TSD School Board Meeting - July 24, 2025

001Good evening. >> Good evening. >> We will sound check. Okay. So, video check. So, Casey is not able to join us this evening. his son has advanced in baseball, so they're off at tournament things. So, looks like we are all here. >> It's not just a regular tournament. It's the state championship tournament. >> Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty impressive. All right. If we can get everyone's uh cameras on then we so I can get eyes on people. All right. So we will go ahead and get started. All right. It is 6 o'clock. I would like to call the meeting to order and acknowledge that the Tater School District sits on the ancestral land of the Nisquali Squaxen Island and Shahalis people. I thank these caretakers of the land who've lived on and continue to live on

002the land since time immemorial. Please rise as I lead us in the flag salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, >> to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thanks all. Superintendent Bogatson, have there been any changes or additions to the agenda since it was published? >> No changes or additions. >> Okay. Now, move on to meeting minutes review. The minutes from the June 12th meeting have been distributed to the board. Are there any changes or corrections? Seeing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. Okay, minutes are approved as presented. Now moving on to the consent agenda. Items on the consent agenda have been provided to the board. Are there any questions or

003discussion? >> Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Consent agenda is approved. We will now move on to public comment. Before we begin, I'd like to remind members of the public that if you wish to have addressed the board during the public comment portion of this meeting, you would have needed to fill out the public comment form available on the district website by 9:00 a.m. today. If you missed this opportunity, you're welcome to sign up for the next regular board meeting or email your comments to the board andor superintendent. Contact information is on the district website. Becky, did you receive any submissions? >> I did not. >> Okay, thank you. >> Uhhuh. We will now move on to reports to the board. Superintendent Bogatin will present the re school resource

004officer annual report. >> Can you hear me okay on this computer? I know I think last time was a little muffly. Yeah. And I and I tried to put a new camera in today and it didn't I I couldn't get it to load. I could go to my web my laptop. I don't know Becky if you want can you put me on that by by chance? Um, I don't know if you see me on Oh, there we go. I'm going to mute this same thing one. Sorry. Oh, okay. We're a little multitasking here. Okay. One second. Audio. My turn. [Music] >> Okay. You're scaring me. >> You sound like the Borg. >> Trying to figure out that one's off. Okay. I think I'm figuring this out. We're better. Okay. But you don't still can't see

005me once. I'm sorry. Um, okay. There we go. So, I'm here to talk a little bit about our our the history of our SRO program. And just to kind of for context, um you probably are aware that um our SRO contract is coming due in December. So this is really a beginning of that conversation around um just a relook at this program and some data and just a little bit of history. So we have had an SRO active in the school district since at least 2013. Um that was kind of what I could find and kind of reaffirm that like officially contractually. So whether it goes earlier than that um I couldn't necessarily find and I know there was something from the city that said I think I remember reading that maybe it went back

006to 2008. So it's very possible that we've had SRO um as as far back kind of in their mid kind of that 2008 2010 kind of but minimally into 2013. And so those duties, you know, one of the things that's really clear, um, the SRO's in Tumbwater have really played a crucial role. And I think sometimes it's not with what people think. I think sometimes you think, you know, our, you know, this really strong police presence and I know um, if they're here to talk to you today that their number one issue and number one thing is about mentoring and building relationships with students. It is also providing certainly a level of presence in campus security. it is providing a law enforcement presence when laws are broken. So they do do some of that and

007we'll go into a little bit of the detail around that. um they do quite a bit of education and outreach. And so they are going out into elementary schools, into middle schools, doing programs and conversations and presentations on school safety, crosswalk safety, um you know, all those kinds of things, stranger danger, all those conversations become part of the work of the SRO and then they work collaboratively with us. you know, in the past, oh, post Coline era, there's just a lot of conversations around what does it take to make sure that schools are safe places for kids and families. Um, this idea that like you can create a completely if you kind of use a a green, yellow, red, like green is like there is no nothing can happen at your school. I think those

008days of where that idea is like where we can just ensure the absolute safety of everyone has gone away and just sort of um a lot of we hear about every incident. And so this idea of making sure that our schools are as safe as possible. And on the other side of this is we are well prepared to address and to kind of um monitor. So we we do things now like threat assessment. So we start to get early indicators of threats into our system. um they and again if you're making a threat we're doing a really comprehensive process to look deeply into that. We work kind of handinhand not only with our school um local police department but they also work with you know federal agencies FBI CIA especially as any kind of credible

009threats come and really diving deep into things so that we are um keeping these schools. So they really play an essential role in sort of that preventative safety measure and then really preparation around how do we respond in any kind of um safety threat, safety issue. Um lots of conversations then about reunification and how do we do that and they really play a really key link around that school district, public safety and a bunch of other agencies that would come into play on any kind of crisis, any kind of emergency, anything that happens with with kids. So, um, they also again are are present at countless events and I think probably most of you have seen them. If you go to sports, that's a kind of a key place you see them, but they're on

010a lot of other things. You know, probably one of the last things in my mind is we had Fiesta and I see our SRO, but I also see like that was one of those events that, you know, they're coordinating and connecting with um, agencies from across the region, including some of our parents bringing their, you know, coming in their um, clothes. And so that relationship and connection is really important to our school district. One of the things that was requested was to look at some data and so this is this is um it was took a little work to do and we have it in a variety of day a variety of ways. We have kind of raw data. They collect this on a monthly basis so we don't really do a comprehensive. So we

011thought though this would be an initial look and if you want it to look somewhat different because we could do it by school by by month by lots of different things. This was sort of a big picture snapshot maybe for the first time if you haven't really seen SRO data and what they're tracking. Um, and if you've read the paper recently, the the city council for Tom Water has requested sort of a data piece into the contract. And so again, I don't know if they know that they already collect data. So this may be right in alignment with what they already want to see. And then maybe as this board wants to see this data, they also want to see it. Um, and again, maybe you want to see something else. So this is the

012the data that we are currently or they are currently tracking and reporting back to the school district who we get this monthly. And then we meet at the district level to talk about some of these things and go maybe more into detail and did we follow up on this and just kind of that post incident um whether it's a medical incident or an event something that happened there was a fight and the police responded we kind of talk about should we do some different things around safety security should we respond differently do we need to do some follow-ups um so they're really helpful in just even the followup where they might be involved so you can kind of see the number one thing if you're looking at this data I could share my screen if

013that would be helpful. I don't know if you want to see um do you want to see that data up on the screen or you have it? >> Uh I'm looking at it. I don't know if it might be make it easier for people who are watching the wa watching the meeting. Maybe it's easier if you put on the screen. >> Yeah. Let me see if I can pull that up here real quick. Okay. And we'll make this a little bit bigger. Uh that good. >> Yeah. >> So this is so again you can kind of really see the you know not not a big surprise that the number of things that they're tracking like the number one thing is just student discipline. Um and this is again like there's there's way more discipline things

014that happen in our school. While this number looks the largest of this, these are things that rise to a level where law enforcement would like is a potential law broken here. So this is end up when we talk about discipline referrals, this is around you've made a threat, you have physically injured somebody. Um, and that probably lands there and I know they could probably clarify this a little bit closer around where does a qualifi like they typically and I I think this is a confusing thing. They don't do student discipline. So that is not what they're hired to do. We have administrators their role as student discipline. Um our teachers play a role in student discipline. We have we have lots of people. This is their involvement specifically rises to not necessarily that a crime

015occurred but a potential crime occurred. So a sexual assault uh you brought a weapon to school. um there's a threat or you um we end up maybe engaging with them on some bullying, harassment again where potential crimes are committed and they end up working with us and then it kind of works from there and you see sort of the rest of these things. The next highest is really around a student or parent reporting concern. And so again, uh this relationship and partnership with the police department and our school district has really helping keep kids safe. And you kind of see where they have c characterized as self harm, potential endanger. Um, and I think those are pieces that I I think you could kind of suicide ideiation pieces where, hey, can you connect with my

016child? Can you look into this? I'm really concerned. So, I think again the number one next thing is right there. And then you kind of look at other things. Um, again, kind of across the the board. Um, and again, I don't have the details of this and we could we could dig into more of this further. I wanted you to see sort of the bigger picture of this. Um, and I also thought it was interesting they had a category where they have arrests um or citations on campus and that was a zero. So they did not So there was no current like arrest which I thought actually was surprising because I kind of thought really we didn't have a um any kind of like drug or alcohol or marijuana or something like to that effect

017um that was arrested and apparently again I don't know whether that shows up in a different place but on campus um following up on that was it was zero um reported. So again that doesn't mean it didn't happen but it's like did it rise to maybe them doing um arrest or citations? So, I thought it was something interesting. Again, a little bit of um some things again that I thought were a little bit surprising. You can I'll take questions or you can look at this. Um the traffic and vehicle and bike theft. And so, they actually do play a role in the you know, parking lots. Um we have a lot of video around. So, I know that they're looking at video. I remember them looking at a video of a car accident and just

018kind of seeing like what happened and can we see anything on video? But again, there's accidents, people, kids hit other cars and adults hit other cars and there's some of that happening and speeding through our zones and some of that. So, there's a bit of that piece that they help follow up and making sure again if you just kind of always go back there helping keep our schools and campuses as safe as possible. And then I don't know, just take any questions or any of your your thoughts or questions or any other followup that you'd like to see on that piece. Let me get out of the here. Stop share. Okay. And maybe a question is like, is this the data that you're looking for? You as you see um our next contract is looking

019to have some language. Is this the kind of thing that you want to continue to see? Are there other things you want to see it differently um in the future? >> Any questions for Kevin? So, how much does the contract cost the district? >> Good question. Um, so the contract is in your packet and if you kind of look at there I don't um I'm trying to pull it up here. Does someone else have that if they're looking at they're looking at the documentation in this. I'm looking up. Hang on. Standby. It is in there. 23. There we go. It's this is a draft agreement. That part has been updated. um and they're looking at a couple of minor changes and this is sort of the preliminary so I'm transitioning the other parts in this

020presentation or in the report were our current agreement and then the um the city has already proposed or already submitted a new updated 26 um 28 agreement so it expires in December. This is the con uh this would be January of 20 starting in 2026. The total cost of the contract is over a three-year period of time is 600 let's say roughly $610,000. >> So basically basically $200,000 a year >> and then do you have the what it was currently? >> Oh, >> sorry. >> No, that's okay. I it was easy to find now. Um last the last contract. So this was the 23 to 25 was 538,000. >> 538. Did I hear you right? >> 538. So probably more like about So this is you kind of see about a $25,000 a year increase

021approximately. And this is again one of the things that is in this is just just for the record is like we we pay for one, they pay for one. So that's sort of this how this agreement works. We have two SRO's and it is a split cost between the city and and this is like full cost. So this is um salary, benefits, all that pieces included in this. >> So that's about a 13.38% increase. >> Um yeah, I didn't do the percentage increase, but >> in looking at the math, it looks like $10,000 a year >> approximately. Okay. Yeah, that was up for the since the last contract was up. >> And do we pay the a contract annually or do we pay it up front? >> It's I I believe it's an annual payment.

022Um so we have a set a schedule and we pay um we pay that. We don't pay like this like we're talking about >> it says in the contract it's uh they in the city invoices the district on a quarterly basis. There you go. Thank you. >> You said they pay for half, the city does, and then we pay for half. >> They pay for one officer and we pay for the other. >> Okay. >> So, the the 610,000 Joe is for one officer for three years. >> Yes. >> But that's what our cost is. So then they're they're going to pay their own person too. Okay. >> Yes. Yeah. >> Because we always have two two people at all the time. when I Okay, correct. Yeah, >> there and there has been there has

023been conversations sort of maybe in the background of expanding. There's some been and I'd say not necessarily from our team has not really talked about that, but I've heard folks from um from the city saying that they would there's some interest in expanding that whether it be through grants or doing some other things or doing sheridan. Um again, I don't not something I don't think either organization is prepared or has the resources to expand this program at this time. So that is not um you don't see that anywhere in part of this conversation. There's really no expansion in this in this contract over the next three years. >> So then each year the uh the $23,000 approximately for one officer. >> Yeah. >> Okay. That's pretty good. So >> I think that I don't really

024anything else to prepare unless you have other questions about I think some next steps. We're having some preliminary kind of a next conversation. I do have I do have at one point there was just conversation around since we're in this budget cycle. We have a new you you know the budget issues. We're going to talk a little bit more about that tonight as we prepare for this future budget. um like interest in are there options and I think really there is only one other option for SRO's in our community which is the Thirsten County Sheriff's Department. I was hoping to get really a a more clear direction. I do have a meeting scheduled with the police the the with Sheriff Sanders and Thirsten County next week or the week after. So in the next couple

025weeks and just um I had kind of said hey are you interested and can you do this? So I don't have an answer to that but a request to meet with me and so maybe if one of the things that they might I don't know. So, I have that meeting scheduled. I'll report back to you after that occurs. But just again, not necessarily that we're looking to change, but I thought just even to be responsible with taxpayer resources, it's like it's it's prudent for us to look at our other agency that could provide the service. They do provide it for other agencies or other school districts in our region. So, I thought it was at least we should at least look at it and then I can come back if they are interested. I'll come

026back at a future meeting. We do have some time here um before it's official. I do know so I'm not saying this that um the Tom Police Department. I've met with um the police chief so he is well aware and he understood that yes given our financial situation of course you would look at that and um so he understood that but we will either be serious about that or move on pretty quickly. And so I don't think we want to drag this out too long, but in the next few weeks we will have kind of some clarity about are we looking at just a an a finalizing an agreement that will go into place in January or are we interested in looking at kind of two options. >> So I I was looking through the

027contract and I think there's a lot of things that they do but it's not necessarily written the contract. So I don't know I don't know if that should be in the contract or not. Uh so that that's that was just my thought was are there thing we know they help with threat assessments but it just it just talks about like training people to do threat assessments not actually doing them. So uh I'm not sure I'm not exactly sure what that means. Um, and then also if they don't help us with disaster plans or reunification plans or anything like that, then it falls to one of our staff people. Um, and I know that they do help us with that. But, so I think it's all part of the services they provide, but it's not in

028the contract. So I it's up to you since you're managing the contract and you know that's all I notice with I know what they do but it's not all written in this contract of what they do for us. >> Yeah. And I think we can engage in that conversation around does do we capture some of that. Um I think maybe it's like I think the things that they play a critical role that we're expecting them to do because I I think they would probably say is we're a part of your your crisis response but we're not going to create your plan for you. We will be part of your training. We will help organ organize training. we will do some things. >> Okay. >> But I don't think that >> that's helpful to know. >>

029Yeah. You own your plan and I think that's probably the role that they play. I think there is um again there's probably things I thought you were gonna maybe bring up that I don't think is in here is sort of the after hours and how do we look at that and are we paying and I don't I don't know if that's you know when they show up do we do some swap out and I don't know whether that this contract and I can't remember I mean I've read this now a while back and I can't remember if we talk about that but I think it's a conversation around um or a request if again I I know we can say it's like if you request them to be at a schoolboard meeting do we have

030something in the contract that says yes they will be um >> that we can ask twice a year. Um even as a report um they're expected to come to a board meeting report. So I don't know if that's >> in here. And I think because I think maybe that is part of what even the city council is talking about because if you're going to say I want some data, I would think you would also maybe want to see them meet them and get that information directly from them at least annually maybe. The the other thing I didn't see in there and I think we are again I think we are included but when they make choices of who is the SRO like are we part of that decision? I believe we are but it's not

031in here. >> Yeah. And I think we're going to have that opportunity here. We do have an SRO that's retiring and so they will and I do believe we are going to play a role. I I know the final decision is not ours. So we just we kind of play as a as a member of that hiring team. >> Yeah. I apologize. I have a little cold. Um, and I need to blow my nose. Sorry. I should try to I apologize if I sneeze here in the middle of any of this, too. So, that is also possible. >> I was going to blame audio on your raspy voice, but >> No, it's I I I I should I don't know. I traveled on an airplane and this is what I get for it. So, >>

032that's what happens. Yeah, that's what I figured. That's all that's all I noticed in the contract. It sound like you wanted our feedback on the contract. So that that's all I noticed. >> I think this at this time that wasn't we really I just wanted you to have that as a as a sort of preliminary we can have and I think maybe we I talked to uh President Kikin around do we want to assign a couple board members who are interested in really engaging maybe with the city and really finalizing this and come back. Um and if you have feedback we certainly will take that. I don't we weren't necessarily wanting to go into big conversation necessarily about the contract right now. It's not due till December. So, we're not quite to that space around

033here's our new contract to to look at. Um I think we need to get the answer around thirst county sheriff and then kind of move forward with that. >> It it seems fair to ask for a I don't know quarterly report um to the board and it could be written or what whatever people want. Maybe it's just a written report to the board. >> Yeah, I think we're going to have mutual interests that the city and us have and if if you guys want a little bit of that um included, we can I think we'll be able to find some common ground there. All right, any other questions? Okay. So, next we will have Ben Raric and Kira Aker present the 2526 preliminary budget review. Good evening everybody. Can everybody hear me? And can everybody

034hear Cara? >> Hello. Hello everyone. >> Um Becky, am I sharing on my side or are you sharing? >> I've got it here then. >> Oh, they can see it. >> Um almost should be able to see it now. >> Okay. >> Can everyone see that? >> Think we're good? >> Yep. All right. >> Okay. Good evening, board members. Um, this is a briefer budget status update um to reflect some new data we have for you. But just before we get into this, know that as we get into the two budget hearings we have scheduled uh in the middle and end of August, you'll have a much more robust briefing. But there is some new information to share. So um that being said, uh we'll move you through some content. Uh we're going to give

035you a a highlight of the budget that was submitted for technical review to the ESD and we're going to return to some budget policy and procedure conversations that we started in June. Um so this is how the timeline is going to play out throughout the summer. Um, so we did submit a uh a budget for technical review on July 10th. That's now in the hands of the ESD and they run a battery of tests on it and come back to us with questions about individual programs and that process will will play out for the next, you know, four to six weeks. Um, today we're having a budget update and then you'll start to see uh our advertisements. So, I think as we shared with the board before, um particularly when you're going through a budget

036that's not just sort of a um when you're going through a budget where there is meaningful change, we I historically like to do uh two hearings rather than one. Um because by October 28th, the board will be asked to take a vote on the budget. So, we have scheduled two hearings uh one on August 14th and then one on the 28th, which is the day of the vote. So, you'll start to see, I believe in the Olympian, uh, advertisements starting at the end of the month running all the way through because we're required by a lot to make those advertisements to the public to make them aware that there's a budget proposal, where they can access it, and when they can speak to it. Next slide, please. Okay, so here's some new information. So, now

037we're through, we have month end cash through June. Um, and this is tracking pretty much as we had predicted. So now we're we're now in our fourth um month of negative cash. And so remember, we're providing you two lines here. The the kind of solid mustard colored line is what the cash balance would be without the loan that we've taken out from ourselves to the capital fund. And then the dotted line, the dotted the dashed line if you will, uh black line shows what the balance, the cash balance truly is with the loan. So, we put we have $1.4 million in cash in our treasures account for the general fund, but without the loan, we would be at negative $2.2 million. Next slide, please. >> Okay, Kira, do you want to take them through the

038next few slides? >> Uh, yeah, sure. So, um we do have the uh fee schedule that um I believe we're going to be um approving in the next after the discussion. Um and um I'll go I can go through a little bit more about that um after there's some additional slides that um talk about the addition to that fee schedule with football. Um but there was no change to our um our lunch and breakfast meal rates. We kept those the same. Um and um oh it says right there number three only new the only new fee schedule um will be the our helmet. So, um, two new things, we have, um, added a, um, a fee for middle school, um, helmets, uh, $25 for middle school and $40 for high school. So, um, you know,

039that's very low. Um, I've been looking at some of the other rates that we act that districts in our area actually charge. Um, our our paytoplay is very low. um compared to some of the other districts and they actually even in other districts charge more for football um to play football. So, um, you know, a minimal fee that will help offset some of our costs for, um, for football is, um, you know, very I I hope I think is going to be very doable for m for families. And actually, if they are on the free and reduced program, um, of course, because of, uh, House Bill 1660, they won't have to pay either. So, um, I don't think that it will affect families too much, but it will definitely help our athletics program. Next. Um,

040so here is just a slides of the the first summary slide and it's actually on our website now. Um, it just shows this the date stamp of 710 which is when it was due to the board. So we or due to the ESD so we got that turned in. Um, and like Ben said, they're going through the um the review right now. Um you know looking at enrollment um this is broken out by by elementary our K12 subtotal. Um some of the biggest changes um our K12 subtotal actually by aggregate it is going to be lower. Um the budget is built on um a decrease of um 39 or 40 students. Um so we've balanced the budget and and are adding back to the fund balance and we'll look at that in the next few

041slides. our new market, you can see an increase of our new market skill center. Um last year's budget was 470. Now we've raised that to 510. Um our running start numbers from 180 to 225. Um something we've really had conversations about all year. And then also our AL program, so that's uh Cascadia and New Market High School, that's 170 to up to 210. So we've really increased those budgets. Um, and those are those are offsetting the um the decrease in in K12. Here's just a a preliminary um the fund summary of each one of the funds. And again, like Ben says, we're really going to dive deep into this in our hearing um and our first hearing meeting in August 14th. We'll we'll walk you through all of these funds, the revenues and expenses and

042where the increases and decreases are. But the top um the top bar there is the the fund summary of of last year's budget of 2425 budget. So you can see that we um budgeted for a decrease of 2.1 million. Um but that obviously is not what has has come out in this budget or as we've you know walked through our our financials this this year. That's um we're actually ending looking at ending the year at I believe it was 2.3. Um so here that the budget shows an estimated 6.4 million. So we know we've been talking about this that's not a surprise but we've definitely have adjusted for for this budget um looking at an estimating ending fund balance of 4.8. So um so it's really you know it's a It's a different it's a

043different budget. Um, you know, we've been working on it for months and you can see the difference between the 2425 and the 2526 fund balance summaries there. ASB, same way. We know we are looking at decreasing um the fund balance there. And um and again in our in our hearings, we'll get into all of the um we'll dive deeper into all of the details. So, one of the questions that I believe that we had last year or at our last meeting um was about ASB fund balances and um there were some questions just about how much um if we're shifting um purchases from our general fund over to our ASB over to our ASB fund. You can see you can see that increase of our ASB fund. We have pretty robust ASB funds right now

044and we have um for the last few years and they've continued to increase. So um these prop these changes that we're proposing um are definitely um are supported for next year. As you can see our our ending fund balance um in um is currently or 811,000. So um that's districtwide. um we have well over 50,000 in each um middle school account and so um and then up upwards of 250,000 in um in each high school account. So so they're um pretty well established right now. um you know these changes that we're proposing we're not saying would happen forever but I think just in you know for for next year um looking at that at based on our fund balance it's it's definitely doable for um for our schools. So, um, we wanted to revisit this

045slide and this was the slide that we had looked at last, um, last the last time that we all met. Um, and there was some really good discussion around um, the new Thirstston County travel rule um, and then our new proposed 50-mi travel rule radius. Um, you know, we we looked a lot at um, at neighboring districts, what neighboring districts were doing. Um and both Olympia and North Thirstston school districts have the um you know the self transport within our um um within Thirstston County. So that is something that our neighboring districts are doing. Um it's just, you know, it's um I think that Ben, you can go ahead and chime in here whenever you're ready, but we're um you know, looking at what other schools, this this wouldn't be a huge shift in um

046what we're currently doing now. Um, as far as some of our our uh our schools right now have been um within Thirstston County have been um um self-transporting and so I don't think it would be a huge shift for families um to you know to see a some of these rules. The other piece that I think I wanted to really share is that with with the um with these new rules, we're going to give our our athletic directors a lot um you know of discretion to make sure that you know if they if they think that a bus is necessary within north within the thirsten county um especially down in like Tanino and Rochester if if they feel that it's important based on the the um the game and the team themselves to be able

047to um to have dispatch a bus and and and travel, you know, travel with those students, then then they're going to be able to do that. It's not a hard and fast rule. It doesn't need to be that way. And we've, you know, we we're not proposing that. It's just um having them be conscious of of how much um we are traveling and when it when it's appropriate for for our students to be able to self- transport. Um, some of the other >> Go ahead. >> Oh, I'm I'm glad you said that. That was the one point I wanted to emphasize that I don't think we said last time was that it does sort of portray on the on the PowerPoint is like this hard and fast rule. In fact, it's called a rule. But

048the conversations we've been having with the ads over the last I don't know four to six months have ultimately came around to the fact that you know there are going to be some situations where you know for whatever circumstance it's like no for this one you know what we really do need to schedule a bus. Um and we agreed that we would sort of go through the year that way you know um and give the athletic directors the discretion to make uh make a call now and again in consultation with us um as we work in this new protocol. >> Uh I don't have anything more to say about this one. Um oh if was that a board member or was that you car that was me but um I I was fine with with

049I wanted I had everything I wanted to share. >> Okay let's go to the next slide. >> Okay. All right. So, uh, board members, I wanted to kind of pan out and pan up a little bit and think about the next six months a little. Um, uh, there's some big things coming around the bend, even when we eventually adopt a budget, like we're going to kind of transition right into some really big work. Um, and I want the board to be aware of it. So, the first thing is the interfer fund loan. So remember you took I think we had you vote on we had we we had you vote on that I believe in December or January. Um and we'll need it again next year. So what will happen procedurally is that when you

050adopt your budget you will also you'll either take a separate resolution or we'll incorporate it into your budget resolution. Either way to uh effectively take a two-step process. you pay back the loan to close the year that you're just finishing and then you will retake out a loan for the next year. So you'll see a lot of paperwork that might be potentially confusing, but that's in essence what's happening. So the state asks you to pay the loan out to close your books and then to the extent that you need it again, you retake it out. Um the only difference being that now by state law, we don't have to pay interest on that loan, which is a a small win for us. Um we're in the midst of bargaining right now and we hope for

051that to come to conclusion uh prior to the beginning of the school year and then of course we have the certification for the levy. So the board will have the opportunity to take advantage of the new law uh that allows districts to collect up to the amount that the uh voters have authorized up to a new cap. Uh the one thing I did want to highlight here that we haven't spoken about before or at least in depth is almost right after we adopt this budget, we're going to flip into um a capital levy um mode um you know a typical cadence for that and we're going to put some of these materials in your um in your hearing materials because it does tie into the budget a little bit. But a typical cadence for that

052is if you're going to go out to the ballot in February, um the board would typically take an authorization resolution in the fall, like October or uh November to say, "Yes, we understand, you know, the amount we're going out for, the length of time we're going out for it, and why we're going out for And it basically provides the board an opportunity to dig in, ask questions, kind of talk about the future of the capital uh needs of the school district and you know at what point the district would be able to go out for a bond. Um which I think the superintendent has um you know let me know on multiple occasions that that's a that's a leadership priority for him over over the longer term. Um, so expect those conversations to accelerate in

053August, September, and October uh of this year and to have if if all remains the same, something on the ballot uh in uh February of 2026. And then of course, um we're launching our new strategic plan. Um and I think you're going to be hearing more uh from Megan and Kevin on that. Uh but that's also like a huge endeavor for us as we go into next school year. Uh two more uh house cleaning items of note if I may. Um the first is you probably noticed going all the way back to November. Um how much feedback and public input you received on the budget. Um obviously this was a a difficult budget. Um but our commitment has always been that um we would not shy away from the input. Um, and when you hear

054that input, you got to take it seriously and uh consider it because that's why you do it. Uh, is to hear hear the voices of the people that are impacted. Um, by request of at least two board members, um, and as a function of probably several hundred letters that the superintendent has received, uh, I was asked to kind of take a new look at the role that Keith Mitchell plays. um in the school district with regards to the music program. And so just wanted to put the board on uh notice that the budget that will be brought to you will um seek to kind of reinstate Keith and the role that he was in. Um and that if you vote yes on the budget, you would be voting yes on um on that. His situation

055is a little unique in the sense that he was not he didn't lose a position as a um par educator. He was still going to be with the district. The question was whether we would have a dedicated parah to the music program, but the input from students uh the input from parents um and the input from board members um was pretty overwhelming. And if I'm not mistaken, I believe he was voted employee of the year um two months ago. So, uh, that was one item that I wanted to come back to the board with. The second item is that another issue that received some attention was um uh you'll recall that during the resolutions that the board saw and took action on, the district um put forth a plan to eliminate two um manager administrator

056positions in favor of one consolidated position. that was a position that previously existed in transportation and one that previously existed in safety. Um, so I'm also giving the board a heads up that there will be a administrative position posting that goes out. And naturally you would people will ask well wait a second I thought we weren't hiring you know and just to remind the board that this is part of the original plan that this budget um and this budget includes the elimination of two original uh admin positions and the uh addition of one for a net reduction of one and this position will essentially be split across two areas um and they'll have responsibilities for transportation safety um and student behavior management which is a really big issue in our district uh as well as

057uh school safety uh appropo to the conversation you were having earlier about SRO's um as we've dug into this we realized even even in hiring one person to do both those jobs that person is going to have more work to do than one person can do so it really ultimately was not seen as a viable option not to fill this position So, you will see the posting. You might get emails about it, but um we feel like we've made a sound decision after lengthy consideration that this is something that the Tom Water School District needs. Um that's all I have. If there are any questions for Kira or myself or the superintendent >> questions? Thank you. >> Uh sorry. So, can I ask a quick question? >> Of course. So, uh, the loan that we're

058going to re, uh, do in September, uh, any idea of what that dollar amount's going to be? >> Yeah, right now we're assuming the same dollar amount. We might reduce it, but frankly, there's no incentive to reduce it because we don't pay interest on it anymore. So, we'll probably just just for simplicity take out the same dollar amount loan. >> Okay. So, does that show we've made progress or not? Well, we'll definitely be able to show that we're making progress because our cash balances um will improve. Um and frankly, it won't become a consideration until the capital fund would have any reason to like even notice the difference in the cash reserve. Um but we'll we'll definitely be able to show our progress. Um and I and I have plenty of metrics to be able

059to demonstrate that to you. I guess I'd say like if if there's a feeling on the board that that for symbolic reasons or whatever, you'd want to see a lower number, we could I mean we could go through the process of calculating a slightly lower lower number if that was, you know, if that was of interest to the board. But in if if it doesn't come from the board, we intend to just do the same amount. >> So So I think that might be a good gesture to have the new less. >> All right. Duly noted. We'll uh we'll take a look at that. And we can also look at it as a cap, too. So, I mean, we can't obviously we can't transfer more than what you approve, but we don't have to transfer

060all of it either. Um, but I mean, of course, we can bring back um, you know, an analysis of of what type of transfer we'll need, but um, we don't have to transfer it all at once either. >> Yeah, that's a good point actually. >> But, Director Adams, I hear what you're saying, and it's not a problem to take a look at that. So, we will, >> of course. Thank you, >> Dr. Keel. Did you have a I don't know if I should be directing them. >> Uh, yeah, I have a question. Uh, Ben or or Kira, can you go back up to the athletics ASB changes slide just for a second? >> Oh, this one? >> No, that one. that one. >> Okay. >> Um >> I guess my question on this one on

061the helmet rental fees and stuff. Uh my understanding is Tom Water Middle School doesn't even have football anymore because they don't get enough turnout. Is that correct? So is this just for essentially just for the Bush kids? Um, I was not aware that the Tom Middle School didn't have a football team, but if they didn't, then yes, it would just be for the for the the Bush students. And I guess the other the other part of my question would be um I I think I remember seeing this a long time ago, but do we know the costs of what the middle school football even costs to the to the school district? Did I remember seeing something like 35,000 a year or something? Or was it more or less than that? >> Well, um I I

062don't have that right up my tip. I don't know if you do, Kira, but we could bring it to the hearing is one thing. >> Yes. I don't have exactly what the cost is for for just middle school football. >> Okay. I guess what I'm getting at is I don't understand why we play middle school football when we have a youth league that covers the exact same kids and they play on both teams at the same time. >> You know, that has come up, Dr. Kill. um uh in one of the one of the athletic director meetings. Um what I actually >> I mean >> my my understanding is even I think it's Cellia school district they don't have middle school football or something but but what they I and I could be wrong on

063the school district maybe it's Shahalis or a different one I'm not sure >> but instead of playing middle school football they just give like a stipen to the free and reduced students so that they can play in the public league. Um, is that maybe an option for us since we already have a valid league so that we can not have kids playing in two teams at once and not have the expense in the school district? >> Yes. >> Well, to be clear, like you know, the options for the district are whatever the board decides the options for the district are. You know, like uh you're the policy makers of this district and it's our job to make a budget that fits that. Now, having said that, we have talked about that as a group. Um,

064Megan and I and the two ads, I think Kira was there. Um and and I don't want to put words in the athletic director's mouth and I'm going to make a good faith effort to summarize here, but one of the considerations was um yes, we do have a TCFL and yes, it's there's robust participation there, but um there is a consideration to like how you build a program um and that the middle school program feeds into the high school program and that there was a value there like there was a high like like there was a feeling that um part of the value that the Tom Warner community puts into this football program is that there's a like a there's a vertical articulation there that the kids start in the middle school program and that

065builds to the builds to the builds to then they get the high school program and that then they're all kind of in this culture of the program. Um you're right other districts don't do it that way. Um and we did have that discussion and um there was a lot of sort of what's reasonable talk you know um most of what you see on this page is pretty much being done in one shape one way shape or form by our neighbors um but I and again I don't want to attribute it to one of the athletic directors or another maybe both but there was a feeling that that having a program at middle school mattered >> um I just did confirm that um Tom Middle School does have football. >> Correct. >> Adams. >> So, I

066guess my thinking is is having two boys and run through the different programs, both school programs and um uh just athletic outside of the school programs. One of the things that I think is important is that the school programs, we have policies of inclusion and there are some kids that aren't the best at athletics, but they want to give it a try. You know, especially at middle school. And I'm afraid if we dump our district program, then you're not going to give these kids who might not be athletic stars, but they want to at least give it a go an opportunity. >> Yep. That was absolutely part of the discussion. We at one point we, you know, very early on were discussing with them the idea of like cuts versus no cuts. And the the

067no cuts philosophy is very much about what you're talking about, which is that for a lot of kids, it's their first and possibly last access to school sports. And um there's a value inclusion in the activities in the district. And so for that reason, we stayed clear of of cuts cuz some districts do that. Some districts limit the size and you know I I I wanted to say one more thing about this if I could unless there are other questions. >> I I had a question on this kind of related to the budget. Um but if you wanted to go ahead. No, no, you're you're the priority. >> Okay. Um, so my question kind of goes back to so we had a very robust discussion at our last meeting about the the size of the

068um ASB fund and how you all had been kind of digging in and trying to understand where everything is going. I see there that bullet point about paytoplay revenues go to general fund and >> noticed in one of the previous or maybe it was a subsequent slide where I think the do you guys have for the upcoming budget the revenues have dropped like in half um for ASB is that accurate like where you have the 2425 on the top and then you have the 2526 on oh I've got in front of me let me find which slide I'm referencing here >> yeah I that one. Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. So, can I clarify that first? >> So, part of what you see happen there is that when you put a budget out there in like,

069you know, say May of the previous school year, you have no idea how much fundraising the kids are going to do. So, most of the time the budget you're putting out there, like you see in 2425 is a way upwardbound estimate because you don't want to have to come back and revise it. And basically the kids are going to raise the money they're going to raise. So you don't want to ha you don't want to be caught off guard by you know there's a big fundraiser but they weren't authorized to revenue that money. So districts typically over overbudget the revenue in ASB. Um and so the 2425 as you'll see in um the year-end data they didn't raise anywhere close to $1.2 $2 million, right? So it looks like the ASB budget is going to

070be cut in half. That's not actually what's happening. Um it's just that we are budgeting tighter to what we actually think the program will raise. >> And same with the expenditures though. Do they actually expend 1.4? Yeah. No, >> no, they did not have those. >> Oh, >> Cara, do you happen to have those? Um I guess that would be in the June um financial statement, but I don't have that right at my Well, um director uh if if I could bring like if we could note that, I will answer that question specifically in the budget. >> Yeah. And so, um, just, you know, continuing to to circle around football a little bit, um, because it had been something that had come up every year for several years around the these excess funds available in

071ASB, but yet the paytoplay cost was never going down. It was always $85 a year, at least to Water High School. I don't know about anywhere else. Um, and then you know for for football and uh Carrie you had mentioned you know that our paytoplay is is cheaper and you know in some as compared to some of our neighboring districts but um I mean the reality is is that we we also pay $350 in the summer for football. So there's a a huge additional cost that goes along with it. And now with this new, you know, helmet fee, and I completely understand like football is a very expensive sport, >> but I think I'm just trying to get to the very tail end of reconciling. I on one hand, I get it. It's part of

072the deal when you participate in that sport. But on the other hand, I know that there was all of this money or at least it seemed like that ASB was flush and it was a it's just a little frustrating because there are some families that that is a that's a really really big deal. Um and and you want to talk again, we're talking about equity. Um TCFL actually has very clear rules about how many plays per student are able to or not student because they're not students in playing that football, but um that I mean my son went through middle school. They didn't have those same kind of rules around how many plays you get in in middle school. So it it's still a matter of equity of access. And I'm again just trying to

073trying to make sure that I understand that all of these funds specifically within ASB is really being used as efficiently as possible. Try and keep the costs for kids and families as low as possible. >> Yeah, I I truly do appreciate that question. Um how can we what so we can bring why don't we bring a a breakdown of just the um revenue paytoplay uh to the hearing and then um what else would help answer your question from a data standpoint? >> I I think I think that would help um just just having the breakdown and knowing where those funds go. what they what they cover. >> Yeah. So then if I might respond to the second part of that, I I share your I think we all share your value about that in terms

074of the equity of it. Um, so part of the issue is that um, even though there's a like a healthy imbalance in the ASB, I'm also sort of cognizant of what now when we establish this new normal, um, what is now an annual and expense and an annual revenue that's sort of normalized, if that makes sense. Mhm. >> Um because what you can do is you say, "Oh, well, you know what? We have a balance, so therefore these programs don't need any money." And then you sort of establish this baseline where they don't have enough money to actually run their annual program. And you're just relying on the balance of the >> u it's sort of what happened in the general fund. Um hate to say, but um so what we're trying to do is

075establish how much annual revenue and expenses is is reasonable and normal now. And then in what ways can we reasonably um you know we don't want that ASB fund to grow anymore because we want the message to our community to be that when we raise money in the community for co-curricular activity it's for the kids that are in school now. It's not for the kids 10 years from now or it's not just to build a big balance like there is an intentionality around what we ask for. Um and so yeah, I just wanted to say that. Um >> Okay. >> Do we have enough time for me to say one other thing in conclusion how we're doing? Superintendent. >> Yeah. Can I can I ask one question that's related to ASB? Um I had written

076this down but I I didn't ask it but since we got into it like how are we affording to cover the cost you know because of house bill 1660 >> how are we you know how are we covering the cost of free of the students who have free induced price lunch who aren't paying those fees. I I think I understand how we are doing that now but um I I just wanted to bring that up that that is something that's going to catch up to us. >> Yep. uh if we start lowering these fees because you know some of the some of those fees are are are paying for a a law that requires us not to charge students on prem lunch. >> Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if I a simple answer to that.

077I have to say that just as a personal value, I'm sort of not sort of I am glad that we have the commitment to not charge those kids because um to director Kake and his point like the that it sort of as a safeguard for us that we're not going to violate our own equity principles um and that kids that need access to these programs, you're not going to have some kids sitting at the sidelines because they can't afford a $25 helmet rental fee, you know, like so we can be pretty well assured that, you know, our families greatest in need, you know, the ones that get our our free and reduced meals are going to have unfettered, more or less unfettered access to prayer programs. And I think that that's the right way to

078go. Um it's quote unquote expensive, you know, um it's more expensive for districts that are 60 70 80% free and reduced lunch, right? Um and I've been in those districts, too. Um but um you know I think we're uh one of Kira's slides I think just summarized I think we're still in the low to mid 30%s and still I think below the state average. So it's costly for us but less costly than what a lot of districts are dealing with where maybe 3/4ers of their kids aren't paying. Um uh one final thing if I might. Uh, so I just had the opportunity to dialogue with the cabinet about our the year-long discussions we've been having about athletics. Um, and um, just I was worried after our conversation at last meeting that it sort of left

079with a negative um, uh, feeling about like the value of athletics. And I just wanted to say that we actually just got done spending just a had a really lengthy conversation talking about how um many of the athletic programs in Tom Water um have facets of them that we really want to replicate and expand to the entire district. uh the volunteerism that you see um in our athletic program is what we want to uh expand and accelerate um the enthusiasm and the commitment um and I don't want anybody kind of approaching this budget from thinking that somehow athletics is being devalued um it because that's not the intent um if anything it's the exact opposite. um how are the excellent how how is the excellence in our ex programs uh how can that be replicated

080um throughout our entire district. So, I just wanted to to say that so that the intent is clear. That's all all I have. >> All right. Thank you, Ben and Kira. Um, okay. Great. All right. Next, we're going to move on to the superintendent's report. Pass it back over to Superintendent Bogatin. Thank you. I'll keep this pretty brief tonight. I'm really excited to announce uh a couple new a new hirings. You just approved it in the consent agenda and so if you uh took a little closer look at that, we have a new director of secondary education. So, I'm excited to welcome Dena Ally as our new director of secondary ed effective uh July 1st. Um she actually took a little bit of time off and I think begins sometime next week. And so, uh,

081Dena brings extensive leadership experience across multiple district roles, including serving as the director of human resources for North Thirstston Public Schools and the Yakma School District. And she, prior to her HR leadership role, she spent eight years as a director of K12 in the Shelton School District, designing innovative academy models, college and career readiness programs recognized at the state level. And early in the career, she served as an associate assistant principal at Shelton High School and the director of field experiences at the University of Montana Western. So, we're excited to welcome Dena um to the district and we'll uh you'll get to meet her soon. And I'm also excited to announce um Black Lake Elementary, you know, lost their um assistant principal. And so, in late June, stakeholders from Black Lake interviewed some outstanding applicants

082for the assistant principal position. And I'm excited to announce the hiring of Avery Butler. Avery just completed her 11th year as an elementary teacher, most re recently in fifth grade at Black Lake. And so we are excited to welcome Avery to this our administration team. And we're excited to see her leadership skills in action in the coming year. So um those are my two big things here in July. And we'll uh of course get uh things rolling. We begin um leadership uh our leadership team gets together um the week after next for our kickoff of our leadership academy. diving into a really robust around um bringing our strategic plan to life and really all the preparation stuff that goes into that. Um and then later in the month of August, you know, we welcome back

083our teachers. So, you know, the the little summer of rest of for July has sort of ended, but uh things are getting rolling here really quickly. So, we're excited for the year and I'm excited to bring on these new two people. So, that's all my report for today. Keep it brief. >> All right. Thank you. Any questions, comments for superintendent? Okay. All right. So, next we have um a couple of items under board discussion. So, the first one is we had uh spent the last meeting talking a little bit about the um board governance handbook and the section on public comment. So, this originally came up um at the May 21st board meeting. We're talking about where well prior to that but just kind of trying to take a look at our public comment process

084and where in uh policy procedure governance protocols things were were written that we may want to um adjust and create more flexibility around. So hopefully I'm remembering correctly because it was a while ago, but at our meeting um one of the things that we talked about is that the board always has the ability to um you know put forward a like a midmeating motion to extend public comment if needed. And so that had had actually been, you know, part of the plan for if we were to get more um people signed up than the 30 minute time slot because it it's really that 30 minutes that's written in our our protocol I think was maybe the the area that we felt like we had some restrictions around. And so, um, so we talked about it

085a bit and I'll look to, um, Director Kale and Director Adams to kind of jump in if I'm missing anything, but ultimately wanted to make sure Director Beard had an opportunity to, um, weigh in, uh, to talk about if there is something that we would like to specifically change about our board governance protocol that does have the 30 minutes in there. um or if it's something that since we know and understand that we always have the ability to have someone say let's you know make a motion to extend time if we have more people than 10 signed up um for any given time if that's really necessary. So, with that, I'll toss it out to you all if there's anything else you want to weigh in on or speak to on that. I think the

086confusion, you know, came in because we were enforcing the the 30 minutes and so the first 10 people get told that they get to speak and the other one say you're beyond it. As long if if we go into it knowing that there are more than 10 people and that we will that the assumption is that we're going to ex expand the public speaking time. I I just worry about the people, you know, showing up or not showing up based on where they are on the list. >> Is that something we can just change how we communicate that to the public too? like, hey, you're, you know, you're in the top 10, you'll be speaking no matter what. And 11 through 20, hey, you know, all it takes is a motion to extend the public

087comment. So, you should be ready to go if the board agrees to extend the public comment time. M They're not being told that right now, are they? >> No, I we can we can change that as just kind of our feedback as we get public comment. So we can we can kind of add that that the board has expressed interest in extending time. Um and and has and you know again please be ready you know to share if your name's called if and when. So we won't hold you kind of to that but um again because it will take a board action. So assuming you want to do that we'll we'll make sure that they know that that the board has interest. We've had a conversation. They're interested in extending the time. I I I

088think it gives us the flexibility because sometimes I worry that if we have a speaker that's coming like we've had our I mean they're not going to be doing it anymore but our strategic planning person like has this tight timeline and so it as you know if we if we have that I was I was thinking about after reading this memo like yes we could go two hours but if he was supposed to be speaking at 7 o'clock and we're still in public comment. That was the only thing I was worried about. And so we could ex we could extend it after if we have people who are who are supposed to be speaking to us at a particular time. So that that was my that was my only concern. >> I think there could

089be some flexibility and we can talk about this maybe later around even just if you don't want to do it, you know, kind of depending on what the agenda looks like, you could move like we will continue with consent. We'll continue with public comment at the conclusion of the meeting. Well, like so after the superintendent's report, we'll go back to um public comment and continue. So there could be that like let some of these pres presenters or action items take place and then come back to public comment if you wanted. >> But again, I know there's always a little bit of an issue around hearing public comment prior to your action items. >> Yeah. I think before action. Yes. >> Yeah. So I think and I think what you're we've we've discussed this sort of

090again board leadership and I think with the board to try to make our board meetings um much more centered on reports that relate directly to action and action items and kind of condensing and kind of shortening those up and more reports and extended sessions for our work sessions and keep that work more focused in our work sessions more in depth. And so I think that's kind of something we've talked about. Again, we can um as we look at scheduling those, you know, a little bit longer chunks of time for our work sessions, shorter in the action items and making sure that you're hearing and that would give you an opportunity that we're public comment and the meeting's not going to go forever. >> That makes sense. Okay. >> Right. Anything else on this item? So,

091the next one um that we added here, so I'm going to kind of turn to Director Adams to speak to this. Um so, Director Adams was elected our our legislative representative in December. Um remember, our policy was written in a way that said that would take over for that role uh July 1. So July 1 came, turned over to legislative rep um and Director Adams had asked a few questions about um what this might look like. So I said, "Let's talk about it at this meeting." So would you like to hop in and speak to that? >> Can you hear me? >> Yep. >> Uh sure. Oh, one thing too going back to the other situation on the other issue. Um, I think that several times we've had it where we had 30 minutes but

092then people spoke for less or people didn't show up. So, I think it's good to tell the public that if you're, you know, in the top 20, there's a chance that you will be able to speak too. That's another thing. So, that they just like you said so they don't uh not show up. Okay. Now, on the legislative thing, so I thought it was odd that um we were chosen to do something in December and then the legislature actually started in January, but we didn't even have the role until in July. Um and there's no legislative session right now. So, that was my thought that that was kind of a mistiming thing. Um the other factor is is that I'm not running again and so I would um be out of a job in November

093um and so I would just serve in the role when there's no legislative session or anything um during the summer and or the latter part of the summer, early part of the fall and then there's no action going on. So the action doesn't start until we get right ready for the legislative session to our items that we want to focus on. So it just seemed to me to be illtimed for the position and for me acting in that role starting in July and it would only go through October. So my idea, my recommendation is that we would have somebody who is going to be here on the board um who's, you know, either running again unopposed or they are set like for example Casey, he's set um he's not having to run again. that would

094make a lot more sense for the continuity of things rather than somebody starting and then not being able to follow through uh in the position uh coming up as of the uh first part of November. >> Darby, do you want to answer that or you want me to answer it? >> Uh regarding general assembly. >> Yeah. Yeah. So I mean Joel, we we have talked about the fact that a large part of the of the legislative rep role is general assembly and and that happens September, sometimes October, but um so so there there is definitely a task that needs to be done um outside of the legislative session and doing that rep part of it. So that's a consideration for essentially what it sounds like you're you're asking is if there is somebody else on

095the board who would be interested in serving as the legislative rep that would include doing the doing the general assembly. Correct. >> Correct. Yes. Because I say that you're setting the you're helping to set the items of focus, but then there's no follow-through because you just would set it. And I think it's much more uh focused on the board being successful and getting their input if you have somebody who's actually going to not just be there and then not be in a position to do anything. So, um, any anyone have any any thoughts? >> I mean, you you you could make that same argument for four out of the five board members. >> Yeah. >> I I you know, I don't want to get into the election stuff too much, but four out of five

096of us might not be here or four out of five of us could be here or somewhere in between. You know, there's going to be different people. So >> that's my point. Yeah. To me, as I say, it's unfortunate of and I I know that we have the board's changed it so that if you start in if the if the position is chosen in December, then you start immediately. Now, as I understand it, then it was I think it was very poorly structured that when I thought that I was going to do that position, I thought I was going to get a start in January and here it is, you know, six, seven months later, um it just it doesn't make any sense to me um to do something for a month or two and

097then I'm gone, you know. I So, anything that I worked on, maybe it's stuff that the other board members don't even want to do, you know, as far as that goes. So to me, it just seems not a very smart thing to have somebody who's not going to be here at that time. I I I I hear I hear what you're saying. Um for the re, you know, you're not continuing in into January. kind of the idea is you know the I I believe the idea was starting in in July because it is it is preparing for the general assembly and understanding everything that goes into the general assembly and being a part of that and that is very important. It is it is kind of hard to just jump in in January if you've

098not been part of that process. And so I think that was, you know, why starting in July, so you're part of the general assembly and then you go into session. I totally get the point you're making that you're not going to be on the board anymore. Um, but I think that was kind kind of the reason is to be to be part of the general assembly. The right now is the busiest is as busy as session. I think trying to understand where where where the rest of the board what the rest of the board feels about these positions that are going to be voted on and and giving you input on how to vote on that at general assembly. >> Okay. But as I say, my point is after the end of October, I won't

099be here to convey anything. It's not January. It's the end of is that >> but but you are but you are here in September to convey to vote on behalf of Tumbwater at general assembly. >> Okay. I'm still making my request because I say I don't see it as being logical to have somebody do something for a short period of time and then uh in the end of October there's I'm not there anymore. So to me it >> you res are you resigning as legislative rep? Is that what you're doing right now? >> That was that was that was what I was suggesting. Yes. That it just didn't make it wasn't in sync with the actual timing of things. >> Well, if you're if you're resigning, that's fine. Regardless of what whether it makes it

100makes perfect sense to me that you would vote in general assembly, but if you don't want to do that, then I can understand because Darby's also not running. Um, you know, and you did say maybe we make Casey do it, but he's not here to say whether he would do it or not. >> Make him do it. I'm saying that it would be logical because he's not uh running again because he doesn't have to. >> Yeah, I I understand. But he's not here to make that decision and we need we need someone to represent us at General Assembly. >> Okay. All right. So, as I say, I was hoping somebody else would do it because of the logic of things. I am a a logical person. So, you want me to do this for a

101month or two and then I'm out the door and then uh other people in the on the board then they won't know all the background and everything. All I can do is give a short little report like you've done over the years um when it was your position. Um, and as I say, I I think it leaves the board illprepared to deal with stuff starting in November. And I'm all big for having the board be as wise and strong as it can be. I'm going into problem solving mode um right now, so someone stop me. Um, not necessarily the this isn't logic, but Dar Derby is you're good at this, but you are already board president. So, like I would love, you know, love for you to organize this because really what it is is

102just organizing the rest of us. or I can I can put I can also put out the spreadsheet the I just I can't be there to represent Tomwater because I'm doing other things with general assembly. So we we lose a vote if it's me and but if but if we want to share this if we want to share this I just we just need Tom Water needs someone else to put in the votes but I can send out the spreadsheet and have us all you know share how we feel about these different um positions. I'm just problem solving mo and so that that's just an idea just to make sure Tom Motor has a voice. >> Yeah, I I agree. It's I mean it's critically important. This is um this is the biggest role that

103the legislative rep has. And again, the legislative rep is that it's a representative. It's not that person doing everything all by themselves and then takes all of that knowledge and it just disappears. That's like completely counter to the point of going through and looking at what is being proposed, bringing that information to the board and everyone having an opportunity to weigh in and and kind of give your thoughts and input and then you know like again Jel as we talked about it's a technical exercise at that point because you've collected the feedback from the board members and then you go to the assembly and you vote based off of what the board has already set. And so it's whether you're going to be on the board a couple months later or not, it doesn't change

104the fact that you've actually been on the board for a couple of years and have a good understanding you've participated when it was either myself or director Beard that was that was doing that uh for general assembly. Um, so Ty, any any thoughts? >> Um, I mean, if it's a matter of someone doing it, I I will do it. If Jill is absolutely not going to do it and she's officially resigning and we need someone to do that role, um I I would lean on you guys as as being the uh the least experienced person in this role, but like you said, it's a it's a it's a team effort and you're you're kind of a a standin for your for your team, so to speak. You're not really I'm not there just making a

105an appeal on on Taiel from Tumblr. I'm there for the school district. So, >> okay. So, you guys, this is a question of of again time. We only have a few meetings left and the one meeting a couple of meetings are going to be almost all in the budget. So when would I have time to convey any information to anybody within that short period of time? So that would be essentially in in October to be able to convey anything. In the meantime, I would need to um you know and I found honestly the survey thing very extensive and unwieldy and hard to understand. Um, but and yet I'm still supposed to be able to get your guys' viewpoint on this and then vote that in the month of October. All in a month. So the

106general assembly is September 20th. It's a Saturday. It it's it's one day. So uh whoever is going to do this check, you know, want to make sure that you're available on the 20th. Um there there's a there's a yes it is what a few hundred pages um uh of positions to read through and there is an Excel spreadsheet for us to go through you know for us individually to go through to suggest how you know how we feel about each of those positions and then excuse me for most part we all agree to vote yes or no on on particular positions. the the the conversation comes into play where it might be three two or you know or you know uh or some or or may maybe someone doesn't have a you know doesn't have

107an opinion but and so it might be two two and then understanding where the board you know understanding where our represent you know which way our representative should be voting um on this. So for the for the most part the the and then and then sometimes we would we would identify maybe you know things that look a bit controversial that we might want to want to speak about just to make sure everyone understands it. But the work is definitely on on us individually, not just on you, Jill, but on us individually to go through that that few hundred pages and read the positions and and say how how we feel individually to then roll up into a board vote. >> And so that conversation can happen um you know and and nothing is ever completely

108full. This is always part yes we have the we have the budget hearing and the vote at the end of August but you know we this is part of the of what we do too especially if it's you know in September so it can be a conversation at that meeting it can be a conversation at the uh September work session you know if needed so there is time you know like Melissa said it's it's a matter of getting that spreadsheet organized and sent out and asking the board members to do do their homework to read through and provide their feedback. So you guys want me to go ahead and do it then? Few hundred pages, huh? Okay. And you guys are all going to respond, I guess. Huh? >> Yes. >> That's our our job.

109and and having having done it a couple of years and spent a lot of time organizing all of that, specifically that spreadsheet, um you know, it is it is one of the roles of of a schoolboard member is putting in the work to to do that. >> Though we get the spreadsheet from WASDA, >> I'll go check I the the I will have to just have to brag on Darby for a second. the that that spreadsheet from WAZA is basically Darby's like that she's the one that came up with this um and um was adopted it. So you can thank Darby for making your job even easier Jill because pre they they produce that spreadsheet now. So, it's it's a matter of sending it out to us with a with a link um to I

110I don't know. I mean, maybe you don't remember doing that, Jill, but last year you you were you were provided this and the spreadsheet and you went through and read the positions and we talked about and we talked about it for um before I went to general assembly. So, may maybe if you maybe if you look at the materials it might it might um come back I remember as I say, but um like you say, a few hundred pages for a short timer, you know, I I'm I guess I'll go ahead and do it, but I I don't see that I'm going to be much of a help, but I'll I'll do what I can. >> I I think you're a big help because you're even though I mean, you're still on this board and

111you're representing you're representing the community even, you know, in until you're not on the board anymore. So, I think you're a big help. >> Okay. But honestly, you know, since we have just Zoom meetings, we have no contact with people, it doesn't even feel like a board anymore. So, anyway, that's my viewpoint, but I'll do it. Okay. I will um I will support you in this process because yes the first time you do it it's can be you know a little confusing but you know again you you've participated on the other side before so it shouldn't it shouldn't necessarily be um a big deal and again take a look at your calendar um September 20th if there isn't um if that's something that you are unable to do um that part I don't think is

112as big of a deal because we will have had the opportunity to gather the information and so if somebody else needs to step in and actually be there to do the actual voting that that's fine I think. >> Okay. >> All right. Okay. I think we're good on board discussion. Um, we will move into board comments. Couple minutes. Anyone like to have anything they'd like to share? >> Go ahead, Ty. >> Uh, I'm just going to make it short and sweet. Um, first off was, uh, super excited to hear about Keith Mitchell's position from Ben, um, and what he was talking about there. Um, we spent some time talking about athletic programs and and how uh, you know, they want to bring aspects of the athletic programs and the sport that they receive in our

113community. I think you could say the same thing about some of our band programs and the music programs and different programs in the district. Um, our music programs are phenomenal. Um, and this is a big part of it. So, uh, I think you could do the same thing, um, same thing with that. You know, you want to take aspects of the music program and the success they're having and, uh, reproduce that in other areas of the district as well. Um, other than that, I just move on. It's summertime. Uh, looking forward to the public hearings coming up, uh, on the budget stuff. Lots of good questions, seeing if I can if we can answer those as best we can to the community and, uh, go from there. So that's it for me. >> Still any

114last comments hearing? None. I got not much else either. It's a pretty quiet time which is good. I hope everyone is uh resting and enjoying your summer. So with that, I think we will go ahead and wrap it up and call it good. adjourning the meeting at 7:35 p.m. Thanks everyone.