001Thank you. I would like to now introduce our board of directors. Uh tonight we have Cindy Co, Maline Demeton, Tasha Woods, Kathy Day, and I'm Mike Rowley. We're also joined by our superintendent, Troy Turno. Our assistant superintendent for uh student learning, Jennifer Coun, our executive director of finance and operations, Kim Snyder, and our student representative, Yuton Leang. forward. The first action item is our 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 that we approve the consent agenda. >> I'll second. >> Maline has moved that we accept the consent agenda and Cindy has seconded. Board, any discussion? >> Call vote. All those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? >> All right, that takes us to
002uh first or uh sorry uh guest presentation by the EHS fellows group. >> Yeah, we're very happy to have representatives from our Ellensburg High School uh fellows group. And so, uh, they're as they make their way forward, they'll explain a little bit about their program and what they've been working on. So, we're very happy to have those students here tonight. Test test. Okay, perfect. Good evening. We do have a slideshow for you guys. Is there any way we can show I believe if you click slideshow it should go to full screen up in the right hand corner. Yeah, I think so. The slideshow button up in the right hand corner Yeah, >> there we go. Yeah. Yeah, there you go. Technology, man. Awesome. Well, good evening school board and community members. We are the EHS
003fellows. Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to present. Um, tonight we have uh several members of the leadership team. My name is Mariana and I am the president. I'm Jenny and I am the vice president. I'm Weston Hatherther and I'm secretary >> and we are unfortunately missing our wonderful treasurer Ashley. She cannot be with us tonight but she's in our hearts. Um she's just doing something else. Um next slide please. So tonight we're here to talk about the fellows. So um can I have you click twice more? Perfect. So who are the fellows? We are a student-led group looking at issues within the entirety of the school district. So we are not a club. We are a group of students who looks at um the elementary, the middle school and the high
004school and looks at issues within that um from student perspectives and find solutions to that. So we are what's unique about fellows is we are student led as I said. So that means we are the people seeing the issues firsthand. um we are able to look at those and create solutions for students from student perspectives. Um the final thing that makes us pretty unique from uh other clubs um or just from a club in general is we are funded by a grant. So this gives us the unique opportunity to support um our fellow leaders and the fellows who give us input so that they can provide engagement um to the club or to the group. Then next slide please. >> So our responsibilities. So we have two groups. We have leadership and we have fellows.
005So leadership is a group of four or five members and they mainly focus on problems that are happening in the school. So recently this year we all came up with an idea of how can we improve and how can we change this environment in our school district. So, we had a couple of students and our fellows talk about what's our problems and we've had a lot, but we mainly focused on how um we don't really have a safe environment for students to go to school. So, we had a lot of students go online, which doesn't bring a lot of people to activities and clubs. So once again, our leadership looks through all that and then we discuss our topic, our main topic that we want to work on and then we distribute that to our
006administration. So then they know what we're going to try to focus on. So then our fellows, our fellows are that's not as responsible as leadership, but fellows work on talking to other students and getting more information on what we want to change. And then they distribute that to our leaders and then our leaders once again talk about it and then our leaders give information to our fellows to describe what we want to work on and how they can help. Next slide please. Okay. So our mission and vision. We would like to encourage all students to be a part of what is going on in our school district. By being engaged in each student will take ownership and increased willingness to go to school and this will make them feel welcome and take an active role
007in their education. Next slide, please. And then one more click. So, we're here tonight. Um, we want to form start that um, uh, relationship with you guys, figuring out who who we are. Um, but also we, um, are a student group as we've been mentioning that is in the school. So, we would love to collaborate with you guys and be your boots on the ground students in the schools from those perspectives. So if there's uh solution or issues that come up and you need those student perspectives, we would love to be that for you guys. Um so we want to form a good relationship and be that collaboration between us. Next slide please. I think that's our final slide. So thank you so much for listening to our presentation. Is there any questions or clarifications
008from anyone? Well, first of all, this is great. I love that you're offering outreach and we um clearly accept your invitation and would love to collaborate with you. I guess um not to put you on the spot, but you you did say that um one of the concerns was that um school doesn't always feel safe to all students. So, some have elected not to participate in the face toface piece of that. So, have you had enough time to come up with any solutions or, you know, remedies? Anything that you could share with us right now? just kind of led us into that conversation. >> Yeah, we've definitely started. We haven't come up with any like hard ground solutions. We are still getting those feedback from students right now and seeing okay, what are some common
009themes that are showing up with students not feeling safe? So, what are those big concerns there? So, we don't have any hard rock solutions there, but we do have a couple um just outlines of okay, here's some directions we want to go. Uh thank you for being here. Uh and great great presentation. Um I'm wondering how long have you guys been a part of EHS? How long has this existed? >> So we just as a fellow's group just got started the end of last year. Yeah. So they kind of got us all together and sat us down and was like here's what um here's what the grants for. Here's what we're trying to accomplish. So yeah, just the end of last year. I think that's exciting and board as a reminder that's the work that
010we did and centered with Yaka right bringing in that group. >> Yeah. So I just want to clarify our I really appreciate the presentation but the grant that they're funded by is not directly from me. Um clarify that uh it is a partnership that we have with Educational Service District 105 uh in Yakama. And so they received from some grant funding and Mar Martell is here somewhere. Well, there he is. uh for our our contact with ESD 105. So, uh they received a grant, reached out to us. The grant comes through our business office and we do it. So, yes, but they're funded as a as a partnership with the leg work that ESD 105 has done for us. And so, we're really really proud of that and we're really glad that they've got started
011and and look forward to the what how it expands in the future. >> And this is a really important thing that the board has been working towards, right? And so uh historically we we have had two student board reps on the board too. So as you were saying that process and that collaboration it's amazing to have that offer and we want to do that. And so I think that board, district admin, whoever does it, it would be great to have a process laid out where these group of leaders and these student voices are also somehow braided into the work that our student board reps are doing and then a little bit more of a process to collaborate with the board and to learn what we do and who we are and and sort of what
012we're looking at. Uh, I think that would be a a call to action that would be great to see uh and hear about the next time you come to the board. I'm wondering how you gather information from students who are not at EHS. So at the middle school and the elementary schools or even at the choice program. >> Yeah. So right now we do a lot of Google forms. Technology is our best friend right now. So most every everyone has an email um and with that they have access to Google forms. Um, but we haven't been able quite yet to get to the step where we're connecting with um, elementary schoolers, but I assume it'll look again like using Gmail, but you know, elementary schools maybe not all the time on Gmail, but maybe connecting
013with parents through Parent Square or those um, platforms. >> Thank you. >> How often do you guys meet? Um, currently since we're getting off the ground, it's once a week and leadership is also uh meeting once a week. So, typically two meetings a week. Um, but we're hoping to kind of cut that down once we get a firm action plan going. >> My last question, I guess, would probably be more for the superintendent, which would be what's our next step to make sure that we have some time to interact with them. Uh well as they're as they are progressing in their um process we'll know more. It's you know it's re it's recent. Um also as I shared with you uh last week um you know we're working on finding our junior representatives to the
014board and that will be worked on um primarily through this group once they haven't actually it's homecoming this week so they're not working on that. So that will be uh how things go. Yong's been in uh conversation with Miss Perry and so they'll be working together on that. >> Any other questions? >> Oh, sorry. >> I was just going to say thank you if there was no other questions. Looks like we're all good. But yes, thank you again so much for the opportunity to present and we look forward to working with you guys in the future. >> Thank you guys for coming and we look forward to hearing from you again. All right, board. That takes us into administration. And first up, we have Yong Leang and her student report. >> No student report at
015this time. Thank you. >> How's the beginning of the year going? >> Very good. Students are settling in settling in well. Um, I mean, one thing I would bring up that a lot of, uh, teachers have been talking about is like communication within families. Um, or not within families, but between teachers and families. But finding a way that's like through one stream or one way to communicate would be would be something that I've listened to and probably needs to improve on. >> All right. Thank you. Uh, okay. Uh, next up under administration is uh Jen and the teaching and learning update. >> All right, thank you. Um, well, for tonight's September TNL update, I have kept it relatively short and sweet, so I know that's not always the case. Uh, but we are in day
016what, 20ish of, uh, school here. Um, and so there's been a lot packed into that 20 days. So, I figure for the September update, I would kind of keep it to to broad things that you'll be hearing out hearing about throughout the year. Uh, so kind of hearing about it early in the year as well. Um, for the 2526 school year, the content area that is up for adoption is ELA. You've heard me guys, you guys have heard me talk about that before. Uh, this is a K12 adoption. We sent out a request for proposals for 6 through 12 materials uh before the summer and we've had a lot of stuff come in. So, probably in the next couple of weeks, we'll be digging deep into those and looking at uh what we want to
017learn more about for our 612 classrooms. And then for um K5, we're taking a slightly slower approach and we haven't yet put out a request for proposals because we want to have a very clear and shared understanding of what it is that um that needs to look like since it is so nuanced with looking at uh early literacy instruction. So we are actually starting the adoption team with some training. Um I actually just recently nailed down uh mid October. We are partnering partnering with central with a couple of professors there um who have some specialty in early literacy. So they will be partnering with us to provide our pilot teachers some training so that we all are coming from a shared understanding of what are the things that are most important to look for when
018we're looking for materials to support uh good healthy literacy instruction. Um, and so we will be putting out uh requests for proposals for K5 later in the year and examining materials later in the year. And then we also intend to train all of our K5 staff prior to um even making a choice on what we are looking to adopt. So that's what um we'll be working on over the course of this year. It'll be a pretty in-depth process here for ELA adoption. And then just looking ahead, uh, this year is the needs assessment year for SEAL, health and fitness, and music. So we'll just examine what are our current materials, are they fitting our current needs, and do we want to put a request for proposal out for those content areas for to look at
019next year. So that's one big thing that you'll hear about throughout the year. Um, and then the second thing that I put up there is just TNL rounds are started. And what that is is the TNL team um and myself included uh are doing regular building visits this year as part of our improvement work. So essentially um I have allocated and other members of the TNL team when they're available pretty much every Tuesday this year we will spend most of the day in buildings. Um and so the purpose of that is to partner with buildings with this improvement work, partner with them around their school improvement plans. Um really have good reflective conversations around how it's going and what next steps are. And some important aspects of those TNL rounds um are that they be
020data driven and student centered. So every time we come to these meeting with building administration, we are asking for sort of um three pieces to have conversations about. One of them is student learning um both academic and um SEB related. So uh evidence of those things, actual data that we can review and talk about how it's going and what they're doing in response to what they're learning from that. So that's one thing. And then every building is engaging in learning walks this year. Um and so the other thing that we're be taking a look at is the data from that. What are those learning walks telling us? What are you guys planning in response to that? How is that going? Um and then the third piece is just data around their teaming structure. So we've
021put some parameters around how the collaborative teaming structures in buildings. Um and so looking at their agendas and the work that they're doing, the conversations they're having and um just again having good conversations and collaboration around that. Another important thing is that um these TNL rounds are continuous improvement through solutionoriented PDSA frameworks and actionable next steps. So the important thing there is that we are every time we're having these meetings we're reflecting on how's it going but what are we going to do next and then next time we come for >> oh yeah PDSA we use a lot of acronyms um that is a plan do study act so that is a common framework around continuous improvement where you plan something you try to implement it you study results or data or analyze um what's
022happening with that thing that you've Um and then you act, you either uh adjust or you adopt it if it's working really well or you abandon it if it's not. Um so being solutionoriented at these TNL rounds so that we are always reflecting on okay the last time we were here and we talked about these things and we identified some things to try out. How did that go? What's that looking like? and then moving on to and what's what are those data pieces that we're looking at now telling us and what are our next steps. Um so really kind of pushing on that continuous improvement cycle that I think our whole system is really um trying to get better at. Uh another thing that's important about these uh TNL rounds is that this year we
023are really focused on tier one instruction. So the data that we're asking for and the reflection and action steps that we're talking about are focused on tier one instruction. Um and then another important thing is that they're building specific focus areas. So when the TNL when I go to meet with the building or when the TNL team comes to meet with the building, it really is about what are you working on in your SIP and what are the things that you're looking for and you're um talking to your teachers about or your families about um and how do we look at how that's happening and how to better support it. So they are all a little bit different but they all fall under the umbrella of our improvement work which as you know has funneled
024down from the strategic plan. So that is um we I mean I've I've I think done eight visits now and this week has been super busy with them because we did let like school just get going before we started them. But now we're off and running with them and I'm really excited about the work and I think it's going to produce a lot of really good conversation and um actionoriented results. And that's all I have for you tonight. Any questions? Jen, could you um describe who like who is in those meetings, the rounds, and then just briefly how that sort of filters down to the classroom experience or how it eventually will. >> Sure. Um well, so myself, I'm at almost all of them. There's a couple throughout the year that I wasn't able to
025to make, but um I I will be at almost all of them. And then members of the TNL team, depending on kind of what the focus is. So we have an alternating academic and subfocus and then we have PLC rounds too. Um and so depending on um what the topic is um or the grade level various members of the TNL team might also join and then all of the building administration has been asked to join. Um how that filters down to the classroom level as part of this we are doing as part of the visit we are doing learning walks. So in addition to um buildings performing their own learning walks more frequently this year. We will participate in them when we're there. Um and of course there's lots of nerves around that. It's not
026something that we've done before. Uh so understandable like nervous like what does this mean? People walking through my classroom and um but uh I am confident that it will show to just be we are all just working on the things together. It's not to pick out individual classrooms or teachers. is really to look at our system and talk about okay this is what we're generally seeing in our system what's the next step for supporting that um and so um all of the learning walk data that that building administrators are collecting when they do their own they've each set up a system where when they go through a classroom the feed get back gets pushed immediately to the teacher when they leave the room and then as a building they can look at that data in
027the aggregate to look at trends and whatever they're working on. You know, if they're working on student discourse in the classroom and they've done, you know, they've visited like the middle school, I think, has already visited 28 classrooms through this process already. Um, so they already have a really good start of data to be looking at to bring to their building leadership team to say, "Hey, here's what we're seeing. What do we think about it? What should we do next? Um, what can we celebrate? What are our next steps?" And uh so it's definitely reaching the classroom level. I'm wondering in the spirit of the first uh point, the data driven and student centered, uh I believe that we're probably through that first testing window of maps, >> do we have a process or protocol
028that ensures that we're getting that family report to everyone or getting that information out? >> Yes. So I believe we will be following the same process that we have for one more uh year here of uh bringing them to conferences and then ensuring that every any family member that does not come to conferences gets mailed those reports home. One of the things that I have been excited about Aubrey about which you guys have heard about Aubrey um is it does have both a student and family access component. So we have to set it up with the making sure all the the right data is feeding in but eventually families will have access to the student 360 so that they can see not just the current assessment information but they'll be able to see historical information
029as well. So an action step is that the district is moving towards that in a relatively short amount of time and then if a parent or family says that they did not receive the information they could just email their teacher or their principal and get that family report. >> Absolutely. Yeah. Any other questions for Jen? >> All right, thank you for your update, Jen. Uh, next up we have Troy and his superintendent update. >> All right, thank you. I just want to throw in and piggyback a little bit on on what Jen said before I get started. uh you know it it really is a big system change for us and so we appreciate uh you know the the fact that people are um you know working towards this because that's what successful systems do.
030We we you know go through those plan do study act cycles. we look at the data and it can be really challenging for people when that that hasn't really been going on as it as it would do would have been in a lot of districts and so it seems very new and so there there has to be um you know an understanding and trust that we're all working together and this does fall under uh our new strategic plan and the SIP process uh which we will continue uh the fall SIP presentations at our next meeting um but that it's it's all part of that and nests in within the goals that the buildings have set as part of the school improvement process. Um that should all be tied to our strategic plan. So uh that
031it's a it's a big lift uh this year particularly for Jen and her team. Uh I will join when I can. Uh obviously this last bit of time I I've been working on something else. So uh but it will be a collective effort by all of us to help understand what our system is doing. uh where we need to strengthen it, what what can we do, help us develop ideas about what to strengthen it. Uh and so it will over time give us a lot of trends that we have trend data right now, but it always isn't tied together very well. And so that that's what we hope with the with the implementation of the strategic plan, the work that the team did last year, and we bring that entire school improvement process to that,
032our district learning improvement plan as well. So, uh we're very excited about it this year. It's going to be challenging because it's new. Um, it's very heavy on on Jen's schedule in particular, but also uh we think that that the data that we gather this year is really going to help us launch forward and be able to be more responsive and efficient and quick in in addressing issues that we might have and also understanding what we do well uh and understanding the why of that. Uh there's a lot of things we do well, but sometimes we don't necessarily understand why. So, uh, it's hard to replicate it in in other areas. So, uh, thanks to her for doing that. I've just got a couple things. Um, so today we had a an interesting visit. The
033Washington State Department of Agriculture reached out to Alexandra a few uh weeks ago and we're on a tour and wanted to come visit uh our district. So, uh, the, uh, director Derek Sanderson, and we also had State Representative Christine Reeves, uh, as well as a number of, uh, staff from the, uh, Washington State Department of Agriculture. They visited with our our nutrition services team. They toured our central kitchen at Ellensburg High School and really discussed, uh, our leadership as a district as nutrition services team. Uh, we're one of the leaders in the state with our farm-to-school initiatives. Um and we are pursuing more grants to support that. Those are some uh challenging ones to get and uh they you know the grant environment has changed a little bit in the last year. Uh but we're
034still working on a variety of small small to large grants to sustain that program. Uh it's always great at the beginning of the year. Uh we've got a couple emails, but one in particular uh from a kindergarten family uh whose uh first child going to kindergarten in and the home was incredibly impressed as she came and saw the lunches, happens to be a dietitian, so definitely knew what she was talking about. Uh but you know, sent us a very nice email uh to me and to forward it on to Alexandra about uh you know, the fact that our our nutrition services is definitely not phoning it in. We have uh we work really hard to provide a variety of um things that you don't typically see in a school lunch. Certainly things you didn't see
035a long time ago when I was in school. So we're we're very proud of that. We're proud that uh a lot of times when they come through and do visits, the Department of Agriculture makes sure that they stop here in Ellensburg to show off our program. So So that's good. >> Okay. Uh the next the next slide, please. All right. So this is obviously a big deal in our school district. Uh it's it's why the majority of people are on Zoom tonight and here in the audience. Um it's been a very challenging situation for us. Uh we have strong feelings uh out there in the community and within our own staff uh about the social media um post that was made by a staff member uh referencing um the murder of Charlie Cart. And that
036has, you know, elicited a lot of responses. That's all that I have really been working on for uh over well you know closing in on two weeks now. Um we have because uh the responses and emotions are real for people but it becomes a legal process for us. it becomes uh a challenge to balance uh people's right to know things or what they want to know, what they want to hear to with what we have to do for our staff. So, we followed all of our uh normal protocols for an investigation. Um and that makes that makes it challenging especially when the issue is is so emotional. there were actually uh you know several different layers to it uh that we had to go through and had to be be sure on things. Um it
037didn't it did not does not help that uh you know the the wider national media reports on things from different states and whatever and and we have different laws than a lot of those. So what happens in one state isn't necessarily going to happen in other. Some don't have, you know, also it's different for private companies. So there's a lot of different moving pieces to this. So uh we did wrap things up. We did send out communication uh this morning uh to Valley View families in particular. Then we sent out a district uh communication to all of our families uh talking about the process as as much as we could. Uh we did um make sure uh that we communicated uh that uh we had our our legal team guiding us through this process because
038we know it was very it is a very important issue to a lot of people. Um Washington state employees, public employees do have a very robust protection under the law for social media use. And so, uh, you know, one of the first things our our team through the process was, you know, just letting us all know that, uh, as public officials, we were going to have to take any of our own feelings out of it and we were going to have to make sure that we followed a process. And so, we did that the best that we could. We waited through the pertinent legal standards and um you know the there are a lot of things that go into it but the one thing the the piece that we can share was we found that
039it was not uh the post was not made during school time nor was it made uh during or using school property which would have made a very different uh outcome under the law. So okay next one please. So we respect that there's you know strong feelings there's multiple perspectives uh we know this we've heard uh from a lot of people uh we really really tried uh especially as it was breaking to uh respond to every single person individually as time has gone on and other things have been going I'm I'm sure that I have uh unfortunately probably missed some of those uh communications have not reached out I've done the best that we could uh as we worked for it. We have to use this as a learning opportunity. Um we have to uh help
040people or help our staff. I also sent an email to staff today just sort of you know reminding them that it's very difficult. Uh you may have uh the right to post things on social media. Absolutely. That's first amendment. Uh and under also under Washington state law, we can have opinions. uh but it's very difficult for the public to separate our professional and and personal lives when we do that. So we're going to be working on uh some guidelines and making sure we understand our policies and just you know working on developing a little more clarity around the issue for our staff and interestingly or ironically that's actually an area of emphasis with our students this year digital uh citizenship. Jen, if you could please remind me when at social is that the group that
041we're using. So, we have some some guidance. We've uh have u in the middle school and the high school we're going to be having um some lessons for students on social media use and and um how things can be perceived. So, we we have to work on that both, you know, with our staff and also with our students. Uh we know that we have lots of people that are here to comment tonight and we welcome those comments. Even though we cannot respond during the meeting, uh we have read every uh comment we've received already. We have listened uh to every uh people that have reached out via phone or uh in-person conversations. We know this is an extremely important issue. We also know uh that it is emotional and will continue to be emotional for
042our community. uh but it is something that we have have done our best to follow uh protocols, procedures as we would in any other situation. Uh we have also made sure that we have uh explored and we've learned a lot about uh the law and how it works in Washington state for these types of situations. Uh so we will continue to try to get better as a district. We will organize as I shared in the family message. uh we will we meaning us will be working on uh identifying some ways to find some feedback around guidelines and community standards and things so we can develop some understanding and so we will develop a strategy uh to do that uh here pretty soon. It's something that we needed to sort of get uh the formal process
043completed uh communicated and um help work you know make a smooth transition um to you know back in the classroom uh for for the teacher as as that's what was determined needed to happen. So, um we know we've uh had a chance uh on occasion to sort of talk about it, but now we are going to be moving towards um trying to bring things back together, trying to set an example, uh that we we can disagree, we can go through tough situations and we can have difficult conversations uh that need to take place. And as a lot of people have pointed out, uh the first amendment does guarantee your opinion. It doesn't uh free you from consequences and that is true. The consequences might not always be what people like, but there uh will be
044very challenging uh situations for all of us as this has arisen and we have an opportunity to fall apart or we have an opportunity uh to try to use it to to get back together uh focus in on the good things uh that we have going on, the things that we are building uh and continue to our progress that we've made with an adoption of the strategic plan and more focused strategies on student learning throughout the district. So, um, that's is our report. I know that we're anxious. We have a few more items of business and we have a lot of people anxious for comment. So, uh, even though we can't respond, we will be listening. >> Thank you, Troy. Board, any questions for Troy? >> Right. Thank you for your update. All right. Uh,
045that takes us into the business side of our meeting. And first up, we have an enrollment report. >> Yes, our monthly enrollment report uh for September. Uh you've had a chance to review it and see it. It's a little October is the one that's really important to us. Um because then we should have a better understanding especially as our running start to totals and things like that. Uh we are down. Uh we knew that uh and Kim budgeted very conservatively. We talked about that. Uh we knew that we had a larger graduating class. Then we had a freshman class coming in. We knew that we had a larger uh even though it was smaller than the graduating class, our eighth grade to freshman, we still were going to have a smaller sixth grade class than
046we had eighth grade. Uh but we continue to have uh a fluctuation almost on a every two years right now, we tend to have a down kindergarten class. And once again, that is uh when we had our first superintendent meeting uh at ESD 105 of the school year, that was a theme that kindergarten was down once again uh across our region. So, uh our projection right now, our numbers right now for FTE, our full-time equivalency is a little bit below our projection, but uh we'll know a lot more at the no at the October count. So, we'll continue to monitor this each month and and let you know. So, let me know if you have any questions on enrollment. >> Well, I have a quick question. Um, do you have an idea of how many
047TK students are starting as far as how close we'll get to the projected balance or the projected enrollment number? >> Do you have any? >> It is. It's 45 is what we're projecting. And the number that's projected on there that says budgeted or projected number includes TK. It does. So, >> yeah. So, we we think we're going to be fine. Uh, and remember TK is limited this year as well. uh the state legislature limited our our TK, so we can't grow that program uh until the state provides more funding for it. But we think we're going to be okay, but we're a little bit down um than what we had had hoped. Um but we'll see in October and then we'll take it from there. >> All right, board. Any other questions for the enrollment
048update? All right. Uh, we move on to our financial update and Kim Snder. >> So, tonight I'll be going over August 2025's, um, financial update. And you will notice in your packet that our comparison with the county treasurer is not available due to accurate reports from the county not being available. Um, as I mentioned last month in my report, the county implemented a new system and at that at this time they don't have the documents we need to accurately report revenue investments and outstanding warrants. We have worked with them um to report as much as we can and I think we're close to accurate numbers at this time, but I won't be able to tell for sure until they have they they're able to produce those reports again. Um, they are hoping to have those
049reports to us in the next couple of weeks. Um it is a end of our fiscal year so we do need those reports. Um but we are working very close with them. I do feel for them. I know when you're putting in a new system it doesn't always go as planned but they're working very hard to get those done. The numbers I'm representing tonight are preliminary numbers as we are in the process of closing out 24 and 25 fiscal year. We are now 12 months into the fiscal year. The general fund revenues come in at 99.11% and expenditures come in at 93.71%. The fund balance is sitting at 10 million and or 16.41%. For the month of August, the district spent about 5.9 million which is made up of 72% of salaries and benefits, 10%
050on supplies. And some of those expense expenses that come up for this percentage is 315,000 to Dell Marketing for Chromebooks, 12,000 for custodial supplies, 12,000 for Northwest textbooks for curriculum. We've um 17% on professional services and some of the expenses that make up that percentage is payments of 265,000 to McKinistry for our energy audit which was paid for by a grant 26,000 to ESD 105 for data services 50,000 to the city of Ellensburg for utilities 19,000 to Imagine Learning for our online school and 10,000 to outside pen consulting for professional development for teachers and then there was a small amount on travel and 30,000 to bar grains for expenditures related to the installation of a new exhaust fan for the CTE kitchen remodel. Capital project funds revenue sits at 122.4% and expenditures are at 56.1%.
051Um the top expense in August for the capital project fund is 150,000 to bar grains for the CTE kitchen remodel which was paid for by a grant. 32,000 to great floors for the installation of new countertops in the CTE kitchen and $1.1 million transfer to the general fund for tech levy expenditures. And as I mentioned before, we always have to receipt the tech levy revenue that comes in into the capital project fund, but our expenditures have to come out of the general fund and that's why we have to transfer. In the debt service fund, the revenue sits at 99.96% and expenditures are at 88.87% and there were no new expenditures in August. Our ASB fund revenue sits at 74.96% and expenditures are at 61.72%. Some of the expenditures for August were 15,000 for payroll and
052benefits for the fall and winter play and 4,000 for track and field uniforms. our private purpose fund. The fund balance is sitting at 34,000 and there were no new expenditures in August and the revenue for the fund for the transportation vehicle fund came in at 143.85% and 67.11% expenditures. The reason for the revenue is so high is because we received the depreciation revenue for our school buses from OSPI in August. We paid 335,000 for the purchase of two typeA school buses in August. And that is it. Do you have any questions? >> I just had a quick question about the capital project fund um sitting at 56% of uh budgeted expenditure. Are there projects that are finishing up that will um increase that number for uh the end or >> No, I I budgeted pretty
053high in that in the capital project fund because we weren't sure which um projects we were going to do this last year and when we received the state match money. We do have some revenue in that account um in that fund to be able to use. So, I just went ahead and budget as much as I could just in case we did have some things that came up. Thank you. Any other questions for Kim? Board. All right. Thank you for the update. All right, board. That takes us into some policy readings. We have two policies to go over tonight. One's a first reading and one's a second reading. Uh first up is first reading policy 3210 uh non-discrimination. >> Yeah. So as when I sent you the policies uh the new version and to compare
054it with our current one uh non-discrimination 3210 we updated it last year. The state has continued to provide us with updates. Um what happens with this update why it needs a first reading is there are no actual changes to the policy. They as they have done with some of these policies recently, they have made a decision to write more uh quote more of the law in the policy. Uh where in the past the policy was more succinct, talked about the highlights of the law and then the procedure uh would sort of carry out the language of the law. But uh in 3210 uh it has been decided to write more of the law into the actual policy. So we have no material changes. It doesn't change how we do anything with non-discrimination. Uh due to
055our DOJ uh agreement that we are operating under, we had already vetted all of our non-discrimination, our policy and as well as our procedure. Uh and so now it's just moving the things that we were doing more into the policy. itself. Um hopefully you had a chance to review the changes and what it looks like. Uh but we need to do a first reading because they changed uh how how the wording was enough in the policy that it requires us to uh to do a first and second reading and and take a vote after the second reading. Are there any questions? Doesn't look like it. Thank you, Troy. Uh so that takes us on to the second policy. It's the second reading policy 3241 student discipline. Yeah. So we uh did a first reading of
056this one uh at our last meeting. Once again uh not a lot of changes but two very significant changes. So that's why we needed to uh do a first reading in vote. uh the OSPI and uh did some rule making around student student discipline last year and we implemented we updated this policy last year to uh implement a lot of those rules but there was one rule that they did not implement so they sent this to us uh right before school started right at the end of August and asked us to implement the change in this policy if you remember is a change to the definition of long-term suspension and expulsion so it really only impacts those two items and it make if if a student were to be on those steps and it really
057um makes them almost the same thing now there there's uh very little difference between them. Uh it used to be that expulsions could be carried over in a school year and now it ends at the end of the school year which is the same rule has always been in place for long-term suspension. So those are the those are the really only real changes to the student discipline policy and that was uh those revisions were asked of us in August. So we need to uh if there's any after any questions uh we do need to take a vote. >> This is an action item board. >> I move that we approve policy 3241 student discipline. I'll second >> Kathy has moved that we adopt policy 3241 and Cindy is seconded board. Any discussion? >> No, this
058is a policy that's being dictated that's being defined and dictated by law. This isn't a big change. >> All right. No other discussion. I'll call a vote. All those in favor? I. >> Any opposed? All right. Thank you, board. Uh, all right. That takes us into uh board reports. Uh, as board chair, I do not have a report tonight. So, uh, that will move us into community input and public comment. Uh, Leslie, if you can get us set up for that while I get my script out. Um, all right. Individuals in person wishing to be heard by the board need to be signed up to speak and those on Zoom need to add their names to the document in the Zoom chat box. If you are unable to do this, individuals may also be recognized
059within Zoom by using an icon or emoji to show you are raising your hand for public comment. Uh we will be doing public comment for those in person before we move to uh Zoom. Uh once the board chair calls on an individual or Leslie uh they will identify themselves by stating their name and address for the record. Individuals will provide proceed to make comments within a 3minut time limit. If an individual wants to request a response from the board this may be possible by submitting this request in writing or email to boardsd41.org. Uh the board is not obligated to respond to questions or challenges made during public comment period and the board silence will not s signal agreement or endorsement of any speaker's remarks. In my capacity as board president, I may terminate an individual's
060remarks when the allotted time has passed or if any speaker makes univil comments, including obscene comments, comments that are defamatory toward another person or commentary that is unwarranted invasion of privacy. I'd ask that you respect all staff members privacy and consider putting any concerns you have in writing if they pertain to an individual or personnel matter. The board can then review and forward those to the appropriate administrator. I'd also like to remind people that are here for public comment that um if you are speaking tonight on a personnel matter, uh I would respect that you try and keep names out of uh your comments uh as that is uh a personnel matter with the school district. Leslie, are we ready for public comment? >> All right. Again, we'll begin with those in person. Uh we
061will all lot one hour for public comment. Uh so please keep that in mind. So >> um Hello. There he goes. >> My name is Mara Robotham, 5461 Look Road, Ellensburg, Washington. Um, I have lived in Ellensburg all my life. I graduated from EHS as did my husband and my two sons. When our sons attended school, I often met with their teachers several times over issues and concerns that I may have. Um I would make a teacher, we would make a time and we would in short order um the teacher would satisi satisfied my issues and concerns. We both had my child's best interest at heart and we actually faced each other and we actually conversed in a human sort of related just conversed um for us for social media spread disinformation and persecute safety
062of our loved ones. We have the ability to destroy businesses and livelihoods of something that we didn't know that they posted on Facebook. I look at teachers like first responders house if they would return to their loved ones that night. Sadly, teachers in this country every day protecting and children. Teachers like first responders are true heroes. I have a message to all teachers. Now is not the time to be silent. Fight for the teachers. Fight for your first amendment right. Because if this can happen to the teacher that you teach across the hall from this can also happen to you. Lastly to the school board members stand be stand behind your staff that social this imposes. have our ch our children's best interests at heart and thank you for all your hard work that you've
063done for the last several weeks. I appreciate the superintendent speaking. Um I know that this has been a difficult a difficult time in our for all everybody that's um that it applies to. So thank you very much. >> Thank you. identified. >> Can you please try and use the microphone so then the people online can hear? >> Thank you. >> Okay. Uh Shelley Lounber, Griffin 360 Majestic Heights Drive, Ellensburg. very quick. Thank you very much for facing this most recent issue of social media content. I appreciate that you went through the process that you supported our uh teacher allowing her to have her first amendment right of free speech and I support your decision. Thank you. Thank you. >> Yep. So, um, my name is Raina Willlet. Um, I don't really, it seems like a
064real outdated policy to give my address, especially so in the political climate. I don't really feel comfortable doing that. But I definitely live in Ellensburg, so I'm hoping I can still speak. Okay, thank you. Um, so I was coming here as of yesterday planning to say a lot more, but I heard that so I was going to speak on first amendment rights and support of freedom of speech, but I heard that the teacher was put back into her classroom and I'm very happy to hear that. However, especially I don't know a lot about the situation, but especially based on what I've heard here now, it sounds to me it seems clear now that she w shouldn't have been taken out of her classroom in the first place, that she did not violate any rules. It
065was her own public uh forum. And if we can't post our political opinions on our own Instagram or Facebook, like what the heck are they for, right? So that to me, it's just crazy. Um, I think it seems like somebody in the school district who has that power used their own like personal political opinion to take her out of their classroom, out of her classroom. And I think that that's wrong. This should have never happened in the first place. And I think that the school district actually owes her a public apology. I've seen them saying a lot of things like, you know, she she's back in her classroom. We found out that she shouldn't have that she was fine. You know, in the first time I read it, I knew that like how long does
066it take to go online and find out that she was on her own time on her own social media account? Like 1 hour. But she was out of her classroom I don't know how long, at least a week. So to me, that's pretty absurd. And um I think she she should be apologized to publicly um because it was a First Amendment violation. And um yes, that's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you. [Music] Andrew Spencer, 1515 North Brick Road in Ellensburg. Um, I've spoken to you before about the lovely musicals and all the great things that are going on there. And I just I I want to reiterate kind of what I've been hearing here. Uh, thank you. Thank you for following process and policy that is intent that is intended to guide
067you through these difficult issues that that will arise. It's unfortunate that we live in a time like this. My son is pursuing a PhD across the the country took my grandchildren over there in DC. Uh and uh his his research is on how social media has screwed us up which is there's plenty of evidence of right. Nonetheless, uh social media is a place for people to express themselves. This person did it often on her own uh social her platform, not during school time. It's a non-issue. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you've had to lose so much time having to deal with this tempest in a teapot. Is that right? Um or teacup. So, thank you for following process. I also I'm sorry that the person lost some time in the classroom. I'm sure her
068students uh assuming it's a a woman, I don't even know for sure. Um but assuming the students are missing their teacher, especially as we're in the first weeks of of the school year, it's a tough time to take someone out of the classroom for something that was pretty darn innocuous in today's terms. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Uh, thank you for the time. Um, I just want to reiterate what everyone else has said. Thank you. Thank you for following process. >> Can you state your name, please? >> Um, oh, sorry, Dreb Scott and I'm at uh 204 West 26th in Ellensburg. Um, I appreciate what the superintendent said that this was a teachable moment. Um, and I'm very encouraged to hear that on the backside of this, all of it terrible. Um, from
069what initiated it through what has happened to the school district and the children. Um, thank you for turning that attention toward this issue at large and making sure that the students in the schools feel this and know that ultimately we are still in America and they do still have freedom of speech. that yes, consequences are a thing, but that the important part is they must not be afraid to say what they think and what they feel. And this kind of moment is the ones where the fear encourages us all to sit down and shut up. And that is the very last thing that we need to do. So, like the others, thank you. I am sorry and I appreciate all of the work that you do when we're not paying attention. >> Thank you, >>
070Lou. It's on. >> Anderson, Seattle, A, Ellensburg, Washington. Good evening. I'm here tonight to express deep concern over this board's failure to act after a teacher publicly celebrated the murder of Charlie Kirk on their personal social media account. By taking no disciplinary action, this board is setting a dangerous precedent that hate speech directed at individuals or groups so long as they are politically conservative or Christian is tolerated within this district. Let's be clear. If a teacher had made similar remarks celebrating the death of a progressive leader or posted racist, homophobic, anti-Muslim, or anti-semitic content, we would not be debating whether consequences were appropriate. So, and rightfully so, we shouldn't be. And Target is a conservative figure. That same standard suddenly disappears. This isn't about politics. It's about consistency. It's about professionalism and it's about creating
071a school culture that is truly safe and inclusive for all students, families, and staff regardless of their background or beliefs. By allowing this to go unressed, you are significantly or signaling to every staff member that hateful and violent rhetoric is acceptable depending on the target. you are inviting future controversy and legal exposure by refusing to apply your policies impartially. This district cannot claim to uphold equity and inclusion while selectively enforcing its standards. You are either committed to maintaining a respectful professional environment or you are not. I urge this board to reconsider its inaction, apply its policies consistently, and demonstrate to the community that hate has no place in our schools. It's aimed at. Thank you. >> Thank you. Hello. Um, yes. So, I'll just add my voice to the chorus. Um, >> you state your
072name and >> Oh, sorry. I'm Josh Welsh, 903 East Spokane Avenue. >> Um, it sounds like you're going to be writing policy and clarifying expectations for district employees in terms of how they express opinions on public forums. Um, I'm here simply to ask the members of the school board and our administrators to support teachers first amendment rights in cases like these. as you work on that. We really can't expect people to educate our kids if they're looking over their shoulders and concerned about whether something they say or write in their lives as citizens will result in being fired or disciplined at work. Um, I hope you'll let our teachers know that you've got their backs. Thank you. >> Thank you. Hi. Um, I'm Sally Harren. I'm also at 903 East Spokane. Um, good evening. Um,
073I'm really grateful that this teacher will be back in the classroom tomorrow and I want to thank all of you for your hard work in following this procedure. Um, this situation has revealed a troubling double standard regarding free speech in our school district. Free speech is a constitutional right that doesn't end when someone becomes a teacher. This teacher faced suspension for a Facebook post made on her own personal time away from sorry away from her students. Meanwhile, last year in our school district, an elementary school teacher wore political shirts to school and told his classroom multiple times that immigrants are criminals. This teacher shared his ignorant views with his own young students, many of whom are themselves immigrants, children of immigrants, and friends of immigrants. Multiple parents, including myself, contacted the staff at the school.
074Little action was taken. There was no talk of suspension. There was no administrative leave during investigation. This district is punishing private speech. While in the classroom, that sort of hatefilled rhetoric was ignored. If teachers are afraid to voice their opinions outside of their classrooms, in their private lives, we've lost something fundamental about American liberty. Conversely, if teachers feel free to target immigrant children and other children in their classroom, we have already lost our American dignity, and the inconsistency speaks for itself. Thank you so much for your time, and again, I really do appreciate the hard work you've been doing this last couple weeks. Thank you. >> No one else in person. Should I turn this off? >> This is my first meeting, but >> yeah, it's public com is still open. So, um, just put
075your name on that list there. Do we want to go? We'll go uh with your and then we'll go to the online one, Leslie. Okay. >> Oh, I can see why people Okay. Jasmine Lawrence, 11:08 North Willow Street. I'm nervous as a public speaker. Um, so I grew up most of my life in Ellburg between here and in Montana on a reservation. Um, the two sides of my family very conflict conflicting ideals, very very different types of people. One from Ellensburg, the other indigenous in Montana. Very different. Um, something that I've learned that's very consistent across most people is that everybody wants the same thing for each other, which is a safe environment for our kids. We want to be able to feed our children and keep them safe. At the end of the day,
076all of these arguments are usually surrounding the same fundamental things. Last year or two years ago now, we were at a different elementary school here and uh the teacher very clearly had completely different ideals from us. Completely different. Um our values were really different and she had made some comments that on a personal level made me uncomfortable. I didn't agree with however it was her right to say it. And when I look at the teachers in our school district, all of them, even the ones I fundamentally disagree with, I genuinely think that they would keep our children safe. I think when I send my kids to school every day, as scary as it is for everybody, I know that that all the teachers, even the ones I don't agree with, are here for the same
077purpose, to teach our kids and to keep them safe. And things like this, unfortunately, cause a lot of division. And I I understand that. But when we lose sight of focus and we stop remembering that we're all human and that we all love our kids, it becomes really really dangerous because now all of us could leave this room and see each other in public at our workplaces and scoff and think, I hate the way that person thinks. And then maybe we take that home to our kids and then our children repeat it. The most important thing that I have learned as I've grown up around all the different ideals is that the most important thing you can do is lead with love and all the hippie- dippy things. But to treat each other with respect
078and teach your children to and we don't have to agree. We don't have to agree. we still have have to protect each other's rights and and try to remember to treat each other with respect especially when it's hard cuz that's what we'll teach our children to be better people. Thank you guys. >> Thank you. [Music] Yeah, we'll finish up on in persons and then go to online. All right. My name is Mark Allison. Colonel United States Army retired. I speak from the perspective of my foxhole. Having served for 30 years in the uniform defending freedom of people I don't even know or even agree with in a lot of ways. Tonight in this room, this is the front lines in defending freedom in the city of Ellensburg. And I wish to compliment the school board
079and superintendent in particular. I salute you, Troy. I don't even know you, never met you. But you have shown courage. He was shown to be an honorable man and a competent superintendent. It's tough to be on the combat front lines in defending freedom. And in this case, the freedom of free speech for everyone, even if you don't like it, it's not about a person. It's about a sacrosang fundamental principle, a US constitution. we all benefit from. It's about a principle and I salute you uh for standing in your post and citizens as well uh being good citizens. Every has a right to free speech and I'm hoping we can be good citizens and defend that principle even with people we don't like. Thank you. Thank you. I think that's the end end of that of
080the list there. Do you want to let the person online know? All right. Thank you, Leslie. >> All right, Marcy. It'll just be a minute before we get you available to to your public comment. And just please remember that state your name and address and you'll have three minutes. >> Great. Can you guys hear me? Okay. >> Yes. >> Uh my name is Marcy Tel and I am from Portland, Oregon. >> Uh good evening members of the Ellensburg School Board Superintendent and community members. My name is Marcy Tel. I lived in Ellensburg in the mid 1990s and earned my teaching degree at Central Washington University. I'm still an educator today dedicated to building inclusive classrooms where students feel safe and seen. Back then, Ellensburg was a place of kindness, acceptance, and safety. A community I
081was proud to call home. That's why I'm deeply concerned about the recent Facebook post. The educator in question was posting on her personal social media page on her own time. Her post expressed fear and frustration over the ongoing crisis of school shootings, an issue that deeply affects educators and students. She was speaking from a place of frustration and urgency. Rather than engaging in a direct conversation, a friend chose to share that post with someone else under the guise of sparking a conversation. What followed was a chain reaction that quickly spiraled into hundreds of divisive comments. Opposing views were deleted and blocked, silencing meaningful dialogue. More troubling, some comments revealed personal identifying information of her and her family. This is called doxing and it is illegal under Washington state law RCW4.24.792. This violation could open those
082individuals up to civil liability. The irony is painful. While some claimed moral outrage over a personal post, they felt justified in saying things like, "Disgusting. Fire her immediately. Garbage educator. Liberals are sexually grooming students. She is a sick individual and should never teach again." Many were not appropriate to repeat here tonight. These are not the words of a community committed to thoughtful engagement or student well-being. I want to thank the Ellensburg Police Department, the Ellensburg School District, the school board here tonight, and the Ellensburg Education Association for your continued efforts to uphold safety, equity, and professionalism. Thank you for reaffirming your commitment to civil discourse and protecting educators from harassment, and defamation. Let's ensure Ellensburg remains the kind of place where differences are discussed, not weaponized. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. >>
083Thank you. [Music] >> So, we opened up public comment to uh for an hour. So, if anybody in person would like to speak, please just uh sign up still and uh state your name and address. Joy Lynn Schneider, uh, 51 Old Glory Lane. Um, I've heard a lot tonight about respect and free speech and allowing people to express themselves and that this is a learning opportunity. So, I'm really hoping that this teacher is going to take that opportunity because I can tell you as a conservative Christian, the words she used, if I was her student, would frighten me to not speak and I would have a hard time learning from her. I would have a hard time expressing myself knowing the things she said that were false. She was not well researched. She was not
084respectful. She was not discerning. She was she didn't communicate in a well- educated way. Her professionalism is in question and that is something that still needs to be addressed. That was not an appropriate post, whether it's your personal or public page. If it was publicly sharable, shame on her. I mean, you know better. We are in the internet age and we have been for a long time now. I hope she has learned her lesson and I really hope she and anybody else who has her mindset does better. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Is there anyone else that would like to speak tonight? Otherwise, we'll go ahead and close public comment for the night. All right, thank you for your comments tonight. We'll go ahead and close public comment. All right, board. Uh
085that takes us into uh new business. Uh do we have any new business to discuss tonight? All right. All right. If no new business, this takes us into our adjournment process. Uh we do have an executive session tonight. board. Uh we have uh we will have an executive session for the purpose of evaluating a complaint against a public employee and it is expected to last 20 minutes. No action will be taken after the executive session. And for those that are in the audience um we come back and we just go over board calendar. We go over um uh clarification next steps. There's not much. So, you guys are free to go if you want. Um because when we come back, we only have about 5 minutes to wrap up our meeting and stuff. So, thank
086you guys for coming tonight. Uh Leslie, it's 6:50. Let's go ahead and say uh we'll give it 25 because I always come back and ask for five more minutes. So, um let's say we will be back at uh 7:15 from executive session. Thank you. [Music] All right, we gave him a job for us. Yeah. >> Thank you. Very good. See Yeah, he wasn't really my [Music] grand very well. >> But so and then my my grandpa was struggling. Oh yeah. Okay. All right. Like I said, no action was taken, Leslie. So, or no action will be taken. Um, okay. So, board, uh, next up is clarification and next steps. Do we have any, uh, questions or clarification and next steps? >> Troy, we were just talking a little bit before the meeting about when, you
087know, things settle. um scheduling school visits again. Yes. It seemed like >> when we visited last year, the consensus or that I was hearing is that people like to have us more regularly in schools. >> Yes, we can definitely that was actually um you know something that we had kind of hoped to talk about on Friday and didn't get there. So, uh, we will try to well, we'll have three sips next week and we have I forget sort of what's else is on there, but we'll get to it here in the next meeting or two and I'll put some ideas out there um because it might be good to join in sometimes with what Jen's doing and and looking at that. So, anyway, so yes, we'll put some ideas together and we'll get going with
088that. >> All right. Anything else for clar clarification next steps? Board calendar. Anything for board calendar? Signing of official documents are all right here. So, please sign before you leave. Uh board, is there any other uh business to discuss or go over tonight? Nope. All right. Thank you very much, Leslie. We'll go ahead and adjourn.