February 23rd School Board Meeting

001call our meeting to order for the Ontario School District board of directors. Um, welcome all of our visitors. It's nice to see all faces out there. I know you guys were here this um month, but last month it was board appreciation, so there wasn't this great big audience, believe it or not. Strange, huh? No, thank you for making it this time because we get to actually rejoice the good things in our school district, our young ones. Thank you all for coming. Uh, also I want to just point out that we've had uh I'm going to say over half the year done and we're coming on that springtime. Weather's going to start getting warmer which means we're going to start getting a lot more excitement about the the weather change and the warmth and uh those

002spring sports start and the spring things will start happening and I hope you all get a chance to take advantage of those in our district. So, thank you for all you do. We all stand for our >> flag. Are there any agenda changes? >> Hearing none, we will move on to the consent items. Everybody get a chance to review your consent agenda. >> Have any questions out of that? Hearing no questions, I would hear a motion to approve the consent items. >> Motion to items. >> Motion made. >> I will second. >> Motion made and seconded. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion to approve. >> Reports and recognitions. OM. >> Good evening. My name >> Okay. Good evening. My name is Eileen Yella Trujillo. I am the Ontario Middle School student body

003president. MS student council is in the beginning stages of planning our annual chocolate bar fundraiser. All money raised is spent directly on students. It also provides all eighth grade students an opportunity to sell chocolate bars in order to pay for their end of the year trip to Wahoos. The fundraiser will kick off on April 20th. Earlier this month, Idaho Shakespeare Theater provided two separate performances of The Keeper of the Woods for our students in Tiger Gym. One performance for sixth grade and another for seventh and eighth grade. We would like to thank Mike and Debbie Blackabe for the generous donation they made in order to provide us this opportunity. The last couple of weeks, MS counselor Mrs. Parish and student success coordinator Carmina Santana teamed up with the OHS counselors, Mr. Kilzer and Mrs. Castillion,

004to sit down with each student with each eighth grade student individually with their parents if they could make it in order to create their four-year plan for high school. Spring sports start next Monday. Spring sports include baseball, softball, track, and tennis. Students in all grades are eligible to participate. What questions can Mrs. Longoria or I answer for you? >> Any questions? >> I don't have any. Sorry, Mr. Blackabe wasn't here to hear us. Thank you. Pass it upon OS student report. D. >> Good afternoon. I'm Donna Hernandez, the public relations officer, and I have the report. Um, after busy weeks of campaigning and voting, we now have a new ASB team and a new class representatives. Starting with the new ASB team, we have Payton Erlback as our new president, Amanda Martinez as our vice

005president, Gracie as a secretary, Ezekiel as a treasurer, Marisel as our activities director, and lastly, Lily as a new public relations officer. Now I will introduce our new class representatives. Starting with the new sophomore representatives, we have Anita Gomez Mesa, Brian Hernandez, Nikia Gos, and Brock Trimble. For new junior representatives, we have Violet Gonzalez, Dorothy Claorado, Mariah Nunes, Carly Bonedz, and Hazel Mahano. Lastly, for senior representatives, we have Ben Clark, Elena Martinez, Kiana Mendes, Aiden Ivers, and Bryley Woods. These representatives will start picking up their role starting next week. Now, for class reports, freshman representatives just started their schoolwide Riddle in January. They also have recently finished with their Valentine's card making activity, which is open to all students. They have now completed the necessary fundraiser and two activities of the trimester. For the sophomore

006class, they hosted their valent the Valentine eternal flower fundraiser. Students were able to purchase long-lasting flower arrangements to send to his friends and classmates. And the event was a great success. Currently, they are in the planning stages of the leadership banquet. Their team is working on organizing decorations and ensuring the event recognizes and celebrates the hard work of all student leaders. The junior class hosted a Valentine's Day appreciation activity. They gave out heart-shaped papers to every student and picked up the heart with handwritten messages about what Valentine's Day is to them or who their Valentine Day is. Other than that, they have began working on planning everything for prom and running concessions to fund money for all the expenses. Lastly, the senior class has hosted a senior painting project where people brought different items to

007paint like shirts, shorts, and tote bags. Any questions? Any >> questions from the board? Thank you for coming up. >> February student of the month. So what we will do is now start to recognize the students of the month. Uh board will come down and stand up here in front. The presentations will be made. You can come through and shake our hands as you go through. We'll also recognize the parents so that you can stand up and be recognized for your child. You don't have to come forward but you can we will ask you to stand up. So we clap for you. Um so that will be our process for tonight's student of the month process. >> Hello, I'm Mrs. B. I'm the principal at um Alamita here. I'm the fourth and fifth grade um

008principal and I have the pleasure come over here sweetheart to recognize Olivia Davis as our first student of the month. Olivia, do you want to face your mom and dad in case they want to get pictures? I have to use this for a second because I have to read it. Um Olivia's sense of integrity shines every day. She's consistently trustworthy, dependable with her schoolwork. She avoids drama, which is really hard to do in fourth and fifth grade. Uh, seeks adult guidance when needed, and always shows gratitude to friends who make positive choices. She is a stellar role model, and I'm so proud to have her in our class. Mrs. Lanigan and Olivia's parents, will you please stand? I think dad helps coach baseball. Olivia's whole family. Sister, you can stand, too. Okay. And our next

009student of the month is Ana Lisia Silva. Come on down, Ana Lisia. >> Anaisia just got back from seaside. She was in a cheer competition over the weekend. She's like super involved in activities outside of school. So, um, Ana Lisia is a role model for her peers because she consistently demonstrates integrity in everything that she does. Whether a teacher is watching or not, she can be trusted to do the right thing. Showing a level of maturity and honesty that sets a high standard for the classroom. Beyond her own actions, Anisia's character shines through in how she treats others. That's so special. She is always the first to offer a helping hand to a classmate in need, proving that true success comes from lifting others up. Her dedication to being fair, kind, and responsible make her

010invaluable member of our school community. Miss Orbone and Ana Alicia's family, please stand. Good evening. I am Toby Huddleston, principal at Aken Elementary, and I'm really happy I have two teachers here tonight to give away their awards, their welldeserved, well-honored awards. So, we'll start with Mrs. Justine Sigura Emory, do you want to join me up here? It is a true joy to recognize Emory for her outstanding integrity. Emory brings so much light to our classroom. She is incredibly sweet, funny, and has a joyful spirit that makes everyone around her smile. But what truly sets Emory apart is her inner strength. Integrity means doing the right thing even when no one is watching. And Emory lives this every single day. She is remarkably brave and honest. Whether she is speaking up for herself or standing up

011for her friend, Emory has the courage to do what is right, even in difficult situations. We are so proud of the leader and friend she is. Congratulations, Emory. >> And will Emry family please stand? Hello. My super student is not here, but she's really incredible. So, I'd like to tell you about her anyway. So, Amelia Slater is such a blessing to our class, and I'm blessed to be Amelia's teacher this year. Integrity is one of the many quality character traits she models every day. And since I've gotten to know Amelia, I found her to be trustworthy, self-directed, and able to hold not only herself accountable, but her classmates. She's a table captain in large part because she's consistent and inspiring example of what having integrity, doing the right thing, and staying accountable for her own

012choices means. So, thank you to Amelia for being the wonderful you that you are. And this is for Sir Tiff. Uh good evening. My name is Kevin Caps. I'm the principal at Mayor Roberts Primary School. And uh for our first award, uh we're going to have um one of our amazing kindergarten teachers, Susie Douglas. Um she's going to present for us. So I thought of Gel for the character trait of integrity. Gel is honest, ethical, and encourages his peers to do the right thing by his actions. He's the first person to admit if he makes a mistake. He doesn't care about being right or winning, but he cares most about doing the right thing. Gel, you're an amazing student. I'm going to read this again in Spanish. If his parents would hand. And for our

013second student, I didn't see Ezekiel come in. Double check. Um, but I still want to celebrate him because uh he really he's a really great example of integrity. And this was written by his first grade teacher, Mrs. Kelly Grindle. Ezekiel Ramirez is a great example of integrity. He is truly an outstanding student who dedicates himself to all of his work. He's always kind and supportive. He is a great friend to his classmates and is respected by his teachers. He consistently says please, thank you, and yes, ma'am. when given tasks. He makes wise choices and can be counted on to do the right thing. He always thinks of those around him. He is selfless and shares the prizes he earns with his peers. I cannot express enough positive things about this remarkable young man except to

014say how proud I have how proud I am of him. So, Ezekiel Ramirez I'm Mrs. Judson, vice principal at Ontario Middle School. And first, could I have Rebecca Zugnar join me? Sixth grade. Our sixth grade team proudly names Rebecca Zubner as our February nominee for integrity. Rebecca is a true example of character, bringing a positive light to every classroom she enters. Her strong moral compass and dedication to doing the right thing make her an inspiration to her peers and teachers. Thank you, Rebecca, for setting such a wonderful example and >> Yaslyn Campos, integrity is demonstrated by doing the right thing for the right reason even when no one is watching. Nazine Campbell is a good example of having integrity by meeting expectations without being asked or reminded. She follows through with what she says she'll

015do, even if she's the only one. Yasine shows respect to those around her and is often quietly helping others. Keep up the great work, Yasine. Desine's family please stand to be recognized and Isaiah Day. It is with great pleasure that MS recognizes Isaiah Dave, a student of the month, for his demonstration of integrity. Isaiah is an individual who has high personal standards and chooses to do what is right. He serves as a strong role model for his peers. In class, he focuses on his classwork and uses his class time responsibly. He puts in his best effort on assignments and isn't afraid to ask for help. Not only does Isaiah show his integrity in the classroom, but he also shows it in athletics and is an a great example to his peers. They look up to

016him due to his hard work and dedication that yields positive results. Congratulations, Isaiah, and keep up the great work. They took the family stand to be recognized. >> I am Ken Martinez. I'm the principal of Ontar High School and I want to recognize Knox Warner, please. Knox was nominated for his integrity, leadership, and respect for classroom. Knox consistently goes out of his way to help clean up and take care of classroom space without being asked. Recently, after a group of students left a significant mess behind, Knox not only stepped up to clean it up, but also addressed his peers about their actions. He expressed it was not fair to leave a mess for others to clean up and emphasize the importance of taking responsibility for shared spaces. What stood out most was that he did

017this without being prompted by adults or staff. He demonstrated accountability, courage, and leadership by holding his peers to a higher standard while taking action himself. Knox's behavior reflects strong integrity, respect for others, and pride in his environment. He is very deserving of this recognition. Congratulations. >> Stand and be recognized. Chef Bryant, would you come? This is OHS corner Chef Ryan. He's gonna read for a second. Ladies and gentlemen, uh I'd like to talk to you about a young man named Brandon Lozano. Uh Brandon's been with me for his second trimester. uh after he received his Oregon food handlers license, he went into food service and now he's currently in my culinary one class. Um he's the type of student that as an employer I would want. He steps up, he cleans, he checks his kitchen

018for cleanliness. He's the first one to raise his hand if a mistake was made, no matter how or who made it. Um his integrity in his kitchen as well as in my class is second to none. He is an amazing young man and I'm so proud to be able to teach him. Brandon, would you come up here Brandon's family stand and be recognized as well? Congratulations. >> Hey, everyone that got a certificate could come up really quick so I can take a picture. address. right there. Beautiful. Patience. Are you ready? basketball. I'm so sorry. Excuse me. >> How are you? Basketball's over. tomorrow. >> Thanks for coming though. I know you're retired. Okay, to continue. Next one on your agenda is reading date is perfect. Just here >> Christie, our hero who turned on the

019air conditioning. >> Thank you. Well, freezing, so I brought my I know. >> Tell us when you get cold because grown on. It's on air conditioning right now. >> Keep her for a little while. activity. >> No. >> Yes. >> So, good evening. Well, I think most of you know me, but I'm the literacy coordinator here in Ontar School District. And um before doing this job, I was the assistant principal with Andrea Alama. So, I've been here a while. So, in front of um board members, I gave you a handout. That way, I can move through the material pretty quickly because I knew we had a full night tonight with the kiddos here. So, you can review some of it later and if you have questions, you can let me know. But I'm just highlighting

020some of the really exciting stuff happening in reading. And if we're talking reading, I get really excited. So, I wanted to make sure I kept it short and sweet because I could probably talk for a while. So, let's jump into it. Um, so to start, we're going to look at some data really quickly in reading. And just so you know what in the world I'm talking about in case you're not an educator, we have different measures. So, for kindergarten, we look at letter sounds. That's just how many sounds they can say in a minute. kindergarten word reading or first grade, sorry, word reading fluency. Um, and actually our kinder and first grade teams have done such a wonderful job the last two years working together that this year they're actually monitoring first grade passage reading

021fluency, which I'll talk about in a second. And Kinder is monitoring word reading fluency. So, they've raised the bar for themselves on their own accord because they're hitting out of the park, which we'll get to. And second through fifth grade would be passage reading fluency. So that would be that one minute read. This is what the test actually look like. So this would be a second grade passage reading fluency and this would be a fifth grade passive reading fluency. So in front of you you have the last three years winter benchmark data and what you're looking at is the percent of atrisisk students. So in usually we want the number to go up but in this case we want the number to go down. So the percent of at risk students and by at risk

022on I think it's page two for you guys you have the table that shows you what we're looking at. So we consider at risk below the 40th percentile which really 40th percentile you're about average and this is a nationally norm. So compared to million of millions of other students across the nation. Um so we really tend to only get super concerned when they drop below that percentile. But the percent you're seeing is how many of our students are scoring below the 40th percentile on that measure. Does that make sense? Okay, good. So for kinder letter sounds we were at 38% 26 which I'm like 26 is a really small percent. No way can we improve status quo but again Kinder ramped it up Miss Douglas and her team. So this winter only 22% of our

023students are scoring below the 40%. So basically they're almost all above average. So they're awesome. First grade word reading fluency 37%. So again, huge jump. That's why they've moved on to pass fluency to get them ready for second grade. Second grade 50 from 52% to 39%. We made a big change this time last year in second grade. They took a really close look at their tier one program. So, I'm going to talk about reading interventions in a minute, but really we have to look at what we're doing in our tier one because we can't just be pulling kids for intervention pulling kids for interventions, right? So then you're just spinning your wheels. So instead, second grade as a team work together to make an adjustment in their tier one. And I'm super glad we trusted

024them. Third grade 44% again another big jump or third grade. Did I say third grade? Sorry. Fourth grade 44. Fifth grade went from 49 to 34%. That's amazing. And you saw that fluency passage for fifth grade. It's rigorous. So I think they have to read like 15 words a minute. Like it's it's a hard test. So >> super appreciative of our team. Yes. >> So from the first grade or excuse me from the kindergarten letter sounds to the first grade. So 2025 to 2026 we went down a little bit. Is that because of work we're moving from sounds to words? If we look 25 2025 >> I see what you mean. So if you're looking at that 26% in 2025 this winter they were at the 37% right completely different. So obviously if we um

025assess them on letter sounds it would be well >> is that pretty typical though that you see that kind of dip for a second. So we work on that make awareness and the letter sounds and then the blending is a whole another skill if you know yeah reading but um yeah >> because everybody else like jumps every year it gets better and better. So >> any other questions on the day. >> All right. Super thankful for our teachers because I was able to come share really happy news. So there you go. All right. So the next thing um I wanted to talk about is uh why are the kids doing so well? So I just wanted to share a couple updates of systematically things I think have made an impact and things that our teachers

026and our admin feel like is helping. So it's really not one thing but it's a lot of things and it's working together in all three buildings. It's really coordinating our efforts so that as they transition between those buildings, when they see three blanks and we're doing a phmic awareness drill, they all know what those three blanks mean. Okay? It's just little things like that. So, every single one of our kinder through fifth grade students receive 45 minutes of daily reading intervention at their instructional level every single day. So, whether they're reading five grade levels above, five grade levels below, everyone moves. Okay. So, our core intervention program that most of the students are in is called SIPs. And there's more information on your handout about that, but there's three main levels to it. And so,

027I'll talk really quickly about that. Um, but the kids move through this program as they progress at their pace. So, some might move lesson by lesson. Some as we monitor each month and give them those assessments I already showed you, if they make a big jump, see you, they're going to jump into the next program. Okay? So, the coaches are constantly looking at that data and moving them through these programs. Um, but they're all being taught with fidelity the same way. Our instructional assistants, our teachers, whoever is sitting down teaching them, our VP when they fill in, whoever once they get to SIP's challenge, which is um a higher level intervention program. So that means you can decode, you can read, but that's where they really get into more language spelling, which we're going to

028have lots of winners of the spelling be this year, I can tell you. Um, once they test out of our challenge program, they move into novel study groups. And we have more novel study groups this year than we've ever had, which is really exciting because that's when they actually have a book in front of them, a highinterest book in front of them. But we have to get them reading first. Um, but don't worry when they get into the novel study groups, we still have a very intentional plan for that. So the coaches have developed must do may do pages for the IAS and teachers who teach that. So there's still really rigorous outcomes that they want as far as instructional goals, the type of text they select, etc. Um, we're using some of our grants

029to purchase lots of high interest chapter books to help give up some kids. >> So, speaking of grants, another fun thing that we started this winter that I think has helped is Tiger Reading Time. So, Tiger Reading Time started at the beginning of January and it's an afterchool reading program for kindergarten through 2 grade students. All students are eligible. Um the students that we invited first were students who just maybe needed a little bit more help in a small group. The group is a 1 to6 or less ratio with a teacher or instructional assistant. We were able to offer this program um in collaboration with Eastern Oregon um University reading clinic. They received an early literacy community grant and they actually reached out to a bunch of districts in our area and we're the only

030one that was able to staff it. So kudos to our teachers and I first after school because we were the only one running it even though they're waiting for it. So super super cool. So that's an hour extra reading practice they do every day. Um in the picture these are kids painting um word boxes. So, as they learn new words, they'll write down their favorite words in the meeting and their meeting and put them in the boxes. Um, and Mrs. Douglas, who presented the Kipper Award, she's one of our teachers. Um, also on page two of your handout, there's a lot of text down there, but I wanted to include all of it because um, the directors from Eastern Oregon came and did a site visit and she emailed me because she thought it was

031so amazing. And that's verbatim the email she sent me. So I just included it because it not only praised our staff of teachers, but it also praised um even our nutrition department because they provide them a hot meal every day and they were like, "You guys feed them dinner?" I'm like, "Well, cats are hungry." And they eat it. So um anyways, I just wanted to keep that in there. >> Is it something that you think we'll be back next year? >> Hopefully. Yeah, it just depend on the money they get. But um yeah, we were excited to do it. We jumped all over it. So I couldn't believe when they said we were the only ones doing it. I was like >> and we have a waiting list and I mean >> you said it's

032K2. So is it happening at May Roberts Primary and >> Thank you. Yes, it's happening at May Roberts and Aken >> and it's only for second grade. >> It's K2 because that's part of the grant. >> Okay. >> It's early literacy. So they're super specific about the ages. So we invited as many as we can. So we have 33 because it does also have to be six or less because it's high dosage. Again, we could put down there's a lot of rules, but we're happy to buy by the rules as long as and they also even send us money to buy supplies. So we were able to again get some books for the kids got to take books home. Super cool. >> Great. So, speaking of grants, I also included on your handout just the

033three other grants that I'm working with that um are helping fund some of these initiatives that again are helping us systematically either sustain or add to our reading programs that again I think have really helped in um our data that we're seeing. >> Sorry, I talked really fast so I wanted to get through it. I had a lot to tell you. So, any any questions on any of that? >> Um sorry, I'm full of questions. I need my mic spot for the 2025 2026 Orton comprehensive literacy state development grant. That was double what they're giving us in the other years. >> Yeah, they gave it to us like at the end of a year, so no one had time to spend it, so it was like double. Devon could tell you the technical stuff, but

034that's the Christy version of what happened. So >> that's Christy version's good, too. >> I do reading. He does teach me. He does a great job. We can get the most out of the grant. Y any other questions? >> I was hoping one of you is going to ask about >> what has the grade level reconfiguration? How is that >> Christie? What has the grade level reconfiguration done for reading in the district? >> Great question, Jenna. Thank you. So if you remember this slide when I talked about offering lots of different levels that's what it does. So take for example if you were an advanced student at pioneer there was one teacher and maybe two i8 during that intervention block. So your possibilities are three groups. Okay. Now we do not only kinder where you

035have seven teachers but then they do pods. Um, and the reason we do that is then we can break up those intervention times into four different offerings. So now we will only have three teachers, three class loads. So 60 kids, which isn't a lot, but then the three teachers, but then we flood in all those IA. So maybe there's seven IAS. So now all of a sudden you have 10 options. >> Well, and when we've toured the schools, we've gotten to see it in action and it's pretty cool. I mean, it's a welloiled machine and every school does it a little bit differently, but how it works for them. Um, and having kids who also do this and come home and talk about it. Um, it really is very fluid. Like if you master something,

036you can go to a new group and there you are and you get to keep getting challenged and learning more. So, >> yeah, I would say one particular grade level, it would span maybe four to five grade levels as far as like the complexity of what they're working on. And with the smaller groups, it's more like one to five or one to seven. The ratio struggling or striving readers, yeah, they're going to be in a group of two or three kids, whereas um our novel study groups, I know like Mrs. Gray at Aken, she has like 30 some, but she loves it and they get super into it and she's amazing. So, we do are thoughtful about who's teaching the the larger groups of of high kiddos because they do get a little bit larger,

037but they can handle it and they're doing some independent study and and learning how to be more independent. So, it's a win-win. >> Can I add to that, too? Um, the grade level model has allowed us to for teachers to learn from each other more frequently, like on a a daily basis. If they're all teaching SIP groups, our instructional coach can just step in and one can step out and go see somebody who's just learned a way to really rock a certain portion of it. So the collaboration and the growth that our teachers do is kind of amped up entirely from what it was before where we'd have to purchase a sub, have them come in and have this really regimented um learning experience. >> So the systems really uh have really been dialed in

038and uh calibrated, if you will. >> Yeah. Yeah. Lots of pure observation, lots of modeling. or I think last year I counted up that 1.0 over 80 demo lessons between the coaches and I. So just quickly sitting down you watch me teach you teach but again so it's consistency and they're hearing it the same way and really to um just that um professional development like in real time. A lot of our staff hasn't been trained on the science of reading and so we can show them exactly what that looks like to teach a kid to read how they learn to read no matter what curriculum's in front of them. Christie, would you talk about also the um the days that we have our our instructional assistant training because you oversee that and it's amazing. >>

039Yeah. And my favorite so we do their tiger for series we call it. So on those peach Fridays that they put on the calendar. Um, so I get them for a full day uh before school starts or no half a day, sorry, half a day before school starts and then five Fridays we do 9:30 to noon for the Tiger Support Staff series. Um and we have really um organized agendas and we offer them all sorts of different PD that's pertinent to the work they're doing which five years ago again we were scrambling like trying to train them as we went doing the best we could but now it's all again calibrated there's a system for it um and so they're all hearing the same thing the same way because it's K12 IA so they're all

040learning about their science they're all learning about trauma and foreign we have one coming up all about restorative practices. So, they know what's happening in the classroom and they can best support it. They're super appreciative of it and they give feedback. Um, and so we read that and we adjust and get them the training they want. >> It's been that's really key because they are our teachers just along with our teachers, right? Our >> Yeah. Really building their capacity so they have a group in front of them, they can really run with it. But not even not just growth in student data, but growth in like teachers and IA's success and confidence >> and their Yeah, I would say their confidence and hopefully that's helped like turn around and they feel better about their job

041and they feel supported. >> Thank you. >> One Let's do it. >> We have an opportunity to recognize another student. >> Absolutely. >> Um, ladies and gentlemen of the board, I'd like to introduce Amelia Slater. She is in Miss Lee's second grade classroom. And I'm going to read what Miss Lee wrote about you. Okay. I am blessed to be Amelia's teacher this year. Integrity is one of the many quality character traits she models every day. Since I've gotten to know Amelia, I found her to be trustworthy, self-directed, and able to hold not only herself accountable, but her classmates. She's a table captain and a large part because she's a consistent and inspiring example of what having integrity, doing the right thing, and staying accountable for her own choices means. Thank you, Amelia, for being the

042wonderful you that you are from Mrs. Lee. And would Amelia's family please stand? small cheerleaders. >> Mrs. Lee has a beautiful award for you and she's gonna do a little celebration instrument. All right, we'll move on to our agenda. We have TCC opportunities. >> Well, good evening superintendent, members of the board. Thank you for giving us a few minutes on your agenda this evening. Have a few folks that have joined me. My name is Dana Young. I'm the president of Treasure Valley Community College. With me this evening is our board chair, Stephanie Crowe. Have our director of advising and dual credit Stephanie Esther, vice president of student services, Travis Petridge, and vice president of academic affairs, Sandy Porter. And this evening, we just wanted to talk a little bit about the great partnership that we

043have with Ontario School District and in particular with the high school um principal Martinez and Dr. Hawkstrat and everybody that helps us do successful things with the high school students taking dual enrollment courses. So, I have a little bit of data for you. Would it be okay? We didn't give it to you to hand out. Would it be okay? >> I can hand you the rebrand. So just a little bit about TVCC. In 2425, we served a headcount of 9,000 students, which means they took one course or more with us at the college. And I've provided a breakdown of the different age groups for you. So you can see that we serve a diverse age populations and about 15% of our students are under the age of 18. Um we also serve uh 24.6% Hispanic

044students and 43.8% Caucasian students. You'll notice that there's a a chart off to the right there that says not reported. We have difficulty. It's an optional field and we have difficulty getting students to mark that box. Um it was going along pretty well and then within the last year or two folks have been a little more reluctant to mark the box. So we're working on that so that we can continue to track those students. Um and those categories for us are super important. So, as it relates to Ontario School District, on the left hand side of your sheet, I wanted to talk a little bit about uh the partnership. So, in reducing college costs for Ontario high school families last year, 24-25, 128 Ontario high school students took Kou Valley Community College credit courses. So

045the dual credit courses together they earned 900 college credits and that was a savings of about 117,720 in tuition uh for 2425 tuition information. So the regular cost of tuition at Christian Valley Community College is $117 plus $24 in fees. So that's for a total of $141 per credit. But dual credit students that are taking liberal arts courses pay $45 per credit total for the academic courses and the career and technical education courses are free. So students don't have to pay for those and no uh fees are charged. So uh we we checked on another statistic we thought might be of interest and that is a strong foundation for future college transfers. So, since 2021, 163 Ontario high school students who earned TBCC credits have successfully transferred to four-year colleges, starting their universities with a

046strong academic head start. And we think that's an important statistic because we know that families are very interested in that. So, a high participation and meaningful savings. Each year, an average of 90 Ontario high school students take the TVCC courses. And again, we did that over several years. Um, completing an average of 6.6 college credits per student and saving approximately 179963. $1,800 >> and that's for tuition costs. And then um we also um Ontario school high school students continue to leverage TVCC courses at an affordable college cost per credit and they can do career exploration and smoother transitions to both workforce training and uh to college and university study. Uh, one other key fact that I wanted to cover and then I'm going to have Travis come up and talk a little bit more about

047the um, scholarships and tuition waiverss that we have. Um a key fact is that uh TBCC's contribution to the regional economy which is wages contracts and student spending total $43.1 million in and we are just now filling out um that information again for our region so we'll have a new number next year. So we just we wanted to spend a few moments tonight. I have some other folks who want to talk a little bit um and um just continue to strengthen this great relationship that that we have with Ontario. So, I don't know. Uh Chair Crow, did you want to say anything? >> I'll just get away from the podium. Come on. chair, board members, superintendent, and community members. My name is Stephan Crow and I chair the board at Tre Valley Community College. It's

048truly my pleasure to be with you this evening. Be on this side of the podium is quite nice. I just want to take a few moments to just share share how important the relationship is between both institutions and as as and that is vital if we continue with the success for our students which we all share from your school to ours. The students that are in your classroom today will walk through will be the same students who walk through the doors at Treasure Valley Community College. They will they will not be just your students or our students. We will share respons the responsibility to prepare them for success through strong partnerships between K12 and Tor Valley Community College to create smoother transitions after graduation from Ontario High School. Expand dual credit and early college opportunities

049for all students and to better adjust to better to have better adjustment between curriculum and workforce development. We would like we would like to believe we remove the barriers for our students and our families and we and we deeply appreciate the relationships and the work and the working together with the transparency of our boards. I'd like to believe that our we serve our students and the families in this region that we live in to make their lives and lifestyles better. Like to personally thank you all for all your hard work and all you do for the students that will walk through the doors of TBCC. Thank you. >> Thank you for this opportunity. Again, my name is Travis Net, vice president, student services at Church Valley Community College. I've been a Chucker for way more

050than half my life, so um kind of bleed the orange um pretty well. So, there's a couple of things. I I gave you a lot of literature um in that packet and uh my job title is about as long as everything I gave you there, but we'll I'll keep it brief to a couple of points. Um, one of the things that that I wanted to share um, really is uh, one of the challenges and concerns we just recently um, conducted uh, a research study with a contractor to let us know uh, what high school students college found high school students are interested in barriers to, you know, college and so forth. One of those uh, was affordability, right? And and we hear it all the time. So, I'm going to kind of highlight some things

051that that in spirit of what we're trying to do at the college to help reduce that burden and take that barrier down. First of all, our our tuition in comparison to all the other 17 community colleges in Oregon, we're in the bottom third in regards to total costs. Um 10 years ago, we were in the top third. So, we've made a pretty conscious effort to make sure we keep tuition prices down. On top of that, um, our discount rate is anywhere between 20 and 30%. Um, for all of our current students. So, we do that by investing in our college foundation. Kathy Yuda does an amazing job. She awards over $400,000 in foundation scholarships to students every year. Scholarships can go towards anything towards the cost of college. and then institutionally uh implemented a handful

052of waivers over the last five or six years as well to support that. So we've offered things like our chuck promise waiver uh which is recruitment waiver which $1,000 per first term. There are no restrictions on that. It's really we're trying to help students make that last effort, last decision to attend attend college. The Western Treasure Valley merits a pretty fresh one too. the last three or four years, it's had an evolution, but a student with 3.5 GPA at a high school automatically qualifies for it. They just need to apply, submit their transcripts, and they get $2,000 first year to support that as well. U president also has uh two two versions of waiverss that to her discretion. One is presidential promise in which she shares with the districts and the districts get to help

053pick and select students that can receive that waiver. um just because we know we can't get to all students and they know need just as the next person and then also uh some uh merit presidential merit as well and then our CT go on is a recent one as well for students who are taking CT dual credit classes $3,000 their first academics seen some evolutions that as well they persisted on CT other opportunities for waiverss include um which is get a lot of students we've had students from high that quality in our leadership program, our ambassadors, peer mentors, uh, and then also athletes. Well, Eddie Rodriguez, um, who don't think attended Ontario High School, but is an Ontario resident. Um, he's our men's basketball team right now, which is ranked number one in our conference,

054and is our leading scorer, and it's a lot of fun to see local talent kind of being on the mainstream of that. So, athletic waiverss also give that opportunity for students to persist. We offer over 15 different athletic teams on our campus as well. That's one thing that we heard that not a lot of students knew that we had athletics. So, uh we're really kind of bumping that a little bit. And then a handful of things that that we have available to us. Um in regards to resources, I think that's also another misunderstanding of we don't have the resources that some universities have, but we have a benefits navigator. We have a step program for students qualify for SNAP and receive assistance. um we have on site counseling contract for students as well mental health

055concerns and a handful of other things support system that so um it's just really sharing that getting that is one of the impact the other thing I wanted to hit on really quickly and I won't go too deep into it but we we have rebranded and we're excited about it one of the things and why we're here today is part of our strategic plan which we received a copy of as well is to tell the story um and uh one of the departments I acquired about a a year and a half ago was Mark King. Um, and uh, if if you see any design flaws, blame this guy because still working. We're working on getting a marketing manager, which we have now. We're working on a CIO now. Um, but uh, we do what we

056can. I wear a lot of hats. That's why I have the hairstyle I do. So, but, uh, we're excited to tell that story with a consistent message. Um, I shared with you our onepage brand guide. All that's available on our website as well. We have some intro videos that we really excited for to share. >> President Young, did I have to get anything? >> I don't think so, but I hope you like the swag that's there. >> Well, I just only have two hands. >> Yeah, new new mascot, new logo. So, I love a brand guide. Why? But I love it. Exactly. Our one we had And I love that your shirt is on brand. Good job tonight. >> There we go. >> To give some highlights on credit. >> She's done some amazing work.

057Well, as a Ontario High School graduate, long time ago, um I really really enjoyed working with Ontario High School just um blocking the halls that you graduated from. Um I work very closely um with Dr. H, right? Um I'm there I have a standing appointment every month to come and just talk to any students that u might just have questions about anything from um you know scholarship opportunities or new degree programs getting started. Um and so that's something that I have done for quite a few years and to be honest the only school that I do that with and not just because you're right there. Um and so that relationship um I feel like there's um a lot of really open communication. Um Dr. Hi probably communicate weekly um just with different different things that

058she's you know trying to get to help students um navigate those next steps. Um on the back side I think of your hand on the side um it does outline some of the the dual credit opportunities that we do offer um at Ontario High School. We have a a ton of the CTE, right? That's um again, I think um Ontario High School has the most uh CTE dual credit opportunities out of any of the schools that that we work with. Um and we have our long long-standing uh writing composition. Um and last year we were able to offer the US history. Um I don't think that's being offered this year, the honors. I think it's not being offered, but we did we were able to pick up um math um pre-calculus again. I'm super happy

059to help out um those students who are were really looking to um knock out math in high school, which is a really good idea. Um and so that's going and that is going well as well. So again, just excited to um you know, continue to to work with Ontario, hoping to be able to grow um some of the opportunities for dual credit or you know, just other areas. the partnership is is super important to us and we'll just we thank you for your questions from me at all. I don't have questions, but I appreciate as someone who took math and in high school and voted out. I didn't take my 101s when I got to university to laugh at the people that did and the price they were paying for >> it. It actually allowed

060me to graduate a little bit early. So, we need your dual credit. >> All three of us have dual credit. We can all say that you or I can tell them, "Oh my goodness, you really really need to pursue this and yeah, but yeah, it's really someone uh maybe not from the college that can share those opportunities in." So yeah, for sure. And it's dual credit is you know it it's everywhere and you know students kind of value the opportunities to offer I have the least cool. >> Best pair of the VPs only because I have hair. My name is my academic affairs. Um, thank you for letting us come to visit with you tonight. I was driving over and I was thinking um, prior to coming into administration, I taught at CBCC for about

06115 years. So, I've had a variety of Ontario high school students um, in my classroom at CBCC. And I was thinking of one student in particular who went through um, gosh, what if they almost like Les Ler's time through like the a education area and this young lady walked into my office. She goes, I'm going to be a veterinarian. And I said, "Well, ma'am, buckle up. You got a lot of study to do. I >> know which one you're talking about." >> And by golly, is she my veterinarian now? >> I think that's important to think about as we talk about like the opportunities that TBCC can provide to our local students, right? Um, this young lady, I don't want to say her name. She might be embarrassed if I talk about that. I just

062life has an alumni spotlight, so no vet bills are getting paid until that gets back yet. It's actually not even that one. There's two. There's two. We're on this. Yeah. Um, we talk about the opportunities that TGC provides our students. Um, I don't think it's a requirement to be a trucker to work for TGCC, but there's quite a few of us that are. And one of my goals in my job is that we talk about your trucker experience a little bit more proudly. So, we'll get some pins for all of you to wear in the community, right? But if you look at our community, there's so many people that got a start at TBCC. And I don't think we give enough credit in education to where you start. I think we talk a lot about

063where you finish, right? And what the big the big checks get written. But my hope is that we can share with our students locally where we all started and that helps build trajectory for lots of our first generation students. Um I was able to share with you today three of our new degree programs. Um you'll see um they're associate of applied sciences and so those are terminal degrees that we have. Um you'll see they're pending at the state approval. So um we have state approval. We're waiting for our accreditation to come back before we um get to take that watermark off there, but that is coming soon. So um the first one you'll see is for surgical technologists. Um there is a new requirement in education um for the folks that assist in surgery. Up

064until about two years ago, they just had to have like a oneyear certificate and you could arrange all the things and the songs and all the Yeah, it's a whole thing. Um and they decided that those folks need to have two-year degrees. So we are actively looking. have a curriculum. >> Um, have you ever been in an O? >> Yes. >> I mean, in the O for myself, but >> I of one as a drown when I'm in there. >> Yeah. >> I was like, there's so many pieces of equipment. It was fascinating. >> But in one year, you could just spend donating. >> Education matters. That's all I'll say about that. Um, so we are actively looking for um an instructor for this program. But what we've seen is we have a lot of

065students that want to come to us to healthcare, but nursing is not for everyone, right? It takes a specialized skill set to to do this particular thing. Um, and so we're trying to um branch out and offer more things than just nursing. So our allied health um grouping of of degrees will start to to add to those um as we see nursing not for everyone and there's still lots of great careers related to um healthcare. Um the other two um are advanced energy systems and facilities maintenance specialists. Um we were able to just purchase a new building um across off of n is it 18th 19th 19th yeah >> 18th and 19th >> yes it yeah I should know that like I should have it tattooed on my arm as many times as we've talked

066about this building um we have a new building where we're going to be able to offer some pre-apprenticeship programs um and really like trades and focus on those kind of careers. So, advanced energy systems um and facilities maintenance specialists. Um for the facilities maintenance specialists, we found like every school district hospital has a person, right? The person that can come in and do a little bit of diagnosing and decide to fix something or call an expert and those folks are retiring. Like that's not a skill set that >> that we are really creating. Um, so we're really excited to be able to kind of build that and and have those folks join those like hands-on uh careers that would lead to like living wage jobs. Um, and then advanced energy systems. um we had kind

067of a directive to work on some renewable energy programs and man that market changes so much whether it's solar or and so we tried to kind of play the app and have folks that could go into whatever the new energy field were was to be um and be successful. So um with that I would be happy to answer any questions that you can blame me. Angie can blame me. Angie blame me. Did you guys have people that were interested in these three things and so then you decided to >> So um I think we've always in our CTE programs we've always found like students want to have high like they want to be doing things right and um a lot of our local businesses are like man we really need to find people who can

068do x y and z like I remember having a meeting early in my career with the folks that ran the sugarbeat factory and talking about who they needed to hire their maintenance folks which are really great props. Um, but they would put out a certain number of like hand tools and if you couldn't identify like the Phillips head screwdriver, they were not interested in you, right? Too much of a learning curve like for their folks. But what they're trying to do is really like identify a skill set of folks that have they can upgrade them a smaller amount, right, when they get on a job, but have a basic skill set. So, we have really great partnership with Stains, heating, and cooling and some other local builders to kind of get this going. So, But

069no truer words when we say that these people are retiring hard they are to find you know um when you do those jobs you have to kind of be a jack of all trades >> and program a lot of them are kind of self >> this older generation is sort of selftaught >> are these taking the place of any programs oring Um they kind of coexist. We have an industrial manufacturing program right now. We call it industrial manufacturing and control. So IMAC. So it takes some of those like PLC classes and just adds on to those. So kind of novel but taking a look at what we have already. >> Thank you so much for your time. I do have one more question. Are these like this program is it um something that you need

070to be full-time dedicate your like full-time to? Can somebody work and take this classes? >> No, that's a great question. Um, we know that most of our students, like we build most of our degrees to be two-year full-time, but a lot of our students are not full-time, right? You have a family, you have a full-time job to pay the bills. So, um, we build them on a full-time schedule, but, um, with some good advising, it could be a three or four year. >> Yeah. >> Um, how many credits is considered full-time at TBCC? >> 12. It is 12. Okay. >> Yes. So, there's like full Yes. I'm like super opinionated about this. Um there's different ways like for financial aid is 12 but then to pursue through a degree on a two-year timeline it's like

071>> okay I was going to say I thought it was higher for some reason about like the threshold for financial aid but then you want to stay on track for your two years >> unless you pick up summer credits >> most people are working >> or dual credit in high school >> to participate in athletics or particular you have to be Can I ask one more question? >> Yeah, I have a question. >> So, um Oh my god, my question. Oh, high school student. So, dual credit is an option, but could they take it not dual credit? >> Yeah. >> And just show up and be like, I'm going to just do college now. >> Yeah. >> Yes. Pick me. >> In the olden days, um, when I was, you know, at Ontario high school,

072>> probably a year after you, I'm sure, um, you used to get one free class on campus a quarter. >> So, what's it look like now? >> Okay. Voice um is um a program that's been in existence probably 15 years. It has morphed a little bit. Um it was uh tuition free at the time. I think it was one class. It has changed a bit. Um college choice is an opportunity for any high school student um to take um as many as they want to. So there's no limit um at the same rate as the call credit. So it's the is the $45 the credit. But the beauty of college choice now is that if there is a well well at high school if they know if they were to take well yeah I mean

073so if we do have someone who's like I've exhausted all of my high school well but I'd like to do something in my mac program then they could take the course um at the $45. So it's it's unlimited in the courses that they can register for. So I do work with students and u my adviserss who they do exactly that. They try to build in these college choice classes to see if they can accomplish a one-year certificate or have a really good lead up the two-year these AAS degrees. So, college choice is um is is a just a pretty unlimited opportunity. It does take the student though that will take the additional time, right? It's outside of high school. You're either doing the coursework online at in the evenings or other times um or you

074are coming to campus. So, um College Choice students can work with their high schools to try to um see if they can get college credit or sorry, high school credit for the college class that they're taking. Kind of a reverse dual credit. Um but that's completely up to school districts. But um yeah, that opportunity is really exciting, especially when a student finds their path and their passion and they're like, I got it. I know what I want to do. >> Pre-work done before they go to >> Right. Right. Or get a jump on say a terminal degree, which sounds Yeah, >> you know, an associate of applied science degree, they may have a year done before getting to us and and that helps with their of course reducing their cost as well. >> Since you

075mentioned the free price tag, we haven't said anything is free, but the last two years we've offered a graduation gift to all graduating seniors to take a 100% free course minus course fees. Doesn't work for aviation and things like that. that pay the course fees, but in the summertime they can't get a a brief course, which has actually helped you notice with that summer break and summer melt like continuing and getting a head start on things. And we saw 60 new students last summer starting with us and that that was a big component. We just offer that if you have any suggestions for us or thoughts um please let us know can do that through superintendent Albu Hen that would be great thanks for the time appreciate it. on the agenda. The next piece is

076board. >> I know. I would spend time at hot chocolate at Alama. That was so fun. They love that. We for the TO of course then so was able to serve hot chocolate. I love the Alama kids because everyone's like, "Is it is it free? Is it free?" So, they have understood the value of a dollar and so they are excited about that. Um, which is awesome. I appreciate that they're willing to ask and not just assuming, right? That that shows that they're willing to do that. I sent some my family to the tag family because I was at basketball games and I have been to every seventh grade basketball game this year. So, been a celebrator there. >> And when you were at Disney World? Oh, well except for I was just gonna say

077I didn't see it. >> She's like I haven't seen Lisa there in some time. Lisa, >> I'm always at the office. >> She sent the rowdies out there. So, I've spent time with them and really it has been exciting to watch. I sit with the kids every time. >> Oh, yeah. >> I am now officially a child a cheering session with them. And >> I sit right behind Abby now. >> Yeah. No. And it's um been exciting to watch them their growth of their school spirit like as as they have people willing to kind of push their limits a little bit and get excited. They told me that they were too embarrassed to do it if not for an adult doing it with them. So I have been the token adult trying to get them

078to have some school spirit and get excited about things. >> You sir likes to go. Oh. >> All right. Got my list. Um, I got to volunteer at Ontario Middle School and I felt so special because everybody was like, "How did you get to do that?" I'm like, "I don't know." I complained probably. Um, I don't know why I was so special, but I loved getting to volunteer at the social and I think the other parents did too. So, thank you. >> Thank you for having us. >> We think anybody else. >> I didn't know schoolers were social. Um, but it was a great experience. It was a very well organized. I walked in the office. I was given my assignment and um yeah, I look forward to doing it more >> good and bringing

079a friend. >> So, thank you for that. Middle schoolers, they're not a lot different from preschoolers, quite frankly. >> Smell a little worse. >> Um but it was enjoyable. I loved it. It's a welloiled machine down at Ontario Middle School by golly. Um, my daughter, the middle school choir, got to sing national anthems at a wrestling and a basketball game. I didn't get to make it to them. Um, but I think it's great that they get to go out and about and um, and get to do that. My daughter had her OS transition meeting at 8th grade and that was like terrifying. Can you have a counselor available for the parents afterwards? Um, but I just really appreciated how well organized that was. U, Mr. Kilzer was great. um had nice conversation with him and

080um apparently my kids going to college like when I blink my eyes next. So that's terrifying. And then I also went to um senior night for OS basketball um and just enjoyed that and getting to celebrate the kids and I already have talked with Mr. Egan about working with him and Mr. Justice. We're going to bring back the drum beat for the band and we're going to get the crowds pumped up. >> Yes. >> So that's my mission. >> Get really excited for that. everyone. >> Yeah, they love the girl. We'll start it on board meeting. >> We got the choosing on. >> Um this is a little shorter this month. Uh we were gone for a week of it, but um we did go to the tag night, which I always love those game

081nights um that Val puts on. Um that was yeah, a lot of fun. I did hot cocoa at Alamita, which is always a good time, especially I mean those those kids, they know what they're doing. They go get their breakfast. They go get their hot cocoa. They sit down. If they see Miss B walking towards them, they be line towards the table. They sit down even. >> But that was that was a lot of fun. >> We took a couple basketball games. Um but I also want to kind of highlight like the community. Um the Peter's volleyball program. Um he's put on two different nights um here in Ontario, two different age groups. and just the community support and the peers and students that come out to support the girls that are playing. Um this

082last weekend I was at a tournament over in Namba for the um U12 team and I mean there were students that traveled over just to watch their friends and support their friends and it was so heartwarming. Um and our pool is going to be open soon and I'm so excited about that. Um and little league is coming back and I just feel like Ontario is just on a roll. So, um, keep it up everybody. >> Well, I I don't know what happened to January. So, um, one thing I do want to point out is Pam's invited us for a breakfast coming up here. What day is that? >> It's the first week in March. >> First week in March. So, next week is >> week. It's next week. >> It is next week. get myself

083at least there because these guys seem to be all >> We'll be there. I'm there. I already got an email from Pam Times and dates and everything. >> I'll try to be up one of your guests if you um won't kick me out too soon because I always told my staff if you would feed them, they will come. So now she's feeding me. So I got to go. >> And that's all I'm going to add for tonight. So, we're going to move on with our our board bit into our financial report today. >> Yeah. Um the uh statement of economic interest. Um that time of year it's an annual um thing to do. So, you got an email. Well, I guess I guess many of you got an email in February to kind of get

084started with with the um the statement of economic interest. Um, on March 15th, you'll all receive an email to be able to log in and do this questionnaire. Um, the hardest part about it is remembering the password. It's pretty easy questionnaire, but something that we have to do is be a little I'll remind you again next board meeting to get that done, but um, but be expecting an email um, March. >> It'll be just in time for our next board meeting possibly. >> Then you'll have questions. Yes. >> Yeah. Y um with uh with PERS rates, um I wanted to talk about this just briefly. Um back in 2002, um many districts across the state, including us, we entered into a bond. Um that bond is coming due in June of 28, so in two

085years. Um and that bond was to put a bunch of money up front to save money down the road. and then we'll buy out that bond in one year. That's saved us some money um for PERS. Some districts who have grown a lot uh their payroll costs have grown a lot with with an increase in ADM. They ended up even maybe losing a little bit of money, but most districts save money in this bond. And so we're looking at options of of you know, is it worth going participating in this bond again when this one comes due or or is it something that it's not worth it? So, and so we are looking at that option. Um, see if that's something worth doing in 28. Um, but bond rates do or not bond rates, pers

086rates do continue increasing. Um, next year the pers rates will stay the same because it's the second year of the bianium, but then that following year, I'm looking at that already and and it looks like it'll increase six to 7%. Um so um the last bianium they said the same thing and it actually increased 5% and so but so far it's it's 7%. So that's a big cost because total furs is 33%. which is a really big cost um and that's 33% of payroll which equates to about seven and a half a year. Um let's see with the legislature um in the state we are um in a deficit. Um there's been some recent activity that has decreased that deficit but there's still a deficit. Um, and so one of the things Oregon is trying

087to disconnect itself from the federal tax code and that's going through the legislature and and it looks like it it probably go through but um but that will save a little bit on the deficit. Um and then and then forecast come in a little bit higher than they expected to. So so deficit's not as as much but there's still a deficit. So we're still monitoring our costs quite a bit. just having a really monitoring and the spending and what could happen. But but fortunately, it looks like they won't be cutting this year's budget. That was an option, but they said that most likely won't happen. There's some positives there. Um so, see one more thing. Um Over the last few years, we have slowly increased our ending fund balance. Um, so we've we've been able

088to, you know, put more towards grants and get some grants and and save on the balance fund. And so that's slowly increased our ending fund balance, but um but then costs have slowly increased like PERS and and other costs. And so um so we're looking at the option of putting some of that aside potentially for like a purge reserve and and definitely for facilities. We're looking at that option to increase the reserve and balance to make sure we're prepared for future. So, and that's um and that's looking at a a 5 to 10 year budget um and and not just a one collected do >> um we'll we'll probably do a chunk this year and you'll see it look at budget for a reserve what accounts there Just for clarity and understand the bond the

089PERS bond is not the same as school the school bond just so we're clear for everybody that comes due next next June one year. >> Yeah. some of those districts that as it falls off and this was the one where I told you Bakers ended up running out of money early because their payroll costs and everything had gone had grown substantially over the years and so theirs wasn't supposed to expire until either next year or the year after and it did and luckily they were prepared for that but um some of the districts um it saved I think one big district like million but there have been a few losers in that as well. Um so those were obviously were purchased before where we were these positions >> and I think what's happening now is

090uh OASBO KOSA um they're this in some cases I think it it's like Portland one of the big districts when theirs runs out they're looking at a 16% increase occurs. So, um, and it's really anywhere from from 2% to 16% range for for those districts. And so, what they're looking at doing is, um, they've sent out a survey and Devon took the survey and asked, um, if we were interested in purchasing new bonds and, um, the more they have, the lower the rate you can buy in at. And so, um, it sounded like they had what did you tell me? 70 >> about 70 districts or >> Yeah. go to or it's not opting in yet. It's it's saying we're interested in in doing an assessment the assessment is. So, looks like it won't be.

091>> And actually, those interest rates are a little bit lower than they were back then, but we'd like to still see them lower than that. >> Okay. Any other questions for Deon? We'll move on to some dinner report. Yeah, I mean I just want to say one other thing about um when Devin spoke about our ending fund balance um we as he said that's higher than um than board policy specifically. I mean there's a threshold we have to maintain. Ours is is um obviously quite a bit higher and um we always do that that that takes years of kind of preparation, right? So, as we start to forecast and and when I say we budget, we budget for next year, we budget for three years, we budget for five years, we budget for 20 in

092some cases if we're buying bonds. Um, we you have to really be thoughtful and look to see what's coming, including PERS rates or having to negotiate new salary schedules or whatever that is. And so, um, we're l lucky to be in a position, you know, that's our savings account. And now we're lucky to be in a position to be able to, um, manage the deficit because that we went into this year because of uh, having a new salary scale and we can withstand that. But we can also what we can also do are the other things which is is set some money aside for PERS increases without having to um have such an impact on because we get there we get to for example the new bianium and we have a PERS increase but we

093also have negotiations with our with our groups and um you know we hate that we have to make decisions between paying PERS and offering a larger salary. story. And so, um, that that is something that, um, has really, as I have said before to you guys, kept us healthy throughout all of this. It's kept us kept us health healthy when we've had a loss of enrollment. It's kept us um from having to make layoffs, being able to take our time to go through the attrition process naturally to prepare for that and and other things. So, um, so yeah, lots of we're watching the legislature a lot right now. I try to give you guys that information in my report and it feels like in just the week that it it has come out to you,

094things have changed dramatically because this is a short session. So, some of the stuff that I sent to you is probably some of those bills are already dead and well, they are and some of them are are going on through. So, we'll continue to watch that. And then um as you saw in my report, I talked about the um TAP grant and what we're doing with that. So, we are uh have applied for um Jody applied for that TAP grant to be able to do um the roof assessment and then also to do a long range facilities plan. Um, since we have the comprehensive facilities plan done, um, what what I would really like to do if we get that grant or even if we don't, um, is to, um, do a long range have

095um, a group do a long range facilities plan and then come back and um, get together a group of a community to go through and review that plan and make offer for feedback and suggestions and those kinds of things. And um I will be building you guys a timeline of the backwards timeline of if this board determines that going for a bond is what they want to do when you when the bond is and then backs up those timelines of you have to have this done this and it's a it's it's tight. If you want to do, for example, if you were thinking about a 2027 bond, for example, spring of 2027, it's going to be kind of a tight timeline to get all of that in and done. So, but I will hopefully have

096that prepared to by the next board meeting. >> So, on the grants, they'll do that back to come back in July. get center reports back. >> Jody, isn't it's a pretty quick turn. We don't March 15th March 15th is when we know I'm not sure when we get to use it, but they're supposed to notify us around the middle of March. >> Perfect. >> You would know that if we received the grand turn, but then a long range plan obviously takes a little bit. >> Well, yes, exactly. And there is the potential if we got the other grant to do the the other work, that same firm could potentially connect to that, do the whole thing. >> Beautiful. Is there a firm that's connected with the grant or you get to choose what firm you

097use? >> We get to choose >> for the roof systems assessment. Is it is it only the high school and the middle school that would qualify or is it all the elements? >> Um we are doing and um Bob and here we are doing um so those are those uh big groups I think we included gyms. Andrew are you on? He's on, but is he? Uh, it's more than those two. There's there's one or two more. It's So, it's they're the wooden roots >> and um I believe >> Yeah, I'm here. >> Oh, remind me what what roofs were included in that grant. We were looking at what when we when we interviewed, what were we looking at? which buildings. >> So those will mostly be like your cafeterias, gym spaces, whatever you have the

098long span roof presses. >> That includes our elementary school gym spaces as well. Correct. >> Yeah, it'll be Alama's gym. Um May Robert's gym, >> Aken, >> and then um but it did not include the the Tiger Hall though. Is that correct? >> Um, yeah, Tiger Hall was in there, too. >> Oh, was it? I thought it was because it was >> because the seismic >> the size Well, maybe I can't remember now, but but a good majority of them. >> Yes, correct. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> Um, and that's all I have. Any questions for me? Hear no questions. We will move on to public comment. >> All right. I get to read a statement. So to ensure that the scheduled business of the board is conducted in a timely manner pursuant to

099the published agenda, each person must limit his or her comments to three minutes. The board asked that they provide within a with a written copy of any testimony given. Public may not use videos or PowerPoint presentations to accompany their testimony. Speakers may offer objective criticism of district operations and programs, but the board will not hear complaints concerning district personnel. Speci speakers are not permitted to make comment or personal attacks on any district employee, individual students, board members, others test other testifiers or members of the public. Although the board welcomes to public comment, it does not respond to citizens concerns at its meetings. However, at citizen's request and the board's direction, the superintendent or designate will respond in a timely manner. >> What was longer that statement or the >> three minutes? you know, uh, my

100name is Kylie Schroeder and I'm with Oasis House here in Ontario. And I have to say that we have watched an incredible amount of of excellence in performance and movement ahead. And all of those things happen with a good foundation. And a foundation includes a place to live, a place to get cleaned up and place to eat, a place to have time with your family, and a place to do your homework. Let's face it. Um, in all of that, as it happens, we have Oasis House, which is new and this is Chrissy Blush Chapel, and she is our director, and I'd like her to tell you what we do at Oasis House, and then in however many seconds remain, I'll explain to you how that impacts our kids. So, um, one of the unspoken things

101that I didn't even hear tonight was the homeless kiddos. And we, um, I try really hard to steer away from it at Oasis House because I have to report it when I see it and I don't I hate reporting. So, um, we are, we want to partner with the Ontario School District because we're here in Ontario and these kiddos to get to where they need to be. They need that solid foundation. They need to know that there's going to be a home to go home to, that they're going to have somewhere safe to be, that mom's going to be okay or dad's going to be okay. You know, there's domestic violence. We work with Project of a lot. And um they turn away probably two to three cases a week of moms that are homeless,

102that are not in an abusive situation, but they're not counted because they're couch surfing. And this is where we're working at Oasis House to build a mother and children shelter um along with our men's shelter and our day shelter um to get these guys in a safe environment where you know they can be where there's a little kitchenet and moms can cook and provide a meal for these kiddos. I remember leaving an abusive situation and just being able to cook for my kids again in a kitchen and know that we were safe and okay was huge. I mean, something that small was so big in my kids' lives. And we want to be able to do that a lot. And there's a lot of poverty in Ontario. We know this. I I honestly I don't

103have kids that go to school here, but I was really surprised to see all the amazing things. Like I was like, "Wow, this is really cool." because I don't you don't hear that where we're at on our side of the fence. We hear the bat. So, that's kind of where we're at. We just wanted to introduce ourselves and let you guys know who we are. If you have homeless kiddos in your area, we have um clothing for kids. I kind of hoard it off to the side. I know I'm not supposed to service kids right now, but kids need stuff, too. We have toys that come in and we just kind of put it off to the side. So when a family does come in, I can at least do something small to help a

104little bit. So we estimate that in Ontario right now, of course, if you talk to law enforcement or any the city manager near the city manager, most people have a concept of there being between 50 to 75 homeless people living in this community and they're not. It's between four and 500 and that does not include the women and children who are invisible and unfortunately those are the ones that are the most vulnerable and it is even though we are trying to network with all people including there's I think uh Maryanne I left her we're unable to connect at this point but the bottom line is this we know that we are all here in this community together the solution will only happen together and as we move forward into uh establishing these shelters, they'll be

105a safe place uh when someone is not well in fact at some point we will be accepting children who have been yanked from home during the night. But so that you know it's here we are here to stay. Uh we're in the process of establishing a shelter for men at the moment because they're the ones that are out and about on the streets. Um and we are very interested in knowing how many exactly we have. We don't know in fact we don't know from anywhere. The bottom line is that uh we are Oasis house. We are here currently housed at St. Matthews Episcopal Church for the current moment. Um and we will be announcing uh and in concert with the chamber of commerce as to when and where and what our new addresses will be.

106Um but there is a solution. Any questions for you 401c3? Yes. Yep, we are uh 501c3 >> 50 >> and >> yeah, we got that. There are um we have just all our ducks in a row there and we're currently working to expand and hiring our staff preparing to start a program that will take people from drug abuse, from drug addiction, from alcohol addiction and help them remember or learn how to live in society and become a productive member. How do you be? So in some cases it'll be teaching parenting and that is who will be returning to school and who will be returning to the workforce. >> How do you take referrals? Just tell people to stop by. >> Yep. Just show up. >> Okay. >> I think our cards are in the folders

107we gave. >> Yes. There's phone numbers in there. They can call. Come on by. We turn no one away. In fact, the new the new homeless group that is on the horizon uh are becoming our elders. >> Um because they have to make a decision. Do I feed my dog or do I feed myself? >> So we'll feed their dog. >> They come, you know, there are days that you I'm there all day at some points, not every day, but we feed 90 people. We we do 90 meals. 90. It's just incredible in one day. people funding. How do you pieces? >> We are God. >> Privately funded. We accept no state and no federal funding because unfortunately that will limit what we can do uh when someone's needs exceed the mandated aotment. So if

108we were state and federal funding, I took a baby in a couple months ago and I couldn't have done that being, you know, funded through the state. I could wouldn't have been able to do that. You know, the emergencies that happen are mind-blowing. And to see all the excellence we've seen here today, this evening is encouraging, but let me tell you that there is another time to break the word to get folks to this point or to get into your hands to create this. >> One more question. >> Yes. >> How if people want to volunteer, how do they do that or what needs do you have? >> Just call the phone. So, um, we always have, so we do free clothing, free hygiene, free meals, free animal care, which is pet supplies. Um, in

109the summer, they can bathe their pets. But there's always ways to volunteer. Sometimes these people, you guys, they just want to be heard and listened to. And when we get to where our women and children's shelter is, we're going to need help with kids. I mean, you guys work in it every day. uh I taught for four years and it wasn't my cup of tea. So I'm good. But there's always ways to plug somebody in and we try to always plug in where So Abby, say you're interested in cooking, so we put you in the kitchen. Or say you're interested in helping with the clothing, we put you out there with the clothing. You know, we just try to find where you're interested. >> Or come and sit down and have a cup of coffee.

110>> Yeah. >> What's the guy's name that loves the puzzle? >> Dress. >> Purpose. Papa Princess. My three-year-old. purpose. You could come and sit next to Purpose and chat with them and you know that adds respect and value. So we have tons of opportunities. What needs do we have? >> All all >> whatever you can. >> Well, no. Right. We have we have a bunch of those. But what we do need we we always need fresh food. We always need proteins. We always need uh clothing. We always need shoes. We always need more time. We always need partnership financially. This is a huge thing. We're going to be needing several hundred,000 in order to make these shelters happen. And that's with finding a building that is standing that we can use. Um we will be

111partnering with all kinds of agencies. We'll have uh each month we'll have doctors come in one day, dentists another, veterinarians another. Um, we will have opportunities for local agencies to come in and help with getting ID, help someone getting their GED. We're we're at that point right now. We have Lifeways in once a week. We have the health department in every other week. >> Just trying to help people figure out their ins um the public assistance of whatever any kind >> and there is a lot. They they can get in and they can get a lot of things taken care of. But we do our best to partner with all of those. In fact, just so that you know, we don't want to reinvent the wheel. We've been in close contact with the Boise Rescue

112Mission and because they're not in Oregon, we've also worked closely with the Grants Pass uh Gospel Rescue Mission there. They're sharing a lot of their programs. We don't want to reinvent the wheel. Our hope is to hit the ground running so that we can immediately get our our hands out to help people take take a hand up. >> Any other question? questions. >> Thank you. >> Okay, we are going to move on to our business section. First item on the agenda is the approval of contract renewals and non-renewals. And uh I'm just going to make a motion. How's that? Since I have it written right here, >> I move to accept the recommendation of Superintendent Alvu regarding the renewal and non-renewalary licensed staff and the extension of L contract licensed staff as listed in the

1132026 2027 school year. >> I second. >> Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion has passed. uh approval of the 2026 2027 school year calendar. We had a little we had a discussion of regarding this at our um work session. So we're pretty well connected to what we want to do. So I would entertain a motion. >> I'll make a motion to approve the 2026 2027 school year calendar. >> Motion made. >> I'll second. >> Made in second. All in favor say I. >> I. Motion is passed. Our school board meeting for March is on spring break. So, we are looking at the 30th of March to do our board meeting. >> I make a motion to change the March school board meeting to March 30th at 5:00 p.m. >>

114I'll second that. >> Motion made and second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion has passed. Approval of the sixth grade ODS field trip request. I believe >> you want to say something. >> No. >> Just >> Yes, please. >> Motion to approve the sixth grade ODS field trip request. >> I'll second. >> Motion made and seconded. All in favor say I. I. >> Motion has passed. Um approval of the World Languages Day EOU field trip. song and dance goodness and go. >> All righty. Thank you. It's been a long day. All right. So, um, thank you, Superintendent Albizu, and members of the board. I just want to talk a little bit about what the World Language Day is. It's kind of really a big celebration for our dual credit students, uh, that

115have taken Spanish classes at our high school. um they celebrate the tradition accomplishment and it's also a gallering of not just our school but other schools like K County uh Pendleton even Lrand all these different schools that take dual credit courses um Spanish specifically across um this city so it's really nice to meet uh our students get to um share and celebrate the culture um and uh they have the opportunity to learn from workshops that uh there's a schedule on there. Um, and they get to learn um, about international travel. Um, I think this year we're also going to be learning a little bit of Japanese. And so there's it's just a celebration of all all the different um, people. Um, just kind of to get to this point. Um, students uh, take Spanish uh,

116one, Spanish 2, and then they also take Spanish 3 um, which is an honors course and it's a dual credit course that I offer at at our high school. So, I offer um 12 college credits of um high school Spanish. Uh well, I let me backtrack a little bit. Um Spanish one um is our basic intro Spanish. Spanish 2 builds up on that. Then Spanish 3 A and Spanish 3B are both dual credit courses. And so by the end of Spanish 3B, students are able to receive up to 12 college credits um should they pass their exams. And so um it's a really awesome opportunity for them to be able to do this. Um they save anywhere from three to 4,000 even sometimes $5,000 in terms of the tuition um since it is through EOU.

117Um, so recently they weren't able to uh they didn't have to pay it, but now I think moving forward they do. But I still encouraging them to um take those courses um and challenge themselves and um it's totally worth their time to um to to receive that dual credit even if it's, you know, 35 or $45, whatever that fee is. So um I'm always encouraging them to to do that. And just to kind of give you um a little perspective that so students that take a Spanish 3A or 3B course um they usually meet the biliteracy seal requirement. Um and so it's grown over the past several years. Um last year we had 32 um students meet the Spanish requirement for the biteracy seal. Um this year so far there's 40 that have met the

118Spanish requirement and there's 17 I'm working on to try to get them to get to that um benchmark. Um and that's out of 16 cm. Um so it's just a big celebration um for them. Um this year we're also um uh including Omi and um FHLA group um just so that they could see that and hopefully they can um see the excitement and the celebration. uh to be able to take those courses um uh next school year. Um so that's all I have to say on that and if you have any questions, please let me know. The the trip actually going to talk about that is uh March 4th. It is at Eastern Oregon University. Um, and we're planning to leave at 7:15 a loading time, possibly 7:30, just to allow those students to um,

119you know, get on the bus that those that um, take the bus to get to school. So, I try to align that time so that they're able to make it. Um, and then there's just they they feed us lunch. They have different activities. We've been asked to host also like a session. So I'll be um uh doing a presentation in one of the workshops as as as a teacher and then I think um Amy's doing a project as well um a cultural project that they'll be leading. So it's also a chance for them to take some leadership um and and show and and teach their other peers as well. So, um, our expected time to get back is around, um, 5:00 p.m. and trying to get, um, done a little earlier if we can to

120try to bring them back in time for spring practices. So, yeah, that's kind of a nutshell. >> Any questions? Any questions? >> Are your the 3A and 3B, are those a year each? >> Uh, those are a trimester each. >> Yeah. So, Spanish 3A is equivalent to the Spanish 107 level at EOU. Um, in the Spanish 3B, they take two exams in that course. I'll take the Spanish 108 and Spanish 109. Essentially, it's 12 credits total, four credits each course. Um, and then, well, four credits each test. Spanish 107 is four, Spanish 108 is four, and Spanish 109 is four. Um, that that's your 12 uh credits. And that's pretty much half of a minor, Spanish minor. So our students can go into Spanish 200 level Spanish and like within their first year of university

121can get a Spanish minor pretty much. >> Awesome. >> And those courses do transfer. So should they, you know, not attend EOU, it um they can transfer those those credits. Um and every institution looks a little bit different. Some of them accept them um pretty pretty spot-on. others they might count as a a different elective or of some sort. So the majority of the time I've seen it just transfers um as the Spanish one 100 level. So I got blocks. >> All right. >> I make a motion to approve the world language day field trip onch second. I'm sorry. Oh, hi. >> Made second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion approved. Approval of the superintendent evaluation. >> I'll make a motion to approve the superintendent evaluation. >> Second. All in favor say

122I. >> I. >> Motion is passed. Second reading. Second reading. Uh, >> combine. >> We combine them. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> I move to approve the second reading of policies DJ and JHCCF. >> I'll second. >> Made in second. All in favor say I. >> I teach preschool. Please do not. >> She said, "Does it make your head itch?" I just always get >> first reading of policy. I G A I >> I do have a question. So are we currently meeting the requirements that were added to this bottom little with our um curriculum? Was it were we already meeting that? >> So it's just the addition of that yal area. >> Yep. >> Nothing's going to change. Okay. >> No other questions. We will move to a recommendation for approval. Motion for approval. >>

123I make a motion to approve the first reading of policy IG AI. >> A second. >> Motion made in second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion has passed. Topics for future board meeting. >> We have um I will have some proposed board budget goals for you all. Um, I usually put those together and put them in front of you, get your feedback. It's kind of the direction we're heading in. Obviously, in a year a benium, it's going to be very similar to what we're already doing with some fine-tuning depending on, you know, what happens with the legislation and that atmosphere. So, I will have those. It is classified recognition um month. So, we will be doing that. will be recognizing our um classified members of the year and then obviously policy and

124then um hopefully I will have we'll have the results of our tap grant and fingers crossed we'll have a um a timeline we've been having our work our agenda we want to continue to do that next I like that. >> We'll have >> We will and things in mind. Um we were thinking about I know one of the things you talked about was budget, but we were thinking that we might wait until um April to do that just because it's right ahead of that. Or we could do it next month if you guys kind of want a month to digest it. April. >> Can you say exactly what the budget? >> So, this is just a budget 101 like so just like kind of I mean I did a quick version of the policy, right?

125And you had a quick version of budgeting. I think Devon, you did some stuff initially, but um but I know it's a lot to take in. Sometimes you have to hear it two or three times. I know Lisa, you came in and spent a few hours with Devon and um it just just to kind of see the whole picture and it'll also help you set you up for um knowing how budget how Devon sets the budget and and just a reminder of of this is how we are funded. These are grants, these are this, these are that all of that stuff. So, I know that's one thing that we we felt like was important. Um, and then, um, think if you want to go back and think about it, if you want to do that

126in March or if you there's something else you would like to hear from me that you feel like is is important, you can always email me. >> I I I would add on to that, just kind of preview how our budget committee meetings go. These guys are new members and they're going to walk into a budget meeting with probably some experienced people. I'd like them to have a hand up. >> Yeah. Yep. So, >> y that's perfect because um I'll give everyone the budget a week before the budget meeting so that you'll be able to understand and be able to go through it during the week have questions during the >> And that's the fourth, correct? >> May 4th. Yeah. And then our April board meeting would be the 20th. I I think April's fresh.

127>> So, would you guys like me to do some like roles and responsibilities, general stuff for >> Board 101 in in March? >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> All right. Any other comments? >> I make a motion to adjourn this meeting. >> I'll second I