001Good evening everybody. Welcome to the November 18th meeting of the Yakma School Board. Welcome to Welcome to the meeting. I would like to introduce Teresa. We do offer Spanish interpretation services. Teresa's with Language Connection. If you need translation assistance in person, please check with Teresa for a device. And Teresa, would you please translate that information for us? Yes. Yes. >> Thank you. Thank you for being here. If you wish to make public comment this evening, there will be two available options for you. The first option is for commenting on agenda items only, and the second option, which comes towards the end of the meeting, is for all other topics. In order to speak tonight, you'll need to sign both the sign-in form and the guidelines form. We also provide live streaming for our meetings. The
002link can be found on the web page under the board of directors tab um on our district website. Barb, would you please take the role? >> Director Walker >> here. >> Director Navaro Jr. >> here. >> Director Rice >> here. >> President Beckett >> here. >> Vice President Bonoea is excused. >> I'd like to invite you to please join me in the pledge of allegiance this evening. I pledge allegiance 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. The character word of the month is kind. Showing compassion, friendliness, and consideration towards others. Today, the schools of the Yaka school district rest on the ancestral lands of the 14 Confederated tribes and bands of the Yakama nation.
003The people of the Yakan nation inhabited more than 12 million acres across Adams, Benton, Chalan, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Kittas, Kugat, and 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. respect and a step toward correcting the stories and practices that erase indigenous people's history and culture. It also honors the truth. As a school district, we will continue to build upon our relations with the Yakama Nation. >> Thank you, Barb. This is our first meeting of the board since the untimely passing of Reverend Donald Davis Jr. Um, Reverend Davis served on our board from 2016 through
0042021, and he was a passionate champion for the students of our district and of our community. So I would like to ask you to please join us in a moment of silence in the memory of Reverend Davis. Thank you. We have a a fair number of people to recognize this evening. some of our retirees are here uh to be recognized and for us to show our appreciation and gratitude. Um I was wondering Dr. Green, would you like to introduce the Shutter Boards? Would you like me to explain that? >> I'm uh particularly excited about this particular giveaway because my son is involved in their creation. Um, and we have a fabulous program here at Davis High School in the wood shop program where they're making shakuderie boards and the students have used this as an
005opportunity for a um curriculum where they've purchased the uh raw material and they have created them in shop under very specific guidance of course. Um, and then they are laser engraved on the back with the district logo as a thank you. They also laser engrave the the individual name of the student that that made the particular shakura report. So it's a a fun I think it's a fun u gift of appreciation for our retirees. Um we have a large list. So I think what we'll do first is ask if they're in attendance or not. Um and if so if you are when your name is called please come on up. We invite you to run the gauntlet so we can shake your hand and say thank you in person. Uh, first on the list is
006Julie Callison here tonight. Excellent. Welcome. Julie began her career with the district in 1992 as a bus driver, serving in that role until 2013. She returned to the transportation department in 2020, continuing her service through 2024. During her initial tenure, Julie also worked as a certified trainer, providing guidance and instruction to new drivers. Upon her return, she supported both general education and special needs transportation programs. Altogether, Julie dedicated 26 years to the district, exemplifying professionalism, dependability, and a steadfast commitment to student safety and success. She worked for the Yakma School District from February 19th of 2020 to June 18th of 2024. Thank you and congratulations, Julie. Is Shirley Carr here this evening? Shirley was a district employee from October 24th of 2011 through June 18th of 2024. Please join me in thanking Shirley for her
007service to our district. Alan Davis Jr. Alan is are you here this evening? Excellent. Excellent. Excellent. Welcome. Allan dedicated 31 years of service to Franklin Middle School. Go Quakers. He began his career at Franklin in as a science teacher, later transitioned to teaching computer applications, and eventually became a PE and health teacher. Throughout his career, Allan remained committed to supporting students and helping them grow. Congratulations. >> Allan worked for the Yakima School District from September 7th of 1983 to August 31st of 2025. Again, congratulations and thank you, Alan. Next is Cheryl Sherry Fletcher. Cheryl, Sherry, are you here today? Sherry served this the Yakimo School District from January 13, 1995 through August 31st of 2025. How about a round of applause for Sher Fletcher? James Fletcher. Yes, sir. James joined the district in 2001 as
008a bus driver and faithfully served through through 2024. For 22 years, he drove route number two, providing safe and reliable transportation for students attending Eisenhower, Wilson, and Gilbert schools. Throughout his career, James demonstrated exceptional dedication and professionalism, earning the respect of colleagues, families, students, and students alike. He worked for the Akimal School District from 8:30 2001 to 8:31 2024. Another round of applause for Next is Bonita Garca. Bita here. Yes, she is. Bonita was hired and in 1991 as a secretary at Davis High School. During her time at Davis, she served several roles. migrant secretary to Jim Riggney, assistant register alongside colleague Jean Chandler, assistant sec attendant secretary and finally the ASB secretary. Venita dedicated 34 wonderful years to the Davis family and community. She worked for the Yakimo school district from 82 1991 through
009831 2025. Another round of applause for Bonita. >> [clears throat] >> Dorothy Gillespie. All right. >> Looks like we're losing all our bus drivers today. >> [laughter] >> Dorothy began her career with the school district in 2002. For many years, she drove Route 12, providing safe and dependable transportation for students attending Eisenhower, Martin Luther King Jr., and Adams schools. Known for her kindness and dedication, Dorothy built strong connections with her students and will be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of riding her bus. I think it's >> Lynn Green. I know Lynn is here. Lynn joined Davis High School in August and retired in July 2025 after 42 years. Fondly known as the teen mom. Thank you, Lyn. Beyond her dedication to Davis, she also shared her passion for literature and writing as
010an adjunct professor at YVCC, where she taught English 101 and 102 for 20 years. Lynn's commitment to both high school and college students reflects a lifelong devotion to education and mentorship. She worked for the Yakma School District from August 25 to 1000 1983, pardon me to August 31, 2025. Lynn Green. I would just like to add also with that I was at Davis the years that most of the years that uh Ponita and Lynn were there and it was an extreme pleasure to work with both of them and students that I worked with had nothing but kind words to say about both of them. So it's a real loss for our district. Next up we have James Hartorn. James began his career with the district in 2002. During his tenure, he served as both a
011general education and special needs bus driver, most recently providing transportation for students at Davis and Gilbert. In addition to his driving duties, James served as a shop steward representing his fellow drivers as part of Teamsters Local 760. His dedication, leadership, and commitment to supporting both students and colleagues have been greatly appreciated by the department and the district. He worked for the Yakima School District from October 4th, 2002 through August 31st, 2025. is an Casarenius here this evening and worked for the Yakima School District from June 25th, 1999 through August 31st, 2024. Is James Krueger here this evening? James worked for the Yakama School District from January 3rd, 2017 through August 31st, 2025. Julie Lancaster. Julie worked for the Yakama School District from October 24th, 2023 through May 28th, 2025, [clears throat] >> even though they're
012not here. Let's have a round of applause. >> Yes. >> Next on the list, Christine Lewis. Is Christine present this evening? Christine worked with us from October 1st of 2012 through August 31st of 2025. Let's hear it for Christine. Tammy MacArthur. Don't see Tammy. Tammy worked for us from October 21st of 2019 through August 31st of 2025. Thank you very much to Tammy. >> Awesome. Is Arnold Becky here? Arnold is here. Welcome. Welcome. >> Arie was hired in 1990 and spent his first 10 years teaching at Garfield Elementary. He then transitioned to the middle school level where he dedicated the next 20 years at Lewis and Clark Middle School. >> Congratulations. before moving to Wilson Middle School where he concluded his career teaching physical education. Arie devoted a total of 33 and a half years
013to the students and families of the Yakima School District. You can still find him at school sporting events cheering on students and continuing to build lasting connections. He worked for the district from September 12th, 1991 through June 30th of 2024. Congratulations, Ari. And we just had a lab. Arie was a student in the district when I one time when I worked in the district. Director Navaro, I think it's to you. Rodney Marsh. Uh she worked from for the Yakimal School District from September 1st, 1985 through June 30th to 2007 and again from August 30th, 2017 through June 18, 2024. How about a round of applause? Randy >> Donald Mason. He worked for the Akmal School District from September 33rd, excuse me, 1991 to August 31st, 2025. How about a round of applause for Donald? And
014the next person I seen firsthand her her work and I really appreciate all the work that she's done personally and she's going to be a big loss as well for our school district and that is Lois Manard. Lois began her Yakamo school district career in 1985 at Barge Lincoln Elementary where she launched the school's first piano lab. Alongside teaching, she served nine years as an adjunct faculty member at YBC Heritage and Central Washington University and completed advanced training at Harvard University and in Spanish immersion. a Crystal Apple award recipient. Lois later served as interim principal at McKenley, assistant principal at Mccure and became the first principal of Yakma online and 2010, overseeing multiple district programs in its early years. In 2012 through 13, she worked at Yakama Open Doors when it opened, which continues to
015help students complete their education. and she concluded her career as an assistant principal at Staten Academy supporting the merger of Open Doors and Yako Online. She worked for the Yakimo School District from August 29, 1985 to June 30th, 2024. Lois Manard, Karen Michael Karen worked for the Akimal School District from April 8th, 2019 through September 1st, 2025. Big applause for Karen Michaels. Tara Reesei. Tara worked for the Akam School District from August 2023 through June 2025 as a special education preschool teacher at Discovery Early Learning Lab. Tara Reesi Sorry. >> Okay. Those who can read should Mary San Juan. Is Mary here? Mary began her career at the Old Eisenhower in November 2014. She worked for the Yakma School District from November 1st, 2011 to June 18, 2024. Mary San Juan Calie Scott. Cali worked
016for the Yakama School District from August 26, 2015 to June 30, 2025. She served as an educator and um supported quite a number of students within the district. Cali Scott is Nancy Smith here this evening. Nancy worked for the Yakima School District from August 31st, 2016 through June 30th, 2024. Michael Weir Michael uh retired on August 29th, 2025. who worked for the Yakama School District from March 13, 2003 through August of 2025. And last but not least, Paula Zetler. I don't believe she's here this evening either. Paula worked for the Yakima School District as a cook from December 1st, 1999 through June 12th, 2025. >> Mr. Miran, did you give everyone the appropriate care and cleaning instructions for the shakureri boards as it went through? I thought I thought I noticed you doing that. Thank
017you very much. Don't put those in the dishwasher, my friends. Um, >> Ryan. >> Yes, ma'am. >> I just want to um alert the the folks who are here and the viewing public on the number of years of service that we have announced tonight. 58 years of service with this batch of retirees. That's that's a lot of service to the students and community of the Yakima Valley. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you, Director Rice. Again, uh we thank you. We congratulate you, but mostly we thank you for your service to the district. And um we know that you would love to hang out and uh attend the entire board meeting tonight. You're certainly welcome to do so, but we also understand if people have things that they need to do, uh we certainly understand that. Um,
018I'm having a question about a photo. Is that >> Oh, we'll take a we'll take a brief recess. So, if you'd like to do a family photo or a spouse photo, whatnot, in front of the backdrop, you're certainly welcome to do so. Okay, welcome back everyone. Thank you so much for indulging us. Our first report to the board tonight is regarding a global end statement goal number five from policy 1000.1.0 and I believe Terresa Davidson will be presenting this evening. Welcome. >> Good evening members of the school board, Dr. Green and cabinet. My name is Terry Davidson and I'm the newest member of the teaching and learning team. Tonight I have the pleasure of speaking with you about goal five, persistence through graduation and beyond. You have the slide deck in your packet for your
019reference and we will only be speaking about five slides during the presentation, but if you have questions about any of the others, I can answer those. This goal is measured using graduation rates both on time and adjustments for fifth, sixth, and seventh year cohorts. As you can see from the slide deck, we are making progress. We have sustained on-time graduation rates of 80% or better from 2022 and on. And our fifth, sixth, and seventh year cohorts are improving. Starting on the left, if you follow the color, you will see the improvements in the cohort graduation rate. On this slide, it is really important to pay attention to the N number and it is to the left of the ethnicity uh groups. In looking at our rates by subgroup, we are improving and there are groups
020that are experiencing less success than others. In this slide, you can see that while n while 50% of Native American students are graduating on time, there is a gap in outcomes compared to other groups. And again, particularly in this slide, it really is important to pay attention to the end because one student with a small N can move um the rate significantly. To summarize, we have some highlights. Improved graduation rates from 7 74.2% to 83.4%. We have sustained 80% and above since 2022. And Stanton had significant growth in on-time graduation. And we also have some opportunities. There are three subgroups that historically show a gap in performance. Two of those we already are addressing in significant ways. Um, and those are multilingual students and students with disabilities. And as I already mentioned, we also have
021a gap with respect to Native American students. Lastly, an opportunity is to explore our master schedules and look for ways that we can intervene before on-time graduation as well as continuing in our fifth, sixth, and seventh year cohorts. There was a lot of data in those slides. I thank you for listening and if you have questions, I'm here to answer them. >> Thank you, Teresa. Um this is this is a lot of information as you indicated. I appreciate um the level of detail. I do have a couple of questions. Um you list under opportunities the um the need for looking at different schedules to help students improve their graduation. um can you um kind of detail those for us if you have that in your head? >> I can elaborate on the concept which is
022that within the master schedule we need to create opportunities for students to retrieve credits if they've failed. Currently right now u with 24 credit requirement they can't fail any class without doing summer um or after school or something outside of the school day. So it would be looking at opportunities within the school day by adjusting that master schedule to give us more opportunities to intervene. Have you um had any discussions about um spreading out the the number of days throughout the year >> so that so that we just spread out 180 days over a larger portion of the year to allow for those breaks for kids that need extra help. I have had experience looking at that in the past, but I have not been involved in that through Yakama schools. >> So that's not
023been a part of your discussion for looking at the schedules. >> It hasn't been part of mine currently. No. >> No, but I'm sure the high school principles can respond to that. Did uh Dr. Crane, did you want to respond? >> I I could res respond to that. You you may recall in the past we've had um I believe five years ago, six years ago um a calendar committee that would convene regularly to put together the calendar for the next year and consistently uh a consensus had never been reached on the adjustment of the calendar. Uh as a result um it was negotiated a start date and an end date. Um, so the earliest that we can start school now according to contractually with the CBA is August 15th and uh then we have an
024end date that escapes me right now. So if we're talking about extending June >> sometime in in June uh preferably uh before Junth but right right around that date uh and u and that's the reason it's not discussed is because it's contractually prohibited with our our CBA. Uh I would also like to just elaborate a moment on the 20 core 24. So what makes Yakama unique? One of the one of the unique uh challenges that we have is that we're one of I think we might be the only district in the entire area that has uh only 24 credits. If you attend the regular school day, six periods a day for four years. Um each class is one credit. that equates to 24 credits which Terry mentioned in core 24. Um we never adjusted as
025a district. Many have by offering as much as up to uh 32 credits. For example, I know that there's a school in the lower valley that offers 32 credits. What that means, if you have a a a challenge in a class, uh you have a death in the family and have some health issues and a class has failed, then you have some retrieval opportunities that are that are embedded in the actual school day, which does not happen here. So in Yakama when you uh when a student uh uhh fails a course then you're looking at recovery beyond the school day which becomes even more challenging if you have um uh maybe an equity of access issue of transportation or child care what else it may be that you're required as a as a student to
026uh handle. So, um, one of the things that we can look at, and I think that's what she was referring to, Terry, is that opportunity to explore the tri tr trimester concept or have more credits, uh, which would be the way to address that. And I think Dr. Larson has some comments >> outside of like schedules. We are working on expanding the opportunities for dual credits for a single class. So, that is something that has increased this year. And uh we have people working on how can we expand that even further. So if I'm taking a CTE class, I can get a CTE credit plus it may be also eligible for a math credit or it may be eligible for language arts credit. So um earning more than one credit for the variety of content
027that we cover with some of our coursework um is an opportunity that we're working on expanding as well. >> And we work with students to make them aware of that option. Um I can't speak to how the counseling part of it works yet, but in terms of creating the access and opportunity, um we definitely have a number of our secondary leaders um Lonnie Smith um um people in the high schools working together to make sure that um those opportunities are available and then how that all rolls out. I'm too new yet to know how that actually functions in the schools. You can only use that excuse for just so long. You realize that, don't you? >> I do. I do. I'm trying to get around to all of the schools and get to know what
028what are all the ins and outs. But um but I would I would I would defer to my counselor expert to my right as to whether that's something um counselors um would make sure that they're working towards making sure that students have the knowledge and if they get enrolled in the classes, they definitely are eligible to earn both credits once they're enrolled. >> Sure. Thank you. >> And then Dr. Loero has an >> I just wanted to share that we do have credit retrieval within the school day and so students can earn 26 credits in four years because of advisory and Stanton does currently run a trimester schedule. >> Okay, thank you for that. I did notice that on the graphs that um that we have in the in the PowerPoint that are on our
029web web page um that students we've seen a steady increase in the um level of achievement for students with disabilities and multilingual learners and that congratulations to staff on that. That's um you don't often see that steady increase. It's >> it's more of a >> you know up and down kind of things. So, >> right, >> congratulations on those on those two accomplishments as well. >> Thank you. I was I was also noticing that that on those cohorts we know there's a gap. We are seeing progress and that was encouraging to see that. The other thing is also just kind of an observation. I don't know how many years ago it was, but for a long time we were on a trimester system in all of our high schools. And it's be interesting to look
030back and see how the decision was made. There there are strengths in both systems and there are issues in both systems, but um it's interesting to see now we're back thinking, well, maybe we want trimesters again. So, it'll just be interesting to observe and see where staff and students want to go with that. >> Yep, it will be. I I do have a question in regards to that the the end statement and the last part of that. So I do understand the data for graduation. I'm just wondering if you could elaborate on being prepared for college career and postsecary experiences. >> Yes, actually I can get you some information on that. And uh when we were preparing this, we looked into it and I can tell you that there is a decrease, a significant one,
031and the number of students that uh require remedial course work that are entering a two-year institution and a slight decrease for the four-year institution as well. So, we are making progress on closing that gap. >> Any other questions? >> Well, then Teresa, thank you very much. appreciate the report. Appreciate your time. >> This will take us to reports from members of the board. Does any board member have a report they'd like to bring to us this evening? >> just that um couple of us are leaving tomorrow for WAZDA's annual conference over in Seattle. We'll be there. The conference runs through Saturday. So, [clears throat] um I know Norm and I will be in uh pre-conference on Thursday, a dayong thing. Um and then there are uh numerous opportunities for school directors to take advantage of
032um different workshops and and new things to learn. And I'm sorry that our our newest board member isn't going to be able to attend. So, um we'll need to check with WASDA to see if they're going to do any uh regional new board member workshops because I know they did that. They've done that for the last couple of years and it would be I think very very helpful for her to um participate in at least one of those. Thank you, Director Rice. Anyone else? >> I I do have something real quick. Sure. Recently, I think it was last month, we received some letters from some students. And so, personally, I'd like to request see if the board would approve me meeting with those students, maybe in a small group, just to, you know, hear from
033them directly and respectfully their their concerns and then just to thank them for the courage, right, that they they had to write these letters. And I think with our focus and on student voice, I think for me that would be a good thing to do just to go and listen and superintendent or anybody pres the the uh principal could be there or whatever, but I just would like to just hear directly from them and hear their voice. So that's just me. Um rather than just send them letters and and so I just rather do that. So if the board's okay with that, I like to and proceed with that. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. >> Thank you. >> That'll take us to our superintendence update. Dr. Green. >> Yes. Thank you. Um we now have a monthly
034report on public records requests. So I will pass this to Bob for the first update. >> Thank you. The board's probably getting used to these reports now. Uh we have a graph that shows how much we've had year-to date in processing and also uh another graph that shows processing times and where those different uh requests for records fall within the processing timelines. If you have any questions, I will answer those. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you, Bob. Um we also uh have a quick update here on goal team number four or goal four uh the strategic plan refresh. So it's a progress update by Dr. Lucero and Ashley Mandrel. You may remember that we're doing the refresh of the strategic plan. Uh we know that each group is going to be presenting to the board
035at a different moment in time. Uh and I believe uh there's been a couple of meetings now. So they're about halfway through the process. Please. >> Good evening. Um, Maria Lucero, >> Ashley Mandrel. >> So, we have held two meetings this year. We have our third one this Thursday. And do want to thank Ashley Mandrel and Noam Mas who couldn't be here this evening. Both of them serve as multilingual instructional specialists. So, here you see the makeup of our team. Um the leads uh the names I just mentioned to you participants makeup include our uh school leaders, families um we have staff members who also serve as parents of students in our district and um community members. We also have uh students who have participated in this work. We've had a student from Davis, two
036from Eisenhower, and we had a small group from um fourth grade at Martin Luther King. So, we conducted um student voice circles to get their input. Our current goal really is centered on providing access to a two-way dual language program on um participation in world language courses and on attaining the seal of biiteracy. The strengths that we have identified in this goal is um a celebration to start out with is that we had aimed at having 75 at least 75% of our prek5 schools having access providing access to a two-way dual language program and we're actually at 85% or 12 out of 14 who have that have access to a two-way dual language program. And then I think just the goal itself centered on dual language. It really honors and sustains students identity and cultural
037heritage supports self-esteem, promotes bilingualism, biiteracy and high academic achievement in both languages and builds socioultural competence. And it also offers additional pathways to biiteracy. um currently again through world language courses and through the opportunity to earn the seal of bi literacy. Some weaknesses is that our current metrics um are not directly aligned with our three dual language goals that I just mentioned previously. Um and the current goal does not call out the specific world language course offerings that reflect our students level of Spanish proficiency. And what you see depicted there in the image are the three goals of dual language. So the plan thus far in September, you can see that we finalized our mission and our vision. We delved into some research. Uh what was not solidly in place um in 2019 when the
038the strategic plan was crafted were professional learning communities. So we took some time to really um understand the connection between goal four and professional learning communities and had the opportunity to dig into some data. Um in October we had some small group work and identified priorities for the revision of goal 4. Um this Thursday we're going to um engage participants in crafting the first um iteration of the metrics. In January, we will continue to review and refine and then finalize in February. Questions? >> Uh, thank you for that report. I do have one question and I know we put the dual language expansion on pause because of of financial and budget considerations. Um, is that going and maybe that's a question for Dr. Green or Mr. Cooper. Is that going to remain on pause or
039are we looking at some point reinstate or continuing to expand that program so it's available in all of our elementary schools and what's the feasibility of that given our >> potential future budgets? >> So we are moving forward um and so the last two schools um will have the opportunity to participate in what's called Lassmbra retreat where they will um begin the planning of of implementation We did add two this year. Okay, thank you. >> Yes, two additional schools this year. >> Is that all the elementaryaries then? Are they all with the addition of these two? Will they all have dual language programs? >> So, we'll have two more. Roosevelt and Niel are the two remaining. >> Okay. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. And other items for the board in the superintendent update is uh
040the 2025 AWSL culture kickoff award that I mentioned previously that Davis uh was Davis High School was selected as uh one of the inaugural winners. Uh we have been notified that Adams Elementary is also one of the recognized recipients. Uh and I did find out more about the criteria. These schools were recognized for launching the year with engaging assemblies, themes, and fall kickoff events, intentionally setting the tone for belonging, community, and success, and then sustaining a positive culture throughout the year by fostering collaboration between students and adults. So again, recognizing Adams Elementary and Davis High School for that culture kickoff award through AWSL. Uh on the note of awards, um the our school board here uh has received yet another board of distinction award from WASDA. Uh so congratulations on earning uh recognition reflecting the
041discipline work that you bring to governing uh the district and focusing on equity uh legislative advoc advocacy and aligning resources to student needs and it really sets the Akimo school district apart from uh other districts in the state. So, we're proud to have been a recipient of that board of distinction, which that honor will happen this week at the WADA conference. And then lastly, um we are proud to announce to you and to the public that uh we were awarded a $200,000 preliminary funding um opportunity through the Balmer Summer Discovery Program. So, uh, this is a, uh, privately funded initiative on summer discovery, and it is something that we'll work on with our local ESD, and it allows us to design and launch a comprehensive, highquality, nocost summer learning program for students starting in the
042summer of 2026. We're pleased to announce that. And that concludes my update for today. >> Is that 200,000 for the grant? Is that only for the Yakma school district or is it for the Yakimma Valley? >> It's only for the Yakima school district. Yes. >> Wonderful. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Green. Next item under our update section is our uh highlights for community engagement. The list of upcoming schoolboard meetings is mentioned as well as a one sheet on multiple community school and varsity sporting events. That list is constantly being updated for us and it is available for everyone under board docs. Encourage you to check that out. Any questions on the calendar from board members? Then in that case, we have two reports then from Mr. Cooper to begin with. We have the 2425
043fiscal year end report. So Jake, please take it away. >> Thank you, President Beckett, members of the board. Excuse me. So you're fortunate enough to have me for four presentations this evening. So, buckle up. >> Our our agenda planning will reflect a different approach in the future. >> May want to question those who planned the agenda. >> So, um I'm going to bring you some some good news this evening. Um what you'll see before you is uh a much improved financial situation from prior year at this point in time. Uh that was only uh accomplished through hard work and sacrifice by the entire organization. So um it does not go unnoticed by the CFO when the system responds to financial uh constraints and reductions and the financial situation improves. So I just want to thank
044everybody uh from the board all the way to the bus driver. Uh it takes a whole organization to reshape its finances. So being that said um last year the beginning fund balance as of September 1st 2024 was 13.6 6 million. You can see in the bottom an ending fund balance of 25.774 million. A reminder before we get too excited that um $4.5 million of that is the tax anticipation note that will be repaid in December. So when you peel those numbers back um the fund balance is up uh naturally I will say without the tax anticipation note about 7.6 million. So, we're getting very close to a stable financial position as we've continued to tighten. Um, the fund balance grew by approximately 56% year-over-year, which was the goal. So, that puts us on much more
045solid footing uh in the general fund as we go forward. Of course, every year is different and we will work with our legislative colleagues as they produce new budgets um and as a revenue forecast continues to drop. But again year by year um we are not going to go into binding conditions and the organization has stabilized financially. Um I am still projecting declaring enrollment for fiscal year 2627 but we will cross that bridge as when we get there. So total fund balance of 257 uh less about 4 and a.5 million for the tax anticipation note um for a total fund balance percentage of 7.6% 6% when you take out the tax anticipation note. So much improved. Um one other high level note on this slide is um the debt service fund balance. You'll see that
046fund balance is very large. That is because uh the district did a refinance and has a what's called a syncing fund and we're going to pay a large amount of debt off uh this fiscal year as well. So that's why there's 19 million in change in the debt service fund. um did a looks at your funds across the year. ASB added a small amount. So, plus just under $9,200 and then TVF, the transportation vehicle fund. Um we have a large chunk of pending bus purchases uh for the ne for this coming fiscal year. So, that's why that fund balance is a a little bit higher than anticipated at 3.3 million. And then capital projects funds. We expended all of our district funds and the remainder are skill center the capital projects fund. Um sorry I
047will not belabor you with the small print. This is a pie chart here to your comparison. As you can see there is not much change. Apologize for the small print. we we still stay around 10 or 11% of local levy funding and then the bulk of our revenue coming from the state um budget to actual um budget budgetary comparisons. So the blue bar is the 2425 actual and the bud the black bar um for comparison purposes is the budget. As you can see, the teal or blue bar was below in most months and slightly above which uh in a few months. So you can see August, a little bit over budget the same but July, but for the most part we ran small surpluses monthto month which allowed us to add to our fund balance
048enrollment. This is uh full enrollment full K12. The large dark bar is our oldest year. to the highest level of enrollment and you can see um as we continue to drop over time um again I have projected enrollment downward next fiscal year and then as you can see you'll get a the monthly report for September and October which will give you a more current picture of our enrollment trend um difficulty with stagnant or declined enrollment is that your finances excuse me [clears throat] your finance financial picture begins either in the basement or slightly at subgrade. Um meaning so if you have if you have a growing enrollment, you have fresh revenue and fresh opportunities, but when you're declining enrollment and your costs are increasing, uh your your finances suffer, which we saw over the last
049few fiscal years. Uh this is my favorite graph if it's correct for the year. So I often tell you that cash is king. That is still a true statement. Um the blue are is the actual for year-over-year and the green is what I have rejected at the beginning of the year when we set the budget. Um we I often talk with you about the trough. That's the months between tax collections. As you can see that stabilized um right about $8 million for the lowest and then we ended the fiscal year uh above projection uh with total cash of 26. Now, cash is different than fund balance, which we we talked about a little bit, but again, um what you want to see from year-over-year is stable cash monthtomonth. And then, um you should be able
050to account for that trough. The trough is always the most important part. I'm the board. I'm looking at the trough and then the two ends of each beginning and end of each fiscal year. Now, um for transparency, I've always provided this information. So, this is how your fund balance actually breaks down. So, of that $25.7 million that we discussed earlier, I wanted to let you know what's in there. It's not all free and unencumbered cash by any means. So, we have carryover. Those are carryover from our federal programs predominantly title one of a million7. We have skill center reserves. You hear me talk about that all the time. So 1.3% of your fund balance of your 9% total on that page comes from the reserve for skill center. So just under 3.6 million. Uh we
051have self insurance for LNI. So there's a million dollar reserve in there for that. Non-spendable prepaid. I know that sounds very uh exciting, but that is basically inventory on hand that's has a value but no cash basis to it. And then you'll see what I uh want to highlight on here for you is the reserve for debt service. So we are going to pay repay the tax anticipation note off in December. So four just four and a half million of that is the uh tax anticipation note payment. And then there's another six or 700,000 for our annual non-voted debt that is just to be about shortly paid off. So then the breakdown, your unreserved fund balance is at 4.91% on here and your total fund balance is at 9.2 remembering that we have $4.5 million
052that's going to be expelled for the tax anticipation note. Uh our strengths of course um the the system now the district now has systems in place to be able to actively project and track expenditures in a way that we can control and plan for. So we've have very tight enrollment projections and staffing as a result and then systems in place along the entire uh district to control spending in all forms and aspects. So uh that is one of our strengths for sure. Um we talk about our our diversity which is also one of our strengths. We have had dedicated staff and leadership particularly through challenging times all the way from as I said the bus bar to the boardroom. Um there's been leadership by all parties. And then one note another strength is as superend
053just touched upon we've been expanding our partnerships. So when you are looking for money um grant opportunities often arise and along with that and our speculation we've been doing some good work there. On the weaknesses side we continue to decline in enrollment. Um we do have high fixed cost. We we'll deal with potentially some of that later on. Our aging facilities we do have to continue to put significant amount of money in those annually to keep them up to par. Um and then our opportunities. We talked about grant funding. We continue to grow CTE. Um we also grow AL which is a mixed bag. So a some of our our brickandmortar enrollment continues to decline but our AL or alternative learning uh grows. So um which is enrollment in a different area of the organization
054and does help us with our overall revenue picture. So there are some positives there. One of those is the parent partnership which we've discussed a few times. And then of course the threats. We still have enrollment fluctuations. We've had funding threats from the federal level um and had to do a bit of a fire drill if that was going to happen. So, that's still on my mind. And then, of course, um even though the legislature is a short session, I've seen them do plenty of damage in 60 days. Um and so, that will always be of my concern. Um and we'll see given that we already have a multi-billion dollar deficit. what's happen what happens to the legislature questions about fiscal year end and then um Susan Fateman um my sidekick wanted to make sure
055I put fiscal year end in what that actually means is the completion of any 12-month accounting period just in case you're curious about FYE means for fiscal year end questions before I head into the next presentation all right that probably wasn't a long enough pause for educators But we'll have to go with uh so as you know and I've reminded you um when we close the books um beginning at the end of August we just finished closing the books at the end of October. So it takes a couple month period to get the books closed and what we do then is we provide you a two-month report and then you will get these reports now monthly thereafter. So cash balance is currently above projection kind of a drag forward from the fiscal year end. And
056then I will uh like to point out on the graph when we get to enrollment it shows uh projection about 300 300 below projection. However, that is only for this month as we're going to have restated enrollment in open door CTE and alternative learning program. So we should be net net about 100 below projection which with decline enrollment makes me feel pretty good. It's very hard to project. Um particularly since we've had other factors pushing our demographics down. >> Jake, can you explain that again? You lost me about halfway through. >> That happens sometimes when I talk. Not you, me. >> No, I think I'm thinking maybe my brain took a nap or something. >> So when we there's an enrollment graph that shows the budget to actual about 300 difference. However, uh we we
057misstated the district misstated its open doors enrollment um not realizing that we could count for the time that we had pl um met with students prior to the start of school. So the first enrollment cut was 66 and change. That should go to over 100. We have 80 additional CTE FTE coming in um due to the shrewd scheduling of executive director Smith where we've added an advisory period to running start students which um doesn't get counted until the October period and then we're having to restate that and then we've had continued growth that's being recorded um and will be reflected in your new averages in AL and home partnership. So those net net should drive up the gross enrollment by about 200 and change. >> So we're seeing um we are seeing growth in the
058parent partnership program. >> We are indeed parent partnership and then as I said alternative learning continues to grow. Our open doors was [clears throat] us realizing that we could take credit for those student interactions prior to open doors has a unique set of rules. So, um, we figured that out rather quickly when the FTE was under reportported. And so, uh, principal of Stan helped us work through that issue. And then CT, as I said, Bonnie Smith is a wizard at expanding her FTE and providing opportunities for kids and she continues to grow her CTEFT, which has been a blessing for us uh, financially. So, >> thank you. >> You bet. Um there's the enrollment trend uh on a five-year look. So you can see the dark bar in this case September and October. You can
059see we are down from 15089 last October to 14757. So continue to decline and then we were up in October. That's partly accounting for some of our changes and we will should be up again in November and December. Then as you can see from our historical patterns, we often Wayne or lose enrollment as the year goes on, particularly after the new year. Um there's the graph I pointed to you that will be restated once we get updated enrollment. So we should be within 100 students. Um which makes me feel a lot better. You can see is what we talked about director Rice that open doors number will be closer to 120 and the AL number is actually in uh the mid700s. So those will continue to enhance. There's not much on this graph yet. Um
060first month um the spending of course as you roll into the fall can be pretty volatile and then that blue line is going to drop precipitously down to that 8 million mark or so uh in November and December as we uh follow up our tax collections and then also head hit the trough. So I want you to look at the trough again as the board remember that trough is $8 million which is a much better place to be when it comes to cash flow than down in that three or4 million mark which you know there's some months where we have accounts payable that we'll we'll pop for an extra three or$4 million just depending upon the expenditures. So cash flow is positive and of as the years go there as the months go on we'll
061watch cash very closely. Um revenue budget to actual. So you can see in this graph the budgeted revenue is less than actuals which is fine in this case the way our spending pattern goes because our expenditures are also less than budget. Now, I would be worried if it was one side or the other, less worried if it was revenue greater than budget, but in this case, um, we're still to the good about 2 million net over the two-month period. Um, and then those will even out as the fiscal year goes on. Um, Mox, material supplies, and operating costs, the more volatile of the bunch. Um, more difficult to trend. You can see August of 2324 we had a curriculum adoption in ESSER funds and that's why that yellow bar is way up there. We won't
062likely see a yellow bar that high ever again in my career um in the general fund at least in a single month. Um and then you can see the patterns uh fall out nicely verse budget versus actual the teal versus the dark bar. And then I think that is it for my first two presentations. questions, comments, and queries. Anyone board? >> Hearing none. >> Thank you, Jake. Appreciate that very much. This brings us to our first opportunity for public comment. This is the section for public comment on agenda items. We do have a time limit for each speaker. Thank you. Thank you. And um so we do have a timer for each speaker so that everyone is able to to speak who has signed up. So if you do hear the timer go off, please
063don't be offended if I interrupt you. It is uh purely so we can keep environment so that everyone is able to speak tonight. So our first speaker is Ruby Aguilar from Heritage. Welcome Ruby. Hi. Um, my name is Rubia Gilad and I am the chair of the social work department at Heritage University. But I come to you today not as an just as an educator but also as a parent and as a Hoover alum, Hoover Elementary alum. Um, I attended Hoover, my siblings, my siblings attended Hoover and my son attended Hoover and my my daughter's in third grade there. Um, one thing I could say is that when I attended Hoover, I was a monolingual Spanish- speaking student who was struggling to learn English and I found and built a community there at Hoover. One
064thing about Hoover, I was looking over the pictures over the weekend. I got student of the month many times now [laughter] and the picture of the wall is the same. Hoover has not changed. It is the same exact building. And that just brings some concern to me because one, it's really outdated. Um, safety is a concern with the classrooms being spread out across campus. The portables are decades decades decades old. um ADA accessibility if you're want to you know be equitable and be inclusive to all students the playground definitely needs a update with um accommodations along with other accommodations. Another thing is a few years ago Uber held um a music event for the children and there were so many parents in the hall they could not see their children sing because we do not
065fit and that was only two grades. if they were to allow all the students and parents to attend, we would be breaking fire code. There's over 600 students, they do not fit the fit there. They're bursting out of the seams. Um, and Hoover does an amazing job of building community events, engaging families, and it is so we don't fit. We don't fit. So, I'm urging you to please consider passing a bond to have Hoover building new school. Um, that is much needed in our community. Thank you. >> Do I have to stay for questions or no? [laughter] >> It's my first time. Yeah. >> Thank you, Ruby. Thank you very much. >> Barb, there are two sheets. Is this all for the first section of public comment? Several of these look like they are, but
066I just want to make sure. Okay, so that'll be at the end. Okay, so then our next speaker this evening will be uh Phil English. Welcome, Phil. >> Three minutes. My god, you must know what I was telling. the clock is six. >> Uh so um I'm here to urge you to support resolution for a bond issue in in April and uh I'm here specifically to talk a little bit about Zeil Stadium to be included in the bond issue. Uh some of you well you might have heard some of this before Martha you and I go back on this thing with the with the stadium. So the installation was in 2014. Uh turf went in, track went in. The typical lifespan of a of a track and turf is eight years. So we have exceeded
067that amount of time. Uh we're we've had we've hosted the the small school state meet for the last three years and we're in the middle of this four-year cycle. Uh so the uh the economic impact what's what makes ZEL stadium a little bit unusual in terms of bonds is that I call these circular dollars because there's a 3.5 million impact to the community. Now you don't get that money back directly to the school district but it does come to the community that the school district serves. That's a lot of money. So, uh, and where are we with this thing right now? Well, the long jump, triple jump runway, we had to patch it last year going into the state meet. That's not a good situation. Uh, because you have delamination taking place. That means the
068track separates from the under under uh under layer. Um, so, you know, we're on we're on its last legs in terms of we obviously want to keep the state meat here. It's a great stadium, but there's other aspects to that that stadium while it's, you know, the the track and the field, the way it's set up are excellent, but the infrastructure around it, you know, the press box and the paving around it is, you know, needs needs update. Um, so there's there's very little about that stadium that that I don't know, but it is a great structure when we put it in. What makes it unusual is that if you walk on that track today, you won't see a a a slit on it or a split because the base of that is 3 and
06912 in. Most tracks have 2 in base. So when I say resurfaced, the the same surface stays in there. It's just resurfaced. We add some layer to it. The field comes out all right because that that that just needs to be replaced. Uh the long jump, triple jump area. What makes that really unusual is that it's a concrete base underneath. So the base itself uh is is in great shape and you're to be thanked for uh you know for supporting that the initial bond you know that had both stadium or the stadium and and the schools in it. I see you've got three seconds left. Anybody got any questions? >> Any questions on that? But I urge you to uh to support that resolution to run a bond in April. I think it's beneficial to
070the to the Yak Yakima community. Thanks very much. Good to see everybody. >> Thank you, Mr. English. >> Next on the list is Steve McKenna. >> Okay, thank you, Steve. I'll make a note of that. The next speaker then would be Tabitha Wilks. Welcome. >> I brought a paper because I can get pretty uh windy. So, um, hi, my name is Tamtha Wilks and I am mom to three current Yakama district students uh, including past, present, and future Garfield grades. Our family bought a home within the Garfield Elementary School at boundaries um nearly 20 years ago and we've chosen to stay there in no small part because of the faculty and the support our kids receive at that school. Um we love our school. Garfield Elementary was built in the 60s making the building quite
071a bit older than the national average of 49 years. And in fact, my 50-year-old husband, who is father to my Garfield students, attended elementary school in that same building. He likes to joke about still being called to the principal's office 45 years later. So, jokes aside, the current building lacks safety, space, infrastructure, and other amenities to fully support and accommodate our modern students, especially students with autism, disabilities, trauma, and other disparities. um that approximately 500 students at Garfield base every day. These students need small group areas, sensory rooms, safe spaces for therapies, and other aspects of modern schools to fully access their education. According to the American Institute of Architects, research shows that highquality school environments can boost educational outcomes, improve well-being, and strengthen communities. And I say yes, please. We need a new school
072building. Over the past 15 years, we've seen many schools in our community um receive new buildings, and that's Yakma School District and um other school districts, Nachi and and East Valley have had new schools as well. [clears throat] Um so building new school buildings is is really important. And so please request a bond for a new Garfield Elementary. >> Thank you, Tabitha. >> Next on the list is Angel Kavaro Bas. Welcome. I apologize if I mispronounced that. >> No, you're fine. >> All right. Uh, excuse me. I'm I'm a little nervous. This is the first time I've been here. Um, but I first I want to start by saying thank you to the Yakma School District. I graduated from Ike in 2011. Um, I'm pretty sure I was in your class and you made me
073dance with the skeleton because I was late five times a week. Um, which taught me a good lesson. Yeah. [laughter] Um I I I'm here because uh I live about five houses down from Garfield. Um my son is in kinder there and for I also want to say uh Garfield staff is amazing. Um they treat us really well. My son has autism and they've been so helpful. I really appreciate them. Um so I'm obviously here to support a bond in the springtime. Um a few things I would like to note. um is that Garfield is not just a school. Um so I live like a half a block away. I'm there all the time. My cousins, uh nephews, my aunts and uncles, like it it's a hub for the community. Um a lot of people
074go there. Uh on the weekends, you see people playing soccer, families with their kids. It it's just like for our part of the ACMA there, Garfield is like a a pillar almost. And if you ask any of the parents or anybody whose uh children have been there before, the teachers there are like pillars to their own families too. The staff is there. And so when I when I go to visit my son, um I see that it's very outdated. Um you know, I I don't know much about construction, but I know that old buildings take a lot of money to maintenance time and time and time again. Um which I think you referenced, sir. And so I totally as a homeowner as well support a bond. I would definitely vote for it. And so I
075just ask that you guys put it up to vote for the people to make that decision. Thank you. >> Thank you. And Shelley Mlan, >> good evening. Welcome. Good evening, members [clears throat] of the school board, faculty, and community. My name is Shelley, and I'm a parent educator for the Yakama School District. I currently serve as vice president for our Yakama Association of Parent Educators. I've worked at Hoover Elementary since 2011, and prior to that, I've accumulated more than 20 years as a volunteer and parent group supporter. Hoover has always been my home away from home. I stand before you today as someone who has a deep personal connection to Hoover Elementary. I turned 60 last month. My husband is 62. He and I both attended Hoover as young children in the very same building
076that I now work in. Our children attended Hoover in the9s, also in the very same building. More recently, we have watched our grandchildren walk the very same halls. Three generations of my family have learned there. Walking through the same doors, eating in the same cafeteria, singing Christmas songs on the same stage, playing on the same playground, and yes, even using the same bathrooms. As much as we cherish the memories the school holds for our family, we must acknowledge an undeniable truth. This building, nearly 80 years old, no longer meets the needs of today's students. While it's wonderful to have a school with such a long history, it's clear that the structure is showing its age. Some parts of the playground playground still have toys that my husband remembers playing on in the late60s. The building
077systems are outdated, and the layout simply wasn't designed for the demands of modern education. What's even more troubling is the academic impact this has on our students. Our children deserve to learn in a space that fosters creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking, qualities that modern education requires. Outdated facilities limit our ability to offer the kinds of innovative programs that can help students succeed in a rapidly changing world. And when parts of the building are physically deteriorating, it sends a message that education is not a priority. That's a direct contradiction of the message that we work so hard to send our kids. This isn't just about nostalgia for the past. It's about the future of our children and their right to a safe, welcoming, and effective learning environment. A new school building would give our students access
078to modern tools and resources they need. It would allow teachers to do their best work, creating dynamic, engaging classrooms that encourage curiosity, critical thinking, and academic achievement. It would allow our community to look ahead rather than simply preserving a building that no longer serves serves its purpose. That's why I'm here today asking you to partner with us to put in the work and come up with a plan our community can get behind. It's not just about bricks and mortar. It's about the future of our children. The building has had a huge impact on three generations of my family. Those walls walls have served their purpose. It's now time for us to build something worthy of the next three generations. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, Shelly. >> And I do want to just
079confirm is is it is it serio There's no agenda item listed. Is that accurate? So, I'll call on you for the second section. Okay. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't making you wait for the wrong reasons. Okay. Sorry. Uh, thank you all. That takes us to our consent agenda. And the consent agenda this evening in board docs includes approval of minutes for the October 2025 meetings, notification of approval of warrants for October of 2025, approval of personnel actions, the budget status reports for August of 25, the budget status reports for September of 25, the budget status reports for October of 25, and the interlocal agreement. Does any board member wish to have any item from the consent agenda removed so that it may be discussed this evening? >> Hearing none, I would entertain a
080motion to approve tonight's consent agenda. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Is there any discussion about the motion? >> Hearing none. All in favor, please say I. I. >> Any oppose? Same sign. Thank you much. Motion passes. Our first approval this evening is regarding resolution 04.25.26 which will be the an approval of an April 28th, 2026 ballot proposition for a capital bond measure. And to begin the conversation, I'll turn it over to Mr. Cooper. >> Thank you. um before I settle in. So before you this evening is uh I'll use the term interchangeably. I apologize. Ballot or election sometimes get used interchangeably. But I'm going to walk you through a resolution. Before I do that, is there a motion on the floor? I'm not going to have Anthony do it. So I'm just curious. I
081think I think at this point I'd entertain. >> Okay. >> You're Are you presenting? >> Yes. Please, please go ahead. >> So, before you this evening is uh a bond resolution or election resolution. It does a few simple things. Um first off, it was created in um uh with bond council in this case Cynthia Weed who's been I've been doing work with for 25 plus years. She's KN&L Gates and Preston Gates and else before that. Um she works with us to create these resolutions and she's also generally bond council. So before you um that may look like a wall of dense text and we won't go through the entire resolution. So basically what you're doing is you're uh authorizing an election for April 28, 2026. It then provides the reader or the voter the amount
082of the bonds and then gives a very brief description on what and the reason why you're asking for $200 million from the voters. Are we going to keep going? >> And Jake, if I can interrupt, I should preface this that the board did vote to authorize the superintendent. >> Yes. >> And his cabinet to prepare this, which is >> no groundwork. I apologize, President. >> No, no. just I want to make sure for the record that that that happened >> last board meeting um I gave a detailed presentation on the proposed projects within the bond the potential tax impact that is also again attached to the agenda this evening so you can review it at your reading pleasure or leisure and then of course when there's any if there's any questions u from the board
083I'll be happy to answer them so I will not go through all the whereasses in the resolution I do want to go through section two on page two which is the capital improvements barb. So in section two of the resolution it provides in detail it's on page two. There we go. No problem. So section two provides a detail of the capital improvements that we uh discussed last board meeting. You can see they're provided in narrative form in the resolution. So the first one and we did we just heard from the public on this is the demolish rebuild and refernish of Hoover Elementary which was originally constructed in 1947. And then it provides some details of what would be included in the project. The second bullet is the demolish, rebuild and refernish of Garfield Elementary which
084was built in 1966 as was alluded to earlier. Given that those are complete rebuild and um de uh demolitions and rebuilds, the wording is the same um and to provide information on the project. And the other um if we noted in detail um on the financial slides, it provides information on district-wide title 9 upgrades and ADA upgrades as was discussed earlier. And then they undertake districtwide infrastructure repairs that's on the sidewalks and drainage and lighting, etc. And then you will also see of importance and was alluded to in the third bullet on that page was upgrade and replace district-wide playgrounds. Um that's across all the elementary schools to enhance safety and accessibility. And then HVAC systems which are also part of the bond proposal are delineated um for the reader. And then which Mr. English
085talked about and the last bullet is the sport facilities and resurface of the track and courts soon replacement of artificial turf fields and then the more catchall bullets are the undertake the necessary district 5 facility improvements which is in that future projects bucket we talked about and then provision for project management and the for the foregoing improvements. So that follows the presentation that I gave you numerically but it is in a narrative form which the bond measure or the bond resolution requires. And then most importantly if I could take you to page wow sorry Barb page seven. There we go. So this is where the rubber meets the road. This is what the voter would actually see on their ballot. Now just for the those listening and um in the audience can only be 75
086words from approving a proposition for bond. So starting with this I believe downward you don't get a count should the proposition be so we are limited to 75 words. I spent an inordinate amount of time with bond counsel trying to convey what was in the measure um with enough detail to provide the voter the information needed to make an informed decision but also meet my 75word requirement. So I always like the board in particular to pay attention to that to make sure we're not missing anything. Um you can see that the proposition authorizes the rebuild and refernish of Hoover and Garfield which are the two largest components of the bond measure. modernize buildings, upgrade district facilities for energy efficiency, and replace roofs, and make improvements and additions to athletic facilities and playgrounds throughout the district,
087and make other capital improvements in order to issue $200 million of general obligation bonds maturing with a maximum term of 20 years, and to collect the excess property taxes and repay those bonds should this proposition be approved or rejected. So, um, simply put, following last meeting, be directed the superintendent and myself to prepare a resolution for potential election. You'll notice the election date is April 28th, 2026. So, not the next special election in February as the district will need time to provide factual information to its voters and then if there's a campaign committee, they in turn would do their work. Um, so all that being said, I'm taking you through what the what's in the resolution on the project side, what you're actually authorizing, which is to have a ballot measure before the voters, what
088the amount the power amount of the bonds are, and then ultimately uh the rationale or the reason of what the projects are to be included. So I would be and then and then in finality the actual ballot proposition language which the voter would see not in the booth anymore but via mail as it came into the mailbox. I'd be happy to entertain any questions. Bond resolutions aren't the most exciting things. They're prepared by legal council. As you can see there's a lot of templated language for the IRS and the SEC and everything else. Um but again this mirrors the presentation and the work that was done by two facility advisory committees in the past. Then also provides uh the request for a $200 million bond issue to be ran in April of 2026. >> Jake,
089what is the state match? >> The state match on this is just uh over 20 million. That's se that's detailed in the resolution somewhere. buried deep in all those words, huh? >> No, you know, occasionally they bury numbers within the words. Um, but yeah, u, that was on my last presentation. Oh, it's 20.4 million estimate and that's estimated state match. So, we went through a study and survey, which is why in part we arrived at Hoover and Garfield because there was an in-depth survey done of building conditions and those buildings were scored. Hoover and Garfield had the lowest score, which means they were in the worst condition based on our other buildings. And so besides age, of course, overall building condition is another reason why we choose uh to rebuild certain buildings first because um
090we have a lot of buildings in capital needs. That's another thing that I should probably reiterate is um how did you land on $200 million? Well, we have a huge amount of short-term need and a lot of long-term need. And so, uh, really we were trying to find, uh, the sweet spot between tax tolerance and how much we could afford because always remember a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow. So, if you can do it now, you're going to be doing it for less than you will in the future. Um, that's just the time value of money. But, yeah, I just didn't want to lose those points. >> Do you anticipate the um, I don't know how often the state match percentage is adjusted. Um the square foot the percentage usually is
091adjusted through the square foot allow allocation. It was adjusted last session. I will say one thing that has kept SCAP which is a school construction assistance program. I know you love acronyms Martha. Um one thing that has kept the capital money uh and that program really growing is when the voters passed an initiative lowering the debt limit the state of Washington. And so oftentimes the state would issue bonds out to school districts to cover the scap. So since the debt limit has been limited limited in the state the growth of that program has also been limited. So the voters through initiative um may not have understood that they were or they did and they cap debt accordingly but that has slowed the increase. Um when we're talking about construction of close to a thousand a
092square foot for everything and and they're funding a couple hundred dollars a square, there's a significant difference. Um in my career, I've been lucky enough to just get enough state match to cover this the the state the property or the um sales tax. So if you think about those projects of about $80 million a piece, we're not too far from what the sales tax total would be at 8% and change. And so, um, we're thankful for this school construction assistance program. And even though our buildings are of aged, uh, and poor condition in some cases or wearing condition, we just don't get enough money to even get close to the full cost of the structure. >> You mentioned sales tax. That's because the district has to pay sales tax. We're not exempt like >> Yes.
093>> baseball stadiums or something like that, right? >> We are not exempt. Uh, no, we are not. So if you see um for example those each elementary school is approximately $80 million on its budget most of that is taxable not all of it because there is some non-t taxable items you know it's consulting services legal services etc but the bulk of that when you issue a contract out to a general contractor that 8.1% is going to be or 8.6 is going to be right on it. So um there is then a ripple and cascade down. So both the state and local the city of Yakama and the county would also uh get sales tax revenue from those projects. >> Thank you. >> I do have a couple questions. I I missed the last board meeting
094so I wasn't able to be part of the discussion and I did review the video side. I did hear the discussion but I did have just a couple things. I believe I want to first say that I do fully support the bond. We do need a bond um and we need the new schools, right? Spec specifically who were in Garfield. So, but um I've been around long enough to know that it's very difficult to pass a bond in Yakama. And our last experience was very challenging as we all know, right? There was a failed bond and then two of them. Yeah. And and then they came back with revised plans, right? it was initially wanted to renew or a new building for Davis, right? And so they scaled that back and then they were able
095to then pass it. So I I I'm just kind of leerary about that just so I have a couple question. One is uh the taxpayer fatigue, you know, with increased state taxes with the current interest rates where they are now and inflation. How does that what what's the discussion around that? how we how do we kind of navigate through that piece of the >> it's going to be a significant issue. So >> passing a bond measure in any community is difficult. So you've heard me say um the state average is about 40%. >> Bond passage >> um given that we have a super majority state. >> Um I think that in part all politics are local. It's kind of corny, but again, since we're the only district of the top 25 that hadn't hasn't had
096a request for a bond measure since 2010, um that shows that we have a significant amount of capital need and a lot of fiscal restraint at the same time. Um it is difficult when there are swirling tax increases all around you, particularly at the state level, and everybody's impacted by those differently. So if you're not a business owner, maybe you're not paying additional BNO, business and occupations tax. You know, if like the school district, we have to pay additional sales tax now on professional services. And so that is a problem along with fuel. Um interest rates though are lowering. So that should help on the borrowing cost side. And then again, Raymond, I think the most important thing to do is me personally and professionally is if you're asking taxpayers for money, then you have
097to articulate a value proposition. Um, I will say this is a matter of fact. The school district when you do pass a bond measure, it's as close as those tax dollars are ever going to be to your doorway. Um, it's not like you're giving $200 million to a project on State Route 18, which they've been building my entire life. Literally my entire life. But you're actually you the [clears throat] voters, the local voters are taking out their pocketbook and funding something they can see and tangible that's going to be constructed. So it for me it's always about the value proposition. What am I going to get for my tax increase? Um in this case you would get $200 million of capital improvements um two new elementaryaries and and upgrades across the system. Um, so I
098think it's really about messaging and being factual from my standpoint is writing the facts and taking those challenges as they come because again it is a passing a bond is difficult and in Yakama we have been uh we have been very fiscally conservative at least on the bond side. We have not gone to the voters since 20 2009 which was the last measure that was passed and so um it is time um as the facilities start to age do not want them to crumble around you or the bill is going to be much greater later on. So that's one thing we want >> so I do have another question. It's regarded the ver voter turnout. >> As we know the the recent I think the results were at 16.4% 4% August was about 16th I
099think last April was around 35%. So I I get concerned with a 16% 16.4% for November turnout voter turnout. So I'm just wondering what about how that may impact our >> that's a blessing and a curse. So >> this bond measure remember bond has two two hurdles. hurdle one 60% plus one then 40% validation and it's 40% of the prior year's general election. So the low turnout in November is actually advantageous to us from a validation standpoint. There are some districts this last round because they went off the presidential where they were either close or could not validate to get 40%. Because there was a high turnout. So, in that regard, Yakama County does have the lowest voter turnout in the state of Washington. Um, I also saw recent data that we have the best
100voter sentiment for schools in the entire state at 48%. Yakimal County, which if you and it's in the low low 40s to high 30s on the west side, and we actually have when they just did a recent survey, we have the highest percentage of favorability for education of any county in the state, which actually surprised me. Um, so we there are pros and cons to Yakima. Um, and um, again, it's all about the value proposition and what you're going to get for your tax dollars. >> Just the last comment, I do appreciate the rate going at 3.5, then a three, then a 2.5. I think front loing, right? It helps with construction and getting getting a good start on on on the new the capital projects and so forth. I do appreciate that that as
101well. So thank you >> director Navaro if I may. Uh as being overmaintenance you you can remember that we had brought forth emergency repairs at Washington due to a roof failure with snow. Uh this last year we had two ruptures of water manes. uh we have been trying to do as much preventative maintenance and uh try to avoid some of these disasters but even though some of these are are covered by insurance we still have a a high deductible that we have to meet. You asked the question what happens uh as far as dollars concerned. Um, I want to make sure this comes off as positive as we I possibly can, but the deferred maintenance to major structures is only going to be a vastly increase of cost. A few years back before we got
102hired, we had an asphalt failure where with a heavy rain and because of the alligator and you had saturization s ground saturated to the point to where when the bus drove over the parking lot, you had a complete blowout and now you're talking about not just removing the asphalt, but having to do the underllayment and everything else that goes with it, driving the cost up. Um there are also some other things that we can do that's positive which I saw when I was uh with the city uh federal way where once we can pass something we also have the ability to enter into PLA's project labor agreement and with that we could request a certain portion of that be apprentices and because of our uh votech we can make part of that bear the jobs
103are local and even have opportunities for some of our students. So, um, being an exUNU official, I could help walk you through how some of that would work, but this would be money, as Jake had stated, which comes from the local economy and stays with the local economy. So, uh, I don't want to go into too much detail, but, uh, passing something and building it today will definitely save us lots of money in the future. as uh you could see what took place with Davis Auditorium. The original estimate was just shy of a couple million dollars and by the time we got through uh with this 16 years later, it was closer to just shy of just shy of 12. So, uh again, investing those dollars today may seem expensive, but it's going to be
104a heck of a lot more expensive in the future and especially if we have a system favor. Are there other questions from the board? >> Maybe not a question, but just another comment. So, I I do appreciate the the bond, including um addressing the Title N compliance, and I think that's important that we provide uh equal access to safe fields, safe facilities for our female athletes, right? I think that's a that's a long time coming and they deserve that as well. Also, I do appreciate our superintendent and and the cabinet and and uh those who are putting together this information u in regards to title 9 compliance. Thank you. >> Hearing no more uh questions for Jake. Uh we have a a suggested motion in the action letter. Do we have a motion? I move
105that the board of directors approve resolution 04.25.26 authorizing an April 28, 2026 ballot proposition for a capital bond measure. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Do we have any discussion on the motion or comment from board members? >> I have um I want to applaud the the um cabinet and staff on including um ADA compliance with in in this bond for um limited mobility students to be able to access their playgrounds for students with um sensory issues to be able to access those areas that they that they are interested in um and have them be appropriate for their disability as well. Uh we have a number of playgrounds in the system that have just outlived their their good lives and um need to be updated and pulled into the the 21st
106century with um in the area of ADA compliance. our we have some community support in the past. Um, some of our our social clubs have either donated labor or money to um build ADA compliant playgrounds and um now it's time for for the district and the community to I think to step up and provide that level of compliance to all of our playgrounds and sports sports facilities as Well, >> Director Rice, >> I would also like to just follow up a little bit. I I certainly support the ADA compliance. We have many elementary playgrounds that are fall far short of ADA compliance and and we want to take care of that for two reasons. One is we want to make a quality playground for all of our students. We also want to make sure we
107avoid any kind of lawsuit in the future around nonADA compliant playgrounds because those can be vulnerable to lawsuit. Second of all, following up on um uh Mr. Mariotta's um information. The bond would also replace a number of roofs or repair a number of roofs in the district that are fall far short of being high quality at this point. We have concrete, we have asphalt areas, we have lighting systems that are outdated or inadequate. Um and that creates safety hazards and again higher maintenance costs. So, a lot of there's more in this than just the two schools which are in sore need of replacement. Um, but there's also a lot of things that will benefit the entire district. And um, and so again, it's practical to spend that kind of money now. It's been 16 years
108since we've had a bond. Any of you that owns a home knows what can happen just with normal use in 16 years. Many things need repair, replacement, updating. And so we need to pay attention to some of those things so all of our kids can have a quality place to attend. Thank you, Director Walker. At the risk of um reiterating things that have already been said around the table, um I appreciate the comments from my fellow board members. Um particularly understand and relate to the sentiment about the tax climate of the state of Washington at this point in time. Um, I've had conversations about this with people on this on this board and with plenty of people in our community and personally I'm really not interested in a in a vanity project, but I am
109really attracted to the liability reductions that this presents, the student safety increases that this presents. Um, and personally in my own line of work, I focus a lot on long-term real estate strategy and it has been obvious that we've been very frugal, very fiscally restrained at the same time trying to maintain our facilities in as nice of uh possible way so that they are a beacon in a neighborhood community, which is what we all want for our communities. We've had two different committees comprised of both staff and of community members that have done assessments of our facilities and of areas of need that are presented. Um both of those committees have had exceptionally lengthy lists of suggestions and of areas that um that we could benefit from. And again, if we can reduce liability and
110increase student safety, um I think it makes all the sense in the world. I um encourage the rest of the board to to vote for this particular measure as we put this to the community and if we do, we can be reminding ourselves as as always that at the end uh the taxpayers and the voters will make the final decision. But it is up to us to as Jake mentioned explain explain the entire list. We shouldn't let it get bogged down with just the two big ticket items, but people should understand the entire list that's being presented and hopefully our community will understand the need and um and work with us in the process. So, um Barb, would you please take the role for us tonight? >> Director Walker, >> I. >> Director Raymond Navaro
111Jr. >> I. >> Director Rice, >> I. >> President Beckett, >> I. >> Motion passes four to zero. >> Thank you, Barb. Uh thank you Jake and Dr. Green for uh the preparation on that. >> Correct. Correct. >> Second on our approvals list tonight is an approval of the 2526 school improvement plans. Dr. Maria Lucero, our assistant superintendent of teaching and learning will present. >> Thank you. Yes, I am seeking uh board approval of our 2526 school improvement plans as submitted. Um the office of the superintendent of public instruction does require that we draft school improvement plans that you have linked in the action letter. It is also in district policy 2005. Um annually school improvement plans are uh contextualized after analysis of a variety of data academic attendance, social, emotional, behavioral and perceptual data.
112We were notified this year that um the importance of board approval of our school improvement plans uh to release uh the funds for the schools that are eligible for funding this year. Typically, you would see uh this pres the full presentation in December, which you will still see, but I did need to move the approval request up to today. Um so that there is no delay. So there if there are any concerns with any of the school improvement plans, please note that they are living and breathing documents and are revised over the course of the year as needed and as um the goals are monitored. Any questions? >> Any questions for Dr. Lucero? >> Hearing none. The board is being asked to approve the 2526 school improvement plans as submitted. Do I hear a motion?
113>> So moved. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? >> Just a brief compliment to the staffs in those schools. I haven't had a chance to read all the plans, but I've read a sample of them and there really is a lot of good data and thought that goes into those plans and I'm really impressed with the commitment that our teachers and our principles have put forth in developing their plans for improvement. I'm also just I also want to compliment them on another area while I have the floor and that is I had I had read through the discipline report which normally doesn't come before the board except as a document for us to read but there is a significant improvement in uh behavior in our schools that it's a
114trend and it's trended over the last three years and I I again commend th those staffs and our teachers and our parents for working together to really decrease the number of suspensions and and other serious discipline that's going on. That means there's good positive kinds of work being done um proactively to make our schools good climates as well. So, thank you Director Walker. Any other discussion? Uh hearing uh without objection. Uh, all in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. >> Thank you very much. >> That brings us to our second opportunity for comments from the public. Sergio, I apologize for the wait. I know this is a long meeting, but would you like to begin? Hello. Okay. Good evening um members of the board and directors and the Yakoma community
115as a whole. Um thank uh my name is Sergio Corus um Garcia and I thank you all for letting me the opportunity to speak here today. I am a nursing student at Heritage University and I have graduated from the Davis High School back in 2021 and I currently serving as a student nurse at Davis and I am wanting to um comment on an issue that's affecting our schools and our communities and which is the mental health of our youth. Yakuma has been my home for the past two decades and I've attended all the schools and they've and it's raised emboldened me into the person I am today and I'm here to want uh to testify and may become um I come from a culture that frequently tells us to neglect our mental health and tells
116us to hide the pain to keep it out of sight and to ignore the issues. I grew up with this mentality and on top of the stress and anxiety I got from school work, extracurricular activities and from life as a whole I bled I bottled it up and threw away the key and then eventually due to this it led to the uh point where I was placed on suicide watch for when I was 14 years old. I highlight my struggles and my issues because I want to make a focus on having a primary intervention of of education and health promotion of our students um in the and the school district. According to the CDC among adolescence, mental health and suicide are are major concerns. The national health interview sur uh teen survey was an online
117health survey of teenagers from ages 12 to 17 and the data was collected between July 2020 21 to December 2022. From this survey among high schoolers 40% reported persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness in the year. 20% reported seriously considering attempting suicide in the past year and 16% reported making a suicide plan. And these these statistics are not just numbers. They carry that invisible and crushing weight of a mental health challenge that that bottomless and dark pit that makes you feel nauseous, unable to call out for a fear of being called weak, for being we could call it crazy or for being not knowing where to go for these proper resources. It's a crisis and I want one that we need to address as a whole. Looking at it from the perspective of a nurse,
118mental health bleeds into our everyday lives and it's made up a number of facets. I want to advocate for these issues to be brought to the forefront um to the of our school and to educate students and staff on a variety of topics such as signs of suicide, anxiety, um ways uh for conflict resolution and for identified suicidal ideiation and encouraging ways to relieve tension and stress that and the stress that fers in students in healthy manners. I strive to build an environment and advocate for an environment where where it is okay to talk about what is upsetting you and then for crying that it's and that's okay. And I want to ensure that these students have these safe spaces without fear of being labeled weak or or being bullied for reaching out for that
119help. If we learn how to if we learn young how to manage the stresses of life and the school of the community, we can improve our health piece by piece as we transfer those same skills, habits, and way of thinking into our adult lives. And I speak from personal experience. I grew up in the school district and every experience both good and bad help shaped who I am today. I'm still here and I am very thankful every day that I got the help that I needed and I eventually was able to change a way if they need through the school district. Different avenues can be tried such as after school programs allow more socialization, referrals to mental health counselors both internally and externally and encouraging and fostering of culture of mindfulness and a judge and
120free zone. I understand that you you guys may not have the answers right now or nor do I expect these changes to happen overnight, but I want to um make a comment and make sure and have this issue addressed and just out to and out there to me just to advocate and use my voice that this is a real issue and I want to focus on >> Thank you very much for being here tonight. Thank you for your presentation. I appreciate it very much. Our next speaker on our list is Mr. McKenna. Steve, >> welcome. Um, my name is Steve McKenna. uh retired educator from the Yakma school district, former president of YA, and I'm also a taxpayer in the Yakama school district. I have rental property. Um and that's where um this bond issue
121to a certain extent is I mean there's no doubt we've got some really old schools that need to be replaced. Um there's no ifs, no ands, no buts, but at the same time, we are sending kind of mixed messages to the community. Um I just checked today um on OSPI's website uh for the past school year, 2425 school year's um superintendent salaries. Then our superintendent um compensation was more than the superintendent of Seattle according to OSPI, more than Tacoma, more than Spokane, much bigger districts, more than Puleup. Now, I did notice that the um LBU superintendent and the Isiziqua superintendent did make uh 12 and $10,000 respectively, more than our superintendent. Um the average number of work days for a full FTE superintendent is now 253.2 days versus our 218 days for our Yakama superintendent.
122And so I'm just concerned that you're no doubt that that we need some improvements at these schools, but at the same time when we're paying these kind of wages in Yakma, um you're asking people who have rental property to raise the rents to fund the bond on their tenants. Um and and that's a big ask. And so um I'm just concerned about those mixed messages. Thank you. Thank you, Steve. We have a section on policy governance. At this point, we are have let's see here. I think uh Mr. Cooper, this is this number four for you at this point. The report for 1000.2.3 financial condition and activities. >> Thanks [clears throat] for counting. You bet. Um this is number four. Uh but this will be brief because the information encompassed within within this report was
123provided to you in the year-end financial summary for the most part. Additionally, um it also uses the results from the annual state audit as it's uh one of its predominant supports and you've also taken receipt of that and we had another clean audit. So um the numbers have been updated um to reflect current financial conditions. Then though not a motion, I would recommend it do pass. I'd be happy to answer any questions if you have them. >> Correct. >> Has to go to survey. Okay. Next. >> Yep. No, this is this will be surveyed out uh tomorrow and that survey will be due back on the 26th for consideration at the December 1st meeting. But if there are any questions for Jake before we move to the next. Okay. Well, then thank you very much
124for report on 1000.2.6 which is our public access to facilities policy. We'll go to Mr. Marriott. >> This is the annual report that I give every year regarding the uh public access to our facilities. Um Yakma school district bu build buildings and facilities have been provided primarily and specifically for use in the educational and extracurricular programs for school age students. Any other use of district facilities must be subordinate to these uses and that's per operational procedure 4330. every part of this uh policy has is uh primarily the same as I've reported in the previous six years. Um with the exception of during the 2425 school year, there were 527 requests for facility usage. And for the 2526 school year, we have already received 169 permits. Any questions or concerns? Uh, same situation. The survey will
125be sent out tomorrow back on the 26th in order for the December 1st meeting. Thank you, Barb. Thank you, Anthony. The next series are uh the approval of ratings that have been received for a handful of policies. The first one is for operating policy 1111, the oath of office. Did any member have any addition additional comment or elaboration that they would like to make? >> Um I do I said no and then I do um I had submitted my um Survey Monkey results. I didn't see them reflected in the final report. So, I mean, I can go back and look to see if it actually went through or if it somehow ended up in the trash can or something. Um, but just to let the rest of the board know that I did respond to
126all of those surveys and and um approved all of them as either partially compliant or fully compliant. Um, procedurally, do we need a are we under a time constraint to where we would then could >> would you like us to delay the approval of these until that could be added? >> It's not necessary. >> I mean, I think just to have it on record that they did get submitted and sure dis disappeared somewhere. Okay. >> I think is sufficient. >> Thank you. Uh, any other comments or elaborations? If not, I'd entertain a motion to approve the ratings for operating policy 11-11. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Without objection, all in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Thank you very much. Motion carries. The second or excuse me the lost track. The
127third is our approval of ratings for 1000.3.0 our global governance commitment. Again if any member has any elaboration or comment they would like to add to the responses. Can we do a global >> [clears throat] >> um go through all of these and do then a global approval at the end? >> Unless there's objection. I'm fine with that. So, we'll start with 3.0. The approval of rating is 100.3.1. Our governing style is also attached. Excuse me. The approval of ratings for 1000.3.2 board job description is attached. And finally, the 1000.3 agenda planning is attached. Are there any comments or elaborations for responses on any of those? >> Hearing none, I'd entertain a motion to approve those four sets of ratings. >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion on the motion? Any clarification on my
128confusing motion? [laughter] All in favor, please say I. >> I. Excellent. Thank you very much. And I understand that we do not have a need for executive session this evening. So at that at that point then that will bring us to the end of our business meeting. Our next meeting is December 1st at 4 p.m. at Franklin Middle School. Until then we are ajourned.