001Barbara, would you call the role, please? >> Director Shelton >> here. >> Director Rice >> here. Vice President Beckett >> here, >> President Walker >> here, >> and Director Navaro Jr. is excused. >> And we will be moving immediately to executive session. Do I hear a motion to move to executive session? >> I move that we move to executive session in the >> professional library for the purpose of >> personnel conversation. um for 45 minutes. >> 45 minutes. Yes. >> Okay. >> Moved and seconded to move to executive session. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. >> We move excused to executive session. I am rescused from executive session today. So I will wait patiently for you. Welcome. Good evening. Welcome to the April 21st meeting of the Yakima School Board. >> A
002few announcements to get us started. We offer Spanish interpretation services from Is Jorge here tonight? Yes, it's Jorge with language connection. If you need translation assistance in person, please check with Jorge for a device and Jorge, please translate that information. If you wish to make a public comment, there are two options available for you. The first option is for commenting on agenda items only. And the second option, which occurs later in the meeting, is for all other topics. In order to speak tonight, you need to sign two forms, the sign-in form and a guidelines form. We do provide live streaming for this meeting. The link can be found on the web page under board of directors. If you are interested in watching past meetings, you may find them on our web pages YSD YouTube channel.
003Barb, would you call the role please? >> Director Shelton >> here. >> Director Rice >> here. >> Director Navaro Jr. >> here. >> Vice President Beckett >> here. >> President Walker >> here. >> And would you all rise and join me in the flag salute? Ready to begin? >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And the character word of the month is innovative. Promoting inventive and original thinking to solve problems and improve situations. Pardon my pronunciation. Today, the schools of the Yakama school district rest on the ancestral lands of 14 Confederated tribes and bands of the Yak nation. The people of the Yakan nation inhabited more than 12 million acres. Kittasat
004and Yakama counties. >> Today we honor those native peoples who are tied to the land through history, legends, and culture. We acknowledge our 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 people's history and culture. As a school district, we will continue to build upon our relations with the Yakama Nation. At times in these meetings, we mourn the passing of former school district employees or students. This evening, we're remembering Guadalupe S. Richardson, who is a longtime teacher in the district. Please join me in a moment of silence in her memory. Thank you. If you would
005like to read her full obituary, it's available on on the web page on the docu uh board documents. Tonight, we're pleased to honor a number of students. Uh we have some students from winter sports and we have some students with some other honors as well. So, we'll begin with uh WIAA state team and individual awards. Yes, President Walker. We have a considerable number here this evening. We'll begin with uh WIA4A state championships. The board of directors congratulates the following student athletes for their outstanding contributions during the winter sports season. We recognize their remarkable achievement of placing eighth or better at state andor receiving a student athlete award. Your dedication, hard work, and sportsmanship exemplify both your talent and your unwavering dedication. To get to begin with, we have two teams from Davis High School. Go
006Pirates. Girls wrestling coached by Eric Cotundo. Honey Lopez fifth place. Sawyer Newman sixth place. Gianna Sers eighth place. And Ronaldo Reena Gonzalez eighth place. If any of them are here. Okay. Yeah. And I neglected to say if you're here, we'd like you to come up and kind of circle by the table. We'd like to shake your hand. AND THEN CONGRATULATIONS. Hold on. Congratulations. from Davis girls basketball coached by Gil White first place team state champions as I understand this that's how that works isn't that right that seems like that's what that is kind of a big First place team Nia Parish, Tia Wheeler, Zay Dimmer, Avery Brandt, Ella Craig, Cheyenne Hull, Sophia James Tas, Paige Gastling, AA Jones, Jacobe, Koe Johnson, Isaac Garcia, and Iona Perez. If any of them are here, please come on
007up. It's Coach Will. >> Hey, coach. >> Back to back. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Next on the list, we have four different groups from Eisenhower High School. Go Cadetses. Um, first up, boys swim and dive, coached by Andrea Redmond. Placing both second in 50-yard backstroke adaptive and eighth in 50ard freestyle adaptive, we have Charlie Hodgej. Nice work. >> Congratulations. >> We have the girls bowling team coached by Chadwiselle. Uh first off we have Cecilia CCP Pew, third place individual and fifth place as a team. And then the rest uh fifth place as a team, Nili Tabion, Summer Tate, Haley Littleler, Jadelyn Speltz, and Fabola Morales. If any of them are here, Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Nice work. >> Way to go. girls wrestling coached by Alberto Cardinas, Andrea Ramirez, sixth place, Briana Montes, Deio Rodriguez,
008seventh place, and Edith Bonitez, seventh place. Are any of them present tonight? window. >> Nice work. >> Congratulations. >> Boys wrestling coached by Jared Dobby. Jerick Dobby second place. Antonio Castillo fifth place. And Ronaldo Lopez Contreras seventh place. Can we do the photo op thing after this? Okay. Excellent. Congratulations. >> Nice work. >> We'll take just a couple minute break here for our student athletes. If you would like to do the photo op with your teammates or with your coach in front of the backdrop. >> Family two. You're right, Martha. We'll allow family two. If you would like to have a a photo op, we'll we'll we'll break for just a few minutes. >> You tell me what to do. I am fine. Barb, you tell me what to do. >> Okay. So, I'm going
009to tell them all to just to stay right there >> and come back in a few minutes. Is that fair? There we go. >> Thank you, Barb. Congratulations again to all of our student athletes from WIAA 4A state championships. Thank you so much. Next up, we have athletes and coaches who are Colombia based and Big Nine League allconerence athletes. >> Thank you, President Walker. It is indeed an honor and a privilege to continue recognizing our outstanding Yakamasco district athletes. So, the board of directors proudly acknowledges the exceptional achievements of athletes in the Columbia Basin Big Nine All Conference. Excuse me. These athletes are the top ranked athletes in the Big Nine Conference. We commend these athletes for their commitment to excellence and their positive representation of our schools and community. So, first from Davis High
010School, we have the boys swim and dive all league recognition uh coached by Carl Scott. Is coach here today? No. Okay. So, we'll go ahead and continue on bowling. We do have a recognition, all league recognition for the bowling team coached by Stacy Hunter Huntamer. Hunter Tamer. Nope. Okay. How about an applause for those two teams? All right. Uh, wrestling girls all league coached by Eric Ratundo. So, first team, Ronaldo, Raina Gonzalez, Giana Sers, Sers, Sawyer Newman. First team, you miss. Did you miss Josh Whitney and >> perhaps maybe I miss >> I'll Yeah, I'll do that. Congratulations. Uh, second team is Honey Lopez. All conference honorable mention Mia Solano Bonitez and good sports team Honey Lopez. How about an applause for the girls wrestling all league and then all conference sports sportsmanship team Joshua
011Whitney. for Davis High School wrestling boys all league coached by Chad Hus huff statter >> Huffatter is coach here today okay second team Nathaniel or or Nelas Joshua Lawen Santoy any come forward yes good and good sport team. Um, Tuo Grover. Nope. Okay. How about an applause for for the good team, good sport team. Uh, next from Davis High School from the the backto back, can you believe that? Back-to-back state championships. Uh, girls basketball coached by Coach White. All right. So, coach, you want to come forward again if he's still here? And I'm going to call out all the team members. Uh, first team, Cheyenne Hall, Issa Garcia, Kobe Johnson. Second team, Naa Parish. All conference honorable mention, Avery Brandt. >> Congratulations. Good job. >> All conference defensive team, Cheyenne Hall, Naa Parish. All conference
012sportsmanship, Aiona Perez, and player of the year, Cheyenne Hall. About another applause for the Davis High School girls basketball team. Next is the Davis High School boys basketball coached by uh Rahul Alvarado. Uh making first team DeAnthony Wiggins, second team, Damen Pimemental. All conference honorable mention David Vasquez. All conference defense team, Anthony Dean Anthony Wiggins. Allconference defense honorable mention Marcus Smith. We got Marcus with us, right? All right. And all conference sportsmanship, Quinton Allen Gregs. >> Congratulations. Good job. >> Okay. Eisenhower High School swim and dive all league recognition coached by Andrea Redmond. Is coach here it? Yes, she is. All right. Congratulations. First team Charlie Hodgej 50 backstroke adaptive. Good job. He's going to have to do another round because second team Charlie Hodgej 50ard freestyle adaptive and all conference sportsmanship Ramon Mendoza. Bowling
013coached by Chad Quizno. Yes. How about an applause for coach? Yes. >> Only because you have to stand >> first team. And I'm I'm I apologize for mispronouncing his name is Nili Tava Yayun. >> Tabun. Thank you. Cecilia Cassie Pew. First team, second team, Jaden. Congratulations. >> Second team is Jaden Speltz. All conference honorable mention, Summer Tate. and bowler of the year Nili >> Taba Union. How about an applause for our bowling team from Eisenhower High School. Also from Eisenhower High School, wrestling girls all league, coached by Alberto Cardinas. First team, Andrea Ramirez, Edith Bonitz. Second team, Eliza Gutierrez, all conference honorable mention, Anili, Maredono, Briana Montes, de Oka, Rodriguez, Cesi Rosas. All conference honorable mention. How about an applause for that group of students? >> Congratulations good sport team Andrea Ramidz and wrestler of
014the year upperweight Edith Bonitez. and wrestling boys all league coached by Jared Doby. There's coach first team Alan Torres, Jared Doby, Isaiah Garcia, Antonio Castillo. Second team, Alfonso Barahas, Frank Redfield, congratulations. And Nate Peterson, congratulations. Congratulations. All conference honorable mention Juan Olivera Michael Jamari Graham Adalberto Navaro Rialdo Lopez Contras. Good sports team is Frank Redfield. And for Meisenhower High School girls basketball, coached by Brian Cleette. All right. Second team, Mercedes Garcia or Garza, excuse me. All Conference Honorable mention Ruby O' Conor. All Conference Defense Team, Ruby O' Conor. All Conference Defense Honorable Mansion, Kiara Mullen and Mercedes Garza. All Conference Sportsmanship, Karolina Arjo. And last but not least is boys basketball coached by Taylor Elmo. First team Lucas Stevens, second team, Jacob Gonzalez. And all conference sportsmanship, JD Hill. How about one more applause for
015all our student athletes representing the Akimoff School District. Job well done. Make us proud. Next up, we have three coaches of the year. Director Shelton, >> Washington State Girls Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year. The board of directors extends its heartfelt congratulations to coach Akquil White for being named the Washington State Girls Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year. This pre He needs applause. This prestigious honor was awarded at the All State Games following a historic season where coach Akquil White guided the top ranked Pirates to the SEC to their second consecutive class 4A state championships. Under his leadership, Davis High School basketball finished the season with an incredible 24-2 record, remaining completely unbeaten against all instate competition. We applaud coach Akquille White's exceptional mentorship and his unwavering commitment to excellence on and off
016the court. >> You are awesome. >> Dr. Green, >> uh members of the board, I have something that I'd like to share with you. It's a letter from uh 14th legislative district state representative Deb Mangeras and it states, "Dear head coach White and Superintendent Green, I'm honored to extend my warmest congratulations to the AC Davis High School girls basketball team for winning the 4A state championship. Earning a state title not only reflects your talent on the court, but also the hard work, teamwork, discipline, and determination of athletes and coaching staff. You have set a powerful example for your school and community and raised the bar of excellence for girls athletics. I have no doubt that this accomplishment is just one of the many successes ahead for you and the athletes. Please accept my heartfelt congratulations
017on this well-deserved victory. I look forward to seeing all that you achieve in the future. Kindly Deb Meneras. And I'd like to give this to Coach Akil. Coach White. Okay, moving on to wrestling. Our wrestling coach of the year, the board of directors extends its heartfelt congratulations to Coach Jared Dobby for being named the wrestling boys coach of the year. This honor falls a follows a historic season where coach Jared Dobby led the Eisenhower cadets to capture both the league and district titles. Under his exceptional leadership, the cadets demonstrated elite dominance on the mat, qualifying wrestlers in 10 weight classes and crowning four individual championships champions. Furthermore, coach Jared Dobby guided the team to a program record 14 state qualifiers for the Matt Classic. We applaud Coach Jared Dobby for his unwavering commitment to excellence
018and for setting a new standard for Eisenhower Wrestling. Assistant Coach of the Year. The board of directors would also like to recognize assistant coach of the year, Ricardo Asavdo, for being named a CBBN boys wrestling assistant coach of the year. This prestigious honor, voted on by the league coaches, recognizes assistant coach Oivo's vital role in the Eisenhower cadets historic and record-breaking season. Working alongside coach Jared Dobby, assistant coach Ricardo Oavdo was instrumental in guiding the team to both league and district titles. We applaud assistant coach Ricardo Asavdo for his expertise, leadership, and unwavering commitment to the success of Eisenhower's student athletes. Thank you, Director Shelton. There are a few more awards to announce. This is the big nine winter. National Electrical Contractors Association and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are proud to present the
01921st annual recognition of these fine scholar athletes from four Big Nine schools. These two organizations are training electricians for the future. NECA NECA IBEW encourages all high school students to explore with their high school counselors a career in the electrical construction industry, which provides salary levels that are above average and careers that last a lifetime. The following Yakama School District students were recognized for demonstrating superior balance in academics, athletics, and community involvement. So there are stars in all three of those categories. And the the 19 or the 2026 winner Big Nine athletes are from Davis High School, Crystal Mendoza from bowling and Haime Barahas from wrestling. And representing Eisenhower High School are Mercedes GarcA from basketball and Frank Redfield from wrestling. in addition to our winter sports achievements, the board of directors extends its heartfelt
020congratulations to our exceptional career and technical student leaders. We proudly recognize the members of Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America or FCCLA who earned gold and silver medals demonstrating elite mastery in career preparation and workforce readiness. Those students are Theren Clemens, public policy advocate, who was awarded a silver, Courtney Switzer, chapter Service Project Display, who was awarded a gold, and Monserat Aas Garcia, chapter Service Project Display, gold. Let's give those STUDENTS A HAND. ADDITIONALLY, WE CELEBRATE our future health professionals or HOSA students for their impressive fifth and seventh place finishes showcating their dedication in the health care healthc care field. Your commitment to leadership, community service, and professional excellence exemplifies the very best of our student body and proves you are truly college and career ready. Those students are Melissa Silva Pacheco, medical assistant,
021fifth place, and Georgia Bonds, home health aid, seventh place. CONGRATULATIONS. >> CONGRATULATIONS. >> These are national awards. >> It doesn't say. They may be state. >> It's national awards or state awards. >> State. Congratulations. >> Thanks again to all the students and coaches who represented Yakama in their endeavors. Uh we'll take a break. So if you would like to take a photo op in front of the uh the wall over here. Uh we'll take a few minutes. You can take a family photo there or if you want to gather a team in front of there, we'll take we'll take a minute to take some pictures. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you for coming. Students and parents, you're welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting if you wish, >> but Next on our
022agenda, >> we have Director Omar Santo reporting on partnerships and counseling. Right. >> Thank you, President Walker. Uh, good evening board members, uh, Superintendent Green and, uh, cabinet. My name is Omar Santoy, executive director of student services. Tonight, our team comprised of Aaron Thomas, director of student services, Sean Arminsky, assistant uh director of student services, and Gabe Stoz, director of uh career and technical education or CTE. Uh we will be sharing a report on our district partnerships and uh school counseling. To just break it down a little bit further, Assistant Director Orinsky will be sharing an update regarding partnerships with faith community, various community agencies, and local service providers. Directors Thomas and Stz will be providing the board information about the PLC work that's happening with our counselor group, highlighting processes that are driving our
023counseling program. uh things like evaluation of data, assessing needs, uh being standards aligned, and specifically for the secondary level, course planning and implementation. Uh with that, I'd like to invite uh Sea Armenky up to the podium. She can get us started. >> Good evening. Um, today more than 30 faith-based partners support schools across Yakama School District, expanding the ability to meet student needs beyond what schools can do alone. On March 14th, Yakma Bethl Service Day brought 28 student volunteers into six elementary schools to support painting, floor cleaning, window washing, dusting, and other building improvement projects that enhance student learning environments. Kyle Soptic coordinated the scope of the work, gathered supplies, partnered with union leaders to support this service uh day across mult multiple school sites. This is one example of how our faith-based partnerships continue
024to expand support for schools and students across the district. We partner with community agencies such as DCYF, DSHS, Salvation Army, and Catholic Charities. These partnerships help connect our families to housing supports, advocacy, and accessing basic resource needs. We also partner with service providers such as comprehensive mental health, um, Yakama Farm Workers Clinic and ESD 105. These providers deliver behavioral health prevention and intervention services. When families have access to these partners, it um students attend school more consistently, stay engaged in learning, and experience stronger connections at school. So, thank you for your time. I'm going to hand it over to Director Thomas. Good evening. I get to talk to you about the most favorite thing that I think I do in this position and that is work with the elementary school counselors. This is a group
025from we have one counselor from each elementary school. So there's 13 counselors and our job is to use the PLC process and so a PLT is a team of the PLC process. So a PLC is a professional learning community. The our PLC would be the Yakama school district. A PLT is any team under that district. So I get the opportunity to work with these wonderful educators. And what we do is we take student social emotional learning data. It could be data that um is class-based or it could be our screener that we use for social emotional learning. And then we analyze that data and then we look for needs and we check for gaps. And so then we align those things with the state standards for social emotional learning and we think how can we
026remedy these gaps that we're seeing in our district. So we look at that district view and and the each counselor can look at the school view but we as a group are looking at the district view to see what needs that our students have. And with that, we align it to the standards and then we make a plan and it's the comprehensive school counseling program or the CSCP is how you'll see it um stated, but we update that every year. And what it does is it it outlines the program for counseling and the interventions that students will get and what our focus is for elementary counselors. And so I get to facilitate that group and help them learn that PLC process. And we're doing continuous improvement all the time. And so it is a wonderful
027opportunity. And one of the photos that you see there is all the group working together to analyze data. We do a very comprehensive needs assessment to determine what direction our district needs to take to support our students. So that is what I'm reporting to you tonight. Do you have any questions about the work that we're doing? I I have one is are the state standards that we use are they still based on the American School Counselor Association national model? >> They are. >> Okay. Thank you. >> They are. Any other questions? All right. I will turn it over to Gabe. >> All right. Good evening board members. Um tonight I'm excited to share an update on our collaborative work with secondary counselors as we implement a comprehensive course planning system in schools. This initiative directly
028supports our students meeting high school um and beyond plan requirements while ensuring they're on track for graduation and career readiness. Throughout this year, we are in our developmental phase of this initiative. our counseling teams and I are collaboratively developing a district-wide course planner that aligns to 24 credits. Um, and this isn't really just about creating a digital tool. It's about ensuring every course in our cataloges properly tagged and sequence so students can see clear pathways from their freshman year to graduation and beyond. Uh, we're working closely to verify um that these are accurately categorized. So, for example, English classes count towards English credits. Math count uh classes count as math credits. This is very important with our uh CTE statewide equivalencies where we could be offering something like an AutoCAD course that cross credits into
029algebra. We still need to be able to mark that within the schooling's platform. So, it's still showing up in that student's graduation plan as they're reviewing their 24 credits. Uh this level of detail ensures students and families have transparency about how each class contributes to their graduation requirements and future goals. Now moving into 2026 27, we're going to move into our pilot phase with strategically selected groups across the district. We are going to plan on um piloting with our incoming ninth graders from Louiswis and Clark, ninth grade students in that are exploring career pathways, students with IEP or 504s to verify accessibility and accommodation tracking, multilingual learners to ensure clarity across diverse language backgrounds and students transferring between school districts to test midyear transition scenarios. These diverse cohorts will test the course planner in real
030world registration scenarios, providing us with invaluable feedback from different student populations and their needs. This pilot year allows us to refine the tool based on an actual user experience, identifying any gaps in course p course pathways, clarifying any confusing elements, and ensuring the system truly serves both our students and our counselors efficiently. We're committed to getting this right before full implementation, which is why the refinement year is essential. Now, by 2027 28, OSPI is going to require students do their four-year course planning in schools, which is going to be the year that we launch this districtwide. At that point, every student will use this tool to select classes that align to their high school and beyond plan, creating an intentional road map that supports both graduation requirements and their post-secary goals. This systematic approach helps
031students see the direct connection between the classes they take today and the careers that they're exploring for tomorrow, making their educational journey more purposeful and personally relevant. This three-year implementation plan reflects our commitment to thoughtful, collaborative change that center student success and recognizes the complexity of helping young people navigate their futures. Our counseling team's expertise and student relationships are essential to making this tool truly effective in supporting every learner and their leadership throughout this process will ensure we're meeting students where they are. Thank you. And I'll entertain any questions you all might have. Any questions of the board? >> I do have one. um in and by nature high school counseling and certainly is more career oriented and credit monitoring and getting kids on that path. Is there still room in our counseling programs and
032within the counselor workday to provide individual counseling with emotional issues and small group is there any small group programming in our secondary schools? >> Yes. So, I've also been working with our building principles on more of the MTSS system to make sure that we're supporting that directly within their building. I've been coming in to really focus on the career college readiness aspect, but we are definitely layering in those systems with the guidance under their building principles as well. I'm just curious how would this work when you have students perhaps that want to go into the technical field certain areas or maybe if they want to go into higher education they want to go maybe STEM or healthcare >> um engineering or whatever. How how will this work to to help them take the right high
033school courses and so when they get to college they're they can kind of segue right into the college level courses. >> Yep. So we're actually building those pathways right now. So, an incoming ninth grader could select one of those um pathways that you described, STEM, healthc care, skilled and technical sciences before their ninth grade year. Now, that's part of why we're building the sequences. So, if they do select health care, that's actually going to bring up those healthc care courses first when they're choosing their elective courses rather than them having to go through all the different courses that exist in that master catalog as well. Um, other things that we're doing with the core sequences, if there's a student that really is collegebound of they can select a sequence that would be like for example
034at Eisenhower could be an honors AP track, an honors college in the high school track again. So that they're selecting a track and it populates the courses they need for English, math, science without them having to individually select each of those courses to meet that 24 um credit requirement. We're trying to really simplify that by building those sequences for our students. >> One more question. Just curious about those students are undecided. How do how does this help them to kind of nail down a career or a direction or a pathway? I guess >> I I think it it trying to create a a pathway where it's more exploratory where they might be able to kind of explore different career pathways. I think with that advising, um, we just got to be very intentional with those
035conversations that we're having with th those kids as well. So, it's really about the plan that they're coming up with, not that they have to execute the plan that they choose in high school. We're giving them the tools that they need in case they do indeed change their plan um, beyond the APA school district as well. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> Any other questions or comments from the board? Thank you so much team. >> I just want to um bring this all together with just one more slide and u this very important work you know partnering with our community and uh our school counseling program uh for the district is so important. Um, I just want the board to understand um that we uh really truly see our strategic plan as our anchor. Um,
036and uh this one these wonderful partnerships and and all the great work that's happening with our counselors um is is really centered around um our our compass and our district plan. And uh we understand that the current strategic plan calls for us to uh partner with this great community that we live in. Um we should not be doing this education thing all by ourselves alone. Um and we also understand that we can't solely just support the academics um in our students academic career um and in their educational career. Uh so really what we need to do is um and we feel that these two things are great examples of us honoring our commitment to our our strategic plan, our current strategic plan. Um and lastly, I uh I just want to say that we had
037so many people from community from these community partnerships uh represented in our strategic plan refresh. Um, so I'm really excited and proud uh that they contributed to the next iteration and um and they will guide our work uh for the next six years in this next iteration of our plan. Um so that is something that our district needs to uh value and be excited about. Um and just with that uh I'd like to thank the board for the opportunity to offer this report. Um and if there are any additional questions uh we our team would be happy to answer them for you. Thank you so much. Next up on our agenda, we have members of the board updates. Do we have any updates from board members? I have a couple I'd like to mention. Uh,
038one is May 6th in Wapau is the Washington School Director Association Area 8 Regional Meeting. If you're planning to attend, let Barb know and she can make a reservation for you for that because there is a there's a cost for the meal. Um, >> Minimal. Yeah. So, off the top of your heads, are you planning on anyone planning on attending that? >> Um, I think I am. >> Okay. I'm going to try to, but I it depends on if I get back from Kirkland and time that day. Okay. Also on May 19th, there's a Washington Association of School Administrators awards banquet. I believe that's at the Hilton Garden Inn. And we do have some district administrators and district personnel that are being honored at that meeting and so or at that um occasion. So again,
039let Bard know if you'd like to attend. Dr. Green. Good evening, President Walker, members of the board. I'd uh like to take a moment to share an exciting opportunity for our students that really does reflect both strong partnerships and commitment in expanding access to high-quality learning experiences across our district. And over the past year, Hector Mendes, one of our executive directors, uh has worked in collaboration with the Pacific Science Center to explore ways to bring their programming to Yakama in a way that is meaningful and accessible to our students. And it's my pleasure to share with you that through a private foundation grant secured by the Pacific Science Center, uh they will be providing programming to the Yakima School District at no cost to us. Uh this includes support for both our summer programming this
040year and the entire 2026 27 school year. And as part of the partnership, all of our elementary and middle schools will receive visits from what's called Science on Wheels. It's a program where they come to school in a vehicle and uh share learning, hands-on learning, engaging science experiments, and they bring an interactive uh STEM uh science, technology, uh engineering, and mathematics learning directly to our students. And it's a strong example of how we continue to leverage our partnerships across the district to enhance uh classroom learning and opportunities for all students at to have these engaging uh educational experiences. Uh so I'm again proud of the work of Hector Mendes and and and growing that opportunity for us here as a district. Uh other items to share with you is there is a town hall meeting
041a town hall meeting for both Yakama and Topenish. Uh the Yakama town hall meeting is uh the legislators that will be in attendance are Representative Gloria Mendula, Representative Deb Manger, uh Representative Chris Corey, and Representative Jeremy Duo. Uh that would be Monday, April 27th, uh from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Uh the location, let me see, we will get that published, but it doesn't it's at the OIC XL Youth Center uh here in town. So that's uh 109 North 9th Avenue in Yakama. So Monday, April uh April 27th. Uh there is a top inish session, but that is not as well attended by our state legislators. Uh and that is April 28th. Of course, we're welcome to attend that al that also. That's representative Gloria Mendoza and Representative Deb Baneres. And that would be at the
042Astria Topenish Hospital at 502 West 4th Avenue in Toppenish. Um we did as a uh district in running the bond reached the validation threshold. So that has uh you may remember or for the community uh to pass a uh a bond there is a 60% uh u bar of uh voters uh but then also a 40% turnout from the previous election. So that 40% bar has been reached and now it'll be the uh 60% plus one uh will determine whether it passes or whether it fails. Ballots have to be in by >> ballots are in by Jake 25th. >> 28th. Thank you. 28th. Thank you. Wonderful question. Uh thank you for uh picking me up there, Jake, with that. Uh there was a wonderful event actually at Adams Elementary. It was with Samaritan's Feet and
043I believe we have some photos of this event. Um was well attended. It is a partnership that provided uh shoes and a carrying bag for every single student at Adams Elementary. You may remember that Adams Elementary is one of our largest, it actually is our largest elementary school. Uh so here you see the partnership with police officers that were there, the amount of shoes that were on display for the classes to come in. There they are coming through the tunnel. Uh fantastic things that were happening. I think you're going to see uh our deputy superintendent and uh our assistant superintendent of teaching and learning here in a moment. Uh but one of the biggest uh events that I've seen of this kind with making sure that our students have access to uh clothing that not
044everyone does without singling out individuals uh because of uh conditions of poverty or whatnot. So uh it's nice that that could happen for every student and celebrate them and again phenomenal opportunity with the partnership. Any questions about Samaritan's Feet and the contributions thereof? I think it also was there was a one of the Bortons was heavily involved um from our fruit industry in in making that happen as well. Anything to add? Oh yes u and I need to thank Hector Mendes for again coordinating that as well. Is Hector here? >> Hector thank you. It's like so we're mentioning Hector. Hector. Hector. So thank you so much. You're just coming through these partnerships right and left and we really do appreciate that. Um the I think uh the only other item that I have before I
045turn some time over here to a couple of other individuals on our cabinet is our YSO Yakama Symphony Orchestra partnership continues to grow. So uh we are exploring other options uh as far as opportunities for students uh to participate in a way that uh I look forward to sharing here in the near future. So this is kind of a teaser statement. Uh that partnership continues to grow. Kudos to Sam McClung, the director of the Yakima Symphony Orchestra, has been here just a little bit over a year and done phenomenal things uh in our community. So, uh we're proud of the way that uh we continue to see uh the music opportunities grow at the high school level and uh continue to expect that to happen uh in in joining with the Yakama Symphony Orchestra. Uh,
046I do have a quick report, PRR report, public records request from Bob Noah at the request of the board and then a bond update from uh Jake Cooper, our assistant superintendent of uh finance and many other areas. But we'll start with Bob, Mr. No. >> Thank you, President Walker, members of the board. The um in your packet you'll see our monthly report on public records request. uh it'll show the last totals for the last three years and then the year to date for this year and then also there's another chart that you're familiar with now that shows the time by which we're processing these requests. Um if you have any questions let me know but they're pretty self-explanatory. So thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Cooper. Good evening members of the board green. Um I'll
047try to be quick since we have a waiting audience. So this is just to go through some of the highlights of the the last several months of u bond fact work. And um as noted earlier, April 28th, 2026 is election day. As my understanding though, we are all mailin ballots and our ballots in Yakama go to Spokane first and have to come back here. So, please remember that they have to go east, further east before they come back to town, just the way our males routed. And as noted earlier, we had a 40% turnout threshold, which has already been met mathematically. Um, there's a reminder, $200 million bond issue. Um, biggest components revealed of Hoover and Garfield and then a little over $20 million in state match. Um and then again the cost not to
048exceed $200 million and then repaid over 20 years of approximately 79 cents per thousand of your house value uh for a total tax estimated tax increase on an average home of about $21 a month. Those are a few samplings of some presentations that we've been giving around the district and community. Um it's been really an honor. Um I'm my third year in Yakama. It's been a great honor to start to kn know all the different layers and different groups around the community and so it has been a fun uh presentation uh time for sure. Um then I'll uh let's see let me answer a few FAQs. Um these are the ones that came in uh recently and I think Barb advanced my slides. Thank you Barb. Um few things on here. There was a question
049about is this the playground? Oh, there was a question about why is the playground okay? Thank you, Barb. We're both clicking and it's like at home when I'm battling through the channels. Um, when would construction begin? Obviously, the bond passes, we would begin design immediately and then like to be in uh in the dirt another 12 months u for Hoover. So right away about a year of design and painting and permit um and then the smaller projects would run concurrently and then Garfield would trail by one year. Uh generally construction takes of a elementary school 12 to 14 months in duration. And then the question about will staffing change? No. Staffing um follow students. So whatever the enrollment will be is the number of teachers and of course support staff that uh support the operation
050of the building. Why doesn't the state pay for this? That is more than a million dollar question. Um some states do have provide construction for schools. So Wyoming is an example. You get in line and then you build a prototypical school model based on what the state funds. However, in this state um we only fund a very small portion of capital expenses as you saw on that $200 million about 20 million or basically covers the sales tax. Yes, we have to pay sales tax on everything we do. Um and so that goes back to the the state government in one form or another. Then why rebuild Hoover and Garfield? Hoover was built in 1947, six years after Pearl Harbor. You've heard me tell this story before about iron lung treatment for polio. So that building
051has served our greatest generation and their uh students and then several generations after that. And then Garfield built in 1959. Um sorry if you're of that vintage, but it has served multiple generations as well. And so they were identified as the top two um uh buildings that needed the most uh had the poorest condition overall. And again, just a reminder that the district asked 20 years ago to rebuild those two same elementary schools in a bond that failed. So it is not a new concept by any means. Um one of the passes, yes, there'll be public input opportunities. So when you build a con uh new building, there's also required by statute um public meetings and then there's also opportunities to give public input particularly on uh how the building functions and um we will
052have multiple opportunities for that. The design in um input is um somewhat driven by staff and then of course we balance the community need um with our budget and how it can be designed and then who will be responsible for overseeing. So myself and Kyle Soptic will be the internal owner reps. And then since we have not had construction uh in the district of any significant magnitude, we would likely hire out um third party uh project management directly which is also part of the bond measure. Um anything else in here I'd like to touch upon bar uh why do we need this is a common question. Why do we need two new schools with trending lower enrollment? So there's two reasons you build new schools. One is for growth and one is for the age
053and condition of the facility. We are not growing enrollment. We are declining enrollment. In fact, when I get to my financial report later, I'll show you that we we've declined over 200 kids throughout the school year alone. And next year, I'm projecting a decline of another 450 students. So, we are building schools because rebuilding schools, not building new schools. So, if you do get asked why, it's because we need to replace two of our oldest buildings given their facility condition. We are not building for growth. We are building to replace two agent facilities. Um, what other questions on there? Sorry, we have a lot in this slide deck. There's some renderings. I think I went through these before. Here's Hoover in its current state. Um, and then here is a rendering of Hoover. And I
054I skipped through Garfield just for the sake of time, but you'll notice that um new elementary schools are multi-story, built with concrete and steel on the exterior for lower maintenance cost, better energy conservation. Um this is just a rendering. Of course, that will uh design will likely change uh in some form or fashion. The bond is to pass and we get to actual uh construction and public input. Uh the playgrounds. So, there was a question um why on on the line item in the bond is there's $14.5 million. There was a question of why one playground is that expensive. No, it is a new playground for every elementary school. It is not for a singular playground. That would be one sweet playground for $14.5 million. Uh so, it is a new playground. Um and of
055course the fall matting and then when you do a playground, sometimes you have to redo uh the drainage, etc. And then, uh big toys as well. Okay, I think that was as quick as I could do it um by just giving you some of the highlights and if there's any questions, I'll be happy to entertain them. I >> I have a question uh I believe might help the public a little bit as well. Um with declining enrollment, how does that affect uh course offerings? >> Um that's a good question. So, uh as enrollment declines, we have to make decisions on what courses are going to be offered. And every year we do that through um we allocate staff at a certain ratio. So for example at middle schools every 26 students generates one full-time teacher.
056Um and then so when you adjust that for their prep period that's an average class size in the high 20s low30s. And that is a standard allocation model um that we have used um going forward. And when enrollment declines, then a building is likely forced to focus on core content areas because there are certain things particular high school that we have to get kids to graduate. And then of course one of the real downsides is that then electives become less generally speaking. >> What is a ballpark figure of the reductions that you've seen as far as not reductions but the amount of funding that we've seen with the loss of students roughly? How many students have we lost over what period of time? And what does that equate to financially? >> So, uh, rough rule
057of thumb, each, uh, state, uh, the state funding is around $10,000. When you stack on local and levy, uh, on top of that with some federal, you're almost at 18,000 a student. So, it's not a direct correlary all the time, but 18,000 students. I think since I've been here, I'd have to look at my financial report, but between this year and next year, we'll be down close to a thousand. So, you look at that's about $18 million in loss revenue over a two-year period. So, a significant amount. Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Cooper? All right. Hearing none, I will conclude with my superintendent update uh by simply sharing that when we're talking about funding in the state of Washington, certainly you've heard this from me before, but uh taking advantage of this opportunity once
058again to share that we are not funded equally across the state of Washington. Uh in fact uh according to 2013 I'm sorry 2023 24 data from David Knight from the University of Washington uh if we were funded if our student count was funded at the same rate as the other top 24 size districts in the state of Washington we would have a minimum of $4 million more in our coffers to provide for our students and programming. uh the most the biggest difference is 162 million. So there's quite a variation, but I can tell you out of the top 24 districts of which Yakama is one, our probably best comparison would be Kenowick and Pasco, seeing how they're over on this side of the state. Uh Kenowick receives an additional 4 million per student uh not
059per student, 4 million for their student count. Um more than what we would receive for that same funding. And Pasco is at uh uh nearly uh 13 million. they're at 12,981,000. So, there is a lot that we can continue to do in working with our legislature to look at something that is equitable or equal across our system because I do believe that the general consensus across the state is that uh all districts are funded equally. And there's nothing further from the truth, especially when you're looking at a district like uh Belleview, which has received over the last 15 years over a billion dollars um in funds that our our district does not receive. And that's through state and local funding. So that is why actually this uh it's important to go to the public and
060make sure that we're sharing exactly uh where the funding is going and why. So I just wanted to share that with you in lie of having uh Jake share the information that he did and um open to answer any questions at this time. >> Any other questions for Dr. Green? >> That was billion with a B. >> That was a billion. There are about three or four districts in the past 15 years that have uh over a billion dollars of funding more than the Yakimma school district. Belleview's one, Northshore is another. Uh I would imagine that Tacoma's up there. Um but even if you're looking at districts uh that are smaller uh for example Reton uh Reton is small uh smaller or about the same size as the Yakama school district and again this is
061data from David Knight University of Washington professor 2023 24 uh Reton for the same student count receives $127 million more than the Yakama school district. Um, we have not had a a bond go to the public in over 15 years, which means that anytime we have an HVAC system or any issue that happens in the district, it's coming out of basic ed funding that uh then does impact our students. So, we will continue to work with our legislators and continue to work with uh our colleague superintendents around the state and um and see what we can do. But there is a strong recognition that the funding model for public education in the state of Washington by the legislature needs to be fixed. Unfortunately, the solution is harder to reach and uh uh much more difficult
062than to achieve than it should be. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh and the next item on the agenda is highlights for community engagement. Just that is listed in your board documents. Just check through that. There are a number of opportunities coming up for athletics. I be believe both high schools have plays going on. There's some art things going on. So check that out and attend as many as interest you and that you can attend. Uh next up we have three of our district teachers um Jenny Hernandez, Chadwell, and Jeff McFaden. And they're going to present to us on end of unit assessments in our math program. Good evening, President Walker. Superintendent Green, thank you for letting us be here and having the opportunity to speak on behalf of our teachers. I am
063Jennifer Hernandez. I'm a teacher at Washington Middle School. >> I'm Jeff McFaden. I'm a teacher at Franklin Middle School. Chad Giznell, everyone. I'm at Eisenhower High School. >> Oh, and then it's my turn. Uh really appreciate the invitation to uh speak to you guys tonight. We uh really see tonight as an opportunity to uh be proactive with the board's request to work towards improving SBA scores. And with the implementation of our end of module district math assessments that has begun the end of last year and through this year, uh we've gathered some feedback from teachers that we want to make sure we share with you. and most importantly provide you an opportunity to ask us questions or or maybe this conversation will spark some questions that we can take going forward as we look at
064implementing uh assessments that are not just uh relevant for point in time data but also uh reliable over time. So uh thank you. >> Oh no skip my bad. >> Is this how we do this? Can you? Yeah. >> We're not good at this guy. >> We're not >> We're good in the class. >> Give me my classroom in front of students, please. Not in Okay, here you click the next button. Okay. >> I I guess I used Devon energy for the bowling stuff earlier. Um, we also want to recognize that this is a shared commitment, right? This it's not just a board goal, right? We as teachers want to achieve these goals as well. And so, you can see what we have up there that uh we really value the work of assessment. uh
065we've all been teaching math for a really long time. Um I started adding it up and I've either uh taught or supported math in the district for 23 years. So I'm invested in this work and a lot of that time was spent building assessments. Uh so that's part of why this is so important to me. Um we also want to recognize that third bullet I just want to draw some extra attention to that one of the things that is talked about often but harder to implement is vertical teaming. Right? So not just looking at grade level teams and having them have the opportunity to analyze data but what does that mean longitudinally right or vertically rather uh to allow teachers to look at data as it progresses with the student and and not just be
066reactive or look at data after we can't do anything about it with our particular group of students. So uh that last bullet's the most important. We we believe that this is important work and we just want to make sure that we get it right. Yeah, there we go. All right. Kind of like Chad was talking, I really do want to hit on like we think this is a collaborative process. Uh teachers are not trying to say we don't want to assess. Like teachers are saying we want to assess. assessments are good, but let's make sure they're worthwhile and make sure they're valuable and reliable and all those other good like super cool words like let's make sure we use our time with that. So the teachers do appreciate having common assessments across the district. They
067value having priority standards. So no, we know those things we have to focus on. However, right now like the math standards we're working with and the assessments we're working with, they're not entirely aligned to the SBA priority standards. So, and we know those standards are also changing again for next year. Um, and we know this is eventually rolling out to more content areas. We know this is going to be hitting the LA trying to do this stuff this coming year. So, we kind of want to make sure like these growing pains with us. Let's make sure those kind of benefit these other content areas. This graph you guys are seeing here shows uh there were a lot of many a lot of teachers that were invited to create them but there were also an overwhelming
068number of teachers that were not invited. Uh so most of the secondary people uh middle school high school said they were invited. The elementary folks were the ones that were saying they weren't asked and they felt like it was just a select group of people that were chosen to go to it. Additionally uh we haven't had training for how to read the item specs. So the item specs are like a blueprint. They're like the rules for how the assessments are made. We haven't had meaningful training in those in about eight years. Um so there's a lot of newer teachers, upcoming teachers or even veteran teachers, you haven't really seen that in a long time. So it's just kind of creates some uncertainty like even when a teacher is being asked like, "Hey, do you want
069to help with this assessment?" Sure. But I don't even know how to read these item specs like effectively to do this because either I'm new or I haven't done this stuff in a while. uh the assessment time adds up. Again, all of this data came from the survey that we sent out and we got about 140 as of last time we looked. Um so talking to the teachers, so what we're seeing it's not entirely about the assessments themselves. It's also about the cumulative impact when all these assessments are put together. So you get the math assessments all put together that averages out based on what the teachers are saying. every 6 to9 days a student is in a math class, they're taking a test. Uh then when you look at the assessments across the board
070for all the different content areas, we're looking at every 3 to six days a kid is in a seat in the classroom, they're taking a test. Uh so it just builds up some of that fatigue. And again, like I said at the beginning, teachers, we see the value in assessment. We really do. Um but the way it's currently being used, the teachers have to give additional assessments. like we give the ones we're required to give and we have to give more in order to gauge that learning and make sure we can go back and like back fill some of those gaps. Um, and to make sure we're progressing towards meeting those standards for the SBA. Next one. Sorry, I'm almost done. Impact on the teacher time. We're spend a lot of time grading tests. Teachers
071will spend a lot of time due to the we have strict assessment windows. Like you have these days give the test and you have this long to put the data in. teachers are spend a lot of time a lot of teachers are spending a lot of time outside of contracted time. So the data we got said 70% of the teachers that are putting this stuff in is beyond the contracted day. They're doing things at home. They're doing things during their kids practice. All all sorts of things just to make sure cuz they're feeling that pressure from their principles like we need this data. And while saying we do believe the assessments are important, it's just another like kind of cause of more stress on those teachers. And as you'll see in a minute here from
072Jennifer, most of the teachers haven't received like valuable feedback on the assessment data they've entered. They enter the data and then it just goes somewhere and then we don't talk about it again. Thank you. >> So what we're hearing from teachers, the timing and pacing that are happening with these tests are misaligned with the student readiness. So, the district has given a 5-day window for these assessments. And it doesn't matter if you've gotten through your curriculum or not. You're giving it in that 5 days. And teachers would like there to be a little bit of flexibility so that it's actually gauging what students know and if they're ready. Um, this ties into PLC question number three and four. If students are ready, how do we uh move forward? If students are not ready, how do
073we um help them before moving on again? But right now with the pacing guide, we we as teachers and our teachers are feeling in the survey that um we have to be pushed on no matter what. We don't have time for question three and four. And so um the concerns about alignment to standards and our SBA priority standards. Um also since the beginning of the year, the use of SBA resources. So SBA has item specs, they have released items, they have um programs that we have access to which are free. um interim assessments that we could be using and we have used in past years. And like we've talked about to many teachers, no program is perfect. Um but we are wondering why the ESBAC resources have been discouraged to be used because from a
074teacher standpoint, they give a lot of practice for SBA. They are the same tools. It's the same formatting. And so getting the kids on the computer and using those tools and resources is an advantage to us. Um, this graph does not show a percent of who wants the feedback, but the comments would support it. Um, this graph is showing us that just under 1/4 of teachers are receiving meaningful feedback on these assessments. So, we've given this assessment, we've inputed data, and then it just falls flat, unless maybe you and your PLC partner are having those conversations together. Um I think the hope is that several years ago when we had mathtosas we would sit down in data dives and we would have the opportunity to work with a grade band of teachers and look at
075what was the most mis question, what were the misconceptions, what was the question that was uh answered the most correct at this school and why like what did you do? So we had an opportunity to learn from each other. >> All right. So, uh, kind of related to that idea, one of the things that Jennifer, >> thank you. Uh, alluded to was that, um, these things started to, um, have less of a priority right about the time that we eliminated the at that time steamtosa positions, right? So, that left us with sort of a vacuum of content experts that also had the teaching experience. And so we really do want to advocate for looking for ways to bring those content experts back into a in a meaningful way if it ideally as a mathtosa but
076if that's not possible to really think about the process for developing these so that it includes those people that have the expertise and the desire right that they want to contribute to these assessments. Um the quotes you see up there are just some of the specific quotes from the feedback. Um, you can see that teachers really want to use the data, but the way that it's structured right now, it's it's just impossible for them to have time to make it meaningful. Um, one thing I want you to note about the second bullet up there is, and I mentioned this when I spoke earlier, um, we wanted, we need to decide if it's a point in time assessment or a true end of unit assessment because, um, if we're testing students that haven't learned it yet
077and then also testing students that are done with that instruction and have had the had the instruction and then we put those two pieces of data together, that's difficult, right? because we can't tell which student is in which place in the instructional cycle at that point. So, I think that piece is really important. Um, you can see a couple of the other quotes up there. Um, that there's also a significant amount of time in not just recording the data but building the assessments. So if you have some of those dedicated math uh experts toas that can do take some of that work off the teachers plates that that can be really valuable because they're doing that work while while teachers are able to then engage in instruction and not have to be spending time building
078these resources. Um we did talk about the SBA um resources and I I just want to reiterate that right that let's decide on the tools that we want to use and the platform because I think that's also an issue sometimes right if we don't have a a platform that supports the data that we want to gather then it can be so tedious and really difficult um to gather the data and use it. Um so I just want us to think in that respect um and think about again that that this work there were other reasons about five six years ago that this happened to right we had a lot going on at that time. All right thank you. >> So so opportunities to strengthen this like I said we want this to be collaborative we
079really do. So based on the data we've gotten, teachers some of their suggestions um is incre increased flexibility with those windows and those timelines and ways we can get that stuff put in a streamlined data entry process to just kind of make it a little bit easier so the teachers aren't having to do a really big lift of just putting in numbers and uh that data and then also determine a common and consistent uh plan platform kind of like Chad was talking about. Some schools are using pencil and paper. Some are using Canvas. Some are using different apps through Clevver. Some are doing the SBA things outside of the other assessments. Some schools have their own apps they bought just to do the assessments, but it's not the same everywhere. Uh so those are a
080few of the things that we're looking for. >> Um we would like to ensure that the alignment of the new math standards and the current standards are aligned. The last time we looked at this as a whole district was under different leadership when there was a different teacher uh TNL director and the priorities have changed from the board, the district, the teachers, different groups of people. So we would like to make sure that those are aligned. >> We also want to make sure that we keep teachers at the forefront, right? Like getting their input in the process is so critical because they are the ones that are in front of the students doing the instruction all, you know, all day long. So, we want to make sure that they're at the forefront of this. We
081also want to, where possible, look at the assessments that we either already give or will be intending to add to see if there's ways to combine or align those assessments to reduce that. You you heard some numbers earlier, right, about how much time we're spending assessing. And so, any way that we can um either align or make that that process more efficient will be better. Um, and the last bullet there, I'm not going to talk about since I talked about the the TOSA work before. >> Oh, okay. Um, we have some questions that we would love the board to consider and get back to us at an opportunity that is available to you guys. Um, these are four of the posed questions that we are asked often from teachers. Do you have anything you want
082to add to that? >> Okay. So, um, I just want to say this is we do really want this to be a collaborative process. Uh, we're not here to complain. We're not here to whine. We're not here to say teachers don't want to do this. Teachers want to do it. We just want to make sure we're using our time as effectively as possible. We'd love an opportunity if you guys want to sit down, invite us, sit down, have some more conversations, more than willing to do that. And if you'd like more teachers to come in in that process, just let us know >> Or to see what it looks like. Any questions at all, reach out to us. We really are. And we do have a handful of teachers that are interested in coming and
083chat with any of you guys. >> One final thought and the reason that we had that slide there at the end is um that we know that this work doesn't necessarily uh receive funding through uh the bond for example. It's a different pot of funds. However, we understand that passing the bond will help to take pressure off of the budgets that do help us to do this work. And so we're really hoping that we have that opportunity. Thank you for your time. >> So please vote. >> Please vote. Please vote. >> Thank you for your time. >> Thank you everybody. >> Thank you. Next up, we have our monthly financial update from Mr. Cooper. back again. Members of the board, it's been Green. Um before I begin, I I just want to reflect on how
084far the district has come when it comes to talking about data and assessments. Um if you asked me three or four years ago when I arrived, um I came from a data obsessed district that we would be talking about assessments and classroom based assessments and how to align things, I would have said no way. So kudos to the teachers and teaching and learning. Um, we'll find that sweet spot eventually, but it can be kind of difficult as you start to ramp up things. So I know that's not my Bailey Wick, but I have an opinion on most things. So um, first off, um, is this the right month, Barb? >> Hold on. February. I need a March. So sorry. >> It's all right. I'll give you the annotated version while we change months. So um
085from March and we'll talk about is um the uh as you can see it's it's budget month. So we are finalizing our um budget plans as we go forward. Uh I did want to uh say that given where we're currently at now, we will not be doing a certificate of reduction in force um as we move into uh the spring. So that's good news. We will get a reprieve from that. um HR and finance have been working along with everybody else diligently to make sure we have a spot for all our certificated staff giving our funding. So um that's good news as we begin. Uh additionally um the bad news though, however, is since October 1st, our enrollment has declined by 235 students mid year. Now we're cooking with gas barb. Um it's all right.
086I could I can almost read that far away. Would you make it a little bigger and I can do it that way. Thank you. So as noted um 235 students midyear decline in enrollment which is an anomaly. Go ahead. Next one. Um that is our >> Okay. >> I know. I just It's not after nine o'clock. You'll see. Um, there we go. Thank you. No worries. Um, so there's our enrollment trend. I will show it graphically though. As you can see, there is an anomaly this year. So as you go top to bottom you can see our enrollment um declining from 15,400 in 2021-22 in October to 1475 and then we've dropped another as you can see usually our enrollment kind of flattens out but we are seeing decline enrollment throughout the fiscal year. So
087um there is positive news on the cash flow but that will start to head back towards my projections as we lose revenue. Remember, we get revenue over a 12-month period, and we have 10 enrollment counts. So, that average will start to catch up to us. So, 2.3 2.4 million on the state side, and if you add local levy, um, a little more than that, four or five million. So, uh, enrollment currently about 300 below projection. We talked about there's cash. You'll remind you know that my same words apply every meeting. Cash is king. no matter what happens. I've seen boards all around the state, they get fancy reports from their CFOs and they talk about everything but cash, but cash is where it's at. So, as you can see, projected cash is in the green.
088Um, our cash right now is four and a half or five $4.5 million above projection. As I noted earlier though, that enrollment decline is going to move that cash back towards projection and we'll likely end uh very close to where I project there in August. U budget to actuals. You can see the blue bar is current year as we move forward. Um and then the black bar is the budget next to it. So in most months we are at um or slightly below our projected revenue. There's the expenditure uh budget. Uh in total um roughly 20 million in payroll a month with a couple million on top for accounts payable for materials, supplies and operating costs. So, as you can see, my job is to have boring financial picture. I'm not boring, but it is
089boring. Hopefully, stable able. Um, slightly below projection is what you want on the expenditure side. Um, then MSX, which are material supplies and operating costs. A little harder to trend, but still you can see the teal bar versus the black bar. Um, we are below the monthly projections on that spending. And of course, I would be happy to answer any questions if you have any. Any questions for Jake? >> Do we know why we have an anomaly in our student enrollment that that drop in January and then again in February? >> Um we have seen some pressures from I believe immigration enforcement. Also we're seeing um family relocation for a lot of reasons. Um some of it is in country. So a lot of we have a lot of folks moving back to California as
090an example. So I would say it's a mixed bag. Um we will see going forward as you know most of our enrollment decline has been predicated upon lower birth rates. And so every year as I say if if we're 300 below our peak over two years we lose an Adams elementary school around 600. So that will ripple through the system eventually and we'll settle out at a lower enrollment number that we are in now. But um I would say this year it's a mixed bag and it is an anomaly and as I discussed last time we we did overlay that using some AI models with some past deportation actions under the Obama administration. Um but so it's not it's not completely anomalous based on our past but then again it's it's a different world as
091well. We also, it's interesting, I had a conversation um with somebody today is given the border uh tighter control, we might not be seeing the infill of migrant workers as they move uh south to north that we would normally see and so that could be some of the issues and I that was an interesting uh conversation with them as well. So there's lots of reasons I believe Martha birthright being one and interesting human migration patterns being the other. Do we have a sense as to whether or not families are actually leaving versus families are just not are keeping their kids at home? >> Um we I would say most of it's relocation. Um we have seen some movement to online um instead of staying home. And so it is hard for us to tell. We
092often don't get one one key signal to us is when we get a records request for records from a uh receiving receiving school and sometimes that can take a lengthy time period and so until we get that request for records if the if the family does not communicate with us on their intentions then we we're really left in the dark. >> Thank you. >> You bet. >> Thank you Jake. We have arrived at our first opportunity for comments from the public and this is on agenda items only. Do we have any one that wishes to comment on agenda items? >> Not at this time. >> Okay. Thank you. Moving on to consent agenda. We have approval of minutes from prior meeting. Uh notification of approval of warrants for March. Approval of personnel actions, the budget
093status report for March and the interlocal agreement. Is there any item in the consent agenda that would anyone would like to see remove or removed and discussed? Okay. Do I hear a motion to approve the consent? >> Move to approve the April 21st consent agenda. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded to approve the consent agenda. Any other comments or questions? All in favor say I. >> I. All opposed. >> Motion passes unanimously. Uh next up we have approval of resolution number 6.25.26 delegation of authority to WIAA. This is a standard yearly yearly practice. I believe >> it is. Thank you, President Walker. And you will find in the public content information uploaded, we have the WIAA schoolboard form and then the resolution action letter. Uh this is something that does uh is due
094annually by the second Friday in June. And it is delegating authority to the Washington Intercolastic Athletic Association of which we are a part. And if you go to the actual uh I'm trying to find it here. If we go to the uh resolution letter, the requested motion is to approve resolution number 0625.25.26 which does delegate authority to WIAA. Uh this is uh as you stated a yearly practice. Are there any questions uh before the requested motion goes before the board? >> Okay. Do I hear a motion? >> Move to approve resolution 06.25.26 26 delegating authority to WIAA. >> Second been moved and seconded to approve 6.25.26. Any questions or discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> All opposed. Motion passes unanimously. We've now arrived at our second opportunity for comments from the public.
095I believe we have a Okay. I think we will take uh since we have a number of students involved and you probably have homework and need to get to sleep early, we'll take our students from Lewis and Clark. And so there are several of you. If you find that I'm going to suggest if you find that someone has repeated maybe a few times something that you wanted to say exactly, you can choose to pass if you want. But we have quite a long list here. So we'll start with um Samuel Garduno Lewis and Clark. Hi, my name is Samuel Gardonia Ayala. I attend at Louiswis and Clark Middle School and I am here to speak about the music programs at Louiswis and Clark and Franklin Middle Schools. These programs are important to many to so
096many students. Both schools recently earned superior ratings at competitions which shows how strong and successful they are. Cutting these programs would hurt students. Beginning band already has over a hundred students joining and reducing support will make it harder for them to learn and succeed. Having Mrs. Beam as my teacher for 3 years is something I'll never forget and I want my younger brother who plans to join next year to have the same experience. Music gives students a place to belong and I ask you to please continue supporting these programs. Thank you. >> Thank you. Daffhne the >> Is the mic on? >> Did you Okay. >> Are you okay? >> I'm sorry. >> Oh, there you go. Perfect. >> Um, hi, my name is Dafany. I'm in the eighth grade and I go to Louis
097and Craig Middle School. When I started ban in the sixth grade, I never had any idea how much it would means how much it would affect me in life. But over time, it became something something I depended on. No matter how bad my day was, when I step foot into that band room, it feels like I'm stepping into a new world. This world feels like weights are being lifted off my shoulders. And I'm finally able to be myself. But what truly touched my heart was how the band program wasn't just about music. It's about the people who share a passion just like you. People who are showing kindness to everyone around them. people who are willing to work together and help each other learn and grow together. I know when I'm in that room, I'm
098never alone. But if someone were to ask me what's the best part about band, I would say my director, Miss B. She's the definition of a great teacher. She listens, she cares, and she notices when things are going on and and she makes sure you guys have a good relationship. During the hardest times of my life, where I thought I would never be anything good in life or have a future, Miss Bam was always there for me when everybody shut me out. She helped me not only grow as a musician, but she also helped me grow as a person when I struggled. Miss Beam always gave me encouragement and when I needed help on learning certain phrases, notes, or even rhythm. Miss, she taught me how and gave me time to understand. She always had
099faith in me. She always had faith in me. Sometimes I would have deep conversations with her about problems in my life and she actually saw me and tried her hardest to understand and she gave me motivation to not to not give up in life. Because of her, I will learn discipline, resilience, and determination. Even though it's my last year here at Lucen Clark, I need to help Miss Beam in any way I can. Threatening to take away some classes for the music program doesn't only affect doesn't only affect future musicians. It also affects the high schools. If you were to take away Mr. Beam and his percussion class, I know for a fact future percussionists wouldn't be able wouldn't have the same skill set as they do now. Mr. Beam has been a teacher at
100Louiswis and Clark for two years now. Everyone who has been taught by by him is beyond high school level and some sixth graders are already playing hard ornaments and playing beyond 8th grade level. Another thing is almost 140 kids signed up for band next year and you guys are talking about taking taking away a beginning band class and you expect to have one teacher teach almost 140 kids including some kids who signed up for percussion in one period with with one teacher and that amount of kids and with that amount of kids no one will get the their proper education in music and the Louiswis and Clark band reputational combo. After everything I've said please take this into consideration and thank you for YOUR TIME. THANK YOU. NEXT UP, WE have Galilee Bado. Hello, I'm
101Gina Montes. I'm currently in beginning band next year. I'm going to be in intermediate band. Aren't we supposed to be in the future? Our band and orchestra also percussion team also should be invested. How just how sports are. We all learn differently. I'm someone who learns one onone. How is Mrs. Beam going to focus on everyone else? I wanted to say the beams aren't only teachers. They are my school parents. I'm going to share a little something about me back in January 20 26. I've went through suicidal thoughts when nobody when no one such as principal, school counselors or teacher therapist, the orchestra room or the band room is my escape from the real world. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Carmen Naven. Ladies and gentlemen of the board, I'm thankful to be here and
102to see so many people show up tonight to talk about the music programs. We all care about our kids and we care about being heard and we care about solutions that work. My name is Karma and I'm a mother to a seventh grader at Franklin Middle School who has been in band with Mr. Patillo since sixth grade. I never thought I would be a band mom, but I have come to love hearing her practice her saxophone. She is very dedicated, and this is one thing that she doesn't have to ask to be doing to do. She does it on her own daily, and she gets better and better. Now, I never thought I would need to come to a schoolboard meeting to ask for someone to listen to us about how important jazz is to
103our kids. I thought it was pretty evident. But I'm teaching my kids to stand up for what they think is right. and mine has been saying that she won't have the option to play jazz next year um because Mr. Patillo is being given an impossible choice. Cut jazz or put 90 kids in one beginner class. As it is now after beginner's band, kids get funneled into jazz, honors or intermediate. In my understanding, it's the students who have not developed the skills for jazz or honors that go into intermediate. And I'm not sure why we would entertain mediocrity over opportunities for more skilled players. No child left behind. Impossible choices. We have more students than we know what to do with and that's why not it's not one anyone teacher's fault and we need solutions that
104create opportunities. We need to listen to our teachers and students. Mr. Patillo has been Frank at Franklin for 10 years and this issue is not about his class. It's about overextending teachers overfilling schools and money which are always going to be issues. We need to keep good teachers, keep good classes, hire more teachers and less administration. We need to be responsible with decision decisionmaking and how the money is used. We should encourage dialogue in decision-making. We are all here because we care about this community. And when kids have opportunities to develop their skills, they have an outlet of creative expression. They enjoy their childhood. They come back to their communities and want their kids to experience that, too. If we keep thinking about the money, which will always be a problem with endless solutions, if
105we make the wrong choices, we will produce children who are complacent and ill-contributing members of their communities or they'll leave and not come back. Commenters on a social media post inviting people to this meeting said, "Jazz band is the best thing to happen to school music programs anywhere and everywhere." And another said, "Music is math. Music is art. Music is joy. Music is what keeps many kids going to school. So, yes, this is a community issue and we're not just parents, but the people who pay for these decisions and I thank you for your time. Thank you, >> Savannah Flingford. Ladies and gentlemen of the board, hello. My name is Savannah and I have been in Mr. Patillo's band class at Franklin Middle School for sixth and seventh grade. I started off playing the clarinet
106in the beginning band and now I play the alto saxophone for the jazz band. I'm here to support our Franklin music program because it's given me and many other students endless opportunities to express our love for music and represent our school. I am also here today because our music teachers and students in the music program shouldn't be scared to speak up about what's right and wrong. To my knowledge, our teacher, Mr. Patillo is being forced to choose to cut a class, our jazz program, or cut one of the beginning bands, squishing up to 90 students into one class. This is an issue for many reasons. One one prime example is if we cut our jazz band, our high schools will be impacted, but mostly Eisenhower. This is because Washington Middle School also has a jazz
107band, which most of their students go to Davis, but they aren't making any cuts. Eisenhower, which is a school I plan to attend, will see their jazz programs fade out in the next couple of years if this change happens. Another example is if we put 90 students into one beginning band, not only is it overcrowded, but our band teacher will have to teach woodwinds, percussion, and brass all at once. This means nobody will get enough attention to perfect skills on their instruments affecting upcoming years in the band program. We shouldn't limit opportunities that me and my bandmates have to the future of Franklin's band. My school's jazz program also has great accomplishments. And one of those accomplishments is being the only middle school in all of Yakama school district to attend Lionel Hampton's jazz festival
108at University of Idaho. I am really proud to be a Franklin band student, but I am extremely disappointed in my school's choices. >> Thank you, Anna Rodriguez. Good evening. My name is Anna. I am a mom of not one but two Louiswis and Clark band students that are here with me today. Today I'm here not just as a parent, but as someone who has seen firsthand what this band program does for kids, my kids included. Band is so much more than music. It's discipline. It's teamwork. It's confidence. It's a place where students who might not always feel seen or heard have a family. We live in a world where kids are constantly being pulled in different directions. Band gives them structure. It teaches them commitment, showing up, practicing, improving little by little. Those are life
109skills that go far beyond the band room. You can't measure that on a test score, but you can see it in how they carry themselves and how they always win first place at contests. For some students, band is only the reason that they stay engaged in school at all. It's their safe place. It's where they build friendships, learn accountability, and feel like they belong. Taking that away doesn't just remove a class, it removes their anchor. Well, let's talk about the bigger picture. When you cut programs like this, you're not just saving money. You're losing something that makes your school feel like more than just a building. We understand that budgets are tight and decisions like this aren't easy, but I ask you to consider what the true cost is. Cutting band might balance your numbers
110on a piece of paper, but it takes away opportunity for growth and a sense of purpose for so many kids. We need to hold the district accountable for spending the funds on items that aren't necessary. You are removing teachers and opening positions for the district office that costs a lot more money than teaching does. I hope this opens up a new conversation for a change. And thanks again for your time. >> Thank you, Sarah Glascar. Hi, I um am a of a parent of a um Franklin Middle School band student who's now at Davis and um I wanted to talk about um what these band programs are doing for our kids besides just the music. Um, we are a school district that has a lot of children that are going to be scoring high in
111the adverse childhood events um, test and these music programs are are a big way to help them overcome those scores and um, develop more resilience. Um we know that um one adult in a child's life can make all the difference in the world for them. And I've seen these uh kids with Mr. Patello at Franklin. Um I've seen these kids with Mr. with Martin Obero at Washington and they connect with those teachers. And the other thing that we have with these band programs is we have people who are who are seeing these kids every day for three years straight. And a lot of these middle school band teachers are involved with the high school band program. So if like we can talk about counseling, mental health, whatever. If we have one teacher that knows these
112students that well, they're the first ones that are going to know if something's going wrong with them. These band teachers are going to know if a child is doing differently. I I don't understand why we would take that away. Yakimo School District has also developed a really good reputation for their music programs outside of this community. I was I went with uh Franklin last year to the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, which is the largest jazz festival west of the Mississippi. our Franklin Middle School jazz band, bested private schools, private um performing arts schools, schools that are have much greater funding that are putting a lot of money into their performing arts programs. And Davis did also I had friends I I people that from other parts of my life years ago text me get a
113like message me through Facebook that saying hey what are you putting in the water in Yakama cuz our music programs are are so successful and to have two schools do that well at the Limal Hampton Jazz Festival really is something. I um I it doesn't make sense to me to be cutting such successful programs. What What do teachers need to do besides be successful? Like I'm telling you, these programs are keeping kids engaged and they're saving kids. Thank you. >> Is this Myra bed? Good evening. We know that Mr. Beam's position is being eliminated. This is going to have a huge impact in our LC concerts and matching bands. Under percussions, we're asking you to rec reconsider this situation and keep both music teachers at LC. We know that there are over a 100 students
114who tried out instruments last week and want to join orchestra or band. Out of these 100 students, over 20 students wanted um sorry uh pre precussions. Right now, there's only one period beginning band offered be uh being offered next year. There needs to be two periods for beginning band. If there's only two periods, the counselor counselors and administrations at LC will take away another class, which most likely will be intermediate band. That isn't fair for the LC students who aren't ready for advanced music groups. That's that would be like having a student in sixth grade math sending them to algebra. These there should be a music class that meets ability levels for all students. Please consider bringing back intermediate orchestra which was eliminated this year and keeping intermediate bond band. This would mean that there
115would be need to two music directors at LC. All other m middle schools have two staff's members. We believe that Louisis and Clark deserves the same. Thank you. Uh, Esway Dominguez. >> I can't quite read this. Did I say your name properly? >> Esme. Okay. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Good evening, school board and Dr. Green. My name is Esmeralda Dominguez. I am a seventh grader at Lucen Clark Middle School. I'm here to speak about the staffing cuts and how they are affecting the music program. When I was in sixth grade, I was in beginning orchestra with Mr. Bean. He pushed us to do our best but also have patient with us as beginners. By the end of the year, I auditioned and made it into intermediate orchestra for this school year. But later,
116we found out that intermediate orchestra was no longer being offered. That left students like me with only two options. Repeat repeat beginning orchestra or move on to advance. I chose advance. But when I started, I felt completely overwhelmed. The experience the expectations were much higher and I didn't feel prepared. There was times where I honestly wanted to quit and just like stop playing violin. But with extra help from both Mr. and Mrs. Beam after school, I was able to improve my learning from music and be a part of a great performer performance at Christmas and contest concerts. Even though I made it through, not every student will will be willing to take what I took. Taking away intermediate orchestra puts students in a position where they either feel bored repeating a class or overwhelmed moving
117ahead too fast. Also, Mrs. Beam has only one period for beginning band and it will have over a 100 students that are interested to be in beginning band. That's too many students for one class. One teacher cannot effectively effectively teach band, but that would mean losing intermediate band as well. This creates the same problem. Students don't get the support they need from before moving forward. In other subjects like math, students are based on their level and learning pace. They aren't forced into advanced class if they're not ready. Music music students deserve the same opportunity. I'm asking the school board to keep both music positions at Louis Clark and bring back intermediate orchestra. This will allow students to grow at a pace that works for them, feel more confident, and stay involved in music. Music isn't
118just a class. It's something that helps students build confidence, major stress, and feel connected to everyone and everything. Thank you for your time and thank you for listening. >> Thank you. >> Francisco Gil. >> Hi, my name is Francisco Gil and I go to Louis and Clark Middle School. Joining band was the best thing of my life. It gave me so many friends and I've learned so much while I was in there. Um, I've learned a lot of band even with even with Miss Beam there. She's taught me a lot on how to play my instrument which is the tuba. Tuba is one of the biggest instruments which is one of the kind of one of the hardest but it's the easiest one that I know. But um, yeah, Miss Beams taught me a lot
119throughout the years. I am in seventh grade. She's taught me a lot since I was in sixth. I had a lot of thoughts of quitting, but I didn't because she's taught me to not quit and to not give up and to keep going. Thank you for the Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Roman Alexander P. Hello, my name is Roman P. I'm a student from Lucen Clark Middle School. I'm here today to talk about Miss Beam and what she has done for music program and who she is to us and why she should not be let go. One of the things I would really like to point out before I start my speech. It may be different from the rest but points out how cuz of Miss Beam kids have friends and how
120generations of different kids have been taught from her the future and new band kids to be taught. Miss Beam is an amazing teacher. She's wonderful. She cares for all of us, listens to our problems and just not a teacher to us. She's a motherly figure. not just to me but to many other kids graduated or in middle school. She's helped us from day one day one of band. She supported us our life choices in sports and and in learning. She loves us all in band. She pushes us to our potential and teaches us to reach our limits. She taught us from she taught us for our future in band what we need to do and how to act. She's taught us from how to play B flat scales to reading and memorizing music with ease.
121She she taught us helped and she's taught skills, helped everybody. She's the reason I want to go to school and want to stay in band. She's the reason why I'm happy to be there. She listens to our problems and helps us. She cries with us for me in the past help me when I wanted to kill myself because of problems where I was at, but she has helped and has cared for me and many other kids. Okay. I want to keep living and keep going in band for the future. She's the best teacher who I've met. She's always been the best teacher at LC. Because of her teaching, we're set for high school and much more for what path we take. Because of her and the heart, she's great. Out of my three years at
122LC, she's made it a lot easier for all of us. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, >> Rachel Dorne. >> Hi. Um Rachel Dorne, my daughter Allison is a senior at Davis, so we're trying to rep the the high schools here. She is uh graduating this year. She has a music scholarship um for a four-year school for next year. Um they are her uh percussion ensemble at Davis is a state champion percussion last year. Um and they have solo ensemble next week. Uh they were also guest performers at WMEA conference this year. Uh band and I did check all of this with her. So she's right over there. band has been one of her best Yakama school district experiences, bar none. Um, some kids, she she just told me some kids would drop
123out if they didn't have the opportunity for band, and you've heard from these amazing middle school kids. Um, they have an award-winning marching band, as do the the rivals over there at Ike. Um, this year the band had 200 kids involved. Um so many middle school teachers are techs um for the band that make for for Davis that makes it such a good experience. Um Dr. Lucero knows uh she was on a band trip to New York. These are impressive students. These are leaders. These are these are the leaders of the school. I mean the the like the entire homecoming court was all band kids this year. Um Allison, my kid, is supported by her four years at Franklin. No, she didn't fail. She started in fifth grade. I'm actually surprised. Uh like she did
124uh fifth grade, they would go over an hour early. She did uh and and then of course it was during the pandemic as well, which is an interesting challenge. She did jazz band and percussion, but percussion wasn't a standalone class. Um, at the time, having a standalone percussion class has been a huge thing because, as some of our our middle school students have mentioned, one teacher trying to handle so many different instruments is just a a wild ask for them to do and and they do it. But when they can have that closer one-on-one time, the kids get so much more out of it. um they're they're dealing with the different instruments, but you know, different types of instruments, not even just different instruments, hitting instruments and blowing, you know. Um it's also a safety
125issue. They're talking about 90 students in a class. I mean, we Davis has um you know, basically three different classes that the marching band is divided between, plus some of the the color guard and and stuff. um the teachers and programs that we have at these programs, as you've heard, as you've got to be aware, these are widely recognized programs, incredibly high quality instructors, and we want to keep them. But I I fear that if we can't keep the instructors employed, we risk uh by by not showing them the support for their program and allowing them to do their best by giving them that support, we risk losing these folks. and Yakama school district music programs are so good we can't risk losing these folks. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Angel Winters. Hello. Good
126or good night, I guess. All right. So, I am a former YSD student. I did go to Franklin. I did do orchestra there. I do have a high school student who is at Davis that does band. He was a former LC student. And I do have a elementary student that isn't decided what middle school he will go to yet, but come to find out on social media that there is a problem with future band. I feel like it is music is like a vital role in child development and cutting these programs limits the students who can participate. um music program teaches or middle school teaches them the fundamentals when they get to high school. So if you're cutting jazz, percussion, like anything essentially once they get to high school, there's this big gap, right? So,
127in the YSD Facebook, I saw that it was highlighted how Davis hosted a 24 ensemble for the YMEA and they earned superior ratings and excellence. Um, there's also musicals going on that consist of students who do music, orchestra, and band. So my concern as a parent and having a future child, like a child that's wanting to do band cuz he wants to be like his brother, is how is cutting things before they even develop those like fundamentals? Like if they get to high school and they don't know how to play, how do those high school teachers backtrack and like ratings are going to go down, you know? like are they going to have really bad scores? So, and then also like if classes are getting cut, who what kids are decided that get to go
128into these classes? Like do is it what is it really based on? Because if there's more interest and not enough teachers to support these activities, like who is going to decide that what kids gets to go in and what kid doesn't? So, I hope you guys can consider this and thank you for your time. >> Thank you. >> It looks like Greg Nielsen or Nelson. Uh, good good evening everybody. My name is Louis Nelson. I'm a sophomore at Davis and I attended Franklin Middle School 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. The Franklin band program did exceptionally well in preparing me for high school. It introduced me to a passion for music and jazz that makes me excited to come to school every day when nothing else does. This program provided me with the opportunity to experience
129some of the most impactful moments and find success um and find success through competitions and even everyday rehearsals with Davis Jazz 1. This has given me the conf confidence to stand here today and share my beliefs. All of which I'm confident would not be true without Jazz Band at Franklin. It breaks my heart that students who come after me are being denied some of the opportunities that have been so meaningful to me. You have a picture of the marching band behind you. But if you really want to help the kids, you can do that today by supporting the foundation of these programs. Cutting the programs, whether it be at LC, whether it be intermediate band, percussion, or jazz band, would severely hinder every student, undermining crucial support that each level of student requires and diminish
130the success of these great programs in our valley. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Julysa Gomez. >> Good evening. And I'd like to discuss um what may be the positive effects of keeping these programs in these schools. Exploratory activities, especially band, offer opportunities for students to learn the values of teamwork, individual and group responsibility, endurance, competition, diversity, and a sense of culture. Research examines the relationship between musical participation, and student engagement in school using data from 1992 public school students in the National Education Longitudinal Study explores the availability of these activities vary according to school characteristics. Indicators of of successful participation in school include consistent attendance, academic achievement, and aspirations for continue education beyond high school. These activities provide a channel for reinforcing the lessons learned in the classroom, offering students the opportunity
131to apply academic skills in real world context, thus are considered a part of well-rounded education. If indeed participation in these activities can lead to success in school, then the availability of these activities to students of all backgrounds becomes an important equity issue. As someone who's a who is able to enjoy the opportunity of participating in band all three years of middle school at Franklin, I can attest this was my favorite and most effective form of creative engagement. This improved my academic performance. And as someone who frequently scored above state average test scores in mathematics, English, and science, I can say that most of my academic engagement was tied to being part of band class period I looked forward to the most kept me attending classes punctually and consistently. I just hope that the same individuals
132who shook my hand for outstanding state assessment scores aren't the same ones who read the very tools that help me achieve such results. THANK YOU, Julia Gomez. Okay, Athena Tambbero. Tamario. Hello. Um, I would first like to apologize for the lack of structure for my comment today, but um, I'm not from the YSD. I attended West Valley School District and I'm a former band kid. Um, I did band from sixth grade all the way to high school and I'm still currently in band. I play at YBC Jazz. Um, so I would just like to highlight some of the life skills that being in band teaches you. um things that aren't necessarily um restricted to being in a band or like being in part of rehearsal. Like being in band teaches you to be a good
133listener. Um you're being taught um like is my part this more important than theirs? Should I be louder here? Should I be quieter here? You're being taught to listen to others to see when your voice is important when theirs is more important. And that's a skill that um extends past beyond the band room, beyond the classroom. It teaches it's a life skill. Um, another skill would be um to have finding your own voice is something that I developed being in band all these years is you discover that your voice is important that your part is important that um you gain a sense of independency. you gain a sense of having your own voice um which is important not just in school but for your life beyond advocating for yourself, speaking for yourself and knowing that
134your ideas um and that your voice is important. So, I would just like to rehash the fact that the skills these kids are developing in band um regardless of if they stay in band in high school or not, um they're skills that they carry with them past high school in their adult lives in their other classes. Um these skills help them to be more successful academically, um more socially. Um and these are important skills for these kids to have. Um, so yeah, I would just like to summarize that. And um, and teaches you important skills regardless of if you stay in band your whole life or not. Thank you. We also have Lewis Nelson. Didn't we hear from Lewis already? Okay. Is it a different Lewis? Okay. Maybe signed up twice to make sure he
135got on. Okay, that concludes uh the students and parents regarding music program. Um I first of all I'd like to commend the students uh for coming and presenting tonight. It takes a lot of courage to get up in front of the school board and that's also evidence of the benefits of performing because it makes you more comfortable getting up in front of a group of people and sharing your soul or sharing your skills. So again, I deeply appreciate your comments this evening. We have one final uh commenter uh Steve McKenna. Okay. Okay. Next in our agenda we have two policy governance issues. 100.2.1 treatment of students and their parents and guardians and 1002.2 working environment. Both of these are reports from my computer just died but these are reports and then I believe we'll do
136a survey monkey on the results of that. So >> Mr. Cooper so brevity will be my friend as per usual. Um so this report there was some laughter there. Thanks. Um >> cash is king. Cash is king. Um uh this report is provided to you uh annually. It has been updated with new facts and figures. Um uh it is in compliance just briefly. It goes over security of student data, how we use free and reduced lunch information, immunizations and compliance thereof. Um securing of data overall, um there's a clear articulation um of services and rights to parents embedded within avenues for appeal. And then um we also highlight a language appropriate environment um particularly in our dual language uh offerings um out to the community and within the schools. So um if you have any
137questions I'll be happy to entertain them. >> Any questions from the board? >> Okay. Thank you. >> Do we want to I'll entertain a motion? No, we don't do a motion. All we do is >> waiting for the survey monkey. >> Yeah, we'll do the survey monk in this. That's all. Okay. So, moving on to the next to the next item 102.2. Dr. Green. >> All right. Thank you. Um, it is 1000.2.2, which is working environment of staff. Uh, this normally would be presented by the deputy superintendent, but she's out. So I will go ahead and just share that according to the ratings um the superintendent speaking in the third person here is in compliance across all sections. Things that I would like to highlight is that the interpretation of the policy is that with
138respect to the treatment of paid and volunteer staff. Uh I'm committed to maintaining a work environment that is safe, healthy, dignified, lawful, equitable, and unbiased. And this obligation extends beyond the mere staff satisfaction. its mandate to protect the fundamental rights of all personnel. Compliance is defined by a systemic prevention of reasonably foreseeable physical and social emotional harm and the proactive coercion of any prohibited conditions through established rules and industry standards. Um evidence of compliance is provided in several sections of which you've had access. Um and um just highlighting certain things from aligning all personnel actions with negotiated labor agreements and professional standards to uh having volunteers and employees pass criminal background screening staff completing comprehensive modules on mandatory reporting. Bloodborne pathogens and OP 5253 as well as effective handling of grievances and emergency response plans
139are some of the components of this monitoring report. Um, and I'll leave it with you at this point. >> Okay. Any questions or comments from the board? Okay. Thank you. We'll await those surveys and they'll be due back by >> the 30th. Okay. Thank you. That concludes our agenda for the evening. Is there anything else for the good of the order? Okay. That not said, meeting adjourned.