001Thanks to that. Great. I now call the March 26, 2026 Yam Community School Board's meeting to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Welcome everyone. My name is Casey Shaw and 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 meeting. Please note that while we strive to provide all relevant materials in advance, modifications to the agenda are permissible. Jump right into board recognition. >> All right. Uh I am excited to introduce uh Jonathan Maynard from our technology department to present our first award in uh information technology and service award. Is that okay? Um,
002so I'm going to read the what the award is about. Is that all right? Okay. The award recognizes the technology and student information professionals who ensure seamless, reliable, and efficient technology support and data management, fostering a positive and productive environment for students and staff across the district. So, um, Michael couldn't be here tonight, but Won is, and I could not think of a more deserving group of guys who actively provide the highest level of customer service each and every day. They are passionate, empathetic, and hungry to learn. They are constantly putting our students needs and safety first. I am so proud of the work these two, Weston and our team do. each and every day. And uh so congratulations. But before we go any further, um Zach has some IT bling that he want. >>
003You guys have to come around back because we'll do a picture next. Um, >> so what's what's ironic about our technology team is um they would do anything to not be here to >> and at the same time we could not do what we do in this district without them. Um they are a phenomenal team. um they do not look for the recognition. Um they're kind of like if a use a sports analogy, you know, when you never even notice a referee is in the game is typically when a game is going well. Um you same thing with our tech team. They come and go and they are seamless, but they are amazing. And uh I think everybody in our district would say the same thing that um we could not do what we do
004without them and we appreciate them very much and every single one of them could be up here tonight for an award. So thanks to them. Uh another group that we're excited to recognize tonight is transportation and Jeff is here to present that award. have Brian Edwards come up. Uh we have a lot of people in transportation that are just outstanding. If you get to be around them, you'll see that um they do excellence in transportation, at least from my perspective. However, Brian is one of the best. Uh he is consistently demonstrating equinimity, and that's an atmosphere it's hard to demonstrate in. uh but he does and he is constantly helping everyone uh without being obtrusive to his help. He's very very u good at what he does and he helps others to rise up. Uh
005Brian is consistent. He uh doesn't just show up for work, he performs um very very well as a bus driver and we all should be proud to work with him. So Brian, >> just a couple words about transportation. First, I met Brian for the first time um at uh South Stadium, my first year here at a football game. He drove the team there and was sitting in the stands in his yom gear cheering on the team uh because he knew most of the players from driving them to and from games. I think it's also important to note that um Brian could have gone anywhere and driven a bus and made more money um doing extracurricular trips. Uh but he chose to stay here in Yelm and that says a lot not only about him but
006um all of our other drivers. We have amazing people in transportation. I get the privilege of riding a bus every month. And uh Kimmy puts me on a different route. I get to ride the secondary route and the elementary route. And our drivers uh and our dispatch and our mechanics uh and everybody else that works there, they're amazing people. and they go unseen. Um, with the exception of when when people are complaining about transportation, they take the brunt of it um when it's not their fault. But these people are pretty amazing as well. And uh we also even with the challenges that we have um we still could not do what we do without them. and they show up even when uh circumstances are very challenging and they keep coming and they keep greeting our
007kids first thing in the morning and last thing in the afternoon. So a big thanks to all of them as well. I think we'll do a picture real quick. >> And smile. Don't forget Moving into superintendent's comments. >> Yeah, I just have a couple uh quick slides tonight. Um two things I want to talk about staffing and I'm also going to talk about um two principal openings. Um so first of all with staffing just wanted to um give you an update. We're in the process of um uh finding out how many of our staff intend to come back next year. We send out a questionnaire to our staff saying hey are you planning on coming back or not? That gives us an idea of how many positions that we're going to have available um in
008our district next year. Um as we are looking at a reduction in force, obviously um we look at vacated positions first and we want to uh to take advantage of those rather than positions that have staff members in them. And so we're assessing right now um what does staffing look like? We are um looking at each building also at the same time doing our uh enrollment projections and so Dee and I are actually meeting again tomorrow to go over um our most recent uh information. So we'll be coming back um to talk more specifically later on in the agenda. We'll be talking about a reduction in force and reduced education plan and tonight uh proposing the first step in that. Uh, a lot more information to come on that and I'll I'll I'll talk more
009about that when we get to that agenda item. Um, the second thing I want to talk about is principal openings. We have two. Um, we are uh unfortunately losing two fantastic administrators um at the principal level. Um, Stara Watson is moving uh with her family to North Carolina and uh we're going to miss her. Uh we'll get the chance to talk more about them before the year is over um because I will want to recognize them. Uh Dee and I went out to Lacamus um yesterday and we talked to the staff about the process and um the way we set it up is there's many components to the process so that everybody in the building can be involved in one way or another. Everything from um a screening committee to um an interview team to
010a couple people that give a tour um for the applicants around the building to anyone being able to on the staff participate in the verbal resume portion where each applicant um shares their resume. And then there's also a portion of the interview where the applicants um interview with students and there's a couple staff members that help facilitate that. So, uh, that position was posted today and, uh, we end on April 27th with our finalist interviews right here with, um, cabinet members and then also, as I mentioned with you when I met with you guys, um, before the the board meeting that there's an opportunity for up to two board members to participate in that as well. uh Ridgeline, we met with them this morning, did the same uh explanation and process and that'll get posted
011uh tomorrow and that'll also go through the 27th. On the same day, we'll do finalist interviews for both positions and um more to come on that. But um we really encourage our staff in those buildings to participate to be involved and be part of the process so that they can have a voice in um who the next leader is for those buildings. Any questions on that? Um last two slides. Uh I want to recognize a couple of our student reps. Um we have some very talented students in our district and um some very talented students that represent um on our school board. And so you can see over there on the right uh how Sophie and Calie did. Um I wanted to take a moment number one to say congratulations because I know you guys
012put in a lot of time. Um, I came one morning at uh what was it? 6 6:30 a.m. uh to see them practice and um get ready for competition. Um they they didn't sleep much leading up to the competition. Um, but it really is impressive to see them prepare and um, I know they put in a lot of time uh, outside the school day, but I wanted to take a moment to pause and see if there's anything you guys want to share about your experience. >> Turn this on. >> Do you want to go first? >> You can go. >> I'll go first. >> Um, yes. I'll try and keep it um, brief, but it was Oh my gosh. Like once in a lifetime, quite literally. I mean, our sports med program only goes to
013California every two years, so you really can't go twice. So, I'm a senior and I was fortunate enough to be able to go. And like you said, a lot of preparation going into it, a lot of panic, a lot of uncertainty. You know, I'm pretty confident in my skill set in sports med, but California just kind of like on a whole other caliber. you're going to a new state and you're not sure how this state prepares their tests and how they're going to test you and what their standards are. Um, so we kind of felt like some outliers and there were other Washington schools that went and so we had like our little allies sort of. Um, but when we got down there, we had two days of recreation. So, we went to Santa Monica
014Beach, uh, Universal Studios, a lot of fun. Very, very hot though, by the way. I mean, Callie loved it. I I I'm definitely a Washington girl. Like I was it was so hot down there. Our boat quit. We had fun nonetheless. Um went on a bunch of rides and yeah, that was all kind of to get us all relaxed. And then the next day we had to go into competition. Funny story, we ended up sleeping in and we woke up about 20 minutes before we had to leave for competition, which is not ideal. So that was kind of like it was like I felt like it was like a bad moment. I'm like great, this is not going to be a good competition. But it actually turned out wonderful. And we had a so many
015students place. I mean, it would just like every single time you would hear like they're announcing the awards, it goes from Yelm blah blah blah. Like we just start screaming. We were like the loudest the loudest school in there. Um, and yeah, I got to do some of my stuff. I presented in front of about 750 students, so my biggest audience yet, but it was probably my best presentation ever. Um, I actually had a lot of fun and it just it's funny to me because all the times I would like practice my presentation was in front of, you know, my sports med class and I always felt like I would mess up or I would stutter, but when I present in front of that many people, it just came out so smoothly and it was,
016you know, I kind of I just I guess I just don't like presenting in front of them. Like I just I hate it. >> Um, and yes, I ended up placing first for National Athletic Training Student of the Year. Made it four for four. Yelm has consistently gotten a national title in that category the last four times we've gone. So, we're rock stars. Um, and yeah, it was just amazing. You know, it was just I think it's so interesting how we all went in like kind of resigned. We're like, "Yeah, we're probably not going to place. We're going to have fun anyways." And we had fun and then we ended up we performed, I think, the best out of all the schools there. It was really incredible. Mr. Clinton was very, very happy. He don't
017don't let him know I told you this, but he was like crying for sure. >> We won't tell him. >> Yeah, >> this isn't recorded, but >> yeah, >> I don't think he watches anyway, so it's >> he will now. >> Kelly, anything you want to add? >> H Okay, perfect. >> Yeah, you're good. >> Um um Sophie took the words right out of my mouth. We had a lot of fun the first two days of recreational activities. Um I loved the heat. You do not want to see Sophie when she's hot. She's a totally different person than she is right now. >> It's bad. >> Um but competition wise, I would say that Sophie was definitely like the motivator. I went in after our anatomage uh tournament, our first round, very not confident. We
018missed two questions. Um I was I was confident that we weren't making top four. Um, I was wrong. Uh, we ended up placing fourth out of the teams that went. Um, didn't mean we qualified for nationals, but I would say that's a very I'm very proud of my team, especially since we were missing a member. We're usually a four member team. Uh, we went down with three. Um, yeah, and I was not very confident in my testing abilities, my oral practical written and my speaking one. I went in not as confident. Uh, came out a little bit more confident. Um, and yeah, I would say Yam High School did absolutely phenomenal. We got first place in our division um, as a school and we got our test scores back uh, the yesterday, two days ago
019and everybody did phenomenal. We had a student place sixth um, in its top five down there and just overall amazing scorers. Uh, so Mr. Clinton studying I suppose it did pay off. Um, but yeah, it was a lot of fun. I cannot think of another time like that I will ever have again. It was the most fun, most stressful time of my life, but I hope that the future sports medicine students get to do that um because it was amazing. >> Congratulations to you guys. >> Um and yes, Kaylee, I want to talk about you as well. Um, sorry Aiden, tonight's not your night. You will have yours. Um, I want to recognize Kaylee. She signed her letter of intent. Um, she's going to be going to Colorado >> uh, next year to run uh,
020which is no surprise to anyone, but um, I want you to know how proud we are of you and the work that you've put in. and uh would love to hear a few words about about your experience and and what you're going to be doing there. >> I'm putting you on the >> about college and what you're going to be doing there. Tell them about uh what you're going to be doing with running and then also uh education wise if you know >> I do. Um okay, I think you guys can see I'm going to University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Uh, I'm gonna be majoring in entrepreneurship and then I'll be getting a certificate in animal behavior. Um, for running I am I'm super excited. Uh, it's a division 2 school. Uh, which uh I
021believe they compete at the national level every single year. Uh, so very competitive. Uh, and I I'm not quite sure to say. I'm going to be honest. But I am so thankful to be part of a wonderful school that as Yelm that has got me to the place I am. Um to be able to go compete at a division 2 school at a national level and also still continue my dreams of uh wanting to own a dog daycare and um earn my major in entrepreneurship. Well, we're proud of you and congratulations. >> They didn't know I was putting him on the spot um this evening, but uh I think um again, an example of of the students we have here in Yelm and the caliber of students that apply to be um student reps. It's
022not like they don't have anything going on and they apply to be here and show up and represent their their student fellow students. And so I think that's pretty impressive. Um with that we're going to go into um community comments and um we've got a picture here and our next group Southworth Booster Club um has a presentation um that they would like to um share with us this evening. Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. Um on behalf of the Southworth Elementary Booster Club, I'm incredibly proud to present this donation of $16,75.99 to support new musical playground equipment for our students. This has truly been a community effort. From our amazing families to the incredible support from the Nisquali tribe, we believe every child deserves a space where they can play,
023connect, and just be kind. And this project is a big step towards that. Thank you so much for your time and for supporting us. >> And do you guys want to share a little bit about the equipment that you have uh purchased? And that will be Not a lot of detail if you don't have it, but share what it is because it is unique. >> Well, this is Ashley. She's our president and this is Maddie, our vice president. And they're the ones that have focused mostly on the equipment and it's musical equipment like drums. >> Yeah. So, it's I'm short. Sorry. >> We can hear you. Uh uh it's we spent hours searching for things that were going to be suitable for ages for all ages that are attending the school because I do have
024prek through five now and things that are going to last be available and kind of mesh with what we already have on site. Um so there's a variety of musical equipment from like a very large uh xylophone. It's not actually a xylophone, but same same idea. Um, giant bongos. Uh, and then there are a couple of other like hand drums and then a musical panel that the kids can interact with in quite a few different ways. Uh, and just to give them an opportunity to be creative and physical because not every kid likes to go out and rough house and play football at recess. So, it gives those opportunities to be creative and active in different ways. And uh also thanks to Terry helping them navigate. Um we've got a contractor that will be coming
025to install that. And um this was a huge undertaking and a lot of work. And a big thanks to the South Worth Booster Club. Um they came up with this idea. They came to us. They asked how can we make this happen? And um they did everything that um they were asked to do. and then Terry uh helped them navigate the logistics of of making it happen. So, this is a big deal and it's pretty cool for Southworth. And um if we could why don't we do a picture real quick? So, let's give them a big hand. is one of the >> Yeah, they're gonna want you to shake hands, too. So, Yeah, we'll let you know when it's going to be installed and and it's going to be this Uh so it'll be there
026for the kids when they come back in the fall. We have uh one other community comment that's K. Anderson uh wants to talk about uh Levy. I think she knows the rules. She's been here before. >> Yeah. You don't actually part of my my speaking here. So, um, school board directors, many of you have either met me or know me in some way, shape, or form because I've been an advocate in our district and on our SPE advisory board for 10 years now. It's been 10 years. I can't believe it. Um, but if you ever ask why I continue to advocate for our kids, I don't just advocate for my own child anymore because my child can't be school here. He's actually out of district. Um, I advocate for all students for our district because
027I do have another student that's here. Some of you were on our when our journey began here and I know two of you that were here. Um, and our journey began because something happened to my child that should have never happened in an elementary school. At the time, the administration failed to protect my child and then doubled down and instead of taking accountability, there was fingerpointing. There was never an apology to us or my son. And I get emotional about this because of the fact that now I see what our lovey is feeling again. And I ask each of you, what is your why? Why are you here trying to navigate this? What's your why of being here for our kids? Because I shared my why. My why is to ensure that all students get
028the education that they deserve. Whether it be on our campus or off our campus. The reason my student is not here is not because of anything that anybody did. Everybody came forward that needed to come forward and things were pushed through. I have to commend Shannon Pel >> because without him we wouldn't be where we're at today, but I have to say, do we all agree the most important reason is the education of all of our students? Not just some, but all of our students. Because when the levy fails, it's not the fault of a single person. And there's been a lot of fingerpointing in our district. um accountability instead of accountability. Accountability to parents, accountability to students, and accountability accountability to the voters who placed y'all in these positions. I've seen the superintendent host
029so many forums and Q&As and everything else, but I've never seen you guys as a group post a Q&A or a forum where parents can come and ask the tough questions so they can get answers for their students. It's not just about tax dollars to them. It's actually about our kids. And there's still issues within our district. I'm not going to lie. Nothing's ever going to be perfect by any means. But when you get us parents involved and you actually start listening to what we have to say, it makes a huge difference in ways that that you wouldn't even believe. I am I'm a loud advocate. I I'm very loud with my voice, but I only fight for what's right. I only fight for the things that really really matter. And you can ask anybody.
030I actually commend you, Yelm School District, far beyond our walls. Far beyond our walls. Every everybody asks about our funding. I'm like, we're doing okay. We're kind of holding water, but I still see what Chris said first thing was there's going to be some some deficits. We're going to have to take out some staff still. And how do who who does that affect the most? It's our kids. But you guys need to I think honestly standing up and saying, "Hey, let's hear your questions. Let's give you some real answers instead of doing it behind closed doors." And this has been the essence of our school board for as long as I can remember is we're never allowed to address you guys directly. I know that. And I'm not calling any one person out, but maybe
031we need to be able to do that. >> I appreciate it. Thank you. >> There any more community comments? >> No, that's it. School board meeting minutes. Do I have a motion? >> Move we approve. >> Discussion. All in favor? >> I opposed. >> Motion carries. >> Item four, new business. Do I have a motion? >> Discussion. >> Um just uh continuation um from previous month. We have some uh additional resignations. Um we do have also um uh Mr. Curry is on here uh for RMS now that he's been approved in the district he's going to. And like I said earlier, we're moving forward with posting that position. Um that's it. >> All in favor? I >> I opposed. Motion carries. acceptance of gifts. >> I move we approve. >> I second >> discussion. >>
032I think uh every board meeting we're um continually appreciative of of the people that support our students and whether it's uh with money or inind services. Um every every board meeting we're accepting gifts of some kind that go directly to our students and it's pretty amazing. All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. Out of district travel. >> I move we approve this. >> I second >> discussion. >> Just chamber choir and FFA. Um I think I think we had that uh last board meeting as well. >> All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. Item D, resolution 062526, reduced education plan. Have >> a motion discussion >> just as we did uh two years ago, we had to uh bring forward a reduced education plan to the board when we um had to reduce
033100 positions in our district. Um, unfortunately, school districts across our state uh are having to do reduced education plans and uh those are districts that are passing their levies and districts that are not passing their levies uh are having to do a reduced education plan. Anytime we are reducing, as it says, and deviating from our normal education plan, we have to get a resolution. And I want to read part of it because I think it's important um for everyone to understand the why behind uh a reduced education plan. And I'm going to read a couple of the the statements uh in here. Whereas the district is confronted with a quadruple levy failure, binding conditions, enrollment decline, loss of funding, inflationary factors which have resulted in a reduction in the education plan and the number of
034employees in the district. And whereas the board of directors has determined that for the 202627 school year, anticipated financial resources are not adequate to maintain the district's educational program and services at substantially the same level as the current year. And it goes on to to give more detail, but I think it's important um for people to know why we have to do this and why we're in the situation we're in. So what happens um if this is approved then in uh following uh board meetings we would bring to you more specifics around um what cuts we're making and those would come in the form of an exhibit um that would accompany the reduced education plan. But in order for us to move forward with that, we have to first have approval on the reduced education
035plan. You may have any questions on that? >> Well, so I know we have to do this, but if we have uh I guess we aren't people that are retired or resign or move so that we don't have to >> well we'll we'll know more as we move forward but more than likely um the deficit that we're trying to overcome when I shared um the last board meeting over $3 million um that we still have as a gap between what we're projected to end next year at and what our 5% ending fund balance should be. Keep in mind that for 2728 uh we've got a big cliff coming and the only reason we were able to push that out a year is because of the transfer from capital. So uh we not only need to
036um think about getting back to that board policy 5% ending fund balance, but we're also going to be um wrestling with what we're doing the following year. whether that comes in the form of a levy or additional cuts or both. Um so we're at this point uh again assessing staffing and so that's why we send out that survey and ask staff to give us um information if they're willing on whether or not they're returning. Um but given uh the gap that we have uh a normal year of retirements and resignations would not um bridge that gap. >> I was just trying to be hopeful. >> Any other questions? All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carries. For information only, strategic plan update. >> All right, we want to um guess share some more uh some
037lighter news on a uh most recent strategic plan uh committee meeting. We told you that we would be giving you updates throughout the year um as we continue to meet to review um not only the data uh that will point to uh how we're doing in our strategic plan, but also um creating the foundation for us to make the necessary changes uh in our district. And so, um, tonight we're going to just share you, uh, five slides and give you a little update on our most recent committee meeting. And, uh, I think we're starting off with Dr. Lisa Gadera Smith. >> Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to share a little bit about our last strategic planning uh, committee meeting that met on March 5th. Um Kurt Forier is here with me and
038he's going to start out by talking a little bit about the data and as Chris was saying uh we are of course starting with the foundation of data. We determined what our goals would be in the district and then we built metrics to measure them. And so this year has been all about putting those metrics in place and then really putting the infrastructure and the foundation uh of a plan in place that we will then follow over a 5-year period. So Curt's going to share a little bit of the highlights of the data that we shared with the committee. All right. So, um, as we looked at our midyear data, our goal was basically to tell a a balanced story, one that's honest about our hurdles, uh, but celebrates our clear wins because there are
039wins. Um, we've identified three major bright spots um that serve as the foundation for everything else. So, improved behavior, we have targeted academ academic gains and higher secondary core success rates. Um our major data supports um a vital vital correlation a stable school culture that drives academic performance. This is most evident in our improving ninth grade on track rates which is the numbers of kids that um are uh not failing courses um which also remains our most reliable forecaster for graduation. Um, furthermore, the targeted growth in elementary early math and fourth grade literacy validate that our current instructional interventions are both effective and scalable. The data is looking pretty good. All right. Well, the very first goal of our strategic plan is attendance. And it's the right goal to start with. We have to have
040students at school first in order to teach them. And so uh we have taken on attendance um as a district and we joined the uh statewide attendance challenge. We've become part of a community of practice and what that has made available to us are a set of best practices around good student attendance so that when we are implementing a plan in our district we are doing it based on strategies that are known to work. And so there's a framework of uh five things uh within this OSPI model and I'll just kind of share with you what those are. Um the first one is having a district-wide focus just as we're describing. Um warm communication, but it's the idea of what are we welcoming children to? So if a child has been absent, a student at
041any level has been absent, if we take an approach that is punitive or unwelcoming, it is not going to solve the problem. And so we have to be a place of welcome. So warm communication. The next one is the first faces concept. And essentially that means who are all the people that see them uh in the morning? their bus drivers, their food service workers, our front office staff, their teachers, our paraprofessionals, and all of the other people. How do we provide training about how we greet students in the morning and create a welcoming environment? And the truth is we do that quite beautifully already. We can continue to improve, but that's already something that's very much part of our school culture cultures. Um the other thing is having an updated district roster where we're very
042very clear about where are our chronic attendance problems so that we're zeroing in with the particular students who need our support and then that's where the real work comes in. How do we engage in supportive outreach with our families um to understand the barriers or the mindsets that are contributing to uh chronic absenteeism so that we can get students to school. The other the other piece I think that's strong this piece about communication the personal communication um but we also as you know we have parent square which is a brand new digital platform that is quite excellent in terms of its capability and the type of messaging that it can do and so we're going to continue using every platform that we have to communicate with families but also broadly communicate the the district goals
043around attendance attendance practices, those sorts of things. Um, the other things I would just highlight are we do have a district-wide attendance committee that held their first meeting prior to our strategic planning committee and so we reported on the work of that committee. Um, that will continue and they provided some very strong recommendations to get us started and one of them was to review our board policy around attendance. Um, and we've also spoken with some other officials in the region who do work where they look at our district and others and they've given us some perspective of how our board policy around attendance um, fares among other districts and some things that we could potentially do to shore up some language. And so in our office, uh, Kendall McNut has been working on that. And
044I think Chris will talk a little bit more about this, but we plan to bring that forward. a new and updated attendance policy that is more supportive of the work that our schools are doing moving forward. And so we're really trying to hit this on all fronts, best practices, be welcoming, but also have strong policies and expectations and procedures in place so that we can increase int attendance, get them here, and then um teach them. And I think the last uh slide I'll touch on is um the communication in and the roll out. We cannot do this alone. Um it can't just be the committee. It can't just be staff in the community or in the in the school district. We have to have parents and community members partnering with us in this. Uh otherwise
045uh we can only make so much of an impact. And so part of it is the messaging um can't just come from schools, but we've got to work with uh all the folks that you see up here listed uh to communicate this message out. And then the message needs to be that we are making progress and and where are we making progress? And then uh the fact that our staff care um our staff care about our students and that's evident in our belonging survey across the district. you can see that that students feel like they belong here. And I think all of these things together will strengthen not only our schools, but will strengthen our community. But I don't think we can stress enough the importance of our parents and our community members being partners
046in this work. It doesn't do us any good for people to stand back and point out what's wrong. If they're not willing to partner with us, um we're only going to be as successful as the people who are willing to partner with us. And so, we're doing a lot of good work. And as as Lisa said, the first place, we've looked kind of in the mirror to say, what can we do right here to make an impact? And we very quickly realized policy. Um, we've made it too easy for students to miss school and we've made it too easy for families to excuse the absences. And so, as as Lisa said, next month we're going to be bringing you um some more information about attendance and then also at a study session to share a
047little bit about um what that policy could look like. And then in May, uh we'll be talking about uh bringing you a first reading on a new policy for attendance for you to look at. Uh June 11th is our next committee meeting and um uh I know Denise comes and and anybody else is welcome to come as well. Um just let us know if you'd like to attend. But we're doing I think some really good work and and really strengthening that foundation to then get the results that we're after as we move forward. And I want to say thanks um to Lisa and Kurt and Kendall and their team. they're doing a lot of the internal heavy lifting um taking the information from our committee meetings, synthesizing it, and then we meet and talk about
048next steps. Um but the three of them are the ones that are doing uh the the heavy lifting as it relates to um next steps. And so a big thank you to them and uh I'm looking forward to the work that we're going to be doing. Do you have any questions for any of us? Is >> there a cost to the poor attendance? >> Such as >> a financial effect on the district with poor attendance. >> It would really only impact us in a couple places. um it could impact us in overall enrollment and if they don't show up at a certain point we have to drop them if they're not showing up. Obviously there's many steps that go in uh before that. Um count day is important especially at the beginning of the year.
049So if students are not there um especially at that first count day three at the beginning of the year that matters. Um, so yes, but they also do an average and then they also will um later in the year they'll correct that if we're off on our enrollment. But I think the bigger cost quite honestly is academically and socially and emotionally for the student, which I think you could argue is the monetary cost later on down the road. And then you talk about what are the resources we're having to put in to help that student get back to grade level and to graduate. Um, not that we don't want to because we do, but can you imagine if the students showed up and were on track to graduate, we're at grade level. um you don't
050necessarily have to spend as much resources on the tier 2 and even the tier three interventions because we're getting a lot of our students at the tier one level. So I would argue that yes um but how you calculate that cost I think it's probably beyond measure. >> True. I think it goes even I'll even say no and I and I'll say it goes past that because when I was sitting there I said we're training our kids this is their we're I'm just going to say this this is their job and so their job is to come to school to be ready >> to learn and so we're starting to train them >> and at a job and So they they come in, they're on time, they're ready to go, they've got all their stuff
051out. And so in a sense, not only are we getting them ready academically and mature emotionally, all these other things, but then they're going to go out in the world >> and be good citizens. So there's a huge cost, >> I mean, to the to the rest of the community. And so they're so if we don't get them ready to go, we aren't helping them to be great citizens that I mean here we have examples of, you know, we have good citizens. We're trying to raise good citizens and we need our families, you know, to come in and help us come along beside us and get the kids to school and it's important and all these other things. So, want to know my why? I want these kids to be good citizens. I want them
052to have a chance to go out in the world and be able to do whatever they want to do. Every door to be open for them. Somebody wants to know my why, there's my why. >> Doesn't Mr. Clevering I think do you guys have a handout for attendance? Is there like was there like giveaways or something that they were doing at some point? >> Oh, incentives. >> Yeah. Um each building will do um various uh activities where it's maybe um recognizing a class um or a grade level that has good attendance. We have many of our schools that are posting um the weekly attendance rate and I think actually a lot of our schools are doing that from our high school all the way down to our elementarymentaries and um student >> absolutely >> and
053they are doing stuff and they show up and they hey my friend city and you know they everybody's looking for >> sure >> where were you at oh I was you know I was homesick feeling better feeling that are, you know, what's going on. >> I I just think it's it's just great for their good morale and everything else for being good. >> I don't think there's a price on that. So, >> there'll be a lot more there'll be a lot more on this. Um, as I said, next month, um, we've we've talked about actually having an agenda item and doing a presentation on attendance and then the the work following that around, uh, policy and procedures. Uh, because we do have work to do on our policy and, um, there's stuff in the policy
054on attendance that that relates to the pandemic that, um, you know, is not relevant at this point. And so we'll be bringing you quite a bit in this area where we can improve as a district. >> So there's no detail. >> Yeah, they um they are a good resource and actually Nancy Ivory at um Person County Juvenile Court um is our resource and she's actually the one and we'll tell you more about this later. She's actually the one that said um of the policies in Thirstston County um yours is probably the softest as it relates to attendance. And so, um, we're not only looking, uh, within, but getting feedback from others because we asked, uh, Lisa met with her and said, "What do we need to do to to improve here?" And, and Nancy was
055fantastic in offering some advice and partnering with us as we move forward. So, the Becca bill still exists. they still have to go to court and um have a uh an opportunity to learn why it's important and there still are consequences. However, um the courts don't want to be punitive and we don't either. We like to work with families um on a solution, but there are times where you get to a place of we've tried everything and um so then there are some other avenues that we can try, but it it does exist. It's not the same as it used to be, but they are a great resource and they are willing to come out and meet with us, partner with us, um give us uh resources for families, for students, and so we'll be
056um meeting with them more as we move forward. Thank you. >> Vouchers and payroll. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. Operations report. Good evening everyone. Uh before you have some of the uh public works projects that have been finished and and closed up and you'll notice there that a number of them are food service uh equipment repairs. We did I think we shared it a little bit earlier, but we did receive a $33,000 grant from OSPI to replace some equipment at a couple of our elementarymentaries. And so u we're excited to again try to upgrade and prevent that maintenance um those emergency maintenance issues. wanted to give you an update of where we're at on a couple of projects. And again, this is part of listening to our community,
057understanding um their concerns and doing the best we can to address uh address those as we go. But before we get started, I just want to give you an update. Uh many of you know we had the fire uh at the high school in the portable and we've been working with the insurance company to kind of get down to that claim and that settlement and so we're getting really close to that. uh and we have a tenative quote which is kind of what they're basing um that amount on and the projection from the adjuster. So um we are working on that and then we will follow our procedures uh as policy to make sure that we um contract those services uh to do the replacement. But kind of the timeline is that uh once we
058get that portable ordered, it'll take 5 to 6 months to get it and to get all the permitting and everything ready. Uh and then in the meantime while that's going on, we will work this summer to uh do a demo of the portable. Uh it was cheaper in the process from the adjuster to actually demo it and replace it than it was to rebuild it. Um and so that's the direction they were taking us down. Uh in partnership with Southeast Fire, they would like to use it as a training facility prior to demo. So that'll be a great opportunity to partner with our community. uh they don't get that opportunity very often. So, we're going to work with them in that timeline. And then we've also been working with the city to identify the proper
059permits uh prior to uh both the demolition and the installation. Uh then following that um we will be working to make sure that's a secure location during construction and it'll probably be kind of fenced off during the school year until we can get everything uh up and running. So, it'll take us next year to to make that um an instructional space. We've talked a little bit about uh the gym repair uh of the roof that's been kind of ongoing for the last year and a half. Um and if you've kind of driven past the school, there's one on the bottom. You see the tarping uh in the upper right corner. You don't see the tarp because this was taken before the tarps were put on, but that is all tarped off. And this is because
060a number of years ago, three or four, uh we had the roof replaced and there was a decision that was made uh about the venting and that venting was unsuccessful. And it has basically caused all over um mainly where you can see there is uh over the locker room, boys locker room and mat room and over the weight room and then some other places throughout the auxiliary gym and gym. So, we had an evaluation done and we've been working with the contractor and they are doing it at a very low repair cost all on them uh with some materials that we're paying for for that replacement because it was a joint um agreement at the time when the when the roof was put in. So, um this is going to cost us a little bit,
061but it will be in the long run um very beneficial to to our building in the long run not having that uh roof rod as we go through um with all that water. So, um, the weather has not as cooperated as much as we'd like. Uh, the rain has been a little heavy. So, we were hoping to start on the weekends, uh, a couple of weeks ago and that got delayed. So, they are going to be out every weekend that they can and spring break and from then on until they can get that done. Uh, we do know that there are people on our campus during the weekends for facility usage and so there will be signage and a lot of different things up uh, just to kind of remind them to stay clear as
062people are on the roof working around the gym. So you'll see people out on the weekends. Another um concern was brought forward and uh we worked with Mark to have this conversation about the traffic flow. Uh when the parking lot was designed, there was a lot of arrows going lots of directions and it turned out to be a lot of head-on collision opportunities. So um to resolve this, we there is a you can see the little sign where I've got it up there. Right now it's where the arrow is pointing. But what that does is people come in that exit and uh run into people trying to get out. And so we are going to move that sign over there. Uh YMS is sending communication out to families to remind them that there's an entrance
063and an exit and a flow of traffic. Uh so hopefully that will help. And I know that that's true in a lot of our campuses is that the flow of traffic um is what helps throughout Yelm. So hopefully that will be again thank you to a community member that continued to be uh boisterous and sharing that hey this is really an issue and um again a a small cost of time to move that sign and hopefully that will improve the process for everyone. School zone beacons are another community comment regularly and uh our beacons are are fairly old and there's two different kinds that are out there. One is the speed zone flash and then there's the crosswalk flashers and those are a little bit newer. Uh we do have those and this is again
064you can see it at at Ridgeline where the student crossing is. We do not have people we do not mandate they walk across. It's there for their safety but we do pick up students on that side of the road. Um and we don't that's not a walking zone across but that's there. But you can see kind of down there. I kind of did the circle. those two beacons on each side that we've had for a number of years um are now out of date and and the technology is not functional. Um we've had WADOT come out and try to resolve it by uh putting in new batteries and that has not uh worked either because the technology again is is is outdated and we cannot service it. So we're doing some research right now on
065the company that we're working with or have been working with and then what are our options and alternatives. So, we'll um continue to do some research and bring that back to you. But in the meantime, those two are not working. Maybe intermittently they will flash um because there's enough solar. It's holding the battery long enough and then it goes away. So, uh they are not functioning and we are fully aware and we are working as hard as we can. We brought in an electrician on Monday to evaluate it. They said, "Yep, you're right. It's not working. >> Thank you very much." So, um, again, continuing to work on that. Um, and the I was just going to say the ones at the high school, that's the other location we had the speed zone flashers, and
066those were put in a long time ago because both of those are are highways, right? And so, it was really about students on on roads that were on highways. That's why we don't have them at our other schools. People are just used to those being there. It was also brought up by a community member that um, Mil Pond does not even have a school zone uh, sign at all. And uh we're looking back thinking, well, it's probably because most of that road was not the city at the time. Uh and there wasn't a lot of residential. And so uh did a little research with the county and the city and actually met with uh Cody today and they have already ordered the signs after today's conversation and we'll be putting up um again that that
067is just a school zone, the 20 mph um please slow down during when children are present. So the city's taking care of that for us. This one's um a more information to come, but just wanted to share and kind of make people aware again in the community. PSSE uh Peterson Energy has reached out requesting easement access on our parcel there, which is the surrounding of Blackamus Elementary, and they are going to do some uh upgrades to their electrical lines and they're going to take them off the poles and down and bury them uh for a better support in that community and reliability. Uh, so what you can see there is where that might impact us. We do have our fiber that is aerial. And then um we also have our underground fiber. So you can
068see the the blue and the green and they're sending us I don't exactly know what this means, but they are sending us the offer package for easement, which tells me they're digging into some into our property. And so we'll find out exactly what that means and how that impacts us. And that might come with dollars. I think that's what an offer means, but we'll find out. Don't >> don't count on it, right, Bill? I know. I know. Pierce County, >> we just >> we run that in. So, I'm hoping I'm I'm going to be hopeful, Denise. Okay. >> And then just this last um push again, if you or anyone else knows somebody who is interested in working for our district, we have opportunities and openings. Uh we are doing a um hiring fair on
069next Thursday from 2:00 to 4:00 at the transportation center. We have drivers and volunteers who are going to meet with people, talk to them about what the work is like um kind of kind of do an onboarding before they're onboarded uh to encourage them to apply and also seek assist bus assistance and custodian subs uh which are are desperately needed uh for u supporting our schools. So if you know someone who is interested, we'd love to have them over. I believe HR will be there to help us along the way um and expedite uh some of that process of I know it's challenging to apply but you'll have people there to help them. So um doing all we can to recruit and then we will have a training plan um after that. Any questions? Thank
070you. >> Thanks Harry. All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. >> Financial report. >> We'll be bringing our next one after our next binding conditions meeting with OSPI and the ESD. >> Student enrollment report. >> Yeah, staying uh pretty steady. Usually the second half of the year enrollment declines uh a little bit from the beginning of the year. Um we did see a little bit of that. Uh that's for a number of reasons. Usually at the high school level is where we see that. Um oftent times in our upper grades, but um in addition to that, like I said earlier, we are in the process of um projecting for next year. And we're also talking about um some opportunities to make long range projections and partnering with a firm um depending upon cost. Obviously,
071we've gotten one quote uh where they will come in and um do that assessment for us short and long-term uh range, which we'll need to have as we move forward, especially with all the growth that's coming. >> So, more to come on that >> board comments. Um I just want to start off with Rastar Tech Department. Uh you guys really do a lot for our school, especially with us evolving into majority of teaching is through a Chromebook. Can't tell you how many times I've seen someone break their Chromebook in class. So you guys always there. And I thought the chain was super cool. I don't know, but that was pretty awesome. And then transportation bus drivers. Oh my gosh. I can never hear that. waking up just early early early to go get treated disrespectful
072of course disrespectful kids but like I've seen it firsthand and I definitely wasn't very nice to my bus driver not to my bus driver but I did have those bus uh yeah it's truly like I'm happy that we're recognizing them because they don't get nearly as much as they deserve All our butt drivers are really we're doing work. It's crazy. Um, congrats to Sophie and Cali. That's awesome. Uh, wish I got to go to California. >> Um, and then Kaylee, super cool. D2, crazy. Nice job. Um, especially for that's crazy. Um, and then Southworth Booster Club, 16 grand is no small feat. That's really impressive. And like for kids to be able to have access to new music when I went to elementary school, I feel like the music equipment we had was probably three
073times my age, older than my parents. >> I don't know. Uh, it's awesome. >> And then I thought it was really cool that we're using that the portable that had a fire in it to train for fire fighters. Um, just a pretty cool way to make a bad situation, which is what Y is pretty good at at this point. So yeah, >> um, took the word right out of my mouth. Um, I want to congratulate the YCS staff um, in the technical department and the transportation. Um, as someone who was on the bus for most of their life and I was very nice to my bus driver. Um, it >> um, so congratulations. And then also thanking the South Worth Booster Club for their um, new musical equipment. um I had a recorder and I
074could play the hot cross buns and I'm glad that they now have more advanced and more um musical equipment to experiment. And then also the attendance plan. Um I love that. I love that we are doing more to get kids to come to school. Um like Denise said, this is our job. This is how you make good people is coming consistently on time to school. Um, I will say I have been late a few times. I have snoozed my alarm. That's okay. Um, but I like the initiative that's going on. Love that. And then congratulations to Sophie. You did amazing. Watching her do her thing does get me emotional as well. And then congratulations to Kaylee as well for her college. And then lastly, the portable and being able to work with community with firefighters.
075As a student who was personally affected by that fire, the teachers, Miss Lance and Miss Akula, are doing amazing at um just keeping a smile on their face every day and adapting to this situation. Um I think both have done amazing jobs and yeah, I'm very glad that it will be an academic learning space for next year. So yeah, thank you. Yes. So, I would like to make some shoutouts. Um, of course, it can't go without saying our contributors uh for it and transportation. Brian, Michael, and Weston, I believe, were our names today. Um, especially Weston for his new bling. I might have been distracted by the googly eyes. Was it a tablet, a laptop, a comically large iPhone? I don't know. >> Okay, top of laptop. Okay, good. I just need to know what
076I need to buy so I can make my own. Um, >> yeah. Yeah. No, our it transportation all our faculty, you know, if the school is the body, then you know, our faculty are like the organs that help it keep going. Uh, it's how I look at it. Of course, how could I not? I'm sports med. I think in syringes and stethoscopes and penicellin, of course. Um, another special name I saw on here as I was skimming through our resignations, uh, Jacob Diamond, colloally and affectionately known as JD among us sports folk. um our assistant head football coach is when I met him and as I've come to know him, he's become my favorite journalist. In the last like year, he's interviewed me about three times for the Nquali Valley News. Um I I really
077really appreciate him for taking the time to come in in addition to his football coach duties. Um amazing coach, amazing journalist, amazing writer. Uh, he's awesome. And yeah, he recently helped us make an article for our California competition. And this is where I would segue into talking about that competition, but I think I already explained enough. You guys get the general idea. Um, heads up, if you do go to Universal Studios Hollywood and you're planning on going down the escalators, bring a book. Those take forever. Um, yeah, there were like four of them consecutively. Takes like 10 minutes per. So yeah, just heads up. It's fun time though. >> I got to start this off just like everyone else did. Um, congrats to Michael Weston and Brian for the awards. I we really appreciate you
078guys. I not quite sure where they're in the crowd um or if they left, but we would not be the same without them. Um truly amazing. Congrats to Sophie and Callie. Um Callie, it makes a lot of sense. You like Callie? Um, I don't want to meet a hot Sophie. >> Um, thank you to the Southworth Elementary Booster for the generous donation for the playground equipment. Uh, I'm in band myself. I I love musical instruments. Uh, I play the horn. Uh, and I find it so amazing um that these young kids are getting opportunities um to expand their knowledge on musical equipment and uh if they're not quite interested in like throwing a football or playing tag or on the playground equipment, they have that opportunity. Um, just like Mr. Woods mentioned a little bit
079before, like thank you to all our staff and administrators. Like they truly do care so much about us. Um, and like I have been in Yelm from kindergarten to where I am now and it's truly the best experience. Uh, also I would like to say I do very much appreciate the flashing crosswalks because it does help me to not get run over when I'm running. >> I don't think my mom would be very happy if she got a call saying I got run over. And then I just want to finish. If any of you want to talk to me, we have a Snap Race fundraiser going on for uh the track team and you all heard about my commitment. Uh and we wouldn't be here without funding for our track team. Um so all those
080donations go to help to get like new discus, javelins, uniforms, hurdles, and just like make our track team better. So if Yeah, trust me, it'll be great. I will. Right on. Um, congratulations to our student reps on all your hard work. Way to go. >> Super good. Um, I think that somebody needs to hook Brian Edwards up with some bling. I was kind of disappointed after you left tonight without something, but >> um, thanks for the booster. Uh, the booster in Yelm is is incredible right now in general, but Southward, thank you guys so much. That's a lot of hard work and we appreciate it sincerely. Um I wanted to address the one of the the board comments tonight and just say that I know maybe in this platform we don't do back and forth
081but our emails and phone numbers are available all the time and um we do get people that reach out not a lot but um I appreciate when community gets involved and so please do um that's all for me tonight. Congratulations to the student rep. Um, even you, Aiden, down there. I love your stories. You know, last week's story, you know, was great with your dad. Um, you make me laugh every time you talk. It's just, but congratulations to all you girls. Um, your hard work's paying off, you know, and it's cool to see commitments a long time ago. You know, you see the fruit of your labor there. So, it's really cool. Thank you, South Worth, for the playground equipment. My son's going to be super excited. He's the one that will be beating on
082everything out there. So, I hope you know what you're in for down there. Um, so thank you for that. Um, I did go to see the reptile man yesterday at South Worth. Um, I'm terrified of snakes. The kids beg me to take him >> and I had to sit up front with my son because he can't just leave him by himself up there. He's one of those kids. >> Yes, that's my wife told me. She was like, I think everybody was laughing at you in your face because I was having a panic attack. >> Have a rule around the house. You treat every snake like a pit viper. You know, I know we don't have them, but that's how we treat them. Well, I saw one and it was awfully close. It was about to
083where Casey was, and it was game over for me, but >> way too close. Exactly. They're like, "Well, you don't have to." >> Um, but it was cool. Just a great turnout there at Southworth with parents and families just coming there to support the kids and reptile man. So, I haven't seen Reptile Man since middle school, so that was >> hard to follow. I uh congrats ladies. Um hard work pays off and I hope you carry forward and continue to work hard throughout life because you'll go far. Um I love seeing I love seeing the awards. I love seeing the IT and service awards. I love seeing the transportation service awards. I love seeing the people that that work hard for our community for our kids every day and don't necessarily get the accolades. So
084it's really it's really good to get them up here even though they don't like to be up here. Um South Worth Boosters, thank you. Um, that's a lot of hard work. Um, it's a lot of money. Um, but it shows that there are people in this community that care and put their time and effort on the line to help. Um, I appreciate that. I'm going to address the community comments as well. Um, we're not hard to find. Um, our phone numbers are public. You'd be shocked how few people call. Um, I have never not answered the phone every night of the week. We're either on a baseball field on in a mat room in a basketball gym coaching. We're here to answer questions. This forum doesn't necessarily give us the best ability to have a
085back and forth dialogue if you have legitimate questions, but there are all sorts of ways to get a hold of us and we are ready and available to have these conversations and we do. So, it does frustrate me a little bit to see these conversations being had in these meetings and then when we get a time to finally talk at the end, we can't even respond. Um, so please reach out, call, answer the phone. If you have issu, if you have issues, give us a call. We will talk and we will work behind the scenes to make things happen. So >> hard act to follow with everybody over here. Thank you to Southworth Booster Club. That really great. Uh, congratulations ladies. Way to go. Puts tear in my eyes. had the dollar for scholars >>
086was last weekend. >> Great time. And yesterday I went to the high school and helped them judge the FFA district competition. Oh my god, was I out of my league. >> The parliamentary procedure group and they said, "Bill, do you want to run the meeting?" He's like, "No. Great time. I thank God there was two kids there that had gone through the FFA parliamentary procedure and graduated. They knew what they were doing. So, and the only teams we had was from Yelm. So, even if I didn't know what I was doing, they would have gone anyway. The top two go to there. So, that's all I got. Um, okay. So, I'll ditto everything that was said around the uh and dollars for scholars. Um, thank the also I'll thank the booster club. Um, the booster
087clubs um I think are the the backbones of our schools and I don't think sometimes that uh they get enough recognition and so just thank you so much. Um uh also another uh booster club thing that happened and didn't involve any money but it was just out there. Um they um just posted that for the eighth grade moving up from um they just posted it on the website if you're moving up from eighth grade into middle schools to the high school. And so, um, that's kind of a little terrifying thing, a little exciting thing for our eighth graders to be moving up to high school. Um, I have a granddaughter, so I made sure she had a go some folks do some great things in the community. So, I really want this thank you. Thank
088you. from the bottom of our hearts for all this hard work. Um, and we need to get these kids to school. They got to be in school so they can learn, so they can move to the next grade. And you know, um, I'm not that hard to find. I work at the Lumberyard and I have conversations with people all admire. Sometimes they're good, sometimes actually positive, but I always listen. Sometimes they're in the parking lot, sometimes they're at the grocery store, sometimes they're in the neighborhood. But you know what? We hear a lot more stuff than probably people give us. So, we always listen. I'll just uh add on that before a couple quick announcements is that there's probably not a day or night that goes by that I'm not having conversation with at least
089one of you um about um something that you have either heard had a conversation with somebody about or you just want to know more. Um, and I can't think of many days or nights where we are not having conversation about something. Um, whether it's Ryan sending me an email about an idea around bus drivers. Um, hey, have we thought about um or whether it is uh a conversation because uh we have a parent concerned about the background check process and you guys are involved in that communication or whether it is our flashing beacons or our flash curriculum. um you guys are involved um in in everything and I see behind the scenes and what I know to be true is that there are um some people in this community that um have not walked in
090your shoes um or mine for that matter. um yet they are um loud in telling us what we don't do well and what we're not doing. Um but I encourage those people to come have conversation and uh maybe have a conversation around what we are trying to do and the conversations we are having. Um I have never worked with a board that is as engaged as the board members I have worked with since I've been here. Um uh this board does not just show up to board meetings or study sessions, but um they are working um after coaching um after kids are in bed um after uh whatever else they're doing in the evening. um they are checking emails from their school district email. Um they're texting me, they're calling me, uh they're emailing me
091asking questions because they want to learn more. People don't see that. Um and I think that's important to to mention. Um eighth grade parent night was the other night at the high school. I just want to um uh recognize the counselors at um YM High School. Uh they did a great job. uh disappointed in the turnout and they did a really nice job communicating in a variety of platforms. That's been a focus of us across the district, communication in a variety of ways, multiple times. And um attendance was disappointing. It really was. As we're talking about sending your eighth grader to high school, why wouldn't you be there? We had students show up without family members and um that was pretty cool to see. And uh I remember Ally even saw a couple students show
092up and said uh call your friends. And I think by the time they got there there were eight of them, eight students sitting there towards the front by themselves without parents. So my point is um why do we have an eighth grade parent night that probably not even 25% of our incoming ninth graders didn't have representation there. Um that's unacceptable and it's disappointing and we have staff putting in a ton of time and energy to try to help our students be successful as they go into high school. How can we be high be successful with these students if we don't have partners? And uh I'll continue to say that because um I was a parent too and and I went to all three of my kids um events and you know what there was a
093sacrifice because um we had things going on but there's nothing more important. Um and speaking of that, next week we have conferences on um Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Um this is another opportunity to be engaged and be involved in your child's education. We have staff members preparing for parents to come. We have students preparing for studentled conferences and we have a number of families that don't show up. Uh what does that say about um what we're doing that maybe it's not important? Um what does that say to our students? Uh, I think this is an area where we've got to improve in our district. >> We've got to improve in engagement with families. And maybe we've got to do a better job. Maybe that's communicating. May maybe that's creating um inviting places for them to be.
094Uh, but we got to figure that out. Um because we will not be as successful as we could be without the partnership of our families. And um I commend our schools on the communication um that they are trying for for conferences and getting families there and the amount of work that they put in to prepare for those. Um but there is no greater investment than than our kids and people have to start showing up. Um and I'll probably get criticized for this on social media. Um that'll be out tonight, I'm sure, or tomorrow. But um quite honestly, I don't care. Well, okay. So, I'll just say it. I mean, I can't I can't believe you wish to film for your kids context. My My son's in his 40s. My daughter's in her 30s. I didn't
095miss a And if I had to go to my grandkids, I would go to them. There's no greater investment than your kids. and even actually said they're their grandkids are but anyways they're >> what does Gary say they're 30% population >> 100% of our future >> and they are worth showing up for we show up for them for showing up for every single one of them. Don't ever tell me I don't show up for a kid in this community. I'll go to their conference. Call me. >> I'll go to the conference. >> That's all you got? >> Yep. >> What about you? Is that all you got? >> All right. Next meeting. April 16, 2026. 6 PM McKenna. This meeting is adjourned.