Yakima School District Board Meeting June 1st, 2026

001Okay. Good afternoon. Welcome to the June 1st meeting of the Acoma School Board. Before we begin, there are a few announcements for you. We offer Spanish interpretation services from Jorge with Language Connection. If you need translation assistance in person, please check with Jorge for a device. And Jorge, please translate that information. Thank you. If you wish to make a public comment today, there are two options available for you. The first option is for commenting on agenda items only, and the second option, which comes toward the end of the meeting, is for all other topics. In order to speak, you will need to sign two forms, the sign-in form and the guidelines form that are available in the back of the room. We provide live streaming for this meeting. The link can be found on our

002webpage under Board of Directors. If you are interested in watching past meetings, you may find them on our web pages YSD YouTube channel. Barbara, would you call the roll, please? >> Director Shelton. >> Here. >> Director Navarro, Jr. >> Here. >> Director Rice. >> Here. >> Vice President Beckett. >> Here. >> President Walker. >> Here. New job, please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. Welcome to the month of June. We have a new character word for the month. Fair. Ensuring equal treatment, opportunities, and justice for all individuals. >> Today the schools of the Yakima School District rest on ancestral lands of 14 confederated tribes and bands of the Yakima Nation. >> The people of the Yakima Nation inhabited more than 12 million acres. >> Across Adams, Benton, Chelan, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, and

003Yakima counties. >> Today we honor those native peoples who are tied to the land through history, legends, and culture. >> We acknowledge their descendants who live in the world today. >> We thank the caretakers of this land who have lived here and continue to live here since time immemorial. >> An acknowledgement is a simple, powerful way to show respect. >> And a step toward correcting the stories and practices that erase indigenous peoples' history and culture. >> It also honors the truth. >> As a school district, we will continue to build upon our relations with the Yakama Nation. >> Thank you, students. We'd like to offer a moment of silence to honor the memory of Mary Eloise Lane. She was a former special needs student in the Yakama district for a number of years. Please join

004me in a moment of silence. Thank you. Her full obituary is available in board documents. We have the special event this evening. I'd like to introduce Carol Hols, art teacher at Davis High School. We have a number of recognitions for students and award winners for their artwork. And if you haven't been up to Davis to see the show in the Davis Key by recommend you to go. It's an outstanding body of work by many students. Carol. I understand you have a PowerPoint presentation for us. Okay. >> And then maybe my students that are here that have their pieces as the piece comes up you guys can come >> Yes, when you when your name is read please come up and circle around and we'd like to shake your hand and greet you. >> Thank you.

005>> So yeah, my students we just put on art show that is like the 11th annual Davis Art Show. And it had at least 1,000 pieces in it. We were on the news which was nice I don't know if anybody saw it but uh some of my my students spoke about it and you know when students are engaged in creating their work they talk they're they can easily talk about it because they have um they've produced it. They have worked many hours on it. Some of them have worked many hours. My students work a long time on each piece and they take great pride in you know the visual results of effort is pretty huge. I That's why I'm still teaching 43 years later is because it's wonderful to be surrounded by the beauty that

006students have done. And many of them said I had no idea I could do that. So that is a gift they give to themselves and to me and to anybody that that sees their work, you can see their work, it's absolutely stunning. Okay. Marleni. You want to come up and say anything or do you want me to say it? But you come up. This is a beautiful piece. >> I can talk. >> Okay. So, she brought me this picture that she took while she was at our fair. Now, these pictures are from my phone, so they're not they're not as beautiful. I recommend that you look at these pictures afterwards close because they're in the back there and or in the front. And it's stunning. She worked so hard on this. This is done in

007colored pencil. And colored pencil is very um very time-consuming if you know how to do it like an artist. So, it's kind of a retraining process. But, you didn't take a picture of that on a ride? Were you on a ride? >> I was on the Ferris >> Well, I figured you had to be on a ride because you're not that tall. Um but it's incredible. Just the little people and the detail she has in that. I love our fair. Um and pure joy. She said she wanted to name it pure joy because that is very a very appropriate title. I just remember taking our five kids to the fair from the time they were really young and I've always enjoyed our state fair. And you can even see uh around, you know, just some

008of the details of our fair are just stunning in this. You can tell it's our state fair. And so, you can display here. Oh. You get You get to shake everybody's hand. And so Melani, why you stand up? Okay, so so she's not she wasn't able to make it today. But it's Stephanie, she brought this picture to me and I said, well, we don't use other artists' work. I mean, they do use a reference picture, but she really liked this idea with the daisies and I said, why don't you do a self-portrait? So she took a picture of herself and then added this idea to it. So made it her own. So it was it was very cool and there's a bird on the you know, on the shoulder, caged bird. So some of the

009kids wrote artist intentions or statements at the art show. And so you can see where their thought process was. And Oscar Oscar is here. Come up, Oscar. He told me he was going to be here. So do you want to say anything? You want me to? >> I'll I'll explain it. >> Okay, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. >> Um so I decided to my little cousin. Um my dad has two siblings and at first I was the only guy. And well, once he was born I was like, okay, cool, you know, like I'm not the only guy anymore. And that day it was like pretty windy, but um my uncle works in the fields and apples and he would let us ride on the four-wheelers. So that day we were we went riding and um I was

010just like, "Hey, let's let's take a quick picture." And that's where I got that that um picture from. And I was like, "You know what? Let me just draw my little cousin." And that's that's where I got my inspo from. >> Yeah, and he did that in colored pencil. I mean, it's incredible when you look at it close. Um the print of what I don't think that picture does it justice. What any of them, actually, but the coat and the jeans. And then he did part of the flowers in colored pencil, too, didn't you? And then part of them in pastel. Some of the backgrounds in pastel. So I just I thought it was really fun. I kept saying, "Oh, that's your little brother." And he goes, "No, it's my cousin." It's very cool. Okay,

011this is This one two awards. So this is Ruben Mesa. Yeah, it's very cool. Oh. Hopefully. Let's talk about it. The judges' choice. So these went on to OSPI. Um and to the state contest. So You want to say something? You want me to? So most of this So she wanted to do something that represented Washington state. And so um the Cascades. You know, if if people fly from here to you know Seattle you can really get a good shot that looks a lot like that and then of course the apples the apple industry. So this was all didn't you do all of that except for the sky and colored pencil. Very labor intensive. These are pretty good size pieces they're not like real tiny. So I'm just really proud of my students. You're amazing.

012So he Jordan was not at school today. So this is another very labor intensive piece. This is black paper with white charcoal. And it's if you look close it's pretty it's an amazing piece. So it's the opposite way I mean you I don't know how much detail you want. It's opposite thought process of pencil. So ever wherever you want it lighter you have to do it darker. So it it is beautiful piece. So. And Nina is not here right? I think she was going to come. So this was done in what we call gouache which is kind of in between watercolor and temper paint. And she wanted to try a new medium. She actually took a picture of the the flowers in the vase in the morning that's why she named it early morning and

013then she did the background in pastel. So. And for any of Justin's photography, you want to come up and talk about your piece? Yeah. >> It's really dark. Okay. Um so funny enough this piece is of one of my friends Zuinda and this is actually taken I believe during during the basketball game. And one thing I obviously love is I'm part of the Davis band but I'm always conducting the band so I never really get to do any like sports photography which is one thing I really wanted to do but in the moment I wasn't conducting the band and the cheer the cheer girls just came over and just started doing a bunch of cheers in front of the band. I was just like hey can you just like stay right there and then I

014was just like I got on my phone and I just like um I went in a portrait mode and I took a couple pictures and then after that I I went into Lightroom and just started editing all the colors really. Um like the orange cone I wanted that to stand out as well as her like very vibrant bluish greenish hair. And I don't know anytime I just think of cheer I just always think of Zu- my friend Zuinda just because her personality is just really bubbly and she's always always excited to be there and she's always just cheerful. So yeah. >> You can get a picture with us. We're we're all in the art world. Okay is Oh yeah I have Elizabeth is she here? Elizabeth Estrada she she takes my art class too so

015She did some beautiful if you if you got to go over to the show, she did some beautiful pieces. in photography. And is Not here. Not here. Okay. Oh, Anne That's Ruby's here. So, you want to tell them about your piece there? >> So, um those violins were mine and my best friends. I decided to do that piece because well, um we're not going to continue like playing music when we graduate, so I don't want to have it like as a memory for us. >> Wasn't it a gift for her? >> Yeah, it was a gift. Yeah. >> Yeah. So, she put her violin and her friend's violin together and then took a picture of them. So, I thought that was very best friends, best violinists. Yeah. You get to shake again. Oh my goodness.

016Okay, so I asked Maria today if she was going to be here and she didn't think she was going to be able to be here. But, she um she did the bird is really incredible and um she's an English language learner, and so she she named it bluebird, and I said and I said, "It is a bluebird." I said, "Did you know that's a blue jay?" And she was, "Oh, I don't I want to change it then. So, it's a bluebird or blue jay and um it's done in colored pencil and so is the branch and then the background's in pastel. So, it's a beautiful piece of art. And Jacqueline. Another incredible piece. >> You want to talk in here? >> Yeah. So, I made this piece because number one, all my I think most

017of my drawings are black and white so I wanted to do something colorful and number two, the hairstyles. Obviously, when I was little I had it, both of them had it. And at the art show, this girl came up to me and said, "Oh my god, my little cousins they have the they literally have that same hair." I was like, "Yeah." But yeah, and that's why I made it like that. And the main focus is the hair, obviously. So, that's why. >> It was really cute when she brought me a picture. She brought a picture of uh just two little girls like telling secrets. She goes, "You know, it's kind of like you know little girls are they they whisper little secrets." And I you really have to see this one close up. All of

018them. Please look at them close up because they're absolutely stunning and in colored pencil and the background in pastel. >> And hair is hard to draw so please look at it. >> I know. It's it's amazing. Okay. So, Ruby maybe I don't know if she wants to talk about it in the end. But um this piece I entered it in the congressional art competition too. And um she has she has two tickets to go to DC and the girl that won last year from my class, hers will come down. So, it's still in the capital in DC and it will come down and this one will replace it. And she asked me to go with her. >> This what >> So, we're going to get to See, I've never been able to see them because

019Morgan's was the first piece to go in the capital and we've had four other students um their piece has been in the capital and I've never been able to see them because you have to have special tickets to go to this place in the capital and my daughter I have a daughter that lives about 50 minutes outside of DC. And so, she goes, "Mom, I'm try I've tried to get tickets there, but we can't get tickets. You have to be like a VIP person." So, I guess we're going to get to be a VIP for a day, because of Ruby's art. >> These um pictures that come there are I think two from each state that can be in in the It's it's in an underground tunnel between the house buildings and the capital. And

020as you walk down this this hallway there are pictures all along the hallway. And the first time I was I saw these and I saw one from Washington state, I stopped because I'd never seen one when I was back there from Washington before. So, I stopped and I looked and it was from your class. I don't remember the name of the student but it was so heartwarming to see all of these pieces from all around the country and to be recognized at that level and they stay up all year. You know, they go up at about this time of the year and they stay up all year long and so all the people that are moving between the the the congressional building and the and the house buildings get to see these photos these pictures

021this artwork from these students and it's it's really amazing the quality of art that our students can produce and this is lovely. So congratulations Ruby. >> And then these are the scholarship winners so Jazlyn if she chooses to go to Central she's got a $2,000 scholarship and they actually may increase that it kind of depends I was talking to the the guy and he goes kind of depends on the year and how much money we get and are allotted and that kind of stuff. So she might be able to get more with this. And Marleni has got a scholarship too which is very cool and >> Yeah, um unfortunately I'm not going Central this next year either but it's still a great honor. >> Yeah, it's it's a great honor to just because these are

022like professional artists and college you know, people that um they're around art all the time so for them to choose your pieces to be part of that that's huge. >> So I guess that's it. Well, no. I probably talk loud enough. I have a teacher voice after all these years. Her piece is back there so she can you grab that one too. It's a beautiful piece for the veteran of foreign wars. Um and I really that's a print of it. So I want to maybe even will let you pass that around because you can't the detail is absolutely stunning in this piece. It is definitely a grandpa there and you can see you know the picture of him holding his biggest fish and it's it's a really cool piece but I didn't have a picture

023of it so to put on the slide so Okay, so she is not here but yeah. >> And so if you have family members that want to come take a picture as well, feel free to do so. Okay, please give our students another round of applause. And students and parents you're welcome to stay for the business meeting but we'll take a little short break if you want to head out and get back to the drawing board that you're welcome to do that too. I think we'll go ahead and direct our back up and join us when he's ready to join us. Uh next up we it's timely report today. We have a report from uh Jamie Lee, executive director of teaching and learning on our fine and performing arts programs. So, Jamie, you're up. >>

024Good evening, Board of Directors. Tonight, we're excited to provide an overview of the incredible work happening in the fine and performing arts program throughout the Yakima School District. And thank you to Mrs. Hulls and her students. You got a in-person overview of some of those arts. Um so, tonight, I will highlight some of the opportunities available to our students as well as the skills they're developing and the many many achievements we've celebrated this year. So, this slide provides an overview of the rich and diverse fine arts programs offered across the Yakima School District. It The print is pretty tiny, but um our students do have access to comprehensive visual arts programs. We offer a wide variety of courses ranging from traditional and advanced art to graphic design, film production, music production, and many of these

025are supported by student organizations like SkillsUSA and TSA, giving students hands-on experiences that are also aligned to possible future careers. Our arts programming is grounded in the five core disciplines that are defined by the national and state standards. And those are dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts. These experiences not only build artistic skills, but also foster confidence and creativity in our students. By aligning our offerings with these disciplines, we help students build strong artistic foundations and prepare for further education or lifelong creative expression. And so, I've had the opportunity to visit some of the art shows that have been happening this past month. And so, some of these pictures are just very recent from our middle school art shows or from our most recent um musical productions at the high schools. And Mrs.

026Hulls actually did a fine job of touching on all the achievements that you'll see in the pictures before you, but if you wish to view more of these artistic features, you can actually visit ESD 105's website. That's where I found a lot of them. But additionally captured up here, there are a couple of pieces from our middle school art show that takes place at Washington Middle School and also is done in collaboration with um St. Joseph's Catholic School and Union Gap School District. And then um the featured art in kind of the middle where it looks like it's the eye is a pencil drawing and that was the cover art for our Voices Writing Contest and that's from a 10th grader out of Eisenhower High School. So, along with fine arts, we also have performing

027arts in our school and our music programs are offered at all of our schools beginning in kindergarten. And then additionally in our middle schools, we offer drama and choir programs. The course offerings are wide-ranging and inclusive of many different musical styles and instruments. These programs not only teach musical technique, but they also help students build collaboration, discipline, and leadership skills. There's additionally opportunities for students to participate in groups like folklorico. Um this year the Swan Dancers visited and they by bringing in these programs, it helps to enrich and reflect the diversity of our community. Annual musicals and theatrical productions at our high school levels actually provide um an all-inclusive experience and so I don't know if you've had the opportunity to attend those, but there are opportunities for graphic design, there um the music, there

028there's an actual pit where music is happening to accompany the production, there's visual art, there's staging, and the casting calls actually are done in collaboration with some of our elementary and middle school students when the roles call for that age level. So, you can actually see a picture up there from the Big Fish production where elementary students were involved. Something's happening, Barb. That one. That picture doesn't want to show up. All right. So, here is some examples of performing arts pictures from across our district. So, our music programs have demonstrated exceptional achievement and student engagement across all grade levels during the school year. Which you'll see represented up there. Our high school students have earned top honors at regional and state competitions in band, choir, orchestra, jazz, and solo and ensemble events. They've showcased both

029individual and group excellence. Students were recognized for superior performance reading, advanced advanced two state level competitions, participated in prestigious honor ensembles, and represented the district at regional and national events. Our middle school music programs also experienced significant success earning superior and excellent readings at regional festivals and competitions. Students excelled in band, choir, orchestra, jazz, and chamber ensembles with several groups receiving top placements and special recognition for their performance. Our elementary music programs have strengthened community connections through the ongoing concerts, public performances, and collaborative events that highlighted student learning and creativity. Across the district, students had opportunities to perform for not only families, but also community members while developing their musical skills. These accomplishments reflect the dedication of our students, educators, families, and community partners, as well as the district's commitment to providing a high-quality K-12

030music experience. So, just touching a little bit on what performances and competitions look like across our district. In our K-5 music program, students perform approximately two to three times each year, and they often incorporate singing, choreography, and instrumental work into their performances. Middle and high school music and choir students perform multiple times annually, often three to five times or more, and participate in competitions locally, regionally, and at the state levels. Our high school drama students present two to three major performances each year, and those don't always include musicals, but often do in the spring. Altogether, we serve over 7,500 students in our performing arts programs across the district, demonstrating a high interest and participation in these offerings. And while we have many, many celebrations and achievements to highlight, you heard a few tonight. Here are

031also a few other highlights um on this slide before I close with any questions. >> Any questions or comments from the board? >> Jamie, I just have one question. Um you said that there were 7,500 students in the performing arts. Do we have the number of students in the fine arts? >> I do not, but I can get you that in our fine arts like from K-12. >> to have like the big number. >> Yeah, it would. And that 7,500 includes like all of our K-5 students have the opportunity to access those music and and those musical productions. >> Thank you for a comprehensive report. I had one question. In the past, I think we went through a period of time where we did not have choral programs at the middle schools. Do all the

032middle schools now have vocal music as well as instrumental? >> They all offer us some some type of choir. I don't think they all compete, but they all all offer some type of choir experience. >> Thank you. At the risk of sounding like the broken record that I sometimes am, everybody knows that um the the music programs in the Yakima School District and in Central Washington University are probably the only reason that I got through both high school and college. My parents, if they're listening right now, would absolutely be screaming their affirmation of that fact, but um uh I I just cannot tell you um you know, how much I appreciate the work that the district does on all of these programs, but it just it just makes me happy to know how much more

033is happening now than was happening when I was there and there was a lot happening there 30 years ago, but it's it's really exciting to see that. I'm I am also curious though to really get into the into the weeds. I know that we have a set of steel drums here in the district somewhere and I don't see it on the list. Do we know where those steel drums are? Do we know? >> I do not know where the steel drums are, but I experienced them as a student in our district. >> Just just curious, just want to throw that out there, just kind of curious to know. I don't know. >> That is a good research question. >> Ever since Bill Koonz retired, we might not know where they are, but you know, they're

034here somewhere. I just I just hope they're being used somewhere. >> They are at Barge Lincoln Elementary. >> Okay, excellent. Are they being used? Okay, that makes me happy to hear. Thank you. >> 2 weeks ago. >> Love it. Makes me happy to hear. >> Yes, our students are doing amazing things. And one thing I is not in my presentation, but I do have to say when I reached out to our teachers to see if I could get some pictures, they are so so proud of their students. So, what you saw in my presentation was like me literally trying to squeeze every picture that they shared with me in there. Um, you saw it in Carol, the way she is just beaming and proud of her students. And so, there are many more pictures that

035I did not get to include because our educators are just so proud. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jamie. Next step, we have also have a report from special programs. Uh, specifically our highly capable, our special education services, advanced learning, and migrant education. So, are we covering all four of those in this report? >> Just >> That Yeah, I thought that was a lot, so. >> Okay, there we go. All right. So, hello everybody. Welcome this evening. Um, thank you, President Walker and members of the board. My name is Kim Noel. I'm the director of human resources. I also oversee the highly capable program. Um, so tonight I'm going to give you an overview of um, the program and some highlights. Um, before I do that, I want to give um, some special recognition to my

036HiCap Tosa that works with me, um, Tanya Randolph. If she will wave her hand. Tanya really has um, brings consistent presence and driving force behind the HiCap program. She provides continuity, expertise, and support to teachers, families, and students. Her dedication has been instrumental to the success of this program as it um, has changed directors um, over the years. Um, she she brings that continuity. Um, our stakeholder team is new this year. Um, but it's was something we wanted to bring all voices to the team to help steer the direction of the HiCap in the district. As you can see there's multiple principals, assistant principals, and then I didn't have enough room for all of the teachers and instructional coaches that are also part of this team. And our team met several times throughout the year.

037And in your slide you'll see some voices from our HiCap stakeholders that I'm not going to present tonight so you can read those on your own. One of the first things that we did, our first task was to dive into the national gifted standards and really figure out what does HiCap mean for the Yakima School District. So we worked together as a team and came up with the mission statement that is stated here. So the mission of the Yakima School District Highly Capable Program, HiCap, is to empower our students to think critically, create creatively, and compassionately while fostering intellectual curiosity, academic growth, and social emotional well-being, preparing them to thrive as confident learners and purposeful contributors in an evolving world. Our vision statement, we recognize and nurture the strengths, interests, and needs of every highly

038capable learner through inclusive practices and diverse partnerships within our community, empowering students to grow with confidence, embrace their diversity, and contribute meaningfully to the world around them. So this is what we aim to be with our vision statement. So why do we need gifted programs? We need gifted education programs that will challenge students in the regular classroom setting. That's where the students are most of the time so we've got to figure out how do we challenge them in that setting. We need enrichment and accelerated programs. They enable gifted and talented students to make continuous progress in school. And the the third bullet point, it's PLC question number four. What do we do if they already know it? And this is what is a big driving force in our district as our PLC process. So, our

039PLC team should be working on that for question number four. In your packet, you'll also see, and I'm not going to go over this at timeline for identification. And then you'll see a couple of different graphs that I'm not going to go over, but it just some different ways to look at data. The one piece of data that I did want to show, it's across the top are so we've got our number of students in the district, how many currently are in the High Cap program, so 421. Which is roughly about 2.85% of our population. We really want that to be around 5%. And so that's a growth goal for us is how do we get more students in the program. On the vertical column, you can see the ethnic groups, how many in the

040district and how many are currently in the program with percentages, as well as how many are in that have the free reduced lunch support, transitional bilingual, migrant, and the learning disabled. Gives you all of our percentages. So, once they're in, now what? What do we do? So, these are some of the program offerings that we currently have or we're working on enforcing in the district. And a big one is really the differentiation and that's where Tonya, our High Cap TOSA, teacher on special assignment, she has really been focusing on the training on how do you differentiate for High Cap students? And something that I say we, but it was really her doing the work in the last month providing training for teachers after school, as well as we did one entire school wanted their entire

041staff to be trained. And so we trained the entire staff during the school day. And so it's broken down by um, grade level, uh, a lot of differentiation, honors classes for upper grades, enrichment programs. Those are really different at each school, and that's another thing we're trying to bring some consistency is, um, what do those enrichment programs look like, and can we offer that to all of our students, and not just because you go to a particular school and they know how to do that. So, our next steps is, um, continued training for teachers. Um, we want to offer that more in the fall, so, um, we gave them some this last month to start preparing for next year. Uh, parent information nights, the picture you see there, we did have a family night, um,

042in April. And, um, had a great turnout, but a lot of great feedback from our parents of, well, what is HiCap, and what should I expect? So, we want to have more family nights, and we want to have more parent information nights on what, um, HiCap is, and what they can expect. Um, we want to have opportunities for the HiCap kits to be checked out, um, to buildings and teachers on a rotation. And that's our way of offering, um, more things to more buildings, um, not just because you go to a certain, uh, school and they had money to buy things. Um, and then we want to continue our stakeholder meetings as well, so we can continue to dive into what can we, um, offer to the to our students in the HiCap program. In

043those stakeholder meetings, we want to add, um, parents next, as well as bring in some student voice, so those will be our next steps with our stakeholder meetings. And last is, what questions can I answer for you? >> Um, thank you, Kim, for this presentation, and I and thank you for indicating that you were going to have some parent information nights, and bring parents into the process more. Um I know back in the day when when we were first getting the High Cap program going, there was something like a High Cap Advisory Group that included parents as part of that team. Is that the in- the future intent is to bring parents onto your stakeholder group or Yeah. More actively engage them in some way? >> Start with bringing them to the advisory group and

044then get input on what What do we need to do moving forward? So, that'll be the first step is Let's start with bringing a few parents to the advisory group. >> Thank you. Any other questions? >> Yeah, I do have a couple questions. It's So, some of the data's jumping out at me. Uh and one of them is the seems to be a gap or some rather large space between the number of students nominated and those that are recommended for specific schools. >> Oh, that was one of Yeah, one slide that I didn't show, but it's in the slide deck. Yeah. >> Yeah, so it kind of caught my attention. So, this is kind of loud, but like Gilbert or Adams had 26 nominated students nominated, five were recommended. And it goes down the list.

04522 nominated for Gilbert, 11 recommended. And then Washington had 12 nominated and only three. So, I was wondering about the factors that maybe contributed to that decision-making and kind of created that those gaps there. >> And um I can bring up Tonya Randolph cuz since I just took this over in February, she was more of part of that process and can help talk to that. >> And then my other question that we thinking about is I I saw a note there that 25% of the students are considered or labeled as underachievers according to some study. So, I'm wondering, does that apply to the Yakima School District students? And if so, how are we identifying them, those students that are not doing well and performing well in classes highly capable? So, those are just a couple

046questions that I I had. >> Um okay, so again, my name's Tanya Randolph. Thank you for um allowing me to speak tonight. So, with the nominated versus recommended, that was something that we brought up to the stakeholders. That was a question that one of them asked, and so we had Tina pull this data for us so we could take a look at it and dive a little deeper. And what we found was, for example, Adams not only is Jose part of our stakeholders group, but he is also a highly capable parent. So, he has more knowledge. Um he shared out to his staff on multiple occasions. Um I came and presented to his staff about what is highly capable, what are characteristics, and how do we nominate. So, I think that that consistency consistency needs

047to happen across all buildings. So, we need to be able to take that and present it all so that all staff have that and know exactly what is a highly capable student, what are the characteristics, when is the referral window open. Um so that we can get more kids referred. And then I Sorry, I didn't hear your second question. >> Yeah, I I I saw a note about 25% of all students in high ca- cap programs are labeled as underachievers. I'm just wondering if that applies to our students. And if so, how how do we identify those students that are not doing well in class cuz it seems like that's where we evaluate them initially and then send them for further testing or or evaluation. So, I'm just just curious about that. >> Yeah, so

048our stakeholders group, we also have something called our multidisciplinary group. And so, that consists of myself, Kim, Tina. We have two school psychologists and a principal. And we come together and we look at the data. And Tina does a really good job of categorizing it so that we can pull it apart and put it back together and really dive into those types of students. So, for example, this year when we screened all second and all sixth graders, we really looked at, you know, their language proficiency proficiency for an example. And we thought that was something we dove really into. We looked at law kids over time and how that translated. We looked at kids that scored in the 80th percentile or higher but then had not good grades and really dove into those. And then,

049I went into some classrooms. Well, there's a a scale called the CLED scales. And so, it's where you go in and you observe students in the classroom. And so, that was another way that we screened some students this year with some of those kids that we flagged as they scored high on the CogAT but then had poor grades or poor test scores. >> I think it's pretty it's pretty awesome that we're able to catch those students, right? That are for some reason not performing well in class but they have that the aptitude for that. So, thank you. Appreciate that. >> Thank you. >> And Trigger Navarro, students qualify on asynchronous measures. So, they can qualify in either math or English. And so, sometimes you'll get kids that may not do great in math class but

050smoke the CogAT for lack of better description or vice versa. And so, that's something what you're seeing, I think, too is the asynchronous qualification. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> We have now arrived at uh the updates portion of our agenda. >> President Walker, there are a couple other reports under the special program reports to the board. And the next one is migrant with Hector Mendez, and then there's two more after that. >> do have all those. Okay. Just by different people. >> Correct. >> Okay. Thank you. Obviously, I didn't qualify for the highly gifted program. >> Well, Sorry. Thank you for this opportunity for you to allow me to speak about our migrant program. Thank you, Superintendent Dr. Green, members of cabinet, President Walker, uh

051members of our board. I'm here to give you this yearly update of our migrant program, our effective migrant program, I should say, and I'll get into that here just a little bit. Oop. Here we go. All right. Well, I'm going to start and I'm going to end uh with this not I'm going to start with this slide, but I'll end talking about this at at the conclusion. The migrant ed program, the migrant education program, the goal is to ensure that all students, all migrant students reach challenging academic standards, and they graduate with a high school diploma. If that's not the case, then we want to make sure that we find a pathway for our migrant students, whether it's GED or any other pathway. But ultimately, it's to prepare them for uh responsible citizenship, uh further

052the learning and and and productive employment. Um and so, that is our goal. Uh we have an active migrant pack. We have a a president, a vice president, three sergeants-at-arms, uh as well and they helped guide me and and give me guidance on what to do with our staff our migrant staff. Such as meeting with our our high school students to make sure that they know at the beginning of the senior year that they know where they stand. So we meet with our migrant students and their families and let them know whether or not they are credit deficient or they're on track to graduate and we help close that gap and and I'll explain all I want to say here just in a bit. But we also have general PAC meetings that they help me

053prepare for. We have three a year in the fall, winter and then again in the spring. And each one of those we always adapt a content area. So back in the spring it was a general PAC meeting but we focused on the literacy. ELA English language arts and Spanish language arts. And then in the in in December we had another meeting a general PAC meeting and our focus was on math. And then just recently last month we had our last migrant general PAC meeting and our focus was on steam. And that all came out basically conversation with our PAC because we need to make sure that all of our students and all of our families understand where we are going collectively as a as a migrant group. And so the other thing I'm going to

054say is not only for high school but for high school to make sure that they graduate with a high school diploma is that we have field trips for our juniors and seniors. Field trips to our local colleges local and over on the west side and we visit the colleges to provide them an opportunity what it's like to what it sounds like smells like feels like to be on a college campus. And so we can continue to do that and in fact one student I'll talk about at the end is attending U-Dub because of one of these field trips that she took last year. And so I'll get into that in just a little bit. So the next slide shows our students it's a number of students that we have. And so it goes from elementary

055all the way to out of school youth on the far left. Right? So if you look at those numbers, we have those are the total migrant numbers. So if I look at the elementary, 666 students. Of those, 383 are considered priority for service, meaning that they had an interrupted school year, they moved here during the summer or sometime this year or multiple moves. Uh and they are moving from one district to another in search of work, right? And so what we do is if they are below uh when they when they arrive to Yakima, if they are not meeting standard in in reading and math, then we consider them priority for service, which means our staff here in Yakima meet with them regularly, depending on where they're at. Usually it's twice a month uh and

056then contact families as well. We want to keep them informed of how their kids are doing in school. So that's what you see on the far right, priority for service. We have a total of uh 853 priority for service and almost 2,000 students, which is a couple hundred less than last year, right? Enrollment is declining. So we're at 1968 now. One thing I'm going to bring to your attention is uh we started something several years ago uh and I like I enjoy talking about this because it's pretty powerful. We started what we call wellness days. Uh we heard about this, something that happened over in in Skagit County, uh a wellness day, and we thought I thought and our PAC, why don't we bring this to Yakima? And so we have. So as they say,

057think big, start small. And so uh what we did this year is that we had a migrant day and we combined for the first time our middle school and high school students. Now, we combined our priority for service. That's who we invited. Now, I'm going to go back to that slide. So all these students that you see in here are priority for service. They have something in common, interrupted school year or they're behind uh in in their academics. Uh so we uh graciously YVCC graciously uh donated their their their building for us for the day. And so what we do when we have these migrant wellness days is that we survey all of our students. And I believe in your notes there's a survey button and I'm hoping it's active, but in in there in

058there it shows what we provide to the students. And we take their feedback. Uh there's 10 topics and out of the 10 we choose the top three. And in those three the students chose healthy relationships, being creative, and feeling good about yourself. And so what we do is we bring people to come and speak to our students. We pull our students out for for most of the day from 9:00 to 2:00. We pull them out, we feed them, we educate them, we do some fun activities with them. But the goal is for them to leave with some tools that they can utilize moving forward on healthy building healthy relationships. Um being creative and in this case they were painting with local artist named Eddie Espinosa. We're painting with them and how that kind of brings

059their their their anxiety down and also feeling good about yourself. So we did something that was new this year and that is bringing all students together and under one under one roof. And so we got some great feedback from our students then. And so we're we're going to continue monitoring and improving as we go forward during our migrant wellness day. Also one thing that we we do on a yearly basis is we continue to partner with Dr. Pearson. Dr. Pearson and I appreciate him very much from Bothell. Uh he visits the Yakima School District and works solely with our migrant students. And so uh what you see there on the top left is one of our students having her eyes checked out. And they were Dr. Dr. Pearson was over at MLK and at Eisenhower

060earlier this year October 16th and 17th. And then they were at Barge and Washington Middle School almost a month and a half ago in the middle of April. And what they're doing is conducting vision screening. Students who did not pass their vision screening or were recommended by a teacher, staff member, principal, what we do is we we actually, uh, take a look at their eyes. And so what we did is that we screened a total of 105 students, uh, within those four days, which is quite a quite a few students who did not pass their vision or were on the verge or through recommendation. On the bottom left is a picture of our students putting on some eyewear. Um, so it's some new eyewear and the students, uh, who did not pass their exam, uh,

061we order prescription glasses. And we have a a great migrant school nurse full-time. She works with our migrant students, Angelica Sanchez, uh, works with Dr. Pearson. Uh, and she contacts the families. And if the families have medical coupons, then the family will purchase the the eyewear. And if not, then Dr. Pearson or the migrant department pitches in and provides the what's necessary for the student. There's nothing worse than having our elementary students at a young age not able to see well. It it it produces long-term effects, right? And we know that. So, uh, we really focus at the elementary middle school first, uh, and then at the high school. The other one is our migrant dental. Uh, we we partner with dental clinics, our dental clinic, and we were on March 17th at Eisenhower. Uh,

062we, uh, provided 15 sealants uh, to our migrant students there. And at Davis, we ended up getting students from all over our district, which is why the number's a lot lot higher. We had 41 sealants, uh, over at Davis on March 18th, the following day. Uh, nine of the students were referred, uh, from Ike and 27 from Davis. And then Angelica, our school nurse, uh, then uh, advances and communicates with the families to take the kids who have advanced dental decay or problems, then we we encourage them to see a specialist. Um, and so and then it is pretty good system and uh this is our third year doing this that that uh fourth year doing this and every year it continues to grow with our students. What you see here uh is our one

063thing I'm going to end nearing almost concluding is our graduation. There's nothing better than sharing. At the start of this I did talk about how it's important that we prepare our students for graduation. If you look at this graph, I'm going to start at the top uh 24 25 it shows you some data about our graduation rates. The first column the second column rather 82.6% of all Washington State students graduated, right? In the state of Washington. Um, when you talk about Yakima School District there's an applause there 83.4 which is above the state. But then you look at the third column or the fourth column Washington State migrant students is 77 and a half. But if you look at Yakima 84.7 almost 85% of all my migrant students percentage-wise are graduating which is higher than

064the district and also way higher than the state. Three out of the last four years we are and that has been our goal. We are graduating more students percentage-wise, right? We still have a ways to go. But I'm very proud of that and the staff we have at the high school they do a great job I can say communicating with the parents making sure that they they are aware where their their children are in terms of credits to graduate at the high school. Last thing I just found out that she couldn't be here today talking about graduation. Uh this is Yaritsa Cervantes and Yaritsa is a senior at Eisenhower. Uh we last month well every year we have a migrant we have a uh a state conference actually it's actually a national conference the national

065migrant conference. And every year we get to hear from kids winning these awards from uh from Florida, North Carolina, Oregon, California, all throughout the state. But never Washington. That is until this year. This year, Yaditza was one of seven students nationally that won the Albert D. Wright Jr. Scholarship Award. She won an award for 3,000 and is actually heading unless she changed her mind to one of our universities where she was actually visited last year. And that's when she fell in love with it, I can do this. And sure enough, she did. She proved us wrong. She's currently a 4.0 student, ranks 33rd in her class, and is will graduate this year with an associate and AA degree and her high school right diploma. I was hoping she'd be here. She's also been invited. We

066have a state conference in Yakima in August. She has been invited to speak at that conference which she represents multiple students in the state of Washington and particularly here in Yakima. So, we're so proud of her. I was hoping she'd be here, but couldn't make it tonight. Okay. What questions can I answer? >> Thank you, Hector. For viewing public, how are migrant students selected? And what is the funding source? >> Okay. >> For the I don't I don't want to say the extras, but for the the services that they need in order to be successful. >> Yeah, great question. So, the first one, how are they determined to be migrant? We have three migrant recruiters that that work for our district. And any any once a student registers, there's a one of the questions on

067the registration form that asks, you know, what what brought them to Yakama where they work. And if they say it's anything with agriculture, that's a red flag for us that we get to interview those families. So, our three recruiters make contact with the families either home visit, the families come here, or we go to their job, their work site with the permission of their of the boss if if you will, right? The owners of the So, what we do is we question. We are the only federal migrant Migrant is the only federal program where every year you have to qualify. And so, if the families do qualify, there's a what's called a certificate of eligibility, a COE. If they qualify, then the parents are asked, "Do you want to be part of this migrant program?"

068And here's what we offer. We lay it out for the families. Uh that's how they're qualified. It's not just anyone. You you have to you have to answer some questions based on some federal guidelines that our recruiters on a yearly basis are trained to do. That's that's what they're they're paid to do, right? And so, when when they become part of that, then the state the federal government gives us a a percent of money per child, per student. Um and so, when you're talking about like under $2 million for the federal program, that's what they consider what they call the cherry on top. So, we go above and beyond what we provide. Now, they're migrant students, which means that they're regular they're general ed students first. They receive what everyone else receives. An example of

069that is what I just mentioned earlier was at the high school when we meet with our migrant students, the families, we've already done that at the general public setting where we meet with our families for a general setting and let them know where they are credit efficient where if they're on on track to graduate. But we get to hold another night, right? And it's specifically for our migrant students. And guess what? We always have a lot more a lot more students because we hold these events later in the evening because we know our migrant families work late in the evening, right? And so, that's that's an example. There's multiple examples that we provide. But based on that, then what we do is that money is paid for for migrant advocates, our graduation specialist, our migrant

070nurse, partially myself, our recruiters, and then we meet with our migrant families provide those services to them based on the finances that are provided from the from the grant, the federal grant. And the federal grant actually falls under Title 1. Title 1 Part C is what it's called. >> Do we also get migrant money from the state? >> No, not really. It's actually just from the federal government. Yeah, the state actually helps support they run that and if I ever it's never happened, but if I ever need additional money, the state then I contact the state who will then provide additional fund, but it's federal. But I'm in constant contact with the state regarding these funds. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Any other questions or comments? >> Yeah, I do have a comment.

071It's you know the I think you know this better than than most do, but we know that this population of students and their families are a vital part of our economy, right? They do a lot for uh for that. Yet, they're an invisible population in our community. So, you know, they face so many obstacles and and and barriers to education, health, housing, uh health, and even exploitation, right? So, it's just awesome to hear that the school district is is providing these services and so I just wanted to commend you for your leadership and also the the department of your department as well, all the all the teachers, everybody involved in migrant education. It's just awesome to see that all the hard work going into it and all the thought and going into helping to fill

072those gaps in services, right? With health care and and so forth and even doing trips to universities, right? And I I we're seeing the fruit of that labor in terms of the the graduation rate. So, thank you for all your work and thank uh please on on behalf of the board, thank all the all the staff as well. >> I will share your sentiments. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we either have ALE or SES. >> We got out of our seat faster, so you get us. I uh appreciate the opportunity this evening to be here. Thank you, Board of Directors, for giving us this chance. I'm very excited about tonight because I'm not actually presenting. Uh Kevin Brennan is presenting tonight, and he has done I know, yeah. Trevor, if you couldn't see it

073for the viewing audience, was clapping at that. So, I I'm sorry, Superintendent Green. Um so, we are very excited to talk about inclusionary practices tonight, and Trevor's going to do that for us. So, Kevin. >> Best that I sit down. >> I thank you, President Walker, Dr. Green, and members of the board and cabinet. Uh just going to give an update on inclusionary practices. We've talked about this quite a bit in the last 2 years with you all, so um just want to give an update to things that are going on with this uh partnership. Uh as you know, we have a partnership with YEA, and that partnership has led to us meeting eight times between March 2025 and and to present. Uh that partnership has included a very diverse group of of members in

074regards to uh cabinet members, uh principals, uh certificated staff. Uh as I'm going to talk about here in a little bit, we're seeking to expand that. I think we've moved beyond the meeting of and the partnership between YEA and YSD and now we're moving towards a a spot where we need to include parents, community members, uh we need to include uh different or uh organizations like YEO, uh you know, our pro techs and our prayer professionals and and and such. But, we need to create a baseline so that we had a common understanding and that was the purpose behind this partnership was to ensure that we had common language, we had common mission and vision, and we had that foundational piece so that we could move on and do the good work. So, part of

075what this that group did and what we've been uh we've had established for at least the last year was we we needed to establish what our mission was as as far as inclusive education in the Yakima School District. So, I'm going to read it out loud to you and then kind of explain. Our mission is to ensure a safe, equitable, inclusive, and high-quality learning environment where all students are valued, supported, and empowered to thrive through collaborative partnerships, culturally responsive teaching, and evidence-based inclusive practices. We are committed to providing access, fostering a sense of belonging, and enabling each student to reach their full potential. You notice in our mission uh the the term special education or special education student was not mentioned. Uh it was fun listening to highly capable talk, it was fun listening to

076migrant education talk. Uh we have all these different groups. Um this is more global. Uh when we talk about inclusive practices, we're not just talking about our students with in special education, we're talking about all of our students in our district feeling this. And I think it's taking that approach that is going to get us somewhere. Uh and so it just so happens that our students in special education tend to be excluded more than our other students. And so, there's an effort by our department to make sure that there's systems in place to ensure that we that our students are more included, but they are included just like all students. And so, we want to take that global approach. So, our vision for down the road is we envision a school district where diversity is

077celebrated, inclusion is the norm, and every student thrives academically, socially, and emotionally. By embracing a culture of equity and accessibility, we will cultivate lifelong learners who respect differences, advocate for themselves and others, and contribute to an inclusive society. We want that for all of our students. And so again, if we can work on those systems, uh take that approach, uh that vision, we hope we can get there one of these days. So, what's been done? Again, we laid that foundational work uh down in in really this this past year has been year zero. Uh this next year we're looking at being year one in regards to really taking some actions, putting some some outputs in place, start tracking some outcomes, some data to see if these things are working. So, we're going to we split

078up as a group into elementary and secondary because there's distinct differences in regards to what systems we want to really focus on. At the elementary level, we've identified two cohort schools uh who are going to take a little bit bigger leap in systems uh to see if what we can do as a found again getting that elementary couple elementary schools going, so then some other elementaries can follow along. And so Whitney Elementary and Martin Luther King Elementary are going to take some bigger steps next year. They are meeting on a regular basis um as a inclusive practices team at the building level. Uh UDL, Universal Design for Learning, uh training has been happening for our staff members. The UDL is kind of is a instructional approach at a tier one level, in other words, at

079the base level for all students to have more access to our classrooms. Uh daily schedules are being created, master schedules that that are conducive to making sure that staff is supported to include all students. Uh there are both schools are collapsing one self-contained classroom and finding what what's known as flex spaces for students so that students start with their gen ed peers and then when they need to be in other places to get their learning done they move out to it. Traditionally what we've done is we've started them in their self-contained setting and said we will wait until you earn your time with your gen ed peers. So we're changing that approach. Uh we're focusing on case management rather than specific settings. And then we are consulting with the Haring Center through the University of

080Washington. Uh they are working with our principals to talk about what are the systems that we need to put in place. What are what's the training that needs needs to be uh implemented for our staff to be successful. While this is going on other elementary schools are taking part in what I like to call tilts not flips. Um they are doing things along the way to especially as IEPs are driving this. If IEP teams say this student needs to be more included with their peers, we have to honor that. And so they may have to make little tilts along the way. They're not making as a big of uh tilts as our two cohort schools, but they're moving along. At the secondary level the the focus is a little bit different where we see exclusion

081primarily uh with our students at the middle and the high school level is when they move from the elementary level to the secondary level our resource room students move from being included with their peers in core instruction to be put to um when they get to the middle school they're put into the resource room. And they don't have access to core instruction. So what we're trying to do is change those models so all of our students have access to core instruction. That's the number one focus for us. So we we're looking at models like a co-teach and or co-plan. Uh we actually had a training uh the Haring Center put on a training for our middle school and high school teachers just last week. Uh we just on Friday had a Universal Design for Learning

082training. It was put on by the Novak Educational Group out of Massachusetts. And they uh introduced many of our staff members to a different approach. Uh, I heard differentiated instruction earlier, which is is awesome. UDL actually takes it another step and says, "Let's prepare our classrooms so that more students can feel like they belong in the classroom." So, let's provide a a classroom that's universally designed to reach as many learners as possible. Uh, we've taken site visits. Uh, so we went to see Home High School just recently. Uh, they are kind of a a big uh, proponent of inclusionary practices and have shown some great things. So, we took Eisenhower and Davis High School over to Seaholm. Um, the elementary schools went and saw Ruby Bridges Elementary School and McMicken Elementary School and uh, Hilltop

083in the in the Highline School District. Uh, we also visited Centralia uh, Middle School. Again, uh, seeing it in action helps our staff members envision what it should look like. And then at every building, uh, they are being tasked with having an inclusionary practices team so that they, uh, the building can start making decisions about what's best for them and how it's going to best look for uh, their staff and their students and giving that autonomy. Uh, while we still have some tights at the district level, we really want those buildings to take ownership in that cuz that's what we've seen on those site visits. And so, we continue to collaborate and collaboration is a big thing. So, again, uh, the building level, uh, having that collaboration at the building level. Uh, the inclusionary partnership,

084uh, we are looking to expand like I mentioned earlier so that we include more people in this process. Uh, we've divided between elementary and secondary and to get a little bit more focused while we're doing that. And then we're coordinating our efforts with CTL, which is our uh, collaborative uh team leaders, thank you. This is basically our special education ILT team. And so, we're getting uh feedback from them. Uh we meet with sped up council on a regular basis, uh and then we're working with YEA continually and uh as things come up, we are answering questions, collaborating with them, trying to problem-solve. And that's all I have. You guys have any questions? >> Um Kevin, can you tell us what kind of data you'll be gathering to report back? >> Yeah, absolutely. And I knew

085that question was going to come up. So, we're we're on that ground level. So, on in your slides, one of the slides that wasn't uh presented tonight uh has our outcome data that we're going to looking at. And so, this summer is going to be really spent on digging in and make sure we have clean baseline data to go off of, and then those buildings are going to have that data that they'll be consistently looking at to ensure that we are actually making some sort of progress. So, things that we're going to be looking at, just to give you examples from that, uh least restrictive environment data, how our students are moving to be more included with their gen ed peers. Uh we're going to be looking at academic data, like how are they doing

086in regards to progress monitoring in in uh reading and writing and math. Uh you know, we're going to look at at the high school level dropout rates. Um students on IEPs historically have dropped out more than their peers uh because they've been excluded and not felt that sense of belonging, so we're going to track that data. But we really want to get that true and accurate baseline data down, and we'll share that in the fall. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> I think you mentioned a uh co-teaching. >> Mhm. >> Explain that? >> Yeah, absolutely. So, um co-teach model is traditionally what we see is we have the students put into the resource room with the special education teacher, and then we have the gen ed class going on here. And so a co-teaching says

087this, gosh, we need more access, but let's bring that special education teacher in with the content expert as a partnership so that the students can receive their specially designed instruction inside the gen ed classroom and have access to core instruction. When we get to the high school level, the middle school level, because of class periods, if I'm a student and I have to get all my classes in the resource room to get my specially designed instruction, I would might have reading, writing, math, and behavior all outside of my gen ed peers. I have two classes left. Okay? And this allows for those students to get that that specially designed instruction inside the classroom, have that core instruction, and then be able to take electives that they they want to have. And so it's it's a

088it's a model that has uh deemed to be very effective and has shown that students make huge progress with. Two teachers in some classrooms where we're we're purposely putting students in to receive their specially designed instruction if their IEP determines that that's the best place for them to receive it. >> You have the special education teacher and just one of our gen ed teachers in the same classroom. >> Mhm. >> And they're co-teaching. >> They're co-teaching. >> So how how are we making sure that our kids that have IEPs are getting what they need to be successful? And then you're getting students in gen ed and maybe even some that are pretty close to highly capable. How are they getting what they need in the same classroom? I mean, how is one teacher sort of

089>> No, it's great. >> All of our students are getting what they need and they're successful in one classroom when there is such a could be such a huge spread in learning. >> Absolutely. So that's why we have two teachers in there. Right? To meet those. And then the training that we were just had on Friday, University Design for Learning, speaks to that. In that what we and oftentimes UDL is a great it's a great uh remedy for our students who have who are highly capable. Because you're right. I mean I taught social studies for 19 years and there were times where I had students who were reading at the second grade level all the way up into going to Harvard and I had to meet their needs. And so it's about looking at the

090standards and being able to scaffold down scaffold your the instruction to meet the needs of those students and utilize that special education teacher with the content expert in order to meet those students' needs. And in the and Seaholm High School we watched it and I'd love for you to to talk with the teachers who went on that trip and it's amazing to watch it work because all those students are receiving that instruction rigorous instruction getting what they need and positive results. So it's a matter of and this has been shown throughout the state so I think there there's a lot of evidence to show that that can happen because of that model. >> You mentioned your social studies but your special education teacher is just special education. They are not also be >> No. Right,

091but they're but they are special education teachers so what they do and this is what we saw again at the place that we've seen they end up being they they're the special education teacher the specialist in there with that content level expert and then what you see happening is they work as a tandem pair to then for the content expert to bring the content to the class and for that special education teacher to bring some of the pedagogy and some of the breaking down in order to gain access for all students. And what they end up seeing what we hear from these teachers is that it's not the special education teachers or special education students that benefit the most sometimes. It's like the entire class because we're gaining more access for our students and we're

092seeing raised scores throughout the system. Yep. Perfect. >> Uh this question would be for either you or Casey. Where do we rate as a district with our inclusionary practices statewide? >> Yeah, currently our district, as far as our least restrictive environment, three, so our showing our students who are the the most uh, the farthest away from being with their gen ed peers on a regular basis, we have the third worst ranking in the state. We have 20% of our students are in that LRE three category. >> Would would it be possible I know that you've taken visitations or visits to um, Ruby Bridges Elementary with all of our elementary principals and Sehome High School. Um, are there future visits planned and would that be applicable to a board member attending? >> Yeah, actually it would

093be fantastic for if any of you board members would like to come. It actually is a a pretty affordable professional development because the University of Washington, they actually reimburse our travel costs when we go. And so, uh, you guys are more than welcome to go. We'll have trips planned next next year for uh, Ruby Bridges and Nick McInn, Sehome High School. Um, and so we will set those up and make sure you guys have invitations. >> So, at the secondary level, are we are we adding more special education teachers? I don't think it's working very well. >> But we No, we're not adding more special education teachers because what ends up happening where again those students would normally be in a resource room, now they're more included with their gen ed peers and so the

094number of resource rooms go down and then the number of sections for that those that co-teaching can happen goes up. And so you see that across the board. At Sehome High School for instance, there is no resource room at that point in time. I'm not saying that we're there at all yet or if that's a thing. We need a continuum of services, but they've gotten to the point where they they all their their teachers are basically co-teaching. >> It does. >> Thanks for the update. >> Yeah. Um as a recent 12-year parent observer of classroom, sign me up for any trip. Yep. Extracurricular opportunity to observe, I'd love to go along anytime. Um and just as a not not at all to sound flip, but as a student or as a parent or as an

095observer as an observer, um I've never seen a classroom where there wasn't a wide extremely wide variety >> Mhm. >> of student learning going on in the classroom and I respect our teachers ex- uh to the extreme for for the way they they handle that in every every single thing. Um My question was uh really I saw the sped up council reference here on the under collaboration. I'm not sure if I've seen that reference along the way. Who comprises the >> Yeah. So, the sped up councils are So, WIEA has their their president there. So, right now it's Franny Guerrero. And then uh four members from our search staff represent special education. So, we have a rep from middle school, high school, uh elementary school, and then our specialists um are as far as our

096ESAs. So, our right now it's a speech language pathologist. And so, they bring those those union those labor issues uh on a monthly basis. And we sit down, we chat about them, and and try and resolve those. Mhm. >> I I do have comments or questions. You know, I I really like the idea of our UDL and the teal strategies, and I think they can be applied that like you said that all students, not just our our our our those in need, but I think it it makes learning more transparent, more clear. Right? It tells you what what's the purpose of learning that lesson, right? Cuz often times it you know, and I'm I'm guilty this when I'm teaching at YBC is we don't we just jump right into to lecturing and we don't talk

097about the purpose, how we apply it to everyday life and what criteria for success is for that lesson. We just jump right in, right? So, I think ideal and UDL and and tilt strategies really help out with that. And in in fact, I think on our last two school visits, I saw we went through some classrooms and I did see those strategies being used, you know. I know some instructors don't like to put examples of an essay up where students can actually go through an essay and see what an essay looks like and then go write their own, right? And I And I really love that strategy and I think it's going to um that's result in in in in increased scores perhaps and and just increase academic achievement in our school district. So, great

098job. It's just music to my ears to hear those those two words, UDL and tilt teaching strategies. So, thank you. Yeah. >> Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Thank you. >> I'm Thank you. I'm excited about inclusionary practices as a former special education teacher. >> Good evening, uh Superintendent Green, Board President Wampler, members of the board and cabinet. I'm here to present our two principals who you'll be learning from this evening about our alternative learning experience programs, Principal Melanie and Principal Riley. And these are the programs that they oversee. Um, on the left-hand side, you'll see that Principal Melanie oversees K8 Virtual, Parent Partnership, Yakima Online, and Principal Riley, um, Open Doors, in addition to others, but today specifically, um, she'll be speaking to Open Doors. What you'll see on this slide is our

099current enrollment for each of those entities, um, starting with K8 Virtual, we have 252 students, Yakima Online, 748 students, our Parent Partnership, 138, and Open Doors, 193 as of May. And I'll pass it on to Principal Melanie. >> Thank you, Dr. Lucero. I'd like to start off with sharing about our Parent Partnership family. Yes, our Parent Partnership program. We currently have 138 students. We work with families to create an educational environment that works best for their children. We offer a flexible learning environment with opportunities for music lessons, a YMCA membership, or Kids Castle weekly visits. We have multiple curricular options for each of our families, so when a family comes in, let's say with five students, they could pick up to five different ELA curriculums, five different math curriculums, and so it really is based

100on students' preference, what they need, how do they learn best. Our students also receive in-person tutoring, as well as counseling and life coaching services, if the families choose that. All of our students in this program can also participate in sports within the Yakima School District. Next, our online programs we offer K8 Virtual and Yakima Online. It's a flexible learning environment for all of our students. The curriculum that we use is Red Comet. Our students in this program also receive counseling services or life coaching services. We also have in-person tutoring for each of our students. And our students in these programs also have access to Yakima School District sports and activities. And our average student to teacher ratio is 55 to 1. Next, you can see our enrollment trends for K8 Virtual, Yakima Online, and our

101parent partnership. K8 Virtual has been pretty steady throughout the years. And then, when you look at YOL, we've had a significant increase this year. Um we are up to 748 students as of the P223 in May. And then, our parent partnership we've increased in our parent partnership as well. When I first started for the Yakima School District, we had two students in in our parent partnership program, and now we're up to 138 students. The next couple of slides is our success rate, which I would say my teachers at K8 and YOL are really proud of because sometimes people think, "Oh, how can they be learning? You know, they're they're doing it all virtual and they're learning through the computer." And so, our success rate is pretty fabulous when you look at uh sixth grade, we

102have a 95% success rate right now, and this is all first semester. We don't have second semester done yet, so we'll have that data in a couple of weeks. But, we broke it down by grade level as well as by program service types. So, we have our our students on 504s, our bilingual students, homelessness, migrant, and our sped population. And my teachers are really proud of of how many students are passing in our program. Our Yakima online success rate is equally as impressive. Our ninth grade is at 67%. And then it's listed by, you know, ninth grade through 12th grade, and then again breaking it down by program and service type. You might be wondering, you know, how do we have such a great success rate in our program with so many students? Right now,

103we currently have over 1,100 students in our program, which is absolutely amazing. It just keeps growing. Families are very interested in ALE because it gives them a lot of flexibility for their students. And so, the magic to our program is this continuous cycle of support right here, where every week we're meeting with kids and going over their progress. How are you doing? How can we help you? What's going on? And every week we have to get in contact with students and have that one-on-one conversation with them. After that, we also have to do monthly's, which I would say the key to the magic is in our monthly's. Because when you look at a typical brick-and-mortar school, they have conferences twice a year, 5 days each, 5 days in the fall, 5 days in the spring.

104That's when you the main communication to families is happening. We do it every month. So, if a student is struggling right at that month, we're not waiting for conferences in spring to talk to the families. We're meeting with them at that time saying, "Hey, your student is struggling. How can we help you with this?" And so, we come up with a plan, which is where the interventions happen. How do we help your child be successful? What can you do at the house? What can we do with you at school? This is the key to our success rate. Next, we have Principal Riley going to talk about Open Doors. >> Thank you so much. I'm here to talk about Open Doors, which really serves as an alternative educational pathway for students to be able to re-engage.

105So, it's a re-engagement program that's looking at students that at some point have been disconnected from the system and disenfranchised from education as a whole. This program brings them back and re-engages them in school for the option of a GED or a diploma. So, both are available in this program. So, I'm going to highlight a couple of the items up there that we'll just say about the strengths of the program and some of the opportunities for students. So, it really allows for flexible scheduling. We do require students to come in 4 hours a week. So, we have a higher threshold than necessarily the Washington the Washington expectation for the program because we find more success with students. So, our students come in 4 hours a week, but it allows for scheduling accommodations for work, responsibilities,

106opportunities to go to their job, and then to come to school. Gives them opportunities to be able to do what they need to do with life and re-engage in a way that fit fits their needs. We also offer individualized support from our staff. So, all of our students check in every single week with a case manager to talk through what's going on and what their plan is. And they also have self-paced coursework. So, some students are working strictly on their GED, and some students are working strictly on a diploma, and sometimes those two things cross. So, they're working on both at the same time. And so, it allows for them to kind of decide what's what's best for them, and it can change. They can come in with one idea thinking they want to go

107one direction, and it changes when they get there to say, "This maybe is not the way I wanted to go." And we we look at different options for them. As well as we do recommend for our credit credit retrieval and we also offer the GED.com and any of the classes that support those content areas. And then we have really one-on-one teacher support and academic coaching on making sure they have a plan for beyond completing their GED or diploma. And then also where are they headed, what do they need and how can we break down those barriers. So really our purpose is to think about how do we get them to re-engage in school, provide some of that academic grit and ability to manage their time, have the independence, re-engage. What does that look like to

108fit that into their work schedule. Open doors allows us to do that when we have the opportunity to meet with students one-on-one often, as well as making sure they're re-engaging in school and getting them back in the system towards something meaningful in the future for their education. So this slide is a little bit I want to talk a lot more cuz it looks a little different here on the top but open the enrollment trends. So when we look at the enrollment trends here what we're looking at initially in the 23-24 school year is total enrollment and then this year for the 25-26 is our current total enrollment. And so on the far side is the FTE which is the full-time equivalency. So students are required in the open doors program to engage with their case

109manager every week. They have to have an indicator of progress which there's 15 identified indicators of progress for Washington state and then there's also a requirement that they are making the attendance time. Um and so what the secondary columns are is showing you what actual students of those enrolled are qualifying for that. So the full-time equivalency rates and those are our averages for each of those years that are offered there. And so part of what I want to be able to show you is the success rate of the program and follow that in the next slides and we target really on making sure the students that are there are actively engaged because it's one thing to enroll a student and let them sit there. Because it's no different than being disengaged. And so if we

110enroll a student and we let them sit there and we still don't ever engage them and have them actively engage in education, it's not beneficial for them. And so often times when you see these the bigger numbers, you have students that are not engaged in the program but are enrolled. And so our FTE shows our ability to that we are engaging students and we truly are happy students that are meeting the threshold. And we'll talk about that success in the next slides. So when we're looking at the GED test, there are four tests that students have to take. So ELA, math, social studies, and science. Every student that comes into the program does take a pre-assessment to determine where they go, um whether they go the GED route or they do a diploma route. And

111then requirement of four passing grade grades of those assessments is required for the GED completion. Some finished in 2 weeks. We just had one of our students start the program and he finished 2 weeks later. That's rare. I've had two of them in 2 years, so I don't know how rare maybe it's not as rare as I thought it was initially. Um and it's most of them are taking the full school year and some of them are taking multiple school years. Um and so we just meet them where they are and help them support them through that process. But they're taking those tests and so when you look at the sheets in front of you, um we're looking at our pass rates for each assessment. So they take a pre-assessment, they score within a certain

112range, and then we they do take the GED test on campus. So we have a tester that's on campus. It's 100% free for our students and we support them to take that test there. Um and then what we are finding is because of the work that we're doing, because of the intentional impact on education, we're seeing a significant growth in students that are passing those assessments. Um so kids can take that the students can take the assessments over and over again, but may have the same results. So we're making sure our interventions are very targeted before we have them take the assessment again, as well as making sure that we're having them do math a level earlier cuz we find often our students are struggling with math and wait till the very very end and

113then just just again disengage. And so we're we're figuring out how to fit that in. So we have a significant growth in our pass rate. So we started with a 65% pass rate on our assessments, and we're up to a 76% and we are ranging closer to the 80% for most of our students. And so what our goal is is always make sure that we are meeting our students where they are, but also pushing them to offer that opportunity for them. The other part is the success rate of the GED and diploma completion. Um and so when we're looking at the different years of GED. So it's it initially is a GED program, and then students have the opportunity to earn their diploma. If a student earns their GED, they can continue on through the

114program and earn their diploma as well, or they can stop and and finish out that way. It's up to them on how they choose. Um we have some students that are are just not seeing success when they try the GED cuz it's a competency exam. They have to do it completely without any accommodation. They are doing it 100% just in a testing room with a tester. Um and so we find students will sometimes turn to the diploma route to go through the classes with that extra support of that staff. Um and just to point out a little bit, I know that our numbers from the 23-24 school year, our diploma and our GED are almost equivalent. That's not typical for most GED programs. I did speak to the team. This was prior to my oversight

115of the program. Um a lot of that year we're still going over our we had a lot of waivers and those types of items. So a lot of our students almost five waivers that year. And so a lot of our students went the diploma route because of the ability to use those waivers. Um and so that that really fluctuated our diploma numbers, but typically you would see the majority of the students are in the GED program for the competency exam, and then being able to take that out. So we definitely focus on that um and really look at making sure that if a student is not successful in a GED, we continue to keep them in the program and engage them in um school and finding a way to help them meet and have success.

116So, as we going to finish up, we appreciate um hearing all that we have to say. If you have any questions for both Brenda or myself, please let us know. >> Any questions? I just want to congratulate both of you on the success that we've seen in these programs. Um Principal Maloney, the the growth that we have seen in your programs specifically is incredible. And the fact that we have you know, what was it? 1,100 kids in in those programs when we started out at zero just a few years ago. It's encouraging that um that we have families who have chosen to home school actually come back and choose to participate in whatever at whatever level is comfortable for them with the public school system. And um I think it's it's you and your team

117that we have to thank for that. So, congratulations. >> I'm also impressed with the growth in the program. I'm I'm surprised in some ways about how rapidly it's grown and that can that can be a good thing, but it also makes I'm a little bit of a traditionalist, so it makes me a little nervous that that students are opting out of traditional school in some ways that in the things that that offers. I do have a question about GEDs and diplomas in in the world I grew up in, a GED kind of showed that you passed a test, but a diploma showed that you fully completed a process of of learning. And so, I don't know how those are viewed now in the world of work or even in the world of community college. I

118believe you can go to a community college with a GED, and so you can continue if you want. But how how are how is that perceived in the world now? How do you see that? >> Well, I think that almost anything now you can't do much without a GED or a diploma. So, I think that's just the reality is our students are recognizing those things, but we do have students that are going on to YBC. And the other thing, too, that is really positive with the GED, if you earn a high enough GED assessment score, you often don't take have to take the entry exams for some community colleges. So, there's partnerships, and we do have some students that score exceptionally high on those interest is exams, and then are prepared to go on. I

119would say that um for a lot of our students, just the ability to be able to go to the next step without a GED and diploma, we're seeing our students are not able to do that in the workforce in different educational opportunities. And so, the GED and diploma right now, what we see are being recognized really similarly. Um because the GED is not an easy assessment. Um when they changed it over 10 years ago to be around common core and higher standards and structure, it is an exceptionally challenging test. So, when a student takes a GED assessment and it passes all four, it is an accomplishment and it's not something that they can come in and just very few kids can come in and just right away take the assessment. They're studying before, they're doing

120the process, they're spending the time, and then they're showing that they're able and capable of also taking it once they do those pre-assessments. So, we have seen that people are really recognizing that it's not not what it used to be where you just take the competency exam and you it's not equivalent. It's actually a very challenging exam, and it's really respected for the students that are using those out when they our program. >> Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Okay. Thank you. >> Now we've arrived at the section of the agenda that calls for updates. Do our board members have any updates for us? >> We are um smack dab in the middle of our recognition and graduation season. And so these last couple of weeks have been busy, but the next couple of

121weeks are going to be even busier with four graduations and a couple of recognition celebrations. So it's it's an exciting time of year um for this. And as much as I enjoy it I'll be really glad when it's over. >> Thank you for representing us in many of those. Uh Dr. Green. Superintendent's update. >> Thank you President Walker. >> board Excuse me, are there any other board members? >> No. >> I didn't think so. >> All right. >> Thank you President Walker and members of the board. Uh my superintendent report includes a variety of items for you. First and foremost our state track meet, the hosting of the small school state track meet uh concluded over the weekend. You may remember that we do we did have Friday as a day off um of our

122calendar which we uh make up in the course of the year. Uh and that is to bring the state track meet, small school track meet uh track and field events to Yakima and uh I would be remiss if I didn't mention the impact uh financially to our community as we see um uh hotels filled from Ellensburg all the way down to the lower valley and um restaurants are full. And so it brings quite a lot of income to our community. Uh and I will share with you again, you might remember that a couple of years ago there was uh I believe it was um Joel Buffum, one of our trainers who rescued a an athlete that collapsed at the end of a competition and uh brought her back and we acknowledged him here. Uh that

123did happen again this year. So we had a uh a member of one of the communities actually one of the coaches of a small school uh have a heart issue I believe or some type of reaction and uh he was able to uh make sure that he was uh administering CPR and get him to the hospital. So we're proud of uh both Joel Buffum and Josh Holiday. Josh Holiday is Holiday is the other uh trainer that's there and Joel Josh always points out that he was the one that recommended Joel cuz Joel tends to do all the saving here in the last three years. So I'm sure we'll see both of them or at least Joel up here before too long. Also we were able to connect with Mick Hoffman. He is the executive director

124of the lead of the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association. So we're great to have him in town and see how the events went. We're gaining quite a reputation um across the state for how the state track meet for small schools track and field events went. In addition I just wanted to uh mention both Kyle Soptic but especially Sarah Cordova and her role as making sure that the the state track meet and field events went off without a hitch and had lots of community representation. Barb served for I believe a couple three days there part of her uh uh she's a junkie as far as track and field goes. So she was able to relive some of those high school and college days. Uh so that has concluded. We we do have this week, significant events around

125our Native American students. So first we we have the Native Ed celebration, which is tomorrow night. That should be on your calendars at 6:30. I think the location is listed for you. I believe that's the skill center. Yes, it will be at back the skill center. We did have Black Elegance last night at the skill center as well. So thank you for Martha for representing our port. Returning to our native students, we we then so that we tomorrow we have an event. We also then Wednesday, June 3rd, we actually have tribal consultation. So once a year I meet with the tribe and tribal representation and we make an accounting for our native students. Not only our native students from the Yakama region, but we talk about all of our native students of which there over

126500 enrolled. That will be led by me, but also in conjunction with Rose George Whitefoot who as our she oversees that part of our our program and working closely with Elise Washines who is not only a board member in the Toppenish School District, but she's also a liaison with with the tribe. So we look forward to that on Wednesday. And then Treaty Days is this Friday, starts this Friday. So there's no school this Friday for Treaty Days. Graduation dates, I know that you have those listed in the highlights for community engagement. But I did want to mention just here for everybody to hear. We do have this Thursday we have that's the fourth Thursday, June 4th. We have our alternative program graduations. Um two different times, both at Davis at the Performing Arts Center. And

127then Monday, the 8th, I believe we have Davis High School graduating in the Sundome. And Tuesday, the 9th, Eisenhower graduating in the Sundome. Last item that I have for you, actually, I will divide between two of my colleagues here. One with Dr. Christina Larson will talk about the Monday Wednesday early release days, followed by uh Jacob Cooper here talking about bell times. So, please. >> Thank you. And thank you for your patience as we've been able to utilize the time you've given us to work collaboratively with YEA as we've moved forward with coming up with an a mutual understanding as to how we will implement early release next year. So, where we landed um is that for the coming year, we will not have early releases once a month on Wednesdays any longer. And so,

128what we will do instead is on Mondays, not the 2 hours we were originally thinking, but for an hour and a half on Mondays, so every Monday there will be an early release for 1 and 1/2 hours. That means also the early releases that we thought we wouldn't have on those short weeks because we're going with an hour and a half instead of 2 hours, we will have an early release every Monday, including the Monday before Thanksgiving weekend and the Monday of the last short week of school. But, we believe that um um that will help provide some consistency to that uh collaborative time when teachers can work together, with the time that principals can work with their staffs. And we really appreciate our um partnership with YEA in that they came to the table,

129they expressed concerns, it really got some things out there as to what um it is that we need to be thinking about. And so, in addition to the early release schedule, we're also going to be monitoring and collecting information and surveying our teaching staff as to how things are going and what things are going well. And um cuz what we would like to see at the end of um next year is that what we were hoping we would accomplish by doing this in addition to providing stability and consistency for our community members and our parents and the and the students is also that uh we've become much more responsive to making this productive, collaborative, and learning time rather than um um just engaging and thinking that we're accomplishing something but not having in-the-moment real-life data

130to adjust or monitor to adjust along the way. Would you like to add anything to that, Dr. Lucero? Yeah, it is a one-year is a one-year understanding. So, we will be monitor the part of the monitoring is for the intent of engaging along the way and deciding what will we do for the following year. We'll definitely bring you an update on that. Thank you. >> Okay, so now that that puzzle piece has been put together, um the district will shortly release bell times since we're waiting on the Monday um 90-minute release and then of course the elimination of the half-day Wednesday component. And so, um in the next day or so, you will see bell times come out um for middle, high, and elementary alike. And as we've discussed before, that will help us tear

131up our bus system. And currently we're showing uh 11 or 12 routes less, so that'll be about half a million dollars or so as we projected in savings and then we'll also align with the um instructional work that was accomplished by my colleagues across the table. So, that'll be forthcoming in the next day or so. >> Thank you. >> Just in checking your highlights for community engagement, the document is in your board documents. And like has previously been stated, it mostly centers now around graduations. I think you all have those on your calendars. And uh they're also uh I think a few performances next week. Some of the middle schools have or this week have some performances if you want to take one of those in. We have arrived at comments from the public on

132agenda items. Do we have any commenters? >> We have two but they're for the second opportunity. >> Are these are two for Lewis and Clark? >> Well, that is music in that we did have arts musical arts on the agenda. So let's go ahead and hear them now. >> Yeah. So we have Samuel and Dustin. I believe we heard from you last time. So you can decide who goes first. >> Good evening Dr. Green and members of the school board. My name is Samuel Gardinier and I am here to speak about the music programs at Lewis and Clark Middle School. I beginning band is where many students discover a passion for music. It teaches discipline, confidence, and teamwork while giving students a place to belong. Because of the number of students interested in band, I

133I respectfully ask Lewis and Clark to continue to offer two beginning band classes so very so very students have the opportunity to participate. I also believe eliminating an immediate band is not the answer. Eliminating an immediate band is an important important step between beginning band and advanced band. And students that at that level deserve the opportunity to continue developing their skills and preparing for future success. I would also mention the importance of percussion ensemble. This class allows percussion students to receive the specialized instructions and develop develop the skills needed to continue to contribute a strong band program. A great band band cannot exist without a great percussion section. And their hard work has it has helped Lewis and Clark earn superior ratings at contest and bring pride to our district. Finally, I would like to

134invite all of you to attend our spring concert tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. in our Lewis and Clark main gym. It would be a great opportunity to see firsthand and dedication, growth, and talent the students in our music music program. Thank you for your Thank you for your time and consideration. >> Thank you. >> Good evening, Dr. Green and members of the school board. My name is Deston O'Shea and I attend Lewis and Clark Middle School. I'm in advanced percussion ensemble and advanced band. I believe that cutting the percussion class in our middle school would have a negative effect on students, the band program, and the district's overall music education. Percussion students play an important role in success of the band providing rhythm, timing, and energy that help the entire ensemble perform at a high level.

135Without strong percussion program in middle school, students would have fewer opportunities to develop their music skills before entering high school. This could weaken the band's future performance quality and reduce student participation participation in music programs. Another major concern is the effect on vertical alignment. Vertical alignment means that students build skills from one grade level to the next so they are prepared for future classes and performances. The middle school percussion program serves as a critical bridge between elementary school and high school music programs. If percussion is removed, students may enter high school without the necessary training and experience, creating gaps in knowledge and making it more difficult for high school bands directors to maintain strong ensembles. Mr. Beam is also a valuable teacher who has made a positive impact on many students. He works hard to

136help students improve their music their musical abilities while creating a welcoming and supportive classroom environment. Many students look forward to percussion class because of his dedication, patient patience, and passion for teaching. Firing Mr. Beam will not only affect the students who learn from him, but also hurt morale within the music program. Great teachers are difficult to replace and having and losing an experienced educator like Mr. Beam could have a lasting could have lasting consequences for the success that's in the band program. Finally, I would like to invite you all all to our spring concert tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. at Lewis and Clark Middle School, the gym. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Dr. Green. Just about point of clarification. I'm looking at this Jamie here. Yeah, Jamie, could you come to the front?

137I just want to make sure that we're on the same page. There's nobody is losing their job. >> No, due to the decline in student enrollment, Lewis and Clark has had to respond to having less students attend school overall, and so they have eliminated sections. So, they do still maintain one full-time music teacher with five music sections, and that was determined also based on student need um and student interest. And in working with Ms. Folgason, she does believe that they can serve all of their students. >> And the person that was mentioned that is relocated to another place in the district, correct? >> Um Mr. Beam actually is retiring. >> Relocating. Relocating to somewhere else in the district. >> Thank you for the clarification. Next up, we have approval of the bargaining for the Yakima

138Principals Association. Dr. Larson. >> Yes, thank you. So, um included in your board documents, you have a copy of our action item and just the history behind this. When um we got together and began um negotiating with our principals, uh their leadership uh basically came to the table and just wanted to have a discussion about what their concerns were and what their interests were. So, it might be a little bit different kind of a bargaining um context or environment than um some that you might be envisioning in your mind. So, it's basically like, what are the concerns? And then we share our concerns, and it's a dialogue that goes back and forth. And um basically what you have in front of you is uh the result of what we were able to um agree to

139in terms of things that would um have a fiscal impact. You have the full redlined version also included in your board docs. So, that um basically what we um have um But, we have um called out is a uh raise for the coming year. Uh we did some collapsing of the different lanes that we have in the salary schedule. So, that um when we have strong um leaders in our buildings uh and they're committed to the district, it doesn't take them as long to get to the top to the top to the top of the schedule. Um so, um I'm happy to answer any questions, but the fiscal impact and everything is outlined in the action item that's in front of you. >> Thank you. Do you have any questions from the board? Have you

140had a chance to peruse the the action item? Okay, and I had an opportunity to read the incomplete redlined item. So, there aren't a lot of significant changes in the >> There really aren't, no. >> But, I see no problem in recommending approval, but I will entertain a motion. >> I move that the Board of Directors approve the negotiated collective bargaining agreement between the Yakima Principals Association and the Yakima School District. >> We hear a second? >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded to approve the negotiated agreement between the Yakima Principals Association and the Yakima School District. Any further discussion or question? All in favor, say I. >> I. >> All opposed, say nay. Motion carries unanimously. >> We've now arrived at our second opportunity for public comment. >> Not at this time. >>

141We have no no more commenters today. Okay, next step is policy governance items 1004.2, 4.3, 4.4. 1004.2 refers to accountability of the superintendent. And according to our policy agreement, the superintendent is the board's only link to operational achievement and conduct, so that all authority and accountability of staff, as far as the board is concerned, is considered the authority and accountability of the superintendent. Accordingly, the board will not give instructions to persons who report directly or indirectly to the superintendent. The board does not evaluate, either formally or informally, any staff other than the superintendent. Except as required by law and normally disposed of in the consent agenda, the board does not participate in decisions or actions involving the hiring, evaluating, disciplining, or dismissal of any employee other than the superintendent. And the board views superintendent performance

142as identical to organizational performance, so that organizational accomplishment of the board's stated ends, goals, and compliance with the conditions outlined in executive limitations. Such conditions include not allowing conditions which are unlawful, imprudent, or in violation of commonly accepted business and professional ethics and practices. So, is there any comment on the language of that policy? Okay, we will receive a um SurveyMonkey later in the week to respond. Second up, 1000.4.3. Delegation to the superintendent. The Board of Directors will instruct the superintendent through their written policies, which prescribe our organizational ends and goals to be achieved, and describe organizational situations and actions to be avoided. The superintendent may use any reasonable interpretation of these policies. Accordingly, the Board will develop policies instructing the superintendent to achieve specified results for specified recipients at a specified cost. These policies

143will be developed systematically from the broadest, most general level to more defined levels, and will be called ends/goals policies. All issues that are not ends/goals issues, as defined above, are means issues. The Board will develop policies which limit the latitude the superintendent may exercise in choosing the organizational means. These policies will be developed systematically from the broadest, most general level to more defined levels, and they will be called executive limitations policies. See policy 1000.2. The Board will never prescribe organizational means. That is the purview of the superintendent. As long as the superintendent uses any reasonable interpretation of the board's goals and executive limitation policies. I'm going to skip the parenthesis. The superintendent is authorized to establish all further policies, make all decisions, take all actions, establish all practices, and develop all activities. Such decisions of

144the superintendent shall have full force and authority as if decided by the board. The board will make the final determination as to whether the superintendent's interpretation is reasonable, whether the superintendent is in compliance, and whether reasonable progress is being made. In doing so, the board will apply the quote reasonable person standard. The board may change its end goals and executive limitations policies, thereby shifting the boundary between board and superintendent domains. By doing so, the board changes the latitude of choice given to the superintendent. But as long as any particular delegation is in place, the board will respect and support the superintendent's choices, even though the superintendent's choices may not be the choices the board or its members may have made. And that's the summary of 1000.4.3 and 1000.4.4. Systematic and rigorous monitoring of the superintendent's

145job performance will be made solely against the only expected superintendent job outputs, reasonable progress toward accomplishment of board policies on our ends and goals, and organizational operation within the boundaries established in board policies and executive limitations. Accordingly, monitoring is to determine the degree to which board policies are being met. Information that does not do this will not be considered to be monitoring information. The board will acquire monitoring data by one or more of three methods: by internal report, by external report, by direct board inspection in which a designated member or members of the board assesses compliance with policy. The default method of monitoring will be the internal report. The consistent performance standard for executive limitations policies shall be whether the superintendent has reasonably interpreted the policy and its subparts and complied with the provisions of

146the board policy being monitored. And we're used to that through the use of all of our SurveyMonkey's as the process in which we do that. Um In its monitoring, the board will include incidental reports that the superintendent and the board agree meet the intent of reasonable interpretation. Each report of monitoring data will generate three board agenda items that will be a part of open public board meetings. First, the opportunity for the superintendent to submit and explain the monitoring report. Second, an opportunity for board discussion and consideration as to whether the superintendent has met the board policy. And three, a vote of the board to accept or not the report of the superintendent. At the discretion of the board chair, the second and third steps as noted above may be combined if there is no apparent

147disagreement as to whether the superintendent is in compliance with the policy. The board makes the final determination as to whether the superintendent's interpretation is reasonable, whether the superintendent is in compliance, and whether reasonable progress is being made. In doing so, the board will apply the reasonable person standard. By April 1 of each year, the board will conduct a formative summative evaluation of the superintendent. The summative evaluation will be based upon data collected during the year through the monitoring of end schools and executive limitations policies. The board will prepare a written evaluation document. I believe that document has now been completed. Yes, okay. We did not make our April 1st deadline, but that process is now completed. Superintendent contract extension and remuneration will be decided after review of the monitoring report submitted. All policies that instruct

148the superintendent will be monitored monitored at a frequency and by a method chosen by the board. The board can monitor any policy at any time by any method, but will ordinarily depend on a routine schedule, which is what we've been following throughout the year for the reports we received in the board. So again, that's if there if you desire any language changes in those three documents, um you can indicate that on your SurveyMonkey as we receive that. Okay, any other questions or comments? Okay. We also finally one other policy governance issue, uh approval of ratings for 1000.2.0 global executive constraint. Reading through the results of the survey on that policy, uh all the data indicates that it was unanimous of the board that the superintendent has interpreted the provisions of that policy um and the

149district is making reasonable progress and that the superintendent is in full compliance with section two uh global restraint policy. So, I would entertain a motion to accept that report. >> Mr. President, before we do that, could we go back to um number four? >> 1000.4.4 >> No, 1000.2.3 >> 1000.2 Oh. I did skip that one, didn't I? >> That's all right, we'll save the best >> We can just We can just do that after this since we've already addressed this issue. >> So, do you want a motion now? >> Yeah, let's go ahead and move on 1000.2.0. >> I move that the board approve the ratings for 1000.2.0 global executive constraint. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded to approve the ratings for 1000.2.0. Any further question or discussion? All in favor, say I. >> I.

150All opposed, nay. Say nay. No opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Now, we will save the We save the best for last. Uh Mr. Cooper, financial conditions and activities. >> Uh thank you. Before you this evening is 1000.2.3 and basically this is the receipt of your annual audit report. This is um our audit report is broken into two sections. Federal and financial and the accountability. Um thank you, Director Shelton, for attending the exit conference for the federal financial. So, for those uh folks when we were doing budget reductions and um things of that nature, there was a call for annual audit. We have annual audit every year. So, the actual uh the annual audit budget for a state auditor's office is about 350 hours on site. And so, this is the first part of that. Um we

151like to share with you a clean financial statement and federal audit and no adverse opinions. And um of course, I don't make a recommendation to pass, but yes, please pass the uh document as presented. And if you'd like to see the documents, they are both online and attached to your board packet. >> Thank you. Do we want to approve that or not or do we do a SurveyMonkey on this one? SurveyMonkey on this one as well. And I would like to compliment our financial department that and thanks also to Director Shelton for attending. I usually like to attend that meeting for the last number of years and our audits are clean every time. And that's a real statement of about our financial department and the quality of the work that they do. Okay. There's no

152need for executive session this evening. Are there anything else for the good of the order? Thanks for attending. Thanks our audience for attending. Meeting adjourned.