001All right, I'd like to introduce our board of directors tonight. We have Cindy Co, Tasha Woods, Kathy Day, and I'm Mike Rally. We're also joined by our superintendent, Troy Turno, executive I changed it, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, Jennifer Coons. Uh, no. For student student learning, Jennifer Coons. Um, our executive director of finance and operations, Kim Snider's not here tonight, and we are joined by our student representative, Vong Leang. Uh, board, the first action item is the consent agenda. We had the opportunity to review these items individually and seek clarification from district admin prior to our meeting. I would entertain a motion. I move we approve the consent agenda. >> I'll second. >> Kathy has moved and Cindia has seconded the consent agenda. Motion to pass consent agenda board. Any discussion? I'll call a
002vote. All those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? All right. That takes us into the next item on our agenda and we have board recognition. All right. Well, uh this is kind of a sad way to start the meeting to be honest. Our board recognition is uh a bittersweet one tonight. Uh Tasha Woods final uh meeting as one of our board members and a distinguished uh career serving on the board. uh we will miss her uh insights, we'll miss her ability to frame the conversation. Um she always kept students uh in my little over two years in working with Tasha always kept students at the forefront and um keeping our eyes and pushing us towards making sure we have systems in place uh to ensure high levels of learning for students to ensure that we
003are uh working towards providing uh the best experience that we can for our kids. And it's not always easy uh you know to to be on the school board and go through different things and um you know co was a a challenge for everybody and anybody that served on a school board during that time. Uh incredible effort and so you know Tasha will will be greatly missed. She's very valued um as as someone that kept through all the other stuff kept her eyes on the prize whether we were talking about legislative stuff whether we were talking about uh learning whether we were you know talking about you know just the need to develop and have a strategic plan that makes sense and that we uh all can own and use. And so for me personally
004I will miss Sasha greatly. I'm sure we'll still have our conversations uh you know from time to time. Uh but it it's really uh you know an incredible uh time on the board and and a career as a board member serving uh the community and serving the students of Ellensburg School District. So uh we did I I'll get up here. Leslie has it we got her a little gift and a card. And at the same time, I'd also like to uh have any board member who would wish to say anything about Tasha or to Tasha uh your opportunity uh in public as well. >> Yes. [laughter] Um when I got on the board four years ago, um it was a different dynamic. Tasha was the only sitting board member still here now. Um, but uh,
005from when I got on the board, learning from Tasha, Jason, Meg, um, you know, it's been great having your leadership still around to kind of help as I learned how to run a meeting. And, um, and like Troy said, just the insights that you've brought to our discussions. Um, one thing, you know, the other thing that, uh, aside from keeping the students best interests out there, you always had their safety as a concern for, uh, you know, the school district as well. Um, and it's just been a pleasure working with you on the board and getting to know you guys off the board in track and stuff. So, uh, I've appreciated these last four years and thanks for all the help you've given us. >> I've learned a lot from you, Tasha. Um, I've really
006appreciated your balance between a focus on what the data is telling us and making sure that we're holding ourselves accountable for our priorities and goals and making those um lived out rather than just aspirational. Um and that that focus on accountability was balanced by just such positivity. Every time students came to present or teachers or other staff came, you um you caught what was most um yeah, just important and significant about what they're doing. And I think you made them feel welcome and um and and uh engaged. You engaged with what they were saying. So I hope you'll come visit. and we'll miss you. Eight years is a long time to do something like this. So, congratulations on that. And I have enjoyed over the years watching you evolve because I think you're a different
007board member now than you were at the beginning. And um I think that I've taken some things from that too and always your sense of humor underlying everything. I've appreciated that very much. So, thank you. >> Yes, Natasha. Thank you very much. um I feel really unsure about like ask questions in a board meeting and you always seem to ask exactly the right thing or have just something to say that makes me think about it in a completely different way. So that's really cool and I'm excited to see you for public comment in many future meetings. I look forward to that. might guess I don't actually like having people talk about me, [laughter] especially when you're saying that, but I have a few things to say. I'll keep it short, I promise. Uh, no. Uh,
008seriously, guys, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Um, I was not quite sure what to do when I saw my name on the agenda, so I sent a PowerPoint to Lesie. >> No, no, I didn't, Lesie. I'm just joking. I didn't. [laughter] >> Um, I do. I do. It's quick, I swear. Uh, number one, I didn't go to jail for school board. So, if anyone has talked to me lately, that was the number one rule. So, hey, >> uh, eight years is a long time to show up every two weeks, but I have loved asking questions and wrestling with essential problems. When I ran, I knew I'd be focused [clears throat] on hiring a superintendent, addressing overcrowding, advocating for making space for student voice and choice, and planting seeds of reimagining what school
009could be in Ellensburg. But I never expected to navigate a global pandemic, water mitigation, traffic studies, and boilers, just to name a few. Governance teaches you to adapt quickly, but also that it can be achingly slow. There are more than a few times I've had to be reminded of that. I've also expanded my vocabulary. Prototypical model. It isn't colata, it is IPD. Robert's rules. Well, I still haven't gotten that one right. Plus, I'm pretty good at eyeing six feet now, thanks to, we all know what that is, thanks to. [gasps] I'm proud of what we've accomplished together. I've been privileged to work with three outstanding superintendents, and in total, I think 11 different brave and incredible board members, and I believe 12 uh passionate and inspiring student board reps. I was fortunate enough to help
010build two strategic plans, each an exercise of growth in hearing others views, each an opportunity to learn what it was every group thought and hoped we were actually building and delivering in our schools. Our district has a clear promise. Provide a supportive community that challenges each learner, young and old, to grow and prepare them for future successes. More importantly, we have team commitment and focused or some would say nested strategy to deliver. This service confirmed that this work doesn't happen in a boardroom, sorry, a board gym alone because shifting from an advocate for education to an architect of educ education is a real shift. Over eight years, I've had the privilege of working with district administrators, some who may remember the inside joke of and we are joined by other district admin administrators when I
011was a new board president just trying to get used to leading a meeting. I've been humbled to work and learn with teachers, principles, administrators, union reps, bus drivers, custodians, office staff, people who show up every single day to make schools work. I've walked the halls at Olympia with state legislators and sat in countless meetings with community members who care deeply about our kids. To every person who took a moment to send a note, share a kind word, or just offer a smile of support. Thank you. And I want to give a huge thank you to my family. Luca, [laughter] Finn, Cal, and Mazy who have put up with many a dinner or car conversation about education, stood in parking lots and grocery store aisles, jump pits and cross-country meets while I answered questions or talked
012about board business, or just anything to do with education. There is a possibility that those conversations don't stop. Sorry, not sorry. And a heartfelt thank you to my husband Jared who covered and did double parent duty many times during board meetings, special sessions, and WASDA conferences, supported and helped guide me through three elections, and all the listening to all the ede all the time. This really has been a team sport, and I am deeply grateful. So, board and district administrators, I do have an ask, but you're not really surprised, right? Uh, I would like to ask you to continue your focus on two commitments to students. First, I ask you to not necessarily reimagine education, but recommmit to our promise of K12 education, but not feel trapped by the traditions of education. Keep strengthening student
013voice and agency. Students shaping their own learning while feeling seen, valued, and connected. That's the work. Be bold enough to constantly question, courageous enough to try new things, and strategic enough to deliver the future every student deserves. Second, add a student board rep from Choice Schools, our second high school. If we're serious about equity, we need to hear from all our students, not just some of them. I'll be cheering for you. Keep building, keep collaborating, and keep centering students. Thank you for allowing me to serve and work with you. Thank you to the Ellensburg community for trusting me to serve. The work is never done. And while my position on this board is closing tonight, my commitment to students is not. See you in public comments. You made it through it. Well, thank you again,
014Tasha, for the many years of service and you'll be greatly missed on this board. So, thank you. It is conference, >> man of the conference, >> which we leave to in the morning. Alrighty. Well, thank you, uh, board. That does move us into the next portion of our meeting tonight. Um, administration and first up is you in a student report. >> Good evening. Um, I'm really excited to share kind of um a new project that I would love to start working on, especially with Superintendent Torno. Um, and this is kind of going into um our district starting to shape up our strategic plans and, you know, stabilizing the foundation thereof. And I would like to present um like a student rep formula or handbook that I'd be able to pass on to future reps or
015even um any leaders any student leaders within the district. And essentially it would be a handbook on how to gather and analyze um all the aspects of the students from early learning. to the preschools and all the way up to high school because as a district um we really have to look at even those younger kids, you know, because the board reps right now are 12th and 11th graders, but even having those younger voices, I think would be very important. Um, and within that handbook, this would also just include club activities. Um, and this position and role could really be an outlet for these groups to gain more recognition. And so having that section would be really important. Um and so that also includes all the schools from elementary all the way to high school
016and just individual concerns. Um these would not these reports would not only be initiatives such as um the reports of clubs and activities, but I'd also love for reps to start, you know, leading workshops that would engage student leadership. as someone who um would be a voice for the district, I think it'd be important for those students to be able to lead other students in bringing voice to the district. Um so I would like to ask the board, what is really important to you guys about how you're receiving the um student voice and what do you think you can use that for like within your project serve? Well, the number one thing is that we hear from everyone. And I think that's probably going to be your most difficult challenge is, you know, you first
017you have to figure out who are we not hearing from and then how do we engage them? How do we reach out? Um because for us, I think it's we need to know what the students are thinking. We often make assumptions about what's good for kids and then we talk to the kids and realize that maybe we haven't gathered our information. So, I think those would be the two things that I'm most interested in. Um, have you got ideas of how you're going to gather? I know we've talked about this before about how do you reach out to who you're >> Yeah, I think that's definitely my goal is to reach out to those students who aren't as um aren't heard as much and one of my biggest initiatives I would like to take is
018especially going down to those um younger grades and even at the high school. A lot of the circles that I've heard from principles talking or um administrators where they hold these student voice groups um they're all talking to adults and sometimes I know that can be really difficult to speak out on how they feel or they feel like they have to act a certain way and so having a student repper even three now would be like a great opportunity for students to talk face to face with a student be able to comfortable having be comfortable having those conversations. That's >> sorry, I have a few more things about the the the formulas, but um I think a starting point would definitely be establish establishing what like the focus of a student representative on the board
019would be cuz sometimes Um, what I was kind of frustrated with with being in this position was I didn't know, you [gasps] know, how much input should I put into policy or is it tailored more towards um, you know, just the activities that we're trying to imply, I guess. Um, but yeah, so definitely starting with how this role is shaping and what student voice looks like um, for the board and how you guys want that input to be considered in the district. um >> um I think one of yeah school culture to go in with the information that you're gathering from the students so not just reaching out to them but also um I didn't want to lose this train of thought but so like what's going on school culture so from all the different
020groups that you can cuz yeah we hear about like the celebrations that are going on at the school but you know what's not working at a student level would be great for us to so having that be part of that student voice. So >> yeah, and for sure like working towards working with the fellowship as well cuz I want to make sure that those roles are separated enough where they can work together and still um have it be efficient in how we like relay information to the board. Um yeah, >> that's it. Thank you. Sorry, it took me a second to process your question. So, I think this is just really building on what Mike said, but that piece of the strategic plan that's um focuses on student well-being. I think hearing from students whether
021they feel a sense of belonging and connection um in their schools and then what what does and what doesn't work. So, what resources they're making use of, what they need more of. So like I think that's the piece of the strategic plan that really we need to hear from student experiences. >> Yeah. >> How do you feel like um the student voice that is coming to you like how do you feel like that's working into your strategic plan? Like what's kind of your action steps to include those? >> Um feel like that was a little like pop quiz. Um, I mean, I think in terms of what we've actually built into the strategic plan, we're looking at like CE data, um, CE survey data. Um, so I'm trying to think about how part of the
022strategic plan could be what we hear from student representatives. um if there's enough systematicity to that to um to build it in as one of the things that we look at as opposed to just supplementary um information that we take into account. >> Yeah. I guess I'm just kind of looking at because um Tasha and I have talked about having not nec like it could be like a partial vote, but just would it be more of a focus on for the students um on the board to look at policy that means you know coming to meetings prepared and looking at those policies that are being passed and having say or you know being able to input how they feel about those rather than what it seems like the fellowship student right now is you know
023school culture or and sometimes that also bleeds into ASV and so my concern would definitely like how can we specify these roles for it to work all together? Well, >> I guess just to respond to that thought, I think policy, it's important to get student voice on policy. I imagine where the rubber hits the road is more in procedure, which is not something that we typically look at at the board level. So, I'm wondering how to get student voice involved in in that. Yeah, for sure. >> Thank you. Anything else for you? All right. Thank you for your report. Uh, next up we have Jen and a teaching and learning update. Okay, for November's teaching and learning update, hopefully this is pretty brief. I know that we had a pretty lengthy presentation last week. Um,
024so this one will will be a bit shorter, but just some of the things for the fall in general, not just November. Um, but TNL rounds at this point, uh, the TNL rounds that we are doing with buildings where the teaching and learning team goes to the buildings and meets with the principal and does learning walks and talks about school improvement plans and goals and how we're progressing and looking at data and all of that. [gasps] Um, we, and this is me, so I'm keeping track of which classrooms I visit during those. I've visited over I've done over 90 classroom visits this fall already. Um some of the buildings have a split up when there's multiple people going and so actually we it would represent more than 90 classroom visits that the TNL rounds have
025done. Um [clears throat] after next week every school will have had their initial round which is where we just kind of came and we set the um tenor for the TNL rounds and we talked to them about the sub and the academic pieces. one initial academic round um where we're focusing on the acade academic pieces of their school improvement plan, one initial um social emotional behavioral round where we're focusing on that aspect of their data and their systems and their school improvement plan um and then one PLC round where um I visit and and hang out in the PLC's and talk about how that process is going, that system is going. So we start the second academic rounds and second PLC rounds in December. Um and then I would just say that there have been
026a lot of very focused collaborative conversations with building leadership. Um and obviously a lot of classroom visits, but those classroom visits really are about um reflecting with the building leadership around what they see, how is what they're seeing um connected to the what they're working on in building and what are their next steps and just calibrating and um collaborating around those things. So they've they've been really good conversations with building administrators um during those meetings. We've also, you've heard me mention probably already a couple of times or heard it in SIP's presentations, but um we had a behavior solution training October 10th. This was the second time that we had a behavior solution training. Last December, we had a tier one training for elementary, and we'll have the tier one training for secondary in January
027of this year. This fall, we had um in October, we had the tier 2 training for everybody. Um and already almost immediately after that training we saw buildings implementing um systems for these tier 2 behavior supports. Uh and already they are starting to see positive impacts on students from um these behaviormies as behavior solutions calls them. So I did think these two slide these next two slides aren't in the one that I had sent Wesley earlier. Um but as I was like looking through this right before I came I thought well they might not know what behaviormmines means like you generally speaking you understand working on behaviors but um it the intention of it is just like with academics we want to identify what's the specific skill that a student might be lacking that is
028interfering with how they are engaging in their learning. um and then specifically address that skill over a period of time and then see if that support uh helps the student improve um in the areas where they were struggling. So, here's just a sample kind of like um challenging behaviors that we might see um from students and then thinking about what are the targeted life skills that that that child could work on um to improve some of the behaviors that we are seeing getting in the way of their learning. Um so that's just a general idea, but the point being it's very skill specific. Um, and so then this gives you a quick snapshot of one of the behavior solutions, what they call behaviormies. So they call this one the hands-off academy. And they flesh this
029whole thing out, give you all the resources and tools you need to enact this in a small group where you're pulling a group of students who are working on these specific skills for a period of time. Um, and so this hands-off academy, they have a number of differentmies that they work on and of course schools can develop their own. they just scaffold it out for you if you want to have a starting place. Um, and so this particular behavior academy has eight targeted life skills and then the specific replacement behaviors that they are um promoting and and helping build with the student. So when we talk about the behavior solution training and behaviormmies, that's what it's referring to is not classroom teachers, not tier 2 supports in the classroom, but how is our system, other
030experts in the building um carving out time in the day and figuring out where's the best time and who are the students, what data are we seeing that says um these particular students need the might need these particular skills because of some of these behaviors that we're seeing. um and then doing an intervention and working with them and um you know they're tracking their own data and um the students are and at the older levels and um it's going well. So wanted to make sure that give you a snapshot of what we mean when we talk about behaviormies. Um additionally the ELA adoptions have been rolling this fall. Uh our 612 team which we sent out a request for proposals last spring for that. So they've already this fall done their initial review of all
031the proposals that came in. They identified a few that they wanted to look more deeply at. They've had an initial demo day with those companies. They've asked for another day because they want to do some additional thinking and um Q&A with um with companies. So I think they'll be doing that relatively soon, but the the goal is still to be able to identify probably in by early January some materials they want to pilot, which they'll do in the spring. Um, K5, uh, had a slightly different process because we really wanted to make sure with all of the information out there around uh, early literacy and the importance of it, we really wanted to make sure that we were slowing our process down enough to make sure that the request for proposals that we're putting out
032there very well defines what what things we are looking for from materials so that when we go to review them, we can say, "Nope, we've done we now know specifically basically what we should be looking for and we can check it against those things. Um and so it it's been a little bit slower as part of that process. We've had uh two professors from central come and uh train our staff and that went fantastically. They were um really wonderful to work with and put together some really concrete good takeaway um presentations for our staff. So from that process we developed a solid RFP draft. Um the pilot team is reviewing it right now and the hope is to get it out uh actually before Thanksgiving so that uh we can leave it out there for
033a little over a month and then early January have materials back from companies that we can start that review process with. So we've we've made some strides with that um that one as well. And then um we did finish our map collection, data collection in September and haven't quite shared you know some summary overviews with you guys. Last week I shared quite a bit of the fluency data but haven't talked about the growth data. So I figured I would just give some um highle overviews of our map growth from the fall. Um this first one, one of our indicators of success for uh um equity and excellence is in learning is algebra readiness. And so um we with the fall with the fall benchmark um we found that uh 22% of them are showing algebra
034readiness. So that's an we have an endofear goal. So that will continue to grow from 22% because it's how many students are at that particular rate of 235 or higher. So the next one we'll see more students reach that 235 and then in the spring more. But in the fall we currently have 22% of our eighth grade students who are showing algebra readiness. Um and so our goal this year is to show 46% of eighth graders which would be up from 38% last year. Um, this chart is just a district-wide summary of math achievement. So, not growth, but achievement. Um, so it's representative of grades 2 through 12 who took the assessment. Um, and you'll see over on that little yellow bubble, the 47th, that means our median um, achievement percentile was the 47th percentile,
035which means that half of our students fell above the 47th percentile and half fell below. So, um, as a reminder, the [clears throat] MAP data is norm referenced. It's not criterion referenced. So what we see here is not how many kids are at benchmark but what percentiles did they fall in compared to a normed group. Um so really because nationwide we have a lot of students um achieving below benchmark it's not like the even the 50th percentile is a good indicator that they're at benchmark. Um, so we definitely want to see the majority of our kids above that 50th percentile. And and this fall we had for math um it was at the 47th. The midpoint was the 47th. Just a quick note um the the high school students in geometry and algebra take a
036course specific exam and this is we can only lump all together because it's similar data. um the the other one that looks across all the domains. So we only had 42 9th graders represented in this data um 22 10th graders, 20 11th graders and 34 um 12th graders. So a lot of those are either they're taking it in a resource room or they are part of big picture which take the other one. So um just as a an aside for what data set is missing from this particular [clears throat] one, the next chart is growth. So now we're looking at um that 48th little yellow bubble over there represents that half of our students were above the 48th percentile in growth and half were below for growth. And the growth is fall to fall. So,
037fall of last year to fall this year. Um, and so it represents third through 12th grade because our second graders who take MAP growth do not have a growth event yet since they didn't take it last fall. [sighs and gasps] So once again, um we would hope that we would hope to see that median growth percentile at least above the 50th, but if we are closing gaps, we really should be targeting that green. And on that note, um some celebrations with math growth fall to fall. Um these are teams across the district who did reach that green which means that they are closing gaps um because they are above the 60th percentile. Uh half of their students are at least above the 60th percentile. Um one of these you'll see here was above the 74th.
038Half of their students fell above the 74th percentile for growth. Um, so these are teams the you'll see there that and maybe it's too small to see but it says grade three growth. Um, and that would be third grade at Lincoln. But really that represents the grade level before them because it's last fall to this September. So the growth they experienced from them is really due to their second grade year. So just wanted to show um some teams who show showed some pretty impressive math growth last year. And then the same set of slides for the reading math assessment. So this is um for achievement grades 2 through 12 and the median growth percentile there is uh 57th. So that is above the 50th which is good. But again, if we want to feel like
039we are really closing gaps, we really should be targeting um the 60th or higher in that green or blue zone. And the next slide is um reading growth again fall to fall, so 3rd through 12th grade. And that one also is in the 57th. So seeing a little bit better growth in reading this past year um than math. And they did fix I know all last year you kind of heard this caveat that um math might be a little bit inflated because they changed their algorithm and all that. They have now moved everything to the new normed group and um gone back and fixed the historical data data. So it's all um normed correctly now with with accurate representation. Um this is the celebrations of reading growth fall across the district. So again, teams that
040are showing greater than that 60th percentile median um growth. And then the last slide is just looking at another one of our indicators of success. Again, last week we talked a lot about the um fluency assessments and focused specifically on foundational skills. But another indicator of success is that um the using MAP growth, which is a broader spectrum assessment um to see if they are reading at grade level by the end of second grade. So you can see last year's for this year our second grade goal is that we have at least 50% at or at or above the 60th percentile in spring so that we are closing those gaps. Um last year we met that in um in spring our second graders last year the median growth percentile or sorry the median percentile achievement
041percentile was 64th. Um and then uh this year um in fall our median percentile is 36th for our second graders. [sighs and gasps] So we have half of our students in below the 40th percentile. Um so there is some intentional work to be done there. Just for comparison, Jen, um, so the cohort that last or 24 25, yeah, last spring ended up in the 64th percentile. Where were they in the fall of 24? Just so we have a sense of >> like Yeah. >> Yeah, I could definitely pull that data for you. Yeah. >> Just wondering like it's 36 like what happened or is that just this is how much people grow during second grade typically? >> Right. Well, this would since it is norm data, this would be what is represents what is typical.
042Um, and so this fall benchmark is based off of fall expectations. It's not saying it's based off of a spring expectation. Um, but it definitely is a different cohort of kids. And that's what I have. So, any other questions about any of that? >> I just have a quick question about the ELA adoption. Are the teams working together for >> elementary and secondary? >> Yeah. I mean, are they So, do we know what that transition I mean, is it going to be these curricula working together? Well, I mean, is that >> Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty much the bridge between that. Um, because secondary got started earlier. Um, and there will be there will be that vertical conversation at some point. They started the process together and then we kind of immediately said we need
043to slow down for K5. Um and so yes, before we come to you with some recommendations, there will be a vertical consideration. Jen, I just had a quick question. um with now over 90 classroom visits under your belt, if there's some trends that you've noticed or just um things maybe districtwide or across across the schools that have come up or um just things that you've observed that really kind of spread across the all the schools. >> Sure. Um, well, I think one of the things that seems to spread across all of the school improvement plans, which that's what we're really there looking for is how are those being implemented and what's our next steps with them. Um, but interestingly enough, a number of our schools as their school improvement plan goals picked things around the
044clarity of what do we want students to know and be able to do? Which then in function that ends up looking like learning targets and success criteria and fleshing out um proficiency, what does proficiency look like and all the things that end up being tied to that. Do the students have clarity around that? are they able to set goals because they know what that looks like and um they understand what proficient they they know the task because they know what the goal is. They know what the purpose is. Um so I would say that that has been one of the um conversations that surfaced the most and we've been doing the most thinking about and looking at um and planning next steps for >> board. Any other questions for Jen? All right. Thank you for
045the data. Thank you for your update. All right, that takes us into excuse me, our uh superintendent update, Troy. >> All right, just a a few uh items tonight. Start off uh with just a little bit. We'll be doing working on the resolution here for our EPO levy here real soon. Uh we will be submitting uh assuming the resolution is passed, we'll be submitting that to the county. Uh our lawyer that prepares all the stuff has given us very explicit directions for us to uh how to input it. Uh it will be a roll call vote as we go through it. So it will be uh done individually. Uh we'll have two copies, remember after uh the meeting that we all need to sign two copies. one because we will send an original to the
046uh county auditors, but we also need to have an original uh in our own files. Uh and then also tomorrow we will uh send out uh our attorneys once again gave us the correct language for the development of the pro and con committees. And so once the resolution has been uh formally passed then uh tomorrow we'll uh send that to the press. we'll put it on our websites and we'll do like a you know set it out over Facebook as well. Uh and so we have to submit that um by the December 12th deadline who's on it. we don't have to have the um you know they don't have to have anything written at that point in time but they we do have to say who's on it and if we can't find someone at
047that point in time then it becomes incumbent upon the county uh and then bears a bit of time and then if no one shows up then they're they just don't have it. So we'll continue working on that. So we're pretty well prepared after we do uh the resolution. Okay, lastly next one please. So just a little bit of an update. It's not been quite as intense as last fall around legislative advocacy because last fall we knew we were coming up uh on a long session. It was a new bienium and uh we were also hopeful that there was money available and so uh if if you saw that this week the revenue forecast was dropped 66 million from you know what it was right at the beginning of fall. So we were being told very
048clearly by the legislature that h you know nothing new is going to be funded. Don't ask. you know, they're just being some of them are even being quite militant about it. They don't want to talk about it. So, we've been working with our region to figure out how we can keep the discussion going, what we want to prioritize there. The big three from last year, which is MSOC, maintenance, supplies, and operating costs, um, special education, and transportation that the WASA group, WASDA, everybody was promoting is still out there. We're just not necessarily expecting nor having big giant asks for any of those things. The legislature will probably tell us that they did fix special education, which they have not. They've given us more money, more funding towards it, and we're definitely better off than we
049were. Uh, but there are still many aspects of it that are not, but they did include basically in some tweaks into the levy. that we have to in the past we would be very very honest and say we had to use some levy funds to to cover the unfunded special ed costs. So we're now supposed to take all of that unfunded special ed costs out of the basic ed and then you know just refill other stuff with levy. It doesn't change. It's just you know moving the shell game between budgets and accounts. So, but we are going to continue with MSOC and and what we're sort of looking and I will send you once we have completely finalized it because it's a little more detailed with some examples this year and there's a few words
050smmith and things going on right now. But, you know, one of the priorities from 105 will be to prioritize MSOC funding and sustain the foundations of basic education and that's education. That's really letting them know that MSOC has been a part of the McCclary decision. just wasn't fully funded and the inflationary factors have not kept up. And it's not just insurance. That was our easy into the discussion last year to help the legislature understand why Mto was so important because the majority of them didn't. Uh so our ridiculously rising insurance costs was one in, but we're talking about other things now. um in things like uh our adoptions uh the fact that how those have changed over the last few years that it really is subscription based. We will get some stuff but in order
051to get you know the things that really supplement and make the books come alive or whatever and we're going to have to buy a subscription every year. It's not just like buying a book and then six years later you buy another one. Uh we have to continue to pay. So it it's you know it's wonderful for the publishing companies but it's not good for the rest of us. And so that's an area where inflation has not kept up. Uh and so we want to talk about reinvest any unrealized savings. So we know that across the state we have a uh declining enrollment uh a little bit. You know that seems to be the trend across the state. So they've budgeted for that. instead of taking that money back and giving it to some other program
052outside of education, we're saying keep it in education, add it to MSOC, add it to some other things that we're doing. So that will be really a lot of what we talk about with MSA. It won't really be about asking for the bill that we thought we were going to get last year. It will be more about preserving it, talking about the future, preparing for the bienium. Uh and the message really is just okay just fully fund what you've said you were going to do with MSOG with the prototypical model. So uh that will be kind of you know where we're going there. Uh this was a big one for our region. Uh reduce burdens, address unfunded mandates and inefficiencies. Um you know if you can't if you there's no more money which there's none.
053So if it's there's not any to give us take some of the burden off of us. And there's a lot of examples for that, but one is is substitute in employee benefits. There's um the substitute costs. Kim is working on it. One of the things we're doing is all the districts in our region are uh preparing a spreadsheet with our sub costs. And so here's really the challenge that we have. We get funded by the legislature for four substitutes for each employee a year. But by law, we have to give everyone 12 sick days. So if everyone were to use their sick days, that's eight days that we have to pay for sub out of our levy, local dollars. Uh we are about uh Kim's working through it and finalizing it and everybody breaks it
054down a little bit differently, but we're close to a million dollar deficit last year that we had for subcost. Now, some of those are PD days. Those are things that we're doing, right? So, that's all a part of it. Um, but there are other things that are very challenging to us and we don't think um we're going to make much headway with this, but we need to try. And those are things like stacking days with paid family medical leave and and the federal component and a change that's going to happen in January where our staff can essentially schedule them out every week but a day every week for for literally this is an actual one that we have to provide them a day off every week for taking their neighbor to medical appointments or something
055along those lines. So those laws that uh impact and and there's no support for that. There's a a small business uh sort of budget for small businesses to work through that and we asked to be a part of that so we could get recapture some of those sub costs last year and of course the business lobby's like nope don't let them in which what would have argued if I was in their shoes that same thing because it would have cut their piece of the pie. Uh but that contributes and that contributes to the majority of our deficit for uh that that's approaching a million dollars or those types of things. Um, and what they don't really understand is how I mean it's wonderful for employees, we get that, but we only have 180 days with
056kids. And so, uh, that's a real challenge for providing um, and when you allow two different programs to stack on top of each other, which they said is not their intent, but it's not ex, you know, forbidden within the law. So, we're just asking them to take a look at that how it actually applies to schools. It's not like we, you know, like do away with it, but think about like how it applies to schools and how it puts uh challenges on us for learning as well as financial and really learning is the the biggest problem. Uh and then obviously it came out in the Seattle Times and came across the the state news feeds a little bit over the last two weeks. Um the somewhat surprising sales tax requirements. uh we knew that we
057were going to and we'll continue to pay you know uh maybe a bit added some sales tax on some uh products and things like that. But uh what really surprised people and legislator legislators are saying well that's not what we intended but it's what the law says is the um sales tax we need to pay on like contractors. So we need to um supplement our staff with speech and language pathologists for example. um they're very difficult to come by these days. And so we have particularly in special services, we have several contractors that we contract with. We've done do in nursing as well. Well, so now we have to not only pay the going rate for the contract, we also now have to pay sales tax on that contract. And so we don't really know
058what that's all what all that's going to do with our budget. After a year, we'll sort of have an idea. This is how much we paid in sales tax. So all of the legislators are saying that's not what we intended. we don't want to do that. But where there's a real fear that when we get there because they need the money that they're just going to keep it in place. So that's going to add uh an interesting burden to us and will be difficult to predict uh over time. It's been a big deal like so even if we the argument right now is is so even if we Jen contracts with ESD 105 to have some professional development come in now we're supposed to pay sales tax on that person when that's their sole job
059and that's the purpose of ESD is a state agency to state you know so there's some real challenges with that law so we're going to probably focus a lot on okay what's your intent are what things can you do to you know make it more realist istic for us uh because we don't really have any other options. I mean we do as much internal PD as we can do but we also need you know people coming in from the outside and we have to pay sales tax uh on top of the contract that we're already paying is a bit challenging for us and it's especially challenging for very small small districts or districts that are not um you know that are on the edge of not being fiscally sound right now. Uh and then this
060is the the third one is one that's got a lot of uh discussion and word smithing. Defend and advance investments that support student learning. Uh it's been a bit this one's challenging to figure out what to say because really what we want to what we're trying to say is, you know, all [snorts] of this other drama that we have around legislature and money and things like that. We are really not talking about programs and money that's going to support kids. And we need to get back to that. we need to get back to. Okay, you want us to improve our scores. We want we hear all of that the time from the legislature. Well, we want kids in more STEM jobs. We need to be more math focused and things like that. Okay, help us
061define what that is. Provide us with uh resources to go out and have a you know focus on that. Right now uh there is no support for any of those types of programs coming from the state. you have to carve it from other places and people are very heavily reliant um on on levies. And so that's where the f first bullets there. We do not receive levy equalization money, but we are going to support our neighboring districts that do uh because there's now a lot of uh desire in the legislature to say they're preserving LEA, but to make it much harder to get. And that's for districts that don't have as high property values as we have. And so there we know there's going to be a bill dropped where you have to go out
062in order to get LEA you have to your community has to pass a levy at a minimum of $2 per thousand equivalent of that. That's very challenging for a number of our districts in our region. And so um you know could prove challenging for us. We've been very blessed with our community over the years supporting uh and and so that if they can't pass that then they don't even get the money from the levy equalization from the state. I mean that that's a a double blow. So that will be um a challenge for us. We also know I'm trying to think uh I put it out my mind because none of us like it. OSPI is going to drop a bill that none of us can believe they're going to do but uh I forget
063what that topic is. we're going to going to work on on not [snorts] having that come to pass. So, uh, but it's going to be an interesting legislate. You know, we're not going out. We're not going to we're not going to be dumb and ask for, you know, millions or billions of dollars, but we're going to try to show them where our pinch points are. Explain how we're going back to the primary decision era where our you're asking us to increase our local levies, which the state supreme court said you're you're not supposed to do. and and you know even when we can when we pass them you're taking a bigger chunk for things that that could be basic education and we do have we'll probably I mean I was talking with someone down in
064my old neck of the woods and there's a district down there that's probably going to get dissolved at the end of the year small one and be absorbed by two or three neighboring districts about 400 kids and so there uh there are some that have been able to get out of binding conditions there's more that are close it's just a challenge. We all have our unique stories. Uh but it it comes down to and they're not trying to do anything crazy. I mean, they haven't done anything that you would think is is ridiculous. Uh it's just very very challenging in that environment, you know, and their transportation costs are are extremely high. And so, um, we're we're just going to go with a little bit different mindset, but we're going to keep it on the
065message that we had last year and try to, um, help them understand really what our challenges are, you know, and and maintain. I mean, that's that's part of the prioritize and sustain the foundation of basic education. Maintain, you know, the money that you've allotted, maintain it for education. Uh, and then the last one, this one just came to me. Uh, go ahead, Leslie. Flip it. So, this one's cool. I changed what I was going to do on the last slide because Haley sent this to us today. We as of today have a live student radio station uh through our choice program. Choice 509 radio is live uh and uh that's our little flyer there. I will uh send you the the link. It's through the internet and so you can get right uh see it.
066But it's a studentr run st uh radio station by our choice program. Uh students have set up playlists, recorded the promos, transitions, put together artist spotlight. You can go on their web page. There's I think today with the artist spotlights were Lady Gaga and Jelly Roll. Uh I listened to it uh for a while uh just to hear a wide variety of music uh news had a news segment you know that was about 3 minutes long and then a little special interest story. Uh so it was really good and then they have uh on the website they have a place where you can request music or genres or uh put in some some type of special personal special interest story that they'll highlight. Uh so it's pretty well thought out. I was very very impressed
067today. Uh and then they're going to you know on a regular basis take the you know the the metrics out of it you know and and look at the data that they collect about how many people are visiting the site what's the time spent on the site uh where listeners are located what plat web platform they're using. So that was a really uh that was a fun thing to get that email today and then start exploring a little bit when I had some time. So uh you know kudos to them to to get it going. Leslie's going to uh work uh with them. We're going to highlight it. Uh the Chamber of Commerce already knows about it because, you know, obviously we have close partnerships through the Choice program with the Chamber of Commerce and
068and Katie reached out directly to to Haley right away and said, "Hey, you know, we we can do stuff there." So, uh you know, just one more uh example of where we're we're working towards getting our innovation going. We're working on towards developing that mindset. And so, this is a great example. Uh, and uh, I I really actually once we get back from Moz, I look forward to going over there and learning more about uh, about what they're doing. But I'll I'll make sure everybody has the link and we'll promote it on our website and do whatever we need to do. But it was a it was I spent probably in two different segments, probably about 20 minutes on it today and uh, was great. So, a tremendous accomplishment for our students in the choice
069program. Uh, any questions about any of that? Can I just ask just for my own clarification that group, the procon group, if we can't put it together, the county tries to put it together. And if the county can't put it together, we just don't have one. >> We just don't they just and and that group, yes, there's not a for or against statement in the pamphlet. Yeah. So, yeah, it's uh you know, been around for a couple years, but it's still evolving. So, I will continue to monitor and watch and learn and make sure we fulfill all of our obligations. Um, because we also will once we have them, uh, we can't have more than three people. So, it's one to three people for each side. Um, and then I'll have to make sure I'm
070supposed to then provide them with information, but looking at it, I'm probably going to have to be pretty particular to show them where to go on the county site to understand what the deadlines are. So, because it took me a little while to find out myself. So, um yeah, it's going to be it is it's it's a little bit interesting. >> Been trying to figure out how to ask this several times being on the board for four years now. And I know it comes up sometimes with Kim um in either adopting a budget or um just some of her reports about the employee benefits and the kind of wasteful side of you have to pay >> even if they're not using it. And so that seems like that is something that >> and that's the
071main point that we'll make around that is um when this when the law changed and when people decline and for I mean no one declines without a good reason um uh so when people decline but we still have to pay our share into the pool and I realize that's to increase the amount of money in the insurance pool right but that's a big deal and I don't know our number this year because we're in open enrollment right now. So, I don't know the percentage of our employees that um uh declined uh for this coming year. We also have they they reduce the hours to a substitute who works 630 hours and they become required that we give them benefits whether that a sub wants it or not. So, those are some real challenging pieces that
072we just want the legislature to look at. I mean, there might be very good reasons for it, but like how can we do it better? How can we um uh protect workers? But at the same time, you need to fund it if that's what our expectation is. If the expectation on us is, you know, so please fund it because now we're just taking that out of levy dollars that's supposed to be going for enrichment to students. So those will be some interesting conversations. Thank you, Troy. Uh board, any other questions or discussion for Troy? All right. Thank you for your update, board. That moves us into the business portion of our meeting. And first up, we have uh resolution proposition number one, replacement education programs and operation levy. [gasps] Yeah. So, this resolution we need
073to, as we discussed, we need to vote on it uh through a roll call vote. Um it was written by our uh bond and levy attorney uh at Foster Garvey and uh the so the language has all been vetted through the legal team. It's what we talked about uh at our last meeting uh for the February 10th election. Uh it has the four years uh starting in 2026 for collection in 2027. uh and it has the dollar amounts for each of the four years because remember that's actually what we're doing the total dollar amounts the rate we estimate to start with and then it varies based upon growth of assessed value in the within the boundaries of the school district and also can be impacted by enrollment growth. uh we as we discussed last time
074decided to project relatively conservatively for both enrollment as well as for uh valuation although we certainly do expect that there will be growth um within the district or within the boundaries of the school district. So, uh, does anybody have any additional questions about the resolution board? Any questions? All right. Uh, this is an action item. >> I move that we approve resolution 141125 as presented. >> I'll second. Maline has moved that we approve resolution 141125 as presented and Cindy is seconded. Board, any discussion. All right, I'll call a vote. >> Oh no, it's roll call. >> Yeah, thank you. Litz. >> Hi Mike Brown. >> Hi >> Adam. >> Hi >> Cynthia. >> Hi. >> Resolution 141125 proposition number one rec uh replacement educational programs and operation levy has passed. Next item of business is
075an enrollment report. >> All right. So, real quickly, you've had a chance hopefully to to look at it. Um, our enrollment uh in November stayed pretty stable. So, that's good news for us. Obviously as a year goes on uh you know the all districts tend to lose a little bit but we are had a projected enrollment of you know 3,111 FTE and that.19 students somewhere uh and so we are at uh November uh 3,170 so we're above our projection so that uh is is good for us. Our running start numbers have increased a little bit this year from last year, but not a ton. Uh sort of within that enrollment increase. Um you know, so we're at 188 FTE, whereas last year we were around 176 the majority of the year uh for FTE. Our
076headcounts was is 125 and a half. And last year we spent most of the year at about 116, you know, plus uh for for running start. Um so we down uh were revised downward our kindergarten numbers about halfway through the summer summer because they were really much lower. Uh they did bounce back a little bit above that projection, but not originally what our projection was in the spring. So um our our kindergarten is is bounced back. We've actually had a lot of is it the first graders move in this year? Yeah. So, our first grade um is in is is a sort of well above where we were projecting. So, we're continuing to work through that and we'll start planning. We will start planning in December. Uh after Thanksgiving, we will start our process for
077staffing for next year. Kim's been working through it putting our uh our S275, which is our uh staffing report that goes to the state every year is being completed right now. And then um so then Kim's been putting everything that we have through the prototypical model and we're we're pretty well staffed. Most of the the um staff that we have that's outside the prototypical model are um you know our some of our supports, you know, making sure we have enough Sykes because we don't get through the prototypical model. We you know don't get nearly what we need for psyches and and other uh positions like that. So, uh, we'll be continuing to rise revise that, but at this point in time, um, we're feel like we will be on or above projection by the end
078of the year and will now be below, which is a very good good thing for us and our fund balance. Troy, quick question. The high school, uh, 130 students and then 95 running start. is the n that's not 95 out of the 130, right? That's added together. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Yes. But >> yes. [laughter] [snorts] >> All right. Anything else for uh enrollment report tonight? All right. Um that would move us into our financial uh update, but I believe we're going to get that. Yeah. Kim Kim couldn't be here. She But this is what she would explain. Um it's it's a little bit earlier in the month than normal, but we have had this month uh some of the problems with the reports we've been getting from the county treasur have resurfaced.
079And so Kim was not she would have explained that we did not feel we had um accurate numbers. There's some some money that there we don't know where they're giving it to us from. We don't want to just accept it and put it somewhere because they're unable to identify where this amount is. Um, in the reports they gave us there were addition errors, you know, basic arithmetic errors. And so, um, and everything had been cleaned up over the last couple months pretty good, but you know, from the problems that were h they were having over the summer. Um, so they resurfaced. So when Kim gets everything reconciled, she'll send it out, but she'll also present that at the December meeting, the November numbers, because December, we have one meeting in December. It's December 10th. We
080won't have any new by that time anyway. So, um, so we will we'll get it correct. We they're working hard. We know they're working at it. And so, uh, we don't really know why all of a sudden some of those old problems came back. Um, but we don't have uh we're not confident an accurate report at this time, but it will be done and it will be presented to you uh at a later date. >> All right. Thank you, Troy. Um, let's see. So, that moves us on into board reports. And Tasha, do you have a final legislative report? [laughter] >> All right. Um, and I actually don't have a board chair report tonight other than just to say once again, thank you for the many years of service, Tasha. So, we appreciate everything you've
081given to the district. So, uh, Leslie, that takes us into public comment. [laughter] >> All right. Individuals in person wishing to be heard by the board. Um, but I can skip forward to uh once Leslie calls on an individual, they will identify themselves by stating their name and address for the records and you will have three minutes uh for public comment. Leslie, go ahead and get us ready. Oh, am I starting? All right. Um, uh, good evening board members and community. In case you don't know me, my name is Luca Woods Vallejo and I graduated from Ellensburg High School last spring as part of the class of 2025 and I'm currently attending Simon Frasier University in Vancouver/Bernaby, Canada. So 40 minutes away from the border, not that far. Um, I'm here tonight because I want
082to speak at this particular meeting. While I can't necessarily address individual members, although we do know who I'm talking to, um I can speak to what excellent leadership looks like and what it has what it has meant to students like me. Uh during my four years in this district, I witnessed something that not every student gets to see. Certain members of this board brought a perspective shaped by a deep personal investment in student success. One member in particular has served with a dedication that goes beyond duty, approaching every decision, every late night meeting, every budget discussion with both the mind of a leader and the heart of someone who truly understands what's at stake. Now, I'll be honest, I wasn't always the easiest student to deal with. [snorts] There were probably a few phone calls
083home, some moments where my decisions tested everyone's patience, and definitely times when I caused more than a little grief. >> [snorts] >> But what I learned from watching this particular leader was something invaluable. That true commitment meant showing up even when things get hard. That resilience means pushing through difficult moments with grace and determination. And uh as an international student navigating a foreign educational system in a new country, feeling comfortable and supported did not happen by accident. It happened because this member understood that behind every policy decision are real students trying to find their place. Their influence extended far beyond board meetings, creating ripples that reach students like me in ways that made all the difference. That example of perseverance, of sticking with someone, even when they're making the things challenging, taught me more than
084any lesson plan ever could. It was powerful to know that at least one person in those board meetings, I think you guys can guess which one, not saying that not all of you do this, uh had watched students like me grow up, had seen us struggle and triumph, had celebrated our achievements and worried about our challenges. That kind of understanding born from real connection to the community and perhaps a particularly close connection to at least one student shaped my entire high school experience. The culture this board has fostered and the priorities you've set and the unwavering commitment certain members have shown have created an environment where students can thrive, even the ones who occasionally make things difficult. As I move forward to finals, which is in three, four weeks, and I barely feel prepared, I
085carry with me both the education this district has provided and the lessons learned from watching true dedication in action. To all board members, past and present, thank you for your service. The impact of dedicated leadership extends far beyond policy. It shapes lives, opens doors, and builds futures. Uh sometimes it even teaches stubborn teenagers that showing up and pushing through is what matters most. Looking ahead, I hope this board will continue continue to be guided by putting students first, listening to the community and serving with both wisdom and compassion. And yes, having the p having the patent having the patience to stick it out even when we test your limits. Thank you for everything you've done for our schools and community. Mom, I love you. >> Thank you, Luka. Anybody in person? [laughter] All right. If
086nobody else is online, is it look somebody waving? Oh, okay. >> Okay. Um, I will go ahead and close public comment for tonight. And that takes us into new business. Uh board, do we have any new business for tonight? We have still tomorrow. >> All right, that takes us into uh meeting closing. Uh Detroit, do we have an executive session tonight? >> Nope, we do not. >> Okay, thank you. Um next up, clarification next steps. Board, any clarification, next steps? Board calendar. See most of you tomorrow. >> I'll dress pretty nice and I can take a picture of being a member. >> I want Bulldogs. [laughter] >> All right. >> Yes, we will definitely do that December meeting. Okay. Um Leslie, a signing of official documents tonight. Okay. uh look at the board and say
087do we have any other further business to discuss tonight? If not, congratulations on retirement from the board. We were we are adjourned. Thank you board.