They may even have a survival payoff. Uh what you don't want to do is in any individual budget create an artificial crisis um of doing it. But if you want to go from 5% to 8% you are going to have to build

113that by having favorable budget variances in several years. And that's where using the budget and looking at it scientifically comes into play. So we do have a policy um and it says 5%. Most policies um are legal or behavioral based. This is one I think where you plan first in budgeting and you realize that you want a policy guideline to keep you honest and prudent and help your financial management. That's not a behavioral or a legal requirement. It's a self-imposed discipline. And what you want to do is make the budget and make a plan where you see that your proposed polic makes sense and then simultaneously change both at the same time. We have a scenario in front of us of a single year budget where we can look at a 1% increase and a

114three-year projection where we can ask ourselves on a planning basis what would it mean if we wanted to add another percent or two. Each percent is the equivalent of $1.3 million. You can't shy away from that. It's there. Um but it has a payoff and it needs to be done prudently. Um so um I think um I I believe that we do need as as a board we can say we're desirous of and the administration the district can say we recommend this kind of approach. the board can say or not say without taking an action indicate that they're interested in seeing that kind of projection and then do it and test it and then have the discussion and policy. I'm a little bit uncomfortable with having policies and actions before we actually and this very

115much fits in with what you're projecting. you're saying don't do anything till August and in August you'll have a four-year projection and we'll know what it looks like whether it is uh going to create any pain in the in the any other arena and what the benefits are. So that that's really uh where I was kind of hoping to see call it a dry run in the budget of what it will look like and then we can decide whether that policy makes sense. Okay. you will see a four-year projection in June 24th. But you could have a four fouryear projection in which you project no increase in the unassigned balance or you could have a four-year projection letter and very prudently at the revenues and expenses and say I have enough freeboard over a period

116of time to build up my like and do it a little bit at a time. If you don't have free then the board needs to know that. If you have free then the board can make a rational decision as to whether to raise progressively over time fund balance. If I'm understanding this right, you're saying do a dry run for the next fiscal year without modifying the policy. Yeah. I'm thinking to look to see what a budget would look like. Yeah. Sure. So it's basically do the whole budget with this scenario and see how it fits and then adopt the policy that says yes we want to adopt this scenario as the go forward. So, it's I think kind of what you're anticipating doing anyway because it sounds like you're going to prepare the 25 26

117with the intention that you know the the signaling you've gotten from us that 6% is probably feasible and and showing that to us and we'd adopt that but then adopt the policy underwear that says cementss in the the 6%. Correct. Sounds like we're looking at staggering those events. So we can we'll we'll do the we'll do the budget on the 24th and then if that looks good and clean to everyone then we'll come back in August. We'll talk about policy. That sounds okay. That's what I'm hearing. Maybe not. No, I think so. One of the other thing that we discussed a little bit is there can be times when you have um an exceptionally good year or an exceptionally bad year. you might have to use your required amendment balance in on an emergency basis,

118which you can do. It's dangerous. Uh but in an exceptionally good year, that maybe gives you the opportunity to buy something that you'd be glad to have 10 years from now, and it's a little easier to do this year than it was last year. Um so that sounds a little bit like dancing along and shooting from the hip. But I think if you do it in a budget context and you know that your desires of gradually improving your grad and your financial stability and you're looking for a beneficial way to do it every time you do a budget, that's really what we're going to be want to look at. And then if you have a year like 256 budget and and the recommendation the budget and the board feels that's good then we can make

119a policy that it is now 6%. That doesn't preclude two years from now policy. It doesn't preclude saying we are not going to increase the reserve and shut down. We are not going to do that. All this is at least done. biasy and not causing damage and disruption. So, but Martin, you're you don't have heartburn about changing the policy assuming it's within the parameters of of balanced budget that that's planning on what you know the the district's going to do and keeping the programs and keeping the staffing that we have that we need um to have a kind of a well-run district. Is that what I'm hearing? about policy before we've done but but it is a little dangerous when we haven't actually at what policy I mean I I think the other thing just

120to clarify I don't think we have to decide four five years but I know that's might be a little bit uncomfortable but I think as we have more more of an independent enterprise attitude to budgeting gradually long term on long-term objectives then it's not unreasonable to say that this is where we are now that we're running a service about our required minimum budget like you have been in which case in that sense the required minimum budget probably doesn't make a bit a lot of difference you by in budget you maintaining the world budget but I think that taking it in that sense where you're looking at not I'm making a decision as I am setting fiscal targets to responsible and do that from not to beat a dead horse but wasn't that the slide you

121have the 2526 preliminary projections that show that we'll have 2.9 in unassigned funds. I think that was to show what the cost burden correct this would be what would the cost burden be on our 25 26 preliminaries right so you want to see the full budget with the unassigned funds uh I think you need to be confident in your budget what do we do that we I don't want to go back to a situation where in the middle of the budget session changes and I think I I'm very comfortable with what the district has presented. I think that I'm I think it looks like it's very solid. I think that um it's it's just important to do the whole job. I guess my only other curious question is uh Martin, would you feel more comfortable

122if we were looking at fund balances at the end of a fiscal year um versus as we're nearing setting up our budget for next year? Well, I think that's what the budget does. The budget doesn't give you the cash flow. We don't to draw on cash. But if we were looking at this policy at any time, which what time would you be most comfortable looking at changes in the minimum fund fund balance policy? I would do it at the approval of the next which is basically all and you will be looking at the projection 13 months from So it sounds like we're good, right? I mean we're going to look at it in August and change policy if we need to. And Absolutely. Yeah. I I I like Martin's suggestions and it uh it uh

123it would allow it has us deviate a little bit from our plan, but we're going to hold off on the policy work so that we can get the budget in front of the board um so that everybody can see that in full transparency and then we'll do the policy work later. Great. Yeah. And that's and that's the thing. There's there's no rush of the work and we don't want to feel like the board feels rushed in any way, shape or form. We want to make sure that we have time to process and time to make an informed decision. So appreciate that. Thanks for the discussion and if there's more, let's let's do it. All right. Thank you. Sean, thanks Sean. That that was the main event. So we appreciate uh your time there and uh

124we'll move into our our one action um item and I do have some words to say uh President Jackson if that's okay. Yeah, keep going. Okay. I just I wanted to remind we've had some Right. I'm sorry. Um well, we've had some conversation about this, so I want to just I want to uh tee this up for the board to have some discussion and follow their wishes. So, as you've read over the curriculum adoption materials from Heidi um and Heidi is here not here to defend herself um conveniently, which is great. She's she's she's traveling. So, um but you know, the goal from our dual language committee is to find the best curriculum for our students. Um the recommendation from that committee is to choose benchmark education companies uh advanced curriculum. We do realize that

125the adoption cycle and the adoption action process has all happened prior to the public viewing period and that um is problematic and we want to hear the board's perspective during discussion and would uh love to uh modify as needed with the board's wishes. So, I just wanted to share that and tee this conversation up maybe with or without an a motion. So, my understanding is right now we would make the motion and we'd have discussion, but you're saying we might want to not have the action since the public hasn't had the chance to view the curriculum yet. Yeah, I think I need to understand the repercussions of can we take the action or or what happens, you know, because we can make an motion to approve the the program and the curriculum and through discussion

126decide we don't have the authority to do that or there's too many ramifications. So, I feel like we need to talk procedurally about what are the ramifications if we were to to make a motion and move on this now versus what is our timing if we wait to do it right. I asked Heidi the the same thing. Um, no, you're fine. Thank you. Um, I asked Heidi, "Is there a problem if the board wants to take action on this um in the June 24th board meeting?" And she said, "No, there isn't a problem. if we want to hold off so we can go through the the viewing process. So if that's if that was the question, I don't think there is a problem there because you said the viewing started yesterday, right? And how long

127does it go? Do you know? I think it's seven days. Was it seven days? But by by the 24th it will be the public viewing will be done. Correct. Yes. Um and I don't know whether this would be a delay. First of all, I will be concerned that the delay did not disrupt and I think it looks like a very solidly prepared recommendation, but what it doesn't have is an intensive public and to some extent board light on it for the way it's presented in the original agenda. You could actually and I should have thought of it earlier move to change the agenda and make it just suggest a discussion item but then the action could take place later after the this is a curriculum change. The policy was followed. There was one parent on

128the committee, but it has not had an intensive u sort of external view in case there are interests that we uh that want to express themselves or in case there's anything that um moving very rapidly awkward conversation. So I think it's more a question from my point of view of taking the safest process in making the curriculum change and making that extra for step to ensure that the public comment happens before the final ink action. So maybe it's I move to approve that we table this policy to allow for public comment um and further discussion for approval at the next meeting. Can I second that? Seconded. We do that. Yeah. For purposes of discussion, I agree with Martin that if we have the time, it's not going to impact the ability to go online with

129this program. Then then it absolutely makes sense to do it procedurally properly and make sure the public knows that that it's now in in process of capable of being viewed. We can hear from folks at the next meeting potentially. we ourselves can dive into it a little bit more and then bring it back for approval um in compliance with our policy. I I completely agree. [Music] Um, this has been um and I get it's it's not important to um it it I mean it's I share with Corey um which I'm pretty sure you guys will get it in this week's weekly. Um but um you know just my experience from having worked here is that it's open to the public to come review in the curriculum library but it's also open to the board to

130uh schedule time to review. Um and it's just not the proposed uh curriculum but the curriculum being considered. So we'll have access to both of the recommended [Music] the board the board. Okay. And I don't know if it if what how the the rest of the board it for me it's just kind of um getting an opportunity um you know dual language has been a topic of conversation for many many many years by multiple board members um and the focus of inc you know making sure that they the school has the resources needed um I mean I remember when Mavas was um a contender and the big hoopla in choosing that one because it was going work with our dual language school and our other six elementary schools at the time. Um so I feel

131it's equally as important to um make sure we we are open and transparent um whether it's a a monoling or a dual language school. Anyone else? So, we are now going to vote to table this until June 24th. So, those um who agree say I. I. I. Those opposed. I. All right. So, motion carries. We'll we'll talk. Yeah. Delayed. Agree. Well, yeah. Four to no, five and no. And so we'll talk about this again in June. And if anyone wants to go see anyone in the public wants to go see the curriculum, it's in uh the library at Lucen Clark. All right. Superintendent report. Okay. Excellent. I just want to take a moment uh to thank my cabinet team uh for being amazing, but uh for also probably being exhausted. I sent them a text

132last night at 8:15 and said um I need you to all join a Zoom with me as we process through um all the things and uh the next thing I knew it was 11:45 and uh and we're signing off for the night and then we all came back here. Diana did the 6:00 uh parent uh parent square and then we're all back here at 7 a.m. to to get back to some think time. So, I just want to thank them. Thank you cabinet for being amazing in all that you do and for um just always being there for any ask that we have. So I just appreciate you all. Thank you. Um as far as the the update um facilities committee update, uh we had our eighth uh meeting last week and I'm sure Tucker

133will probably share a little bit about it as well, but we talked about construction costs. We talked about um cost uh per option and we had a variety of options that we were discussing. We heard from uh Trevor Carlson uh who Sean referenced uh from Piper Sandler who we've all met. Um Mark may not have met him yet, but Mark we'll get to it'll be good. Um and then at the end of the presentation consult uh our consultant Phil guided the team through an exercise to help us work toward a recommendation to the school board um that will hopefully include um addressing HVAC systems throughout the district and potentially the possibility of uh of a new high school. So, we're we're meeting again June 11th, so next Wednesday or a week a week from tomorrow,

134and then we'll come back on the 24th for a recommendation. The 24th is going to be a humdinger of a a board meeting. So, we're going to have lots of main events again. Lots of main events. It'll be great. Um, also sharing, I I joined Alfonso for Hablando de Educ. Um we discussed everything from the strategic plan big six items um to some of the new hires in the district and then some of the end of the year activities that we have and just acknowledging that Alfonso does such a great job on that radio show um with his audience and bringing them very engaging content that truly helped the listeners um feel more connected to the schools and uh definitely feel like they're in the in the know more. So I appreciate Alfonso. I wanted

135to highlight the summer meal program that came out in last week's uh information just to share once again another place for our community to access from June 23rd to July 17th, Monday through Thursday uh when an school district will provide be providing breakfast at 7:45 and lunch at 11:00 at Mission View Elementary. I think that's uh huge for our community. Small Miracles is partnering with us. They'll provide lunch Monday through Thursday at Lincoln Park, Metau Park, Pioneer Park, and Washington Park from 11:00 to 12. So, I think that's uh good important information. Uh sports, congrats to soccer, third place at state, congrats to track. We had multiple athletes that um were uh were not only, you know, doing their personal best and their personal records, but um winning and uh super great. And I just

136uh went through the the athletic web page to see all of the summer camps that are happening and I was very excited about that as well. So, and then Thursday, senior walk, Friday, graduation um at the Apple Bowl 8:00 for Wanche High School. Westides will be on Tuesday the 10th at 7 o'clock at Town Toyota Center. Last day of school is the 13th and it's an early release day. And it came it's coming so fast, real fast. So, thank you. That uh that is it for tonight. Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Uh board communication. Martin, you're freshly back. Uh just going in cold, so I'll just start right from the scratch. Thank you, Martin. And welcome back, Julie. I'll let you go next. Um, I'll just say congratulations to state u all our

137state athletes and participants and winning the third place trophy. Um, I enjoyed watching that game online. Uh, I just want to say my heartfelt consult condolences to to Whitney and and her family. Um, and for anyone uh in this district that is feeling this loss right now. It's it's pretty pretty traumatic and I appreciate our our buildings and our staff um going right into to triage mode and and trying to help our students and families. And so I just want to hope that we continue to rally around them and and our own students as we kind of navigate navigate this really challenging time that's hit so many bandwidths buildings families just this entire community. So um my thoughts and prayers. Thanks Julie Mark. Yes. Uh, so in following up on my tradition of trying to

138outdo Martin for just this two meetings since last Tuesday, I've been to Pioneer for a band and choir concert, which was outstanding to see the kids at the end of the year. I visited the Tech Skill Center, Lewis and Clark, the High School Washington Orchard, where I helped pass out uh WEDA awards for those kids that passed the test. Uh, which we had everything from a student that cried. She was so excited to uh two boys that were sure they were in trouble when they got pulled out of class and um so had some enjoyment there. uh Sunny Slope, Castle Rock, Valley Academy, and then again uh back to Pioneer. And uh my overall takeaway is there are so many good things happening in all of these corners of the district that no person or

139or staff member or board member could ever put their hands on all of them. And um I really have gone away feeling energized and would just say if there's any community member that's ever questioning what's going on, go and visit because I have seen um excited kids. I've gone to the high school where we all think it's chaotic and crowded and have witnessed, you know, passing hour where the kids are just it's not chaotic as one would think. Um so it's great. Lots of awesome things. Uh highlight was um I did help wrangle a snake out of the Valley Academy. So I was like, you know, other duties as assigned, I think. Yeah. Yeah. No, that one's that one for sure is hard to top. Um um again, I I was able to attend the

140Essicle Creek Center for the Arts annual bash. Um, thank you to Eddie uh, Cortez for sending out uh, reaching out and sending out the invitation. They are a big supporter and financial supporter for our Miachi program. Um, so kudos to the organization. Um, and then just a huge uh, heartfelt thank you to our communications team, the district office team. Um, and especially our teachers and administrators and paras um, at Lincoln. Um, you know, reading the messages this morning about resources on how to talk to your children at home and un knowing that some of these children will go home and will ha be able to have those conversations for various reasons with their parents. And so, our school staff are the ones that are going to um are helping our children navigate through those challenging

141times. So, um, thank you for the work. Um, it's going to be a long journey. Um, and you know, again, heartfelt condolences. Thank you for for um keeping the district informed. Yeah. And certainly piggybacking on that for myself like those tools were nice to have as a parent of a elementary school kid who's like how old were they? And I'm like, your age? You know, like that's it's a really humbling moment, but also like I you know, and I'm I think that like Julie said, like the number of people impacted and touched in this and I think, you know, it's an opportunity for us to pull together and I really think that the district has done a lot of work to try and make people feel supported. Um, so yes, that's been really sad. Uh,

142again, as work goes on, like congratulations to state athletes. It's a hard transition. Thank you to all the retirees, all their service, years of service. I mean, that was I didn't do the math, but we were into, you know, what several 500 different years of service. So, it's a lot of people doing a lot of work. So, that was great. Um, facility committee. Uh yes, we uh kind of condensed eight different meetings into what a recommendation is and we were pretty unanimous on wanting to address the elementary school HVAC which has been kind of a constant um issue and then middle school HVAC which we saw in Sean's slide about you know this is how we avoid fines and and that's not next year it is at the high school but it is coming up.

143And then um as Corey said, we talked about having a new high school. And you know, I think that the the persistent conversation was if not now, when? If you have this building in this state, um we can't keep kicking it down the road. like uh I I went and met with all the high school administrators in preparation for the meeting just to say hey if we can triage some things if there's some opportunities and it was very much a the layout doesn't work we're not you know we don't have walls that reach the ceilings in most instructional spaces at what point are we going to say you can't we had one of the options for um what we would look at for a bond or levy called lipstick on a pig I mean like

144we were like really asking what is the minimum we could do and we and everyone there said that's not a real option. We are not addressing the problems and so um I think that you know we're going to have more discussion and certainly there will be a recommendation to the board but uh I I've felt like we've done a lot of work and had a lot of conversations and still unanimously said we need to address this in a very substantial and a and a very thorough way. So, um I look forward to that presentation. I I don't know who the person is, but it's not going to be me cuz I'm they're presenting to us. Um but other than that, uh I don't have anything else. Everyone go home and hug your families and make

145this journey.