January 26th, 2026 School Board Work Session

001I'm going to call this meeting to order. Sorry. At 601, we'll do roll call. Jenny >> here. >> Glenn >> here. >> Merl >> here. Kelsey >> here. >> Robert, he'll be here in a little bit. Blake >> here. >> Okay. Chair here. If you'll join me in the pledge of allegiance. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. Word discussion. >> All right. Well, we have uh some exciting updates, I think, for us and some good discussion coming ahead. And so, we'll kick it off with our primary and intermediate school reports. So, we have Dave Sheldon and Cheryl Dyer here to give you an update on what's happening

002in our K through five schools. Yeah. >> Wonderful. Uh we're excited to be here. Thank you. Um the presentation that we're going to kick off this evening, uh just has a couple of entry slides here. The the second slide uh you've all seen before is the strategic initiatives wheel and we're going to spend some time this evening um talking about that and so we'll go to the next slide and we will begin with educator effectiveness. Um so we've been working a lot together with both buildings um to build alignment paint five. Um so as the district um in alignment with that using the Danielson framework um we've got new forms for walkthroughs um and processes for that new um rubrics and we're walking through those and working through staff with staff on those. um our

003professional development calendar. Um at least once a month we're getting in front of all staff to kind of have um work through those district initiatives, >> kind of getting a pulse of what's going on and then aligning those um those discussions around the needs as as they're happening in the buildings. Um we're collaborating. We meet frequently on our forms, on our timelines, on feedback. Uh we're kind of in our second round of um observations at this time. Um and we're using language. We'll get into that specifically kind of what it looks like um each trimester and then just refining that language and working on that. So as far as the primary school, we talked a little bit about this, but we're doing at least three walkthroughs or three observations a year. So one per trimester.

004And we're using um so trimester 1 was the second domain of Danielson and so that was really um looking specifically at learning environments and giving specific feedback on those. And for trimester 2 the focus is on learning experiences and so giving specific feedback on those. Um we're aligning to priority standards. We're looking at student growth and learning at the primary school. just finished our second round of um testing to in math and reading um and so we have that information and we'll be having some targeted conversations around that data coming up. Um we are prioritizing um student language and vocabulary development comprehension is one thing that we're noticing through the data. Um we have changed some instructional practices around small groupoup instruction. And so that is when um students are grouped for a period of

005their day and they have you know four to six students in their group and they are targeted instruction at their level and they rotate through and so every student works with an adult during that time. So they might be working with an adult or an in or teacher instructional assistant and then doing independent work and working through rotations during that time. Um and then a highlight was um we had the child development class come over in October and November and they helped kindergarten small group. So that really was allowed kindergarten to start small groups sooner because we were able to in that independent time with five and six year olds um have those high school students. They're getting that experience, but our kindergarteners um really benefited from that. we were able to get those small

006groups up and running um maybe sooner than we would have if we didn't have that additional opportunity. >> A lot of similar actions at the intermediate school because you already heard Cheryl reference the fact that we are really um calibrating a lot of what we're doing. Um so I won't try to repeat a lot of that. Um what I will say is it has been really engaging to take the teachers through domains two and three uh and then to use the language of of of feedback there. um and to see the changes that it impacts on a daily basis. So I I put up here an example um in domain three 3A is really around communicating um learning purposes um and or learning objectives you know why what are we learning why are we learning

007it um and so within the the the frame of feedback on that we have seen um an improvement on communicating about purpose uh and I'm seeing now when I do walkthroughs in classes um the learning objective is referenced at the beginning. It's referenced throughout. Students are having an opportunity to to make sure that they understand that learning objective as they get into the lesson. And then we're even seeing really distinguished uh moves at the end where uh we're seeing students as exit tickets be able to reflect on their progress towards that. And when the teachers are collecting that as formative assessment data to guide their next days worth of instruction. Uh so we're seeing some really great growth um based on kind of that. here's what the language of the the the evaluation framework is.

008Here's from our our observations some feedback to you and we're seeing that implemented and it's resulting in improved instructional practice in the classroom. That's that's exciting. Um yeah, so we can go ahead and go forward. >> Perfect. All right. Next part of our wheel. Um, as far as collaborative teams, we have a common collaborative team agenda um that's shared and dedicated time on Wednesday to work in grade level or job alikes and also our coaches will go into um those grade level team meetings um as needed or you know administrators or whoever to go and support the work that's being done there. We've had Reading PDS um a consultant come in in October and then we're also participating in the Oregon Demonstration Network through Stand for Children with a partnership through ESD. So we have

009um monthly coaching. We're doing classroom walkthroughs with our coach specifically around that small group instruction um and then giving strategic feedback for to teachers um through that coaching model. There was something else I was going to say, but you vote for it and I'll take you. Just jump in. >> Okay. >> Uh kind of very similar again at the intermediate school. Uh one thing that we're really proud about is um you know uh for grades three through five, we had to meet a certain amount of PE minutes. And so we we created that um maybe have heard of uh us talk about spark. It's kind of that extra PE period during the day. It's about a 30-m minute chunk of time. um we've created a time every Tuesday where like myself and a couple other

010people that might have the availability um we cover it for the teachers. And so what they do then is they use that Tuesday time to actually create their agendas. What what are they going to work on and how do they start to get into entering data so that during collaborative team time they're not entering data, they're discussing data, right? So trying to be really smart about how do we give teachers the time that they may need to enter into the collaborative teaming um already prepared and then uh we've been meeting collectively in the in the library um and that has actually been a pretty powerful um piece to look across the room and see your colleagues doing their work and maybe even kind of eaves drop on their their conversations and um it sparked some

011really great conversations um between teams and then we have a a Thursday morning so every time we have a collaborative team u meeting the following Thursday morning we come together and um we designed a protocol for sharing out um and that's been a powerful move as well so that not only are they in the same room um learning from each other but then the next day they're they're hearing where their their colleagues um are going. Um so we had mentioned um in previous that um we received the early literacy grant and so a lot of this work um is in alignment with that. And so high dosage tutoring is one of the components that um meets those requirements for the early literacy grant. And so we have strategic materials that we're supporting um our teachers

012with on those specific skills that the students need um based on information based on our progress monitoring assessments. And so um we have staff reading with every single student to identify those needs. We're taking um additional assessments monthly usually. Um and then we have our um continued professional development on what does high dosage tutoring look like and best practices for literacy. Um we have a district literacy coordinator um who coordinates with our building literacy coaches and um they meet regularly and talk about what does the assessment information tell us and what other future professional developments can we um provide given the current data that we're getting through these assessments. Um and then we're celebrating those collective commitments. We came back from winter break and celebrated the strengths that we're seeing in our students and um

013all the hard work that the teachers are doing. >> Yeah. A lot of the same, you know, you'll you'll hear kind of the same titles. You know, we're working with our uh literacy coach through the Oregon Demonstration Network. Um we're also working with the district literacy coordinator. Uh and we're doing a lot of work with our teams. Um, we've really been dissecting the curriculum we've got to make sure that we are identifying our priority standards. And it's it's been an an interesting evolution through our curriculum where we've continued to refine those priority standards because any curriculum that you buy is going to have every standard under the sun in it. So, how do we how do we use uh third points such as the blueprint from the Oregon State Assessment System to kind of identify

014what are those levers we're supposed to be pulling and then how do we use these folks that are bringing a literacy um uh uh focus to it to say this is the work that's important in front of us. And so, there's been an ongoing evolution in that regard to our our instruction um and kind of narrowing that focus. It's been pretty neat to see. Um, we've also been uh really emphasizing the the importance of background knowledge and how do we continue to build background knowledge simultaneously uh with literacy. Um there's a lot of research that just shows to really understand something you've got to kind of know something about it um in advance. Um and uh yeah uh we uh go to these uh monthly problem practices um and there's also some online courses that

015we've been taking um through the organation network as well. And then we have our diagnostics. You heard Cheryl kind of reference that a little bit uh to really make sure that we're mining into understanding our students progress and then even trying to get into what are the the the minutia of the needs that exist. So trying to really leverage that as well. And then this is slide nine, right? That's me. Okay. Slide 11. Sorry, my eyes are starting to get to a point where I need to do this. >> Okay, then then I lost my place. >> Language acquisition. >> Uh, okay. Slide 11. Language acquisition. All right. Uh so again you already hear heard uh me talk about that we're um spending a lot of time working with organ demonstration network trying to really

016emphasize um uh this you know how do we build in that science of reading um kind of kind of work and then we're working with those key key partners um you know the the Oregon Demonstration Network uh has sent us this um literacy coaches. They're pretty pretty neat to work with. We even did some work where um we've been designing some walkthroughs to go into classrooms um and and have key questions that can guide us as we look for trend data. And you heard Cheryl mention this, when we gather that trend data, we use that to then design, um purposeful professional development. And so, um that's been pretty pretty neat. And you already heard me talk about the fact that teacher teams are are working with these people specifically. In fact, um that literacy coach

017came in and worked with myself, the instructional coach. um to to further refine um the ELA curriculum. Um and that was a a pretty neat day that we had to work with with her. So um and then we're also continuing to emphasize our collaboration with our English English language development teachers. Um and all of this is helping us further refine what are those, you know, key vocabulary practices that we want to bring um and and how do we how do we build the background knowledge and how do we know who our students are and how do we put in front of them curriculum that's accessible. So that's been how we've been working towards supporting language acquisition. >> All right. And then my final piece here, uh, the summary. Um, we're seeing stronger instructional practices through

018the Danielson framework and the feedback that's being provided. And I gave an example of that and I could give a lot more. Um, we're seeing our teachers do really, really neat things. um uh we're seeing those collaborative teams have real fidelity to to diving into data and and where that might be different is uh you know when we have a group of teachers that come together and plan that's important work. They need time to plan. Um but in collaborative teams we're planning and we're looking at data and we're asking ourselves what was the instructional move? Was it effective? Was it not effective? Why? Why not? What's our next move? So, it's it's not just um focusing on the next task. It's focusing actually on that art and science of of teaching and learning and and

019how are we being responsive to that. So, um that's been pretty neat. And then we're going to continue to develop our our language acquisition practices. >> As far as next step is just continuing with all of these things um and the momentum that we've had um for the first part of the school year. Um, I will say too in in looking at most recent data, it can break down into the actual standards and so how are our students doing on this standard? And so it's we can look and see are the majority of the students mastering that specific skill or need more support. And so we can dive down as a whole and looking at our instruction um to that level given the information that we have. And so really taking those moments to look

020into the information and then making strategic moves based on that. And so we don't necessarily have the entire year planned out because we may need to make some shifts and adjust to what um our student need and our staff need to get us there. So we're going to deepen those collaborative teams and continue to work on all the things questions. I actually did have a question. How does this um collaboration feed into the partnership of parents for the early literacy? >> Yeah, so that's a great question. Um we as far as information, we share that with families as far as you know at different times. Um, and then teachers are continuing to have those conversations with those specific families. As far as like as a bigger communication, I think we can look into that, >>

021expand on that. Yeah. One of the things that uh Chelsea Landry as part of our district dis uh literacy grant, she's working to like kind of design some systems that are really focused on that. Whether it's um sending out tips to families about how to increase literacy access at home. Um she designed some tools that went out during all the parent teacher conferences at actually every level about great literacy resources that families can find for free. Um she's trying to partner with some local organizations like the public library and the North Marian Library to do um some work and get um she's working with some local bookstores even uh to come and do book talks. So she's working really closely to like start to grow that. So I think this spring we're going to really

022see that take off. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> Question for you. >> Can you explain a little bit on the walkthroughs uh when you go into a class? So, how many classes, for example, do you uh have in the primary school? >> We have nine. No, five. >> Sorry, trying to mapping it out for him. >> Four, eight, four. >> Yeah. Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. Not your 10. >> 10. So, when you go, you have 10 per, you do it three times a year. So, we go through. And how much time will you spend in the class? What does that look like? Yeah, it's about 20 to 30 minutes when we're doing those those targeted ones >> each trimester. I mean, we can do a five minute stop by too at any

023time, but when we're giving that targeted specific feedback, yeah, it can be a good >> And do the teachers know you're coming? Is it something you plop in and do? >> They have depends. Sometimes we will, but a lot of times we're just they're they know we're going to come over the next month or they know we're coming in there in, you know, during this trimester and we're focused on this one domain. Um, and so we'll go over all of that, but they're not they're they're usually not scheduled unless they really want it. Like obviously if there's something they want us to see, we're more than happy to go in and see that, too. >> In the inter intermediate school, how many classes? We have 12 regular classes and then we've got a couple uh

024extra classes as well. And to kind of piggy back off of what Cheryl was saying, it there's also um people that are different places in the the process. Um so they might have more um opportunities to to have us come in and observe. Um and uh I've been actually trying to get in and do more than one a trimester. I've been so I' I've got a whole we each one of us had a tracking document. Um and and uh I've been telling the teachers, look, I want to try to get in two or three times. Um and so after a 20 30 minute time in the classroom, it actually it's a it's a lot of work to go back and try to synthesize all that and get really productive feedback and um and then share

025it out with them. And then it's kind of a an opportunity for them to to give us feedback on >> on our feedback. Um and sometimes they might schedule a follow-up meeting to say, "Hey, can you tell me more about this here?" And um sometimes they're just okay with what they what they got and they're like, "Okay, I'm going to try that." Right. >> So yeah. >> Well, one thing I learned about tonight on the coaches, could you expound a little bit on that? I hadn't heard that you had coaches that Yeah. And so >> So you take that one, go. >> Okay. So let's start with you heard us mention this evening um the Oregon Demonstration Network. So this is a a a regional kind of state statewide initiative uh to help support literacy

026as um as we reframe our practices. And so, um, we have been assigned, um, her name is Mary Beth Crowdermeer. Um, sounds like a concert. Um, but, uh, went to the Mary Beth Crowder concert and, uh, a really, really neat lady. And so she comes in, she does a couple virtual meetings with like myself, the instructional coach, and maybe even a couple of the teachers on occasion, uh, once or twice a month, um, to kind of keep us aligned. We kind of build uh, her her in-person visits. And then she comes about once a month and spends a half a day with us. and we do walkthroughs with her >> and we actually designed intentional walkthroughs. So, one of the walkthroughs that we did with her um come back to the collaborative teams >> in

027December. Um she and and myself and some of the other coaches that I'll I'll explain in a second. We designed what does the ideal collaborative team look like? And we went and did some walkers with that and we saw some of the stuff that we wanted to see and so we're going to celebrate that with staff. That's actually my next PD is to is to to boost collaborative teams again. And so, um, we got some really great information there and we got some things that we're going to call nudges, like, hey, here's here's where we can refine our practices as well. And and so that came from working with her. >> Uh, she also came in and spent a half a day working with the third grade team. So, that's one of our coaches. >>

028The district-wide literacy um, coordinator is also, that's Chelsea Landry. She's also a coach. Okay. Uh and so she's going through every one of these buildings K through 12 and she's getting a really unique perspective about what does it look like along that continuum from K through 12 uh for for kids to be readers in this in this district and and and how do we coordinate that effectively, right? And so she's um a really uh wonderful player in that picture as well. And then in both of our buildings, um, we both have instructional coaches, uh, that directly work with our teachers. And that that looks like a variety of things, whether it's pushing into a classroom to to to observe, give coaching feedback, versus evaluated feedback. Um, or someone says, can you help me with some

029some curriculum design? And there's a lot of systems management within some of that as well. Um, you know, so um, kind of kind of helping implement a lot of different things. And so those are our teams. >> I want to thank you both. I have a kid in each school at North Marian. So it's kind of fun to to hear from them and they both are excited with going on there. >> Yeah. >> Thank you for sharing. >> Yeah, absolutely. If you ever want to come in and take a deeper look, you all welcome anytime. >> Thank you. >> Y'all see anything? I'm good. Thank you guys. Merl, >> I'm still Thank you. >> Okay, Glenn. Um tell me a little bit about building to building. Um what you guys do on your level is

030so foundational for their entire school, you know, school experience, but um how are we how are we preparing them for the middle school? How are you guys collaborating with that? I'm hearing collaboration a lot of it happening between your guys' buildings. Is is that continuing through to the middle? I mean, at one point you had a really good relationship going um to send your fifth graders off and yeah, >> I just want to hear if that's continuing >> start the primary school and I need to up um so one of the things at the primary school um that a staff member shared um just recently she goes the third grade data is our data because we are setting the foundation at the primary school for all the years ahead and the work that we're doing

031and kindergarten you know, has over 50% of their students right now on birth above grade level in reading. And so that momentum because we don't have any, you know, how a kindergartener starts at the primary school is how they start, but every single day moving forward, we have impact on. And so to have, you know, that amount of students who are at or above grade level in kindergarten, that number is growing every single year. That's laying the foundation. And so keeping that momentum and first grade and second grade so that gap isn't only 30% when we get to third grade and owning that data for primary school as they go into the intermediate school has been a shift. >> Yeah. And I think just by the nature I mean it's probably a given that that

032K through five that the two of us do a lot of calibrating together. Um um that being said, um I still like to think that there's a lot of calibration between us and the middle school as well. Um and that would look like our fifth grade teachers knowing what upcoming standards are going to be expected. Um purposefully communicating with folks across the street here to find out what are the initiatives they can support. So if you come in like our fifth graders have agendas. they're they're learning how to because they know that at the middle level um they have the big binders and they're going to be responsible for there's that notion of organized for success and we know that's a big part of AVID right um so we're already working on those kinds of

033components um and then um honestly um Dan and Des have constructed uh the opportunities for for administrators to meet multiple times a month um to get together and to be kind of working towards common purposes and and hearing from each other as well and then there's just the the casual like I honestly think I, you know, I came and wandered the halls today and got to see a lot of kids and they're like, you know, cool jammy pants. Uh, so, you know, they so that's fun, >> uh, I really liked hearing that you're leveraging the high school child development class. That's pretty cool. >> Yeah. And we have other classes coming over for other things like a first grade has a buddy classroom and we have a middle schooler coming and being a TA in

034pres or in PE. So we are trying to like open our doors and bring in students. It's been a wonderful experience. >> Good. Good. Yeah. >> No, I like that too. >> All right. Anything else? If I could just kind of close some things up, if we could go back to the slide presentation and I just as soon as you clicked it off. >> Yeah. Sorry about that. And the the second slide, the >> wheel. Sorry. Sorry. >> There you go. >> Yeah. So, you know, this we kind of refer to this as a wheel, but really I also like to highlight the fact that it's puzzle pieces that are fitting together. And I really appreciated the way that Cheryl and Dave uh connected these things together because they don't uh operate in isolation from

035each other. And so, you know, one of the things they referenced the Danielson framework and that's the evaluation tool that we adopted. So, whenever you hear Danielson, that's the evaluation tool that we use. And I'll emphasize that evaluation is just the tool. Feedback is the key. Uh we don't you people don't get better through evaluation, they get better through the feedback that they get. And so I really appreciate the fact that they uh all of our principles are working on on improving their feedback. Um, but these also go into how they connect to our collaborative teams and you know it's people often ask when what happens on Wednesday early release and so and it's you know sometimes uh keeping those adults and those teachers working in unison together is is tough work teaching is tough

036work and each teacher has their own thing that may be the burning thing that they need to work on. but also harnessing that collaborative team time is is difficult work. And so I appreciate the fact that some of the things I heard that I would like to just kind of highlight is having common agendas because these folks can't be everywhere at the same time. And so having people work on common agendas can kind of help keep that work focused. Also really appreciated hearing about the common meeting space when when teams are working together. Bringing all your teachers into a common meeting space can help keep that work focused and also highlighting the coaches. So, we have we've had coaches in each of and when I say coaches, these are teachers hired to coach other teachers.

037And so, we've had one in in the primary intermediate school that are grant funded. Um, and then when we we got the literacy grant, we were able to hire, as Dave talked with a literacy coordinator that's K through 12. That's Chelsea Landry has that position. And really what you're hearing through this is trying to keep a laser focus on reading development and really making sure because the the tendency in public education is the new shiny thing and then latching on to that and not keeping a focus. So one thing I've really been impressed with with Dez's leadership and with these guys is Chelsea's working with both of the coaches at the at the primary and the intermediate to try to kind of keep that laser focused. And to your point, then how do we upscale

038that into the 612 where we don't have coaches? Um, so those are some really good things that I heard um and and also heard the term collective commitment which is really trying to make sure that that is that keeping that laser focus. So um that that the agreements that teachers are making as to how they're going to commit to the standards because every single day a teacher walks in there's a new issue presenting itself. there's a new thing happening and how do I stay focused and it's these guys' leadership and the coaches that help maintain that focus uh on that. So I don't know if Dez if you have anything to >> Yeah, I think the only other thing um I would add to that is that you know the the interconnectiveness of this work

039and the fact that we're working really hard um and what you're hearing from the principles is to build the systems so that those things keep going that leadership can change but there's an established like expectation and protocol in the way we do things and um I was just having a conversation with Cheryl the other day and um we're planning to meet with her instructional coach and one of the things we talked about is oh here's a like a team that maybe is struggling a little bit with this concept. Is it time to go back to the early literacy framework and bring that team back together and reestablish our commitment? And the fact that we have a document that we put down what we're going to do and what our vision is and where we're going

040to focus that we can go back to and say time to revisit. Not just like, oh, let's try to convince them what we remember or let's try to convince them because we thought we had a commitment. It's like no, we have this written down. we have made a commitment to ourselves and that we have these coaches that are kind of the keepers of that vision. That's what's going to keep this work going forward is like this is not just who's here right now with their thing to do, but something that we we've written down. We we've said this is the thing we're going to do and we have the systems in place to make sure it happens. >> That's the the accountability piece. >> So, it's so effective. >> Merl has a question. All right.

041Question. >> Um I'm thinking Oregon Demonstration Network coach district instructional coach. Are they aligned? Are they >> Yeah. >> Preaching the same doctrine? >> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. No. And that's a really good question. It's easy when it's our employees. So Chelsea um and our two instructional coaches at the building, we meet continually with them. We they meet with me. We're all on the same page. The demonstration network coach is someone who's actually outside of this organization. We don't pay for her at all. Um they through our WESD um and it's through Stanford Children, which is a national or a statewide organization. This coach specifically is coming out of the University of Seattle. Um, and so she's a an expert in her field. Um, and one of the first things we did is she sat down

042with me and I was like, "This is who we are. This is what we do. Um, you cannot talk about this, this, and this. You can't talk about this, this, and this. Like, these are the this is the work." And then as she started some of her work, um, she would meet with Chelsea and Chelsea would bring it back to me and go, "Okay, are we on the same page?" With that alignment, we're constantly making sure we're we're moving in the same direction. And all of that goes back to that first document, which is that early literacy um framework that we developed a couple years ago when we got the grant. >> Same in the building level, too. So, same, you know, met with us at the building level and got our feedback and continually

043were part of those conversations. So, it's it's aligned within them, too. And what's really neat, I'm for me, and this is totally geeky, but like being part of this demonstration network is it's proof that North Marian's putting theirelves on the map because Stanford Children is a really big organization. They not only do this kind of professional development work, but they're also lobbyists. They work within the state organization when we're trying to get funding for schools, etc. and they are specifically working with an expert um from the University of Michigan named Nell Duke. When I was at OD, I worked with Nell Duke. She is doing some of the most foremost research on early literacy development. Her stuff is absolutely amazing. and to have direct access to this woman who is really building what literacy needs

044to look like in the United States and we get to talk to her and get her feedback and this coach gets to work with her and give us feedback on what she's saying like this is and and we're North right it's like this little teeny school district compared to like they're working with McMinnville they're working with some much bigger districts than um us and it's really because of the the grants that we've received and the the kind of vision that we have for what literacy could be. So, it's it's really exciting. But yes, that alignment is a constant and it goes back to those like those first kind of what is our vision for literacy in this district and how's that become our north star. >> So, the teachers hear a consistent message. That's >>

045we're trying. Yeah, that's that's the goal, right? Well, thank you everyone for all your very very hard and dedicated work on that. >> We might just stay here. That's >> Yeah, no sense of moving. >> You're good. >> Just put the present. >> All right. So, uh we are uh partway into our strategic planning uh process, adoption process. And so, uh, we thought it was a good time to come to you after a couple of meetings to walk you through what we've done with our group so far and really want to come back to this u design that we brought to you at the board retreat in September and we presented this to the strategic planning team and we we set some uh non-negotiables and then what's up for discussion and we essentially said this

046was uh discussed with our board as our focus for our strategic plan and really this is not up for debate. This is what our focus will be for the next uh five years as we develop this is that we're all about student achievement. uh that we want a healthy culture and community and we're always looking to uh uh improve our talent and and so those are the three things that are the focus and those things are held together by uh tight systems accountability and leadership and so those are kind of the non-negotiables. Um, so our first activity was through a a tool called Padlet and it allows it to be pretty interactive and get a lot of feedback in a short amount of time and allows people to build upon it. And so when our

047first activity was in the area of climate and culture, what are our strengths and what are areas of growth? So I'm not going to read each of these bullets. uh these are publicly out there but I don't think that they are new to what you have heard in uh in the district in terms of strengths. So I think you know from a welcoming atmosphere is a strength to the fact that we have multigenerational families here in this community that's also a strength of this community. And so I think that those are are things that you've heard but we've also heard areas of growth uh we do need more community partnerships. uh we've you know I think Crystal your question about communication with families is something that we definitely need to improve upon is how do

048we communicate uh with families um and you know an interesting one was after school tutoring opportunities and I think that's something that whether through this budgeting cycle or ongoing budgeting conversations um you know we have a uniqueness in the fact that you know you only get to North Marian through a vehicle you know I've worked in other districts where there's walkers and you see them walking and if they do, you know, if they do live in a busing area, they can walk to a location where they could catch a bus. And so that's something that that, you know, if uh our we've heard our families loud and clear talk about more after school tutoring opportunities. So I think that was that was nice that that was brought out and that's going to be something that

049we'll be discussing more in the future. Student achievement. Um, you know, we've heard some of these things, uh, in terms of what's worked. I don't know if cell phone policy is a student achievement thing, but I I I'm sure people can create a nexus there, but I think part of it is is people are pretty happy with how it's rolled out. So, that's a good thing. Um, and so, um, um, you know, it was nice to hear people say the district's earning grants for work, and you just heard a big part of, uh, of that. So I think for areas of growth is uh you know what about our students that are strong academic performers um and where are their opportunities to shine and even for students that may be struggling academically but have a

050drive where is their opportunity to have an honors or advanced options. Um and so again, not trying to read every single bullet. Um but also, you know, where are aligned grading and communication processes? We've heard that before or practices. So those are some things that, you know, you've been hearing before and as you know and with your uh constituents uh they came out during this process. And then talent development. Here's just a few things that and it was great to hear that instructional coaches are a key part of that talent development. Um and um some areas of growth is how do we retain how do we um um how do we support new teachers um and I think it was also brought out that you know there has been some administrative turnover and that that

051does make an impact on holding on to people when uh we've had some principal turnover. So that was the recap from the first uh meeting we had. So I'll pause there for questions on on what you saw there or Dez if you have anything to add to that. >> Um the the feedback there is a combination of like because there was even more that was said but we then gave that to people and said of the things that have been said what are the things that resonate with you the most? So these are the like top vote getters I guess are the way to describe it. That's that >> any questions on on what on that so far? >> No, there was a bullet point about um sustained focus on initiatives. Don't abandon them. Is

052there some hesitance among some staff to embrace those? We talked about it in the last presentation too. >> Which one? Okay. >> Um >> I think it's more um the feeling that sometimes when you get a new leader, this this was actually during the conversation was specifically related to new leadership that you will get going on a new initiative and then you'll get a new leader and they're like never mind that here's my pet project. And so then we lose focus. So the feeling that we need to um keep with these so that we have an opportunity to really get them in place before we um jump to the new thing um and that more sustained leadership will help with that. >> I see that coming out in the hiring uh request too that you

053you learn our system first. Don't expect to come in and change it. I know your last presentation I I got that initiative initiative continue continue is like keep on keeping on don't don't don't leave off but deepen it rather than leave it and try something new I like that >> I had read this as plus and minus like it was good to have some new focus I'm seeing that's not necessarily what we're saying here we're saying >> no the opposite that's something they want to make sure we we really focus on not doing as much anymore. >> See see that more clearly. Thank you. >> All right. Not hearing anymore. We'll kind of go on to the second meeting where we gave a uh a lot of data. Uh you know, and it was really

054taking what we've presented to you as a board over the last couple of years and giving it to this committee to to discuss and we we put people in uh groups and twos and threes to um get some feedback. And so this was a brief summary of what was shared with us from that. And so um so from our focus on student achievement so low and inconsistent performance which we've talked about as a board um and we've also talked about you know the language demographic or the language development and other demographics that may be impacting those low performances. Um and then the questions that people asked which I thought were really really you know well thought out is you know what are the things that are within our control to change. So I think that

055that's a really valid question to be asking. I think uh how do we compare to similar size districts which was a data we've given them so much data that we didn't provide that to them but that's something that we could easily too. Um I think this how are we tracking the effectiveness of current initiatives and that is a really tough question because it really goes to what you were talking about Merurl is how long do you give something to keep trying you know I mean I mean we don't want to be you know suffer the fate of NCAA head football coaches where you get one season and if you don't turn it around you're gone and and at the same time you also don't want to keep trying something over and over. And so it's

056really finding that balance of of how do you give something its its opportunity to be successful um but also you know then not also have something that people are really getting frustrated with and not seeing the results. And I don't have I think it's probably dependent upon what issue or what initiative we're talking about but you know in most cases most things do take three to five years to fully implement. So uh so I think that there has to be some uh stick to it withness. >> Yeah. I think the good pick up from there. >> I think the other thing that we've been focused on is there I think of things as kind of having layers when it comes to stick to stick to this. Um so for example early the early literacy work

057is really centered on the science of reading and that is based on brain research. How do brains develop? How do brains absorb language? Etc. That's solid. It's not going to change. That's based in like years and years of research. So, we can say we're going to stick with doing the science of reading. But within the science of reading, there's lots of different strategies we can try. And so, the key from there is where movement can come is from that point. Um, is this strategy particularly effective with our kids? If it's not, we don't have to keep like, well, what if we just really really try hard at it? Will we really really really try hard at it? It's like when it's not working, let's try something else, you know? So, it's that, you know, I

058think of like a health analogy where it's just like if that diet isn't working, it's time to try another diet. Not think like if I could just be more dedicated to it, right? >> If it's not working, there's other things that are getting in the way, time to try new things. And finally on you know the the I think the last question on that on that point is you know how do we how do issues of student movement impact their achievement. So, I think one thing that's unique to North Mary and I I remember kind of being blown away at high school graduation when I I don't know the exact number, but it was over 50% of the students had gone K through 12, you know, so it'd be really interesting to look at that

059as a data point as how long they've been in in our system versus moving in. And I think equally to that is if if let's say the data were to say that students that that are are have been in our system since kindergarten or at least a significant amount of time if they are performing well then what systems do we have in place if if the if the overall data point is being pulled down by students that are moving in do we have a quick onboarding and I say onboarding but a really high impactful get you up to speed with our kids that have have been here so that we are more readily responsive if that if that data exists, but more readily responsive to support kids that are coming in that may be moving

060in that may be coming from situations that they don't have as successful a school experience. And I would say the same thing for our language learners is to if if some of the data is demonstrating that our students that are not coming from where English is their primary home language, do are we are we equipped to support them to have their English performance be uh on par with those that come from English-sp speakaking families? So those are just some things that I think that we we'll be working through with as a team and on so I'll pause there. There any questions on the student achievement pieces? >> When when do you call them moveins? Uh if they come at first grade or do you give them a few years before you count them that way?

061>> I don't think we've actually ever tracked the data in this way. This came from um uh some teachers who said that at their school, I think it was a middle school teacher was saying at their school they were specifically um pulling data and noticing like, oh, this student who moved in at one point and did not start with us through kindergarten was struggling to get to the level of students who had been with us the entire time. And so she thought it was an interesting data point um potentially to look at. >> Well, it is. And not only academically, but there was a social factor, too. lose their friends, they have to start over again. >> Yeah. >> And and what causes people to move too, right? Um I think plenty of people have

062positive reasons to move like I got a new house or but sometimes it's circumstances that have also impacted their schooling experience. >> And I think what people when people are asking those questions, they're asking them because I think generally consensus is we're not satisfied with the our student performance results. And I'm not saying that people are looking that for the excuse making but trying to I think better understand it. So can we respond to it more uh with a better focus. So if we know that about students that move in you know what can we quickly identify are they on track and if not what supports do they need? Um because I do think that especially with multigenerational families how do we assimilate kids into becoming North Marian students? You know, if we have if

063we became a place that had a particular way of of functioning, how do we bring people in and have them feel assimilated into being North Marion and being proud of that? >> All right. So, lastly, a little preview. This is a preview of what we're doing this Thursday with uh our planning team. >> So, we wanted to just kind of give you a snapshot of what the strategic plan will kind of look like when we get it all completed. Um, we specifically just gave you feedback that we received about student data, the student achievement. This week, we'll be looking at information, data that pertains to climate and culture, as well as some data that pertains to staff development. Um, and then what we're going to do is bring all these ideas together. For each of

064the areas, we're going to work with the team to develop a vision for each of the categories. So, this is just a sample of um a vision statement around student achievement. And then we're going to develop some performance in indicators. So this is just an example of um one that could come up like a performance indicator that we're going to improve student growth and proficiency on the state assessments um by increasing etc. Um so there's probably like five or six um different performance indicators that we want to work on in each of the different categories. our teams will have an opportunity to think about what would we want those to be and then from there we'll figure out what data would we use to measure whether or not we're achieving that goal because it's usually

065not just one piece of data but actually a culmination of a lot of different pieces and then from there the hope is to get feedback from um the team on what strategic initiatives are aligned to actually moving that data forward. So, um, our hope is that we'll leave the meeting on Thursday with a list of different performance indicators that that team would like to see us focus on as well as linking the data that we could use to measure the success of those performance indicators. And then the meeting after that will be around the actual strategic initiatives. So, we have a meeting this Thursday to finish the data discuss discussion. Um, and then February 12th to identify performance indicators. Um, developing February 26, develop pro possible strategic initiatives. And then March 3rd to review a

066draft plan before we bring something for your input and review. So, it's been an ambitious timeline, but uh, one we think that we can move through move forward on. All right. >> Anything else? You guys good? >> All right. Moving on. >> Moving on. All right. Principal search preview. So, we have a uh our primary school principal position is now posted and out there. So, the search has begun for that. And so the presentation that's uh linked on the agenda is what was presented to the primary school staff on Thursday of last week. U some of this you've seen before uh from previous year's presentations um or last year's presentations I should say. So we'll go to the you know what do we try to look for? So one of the most important aspects of

067leadership is how people communicate. And so communication takes a lot of forms. It's verbal communication. It's written communication. gets even non-verbal communication. And so we really want to one of the things we try to really um go through in selecting candidates is really uh assess their effectiveness. Uh we want to make sure they're aligned to our needs and values. One of the key things is one tendency in any selection process is to compare candidates against each other. And I think when you do that, you inherently actually lower your bar. um because then you could just start comparing about this person versus this person. But we really try to anchor this in the predetermined traits that we're looking for. And so um and that is you can look at what we're looking for on our flyer

068that's also attached onto the agenda that was based on input from the primary school staff. Uh the other thing we do is we have multiple stages to determine a broad array of skills. We also do a taskbased approach because one of my mantras is don't let anybody talk their way into a job. They have to demonstrate it. Um and that you know really what I tell uh I tell the schools is you really we're doing everything to mitigate risk to the greatest extent possible. And I say mitigate risk because there's no foolproof hiring u process. Uh you're just doing the best you can to hopefully mitigate risk that you've selected the right person. So then we go through and we establish timelines and we've done a lot of this. We've already ska uh gathered the

069staff input. We're we've established the critical leadership traits. We've posted the position. We're starting to assemble the candidate pool and then we'll go through a selection process and these are the steps that we follow. So we do a blind scoring of applicants by superintendent cabinet. Um so that's me and Dez and Cheryl. Um, and when I say blind scoring is we're we're looking at their application materials separately and then ranking them one through four. One being we absolutely need to bring them in and four we shouldn't bother looking at their application materials again. And because we all view these very distinctively different and so if if I'm a one on somebody and Dez is a four, I want to know why she thinks that we should not bother looking at that candidate. she should want

070to know why I think this is a must person. Um, and you know what did did she catch a red flag that I missed? Um, did I find something that I think is really makes me curious about a candidate? Um, so that really helps um in that selection process. And the other thing is early in that process I cast a wide net. You cannot judge people by paper. um if I'm remotely curious, I'm willing to invest 20 or so minutes getting to know somebody uh to learn a little bit more about them. Um and that's where step two with an ondemand writing prompt and and some screening interviews. So, it's a really relatively low commitment on the district's part to get to know as many candidates who were interested in coming to North Marion. After

071that, we do a performance task. Um and after that, then we set up an opportunity. And by this point, we're we could be down to again when we're measuring against a predetermined standard, we're talking about it could be one candidate, it could be three candidates, it could be four candidates. Um, what's a risky move on my part is that when I put them in front of staff, I have to know that these are viable candidates for me because if a staff, because I can tell staff to say, "You're judging against the rubric, but when they meet three or four different people, they might fall in love with one of those candidates." And it's politically dangerous for me to know that one of that they fell in love with one of those candidates that if I'm

072not pretty sold on those candidates. Um, but I also believe this creates a lot of investment on the staff's part as well because I'm not relying on two or three staff members to try to represent the views of, you know, 40 people. I'm letting all 40 people uh of a school kind of get to meet them and give me their confidence rating in the candidate that they've just got to meet. And I also try to remind staff that you've only met this candidate for 30 minutes and that's about as much as you know. So this is a gut response on what these these people's first impressions. From there we do formal reference checks. We do reference checks, informal ones which are usually electronic stored type of people are given, you know, informal feedback. Uh the

073informal reference checks don't hold a lot of weight with me because these are people that the candidates have chosen. >> You're only going to pick the people that like you. So I try to dig deeper on the formal part. We do site visits if necessary and then a final interview which is really about me stating my expectations for them and want to make sure it's a good fit for the candidates. So um here's our timeline and uh I have asked Kelsey to be an observer of this process um and so uh be working with her to make sure that these dates work. Uh and then this will this presentation will be in front of our middle school staff this Thursday. Um nearly identical with the exception of dates changing because um in the case of

074both primary and intermediate both both principles are serving in interim capacities. And so we'll be getting the middle school's feedback and posting that position uh likely this Friday as well. And if you'd like to know, there is the feedback from the flyer that uh does put together based on the feedback from the primary school. >> Any questions? >> How many applicants do you think you'll have? >> Um I feel like it's been it's so different nowadays. >> It is. It you know I would hope that we could have at least 10 >> Yeah. >> qualified people that not just like the >> Yeah. Well, >> like now like 10 applicants total is not uncommon these days. It's interesting like I always compare to my very first admin job there were 72 people who applied for

075it. >> Um and nowadays like for for you to get 20 is like wow a lot of people are super interested. That's really a lot. It's pretty high. So 12 to 15 >> that would be healthy. >> That's a healthy candidate pool these days. >> Yeah. >> Not for us. I mean, in general, uh, I've been a part of, uh, hiring processes at other districts where we got seven people who applied. >> Administrative programs have struggled to get candidates to to commit to administrative programs. I think, uh, I think some teachers are looking at that job going, "No, thank you." Um, and, uh, so there's, um, and you know, there's there's been a lot of retirements of people moving out of administrators. So, just like a lot of places, I think there's not a huge

076pool. >> Um, and so that's why I really tell our staff um and you all to if use your networks to share with who you know. Um, I'm out there recruiting people, trying to get them to be interested in North Marion and come here. So, >> um, yeah. >> If a pop candidate isn't found, will you go back out? >> Yes. We never settle, you know. We never settle. If I can't bring a viable candidate to the staff, I won't at all. >> Explain the process. How does that work? >> We just basically announce it's a failed search and we repost the position, you know. So, there's a position close date. So, by which candidates cannot, you know, apply any longer. And then we would repost the position and probably post it until filled and

077and try to see, you know, maybe we, you know, someone's life circumstance changed and now they're now they're interested. So, I feel like this time frame is the best time frame to get out in front of the the kind of the rush. >> Um, I think you'll see a lot more postings after spring break in other districts and so we're trying to get out in front of it a little bit. How do you balance that side with the if someone's willing and able to do you have to give reasoning why the position isn't filled to them >> to the staff? >> No, >> to the candidates, >> you know, I mean, I would try to give more specific. I mean, I feel like I'm a is a learning organization, so you should tell people why.

078Uh, but it could be as simply we're just don't think it's the right fit. I would try to be as specific to help them be a better candidate in the future and be as honest as I could be. Uh but really if it's just not a right fit, it's not a right fit. >> So >> I will say having, you know, experienced Dan's process last year and it's very different than ones I've been in other districts, I was really pleased by like the quality of the candidates we got, the process itself. And then I think the other piece to that point that Dan was making around like measuring it against the standard versus against the pool. Um because you when you're measuring against the pool, you'll very quickly hire the tallest short person, >> right?

079And it's like it's great, but like we were looking but you know compared to everyone else like we're really looking instead to say this is the height we need you to get to and if you're not there like we'll start over. And it was really I've been in processes Dan and I were talking about it um just today where that concept of um all the before we go to staff the people we put in front of them are the people where we're like choose any of them we're so pleased with them. We will we will be happy with whoever you pick. >> So you don't go through each step then you'll close it off if it's not you won't get to whatever step that was in front of the staff. >> Yeah. No, >> I

080will not put somebody in front of that staff that I am not sold on. >> Okay. >> And that was the exact like you know like example I was giving to him that I had been part of processes before where we put people in front of um not as staff but in front of staff members on a hiring committee. They fell in love with someone. They did reference checks and were like we can't hire that person. Had to hire someone else. Had to go to the staff say you know that person you told me we should hire. We can't. Like that is just bad on every single level. So to know that we can put the right people in front and that we won't unless they're the right people. And that happened with with all

081the processes last year. We were really pleased with all the candidates like whoever and we were watching like the staff were giving us voting and we were watching the pie chart. We're like, "Oh, it's growing. It's, you know, give it like >> Yeah. Well, yeah. What learned from that a little bit is probably not leave it as the staff input for as long because then you start seeing jockeying between Yeah. But um >> do most districts involve the staff like that? >> No. >> Seems like that could be a little >> It's risky. >> Yeah, it can be a little challenging. I'm sure >> I think it the tough balance is is I've been in districts where they get no say and the larger districts can get away with that a little bit. um you

082know uh because the district office can be more removed from the classroom so there's a little bit more of defense of that um and but I've also been in situations where they've wanted to involve staff and I think having two or three staff leaders be the spokespeople for the entire group and sometimes you can get people on there that have their own motives and agendas and then you're kind of stuck dealing with somebody who's on your team that you can kind of clearly see is maybe on there protecting their interests. And I think you really mitigate that by actually putting the whole staff out there where where they're giving a basic confidence rating and what concern and then share with me your concerns and these are all anonymous. Well, once if you have 50 staff

083members giving you, you know, a one to four confidence rating and you know 80% of are positive, that's a pretty good indicator that they're at least initial gut response is I feel positive about this candidate because they're not going to know much about the person beyond 30 minutes. um and to give them a voice to say but these are my concerns you know and that gives me some things to dig into as I go to learn you know finalize those decisions okay this person picked up on something that I didn't see I'm going to dig into that um so yeah it's I will also say that one of the things that this process does is the candidates are pretty like competitive candidates look at this process and they're like >> this is where I want

084to work because this is the standard. >> Um >> and there seven steps if they can't hack through that you know they're not going to be your person anymore. >> Yeah. And so even some of those disappointing phone calls where you have to tell the person that you did not get the job or you did not advance or like that was the toughest process I've I've done >> and you know and they're like thank you that was you know that was really appreci because they appreciate the fact that the standards high. >> So >> I'll just add that I was a observer for one of the positions that you hired last year. It was super thorough, super transparent. So, no doubt you'll have the same experience. >> Well, just want to thank you. Um, you

085know, so like one of the things I also do is so like the primary school position closes on February 5th and so our process starts on February 6th. And so one thing I do is I email every candidate that's applied and said, "Here's your timeline. Here's you need to be available at these dates. if this is a conflict for you, let me know and here's what you can expect whether or not they get selected or not so that we can hit the ground that very next day and it's go time. Um, and so that they can be anticipating those things. And I think they also from uh just a first impression standpoint, the fact that they have all the dates and kind of a little bit of a what's expected, that's a good first impression,

086you know, if you're that candidate to go, wow, these guys have all of this stuff already lined out and I can start be thinking about it because if they're an acting principal, they're juggling a bunch of stuff. So >> it was also a great first impression for us because sometimes when the candidates were suddenly very difficult to schedule with or were like not answering emails on a timely like basis and it's like we told you specifically we needed a you know a date by this and and you're not responding to emails >> that tells us about your communication style or how on top of these things are you and that was a huge like tell um through some of the process. out. >> Good. >> All right, moving on. >> All right, so we have

087um a policy and an AR for first reading. And so um and this is related to our community use of district facilities. And so I want to give some background as to um why I'm recommending a change. And it's and it's not to be taken lightly whatsoever. in terms of this um um two sentences that are in the highlights of the use of um in that in that first highlighted section where it says alcohol, legal drugs, marijuana, and narcotics and tobacco are prohibited on all district property and then goes on to say the use of alcohol may be authorized by the superintendent. Superintendent will establish an application and procedures process before approval will be granted. Um, I don't take those sentences lightly. Um, and just so I want to give some background as to so

088why would I bring a policy like this before the board? So, uh, last spring there was a new professional baseball team called the Marian Berries, and they were, uh, had a relationship with the university where they were going to be playing their games, and that relationship was starting to, uh, not they, let's put it this way, they were concerned about having a place to play. and they know about uh our beautiful baseball field and approached us to say, "In the event that we cannot find a place to play, could we play some of our games at your at your baseball field?" And um and of course, you know, it's like, "Yeah, absolutely." And they said, "Well, one of the cons one of the conditions or issues that we have is, you know, they're a professional

089sports team, so what are they in this for? Making money." and they said the only way we make money is through alcohol sales, you know, and so at that point I said that is not something that I'm going to be able this was like an April conversation, that is not something that's going to happen by June. Um, but you know, I also understand that our baseball facility is a beautiful facility. Um, and is something that we should do whatever we can to bring North Mar people to North Marion to see. And one of these days we'll have, you know, we will also we have some great other facilities that we need to also be looking at bringing people to. That's a separate conversation. Um, and so in thinking through the the Barry's organization has approached

090us about wanting to be able to host uh their opening season game this year at our stadium at our field. And uh again uh in order to make that profitable for them um they need to be able to sell alcohol on site. And so um so that is the basis for why this uh policy is before you. Um and so I think what I'll do is is I'll also just one other quick little thing. There's a there was a couple things that I I just I while we're opening up this policy, I'm striking the language if you go back to the policy itself. Yeah. I'm striking this language that approval for using the facilities will be granted for a period not to exceed 3 months. I think this is totally separate from the previous part

091of this is if we have people that are regularly using our facilities, we should not make them go through this hoop. I don't know if we're actually enforcing this aspect of this policy, but if we have regular users, we should just allow them to have use. Um, and then I also wasn't sure why site councils were a part of the other one, so I struck it out. So, um, going to the AR, um, so similarly, I I made some structural and some some changes to this AR, but really want to scroll down a little bit. to brought this statement back right there is where we're at is um so that last sentence there number five superintendent will establish an application and procedures process before approval will be granted CJ KG AR2 so that is a

092piece that I am developing with our insurance agent um it's it's mostly completed um but I would bring that uh before you before I would ever ask you to uh adopt KG. I was hoping to have it here tonight, but it's not going to be ready. Our insur insur insurance agent, Rich Davis, >> Rich Davis, um uh is willing to come and present to you and talk through any concerns there would be about this. Kim and I have met with him. um he is not overly concerned if we do it properly and correctly about risk to the district um and that the district takes proper steps to ensure uh safety and also in terms of uh the insurance requirements that any outside entity would have to hold in order to be able to do this.

093Um so with that um I'm open to answer questions or uh chair Rossil if you want to have a discussion amongst the board on the first reading. Um as we've done in the past this is just a first reading. Oftentimes you've given me good feedback to take back to make amendments to to policies. Um you know this might be a policy that might require third reading. Who knows? We want to do this one right and make sure we're transparent with our community. Um, and with that, I'll turn it over. >> So, for the people who may be watching at home, do you want to talk a little bit about similar districts who have these policies? >> Excellent. Yeah. So, uh, when this first got approached to me, I thought, I've never heard of this. Um

094and so um and so it was actually the owner of the berries who said, "Well, we actually one of the teams in our our league plays at a at a middle school in Springfield and they've had this policy uh for a number of years." So, that's who I've been in contact with both with their uh director of operations and their superintendent who've provided me with uh their policies and they've they've felt like it's been a win-win for their their school district. And I think you know one of the things is uh you know we don't have a lot of ways of generating revenue >> and I think that a couple not only do does our baseball field pose an opportunity for rental opportunities to raise some revenue. Um, the other thing that that's unique about

095the the communities that comprise North Marian is there also is not a lot of rental facilities that are probably accessible to a lot of people. And the district is a hub for that. And I and I'm not here to say that I want to promote things that are going to frequently bring alcohol to campus, but I do think it's an opportunity to raise revenue uh on in the right circumstances to the right people who can properly uh ensure that both our kids, our property are going to be safe and if something happens have the appropriate resources to be able to remedy that. So, thank you for that question. So this this does exist in the Springfield school district and that's who we've tried to model our policies and our ARS after. >> Jenny, >> I'm

096just wondering um in your talks with Springfield, has there ever ever been like a well we have this problem or this is something that you guys want to think about like lessons learned? >> They did not have anything. their relationship with the baseball organization um seems to have been a really a good one and they they haven't had issues uh unique to them, not unique to us, although it does is they they also have a property that it serves as a a wedding venue and so they be an opportunity. >> Yeah. So, so we'll see. Uh they um >> and it served to generate revenue for them, but they they they were the operations officer that I spoke to said it's really been a win-win for the district and it really hasn't had issues. >>

097Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> So, the Mary and Mary's would receive the revenue obviously from the alcohol sales. How does that translate to the district? So, we're in conversations with them about how much of this would come back to us in terms of because it's a one-time deal and not an ongoing um you know, allowing some discretion from the high school of where they would want to prioritize for our it'd be really uh uh our booster club, which isn't the district, but our booster club would get the sales from the they run the concession stand. So, separate from the berries and alcohol sales. So they would have they would be running the concession stand and getting the proceeds from that. We in talking to to Tucker, there would be ticket sales that um that

098kids these are still in developmental conversations, but ticket sales for the games that the different sports team could generate and then go into all the athletic funds. And so there we're still kind of working through where it would benefit. Uh, I think being this particular being a oneoff, it's a a little bit more open for how we would benefit, but I think we stand, our athletic programs could stand to get get a nice shot in the arm. >> Another question, how do you rope off the areas for alcohol versus non-alcohol? Would the district have to provide that, enforce it? How would that side of it work? >> So, in talking with Tucker, we feel like down the left field line has an area that could be roped off. Um, and in the the AR2 that

099you don't have access to yet, it specifies that it has to be isolated where people under 21 can't access. So, kind of like a beer garden kind of structure. So, um, so we're kind of looking at that area as being the area where that would be where that would be placed and it would be roped off where that's where the alcohol would be consumed and that it would be uh 21 and over into that section. So, was there another No, was that it? Okay. >> There's also just a general cost for renting facilities that we would charge. >> I was looking at the bottom though. It wasn't very much money and it showed like $30 for three hours or $50 for on the bottom or whatever there. Yeah. >> So, we are in the process

100of reviewing. >> I think some adjustments could be made there. >> We have um some some uh rates that do not uh cover the the cost and so to subsidize a private rental um would not be in the best interest of taxpayer dollars. So, uh the AR the dollar figures in the AR definitely are going to need to be discussed. We don't want to create barriers for the community, >> but we >> need to we need to know what it would take to not subsidize private rentals. >> And I think we also just from an accuracy standpoint because we did have a college rent the baseball facility last spring and and we didn't follow that that AR. So, let's put it that way. >> Lessons learned. I have a question, Kelsey. Um, what what would

101qualify as approved versus not approved? Like how would you prevent uh biases and like gray areas? >> So, the facility rentals. >> Are you referring to specific language or >> it just says like um that the superintendent would approve that actual policy. I think that second sentence where the >> Yeah. So part of it in our application process is is really about you know are when we have an when we h have an actual application process do they meet all the requirements? So are they able to ensure it for the amount specified? So do they have an insurance uh an insurance policy that covers that piece? Have they followed all all of the OLCC requirements? Um, you know, one thing that Rich, our insurance agent, talked about is making sure that the even though they

102can be OLCC licensed, are they a are they a vendor that's that are they an alcohol pro um whoever is providing alcohol service, you know, what what is their experience? What are they um what is their history and experience in doing that? So um I can't answer specifically but I can say that the insurance piece um the OLCC requirements and then also determining um do we have an established approved vendors that we are comfortable doing that service for an outside organization. >> I don't know if you if Rich brought up anything else that >> really kind of touched on it and that's really where we're leaning heavily right now is is starting this conversation with first read. Uh Rich, again, Rich Davis, our insurance agent. Um he and in his other lines, has a lot

103of venues and so he's very familiar with, you know, the requirements. Um OLCC is very strict about having an approved site plan for every single event. Um, as Dan was just mentioning, uh, there was discussion about do you specify that if you're going to rent our facility and if alcohol is approved, you must hire X to be this to provide and serve the alcohol. So, so those are the the logistics that are still really needing to be worked out um to ensure that that risk is mitigated. >> Yeah. Who takes the liability if the rules aren't followed? >> What's that? Who takes the risk or the liability if the rules aren't followed? If someone's not on the left field line drinking alcohol in that area, how do you is it? >> So, the organization and

104the and the vendors would have to be responsible for enforcing that. And obviously district >> Yeah. Yeah. We're not going to be in the business of trying to Yeah. of trying to ma manage that. So that is all of what they're needing to bring with them to be able to manage that cuz you know we we'll be there to observe and make sure that this is a good thing and to make sure that if our our you know cuz I could imagine having been to the baseball, you know, behind the first base side is where kind of kids hang out and stuff like that by the concession stand. Is it a good experience for them and that they're safe? We're in the business of making sure kids are safe. If an entity wants to come

105in, they need to be sure that they are managing that uh part effectively. >> Merl question. >> Okay. Well, having been really really involved with auction for 10 years, um I'm in favor of of looking at this cuz really we ran out of places to go to. There was no place in district that we could have held the auction. Um and the school was not, you know, just wasn't an option because liquor sales were part of our part of our business plan. >> Yeah. >> Um and we wanted an adult event that the patrons of North Bank could go to. Um, having said that, the specific policy language, I would like to see something that says, you know, following all the OCC because they're numerous. Um, you have to have your local police jurisdiction on

106board. You have to have the insurance in place. You have to have a protein that you're serving. if you're serving, you know, if you're selling spirits, if you're selling depending on the level of of I mean, you know, there it's a process because I always was in charge of the paperwork and the and getting those approvals. Um even when we were doing I mean we were wellspring for a lot of years and you know we had to get city or woodburn police department to sign off on those you know on those things and um you know I don't know if this policy can be such or the AR can be such that an event like the auction I know it's not going right now but could also be >> part of that in a building

107because we're not going to hold auction on a football field in February. >> However, it um you know the the commons would be an amazing spot to be able to especially with the new facility be able to do a silent >> you know and in person >> and still have you know the kind of the camaraderie that comes with having an event like that. Um >> a little support for the school. >> Yeah. Well, in my comment earlier about the fact that our communities don't really have a lot of venues that are accessible uh to them. I say accessible, you know, some of the the ones that are there probably pretty spendy for a group that's trying to raise money for the schools or raise money for something, you know, that again a revenue opportunity

108for us. And so I um I do think that that would be something that I would like to explore in the future so that that auctions and things that could raise funds for that that come back to our kids. >> Things that can provide opportunities for our kids that maybe our general fund can't do but another entity could do is really uh important. Strategic planning meaning you know somebody brought up the fact that you know the lack of a foundation. We need a kind of a a North American foundation and I think that you know sometimes this is uh how you get adults together and and to celebrate you know for some includes alcohol. So I but I did write down a couple of your notes some of those are in the the AR2 but

109we could bring those some of those comments into policy. Um >> I just want to make sure that the policy doesn't leave any wiggle room. Not that you would make their but that um whoever was coming to rent here knew that the policy said they have to abide by all of the local you know all of the you know the governing regulations that would come from holding an event like this that that would that would be I think that >> for policy wise that would be important to include. So, you don't have to get specific, but um I think from >> from our standpoint as a board, >> if we're going to put a blessing on that, I think we should make it really clear that >> all of the other things need to be

110followed. >> So, any other discussion? Would somebody be interested in doing um uh what is that called? First reading. >> I'll make a motion that we um accept this as first reading policy KG. >> Do we still do first readings on it? Not I'm new to this, but it was a question where we go through and approve the first reading. >> No, this is a first reading. So, if we there are times that we'll do a first reading with adoption, >> but this kind of a policy where it's new to our district, Dana's voice that he's going to be working on several things. We'll have a first reading, a second reading, and then an adoption. >> So, hearing a first reading, do I hear a second? Oh, we don't have to vote on this, do

111we? >> Okay. You don't need This is in the record that we've had a first reading and you know the only time the board needs to vote is when we go for adoption. >> Yes. Sorry. >> We had that conversation. >> We did have that conversation but >> I dug that out from the seven year. >> Thanks Blake. No problem. >> All right. So thank you. >> Anything else you need on that or you're good? >> I really appreciate the feedback the discussion. >> Yeah. Um so we're to two action items. So we have the corrective audit action plan. So I'll turn it over to Kim. >> Thank you very much. >> So yes, so uh tonight I have presented uh some documents for your consideration. So when an audit when a financial audit uh

112identifies a finding, the district is required to develop what's known as a corrective action plan. Um these plans outline how the issues uh will be addressed. uh what changes need to happen in processes or controls and then what we are doing to uh assure our stakeholders that these uh concerns will not recur. So I have uh for the two findings that were identified in our uh audit for the fiscal year ending June 30 of 2025 uh there were uh there was one audit 2025-00001 that related to um the discovery um and disclosure of some lead balance uh inaccuracies. there was a new uh uh uh Gazsby uh implementation government accounting standards board uh that now we must uh put a dollar amount on the amount of sick leave that we have in our system for

113our staff and we must report that as a liability. Uh that was millions of dollars that was added to as a liability and to our net uh statement of net position. Through that process, it was discovered that there were some uh discrepancies in some leaf balances. And so, one of the findings is is that that liability could be misstated if those leave balances are not accurate. My corrective action plan for that is uh that there uh were some um modifications made in the accounting system uh that will avoid the duplication of approvals that were identified and ensuring proper rollover of leave balances between fiscal years. Uh additionally we're changing uh how some of our systems talk and how that data integration uh happens and is validated. So we'll be taking care of that uh with

114uh my corrective action plan of 2002 20250001 for 20250002 audit finding uh there was a stipened payment to one employee that was charged to a federal title one grant. The employee was not performing title one services as part of that stipend. So that $750 should have been paid from a different fund. um and that um was identified this year. Unfortunately, that had been in place for a couple years, but was was part of our sampling this year. And so to correct that, there was another setting within the system that allows um they call them modules, but different parts of the system to talk differently between each other. And so you can actually validate um data in two different areas. uh ensuring that your staff who are identified to be uh serving these federally funded programs

115don't have any of these small little extra pieces. So again, another um system control that has already been implemented and uh I've presented to you that that is how that is being corrected. So tonight, the action we're requesting is the review and approval of corrective action plan 2025-001 and 2025- Z002. >> Any questions on this? >> Do you need to vote on this or you? >> Yeah, this is what is an action. >> It is. >> Okay. Um, I I'll I'll make a motion so we can have questions and discussion. I make a motion that we approve the corrective audit action plan for 2025002. Incorrectction. >> Yeah. Incorrective action plan for finding 2025002. All right. Do I hear a second? One second. Oh, discussion. >> Um, I you can go to everybody else. I'm trying

116to formulate the question into words that I have. >> I just have a question probably for you that it's not necessarily a discussion. the Gazsby ruling um for sick leave is that so internally here I'm assume we're governed also by our contracts with labor and individually on confidential. So do those align or are they sort of all over the place? >> So we have without getting into >> contract union contracts that govern sick leave. we have state law that governs sick leave and now we have federal um guidance that is um guiding how that gets valued. >> Okay. >> Um I will say that this was a big point of discussion with with our auditors and um it's being this is the first year for implementation nationwide um I will be very curious to see

117how different districts implemented this. We're essentially supposed to take number of hours we have on the books times somebody's rate of pay. You come up with a dollar amount that is in Gazby's definition more likely than not to be paid out to the employee, right? And they define that as greater than 50%. More likely than not to be used in the form of taking leave. >> I my belief is that that more likely than not will vary based on your first tier. >> Sure. Because if you are in the purse tier where your sick leave is going to boost your pension, it's not just PTO. You're you're saving it and that is apparent imbalances. If you are, you know, possibly in a a different purse here where there may not be a financial incentive to

118bank sick leave, you're Yes, absolutely. It's more likely than not. Um, we went back and forth and and because there was not clear guidance from the anyway the the federal agency that was pushing this down. Uh, unfortunately all balances were were counted as more likely than not to be used. And I still I just personally experience what we see. You know, that's that's it's interesting. So, I'll be curious to see how it how it comes about and maybe we restate that liability in future audits. >> Well, that's and that's I guess my second question is if it's is a liability, how do you at some point exhaust that off your balance sheet into something, you know, what does it morph into >> it doesn't magically liability. It's just stated now. >> It's actually just cleaning

119it up. I don't see it as a big deal. >> It's that was fun. Now it puts a number two instead of having an unknown muddy water they're looking into. Now it's monthly right. >> So you are right on and Gazby 87 Gazby 96 they do all the same thing. It used to be uh you know where if we go by textbooks you might spend $250,000 on a what's called a textbook adoption. And now a lot of times people are buying subscriptions right and it's an online access to a live product which is great. It's getting updated but now you don't have a large expense on the books. So now they're having us record our subscriptions as essentially contracts even though we don't necessarily we're not locked in but we do need to record them

120that way because instead of paying 250,000 upfront we might be paying 25,000 for the next 10 years. So it's it's a way to help provide state stakeholders a better insight into what the district actually is going to need to continue to spend to operate under under current pieces. And so next year there's a whole bunch of new ones coming at us that we'll be putting in there too. So it makes it hard when you're looking at say a statement of net position. When we added $4 million over over one year there was a recent >> the first time you saw it was probably like wow that's a big number but really >> it's already there. It just was not line it >> brings clarity to it. >> It does. It does. So >> yeah, >>

121tangentally related. uh not probably totally tied to the motion, but uh I will be bringing a sick time uh a revision to our sick time policy to the February work session based on some of the things that we've discovered and trying to kind of provide a better uh clarity to our employees and try to not only improve what's in our system, but just actually then how does sick time work as it relates to other protected leaves and out there. sort of tangentally related. >> Any other discussion? Kelsey, moral. >> Yeah. Good. >> Glenn, you good? >> I'm good. Y >> Jenny, >> u I wanted to ask about 2025002. Okay. um with the uh with the cost being charged to the to the wrong federal program like and maybe the answer isn't here but um

122what sort of impact is that to our budget? Like is there adjustments that need to be made and to like retro or is it like well it's done it's done nothing that we can do about it now. >> Yeah. So, um it the $750 that was uh charged to a federal grant uh and was not eligible to be paid with that federal grant is uh within a what I was looking for within a a um >> a threshold. Exactly. Uh we have hundreds of thousands of dollars in that federal grant and this $750 was should not have been in there. So, it is below a threshold. it it needs to get uh noted so that it can be corrected but yes it's uh definitely not uh does not put us at any risk. Now not

123correcting something you know that becomes identified then that that creates concern but uh there's no budget impact maybe our ending fund balance in the general fund should have been $750 less. >> Okay. >> Or well actually no because we would have put something else for $750 in the in the federal fund. >> Yes. So yeah, >> should have been on a different name. >> Thank you. >> All right. So we have a first and a second. We had our discussion. Move to a vote. All those in favor say I. I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. >> All right. Our last agenda item that's board action is the appointment of a budget committee member. So, we ran our process of advertising for a budget committee members and Alberto Dominguez Ortiz has applied and I provided in for

124background information on him and um I'll go ahead and leave it at that and then after the vote I'll talk about next steps on the budget committee. So, the the act the motion before you um does have a space for positions and we have positions 2, three, four, and five there. So if someone makes a motion, you can pick which number, which position. I had to entertain a motion. I'll make a motion that we um appoint Alberto Dunz or I totally chopped that up. Sorry, Alberto. Um to position number two, >> a new three-year term beginning July 1, to June 30th, 2028. Good. Yeah. Do I hear a second? >> Any discussion? I'll just note that we still have three spots available for anybody watching um that you're more than welcome to apply for, right?

125Three spots open still. >> And actually, I think we have a correction. >> I think the term might be missing. >> The term is uh should be 2025. >> Oh, okay. >> Yeah. >> July 1, 2025. to June 30th. >> June 30th, 2028. >> Yes. >> Okay. I will amend my motion to vote to appoint Alberto to position number two for your term beginning July 1, 2026 to June 30th. >> No, 2025. >> Oh my god. >> 2025. >> Or you could just say a new three-year term as presented. >> As presented. >> Oh, the motion's even there. >> Okay. I will read this motion back. So, you moved to make a motion to appoint Alberto Dominguez Dominguez Ortiz, I apologize so much, to position two for a new three-year term as presented July 1st,

1262025 to June 30th, 2028. >> Is that correct? >> Yeah. >> Do I still have a second from Kelsey? >> Yes. >> Okay. Any other discussion? >> We will get through it. >> Okay. Hearing none, we'll move to a vote. All those in favor say I. I >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. Do you need anything else from us? You can go ahead. >> We have three open positions. We will re continue to revertise and we will also reach out to previous budget committee members individually to encourage them to uh reapply for uh an appointment. >> How many total positions are there? >> Seven budget committee and then seven board members makes it 14. So, seven and we have right now five >> with Albert Thor. >> Five, Greg. >> So, >> four positions. >>

127Yeah. >> So, we have four now filled and we need three more. >> How does that work then if we're short? >> So, there's kind of some real specific rules on how a quorum is counted and that kind of thing. We can we can I can I don't want to freestyle on that. >> We're good. That is, >> but the state does have some guidance on there. >> Any other questions before we adjourn? Are you good now? >> Yeah. Okay. Any other questions? Thank you for staying and presenting. We appreciate you. Okay. I'll adjourn this meeting at 7:43. >> Thank you.