001Ice flag it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Welcome everyone. My name is Casey Shaw. I'm the school board president. Before 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 piece. Please note that we strive to provide all relevant materials in advance as we're going to jump right in. >> All right. Um this is one of our favorite evenings of the year uh where we get to recognize some of the the many volunteers that we have in our buildings. And so uh we're going to ask our principles if they'll come on up in front and um each one of our buildings with the exception of Fort Stevens,
002they have uh McDonald's night. So they are actually working staff are working out McDonald's doing a fundraiser. So, they're going to do their presentation at a later date, but um tonight we'd like to take some time for each one of our buildings to recognize um some of the volunteers. And I'll ask the microphone over here. We'll get started. Welcome everybody. For those of you that don't know, my name is Mr. I am proud to be the principal at the high school. Jessica, would you mind joining me? So, I have a script ready to read. Um, for those of you who don't know, Jessica stepped into the booster role uh to one year ago um and has done an amazing job. One of the silver linings um in some of our challenges is the Wooster Club
003has been excelling and partnering with us extremely well. Jessica stepped in in a big way taking on leadership with bold courage and grace in the face of some criticism and many opportunities for growth that come with it. Her servant heart and constantly positive attitudes set the tone for all of those around her. She continues to move forward in a meaningful way. Her impact can be seen across the many experiences that make our school great. From homecoming, prom, student leadership events, art night, tomorrow night, national honor society and choir and athletics have all happened because of her leadership and her commitment to our community. She has given our students an opportunity to connect, celebrate, and vulnerable. She has helped create space for the entire club to grow together in a medieval way. We are especially grateful
004for her commitment to go beyond the booster club. She has joined uh generously volunteered her time to attend our school leadership team meetings, bringing valuable perspective to our team and a true spirit of parent partnership. We appreciate everything she does and thank you and our programs. Thank you for your tireless efforts. Curtis, just go over and stand. My name is Kyle Burgess. I'm the assistant principal of Yel Middle School. Brie Valentine, would you come on up? Tonight, we're here to recognize someone who quietly consistently makes YMS better. Our volunteer of the year is Brie Valentine. A longtime supporter of our school and a steady presence on our club. Even though her student her students have moved on from YMS, Bri has never stopped showing up. She's friendly, dependable, and is always willing to blend in
005the helping hand. Whether it's pitching in at events, supporting our painting club, a big proponent for our game club, um or stepping up where she's needed. Her kindness, reliability, and commitment to our students and staff have made a real difference. We really appreciate everything that you do at YMS. Thank you. So when each one I have the relationship of So, uh, when I started at Bench Line, I had, uh, two members of my Bush for Club and we we started the Stormy store and Stormy Bucks will reward students for good behavior and academic efforts and it was always a struggle to get man the Stormy store and usually on Fridays and I was the ones running the store. Uh if fast forward to today uh when we have regularly 15 plus uh parents at our
006booster club meetings uh largely in part to the commitment of parents like and in particular uh she has really helped to revamp our stormy store and make it more oriented towards more things that students want to work and I don't you know nine years ago I is worried about the story store every week. Now I don't even have to think about it because it's so so well taken care of. And um AA is a quiet leader. Um she uh shows up at every club meeting. She's there every team night. Um she's always contributing in positive ways and RGLine is what it is today because of the positive contributions of a thank you. We really appreciate it. Thank you so much. >> Hello. I am assistant principal at South Elementary. And at South, we just couldn't
007choose one volunteer. This year we're proud to recognize two exceptional individuals, Ashley and Matt Bell. Join me. Ashley, they donate scholars organizing booster club activities, running book fairs, coordinating staff appreciation efforts, and providing ongoing support to our school community. after she became began volunteering at Southwest in 2024 and after her family moved to Young and was elected club president. Maddie has volunteered since 2021 and has recently joined the booster club. Together Ashley and Ladd have shaped a booster club culture that is inclusive, proactive, communicative and student centered. Their dedication led the booster club to secure a grant from its quality Indian tribe to purchase new musical instrument playground development project that will benefit our students for years to come. Thank you Maddie and passion your for your hard work from planning major events quietly and
008handling all the small details and strengthening our school community. We appreciate your generosity, your leadership and the positive example you set for families and students because you name and I'm a principal at elementary school and I get the joy of talking about I think so. She is the curry volunteer of the year and I I can I'm not I haven't be able to even tell all the things. So, no, there's more than just what I've seen. Um Lisa just doesn't volunteer. She speaks as our PTO president for the past three years. She's been the driving force behind so many of the events that make our school a better place and a better community. From the spooky Halloween carnival to the glow wall from our weekly Thursday popcorn tradition to the upcoming color room and field
009day. Lisa arrives early, stays late, brings incredible energy into everything she touches. But here's what makes Lisa exceptional. She sees me and she fills it in. When our library position was cut, she stepped up to our plastic book fairs. She quietly ensures all students have access to books and special treats like popcorn. She's kind of the idea girl behind so many of our PTO activities. Always thinking creative creative creatively. It's been a lot big about how to bring our community together. Lisa is a fantastic communicator who makes collaboration effortless and she's helped with everything from copying materials to decorating bulletin boards from coordinating volunteers to chaperoning field trips. She even volunteers in her son's class every six weeks, which I love this. Uh running the class store and supporting the math pilot program. Beyond school,
010Lisa's active sports parent and family adventurer, but she still finds time to support our very community with her whole heart. Lisa, we are so grateful for your years and I see tears in her eyes. Um but we are so thankful for everything you've done for Perry, your positive spirit and your gen generous heart. our community at fair is better because of you and we will I don't I still don't think you're leaving us um so I tell her if she if we don't find someone to replace her she can't leave and she's not buying that but maybe she will eventually um but anyhow um because of you but we will miss you and I hope you and your family have a good adventure wherever that may take you and just know that you always have
011a community to come back to if you decide to come back. Okay. Okay. So, we appreciate you. >> Good evening. I'm Becky, principal at Milan Elementary. May I stop? So, I'm thrilled to introduce this year's No Volunteers Year recipients, Scott and Dominic Cole, the heart and soul of our booster club. When you're new to a building, every trick can feel like a puzzle. the customs, the rhythm, the way things work. And then you meet people like Scott and Donna, and suddenly those pieces start falling into place. This incredible mother of sun deal came to with something truly special. Genuine positivity and unwavering commitment to serving our staff with students with heart and compassion. Honestly, these two are everywhere. They're dreaming up completing our monthly engagement activities. They're managing Wolfie schedule like pros. They keep our
012leadership program running strong. Our health brings soft clothes, stamps, ice, bandages, and other students hydrated during field day. They coordinate high school student volunteers to help with booster club events and make sure those service hours count. You'll find them at lunch popping popcorn for every student, scooping root beer floats by the dozens, crafting in classrooms, and spinning music at recess dance parties. And believe it or not, they even helped create our very first mail pong cookbook. And their impact doesn't stop here. They're a huge presence we know next door at RMS as well. Their contribution to this community is truly invaluable. There honestly aren't enough words to express our gratitude. But here's what really hit me hard last night. We have two years left with this dynamic duo before they move on to their next
013chapter. Just two years. So, we're going to cherish every single moment and look forward to all the memories still to come. Scott and Donna, thank you for everything you do for our silent students. We appreciate them. >> Good evening. I'm princ and I would like to honor Nicole goes above and beyond for our school community. Um our go vice president as someone who not only helps out our president but and our other amazing J as well as the students who call her um they are here every day so many other parents that I just can't thank them um day in day out but Nicole is one of those people who quietly make everything happen here at um from running the library Friday to help organizing the dances Trump retreat so many other events she's just
014always year um making sure our students and families have memorable experiences. What makes her dedication even more impressive is that she does it mostly to um it's a true reflection of her commitment, her heart, and her willingness to give her time no matter what. Um your energy, generosity, and positivity make a lasting impact on our school and we are so grateful for everything you do. So, uh, thank you so much and we wouldn't be here without you. Thank you. >> Hello everyone. I'm Watson, principal at Lmus and I am here recognizing Britney Baron. Britney is someone truly extraordinary and like many of our other volunteers, she is not just a volunteer. She is a leader. As our PTO president, she has orchestrated countless events that bring our community together. Behind the scenes, she has organized
015everything from fundraisers to movie nights, paint nights, and so much more with remarkable detail. on social media. She has been a voice of positivity and sharing our school's story, keeping families connected and informed. But perhaps the most important, she is someone who doesn't wait to be asked. She sees what needs to be done and she does it. Her willingness to step up, take initiative, and her genuine care for our school community do not go unnoticed. We see you. We appreciate you. And we are grateful for every Thank you. We should want to come shake hands. >> Shake hands. >> Have everybody. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. Thank you. >> Congratulations. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. All right, let's uh give all our volunteers one more big round of One last area we want to recognize and ask David to
016come up to present our excellence in facilities grounds and maintenance award this evening. go first. >> Hi, I'm David Fox. I'm the maintenance and ground supervisor for facilities and I'd like to talk about uh Dennis Thornton today and say some nice things that are well served. Um, so school district maintenance was a competitive schoolyard sport. If we were picking teams out of our lineup, Dennis Thornton would be a topic. You want Dennis on your team because he's highly skilled, dependable. Um, you can tell by his work how much he cares about staff, students, and it's the quality of his work. Um, in the maintenance department, we never know what kinds of issues we're going to face on any given day, but I always know I can rely on Dennis for support. Um, whatever the issue
017is, Dennis is always going to know something about it and can help talk out a solution and then help implement. Uh, his skills, experience, his care for and attitude are not easily come by and make him a valuable teammate. So, uh, Dennis, I'm glad Thank you. >> Hi, my name is and I would like to introduce Angela. I've had the distinct interest of working with uh for about 12 years um food service eating the sodium now as a weak sodium that one thing that has been sister all these years say this is that she cares she has passion dedication and if you've ever worked with She will bring that passion, dedication every day. It took me the first one to volunteer. We've had an instance where uh we had a situation and before I even
018assess the situation, she was already on the phone saying, "Hey, how can I help? If I need to come and help you out tomorrow, just already let me know that." That's the kind of person Angie is. So I just want you to know that I see and I appreciate every day all that he for young schools and for community and I hope that all of you get to know him the way you like and that you get to experience the dedication have one of our sandwiches. forever. Congratulations. Thank you, sir. Congratulations. >> Thank you, guys. >> All right, let's give them one more round of applause. All right, ready for the big show. Okay, we're gonna turn over to Jody, principal or >> hello. Come on. So, my name is Goss. I've been here for
01925 years. Um, if you've seen us out in the community much way in the past, we used to do a lot of uh performances as far as uh halftime shows high school. We've done a lot of Christmas in the park in the past and we actually had a team that we started in ' 07 do those kind of birthdays and things like that and um even halftime shows at Central Washington University and St. And when co hit that kind of killed our program because we couldn't get together on practices things like that. So up until 2020 we were pretty rid goodiz when that happened we had 25 writers did not get to ride that last year. And so uh um this last November we brought the team back. We started doing practices. We had 60
020kids that uh started ongoing space along with a couple volunteers, Mr. Gender and Sydney Moran, former student. And the only person that could ride and when I say ride, I like free mount right. That means she can get up without holding on to the wall. The only person that could do that as far as mechan students have been and now we're up to 15 kids that can actually free mountain by by at this point. >> And along with that, none of them know how to ride. And so now we have seven. If the giraffes come and fall towards you, they say it's good luck if you catch them. So $50. um as they're writing around just know they've only been practicing like maybe 19 practices was yesterday and then um in the future we're going
021to get back into the whole brains thing and next year with more younger kids to keep going but um as you guys are watching this is probably their second they haven't come along without learning to get off. So here we go. What is it? Thank you very much for that students. You are not here for the side in there along with your Thank you. >> Let's give a big round of applause. I'd also like to thank Mr. go um for every Wednesday probably for the last I don't know three four months I think he is just working with these the kids um every Wednesday along with um Sydney and Mr. George and um the kids really do love it and it's it's kind of fun and I walk past the end of the day and
022watch and there's like a whole row of uh helpless sitting on the floor ready to go kids after school. So, um, we've also had a lot of kids come in and, um, wanting by the end of the day, uh, as well. Um, it's been quite the experience for kids, but um, also we also have parents like, are you going to keep doing that because it's good for them after school, something difficult for them to do. So, thank you, Mr. Ross, for for doing that. What? I'm all right. You want that, but I'm gonna try. >> This month is McKenna month to talk about our our school improvement plan and um what we've been working on this whole year along with the rest of schools. Um and for us it's um our focus has been looking
023at not only just the strategic plan as a district but um how we can put the that strategic plan into action um and taking a look at what we could do um as a team um going forward and making sure that McKenna continues to thrive and keep making growth um even with all the challenges that we continue to face. And um one of the things I con or I like to always say continue to say is we can do hard things. Um and for our teachers, I know that that's not always the easiest, but um they come every day. So I I thank them um because they keep showing up. And so if they show up, I can show up. And so um my goal is that we continue to make improvements to our three
024key areas um with our strategic learning. Um and so this is um permission to impact um this kind of the the uh focus for all of our buildings here within the community schools. But um learning belonging community through school leadership collaboration with our staff, students, and families. And this is just kind of a snapshot of our our our school community. Um even I had show the preschoolers the other day of they were my little presentation here at the bottom. They're not they stand outside my office every day get picked up at the end of the day. Um and so it even starts with them. So um how we can all work together to make a difference. So um again our focused learning um our big um in our learning is our attendance our tier one
025instruction our MTSS our PLC's and our student engagement with our belonging comes our culture of dignity our student behavior um expanded our student leadership and our creative opportunities and recognition for them and then our community continuing to put input share ownership inclusive two-way communication with our parents and a family partnership here to learn. So, with our learning, our number one thing is getting attendance. And our um attendance, I don't know, uh if you walked in tonight, you'll see for April, it says shower your uh showers with your presence as you walk in. And it's a monthly attendance for our students. Um and the goal is just to work on um getting uh students here on time. um and try to incentivize that. Um but we do know kids get sick, things happen. Um we get
026that. Um and but the also if they are here and we can um build that up and kind of work from those kiddos that it might be hard, you can think about it sometimes. And if we can build that culture now for them at the elementary level, hopefully it's a little bit easier maybe at the middle school and high school level. Um so that's kind of our goal. um my health uh room clerk for Miss Carly and I um she's kind of the guru behind that little thing over there. Um but every month we're we're trying to work on that and just um make our students who kind of come in late every morning be the ones who put up the stickers or or they they're the ones that were focused in on. They don't
027know that. we just kind of made the leaders, but they and they're the ones that we're we're focusing on to try to get them here on time, encourage them to be here. Um, so really focusing on that attendance piece. And then we also have an attendance manager board out here and everything. I'm changing the um percentages for our grade levels um of how our class our level as a whole is doing, percent coming to school. Um and our goals was 95%. I will say conference week not so great. Um but um overall we've done pretty well this this school year. Um I mean we can always do better but we're we're trying to stay up with our attendance the best they can and um encourage kids to be at school when they can. Um so
028that's one of our focus our instruction working on those very little standards core instruction. Um again if within that core instruction we need students that fill in gaps support them with our tier 2 instructions intervention we um have a great uh interventionist that works with our uh um pair of educators and we just have a phenomenal group of people that really work with our students that help close the gap. Um I could not do or have a a tier two program or a tier three program. Um I have two core ladies that are just phenomenal outside of my general education teachers without Leon Arnold and Lanigan have just done a phenomenal job and with our tier 2 and tier three instruction but just closing the gap for our students. um and they work extremely hard
029with our classroom teachers and our parent educators to help work with our kids to make sure that they are getting the needs um within their instruction and their social emotional learning. Um and so we really have worked extremely hard in those areas um all of our kids at all our levels which also brings in that MTSS piece. Um I meet weekly with a grade level and I cycle through every six weeks with my grade level teams talking with them making sure we're getting um kiddos that they are how other students are doing in the classroom if there's a student that we need to be focused in on our students focused in on what does that look like um how can we support them how do we support parents um and um going forward do we
030need to meet with parents what is it that they need what is it that they need and So the side home that I um implement and it's in my on my calendar every six weeks with my grade level teams. Um so that is always there for them. Um our PLC's are very data driven within the within our grade level teams. Um and then on Wednesdays I alternate between our pre five grade level teams and our K2 and we have daily discussion meetings working on our cause analysis focused in on what our um grade levels are focused on to close gaps for our students within the classrooms within those small group instructions. Not only are they doing in the classroom but again within those um instructional groups that might being supported by Mrs. Lanigan or Mrs.
031journal and their teams. Um, and so by us constantly having conversation um, we're we are seeing growth um, over time and I know you all have got our infographic and we are on um, progress for the for the end of the year. Um, one of the things that are we're working on is the text complexity of for our students who are getting ready to take the FESA and making sure they're ready for that and that they are um in line with what they need um in order to be successful for that assessment. Um, and then amongst with all of that is keeping them engaged. And so how do we differentiate? So talking about how we're closing the gaps, but also how do we enhance enrich students learnings because we have students that need that as
032well. And so we have uh classrooms that also provide um those enrichment pieces as well. Um because we know we have students here that need that. Um and so we are finding ways to support students that may be challenged and need to go beyond just that everyday um lesson. So um we actually we make those accommodations on a daily basis and change up the the classrooms of best service the needs of all students so that they are all learning. Um within our belonging here uh we have actually made gains across the board with our students feeling accepted, appreciated uh fair being treated fairly and feeling validated. Um, I feel pretty good about that. Um, that wasn't always the case. Maybe we went down a lot, went up one last couple years, but overall we have
033increased. And I think for us, it's really trying to be reinforcing that positive behavior. Um, and so listening to some of the other buildings, um, Lacimus, listening to Mr. Watson talking about her positive office referrals and um you know very simple you know doing it as well I'm doing a positive office referral so I just did one today and it's really I feel is it has changed a lot of the kiddos and they're excited about getting those when I sent them to parents parents are excited about praying about those so I think that's an important piece for kids to not always get negative from principal I don't like being negative all the time I know the other administrators don't. Um so it's it's a positive for me as well to share something home to parents.
034Um also um recognition program we actually have a character trade of the month with our beer but we did a student character trade of the month. So it's a student choice. So it's not it's based on what the students have chosen from their classmates. Um and so putting it back on them and letting them make that decision for their investments of that. Um we've had a referral the reduction or referrals this last this last year. Um and most of our incidents are minor and our high cases are is our tier three intervention um piece but that's supported through our LRC program. Um and a onetoone staffing for that. And so if there's an issue, it's it's it's really isolated and we're um it's a lot of it been a lot of hands on deck. So
035all hands on deck. So um I my staff me and um they do a lot and they do a lot behind the scenes that I often say I didn't know that happened. Um and so I'm I'm extremely not being grateful for them. Um, and so it's it's very much a a team family um work and um also it's a lot of the kids that do the work too. And so I'm going to stop talking because it's really them who make a lot of things happen. And I'm going to turn it over to my four amazing students that are sitting right here which would be River Long Aman Hall and Julia program. 7. Good evening members of the school board. Thank you for inviting us to be here tonight. We are a part of the student
036leadership program here at Canada. We and we want to share how within our school are like a real development center. One way we help is by taking care of our campus. We pick up trash, clean areas when we see it, and help keep our school looking nice. We don't wait to be full. We just do because we care for the people in it. We know it can be hard for our community to manage everything. So, we do we do our part and what we can. We also need to work with younger students in kindergarten through second grade. Three times a week at the end of the day to help them read, practice math, do activities, you can feel safe and included. Sometimes we help them with school work and not just talk with them and
037have fun. It's a chance for us to be role models and build connections. Another responsibility we have is doing morning announcements in the gym. This is new for us before. We used to do uh meetings in our classroom. Seeing the whole school was a little scary at first, but it's helped us grow confidence. Now I have a discussion that will started on Wednesday. We see the announcements to share important information and then we all do the budget before heading to class. We also help make our school a positive place. At our monthly assemblies, we help run our student choice awards. We recognize we recognize students at our monthly assemblies. We help run oh sorry who show our character traits month things like cooperation kindness integrity and pray. It feels so good to show us the
038good others can celebrate it. We also help plan our spirit assemblies. These are some of our favorite days because the whole school comes together to cheer, laugh and feel like one big community. Another job we do is writing a pause store. Once a month, students can use their paw tickets to buy items for themselves or even for their class. We help set up the store, work as a team, assist younger students, and to even learn responsibility. It teaches us what it means to care for something that's important. We also go with composting in the lunchroom. Each teachers us that small actions can help the environment and even something simple like sorting waste can make a difference at the at the at the end of each day. We help kindergarten students during hair and pickup. We
039make sure that they're safe, help them find their grown-ups, and guide them where they need to go. All of these things might seem small on their own, but together they make something bigger. They show that kids can lead. They show that kindness matters. And they show that when the students are given responsibility, we rise to it. We don't worry to realize it in the moment, but the things we do can change how something feels in their day or even their whole experience at school. And that's something we're really proud of. and having um so uh our community is another amazing um outside sorry um but our community is also um um put a lot into our school as well um lot of shared ownership um so the the parents here the last two years. Um,
040our library went running. Um, we wouldn't have the booster club. We have um we wouldn't do the things we could do without the parents. Um, and I know when I started here, I think we had maybe four or five parents and now we have at least up to at times um the infographic I I can't even remember. Mrs. to make something of all the things and she was just rling off all the things the parents have done that she she can at least get 12 to 15 parents to come on time to meetings but we always get parents to help willing to help out at our book fair at the the um kids night outs at the we have a neon tomorrow night um all the things we're just getting we get more and more
041parents trunk or treat it's a huge event it was beyond huge here Um so parents can't thank them enough for and you enough that are here um for all that you do and support us. Um and so just that growing presence the unicycle um helping out the lunchroom here teacher support helping with the pictures and envision um just being super proactive. Um and so we we so appreciate all the help. Um we actually did a book drive earlier in the year. all the um the um books went to the kids and and the parents um went out there and um got the donations and every book came back to them. So kids had a book a present open. It was a book glasses what they call it and every dollar every amount every kid in
042the school got a book to open right for Christmas. So um that um fundraiser solely went to our our kids and all the money left over extra money went to for straight for books for the students here at so it was because of parents um supporting that um fundraiser as well. So we have 630 hours of parents that was on February 27th from 41 different parent volunteers. Um, like I said, we have 15 actively parents. Um, 61 are on our band app currently. Um, and they're they're always willing to help. So, looking ahead, these are things that we'd like to continue to do. And, um, and for our learning, we're hoping that we can continue to incorporate or like to incorporate um, project based uh, performance tasks. um some steam challenges for our 22 students.
043Um Miss Darnold has started a yarn club um for our older kids nifty knitts but um for our fifth graders and continue to do that for them and they're really loving it the ones that go to her and do that. Um and then redefining PLC for building more PD for our teachers. So again, continuing to make that more of a Ky um uh work for our teacher, but teachers doing it for teachers. Um and so we started that a little this year. We're going to continue that on next year. And then our belonging piece, again, continuing to strengthen our cross grade level room leadership opportunity as the students just talked about. Um again, the leadership um pause to other students from student to student versus the teachers to students. um leadership students supporting the booster
044events. Um that's been our goal to work on that. Um again, continue booster events, read across America with our community members that we continue to do. Um our pause field day library took out lunch. Um go back to get our military helpers in. We were trying to work on that this year. And um the one that was supposed to help us got Floyd um and cookies with a police officer, but we can work on that one. And then um fine arts with um parent with parent volunteers to help with that. Um so these are our goals and what we're looking forward to. But um right now we are um a pretty uh positive family here. Um and we have shown a lot of growth. We continue to show growth. Um we have shamed a lot
045of strides and we're going to continue to make strides and again I couldn't do without my amazing staff, these families and these just amazing kids that I have here. So thank you We have staff who are here. Please stand and let's recognize them and say we've made beautiful. I think it's important at a time when uh I believe public education is is being unfairly attacked um and judged based on one test score at one point in time. Um I think every person needs to see these types of presentations so that they can see what's really happening in our schools and in our classrooms u and the passion um that are behind the work that's being done. that enough people um in our world are not um I guess taking the time to see what's really
046happening. It's pretty special and I get the opportunity to go to every building uh every month and every time I go to every building um I see something that is special and it starts with uh the staff because they are also our programs. um we don't have programs. It's pretty special when we get to hear these kinds of things, see what we saw from these students. Um that's why we're here and uh I appreciate Jody taking the time to prepare tonight. We're actually going to roll right into one of the areas that Jody touched on attendance. It is one of um probably the most important piece of our strategic plan. We cannot make a positive impact on our students if they are not here. So, uh, Dr. Lisa Peros tonight is going to give an
047update on the work that we've done so far and what it's to come. >> Thank you, Superintendent Woods, and thank you so much to Miss Jar and the entire staff. That was really really impressive to see all the passion and to see the kids. That was just lovely tonight. Thank you. Uh as uh Chris said, attendance is a strong district-wide focus. Uh when the strategic planning committee met last spring, the very first thing we did was looked at data. All kinds of data, academic data, student behavioral data, uh data related to social emotional learning. One of the things that stood out immediately uh was that we have an issue of attendance in our district. We are not unique in that. I want to make sure that you're painting an accurate picture. This is a statewide
048issue and it is a national issue. But it would also be honest to say that it is a significant issue in our district and regionally we are low. Our attendance is standing out as concerned. And so, as Chris said, when we open this up, uh the very first thing that we have to focus on when we look at learning is having students at school. They have to be here uh in order for us to teach them. And that happens through um a partnership with our families. And one of the things that they'll be doing in the coming year, uh you're going to hear a lot from us about partnering around attendance. This has to be a shared effort um in order for us to overcome this and to uh increase student attendance so that we
049can increase student learning. So as this first slide is pointing out our current chronic absenteeism rate is 40 a little over 41%. And chronic absenteeism means when a student misses 10% or more of their school year. So that says in the 242 school year, a little over 40% of our students were missing more than 10% of the school year. That absolutely has an impact on their learning. So, uh we set the very first goal for our strategic plan around attendance and um our goal is very very concrete. We're starting out at this 40% and then our plan is to lower our chronic absenteeism rate by 20% every year over a five-year period. And we're going to be measuring that and then reporting on that to our strategic planning committee as well as to our board
050and on the website to our community. So, we started out this school year uh meeting with principles in August as we do. And the first thing we did was pass out um some information about best practices and techniques. One of the things we want to do is not experiment in this space, but rather we want to make sure that we are um implementing strategies that are known to work. And so we started out by passing out um some information about various foundations that focus on attendance of attendance best practices so that principles and their staffs when they met together in August could begin asking themselves uh where are we in relation to these practices. In many cases their practices that our schools already had well in place and in other cases they are they got
051some new ideas. And so th those are things like um careful attendance tracking, um having a data a team that's looking closely at attendance, um outreach to families, re-engagement of students uh after an extended absence. Those are just examples. Uh you heard Mrs. German talk about some of the incentive sorts of things. How do we incentivize students and make them want to come to school? How do we make families feel welcome and like we are partners with them? >> The next thing we did as a district was we joined a statewide community of practice. And so uh the office of superintendent of public instruction is part of a larger national movement to increase school attendance. and uh we got on board and in fact we jumped at the chance to get on board. Um so
052what this means is that we as district have joined a whole statewide group that's looking at attendance and what that does is avails to us a group of professionals across the state who are working on the same types of issues that we are and so that we can learn from one another. And it isn't just uh the blind leading the blind. We're really guided by a set of best practices that we're focused on. >> Yeah. >> And so those are kind of a fivepart model. The first one is that we have to have a district-wide focus on implements. Uh the second one is that we have to focus on warm communication. Uh what we know for sure is that we have to invite people in, make them feel welcome, uh make school a place that
053students want to be. Um punitive measures don't work very well. Uh they don't work as a first line of defense and they're not particularly motivating. So we have to draw students and families to us and we have to be engaging. The notion of first faces. Uh this means who are those adults that see the children first in the day. So our bus drivers, our food service personnel, our teachers, our pair professionals, our front office staff. How are we talking with them about how those interactions go with students? How are we providing training? And how are we also understanding the challenges that they are confronting in their roles? um integrating students back in after they've had an extended uh absence. And so um really focusing on courageous people that see our students first when they when
054they come back and make our schools a welcoming place. Um the next feature is uh student rosters. Really really carefully looking at um our students attendance and tracking our students that have chronic absences and then engaging um strategies to support them and outreach to their families. So that's kind of the big overarching model that we'll follow with the district and then put a series of strategies in place uh around each of those benefits. The other thing that we did was we wanted to get a little bit of an outside perspective. And so, uh, we have a person in the county who works with schools, um, in every school district in our region, our lieutenants and trilly. And we asked her, you know, how does YM stack up compared to other school districts? What do you
055notice about us when you uh, sit in on our attendance meetings um, compared to other districts? And We noted that there were some things in our attendance policy that we needed to take a look at. And one of those was that we didn't have a cap on um on excessive excused absences and other districts do. Uh and she noted a couple of other things as well. And so we took that uh under advice and we really did a piece that said, you know, we need to look in the mirror first and ask ourselves what are the structures maybe that exist in our district that are creating barriers, some things that we might not be aware of. And so our attendance policy was one of those things. Uh we are in the process of revising it.
056Um we're actually going to bring it to board study session next week and then um it'll go for first and second in May. So, we're going to beef up our attendance policy both so that it supports our teachers and our students um and provides clear communication to our families about our expectations and our needs around student attendance. And then the very uh last thing that we did was we convened a district-wide attendance committee. Uh we've already held our first meeting with them and the purpose of that meeting was really to get their perspective on the front lines of what it is they're dealing with in our district. Um so we did a lot of listening and then immediately have begun putting in place um some of the interventions that they are building as well as
057learning from one another around some of the need incentives that schools are are applying to make attendance a cool thing. Um following that we met with all of the attendance professionals in our district. So all of the people that are on the front lines and ask them what are they seeing? uh and then we took another set of data that we're using to help inform uh how this is. So, uh in a very short period of time, we uh we put a number of things in place. We're taking this issue very very seriously. And uh we're going to come out very strong in fall with some clear communication information on our website. And um again, I just want to close by saying uh we need you. This is a partnership. Um this is a school
058district and family partnership and the way we will improve this is together. So thank you to Lisa and her team for helping lead this initiative. As we said, we'll be talking about this more next week at study session and then May uh for the two board meetings. We have our first reading and second reading. And the bottom line is with our policy is uh we were making it too easy for students to miss school and that is obviously hard to uh to enforce. it's important for you to be at school if we're making it very easy to excuse an absence. And so the bottom line is we have to do a better job as a district to make it harder for uh students and families to miss school. Um and that's as Lisa was saying
059that's where we're looking in the mirror to say what can we do and then uh next steps also is how can we uh partner with our community our parents um to make sure that there's accountability there and then our students are showing up. So uh more to come on that next week and then also in May. >> I mean any comments today any comments? Yes, we just have one on non-aggenda. >> Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. We'll bring it to a fun. I want to remind everyone of the guidelines for public comment for policy 1400. For comments on non-aggenda items, the board will listen, but will not engage in discussion or take action tonight. Non-aggenda items may be referred to the administration for followup. Comments are limited to three minutes per speaker or 15 minutes
060per topic. Please note that comments during the performance of specific school personnel are not permitted. All remarks must be appropriated for an open public meeting if presented respectfully or President Thomas comments that violate these expectations. Disruptions beyond the comment period may result in the meeting being paused or additionally silenced during public comment should not be interpreted as agreement or endorsement. speaker remarks. Our goal during this portion is to we value your participation and appreciate your cooperation and helping us maintain a respectful and productive environment. >> All right, we have Michael speaking on comments from the last board meeting, I believe. All right, thank you for your time. Uh, I shouldn't need a countdown on this one, so I'll keep it short and sweet. At the end of the last meeting, there were regarding partnerships to
061make things better. It's a great narrative. It's a great message without then there were comments about people talking bad about the board superintendent and never being with board members doing superintendent shoot. When the conversation started to talk about parents not being there at the eighth grade move up and not showing up to parent teacher conferences, I believed it was wrong. People are getting laugh and disbelief speaking about how they had kids that never missed a parent teacher conference or how they have grandkids and they go to theirs and how they go and place their parents and parents don't attend. I don't believe many of us are in their shoes either. The struggle that families are having right now and what families have to do to get by is not the same as when we were
062younger. Not everyone can make a six figure paycheck, has hundreds of thousand dollars in a retirement account, owns their own business, or can survive off single parent even. Some families are dual military, single parents, both parents having to work. Tragic events that led to single parents having to bear all responsibilities to provide. And some parents, they have to work multiple jobs. A lot of families have to make a choice. They have to make a choice to provide for their family or come to a meeting. I don't believe everyone is in a situation to be able to attend a meeting in the early afternoon when they have to work. A lot of teachers won't work past the time unless being paid for their time. With the financial constraints of the district, it's hard for some families
063to be accommodated to get a meeting when they're available. They're put to make a choice. They don't have to like the choice, but they're doing the best with the hand and belt. Thank you for your time. Pop three, school board meeting minutes. >> Do I have a motion? >> I move we approve. >> Any discussion? >> Uh, no. Nothing. >> All in favor? >> I motion carries. Item four, individual contracts. Have a motion. I second discussion. >> Um >> I think the only thing added in a couple of resations that I shared with you previously um and also just wanted to reiterate what we talked about before that not all vacated positions are being posted immediately. Um obviously because of budget constraints uh we're re-evaluating every position that becomes available and uh we'll be obviously
064talking more about that next week at uh study session. All in favor? >> Motion carries. >> Acceptance of gifts. >> We approve. >> Uh I think two things. One uh again want to say thank you to um our community. We have a very generous community whether it is donating uh money, services or uh supplies, materials. And uh you see that very large number in there for South Florida booster club. Um I think it's important to remind the last board meeting when they came and did a presentation. Um and so now they've submitted the donation to the district for uh new playground equipment that will be installed. So they were paying for not only the equipment, but they're paying for the installation as well. And uh pretty amazing. >> All in favor? I >> I motion
065carries out of district. >> I move we approve. >> I think you see uh these groups on here frequently team um will be going to nationals and then also um FFA one of their many uh opportunities. It's it's pretty cool that we're still able to do this even in our current situation. All in >> favor motion carries information only military connected students. >> I would like to uh bring up a couple of our students. Um we talked before about uh some amazing students that we have in our district and um two of our students are here tonight that were our panel. I think that spoke very highly about the panel that was uh at the high school and in honor of military student making some time to recognize these students but also their experiences in
066our schools and the contributions that they made to our system. So they hand the microphone off to them. Thank you. Good evening members of the board community. My name is Jackson. I'm a student at Y High School. I'm here to talk about military childhood. So this April uh marks a major milestone, the 40th anniversary of the month of the military child. Since 1986, this month has been a time to recognize nearly 2 million children who serve alongside their parents. This year's theme is the legacy of resilience. And for those of us graduating this spring, that legacy is something we carry with us in our backpacks every day. I'm currently attending my 10th school. I've spent my life resetting, navigating new hallways, learning new state requirements, and finding a place in a dozen different communities. But
067the military child story isn't just my story. Tonight, we want to show you what that life looks like behind the statistics. Mariah's going to share an original piece that captures the heart of the purple spirit in our community. Good evening. I'm Mariah Gibson. I'm a junior at Y High School. I'm honored to be able to share my piece, The Weight of the Uniform, with you all tonight. The vision for this piece was to highlight the reintegration and the glimpse of what emotion military kids go through. The Way of the Unicorn. I grew up with a hero whose face I didn't always get to see. But other kids were learning to ride bikes with their dads. Mine was learning how to survive the halfway across the world. He wore the green beret, the mark of a
068special force to soldier, but to me, it was the reason his hugs always felt borrowed, like he was already halfway gone. We didn't move from base to face like some families did. But the distance found other ways to travel. It crept in through the empty chairs at dinner, the phone calls that cut out with laughter, and the night long was for prayers to fill the silence he left behind. Homecomings were never simple. When he came back, it wasn't just his boots that were heavy. It was his heart. War changed the rhythm of a person, and learning how to dance with him again was its own kind of used to think that strength meant being unshakable. But now I know that it means holding on even when everything inside you struggles. Being a military kid taught
069me that love can exist in distance and that service is something the whole family gives, not just the one in uniform. Yet, with all the struggles came a strange time of grace. The military didn't just take pieces of my childhood. They also gave me a purpose. It gave me a story to tell, a reason to sit on panels and share what life is behind the salute and what it really looks like. It gave me pride, not just to my dad's courage, but in my own resilience. And now, as I prepare for college, the VA has opened doors that my dad's sacrifices helped unlock. His service built bridges for my future. Bridgel cross carrying his name, his lessons, and the strength that the strength of every family who's ever waited for their soldier to come home.
070Because being a military kid means growing up with a heart in two worlds. One that fears goodbye and one that never stops believing in return. That piece reminds us that while our lives are often defined by goodbyes that built on the foundation of strength, as I look towards graduation, my final transition before heading out into the world, I realized that those 10 schools gave me a perspective I wouldn't have under circumstances. Being a military connected student means learning to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. It means being inclusive because we know what it's like to be an outsider. that needed to realizing that home isn't a fixed point on the map. It's where family is. >> As we purple up this month to celebrate 40 years of resilience, I want to thank you for making this
071district a soft place for us to live. Thank you for seeing us, supporting our transitions, and being a part of our lakes. Happy month of the military child. Um and Jackson here are just two of our students that are representing our military connected families and um we're losing a lot when they leave. Um however, my hope is that we learn a lot from them so we can support our students and families in the future. Um, I'd like to recognize their families. And so if their families could please stand and we'd like to give them a round of applause. >> And I would encourage you, if you haven't had a conversation with either of these two, do so um before they leave us at the end of the year. um because we're going to greatly miss
072them but we are so appreciative of their contribution. So thank you both. We appreciate you very much resolution 07256 delegating authority. I move the approved by second session. >> Uh yeah, just a reminder this is um our ability to be a member of WIA governing body for athletics for the state of Washington. Um if we are not a member then we can compete in the leagues and uh and postseason. So this is the yearly thing that we do. The board has to sign it. Superintendent has to sign it every year. >> All in favor? I >> motion carries vouchers in favor. >> I move we approve second >> discussion. All in favor? >> I oppos motion carries operations for board second. work from PowerPoint. Uh so you see some of the items that we've been
073working on or how actually floats up uh and probably works on the agenda, but again like to give you some kind of current things that are going on and things that our departments are working on. And so, uh, we have spent this last yearish, uh, really looking at the materials and items that we have within our district and how do we reuse, repurpose, recycle, and make the most out of every item that we have. And surplus is a word that most of our schools are aware of, but surplus just might mean they don't need it right now. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have purpose somewhere. Um, and we have one area in which we store all of this. uh we are really conscious about what we do with it. Uh not that it just
074becomes landfill that it has a way not only if it's reusable within our district but also within our communities or uh others may have need for it. And so again following our board policies and making sure that we are disposing of or repurposing things properly is important. But our warehouse has full um and we've struggled with how to make sure that we connect with community partners or with surplus sales or just different ways to maximize these materials. Uh and I really have to give a big shout out to Angel Santos who is our facilities OP who has spearheaded this worked with our OPs in our buildings who take that runs of all of that stuff that comes to them like we don't need this anymore and how do we do the most with it? And
075over spring break, after a year of trying to work through this, our our warehouse now looks like this slide. And that is in partnership with so many different organizations, whether it's recycling metal, bringing money back into the district, giving broken equipment and materials from technology, which cannot go into the landfill. our monitors and hard drives that have been shredded. All those kinds of things that go to um organizations can repurpose those materials that we can't and we don't have to throw that away to all of the other equipment and supplies that might be able to be put up for sale or uh in the surplus process or that does need to go into recycling different ways. And so our maintenance team and Angel have done a fabulous job working through that process. And now I
076think we have a really good system in place as we move forward to look at every dollar that we spend is being used as as deeply as it can and then when it can't is no longer usable by us. How do we make sure that that is usable by someone else? Spring break. Everybody thinks that everybody's gone spring break and on break staff they're not. Our custodians and our meetings team and our grounds teams are very very busy over break and some of them are here with us today. You heard from some of them are about them and their awards. But um we have custodians who are working all spring break. They're year-round employees who are making sure that they're doing their best to clean and sanitize and and prepare our classrooms and buildings. And
077so you can see some of that projects that are going on. We talked about the CP roof at the high school. We had that repaired. Yes. So, one more step in the process installs and vents that was done. Uh we have our grants crew who are out there doing their absolute best. We have uh 2.75 drums people and they were just the weather was perfect for them to get out and really get some good stuff done. Uh and really working hard out there. And that last one we talked about last month it is that again how can we create safe environments for families and kids and drivers. and we did get that um sign moved to change the the driving flow of YMS. And that is just a few of the things that happened. Um
078some things happen that were unexpected over break. That usually happens too. Uh it's an opportunity for us to dig in. Maybe that's not the right word. Um but that is what happened. We discovered that there was a pseudo pipe breakage uh at Fort Stevens in a very very um delicate location. Um, again worked with some amazing partners and professionals through draining pro and our design network and fiber people and our team and I want to give again shout out to Rich Snider who really kind of spearheaded this as our maintenance person to make sure nothing else got damaged. And why you can see this is really delicate. Once they found where that location is, there was like a twoft little swap right there, right by our HVAC force venture. Any wrong loom hack those up
079too. We don't want that to follow them. So they did some deep work. They found it. Was it 4T 4 and 1/2 ft deep? Yeah. Getting some from the details here. Um but it was broken and there was a lot of head collapse on it. One of them was a fiber uh line there. So, it took a lot of people to come through to fix this. And within uh less than two days, these teams came in and helped us restore it, which looks like this. Now, uh underneath you can see where they have repaired all of that. They brought in a huge uh I'm going to call it a dirt rack, but there's probably a better term for it. But they just sucked up dirt and rocks. And if you live in Yel, you know
080what a um a yellow potato is. >> Yeah. Uh they're huge and we pulled off so many rocks out of this small area. Um but then again, they they brought back together and now we'll fix the fency. Um but that is now restored with no uh uninterrupted service to all of our students and our staff at that school. And again, thank you to all who helped fix that right before break that um back in the center or right before we ended break. We also had a little bit of a challenge. Again, thank you for spring break for this to happen and not during another time of the year, but uh we have a server room for our network which houses all of our data. And if that is jeopardized, we have statistics issues. Well, we
081have three points of failure in the school and it went to 85 90 degrees for quite a few days. And so we had again some amazing professionals that came in who started to address this. And so we found the old um picture like where's the airflow going and when this was originally created uh when the school was built again our detective department in this house we did a mess. So this is fairly new and so it surprises us when something goes down like this. Um but there was some significant failure. Uh our we had leaks in our cooling system. We have um some expansion valves that if they're needing to be replaced and then the backup um that usually when this happens when the fire goes through and it has nowhere to go, we have
082a backup system and that fit too. And so they spent all week uh that and they're finishing it up this week with two more repairs and waiting for a part. Um, but this is important because this house has all of our data and all of our student information, all of our students work, our staff, and so, uh, it is the backbone and, uh, we want to make sure that we keep you secure and safe as much as we can. So, bullying became an issue over break, and it wasn't even that hot. It was there on that side. Just want to give an update on our lead testing. Um, we talked about this as a really important piece. uh the state legislature put in that we have to do lead testing uh in drinking uh areas
083in all of our schools. Anything that is uh water that is going to be uh consumed in any way. And so we are on step three right now. We just finished all of the testing. Uh high school is the last one and uh again our meetings staff went out with our testing partners got all those samples. We're waiting for those results hopefully in the next week or so. Uh so we're well ahead of the deadline schedule of June 30th and we will get that submitted. Once we get those results and have them submitted, we will have to create a plan. Uh and so that plan will be presented to the board in July and that will be if there was anything that came back negative and have to address a plan to resolve those uh
084pipe issues. So, um, making good progress there. And again, just thank you to the schools who, um, accommodated, uh, the early morning testing that was going on and making sure that those, uh, fixtures were not, uh, dealered with before the water testing had to happen. And, uh, another topic that is been of great concern is our ability to get fits to school. Talk about attendance and attendance starts with our drivers being able to get um, our students there. We know it's a struggle and we are working as hard as we can. Um and I just want to share that uh in the last month or so where we're at uh we did have one uh driver who's going to train you pass on on um Wednesday their tests and so they will be finishing up
085their ride alongs and what they do is they get behind the wheel and they practice with the mentor with students on the bus and we make sure that they're cleared and ready to drive. That's pretty important when we want to make sure that someone's been by themselves just going through a couple weeks of training and passing the test doesn't serve you and ready to have 72 kids behind you. So, we want to make sure they're confident, they're secure, and they're ready to um serve our students. We have four more that we'll be testing by the first part of May. Again, have those same intentions with them. That will start to alleviate the end of year, but it's still not going to be enough. We know that we do have seven that are in training right
086now that are working on obtaining their permits and then we'll begin that training. That training takes anywhere from we say four to six weeks full-time eight hours a day and our trainers are not there yet. We only have one right now and they're full-time director and so it takes a little bit longer and that's for some will come in. We'll be able to have a full-time training happening to get them up to speed and then they have a large job fair and have 13 applicants. So the outlook is really good. This is what's really important is that we have training by now. We know that we're going to be able to bring people up to speed and uh fill the positions that we have attended for next year and also have a backup lifts. Um
087and so we're really positive about where we're going in terms of our transportation staffing. And lastly, just wanted to remind you all that May 1st is lunch hero day. Uh so celebrate your food service staff in your buildings and and healthcare kids. There's great activities that the buildings are passing out. There's books and a lot of fun things uh to celebrate those people who make features meals for your kids every single day. Any questions? >> Thank you. I just want to remind the board that that before a year ago we did not have a director of operations and we had four departments kind of working in silos and there is so much overlap within those departments and the amount of work that uh Terry has done with her teams um has been amazing and quite
088honestly there are areas in that didn't get attention in the past and Terry and I looked at each other like um how did we get to this place uh without something happening. Um so I can't say enough about Terry and the work that she's doing in our district. Um our goal as our team has said is that uh when we leave the district we want to leave it better than we found it so the next people can come in have systems and um procedures in place that they can plug right in and move forward. So a big thanks to Terry and um her four teams that she works with across the district and especially a big thanks to the work over spring break. Usually we like to get a lot of projects done during spring
089break, but these projects um were uh not anticipated and they got them done um in time for the students and staff to return. >> So next week at study session, uh we'll be going all over all the financials. We had our >> We need to go back. We need a vote. >> Oh yes, we vote. Uh I'll just finish up on this topic. Um we got our writing auditions meeting today. So I'll be sharing communication out tomorrow to staff and families and then next Wednesday is all things budget renovated in our study session operations report. All in favor I motion carries. I think the only thing I'll mention here is as we look to next year, um we're right now in the process of finalizing uh our enrollment projections for next year, working with the
090ESP on um submitting those. Typically, when we do enrollment projections, we're looking over many years and making our projections based on trends, based on data from many years. Um for next year we are basing uh our enrollment projection on this year only. Um because it is so unique uh for levy related reasons. Um we are not looking at a four, five, sixyear outlook for our projection. We are simply looking at last year rolling over and making some reductions um as a result of two things. levy um which has a tremendous impact on enrollment but also kindergarten numbers uh this year were low uh across all five of our six schools had low uh kindergarten enrollment uh low kindergarten enrollment across uh the region and across the state. Um so those two things kindergarten enrollment and
091the levy significantly have impacted our enrollment. So you'll see that as we start sharing out the projected numbers for next year. Um, first I would like to say that um, one of my mom's favorite things and like schools and seeing what happens, but this one was like one of my most favorite ones ever because like the unicycles and everything and that was like the my most favorite thing I've ever watched and like it like that was really fun and I used to and I was way back when we had the the scene before like everything I did that and so it was like kind of like it just brought right back from the island elementary school. And um another thing was the attendance and I really like how um the Ken is focusing on attendance
092because that's one thing like I'm really passionate about is like having kids go to school and make sure like everyone who comes to school and is there um because that's like it's important to be at school and like even in an elementary school level it's important just to like get that started so that when they're going up to like the older levels of school that they like possibly I always like to school and everyone like to go to school and um congratulations to all the staff awards today. Uh I always like to see those and I think that's all I have also to all our board members who were not staying show is absolutely epic. I was also the team at fair when I was there. I was not tall enough to grab lost the
093pedals but that's a story that was like different sport. Um the learning attendance was also focused and also Mariah speak but >> yes congratulations to our unicycle show was phenomenal. All right. I got two of my friends little brothers, so it's great. And uh about a military child. I think that's pretty cool. I am a military child and I'm pretty fortunate. My dad over 20 years of service did five years between Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. And about I think in my life he did one 15 months. So that was pretty rough. And luckily eventually he got out and retired when I was in seventh grade. And of course once you're in the army states he still deals with some troubles he had from PTS and stuff like that. But there are some kids out there
094to go home and sacrifice for us. So yeah, thank you. >> Um I was also on unicycle when I was here the one who didn't do unicycling. >> But I know it when I was here and I was telling my other board members when I walked in because I went to McKenna, when you're a kid, everything seems so much bigger. so much bigger than the world. >> Um, thank you to all of our volunteers that were recognized today. Wouldn't be able to do it without you. Um, great job to the student leaders um for being great speakers. And then also thank you to Mariah Johnson speaking about their lives as military children. I think one thing I noticed is um the unicycles are wearing helmets and I don't remember being issue at home very would
095have been a nice touch for me personally that was really exciting again thank you nice night and appreciate the whole community that shows up and uh we always like the show obviously, but the ones that are here give hard and so thank you all so much for that and are just congratulations tonight. Um I always love the student leaders the bravery of young ones getting up and chair sometimes taking a couple deep breaths to to get it together and it's just super cool and just a testament of the work that's being done here. So once that um the gifts as always, you know, thank you community for stepping up and helping out a lot. And Jackson, that was awesome. They're super neat. Um what amazing young people and thanks for sharing your person. Uh thanks
096for all the military families here in our community that share that share your with us. I said that again every day. We're forever. Um and I will say that if you ever get a chance to see them, the four students being sent not to go um to Washington DC, it is an amazing story to listen to them. um what um our families do for us that um allow their service members to go and um protect us. Um I'm a veteran and I never left the United States. Um but I so appreciate um what they do as a family. Um so um I'm so grateful and I was honored to listen to them. Uh the other thing is um I got my start as a volunteer at McKinnon serving fisherman's breakfast that I used to do
097the school the old school smell like >> pancakes it was it was something with a hole. plays our parent volunteering fisherman's breakfast. Um uh I also um attended uh the flash meetings at Milon and in Prairie for the fifth grade um families and um it was wide attendance but it was attended nevertheless and also it gave those parents um and family members a chance to see what was offered for the curriculum and ask questions and um almost negative that they came and listened and it was good. And then I also attended my conditions. So we um my hats off to the volunteers, anybody that's willing to give of your time. Um it's you're not paid for it. You know that you're criticized for it. You know that. Um people always pointing fingers at you. You
098should do this, you should do that. Um the only thing I have really is you know come walk in their shoes. Um, anybody that's willing to give up their time. Um, for students, whether that's students at the school, not at the school, what have talked to you, it takes a lot of work, takes a lot of time. You have jobs, you have families to do. Um, and to show up for those students, it's just remarkable. Anyone here, it's remarkable showing up, you know, have your Thursday evening. There's many other things you rather do. Um, unicycles were cool. I remember riding in fifth grade also wasn't on a unicycle. Um, I really like the little ones. Those are very funny. Um, and then the leadership team here, I've been kind of speaking, public speaking. Um, I
099don't like doing it. Being a fifth grader, I would probably never do it. Um, I push my kids to do it. Um, but it's really good to see students speak in front of a large audience. I think it's just a good trait to have as a a child and an adult. So, hats off to them. >> Okay. I'd like to start by thanking McKenna for hosting us tonight and great entertainment by the unicycle group and congratulations to all the volunteers of the year. I was my wife and I were no well we're volunteers of the year the high school a few years ago and it must have been really have to drag a bottle of barrel to get paid for that. And the voluntary connecting students. Oh, they were great. We just got a what
100their parents and they have to go to all the time. So, and I don't care kid every school I went to in the torn down. But can the night that I interviewed board. They were tearing down the last building that I went to that night and I got second. Oh god, that smell good when you came in after the fisherman breakfast. >> I think for me tonight's meeting just was a good reminder to be thankful. I'm thankful of the staff, the maintenance, the grounds, people that are seen. I mean, we wouldn't have facilities we have without them. I'm thankful for the teachers and the staff that give their students to come and speak in front of people and our dedicated to unicycle skills that not a lot of kids get the opportunity to have. Um
101once again thankful for for the gifts and the generosity this community and people continue to pour into it. Thankful for the volunteers. Um it is not it's glorious. Um, and you don't do it for the glory, but you put the time, put the effort in, and without you guys, we wouldn't have an house what we have today. Um, and thankful for for the military, this community, he's been a military community for a very long time and and they on the back of this community station. So, just refreshing. >> Um, just three things. Um one as you know before break we had conferences and um one of the things that again uh attendance being a big priority for us but also community engagement being a big priority for us. And so in our six elementaryaries we
102had from 68 to 87% of uh students represented at offices. So between the six elementaryaries, uh 68% of the of the families showed up all the way up to 87%. At middle school, 36 and 39% at high school, 27%. One of the things that we actually talked about tonight, we have a principal collaboration uh time for an hour and a half before uh one of our board meetings each month. One of the things that we're discussing is uh conferences particularly in the secondary. Are they serving a purpose they were once intended to serve? And so we're having some really good conversation about that time because we're shaving time off the school day in order to um set aside conference time. And so we're going to continue to have a conversation about that over the course
103of next school year and engage our staff um in the buildings to make sure that we're looking at this from all angles. Also engage our community and families um to find out what would be most beneficial um because obviously we've got 20 or 36 and 39% our middle schools and 27 at the high school. That's telling us something. um either the rest of those families have all the information they need um or uh we're not providing a system that allows for better attendance um or uh the system we have isn't working the way it should. So, we're going to continue looking at that, but I just wanted to to illustrate the um the detail of the data that we examine when we're looking at systems and trying to improve those. Um I'll just add on
104to what Denise said about our comprehensive sexual health parent meetings um at the elementary started and as you know um this can be a very emotionally charged topic and politically um charged topic if you look at social media and uh news. Uh at Southworth we had 11 uh adults there. Um, we had seven at Milond, we had three at Prairie, and I will say for those who attended, um, they walked away with, um, I think all the information they could have hoped for to make an informed decision for their child. And I want to say a big thank you to uh the principles at those buildings, the teachers at those buildings, and our staff from student learning um who have also helped prepare uh materials and give presentations so that our families have all the
105information they need to know that um they can make a decision that allows their child to be in all three days of those lessons, can be in certain days of those lessons. leson or certain lessons within those three days or none at all. And uh I really believe that every parent walked away feeling like they had all the information they needed in order to make an informed decision about whether or not their child would uh be involved in those lessons or not. And that was our goal is making sure that we're keeping um our curriculum as narrow as we possibly can. um but also uh making sure that we're communicating very well to families um the rights that they have as parents. Uh the last thing I'll say is I just want to say thank
106you for uh allowing me to uh leave town last week. Um it doesn't happen too often, but I got to spend time with my fivemonth-old uh grandson who I've shared as spida. And um it has uh been such a joy to watch him and my uh son and daughter go off and u I think it's also made me a better leader um to have this little guy in my life. So, I just want to say thank you for uh allowing me to get away even though when I get away the work doesn't um leave and it actually goes with me, but um to give me that opportunity to spend with uh uh Maverick um was a highlight. So, thank you. >> Next board meeting, April 23rd, 5 a.m. study session at the district office. This
107meeting is