001like call the meeting to order. Please stand for the flag salute. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Welcome everyone. My name is Bill Hos and I'm the school board vice president this year. Um, before we we begin, I want to remind everyone that the agenda and meeting packet are made available on our district website at least 24 hours prior to the start of each meeting. Please note that while we strive to provide all relevant materials in advance, modifications to the agenda are permissible. Okay, the first thing we'll have is the audience and board recognition. >> All right. Uh we have one one recognition we're going to do tonight and then the
002other one um uh our director of human resources is actually in bargaining um right now. So I'll have uh Stara come on up. I know you're looking forward to this. So um many of you know Stara is leaving us at the end of the year to join her family um across the country and uh we are going to miss her. Um she is uh recipient of our distinguished leadership award and uh she's an excellent choice for YM community schools as distinguished leader. She has a real gift for bringing people together and creating a school culture where students and staff feel cared for, supported, and connected. Stara stepped into a challenging situation and quickly got to work building trust and community. Through strong communication, school events, and opportunities for families and staff to connect, she helped
003create a warm and welcoming environment where people feel included and invested in the success of the school. What stands out most about Stara is how much she genuinely cares about people. She listens, responds with kindness, and always keeps students and staff at the center of her work. She has also worked hard to expand opportunities for students and support the growth of her staff, helping staff feel encouraged and valued in their work. Because of her leadership, Lacamus has become a stronger and more positive place. school climate has has improved, student engagement has grown, and the community has benefited from the programs and traditions she's helped build. She also worked alongside other principles and served on district committees focused on helping our students and staff be successful, showing her commitment to the whole Yelm community schools family.
004Stara leads with heart, strength, and true team spirit. She has made a lasting difference at Lacamus and her leadership will be deeply missed at both the school and district levels. While we are sad to see her leave for North Carolina to be with her family, we're incredibly grateful for all she has given to our district and wish her nothing but the very best in the next chapter. CONGRATULATIONS, Oh yeah, we got to shake hands even though Debbie's not here. Next we will have the superintendence report. >> Um tonight I would like to uh give my time to an introduction of a new staff member. Um I invited her here this evening and uh she brought her whole family um which is exciting. So, um, Chelsea, would you like to come up and bring your family?
005And Mark, um, also come up. And while they're coming up, um, a little bit about Chelsea, uh, she will be serving as the Yel Middle School, uh, assistant principal, uh, because Kyle will be going over to Ridgeline. Chelsea comes to us from Olympia School District. She's been at Centennial Elementary School as a counselor. And um I will tell you through the process um Chelsea shined and uh everybody was so impressed uh with her and I even had multiple people I told her reach out to me unsolicited uh to tell me how great Chelsea is and how lucky we would be to have her as part of our team here. and um very much looking forward to having her at YMS and thought I'd let Mark uh share a few words and then maybe Chelsea could
006introduce who's here with her tonight. >> Of course. Yeah, Mark Bowden, YMS principal. Um Chris took almost everything that I was going to say. So, thank you. >> I was going to say how great she did in the interview process, how uh every group that we brought together to get feedback voted all in her favor. uh how we came to the next interview and everybody said obviously Chelsea um it it's a situation when you're looking for someone that you're going to work with so intensely you really want to find someone that is going to be a good fit and pretty quickly I felt like Chelsea was going to be that person for us. Um and and everyone else that was involved in the interview process felt that as well. Um, and much like Chris, many
007people have reached out to go like, "Man, you got a good one in Chelsea." And so I'm super excited. Um, uh, you know, she's going to come into the building in a couple days and and then we'll get we'll get to get our feet going and get get the job going and and I'm excited about it. So, if you want to introduce yourself and the family, whatever you want to do. >> Hi, I'm Chelsea Richardson. I'm super pumped to be a part of the YMS team. Um, this is my husband. Um together we have four amazing kids. Our oldest daughter um she's doing the adult thing uh over in Walaw Wala, so she's not with us. And then our next daughter is Emily. She is at CSU studying to be a veterinarian. And then this
008is my son, Jack, who I'm trying to get to come out here um with me. He's in eighth grade or will be in eighth grade. And this is my next son, Mikey, who will be a junior. So yeah, thank you guys so much. WE'RE REALLY EXCITED. IT'S NICE TO MEET ALL OF YOU AND uh thanks to the kids for coming. We know it's probably not your favorite thing to be introduced, but it's nice to meet all of you. >> Okay, item C is community comments. Superintendent Woods, are there any community comments in there? Yes, we have uh two um on the agenda or agenda items and then one that's a non-aggenda topic. >> Okay. I have to read this. So, I want to remind everyone of the guidelines for public comment in accordance with our
009policy 1400. For comments on non agenda items, the board will listen but not engage in discussion or take action tonight. Non-aggenda items may be referred to the admin for followup. Comments are limited to three minutes per speaker and 15 minutes per topic. For comments on the agenda items, board will also not engage in discussion during this time. Comments related to agenda items are limited to five minutes per speaker and 20 minutes per topic. Please note that comments directed to the performance of school personnel are not permitted. All remarks must be appropriate for open public meetings and presented respectfully. The board president will stop comments that violate these expectations and disruptions beyond the comment period may result in the meeting being paused or ended. Additionally, the board's silence during public comment should not be interpreted as
010agreement or endorsement of the speaker's remarks. Our role during this portion is to listen. We value your participation and appreciate your cooperation in helping us maintain a respectful and productive meeting environment. >> All right. Uh, first one is Matt Sturz speaking about the reduction in force and attendance. >> Hey, good evening. I'm Matt Sts. I do campus security down at the uh at the high school. So, at the last board meeting, I know Will Gunstrom highlighted several of the deficiencies and concerns that we had about safety and security uh throughout YCS. Uh tonight I'm asking the board directly to reconsider the decisions on cutting campus security positions. With these reductions, the district will lose its active shooter response program alice because there will be no longer a certified instructor within the district. Uh I would
011ask the board who else is uh qualified has formal training, education, real world experience in safety, security and emergency management necess necessary to cons uh continue this work. Uh the two most experienced security professionals in the district have now been laid off. According to YCS website, YM Community Schools is focused on safety issues throughout the district and creating a sense of security for all students, staff, and visitors. Yet, the district has chosen to eliminate the two individuals with the most experience in school safety and security. At the last board meeting, attendance was identified as a major concern. One of the primary responsibilities of campus security is ensuring students get into class on time. Identifying those uh students that are skipping, leaving campus, and are truent. Eliminating campus security positions will only make those problems worse.
012Harassment, intimidation, and bullying was also noted. campus security are often uh the first ones that recognize when students are being bullied. Um if we're not there um the um presence of us not being there, those incidents may go unnoticed or not even reported. Uh violent critical incidents are occurring in schools across the country on a daily basis. In the last three years, there have been more than 441 gun incidents on school campuses where guns were discharged, resulting in 135 deaths, 340 injuries. These numbers do not include other violent incidences such as stabbings, assaults, and threats. While these are national statistics, uh this also includes or these incidents are also happening locally and impacting our own communities. We have heard about the stabbings at Foss High School and on the first day at GK High School,
013uh, non- students arrived on campus, one of them carrying a gun. Uh, these incidents remind us that school violence is not a distant issue and is happening here as well. Schools must be prepared to respond quickly, effectively to violent, critical incidents in order to protect students, staff, and families. The rift notices we received specifically stated that our competencies and qualifications were not factors in the decisions that were and that the reductions were strictly uh budget related. According to the superintendent's report, the total savings generated from the cuts uh is $2,341,393. Based on the my understanding, the district needed to reduce approximately 2 million for the budget. Uh this raises some questions about whether the extent of the cuts were truly necessary, especially considering the impact that they will have on school safety. So closing, I
014just have two questions to leave with the board. Is saving approximately $105,000 worth eliminating two campus positions? Because that's how much it is, 105,000 for two campus security positions. And then is that what Yum Community Schools believes the safety of its students and staff is worth? So that's all I have. And if the board would like to have additional comp comments or uh questions or anything like that, feel free to reach out to me at any time. Thank you. >> Is Will Gunstrom also on reduction in force and attendance. Hello again. My name is Will Gunstrom. Um, I spoke at the last uh board meeting. I I had not planned on speaking tonight. I did not prepare comments. I'm just speaking from the heart tonight because um I'm the kind of guy that, you know,
015I listen to stuff. I listen to Matt talk and I go home at night and I'm like, you know, man, I wish I would have said that and it'll it'll bug me if I don't get up and say it. Um, so I'm going to say it. Um Matt talked about a couple of different things whether it be um attendance um bullying harassment and he gave some statistics and he you know tried to you know convey but I again I'm speaking from the heart and I want you guys to know um the way that I feel I feel that some decisions are being made up here at the district office without looking to what how that impacts our our kids um actually at the school because I I sit there and I'm thinking about just the
016last two days you know we talk about bullying and harassment I remember yesterday I'm walking. I'm leaving from the portables and I hear a kid going, "No, stop. Leave me alone. Leave me alone." So, I go over there. It's one of our special needs kids. It's being bullied by three seniors. Yes, it's seniors, 17 and 18 year old boys. So, you know, I get him. I bring him to admin. Admin took care of it. But I think to myself, and yes, it's personal, but I think to myself, who's going to stop that next year? Um, I think about just the last couple of days again, bullying and fights. Um, I think between Matt and I yesterday, um, stopped a fight, um, some kids that were going to jump some other kids, got them right off
017the bus, stopped it. Um, probably I don't know, maybe three three separate fights that we stopped before they happened because we recognize what's going on. Um, one of the one fight that did happen off campus over at the Moose Lodge, we were able to identify the kids and get them talked to and and try to calm the situation down, but one of the kids involved who's a a kid that was expelled. Um, his brother showed up after school looking for one of the kids to jump him. His brother's not a student here. Matt and I identified him and got him off campus. Who's going to do that next year? Um, today alone, we probably stopped I can think of at least four fights from happening. Um, I walked into the bathroom at lunch, the boys
018bathroom. There's two two boys nose tonse ready to to go. Nobody's going to stop that next year. What's going to happen? You're going to have a big brawl in the bathroom is what's going to happen. We had at least four of those incidents today. Um, just between, again, I'm just talking about today and yesterday. I mean, what are we talking 15 10 vapes confiscated, dab pin. We had a kid today um that we stopped and and he decided because my assumption is he has narcotics on him, he didn't want to deal with us on that, so he ran away and ran off campus. Um but that today alone um and I again I keep thinking to myself and yes it's personal because I'm I'm losing my job but it's also personal because my wife works
019here my kid goes to that school and eventually I got to ask myself okay eventually I got to stop standing up here as campus security and say you know what I got to stand up here as a parent and say what are you guys going to do I mean seriously what are you going to do what's the strategy um we you know I asked Mr. Woods personally, what is the strategy for next year? Who's going to stop this stuff? And so that's, you know, as you guys move on into your private conversations um and and as you talk about this stuff, whether this decision is final or not, we're asking it to be reconsidered. Um but I I I do want at the very least you guys have to ask the question, who is going
020to deal? These incidents are not going away. They're going to happen. They happen every single day. Um and we do our best. Like I said, we always joke we're just two old dudes, two old retired dudes trying to make this place safe. Um, but somebody's got to do it. So, that's all I have. Thank you guys. >> We have uh one non-aggenda topic. Thomas Cena Cooper um inviting the board to the fair. >> Good evening, school board members. My name is Thomas Cena Cooper and I am the Thirstston County Fairgrounds and Event Center manager. I'm coming to you tonight with comments of a different flavor than those that you have just heard. I'm actually coming to thank you for your support of the fair and the student programming at that's happening within Yelm Community Services
021or excuse me, YM Community Schools that allows our fair to occur. So programs like our FFA and the digital arts classes at Yelm High School are actively engaged in the Thirstston County Fair. Students engage in meaningful ways. Last year, the FFA design landscape design class built us a new pig wash out of the grounds. Great way to build skills and provide community service at the same time. Every year, the digital arts class at YM High School has a competition. Two of the students are selected to have their advertisements shown at Yelm theaters here in town for the months of June and July. It's a pretty neat partnership. It saves us a whole lot on design work and it gives the kids an opportunity to to learn the skills and then put them to real life
022work which is pretty exciting. Thank you for supporting these students and for supporting programs like these. This is how we create a good community together. Meanwhile, I also want to invite you to join us for the welcoming ceremonies at the fair. On the first day of fair, which runs July 30th through August 2nd, we host a welcoming ceremony to kick off the event. You don't need to write it down. I brought invitations for you. Gotcha. And the welcoming ceremony is extra fun because not only do we get to recognize volunteers and other folks who are who are integral in helping us create this event, but we also have an elected officials contest. And the game itself changes every year and that's kept a surprise. But I have not seen a school board member win yet
023and I think it is high time for y'all to bring it. So I would love to have you join us. Uh, we have some uh perpetual winners who I would love to have a good challenge to. Not looking at Sheriff Sanders or anything. So, I will pass these these invitations around to you and I do hope that you can join us for fair once again. That is July 3rd through August 2nd. And we have lots of exciting things happening. Carnival, entertainment, all the animals and the good food. Be sure to come out and join us. Thank you. >> Thank you. May I pass? >> Oh, come on. >> I know you can do it. The newest member gets >> Okay. Item three, school board minutes. >> I move we approve. >> I second. >> Been
024moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? >> Hey, all those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. Item four, new new business HR. >> I moved second. >> Been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? >> Uh the only thing is uh you'll continue to see updates of this. Um we try to get it updated to uh to the hour um so that um either resignations, retirements, or hires um can be approved quickly and processed. Um, and you'll see Chelsea in there. Uh, as um, previously mentioned. >> Okay. All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. Item B, acceptance of gifts. >> I move second. >> Been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? We've said this um many times how uh impressive it is every board meeting to see the generosity
025in this community and um I think FFA alumni are on here every single board meeting. Um pretty pretty amazing uh $10,000 gift. Um but uh I I think it's very impressive to see the generosity uh in the community. Thank you so much. >> Okay, all those in favor >> opposed. >> Motion carries. Item C, out of district travel. >> Second. >> Been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? >> Um, first one uh looks familiar. Uh, National Leadership Conference for FBLA. Um the second one uh you'll recall that our choir teacher last year took a group to New York uh fully fundraised um to go uh perform and also um did some learning while they were there. So now um next year he would like take a group to Disney um in California and uh
026again they would get to perform and um also get some uh time to learn while they're down there. fully fundraised. Um so obviously um the trip is contingent upon them uh raising the dollars, but um still need approval from the board to move forward with that. And you saw um the application in your board packet from Tim Henderson. Um they're uh very excited about this idea. >> I think he's getting into the pattern of the every other year, right? >> Um and I think a lot of students are wanting to go on this one, too. He's he's waiting for board approval to serve by >> Okay. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. Item D, policy replacement. Second reading for approval. >> Be approved. >> Seconded. Is there any discussion? We've been talking about
027this since uh well since really last spring when we started the work on our strategic plan and attendance being uh a high priority in that plan and then quickly identified um this school year um based on uh looking at our attendance policy but also talking with others Nancy Ivory from Thirsten Juvenile Court um and others and really the recommendation was um from from Nancy in particular and others is that we needed to make our policy um a little tighter. Uh we were making it too easy for students to miss school and get excused absences for it. So um a lot of what we did is boilerplate language, updated new boilerplate language. But the nice thing about this is this gives our building administrators um the ability to fall back on policy now. And it's not
028um each one of our buildings just trying to enforce uh attendance without the backing of a strong board policy. And so um this is really kind of the first step that we knew we needed to take from a district standpoint in order to improve in this area. um because quite frankly we were making it too easy for for students to miss and get those absences excused. >> Okay. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. Item E, Y High School Constitution of the Associated Student Body. >> I move we approve. >> Second. >> Been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Um, I'm not sure why y has the board approved this. Um, but it's a YM thing. Um, you don't have to, but I think it's actually uh pretty neat that um the ASB
029group at the high school does this uh to make sure that the school board um understands um their constitution and then um if they ever make any changes, again, this was in your packet, but um I think this is one of those things that's somewhat unique to YM that um they bring this constitution to the board for approval, which I think is pretty cool. Um so simply making you aware of it even though you do take action on this um to approve it. >> Okay. All those in favor >> opposed. Motion carries. Item five, vouchers and payroll. >> I move we approve. >> Move and seconded. Is there any discussion? >> No. >> Okay. All those in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carries. Item six, operations report. >> Second. Is there any discussion? >> Yes.
030Uh Terry's going to give us an update. And um as you guys know, uh about our water situation, actually not water, but uh the hardware. um at this point. We sent out the the information to families uh two weeks ago now. Um and so Terry's going to give us a little update on that and then a few projects that are going on. >> So good evening. Uh we just met with the Department of Health today just to kind of review all the options and uh the plan in which we're required to present to you. So uh by the results coming in we are required within the next 6 months to have an action plan which includes uh both mitigation and remediation and so we will work on that. Uh the department of health will review
031it and acknowledge whether it meets the criteria. It's not um they don't really judge whether uh they just submit it and say that it has the information and we've addressed the questions that are are asked of it. So we'll present that to you. We plan to have that probably July or August to you rather than six months. Um and we will also have any of the mitigation kind of done before we get back to school. Uh the remediation piece may be delayed based on funding and so uh those will be areas in which we have to focus on and uh so right now there is an OSPI grant that is available for these particular things. So once we identify that then we will work through what the cost of those might be and uh getting
032funds before we can go forward with those. Uh and then once the plan is approved we will update that on our website. Part of the mitigation is like this is where we're focused on is number one, where can we bring faucets back to service and we can do that for handwashing only. We'll have to put signage up for that. Uh if it's in the kitchen that is not used for rinsing or preparing food, then we can put rinse only. So we can bring some of these things back fairly quickly without having any issues. Uh really it's focusing on the fact that they're not for drinking or u food preparation. And then the last one, like I said, is anything above 0.15 will require u fixture replacement. And so uh and then retesting capital projects. This
033is just kind of a reminder of where we're at on some of these. We did receive the OSPI grant and uh we have the approved contract now. We've ordered the equipment and construction begins the day after school is out and the anticipated completion is September 4th. So that's really again changing out the in for indoor air quality uh the HVAC and air conditioning in the stadium classrooms and uh then we'll continue to monitor energy savings as part of the grant. So um that's exciting to to be able to put into place. You know, we're working on the high school portable replacement due to the fire and so we have put the portable forward into final design. So we're just working on the last few things so that can get ordered. It's been ordered. They're just
034working with us. Again, that's about 6 months out from the time we've finalized it. And then we are approved by the insurance company to begin ordering replacement curriculum and technology so that we can have those things in place if we need them for the beginning of the school year where those um staff have been relocated. And then uh we are right now working with all of our vendors uh and um the uh fire department as I talked earlier about what the timeline for demolition is. So, we will start um taking stuff out of the portable that we can salvage uh the days after school's out. We'll start doing it then. Um these are like cabinets that can be cleaned and reused um that we can have repurposed in those places or some educational components that
035we'll pull out the hot water heater that can't be used but use it in our construction program as a instructional tool. So, we're trying to maximize anything that we can take out before it's destroyed and then also not add to the garbage, right? Uh and then we did uh just today receive final confirmation from the Department of Commerce on a a Yelm High School uh LED lighting. And so we've kind of talked about this before. By the year 2029, all schools are supposed to switch all their lighting fixtures out to LED. Uh to do that at the high school is just under uh $650,000. So, we did receive that grant and uh we will have the next year to put that into place and it's basically taking the the mechanism out of the fixture and
036uh replacing it with LED. And the reason this is going to become an issue in all of our other schools is because they're going to stop making the current light bulbs that you can't purchase. So, it's going to force you to upgrade rather than and so we ordered a bunch of light bulbs. So, we have a little bit of backlog that we can handle and we're hoping that we can salvage some of these bulbs. We'll see if they'll let us because it's not our grant um and our construction, but if we can salvage those that are still good and repurpose those until uh they go bad. So, doing the best we can there u with what we have. >> Terry, I just want to reiterate um two of those are only possible because of grants.
037Those are fully funded. um we are not paying anything for either one of those projects. And the one in the middle obviously is all insurance related due to the fire um in the portable. And I think that's important because what's going to happen on social media is that um we're spending this money in our district when in fact the two on the outside there we would not be doing if we did not qualify for the grant even though they have to be done. we would have to figure out another way to get it done. Um so I think that's an important narrative that um we need to make sure people understand is that uh we need to uh we're not spending any of our money. It would normally come out of capital um which we
038know the story there and what we've done with our capital dollars at least a good portion of them and moving them over to general. And then one thing um if you go back the last slide or the um yes thank you. Um the other thing about this um and Terry can add on to this but I believe it was 2021 when they made testing uh a requirement um districtwide. And so what happened was a lot of people a lot of districts had department of health do free testing. Well, they got overwhelmed and districts also waited until um I believe it had to be done by this June 2026 and so uh many districts had to contract with a third party to have this work done. Our results um are not unique. Um other districts we're
039finding are in the same boat as us, especially older buildings that have older fixtures. Um this is something that is not unique to us and in fact um Terry can add on to this but they are now doing open office hours via Zoom for districts across the state um to have conversation and talk about exactly what they're doing here. I don't know if you want to add anything to that. >> Yeah, they've been very good to work with on Department of Health. We have a representative who meets with us pretty much whenever we need and um we actually meet tomorrow as a statewide open um meeting and she met with us for an hour and 20 minutes today just to kind of review those things. So she's really putting um some great time into us
040personally. Uh I don't know how she's doing that across the state because she's one person but uh they are doing that because the next five-year cycle is kicking in. And so while we will do this remediation plan and have to address it in the next 5 years we will have to retest all of them that we no matter what status we're in. Um and so it's another thing that point we will uh schedule that ahead of time because OSP or DOH can do that for free for us. So we just have to schedule that ahead of time so we don't fall into their not available timeline. Uh but any retesting and any of those things you still have to go out and contract for. So um because they're limited and she told us that their
041budgets have been cut too. Uh so these are just a few things that we're planning ahead for. We want to look at those um opportunities and make sure that we um address that when we have those resources available. >> Are is the problem with the lead in these mainly in the fixtures themselves or does that go back into the their piping also? So, uh, she says typically what they have found is that they are about the faucets. They are about the age of the faucets and how, um, what they were at the time when they were installed. That doesn't say that it isn't the piping of the building. If a building's old, uh, that could be the case. And so, we'll have to be very strategic. If we if we go and test some fixtures
042and after we've replaced them and then we find that it was still failing and a brand new fixture, then we're going to go down to it's the pipes. Um, and I know that Ryan, you had asked a question earlier too, uh, about where's the water source coming from. So, we've already reached out to both of our water source, so city of Yelm and McKenna, um, and ask for their results because they would publicly have to announce if they had any testing issues, uh, regarding lead, but we have reached out to ask for their results just to see again on both sides of the equation. Um, where's the water coming from, where's it flowing through, pipes, faucets, and uh, so it's it's she says most of the time it has to do with the faucets, >>
043but buildings can have piping issues. Good question. >> Well, I remember 30 years ago when McKenna went and put the system in, a lot of the piping that was being used at the time in McKenna was wood pipes. >> That was real hard if you were things over. So, >> well, we will we will dig into that one a little bit more. Hopefully, not really dig in, but uh >> yeah. So, uh, and lastly, I just kind of want to give you an update, uh, and this is also part of what we have to make sure that the public knows and understands about, uh, the school meal program. And so, uh, the federal government and the state have provided funding based on qualifications, uh, of students, uh, with free for free and reduced meals. And
044so, each year we have to go through a review. Most of the time in this last four years, we didn't have to review anything because we were in a four-year cycle of qualification. This is our this was our year that we had to re-qualify. And so what that means is is they look at the number of students who qualify through direct certification, not application, but through um Foster, McKenna Vento, um SNAP, those types of programs, the federal or the state programs. And if your student qualifies uh with a 40% or above, you automatically are federally funded for that. So the only school that still continues to qualify under that is YS and open doors. So all those students continue to eat meals for free. Uh and that is reimbured at the federal from the federal
045government. Then the state came out with the legislation on House Bill 1238 and said if your free and reduced meal applications maintain over 30% and you don't hit the 40% on the other population with the feds then you can get free meals for your schools and so you apply you have to do that. Well we had qualified in our four elementaryaries where you see uh for Stevens McKenna Mil Pond and Prairie under the previous category. Unfortunately, we didn't make that this year, but we did hit the threshold for 30%. The trick here is that you have to re-qualify every year at 30%. So, those meal applications are really important. One, so that we qualify for free meals, but two, so that those students get free meals and then also have opportunity with the consent to
046share to maintain their other um fee reductions that we can provide them through the state um qualifications. So, uh, we have to work really hard to make sure our families turn in those meal applications and not just assume they get free meals because each year that could bump us out of maintaining a free meal status. Um, if we can do that for two years, then we get put into what's called provision two and we don't have to renew for the until the end of that four-year cycle. And that's what Lakamus and Southworth are in. They previously did not qualify except for in the 30%. this is year two for them and then they'll have two more years before we have to re up their renewal thing for for state funding or potentially federal. Uh the
047other part to this is in your first year of um House Bill 1238, you have to now scan every student and not just count them with a clicker. So that will change a little bit of our process and practice in those four buildings uh that they haven't had to do for the last four years. Um and then so we will do a huge campaign like we do every year to help families connect to the application which will launch in August. Uh we will set it up again this year as online and we had a lot more participation that way and uh then make it easier for families. So that will come out in August when uh they they launched that through ESD and Kennedy like I said last year made it happen. They didn't say
048it was possible and she said yes it is. And so um we have no doubt that we'll be able to launch the online component for this year again too. That's all I have for you. Any questions? >> And then you see the items on there. That's past work that's just um been finished up. Thank you. >> Okay. All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. Item seven, financial report. >> Uh your financial report is in your packet this week. Um, and that is in collaboration with the ESD. So, uh, make sure I think you've all already reviewed those, but, um, those are there for you. >> Item eight, student enrollment reports. >> I think there you'll see um, this is the time of year under normal circumstances, you would see a drop in
049enrollment. um given our situation uh the levy um also denying uh transfers and uh I think a number of other factors that come into play. Um you'll see an enrollment dip. Um but typically you you see that throughout the course of the year you kind of hit a peak um towards the middle of the year and then the second half you kind of decline and typically um that is at uh the secondary level more specifically often at the high school level uh where we might see a reduction at 11th and 12th grade. Okay. >> Okay. Item nine board comments. Rebecca Um, so first I would say thank you to everyone who came tonight and then thank you to everyone who had the public comments. And um, my first thing I'll say is, uh, last night
050we had the the Yam choir concert, the Yam High School choir concert, and it was really fun, really good. They had some really fun songs. And then, um, they had the Yam Youth Choir, which I think is at the middle school level, and I think it's really amazing that they're doing that. And um I don't know if I had anything else but oh to Miss Stara. She's really nice. I love her. I'm so proud of her for getting that uh the award and then have fun in North Carolina. And then um I would say keep a heads up for the next board meeting which is the district awards night and that's always pretty fun. So yeah, >> same as that. Congrats and thank you Starla. We really appreciate you. uh you do so much for
051us. Have an amazing time with your family. Wish you best of luck. Um thank you to all our donors that are helping our schools out. We would not be the same without them. Um we see FFA on here every time. It's such a big program and it's amazing to have donors to help us out. Also for attendance, I love that it's being taken serious. Uh at the high school, I see it every day. Kids are skipping. they're just like leaving class and it fully affects grades and like social life and everything like that and it's such an important thing to focus on and the fact that it's being taken seriously is amazing news for this community. I'm excited to see where it goes. >> Ryan, >> perfect. >> Uh Stara, thank you and best of
052luck to you and I think I missed acknowledgement for Dee. >> She was tonight do hers later. I guess I didn't miss. Awesome. Um, thank you for the gifts. Uh, that's always a huge blessing and and we all appreciate it so much. So, uh, I want to say thank you for that. Welcome Chelsea Richardson and family um to the team and to the community and um, thanks for the public comments. I appreciate them as always and um there we're having lots of conversations about lots of positions and so um appreciate you hearing your hearts tonight and so thank you for sharing and I know we're we're all having a lot of conversations but just wanted to say thanks for thanks for speaking up. Appreciate it. >> Stara, you will be missed. It's been great to
053get to know you over the last year or so. Um you will be missed. There's some big shoes to fill out there that I know you've done some amazing things at Lacamus. So, thank you for that. Um, the gifts as always greatly appreciated. Talked to Chris today about it. FFA must have a bankroll like nobody's >> thing, you know. It's always >> huge numbers that they pull out, they donate. So, hats off to Yeah, it's always great things for that. Um, welcome Chelsea to the middle school. My son uh got a sit in on some of the interview process with you guys. um couldn't remember your name, but he described you, so I know who you are. So, um just want to say that. And then the district awards night. I personally know someone that's
054getting an award. Um it's my daughter, so I'm pretty excited to give her give her that. She's been practicing her handshake. Um she's like, "Is this okay, Dad?" I was like, "Your hand's a little sweaty. Wipe it off before you shake hands." Um so she's excited for that. She's like, "They're really gonna make me get up there." So, um that's exciting. So, >> get the knees. >> Um Okay. So ditto and all the other stuff. Safe travel, Stara. Um we will miss you. You're uh you're very near all of all of our administrators are very near and dear to our hearts. Um uh tonight is the FFA banquet and um that's always uh that's always a great event because the kids put that on and so you just get to see that start to finish.
055um they've learned how to shorten it up because it used to be an evening and I mean it was an evening. Um and then last night I attended the choir concert and um it was amazing. Um I will say I um enjoyed the whole program. My favorite thing though, I got to give it to the guys. dust in the wind. My favorite thing. But the one thing that stood out to me as I sat there and um just watched the whole organization of it, if you set aside the the singing and just watched the flow of this concert, the kids moving throughout the whole process, each different ensemble, and then finally coming together at the end all together filling the stage and coming together and the voices and the singing was amazing. And what it
056made me think about is this community. If we can just get everyone together going in the same direction instead of all going like this in different directions. If we can all get going together in one direction, doing one thing, focusing on getting together for our kids in this community, we can do great things. So instead of fighting and doing all this circle around, get going and let's join together and do what we do best for our community at Y Community Schools. That's what I've got to say. >> And I would like to say congratulations Starla. You are going to be missed. So gosh, that's a a long trip for you though. Yeah. So, and welcome to Chelsea. Thank you to the FFA for their big donation. And I believe the FFA pays for all the
057kids to be in FFA also if if they are in a qualifying >> class. So, okay, superintendent comments. >> Uh, I'll be quick. Um, yeah, the concert was um was great. Just looking around the audience, everybody looked like they were having a lot of fun. A lot of songs that people recognized and um and and Tim, I think, has as much fun as the students and um pretty special what they do. Um we're going to um at the awards night I'm also going to be talking about um we've got a few administrators that are moving on uh that I'm going to be talking about. Stara is one of them. Craig Curry, Chris Clark, and then um we have transportation as well. Um Jeff Adams is also going to be leaving. And so I'll be chatting
058about them at the awards night. But um we have some um we have some amazing administrators and um they all will be missed uh tremendously and um I know they're going to do great things. Um but we're just very thankful for what they've done here. I'll talk more about that at the awards night. So the next um week and a half is action-packed. Um, I will have all these dates in your update that I send to you tomorrow, but we've got um community awards night on June 2nd. We've got Dave Champions June 3rd. Uh, we've got the YHS senior grad walk on the 4th. We've got district awards night. That's an official board meeting. Um, that's on the 4th. We have graduation on the 7th. On Sunday at Tacoma Dome, we have our um YM
059Community Schools special programs graduation on the 8th at 12:00 at the high school. Um these are our students that um are aging out of our program. Um they can go until they're 22 or um some of them are leaving uh at 21 um because that's what the age used to be. And I think we have 10 or 12. I'm not sure if Shannon's awake, but um uh 10 or 12. >> And if you can go, I encourage you to go. This is pretty amazing. It's a lot of fun. Um strategic planning uh committee meeting number three for the year is on the 11th. And um and I know I'm missing things, but um I will have them all in your um upcoming dates tomorrow. >> Um >> yes, lots of the middle school. These are
060mostly uh around our graduates and things like that. Um uh congratulations to Kaylee on her PR of 513, new school record, 29 years old. uh pretty impressive. But I also in fairness to um last year, I have to admit at um dinner at the Woods home with the student reps. Um it was me and the juniors at game time against um Julie, my wife, and the seniors. Uh my daughter was even home and she participated. But I do have to admit that me and the juniors lost um to the seniors. They came back. We played Catchphrase and if you haven't played it, it's pretty funny. Um, we were winning and the seniors came from behind and since I bragged about winning last year, it's only fair that I tell you that I lost. >> Yeah,
061thanks for adding that. Came from behind and destroyed, she says. Um, but uh, a lot of fun. I Julie and I love having the student reps over for dinner and um games and it's just a small um token of our appreciation for what they do and uh they're they're all pretty amazing. >> Okay. Uh the board will now uh take a fivem minute break and then we will meet in executive session to discuss the performance of a public employee as allowed by RCW423010H. Now the board will be in executive session for approximately 30 minutes. Uh the board is expected to take further action following the exe executive session. So, we'll take a We're >> I call a regular meeting back to work >> and then you have to do a motion on that item. Oh,
062>> here. There we go. >> We have to make a motion on superintendent contract. >> I make a motion we approve the superintendent's contract. >> I second. >> Been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? >> Okay. All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. Okay. And I adjourn the meeting. The next school board meeting will be June 4th district awards night at Yelm High School, I believe. Yep. At the pack. Meeting adjourned.