001[Music] Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to the May 5th meeting of the Yakima School Board. Happy Cinco de Mayo. Absolutely. Welcome to YBT. We offer Spanish interpretation services from Jorge with Language Connection. If you need translation assistance in person, please check with Jorge for a device. Jorge, if you are here, this is the second time I've done this. If not, then I apologize. We have two options for public comment this afternoon. The first option is for commenting on agenda items only and the second option which will be right after the first is uh for all other topics. In order to speak tonight, you'll need to sign two forms, the sign-in form and the guidelines form which are at the entrance. Barb, would you please take the role? Director Walker here. Director Navaro Jr. Director Rice here.
002Vice President Via Noea here. President Beckett, all accounted for. Thank you, Barb. Would you please rise and join me in the pledge of allegiance? 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. [Music] Today, the schools of the Yakma School District rest on the ancestral lands of 14 Confederated tribes and bands of the Yakama nation. [Music] The people of the Yakan nation inhabited more than 12 million acres across Adams, Benton, Chalan, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Kittas, Kat and Nakoma 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
003have lived here and continue to live here since time immemorial. An acknowledgement is a simple powerful way to show respect [Music] and a step toward correcting the stories and practices that erase indigenous people's history and culture. It also honors the truth. [Music] As a school district, we will continue to build upon our relations with the Yakama nation. Thank you, Barb. Welcome, Jorge. Would you please translate the earlier information? We're sorry. Sorry for saying Thank you so much board members. I would um direct your attention into the um board docs. There is a linked obituary through the Yakma Herald for Donna Scoffield, one of our Yaka School District family members who has passed away. Um the full obituary is available online and through board docs. If you would all please join me in just a moment
004of silence in memory of Donna. Thank you. We'll have reports to the board tonight and uh Dr. Green, if you would begin, please. Thank you. Uh thank you, President Beckett, members of the board. Uh it's my pleasure this evening to just share some information. Uh it's really a statement on the funding challenges that we have as a district and the service reductions. The decisions impacting the services the Yakama School District provides to students and families is never easy and it's never taken lightly. We recognize that each role in our student represents not only a job but a connection to the heart of our mission and that is serving and supporting every child who walks through our doors. We have deep faith in the people of this community, our staff, our families, and of course our
005students. And that faith guides us to rethink how we deliver services in ways that remain student- centered even under immense uh pressure uh in the face of the challenges that we see uh building and district teams continue to show courage and flexibility and commitment to one another. And this speaks to the strength of our school community. At the same time, we must be candid about the source of our frustration. Washington state's current educational funding model does not fulfill the constitutional pro promise of ample funding for all students. The burden of this underfunding lands heaviest on school districts like ours where the majority of our students live in poverty and the cost of providing equitable education is highest. While some districts are able to offset state shortfalls with substantial local resources, our district receives substantially less
006per student in the combined state and local funding despite having greater needs. This is not a sustainable path forward. We will continue to advocate for a funding system that supports all students, not just those in property rich areas. And we will remain transparent with our community as we navigate these reductions, not because we want to, but because we must. We invite you all to stay engaged, speak up, and join us in calling on state leaders to honor the paramount duty enshrined in our state constitution, which is to amply fund the education of every student. I've had many people reach out and ask what they can do to be a part of our district and how they can make a difference. And I go back to that comment. Stay engaged, speak up, and join us in
007calling on state leaders to honor the paramount duty enshrined in the state constitution. Thank you for your understanding, your voice, and your continued support. Thank you, Dr. Green. We have uh two reports to the board this evening. To begin with, um Francis Guerrero from YA will address the board. Francis, please come on up. I'm sorry it we don't have a regular mic. It's all the way up at the front of the classroom. [Applause] Good afternoon. Tonight, we are here to push back against the reduction in force, particularly the move that cut all the secondary librarians, and I would like to remind the superintendent to please refrain from contacting people via their personal email and/or social media for speaking out today. I know the board believes that it's great that the superintendent reaches out to people
008personally, but as I told you last year, April 22nd to be exact, that is not how the majority of my people perceive that contact. It comes across as intimidating and harassing. Everyone knows how to contact the superintendent. And if he wants to send a blanket email out inviting everyone to schedule a personal appointment with him, that's fine. But do not be singling out any individuals or I will respond with another grievance. And this time, I won't let it be denied. And if I learn that any other union members and any other unit are being singled out, I will report it to WA and ask them to respond accordingly as well. An injury to one is an injury to all, and no one should feel victimized or retaliated against for speaking during public comment. I've told
009you before that I understood the budget situation required cutting back on staffing because the district overhired for several years in a row. However, my understanding becomes non-existent when the district does not engage in its own austerity measures and instead chooses to balance their budget by cutting as many studentf facing position as positions as they think they can while adding to their own administrative ranks downtown. A reduction in force should not become the go-to for balancing the budget. It should be the last thing you do, the last thing you engage in out of sheer desperation. And instead, YSD has used it as a way to cut over 100 certificated positions over the last two years, then legally reshuffle everyone so as to keep as many people as possible without having to hire outside the district. I
010find it very difficult to believe that the board was not capable of telling the cabinet to go back and redo the budget utilizing other measures instead. Not once did you question the budget as presented. Not once did you ask if the district had frozen top level contracts and disabled further extensions or added benefits. Worse, you yourselves have approved contracts that are substantially higher than like-sized districts during a time when everyone should have been experiencing pay freezes that would bring them more in line with like-sized districts. Not once did you question the administrative staffing levels downtown to ask whether they were above what state allocations provided funding for. Nor did you suggest that they bring those staffing levels down to what the state funds before they cut any studentf facing positions. It is common knowledge that
011the state does not fund any staffing does not adequately fund any staffing including that of teachers at an adequate number. But the only people who should be staffed over that model regardless are the studentf facing positions. The people who actually work with our students every single day. 50 years ago, the Everett Education Association SC sued the school district for bargaining in bad faith. And what stuck with me from that was a comment that Judge Hansen made. He sided with Everett EA and noted that to educate children is the sole function of the school district and it cannot do so without teachers. Administrators do not educate anybody. Their function is to provide support for the certificated teachers who after all are in fact educating the children. Instead, you have allowed a budget that overstaffs at the
012administrative level far above state allocation models. And actually, what I find most damning of all is that not only have you allowed staffing at the administrative level to be above what the state allocates funding for, but you could not even insist on at the very least a freeze on any additional administrative hiring. You allowed the budget to cut an additional 48 studentf facing positions and yet added back another assistant superintendent position. There were four such positions in total prior to this cabinet. Then additional assistant superintendent positions were added. Last year, one position was reduced through attrition and that brought the number back in line to previous levels. Not reduced them, just back to previous levels. But then earlier this year, YSD announced that assistant superintendent position was being brought back. And the district continues to
013advertise for an executive director position. I told you a month ago I fully expected the budget not to include any riffs based on the actions the district was engaging in, not least of which was the addition of another assistant superintendent. All we see are additional administrative positions that come at our expense, at the expense of our librarians to be exact. I have spent over a year trying to impress upon you the need to add to our staffing and instead it is the downtown administrative staffing that gets additional people. I was so certain that you were listening to my reports and hearing the needs that my people were sharing. I see now that you were only cherrypicking what to be responsive to and what to ignore. I never once said a word about not making any
014cuts because the idea of any additional cuts was absolutely unfathomable. My sole focus has been to beg for more staffing to ease the burden on all employees who work directly with students to provide better care and attention to the needs of our students. I am beyond livid that not only did my reports fall upon deaf ears, the enactment of another riff was simply a punch to the gut, adding to your own staffing while cutting the heart and of knowledge and research from our secondary students without blinking an eye. You have proven yourselves to be incapable of asking the right questions or insisting on the right and the best course of action for our students. You've not held cabinet responsible and have in fact repeatedly doubled down on your support for administrative staffing versus studentf facing
015positions. I have lost all confidence in you and I believe much of this community feels the same way. You are not the leaders we need you to be and this has resulted in harm to my members and our students that could have been avoided. The inability to prioritize student needs and staffing concerns to see where needs are most critical is a great detriment to being able to do this job well. It is unfortunate that I cannot stand here and applaud you for being school board of the year. It is unfortunate that I cannot stand here and send my own accolades to the superintendent who truly deserves recognition for the unprecedented and downright revolutionary work he is doing to change how the state funds education. Everything he just said right now is correct. The state does
016a crappy crummy job and that needs to be fixed. And I am genuinely thankful for all the work he has done to advocate for a state budget model that will provide funding that will benefit us in the future. I wish that I could stand here and tell you how proud I am to have a superintendent making such changes at a macro level that will benefit multiple districts across the state. I wish I could stand here and tell you that I appreciate all of the help he has given me in my own efforts to my align my work with his to push together towards this macro vision that if it ever comes to fruition will benefit us greatly even once he is long gone. But I can't do any of that. I simply cannot get past
017all the harm and damage inflicted upon us at the local level without any sense of reciprocation at the administrative level. The constant engagement in deflection and misinformation is also vexing. Why can't the board provide a clear and transparent explanation for why they believe a budget that priorit prioritizes central services staffing is in the best interest of students. The community has raised many concerns repeatedly about the salaries that are so much higher than like-sized districts. What is the rationale for that? When someone asks for an explanation, why is a topic deflected toward teacher salaries that are a rare exception to the rule? To claim that some teachers make 170,000 as if that somehow justifies your own cabinet's excessive salaries is so outrageous. A teacher at the top of the salary who is past experience and past
018credits makes about 114 115,000. They can make an additional 6,000 if they work an extra five optional days. They can make an extra 10,000 if they do the work to get national board certified. If they're sped, they can make an extra 5,000 from working an extra 49 hours on their IEPs. They can work summer school 75 hours to make another 6,000. Inter session 20 hours, another 2,000. That would only put them at $143,000. They would have to actually coach in addition to that to make it anywhere near that $170,000 mark. It's outrageous. Our community passed a levy because they believed in us and our ability to be successful. and instead you have turned around and cut the teachers and the programs that that levy was meant to support. We deserve better and you can do
019better. That budget is not done. It is not set in stone. You can give us our librarians back and you can stop cutting. you do. I personally do not believe you have legal grounds to be cutting if you can turn around and hire extra administrative staff. We want our librarians [Applause] [Music] [Laughter] back. So, uh thank you President Beckett for indulging me. I know that um sometimes when some when comments are made um on the fly and somebody's rebutting in the moment uh there's not a preparation that goes into reading something when you first come up. So, I'm not going to address every component, but I think that uh there are a few things that I think are worth worthy of addressing, especially since if we don't respond, we know that media is listening. And
020sometimes when uh a comment is made and there's no retort, that becomes the truth. And I think that's what we've seen in many instances in our district where social media tends to be the place where we get most of our news. Um, I really appreciate the passion that Franny has and coming up here and the work that she's done most recently in working towards advocating for all districts, especially those in prop those that are property po poor, specifically House Bill uh 2049, which I'm still working on and have hopes that there will still be an adjustment that will benefit Yakama. But I've also found that the best lies are those that are mixed with truth and those are the ones that I really can't let stand. So uh in the spirit of what uh President
021Guerrero said, the invitation stands for anybody in our community. Reach out. I will come and meet with you. You can come and meet with me. You can bring whoever you would like because the information that is out there is a halftruth. And the case in point, um, I just share in in what was brought forward here this evening, just one small example. Um, we're so proud of the work that our our teachers do. And the the the the number that was mentioned was straight out of a quote that was shared out of out of context. So when we talk about living, here's what it was here's what the quote was straight out of uh, KIMA. The exciting thing about we where we live in Washington is our teachers are well paid and they should be.
022When I started, teachers made around 20,000. Now the top scale teachers can earn 170,000. Not every teacher earns that, but it's a significant and deserved salary for such a difficult job. Green explained, "Yakama has the lowest overhead in any public school administration in the county and one of the lowest in the state at 15%. You cannot complain about one without identifying the great things that are happening at the micro level, not just the macro level." And then I can go on and on. So there are many examples that I could give you. I commend the board for taking a beating, for doing a wonderful job as uh state board of the year, for doing your homework in advance, for asking questions in advance. And I understand that this is a time, just like I said
023at the beginning of what we were talking about here today, making any cuts is never easy. Making any adjustments is never easy. And it pains me. And I cannot share the districts, but it will become very evident in the next few months. It is amazing some of the districts that you will see going to binding conditions in the next month. And they're going to be districts that you don't expect. It's heartbreaking to see some of our smaller districts who percentage-wise are are reducing more than we are, but are overshadowed because of Yakama. And I'm glad that we're doing that because it allows it allows some leeway for some of those superintendents and communities to heal. But I think the reason that uh what we could most do to have success in our district is find
024a way and I and I just extend this again open. We can do so much more together than we can separate. So I can continue knocking on the door of legislature or we can join together like we're doing with um you know Franny and helping with that. Uh but also it's got to start somewhere and if there's not going to be ext a hand extended out to have those conversations in advance and go straight to social media uh and that is something that's being directly it's a tactic and you know people know it's a tactic and that's fine but don't come up here then and act like it's not and act like the board is not doing their job. They're doing a tremendous job and this is a difficult time. And lastly, I commend once
025again I commend once again the work of our HR department who has I think at this point after two weeks two weeks ago we made our last reductions. We now have only 18 positions who have not been placed. I totally understand that that's not the same as having the position that you were in. But already having brought back over 40 plus positions that were reduced and having all back but 18 is a significant step and just shows the incredible work that's happening not only in HR but in conjunction with our unions. So with that I will yield back to our president. Thank you Dr. Green. At this point I'm excited to welcome Bonnie Smith who is the principal of the Yakima Valley Technical School hosting us here today to give us a presentation from the
026Wybe skills center. Bonnie, welcome. The floor is [Applause] yours. All right. I know you guys want to go on a tour. Mr. Fam's going to lead the tour. So, we're going to go through this quickly so you can get up and move around and see some of our great classrooms and items. School Board President Beckett, esteemed members of the Yakama School Board and Superintendent Green. Today we are excited to share information about Yakama Valley Technical Skills Center, also known as Yvy Tech. Again, my name is Bonnie Smith. I serve as the principal of Yvy Tech and the executive director for the college and career readiness department. This is Mr. Fun Fam, who's been our assistant principal for seven years. And back in our young days, we both taught classes here um before going through our
027principal certifications. All right. Just a little bit about YBT. If you do not know the skill center model, I want to let you know that skill centers are multiaceted, but our purpose um is direct. We are hosted by the Echimma School District, but we provide free, yes I said free, advanced preparatory academic, professional, and skilled technical programs um open to all area high school 11th and 12th grade students in the Yakama Valley. We're an extension of the area high schools. They spend half their day with us um and half their days at their home school. And as you can see on this slide, we offer 18 advanced prep, college, and career technical programs. We have 21 teachers. YB or 20 Yakimo school district teachers and we serve 974 students currently from 15 different school districts
028ranging from Ellensburg Kittitas County all the way down through the Yakimo County into Mapton. Um and of our total enrollment 38% of the students come from the Yakama school district. Credit equivalencies and dual college credit. Um, our programs are two and a half hours a day, 5 days a week. Our students spend 12 and a half hours with us at the end of the year. Um, they have 540 hours in the program. We have some students that come back as second years that then have 1,080 hours of education in their advanced preparatory programs related to the careers that they choose. Um, one thing uh I wanted to share is we were talking today um in our planning session is that since 22 23 school year, we've been able to increase the number of college credits
029by 33% both dual uh CTE credits and also college and the high school credits. So, we're doing some changes and making some moves here. This slide also, I know you can't read the small piece, but all of our programs have um credit equivalencies for the graduation, the high school graduation requirements. So, every program at Wybec, including cosmetology that has elite down at uh by the Red Robin, uh they actually have an art credit. And so, we are all um credit equivalent. All right. So you're going to hear across the state right now they're calling it a new economy and it is rapidly evolving. Um and with it comes a growing demand for highskilled workers. Um and so one of the stats up here in Washington state 70% of family wage jobs now require a post-secary
030credential such as a degree certificate or registered apprenticeship. And this is highlighting the shift uh towards a knowledge and skill base for any employment. Um, also on here, yet in 2023, House Bill 2626 passed into law where Washington has set a bold goal ensuring that 70% of adults hold a credential beyond high school by 2030. Um, and uniquely for us, uh, that means we must align our educational systems, not only YvTech, but our CTE from the Yakim School District. we must align our programs um with what the workforce needs regionally and then also statewide. So, we're in the middle of working on that to make sure that our students can be placed locally um obtain those credentials and those degrees and then get a good uh family paying job, industry recognized credentials. Um as of
0312425 school year, there are over 100 approved industry recognized credentials. We call these IRC's. I know you guys don't like the short acronyms. Um, but they're called IRC's in Washington state approved by OSPI. All of our YVT Techch programs prepare students to take these industry professional technical certifications. And as of today, Mr. Fam reported that 80% of our students have earned their at least one IRC in their program. And I'm looking Mr. Whitikin out there. He has uh four uh IRC's for his students in his program. And then I just want to talk about the money because the money for our families, our programs, our school pays for the industry recognized credentials. Um, and so as we look at it, I was talking our nursing assistant students, their state licensing and required credentials cost $372.
032That's not placed on the families. That's placed within our programs that we we pay for. So those students do not have a barrier um as they look to go to college uh and or into the workforce. And then I was over talking in electrical, uh, Mr. uh, Krueger out there and then Mr. Parish, their credentials for the electrical program, the pre-apprentice uh, training program over $2,400 cost per student. And so again, if they've earned it here, we're able to pay for that. So it does not put barriers on the students and the families and then our community. Um, so those are some of the exciting things that we're doing here at YVTech uh to take care of students, families, and the community. And then I wanted to share, uh, we embed internships in our 540
033hour programs, and these are the list of the programs that have that. Um, and then in additional, we have some pre-apprentice, LNI approved, uh, apprentice training programs also here at YBT. And so with that again, we're connecting them to the next level and the next step just like our mission and vision states. Uh and it's all part of our programs and the works that our instructors do for those. And then lastly, I've got to double click this, right? Uh lastly, I wanted to share our student voice. Uh Juel Brumley was my supervised uh principal evaluator and brought student voice. And so uniquely at YVT Techch this year, we have a couple avenues to make sure student voice is heard. Uh student led conferences. This is the first year we YVT Techch has held student led
034conferences. We held it in uh in October 30th on a Wednesday. We do an all day event because we have families coming from Ellensburg all the way from Mapton up to visit with us. And then we did it in the spring on March 26th. Again, another all-day event. We don't take the same Monday early releases and some of the PD days because we serve so many districts. Um but with that we were able to get student led conferences in in the fall. They talked about the impact that they had from their program and what they were going to do with their program for the next step. And also it was kind of interesting to watch the kids present their own tardy and absence uh rates and watch parents come straight to the office and have
035a conversation. Some of the phone numbers were hooked up not from Skyward but to the students's phone numbers. It was pretty impressive but we were able to take care of that uh and support students. We have ASB just like uh our other schools do. We have CTSO leadership. You guys will hear Skills USA, TSA, HOSO, we talked about those from the CTE piece. This is a required part of advanced prep and CTE programs. And so when we have this students are doing natural leadership and we're developing them at a young age. Uh uh the Nths, Mr. Clemc is in the back there. He's our adviser for National Technical Honor Society. Many of our students cannot attend their own honor society at their schools because they're with us a half a day. This way we're able
036to have an honor society that's nationally approved and recognized and Mr. C um shares or I'm going to say advises those students, but really the students advise Mr. C and us because of that student voice. And then the last one, uh, we were able to on March 19th bring students over from our YBT Tech various programs, uh, including the Yakim school district students and spend the day with our legislators and senators and have that conversation. They were making some tough decisions on bills that day. And to put a student face in front of them, uh, I think made them think twice a little bit, put a smile on their face. But if you knew how well our Yakama students are speaking of the programs and their education, it was profound. Now, we came back wondering
037if we're really living up to how they spoke that day because it was so profound. Uh, and we were so impressed. And so, again, we were telling the students, they don't want to hear from us. They hear from us all the time as adults. They want to hear from you guys. And once they found that out, right, they didn't know. They just needed us to pay for their meals and make sure they got back in the vehicle to come home. So, couple different things. All right. Gosh, that's right, Barb. You limited me on slides, Dr. Green. See, it worked out well. We're going to ask now. Is it time then to we can take our tour? Mr. Fam's going to lead our tour. We're just right here on the first floor. We have seven minutes,
038Barb tells me. Well, in the spirit of benevolent dictatorship, I'll give you nine. Nine. Nine minutes, Barb. All right. All right. Mr. family want to join us and Okay, please join us as we we're just going to go down this first row here down the first hallway and see some of the programs and our big equipment that we share with all our students. I just wanted to check and see. Thank you guys for going on the tour with us um and seeing the facilities. I'll I'll pre-warn you now as Dr. Green will hear in the next superintendence meeting from the valley, but we're landlocked, right? We're ready to expand and out of space. So maybe we can grow up. I don't know. We'll figure out that coming up. Are there any questions that you might
039have for Wy Tech? No questions, but want to just commend you um and the staff here for all the work that they're doing. Um there's a one of our new newer programs, the medical assistant apprentichip pre-apprenticeship program that um is I think just a really great example of how responsive YBT is to the needs of of the the the community that we're in. Medical assistance is one of the highest growing professions um really across the country and certainly in the Akma Valley and surrounding areas as well. and so that we have a program um that is uh going to directly uh meet those needs and those are uh uh um great paying jobs right out of training. So, um glad to see that and even with a short tour learning about the different programs we
040have and how much uh credit goes towards the full um lensure post uh graduation um is is just really impressive and the placement rates and uh internship uh placement rates and job placement rates are both really impressive. So, just really commend all the work that you're doing here. Good job. Very good. Thank you guys. Anytime you want to come visit, I'm here. I do have a question real quick if you have a moment. So as as we know a lot of our students start medical as medical assistants and dental assistants with the goal of going into nursing and dental hygienists. So can you describe the curriculum that helps him to develop a strong foundation in more of the college level like biology, human anatomy, physiology and chemistry. Um yes. So for any of the allied
041health programs uh any of the um anatomy based physiologies that we have at the high schools um the biology has to be the starting point. even the new college and the high school public health class that we have. Health is such a basic foundation for them to make choices to decide which way they want to go. And then uh Dr. Green and I were actually able to meet with President interim president Teresa Rich and Carrie Kavanagh VP at YBC on Friday to open up those discussions so that we can make sure like our dental assisting will actually get those um competitive points for the dental hygiene bachelor programs and to be able to move on to that next step. So we're we're recreating those connections so that those students have those local opportunities um because
042they also have medical assisting there as does Perry Tech. Um so we're feeding into the system and we're also able to oper off offer apprenticeship opportunities for that earn while you learn model as a senior. Um and so we're excited to be able to do a variety to meet every student need. I know those those programs are highly competitive. I think YBC only has 18 seats a year and WSU as well. So, I'm always looking to see how our students can be even more competitive, right, and win and win those seats so they can achieve their their educational goals. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. There any other questions from the board? If not, Bonnie, I would just echo um my gratitude for the tour today. Thank you very much. It's nice. I think this is
043the second time I've been able to take a tour here. Uh, and it's um also fun because we get to be here once a year for the recognition ceremony and to get to see the students and the parents that come for that evening and it's a pleasure to be here for that. I also have um enjoyed being a part of a nonprofit that does a service project here uh building blankets in the winter a number of of years in the in the past. And it's uh fantastic, I think, that you go to such lengths to make sure the building is opened up to the community for something like that. It's a really um hard thing to do to open up a building on a weekend early in the morning and make it available for the
044community, but it goes a long way with proving to the community valleywide what a fabulous program we have here and how proud we are of it. So, I really want to say thank you and thank you again for the tour. Would you please join me in thanking Principal Smith and everyone here at YB Tech for hosting us today? Thank you. We'll take us to updates from members of the board. Are there any board members who wish to make an update this afternoon? Just a quick one. Um, we've got the regional meeting for WAZDA for director area 8 uh coming up I think this week. It's in Thorp. So I don't know how many of us are willing to make that kind of drive but um yeah it should be it should be interesting and additionally
045the um submission period for um proposals for this year's the upcoming general assembly have closed and we should be getting the list for the legislative committee to look at um this this week sometime because we meet Friday and Saturday to take our first look at the proposals that are coming. Thank you. Thank you. I just want to share and commend um Miss uh Bachman Quincy at Wilson Middle School. Um, I've had the opportunity to uh do uh math goal setting with uh the middle school class there um in Mr. Robert's class in particular, and it's the second time that I've done that. And it's just really neat to see how uh well the kids have improved uh last session to this time. um and to see how excited they are when they um uh recognize
046the adult that came back uh that's helping them with goal setting and and to be excited with uh in in sharing the their new and improved scores. And so I just want to commend the work that that's happening there and and the impact that uh uh Mr. Roberts uh is having and and Miss uh Bachman Quincy as well in organizing uh that that opportunity. It's been really a neat experience. Thank you. Moving on then to the superintendent's update. Dr. Green, thank you. A couple of items. One, we want to recognize Gilbert uh Elementary School for Student Growth. They're recognized by OSPI uh this past couple weeks, about two weeks ago. Uh we wanted to bring that before the board. They're the only school district uh school in our district thus far uh to be recognized
047for the 23 24 year on student growth. So again, Gilbert Elementary. We have Naomi Reyes, a teacher out of Mckenley, who was recognized as one of 20 in the United States uh using Imaginary uh Imagine Learning Spanish classes. So, she is an award winner of one of 20 in the entire country, 240 minutes plus uh this spring. I would anticipate that that's probably weekly per per student, but I would have to double check on that. And then in hearing um Director Via Noeva talk about her classes. Thank you for bringing that up when you go to Wilson. And I know director Walker goes to Wilson as well. Um I do also. And so I want to recognize Angel um Almaguer, Angel Almaguer, uh whose sixth grade class I've attended now, uh once a month for
048I think it's been three months now. and just to see the auto automaticity changes and the increases and to now know the students well enough that when I come in um to challenge them on their goal setting in a way that I wasn't doing that first session when I was and what we bring to the table director vo and director um Walker so if anybody could attend those sessions going to any school and helping out in a classroom is always a great way to see actually what's happening the work that goes into uh benefiting our students and they've made some great achievements. So with that, uh the only other remaining item I mentioned previously and if the board has a question, I would ask uh Kim Newell to come up if there's a follow-up question.
049But uh thus far, uh I just wanted to share the numbers we have had. We had a reduction of 49 or 46 positions, which when there is a riff, it always impacts many more people than you would want. You never want it to affect anyone. Uh but of course it does and it expands and and and affects a lot of people with those shifts that take place. Out of those 46 positions that we were we have lost uh we have all but 18 currently accounted for uh back in our system. So unfortunately not in the same position which is always the rub and rightfully so. That is something that u is a challenge. Uh but to have somebody back into a position employed in the district is the first and foremost uh item that we'd
050like to take care of in that riff and recall. So, 18 certified staff that do do not yet have a position uh after two weeks, I believe, or two or three weeks. Uh do you have any questions on that followup that would necessitate Kim coming up to the podium? Okay, that's it then. That's my report for today. I believe we have a lot on the next agenda. So, thank you Dr. Green. We do have it looks like just over three pages of events highlighted for community engagement between district events, varsity events, and individual building events. It is that time of year. I would point everybody to that spot in board docs to make sure they have all of those appropriate dates on their calendar. Dr. Green, is is Kirsten here today? Is there anything to
051highlight? Is there anything you want to highlight today? I apologize. I think we probably do. There's quite a bit coming. Excellent. Thank you, Kirsten. Thank you so much. I agree. There are a lot of [Music] Uh in addition that um our district one will assess the writing contest which is exciting education program is our pivot lecture email excellence in education awards this week May 8:00 p.m. auditorium. Our health and wellness education center summer kickoff resource fair is on May 14th. There is a suicide prevention family night also on May 15th at Franklin Middle School at 5:30. Our HAP celebration May 16th and honors convocation May 19th. We have um more events that are following that, but we do have a board meeting on uh May 20th. So I will go over those at that time.
052There are also numerous school events that are occurring during this time from transition nights to our preschool uh resource fair etc. So um you're right President Beckett, those are all listed on our website. So thank you for that opportunity. Thank you Kirsten. That will take us to our first comment or opportunity, excuse me, for comment from the public on agenda items. And I have a list here. I'll remind everybody, we do have a uh time limit of 3 minutes. And so if you do hear the the timer go off, please don't take it personally, but we are keeping time so that everyone has their opportunity to be heard. To begin with, I believe from Stanton, we have Luca Bacheri. Luca, welcome. The floor is yours. Here we go. Thank you. You all are excellent teachers.
053Okay. Good afternoon, community members, fellow educators, members of the board, and Superintendent Green. Uh, and actually this is not on my script here, but before I get started, if I could just request because I've just noticed, and I'm not going to call out anyone in particular, if people could be off typing their laptops or have their phones down, give me three minutes of your time. I would consider it a personal favor. Uh, I have to ask my classes that too. So, I'll ask you all to do the same for me, please. My name is Luca B. Kerry, and I'm a thirdyear teacher in the Yakma School District. I am the face of one of the Rift educators, Rift, in two consecutive years. uh that also includes my wife. I wanted you all to see my
054face. While I know that you are aware that your decisions affect human beings, perhaps you do not get the opportunity to see us in person as much as we would wish. Our job is educators and in this group I include teachers, custodial staff, librarians, uh speech language pathologists, nurses, school sites, bus drivers, protects, pareducators, security, and cafeteria staff. If I left you out uh your position, please forgive me. My forgetfulness does not diminish your value. Our job is to support our students to support their academic growth as well as their growth as young people. All of these positions I've mentioned, many of which have been affected by the riffs, have daily contact with students in our districts. When we are rifted, it sends a message about the values of our district. And it is a
055troubling message. The message is that those of us most directly working with students are disposable. I've heard some of the most common rebuttals from members of our district leadership. Shrinking or cut national and state budgets, declining enrollment. But riffs of such magnitude last year and this year are not simply a reality of these factors. They are a reflection of value in our district. You tell us it is not personal. It's just the reality of running a district sometimes. Of course, it's incredibly personal. It shows how much you value us. Granted, there is declining enrollment in budgets. These are two factors that must be navigated. However, our situation in YSD needs to be looked at from a budget management standpoint within our district. Rampant spending during COVID and in the year or two after seem to
056be void of forethought of the future. We have all heard the specifics of these purchases as well as the justifications from some of our district leadership as to why they were necessary. Here is what is clear. Poor financial decisions made in the Akimma School District, not the state, and not the nation, are what led to you feeling the need to riff educators at such an extreme rate. Perhaps those who made these poor financial decisions, not to mention those whose salaries dwarf even our highest educational leadership in the state, should be the ones taking responsibility. An apology and admittance of errors, would be a good start. then perhaps deciding whether your value is so high that it is worth it to sacrifice those people who work directly with our students on a daily basis. Instead, maybe
057you should consider some difficult budget reduction decisions at the district leadership level. I was fortunate enough to be recalled. Sorry. All right, that goes fast. Thank you, Luca, for speaking today. Next on the list is Miriam Hubard from Gilbert. Miriam just under three weeks ago. I was at this podium trying to show people how important librarians are was part of my message. By the way, looking at how many times you guys like to go into classrooms, my standing invitation is anytime you have a moment, drop into my library and see what librarians do. Along with that, I also reminded Mr. Green that he had had an appointment since November to come in and see what I was doing with Washington State history with fourth graders. I believe we're the only school in the district having
058Washington state history with fourth graders because I took it on and added it to my list. Today, I stand here to give a public thank you to Mr. Green. He came, he took notes, he listened, and sent me an written evaluation with helpful hints. Thank you, Mr. Green. Thank you, Miriam. Next on our list is Heather Kesler from Eisenhower. Welcome. Thank you. Good evening. I am Heather Kesler. I'm the Eisenhower High School librarian. Tonight, I want to explain some of the roles librarians play in fulfilling the district's operational procedures and mission and share with you some of the work I am currently doing. The last few weeks, I have been working with our college and the high school students on their research papers to earn university credit. I am teaching them how to use databases,
059find peer-reviewed articles, and do proper citations and bibliographies. I am very proud of their hard work. In lie of the cuts to middle and high school librarians, I have been wondering about the plan in an age of misinformation and alternative facts. What is the plan to support next year's projected 7,47 secondary students? My high school students come to me with beginning research experience because of their middle school librarians. I understand that one reason we're in a budget crisis is because enrollment is down. College is expensive and nothing will boost enrollment like a reputation for Yakama schools earning college credit in high school. But university requirements IB and AP are demanding and our students must learn to research. What is the plan to increase enrollment by earning the reputation as a district that helps our students
060earn college credit as we support our students? What is the plan to follow operational procedures 2311 and 2315 that name a teacher librarian as one of the research as the one to research and review books for our libraries? Appropriate books don't magically appear on the shelves, especially at middle school where young adult content can be inappropriate. Suitable books are currently carefully chosen according to district policies by trained librarians who stop book challenges before they start. What is the plan to ensure that our secondary students have access to quality and well-ressearched books to read? Schoolboard members, I think we should be asking what is the plan without middle school and high school librarians to support our students with research lessons to successfully navigate college earning, college credit earning classes? What is the plan to follow operational
061procedures? And what is the plan to have carefully curated collections that entice students off their phones? At the very least, we need at least one or two certificated librarians managing our secondary collections and supporting research. Without any certificated middle school and high school librarians, and without a p a plan, our students, teachers, and librarians will suffer. Together, let's make a plan. I'm here to help, and I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you, Heather. Next on the list, I believe it's Terresa McDonald. The handwriting may be a little different. Thank you. Please come right on up. Thank you for being here this evening. Welcome. Good afternoon. I'm a community person from the public that when I was told the levy told for the levy because it would be teachers would re receiving more funding
062so there could be more programs. But as soon as the levy went through, you started reing teachers. Instead of hiring new administrative people and terminating teachers, you should return those teachers back because they're needed to the public like the librarians and the steam teachers that help students with their education. And you also took funding which was designated for PE and music department which that made them have less music activities. The librarians are more are very important because they are the ones that assist the students more than the teachers. They are very essential to the education. We the public supported the levy for the teachers and the students, not for you to misuse funding and give yourselves raises. You need to cut staff from your own staff, not education staff who work with students. Because of
063you, many teachers are going to be struggling to support their families. And and you really have to realize because what you're doing now and when you are needing teachers, they're not going to be applying because they're not going to trust you because you're mishandling so much funding. And we I'm a because I help my kids get into the education field and I told them that was a good place for them because they like teaching students. But with this, you're really affected. And me as a public, next time the levy comes up, I'm telling you, I'm not voting for it. And I'm letting everybody know in the public, don't vote for the levy because look at what you did. The other levy you terminated pair pros and some other programs. And every year you're doing contradicting
064what you guys told the public. And I'm on the I'm the public and I realize you're not being truthful to the public. you missed the information you provided to the public so we can vote for the levy. It was false. So I'm telling you now, I was debating a lot before the due date. I said, "Okay, I'll give you one more chance." So I voted yes for the levy even though my taxes was going to go up and I said I'll give him another chance. But with this next levy, no. because you're you need to recall all the teachers you dismissed. [Applause] Thank you, Teresa. Next on our list is Tracy Sawyer from Hoover. Welcome, Tracy. Thank you. Hello. Um I'm Tracy Sawyer. I'm the reading interventionist at Hoover, home of the Huskys. Um Julio
065asked me to shout us out. My husband Andy is an ELA teacher at Washington and we have a child who is an IB student at Davis. So I have many roles and capacities within the Akma school district and I cannot make sense of why we rift our secondary librarians. It is my opinion that we are in a literacy crisis in the United States. And I'm not talking basic reading. We actually have figured that out and we're making huge gains at our elementary level thanks to our adoption of science of reading practices. However, reading is not just decoding. We need to have a deep understanding of our world and beyond to make connections. Most of us need to read broadly to make the connections necessary to be considered educated. We also need a lot of opportunities
066to practice discerning what is fact and what is manipulation in a space where it's safe to do that. This is becoming increasingly important with the advent of AI. AI is neutral. It can be a force for good, but it can also be a force for evil. But regardless, only those who are literate are going to be able to use AI effectively. So our roles in classrooms are to teach our students to make connections and discern fact from fiction. But we can't do that alone. We need our students need librarians so that they can master these skills in different context. Librarians through their professionalism and expertise provide the space, time and resources for our students to become truly literate. So, I know librarians are essential to places of learning, but it seems that the district is
067questioning that. And this makes me really question YSD's vision and mission because those aren't just words that you write on top of agendas or put on slick posters or on billboards. They are reflected in action. And what you cut shows what you value. And this is the second year you are cutting positions that have direct student contact. So I think a lot of us tonight are here because we don't know what you stand for or what we stand for and what this district values. Thank you. Thank you, Tracy. Next up is Annie Blake from McKinley. Annie. mirror. So when I say go ahead and close those computers I know our technology department automatically saves things. Go ahead and close them. And if my hands move, your hands can move. Thank you for giving us the
068respect of closing your computers and maintaining eye contact with all of us that have to speak. So here we go. Dr. Dr. Green, I wanted to say my first year teaching four years ago when I got hired full-time as a teacher instead of a substitute, I met you. I was excited. I remember going home to my dad who's a teacher and I said, "Oh my gosh, I think this is going to be an awesome experience at McKenley at Yaka School District. Superintendent seems like he gets it. He's a parent. He knows what we're going through as parents as we're coming out of COVID." And then year two hits and last year and this year and I have been deeply deeply disappointed in the direction that things have gone. You just said this morning or the
069the beginning of the board meeting that you're serving and supporting students. You're student centered. But hold on. All the cuts have affected students. Can you go ahead and close your computer? Thank you. Um, I can send you notes. That's fine, too. So, we were supposed to get updated curriculum, I don't know, a couple years ago for math. We're still using outdated curriculum. Um, we can't even get tissue paper, like tissue for kids to blow their nose. I've had to buy my own. We're still trying to get decent Clorox wipes so we can clean up spills from breakfast after the bell. You've cut the paras so that our kids are having structured recess because they can't manage three to four classrooms of students outside because there's only one or two of them trying to manage all
070those students. We have outdated technology in our classroom. I have a projector that's so old I had to go buy own my own speakers so I can have audio because the district didn't have any to fit my projector. But you won't update the projector. That's okay. I can make do with what I've got. I'm out school. I I grew up with with with technology. I can do it. But here's the thing. You mention our salary and and we can make 170,000. That would be really nice. Um but to continue or to maintain our certification, we have to go back to school. We have to continue learning to maintain our certification to move up the pay scale. We have to pay for clock hours. We have to go to school, continue our education to move up
071the pay scale. Dr. Green, what do you do to maintain your level of salary? What do you do? Yeah, we're still paying off our student loans, but we don't make enough. I know. All your cuts have done nothing but affect the students and the classrooms. I will be presenting more. Next in our list is Crystal Mary. Crystal, welcome. My name is Crystal Mary. I am a retired um uh YA member as well as retired WA member and um speaking on behalf of the RIFF. We have had two years of horrendous riffs. Lives are being disrupted of our young teachers who are talented and bring new ideas and really rejuvenates us folks who have been in the field working for so long. And I I just it amazes me as a community member, taxpayer, and people
072knowing that I was a a retired teacher coming to me and saying, "Oh my god, you guys made $170,000." And I'm going, "Whoa, whoa, whoa." And and so I had to go back to the KIM news report. And when I heard that, I thought, "Wow, no wonder the community is coming to me about the riffs. They're coming to me about salary. They're coming to me with all these these questions. And um I don't understand why. It's great that you've hired all but 18 people back, but of those 18 people, we're we're going to lose them. I had a community member come to me and say, "Hey, you know, excited about their daughter got hired last year, but then she was cut. She got hired back as one of these people who came back and and
073she got cut again." And I don't, she goes, "Crystal," she goes, "Why? I thought they could only be rifted once." And I said, 'You know, I don't know for sure, but again, how can we maintain our youth, our young teachers, our young educators, pair paraprofessionals? Um, how can we encourage others to come to our district if we are constantly rifting, hiring back, rifting, hiring back? I you know I in the business world that wouldn't happen but yet sometimes in education people say oh we've got to be we've got to be more like the a business and again I don't understand how we can be so topheavy and yeah a 4% raise on a teacher salary is very very different than a 4% raise on administrator or superintendent dependent salary. Our our community have felt lied
074to our community members. We're taxpayers and and again the way employees are treated within the Yakma school district with riffs. There's an issue. There's a problem. We are losing out on some highly educated, enthusiastic young educators [Applause] that our second opportunity for public comment. follows our first opportunity for public comment. Do we have a list of people who have signed up for the second opportunity? Okay. Thank you, Kirsten. Thank you, Casey. We'll get we'll get you to sign in, but go ahead, please. you got the list or uh I can we'll make it work. Yeah, absolutely. Please go ahead. Go ahead. All right. Uh hi, Mark Eeken. I am eighth year teacher over at Louiswis and Clark Middle School. Um I have been fortunate enough not to have been rifted in the last two years.
075And sorry, I've been fortunate enough not to have been rifted in the last two years, though I know a great many people who have, especially at Louiswis and Clark. were the highest rift building in the district. Um, so those of you who have repeated that fate again have my sympathies. Uh, I want to finish what we had going on for Luca. Uh, he had some words. They were worth hearing. I think we should all finish it up. He wanted to acknowledge that he does not envy the job of running the district. Having to make tough decisions and deliver tough news is certainly not an easy task. With that said, I believe strongly that those decisions should always be made with our students and the quality of accessibility of the education in the mind. How can
076we build strong impactful relationships with students? We were constantly being shuffled from building to building or teaching assignment. When we get the chance to remain in one position for several years, we can increase our comfort and our strength with that subject and in turn build on the passion of uh that learning for students. Consistency in what and where we are teaching is so important for our students so that we form a place where class after class can come for education and sense of stability year after year. It is clear that this board and some of our leadership is not putting this mission at the center of their decision-m. Our youth and our education are the most valuable commodity now and for our future. When will you start giving back the value to our students and
077those who are in most direct contact with them? I hope you've heard him. I hope you see him. Luca, please stand up. There are many more like him being affected. I urge you to reflect on your decisions and the lives you impact. We have value. Our students have value. Now, personally, uh, Mr. ing. It's It's interesting to see that you want to say that you're one of us, that you have debts to pay. I'm sorry, but you're not one of us right now. I tell you what, if I was making what you're making, my debts would be paid off. I've been making a lot less for quite a while. So please, respectfully, if someone's upset because they're getting cut, because they got bills to pay, because they got debts, it's not the same as you,
078my [Applause] friend. Our next item on the agenda is the annual student voice report. Presenting tonight is Kirsten Fitterer. Thank you, President Beckett. Again, I'm Kristen Fidver. I'm the executive director of communications and engagement, and I am overseeing the uh student voice this year, and I bring forth to you uh the student voice policy 0580 for your consideration and uh compliance. I have reviewed the five sections of this policy and find that the superintendent is in compliance for each of the five sections. There is a emphasis this um this month, next month and next year at the middle school level in our development and I have indicated that in my summary report and have also included some evidence of compliance for each section that was up uploaded to board docs for you last week. Do
079you have any questions? Any questions from the board? Raella. Yeah. Um with all the work that the student um leadership group, the student advisory committee um did on this, um I wonder if there's any consideration in having uh the students come and and evaluate the policy. I think it's one thing for the adults to say yes, but considering this was such a a strongly uh studentled process, it'd be interesting to hear their um interpretation of compliance. Is that something that we've got given consideration to? So the plan is for them to actually come up with the measures that they would then be able to present. So we have been working with them to come up with those measures. Um as you can imagine the policy itself I think you're aware took over two two and
080a half years for them to complete. Um similarly the measurement work with them is uh elongated. Uh so in the interim then we're going forward uh with the assessment that we would do but that is the longer term goal. Uh it is not something that could happen timewise in probably even the next 3 months uh given their schedules. Hearing no other questions. The survey will be sent tomorrow to board members. It'll be due back by the 13th of May for the May 20th board meeting. Thank you, Kirsten. Our next item is the approval of the ratings for policy 1000.2.2 which were sent out. This is regarding the policy regarding the working environment of staff. The four responses were received showing that the superintendent is in compliance. Does any board member wish to elaborate or add
081to any of the comments in the survey? Hearing none, then I'd entertain a motion to approve the ratings for approve for policy 1000.2.2. So moved. Second. Have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All in favor, please say I. I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. The next item is the approval of ratings for policy 100.2.4. Before responses were received, all indicating that the superintendent is in compliance. Does any board member wish to elaborate or add to the comments in the survey? Hearing hearing no suggestions, do we have a motion to approve 1000.2.4? four. So moved. Second. Have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you very much, Mr. Superintendent. Do we have a need for executive session this
082evening? We do not. Well, then at this point then that takes us to the end of our agenda. We are adjourned till next time. Thank you all for being here. Thank you again to Bonnie and the team at YB Tech for hosting us. We are adjourned.