Yelm Community School Board meeting 10.23.2025

001I now call the October 23rd, 2025 Yelm Community School Board meeting to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. Right. Welcome everyone. My name is Denise Hendrickson and I am the school board president. Before we begin, I want to remind everyone that the agenda and the 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. And I would also like to note that um Casey has been excused. All right, moving on to uh board recognition. >> All right. Uh I'm going to invite uh Dr. Lisa Cado Smith up to kick us off this evening. We get to do some recognition of staff. I think one

002of the favorite things that we get to do at board meetings. And so uh I'll let uh Lisa kick it off and then we'll get right to recognizing staff members. >> Awesome. I totally agree. Can you hear me? There you go. >> Good evening everyone. It is a joy to kick off this year's staff recognitions and it, as Chris said, it's truly one of the highlights of every board meeting. These awards celebrate the incredible educators and support staff who go above and beyond to make a difference for our students every single day. First, we have the instructional excellence award, which honors teachers who elevate student learning through impactful instruction, and they create classroom environments that are grounded in dignity and belonging. These teachers inspire curiosity, confidence, and a love for learning. They help students believe

003in their potential and see what's possible for their future. Next, we'll recognize our PAR educators with the instructional support excellence award. We're honoring their steadfast commitment to student success. Their support helps create inclusive, welcoming classrooms where every learner is known, valued, and encouraged. For many students, these educators are trusted adults who offer guidance and genuine care, helping them thrive every day. At this time, I'd like to call up our principles who will introduce both of their honores. They're going to share a little bit about why they are being recognized this evening and then we're going to ask them to cluster around behind the board and we'll have a photo of the whole group afterward. So, first uh we'll call up uh Principal Curtis Cleveringa of YM High School. >> Good evening. Um it is my

004honor to recognize a couple of individuals that have had uh instant impact. Um I am going to start with uh our instructional support excellence award. Um we are recognizing a paraprofessional that the moment we saw her interact with our kids. We knew that we had a great person. Um sometimes you just know that they have it and um Monica definitely has it. Um she works with some of our special education kids pushing into different classrooms all day long and builds phenomenal relationships with all kids, all teachers. And um we are very lucky that she joined our team cuz she definitely has it. Monica, come on up. Uh my next award um uh I'm going to try and not get choked up. I've had the pleasure to work with Elelliana for um numerous years um for

005a few years while I was the principal at Capitol and about four years ago. We decided to launch an American Sign Language program at Yelm High School. Andiana was uh uh we were fortunate enough that she decided to apply for that job, win that job, and our kids get the opportunity to work with Miss Fiser um every day. And there are 130 kids every day that get to experience something that I would say is one of the most unique educational experiences um that I have witnessed in my 27-year career. Um the engagement is unlike anything I have ever seen. Um, if you watch a kindergarten teacher teach and they are on all day long, imagine being on all period long without saying a word. And that is the engagement that is happening in um our

006American Sign Language classes. Um, I know that Miss Fischer is exhausted at the end of the day. And the only analogy I could come up with is imagine playing charades with 30 kids every time you're teaching a new concept. And that is what is happening in our classroom every day. And um we are blessed to have her service and our kids are lucky to uh get to enroll in that and it fills every semester. So Elelliana Fischer, thank you for your service. Hello, I am Craig Curry, principal of Ridgeline Middle School, and it is my privilege to honor two amazing educators tonight. Uh, first up is for our instructional support excellence. Um, Nikita, could you come up? So if you have special programs in your school, you know that you need amazing people uh serving

007these kids. Nikita is in her first year uh at Ridgeline, but she has been a godsend and she brings so much value and talent to Ridgeline. She's a pair and our CLC, our comprehensive learning center where students are learning life skills, behavior skills, and academics. Um the teacher uh who Nikita works with says Nikita has been a valuable contributor to Ridgeline. Uh she demonstrates flexibility, a strong commitment to student learning, and maintains consistently positive attitude. She's always willing to step up, ensure that our students are well supported and cared for. Nikita, thank you so much for all you do for our kids. Um, for our instructional excellence award, I I have had the pleasure of working with this teacher uh my full time at Ridgeline. And Aaron Bar, can you come up? >> Yes. Aaron

008teaches art at Ridgeline and uh we I can put any student in her class and I know even if they're not good at art, they say I'm not good at art. Telling you, you're going to love this class because you're going to love Miss Bar. Um every day between classes I go out to the green hallway. You and I are out there every day, right? We're out there every day. She is out there every day greeting her students. Um, she is the epitome of the warm demander. Uh, she is super supportive, super nurturing, but she also gets results from her kids. You're going to be in her art class. You're going to learn a lot about art. And so, I have a lot to share with you later about all the amazing things people said

009about you, but tonight I'm just going to say thank you so much for all you do for Ridgeline Kids. Thank you. Hi, I'm Mark Bowden. I'm the principal of Yelm Middle School. It is my pleasure to honor Phil Arnold as our instructional excellence award winner. You want to come up, Phil? Um, I actually wrote something out today, which is good. And, and I literally mean I wrote something out. And that is because Phil is a big proponent of handwriting. And while mine is not very neat, it I still wanted to dedicate this to him. Uh so Phil has been at YMS I think we decided this your ninth year and before that he was at McKenna. So this is his 20th year in the district and before that he lived a wild and adventurous life

010that sometimes we get privileged enough to hear about. Uh and and if you ever get a chance there's great there's great stories and lots of really cool stuff. Um he has always been in his time here a caring, energetic teacher that connects with kids, has a great sense of humor. Kids like being there, but he has high expectations. And it's fun to go into the class and and you know that you're going to go in the class and kids are going to be learning. Uh this year though, it's been especially fun to be around Phil because we've had a couple initiatives dedicated to the sixth graders that he has been a big part of. One is that uh we don't have phones at all for sixth graders, a lunch at hallways, whatever. And Phil has

011been a big proponent of that and big support of that. The other thing is that we have a thing called YMS 101 that all of our kids are getting uh preparation for how to be a middle school student. And Phil not only is one of the people that's teaching that, he was one of the creators of that. And so every kid that's coming into YMS at this point, every sixth grader I think is getting a different experience than we have in the past. And a big part of that is because of Phil. So that's that's pretty awesome. Um let's see the uh oh there there are lots of lots of amazing things about Phil and he's a super valuable part about uh YMS. One thing that I'll leave you with that that I think demonstrates

012it is that last year we had a secret spirit uh dress up day and it was Phil day and everyone in the school all the teachers in the school dressed up like Phil. There was this version of Phil, there was uh bicycling Phil, there was mountain climbing Phil. Uh, and he was the only one to thinking though. And he was like, why is everyone looking so stylish today? Uh, but so that's just a great example of how much Phil means to our school and he's a great great part of YMS and we're glad to have him. Hi everybody. I'm Lisa Cra and I'm the principal at Fort Stevens and I would like to invite um Mary Dwise to join me. She is our instructional support excellence award winner. Um I prepared notes and I I

013feel like my colleagues have like they should be doing roasts. They're so good. They're they're so impressive and I'm a little nervous. So, um I'm going to read mine, but I am going to say this. I've known Mary almost the entire time that I've been at Fort Stevens as a parent and as um a pareducator, and she's the kind of person who always has my back. Um I have been trying to get out to do parent drop off in the morning and sometimes the role of a principal when you're the only one in the building, I don't make it out because a meeting or something happens. And Mary always has my back and she takes care of making sure that our families drop off their kids safely. safely. All right. So, Mary serves as an

014instructional paraprofessional in our math department and excels as a recess supervisor with her engaging personality and sense of humor. Mary effectively supports students during math intervention sessions, helping them strengthen all of their math skills. Additionally, she addresses all of the re recess related concerns with ease. I want to thank her for contributing to a positive and supportive environment at Fort Stevens where I know all of my Fort Stevens Eagles can soar both academically and socially. Thank you. >> And I would like to have Jackie Gathne join me for instructional excellence. I've known Jackie the entire time that I've been at Fort Stevens. She started in the office as an OP3 and then she became an OP5. And she came to me one day and she said, "You know, Lisa, I want to become a teacher."

015And I said, "Oh, you got to do it. You'd be amazing." She was always the one whenever we were short and needing a little coverage, she go, "Oh, I'll go. I'll go and read a story to the children." And she absolutely has excelled as a classroom teacher. And the reason that I wanted to highlight her today is because I recently did an observation in her classroom. And when the kids were um talking about the things that were important to them and she was giving them an opportunity to share, something really touched my heart. But I wrote down what I said and I don't want to miss anything. So um she is instrumental in fostering a collaborative classroom environment. Her emphasis on teamwork has encapsulated her class mantra, make the team stronger, which is evident during

016classroom visits. Thank you, Jackie, for everything that you do to help strengthen our students and our school and instilling the valuable contribution um of of collaborating with Miss Steven. And when I was in, they told me I heard them say to each other, "They're making our team better. They're making our team stronger. They believe it. They say it. And it's because of Thank you, J. Hi everyone. Stara Watson, principal at Lacmus. And I'm going to first invite who's up here? Kayla teacher receiving the instructional excellence award. And I'm Fment. Come stand over here. But I'm famous for saying don't make eye contact because I can't read and cry at the same time. Um it's really important to recognize Kayla for the incredible journey that she has taken in just two years of teaching. last year

017just being her first year. The disillusionment phase of teaching where the typical teacher faces moments of questioning all of their life's decisions came very fast and very quick for Kayla. And instead of letting those moments define her, she embraced every piece of feedback, using it as fuel for tremendous growth. and not only in her own skills, but because she cared about the progress of her students. She keeps a sharp eye on data, builds strong relationships, and bre movement, excitement, and joy into her classroom every day. Above all, Kayla communicates clearly and consistently that she believes deeply in every single one of her students, their classroom community, and their success. Her dedication to them doesn't stop in the classroom. She truly understands that her students success soarses when she partners with families. That eye contact, I

018can't do it. It's because of these and her dedication and resilience that make her the perfect person to be recognized for instructional excellence. She is inspiring and I can't wait to see all of the amazing things that she continues to do. Congratulations, and my educator Sonia Cox who is desperately hiding Anna. Celebrating Sonia is probably one of the greatest things that I can do as a leader at Lakamus. She has been an essential part of our school family since 2005. Sonia shows up every day with a clear purpose to help our students succeed in every way imaginable. Whether it's opening a milk because apparently that's that's a skill that you need to have. finding just the right book, partnering with teachers for check-ins, or even running the base of a laminator that we have. When

019it gets stuck, seriously, she's the only person that knows the secret. Sonia is on it. >> Students who trust and turn to her, our staff does, too. With her great sense of humor, approachable nature, and willingness to help wherever needed, Sonia truly is the staple of our team. We're pretty sure that if there was a school superhero, Sonia's cape would be made of laminator sheets and snack wrappers. Thank you, Sonia, for showing up with your heart on your sleeve and making our school a warmer, happier place every day. We're so lucky to have My name is Ellen Kavanaaugh and I am here for Jodie as she I will read her script to make sure I honor what she wants to um say to celebrate her two um staff with excellence awards. Um but I'll start

020off. So, good evening, Mr. Woods and fellow board members. I want to start by apologizing for not being here in person tonight. I had to make the tough decision between attending this meeting and my daughter's senior night at for soccer at Higher High School. After make take talking with both the recipients, they completely agree that I need to be there to support my daughter and thankful that I stepped in. Tonight though, we have an honor of recognizing two amazing individuals. Uh, Maisha Lanigan and Cara Ligman. Why don't you guys come? >> They're always together anyway. >> All right. Cara joined McKenna last year and has been a wonderful asset to our McKenna family, consistently supporting students each and every day. Since starting her position, she has taken on some challenging roles, approaching each one with

021grace, patience, and a smile on her face. Cara is always willing to help whenever she is needed. Even when a task isn't exactly what she signed up for, she stepped in without hesitation, always keeping what's best for the kids in mind. She is someone who the students respond to and listen to as she brings a calm and reassuring presence to every interaction. I, Jod, along with the staff, am so grateful. And Ellen, actually, Jod and Ellen to have Cara at McKenna. We cannot thank her enough for all that she has done and continues to do to help our students grow and succeed. >> My Lanigan. >> Oh yes. >> Not even two years ago, Milishia was asked to make the major shift in her career after her lovey failure. She was asked to step into

022the role of special education teacher, something she hadn't originally planned to do. >> Because she was endorsed in this area and it allowed her to stay in her position at the time, she graciously accepted the challenge. Yes, she did. We're thankful she did. Uh what she didn't realize then, but what I Jodie knew all along was that she would be absolutely brilliant in this role. Myia has proven to be a natural making tremendous impact on our students and our entire school community. Since stepping into this role, Mileisha has continued to prove what an amazing teacher she is. She has demonstrated her ability to move students forward academically in our learning resource center while also providing the social and emotional support they need to be successful in the classroom each day. She is someone who gives

023110% each and every day to her students and it shows as her students and staff love working with her. She is truly making a difference in the lives of our students at McKenna. While this may not be the position she originally envisioned when she began her career in education, knowing her passion lies in having her own little classroom, Melicia has made an incredible impact in the students she works with each and every day. She couldn't be more found uh for we couldn't be more fortunate to have her in her role of LRC teacher. She's a remarkable person and educator and our staff cannot thank her enough for all she has done for the students. Good evening. I'm Becky Feller, principal at Mil Pond Elementary, and our nominees are not here this evening, but I did

024want to honor them with a few words. Um, our instructional excellence award um goes to McKenzie Dust. Uh McKenzie is a valued third grade teacher and a strong member of our staff who served in many roles throughout the years. Miss Das has taught fifth grade intervention, first grade, and um comes to us this year as a third grade teacher, consistently demonstrating a deep commitment to her students. She finds creative ways to get families involved and engaged in the classroom through events that welcome and encourage participation. Her approach is nurturing yet firm, creating a classroom environment where students can truly thrive. Miss Dust is quick to help others and contributes to the collaborative efforts of the building with positivity and experience. Um, we appreciate her and thank her for teaching and loving our students. Um for

025the instructional support U Milp recognizes Jen Riyle who is a dedicated profession paraprofessional who supports literacy and social emotional learning in our building. Each morning Jen warmly greets students and checks in with those who may be struggling providing bright energy and encouragement. In addition to managing our book fairs, Jen plays a vital role during al during alternate recess and leads literacy focused class times where she shares new books, reads aloud stories, and help students check out books of interest. Miss Riyle builds meaningful relationships with readers of all levels, encouraging and promoting a love of reading. She also ensures that high-interest books are ordered and readily available to all students. We truly appreciate Miss Jen and all she does to enrich our school community. Hi, I'm Holly Arian. I'm the principal at Prairie Elementary School and

026I get to talk about this lovely lady over here, Tabitha Nevie. You want to come on up? was on here. So Tabitha came, she was a teacher over at Ridgeline, but prior to that had already taught at Prairie, and I had already known of Tabitha because my kids went to Ridgeline. Sorry, Craig. Um, and I also knew that her math instruction was real strong, right? And so as soon as I heard she was willing to come to prayer, I was pretty excited and I was I was ready to have her on board. Um, so let me tell you a couple amazing things about Tabitha. Um, Tabitha, we get to recognize her for the instructional excellence award, but Tabitha is a teacher or is a teacher that every principal really loves having because of her intentional

027instruction and the relationship she builds with kids. She has supported her team using IES and data informed instructions, which has been awesome to see, and her lead that with her group um of third grade teachers, and she always is ensuring that every student's growth is guided by strong evidence. Um, and then in one of our meetings, we had talked about some of the lunchroom noise that was coming in. And you know, there's some complaints. It's getting really loud. And Tabitha was part of that meeting. And uh, the other day, I'm walking into the lunchroom. And sure enough, she has her kids sitting down. They're in table spots. She has these cool little um, conversation starters at the table. So, she's always putting forth that thought and that effort to make sure that kids um are

028engaged and making good choices and safe. and I love that part about it. Um, Tabitha's dedication and positivity shines in everything she does. She consistently goes above and be beyond, not only meeting students needs with her creativity in her instruction and giving student voice in her classroom. Her willingness to collaborate and share her expertise makes her an invaluable part of the third grade team. Also, a special note about Tabitha. Beyond teaching, she also has this amazing talent of growing flowers and creating these beautiful bouquets. So, if you ever need flowers, you should really do. They're amazing and honestly, it brightens up everybody's day. So, I always know I have someone that I can get some flowers from and bring joy to somebody else. So, she's got a lot of cool things about her. But, thank

029you for everything that you do for our students and staff. You are truly valued at Prairie. So, thank you. Okay, now I get to talk about Vivian to celebrate and actually I think if you've been here for how many years? >> You deserve to have that whole >> Yes, you deserve it, Vivian. Wow. I had a little help from a friend to help me with this and I am just excited. Okay, are you ready? >> Here we go. >> Okay. Um, so Vivian is a pareducator in our learning resource center and I had known Vivian when I taught at Mil Pond as a teacher and we kind of connected at that time, right? We just kind of got each other. We liked our tied eyes and all those kinds of things. Um, but she's just

030a really awesome person besides that. But let me tell you a little bit about what she does in our school. So if you look up the word um student advocate, kindness, or genuine belief in students in a dictionary, you'd find Vivian's name. She doesn't come to work simply because it's her job. She comes because she truly believes in every student she serves and loves them as if they're her own children. Vivian consistently goes above and beyond and supports her students, which in her eyes is every single one of them. She thinks creatively, acts with compassion, and does whatever it takes to advocate for their success and well-being. Her dedication is unmatched, and every student um that Vivian comes in um comes into to work with on a daily basis. She brightens their day, and their

031hearts are fuller and their future is stronger. You're a rare gift and not only do you love your students deeply, but you help them learn to love themselves, which is an important piece of what we do on a daily basis. So, we appreciate all that you do for our school and your presence uplifts our school community and um we couldn't do it all without you. Well, thank you for what you do. >> Don't worry, I am the last school at Southworth. So, I'll try and keep it short. Um Diane could not be here tonight. Uh she is the recipient of our instructional support excellence award. Uh she had a family emergency, but I know that they are also watching. Um Diane has been at Southworth for a very long time and is committed to Young

032Community Schools and its students um of this district. She's probably best well known for her leadership outside at recess and as a recess supervisor, but she is much more. She is the heart and soul of Southworth. She is also known as a kindergarten parent and she works in Miss Delaro's class. Diane helps support our youngest students, helps them feel welcomed, helps them grow and shine as a South Star. And because of her efforts and hard work, our kinders do feel like they are cared for and they grow. So, thank you to Diane. I know you're watching. And for our instructional excellence award, Jana, >> you guys come on up. >> Uh, I'll put this uh lightly. This last year was tough and as a building, we struggled to try and inspire our own staff. We

033had a very hard, struggling time at the very end of the year trying to figure out who we wanted to become and where we wanted to go. I asked for input and there was one person that stood up and raised their hand saying, "I have an idea." Janet came up with the idea of the energy bus and talking about how we should look at our professional development as re-energizing our staff so that we could commit to our work at Hope as being adults who care for our students by first looking at our adults and ensuring that they're taken care of. That leadership has helped brighten our mood, helped build better educators, and when you look in the classroom, she implements this through her kindness spotters. She recognizes uh students or allows them, I should say,

034to recognize other students that are being kind and allows those students to give them an award. So, thank you, Janna, for all your efforts. Come on. Congratulations. over. >> Okay. Yes. >> Sit down. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Yeah. We'll uh we'll give them just a minute uh as they >> head out. >> I had a granddaughter in that sign language class. Loved it years. >> That's awesome. >> Yeah. All right. >> Okay. So, >> thanks. >> All right. Superintendent comments. >> All right. Um, couple things I want to share with you tonight. Um, as I've uh told you in the past, I want to take this opportunity to try to answer um maybe questions that have come up at um previous board meetings or themes that we're hearing about.

035And uh you'll recall uh last board meeting I talked about um uh district policies and um how they are decided and which ones are are mandated, which ones um district has some discretion. Um and then one of the other things I want to talk about was enrollment. Um so I'm going to take some time talk about enrollment trends um because that was also brought up at a previous board meeting. And then I'm going to talk about um uh a um committee that we're going to be pulling together um to look at one of our areas of curriculum based on um some feedback. So, first of all, with enrollment, I want to talk about uh Yelm specifically and uh what we're seeing and I'm going to go through um Yelm and then I'm going to talk

036about state and then I'm going to talk about some of the reasons why. Um so, we'll go to the first slide. Um so this is uh our enrollment over the years and you can see going all the way back to 2014 2015 and um you can see the dip in the around 2020 and then also a dip starting um really kind of in that 2023 24 time period which again I'm going to talk more about that when we move forward um but this is uh based on October 1st count each here. Um September count is often um uh not real predictable about the year because we've got a lot of students that we can't count if they're not here the first four days of school. So this is based on October 1st. So the next

037slide you can see Yelm in comparison to similarsiz districts. Uh we got Tumbwater in green. We've got Kelso in blue. Um North Kitap kind of that darker bluish green. And then Shelton. Um so you can see some similar trends across uh districts that are similar in size and again gives you that 2020 2021 year uh school year where uh we all experienced a very similar trend. So, uh, the next slide, um, we even broke down the data even more because we wanted to look at, um, specific groups of students. So, this one is our English language learners and non-English language learners. And part of the information is at the very top of this slide that that is not showing. So um the non-English language learners would be the dark bar and then the gold would

038be English language learners. So on top you see Yelm uh you see back in 20145 we had 101 students that were English language learners made up about 1.8% of our students. And then you go all the way to the right uh at 243 students um that are English language learners which is about 4.2% uh of our student uh body. And then down below you can see um the average across the state uh which is at 15.1 uh and then 84.9 if you take all of our students across the state that's the percentage 18 or 15.1 percentage of students across the state that um are English language learners. So the next group uh I want to talk about is lowincome um students and again in the top uh bar is YM in the bottom is Washington.

039You can see that back in 20145 um 2748 of our students were considered lowincome and um then 51.1% of them were not. And then if you fast forward to 2024-25, um we have 49.6% of our students considered lowinccome. Um so roughly half of our students and then you can see down below how that compares to Washington state. Um very close to the same as uh we see across the state. Next slide is students with disabilities and then students without disabilities. Um the uh gold color there is students with disabilities and then uh the black bar there is students without disabilities. You can see 798 students um back in 2014-15 and now we have 1,086 which makes up um almost 19% of our students um our students that um have special needs. And then you can

040see down below how that compares to the state. We've talked a lot about those numbers growing and continuing to grow um particularly here in Yelm and uh I think part of that is families coming here um because of the services that we provide and and uh a great reputation for um working with these students. But I think we're going to continue to see that number grow just across the state and across the country. Um, so I wanted to to share that one as well. Now I'd like to get into statewide. This is pretty interesting. Um, so this is kindergarten and 12th grade cohort headc count. So uh the kindergarteners are in the the dark green and then yellow is 12th grade. So you can see back in 20145 um we were graduating um you know

041close to the same number of kids that were bringing in. But if you look over in the far right um in yellow is 12th grade. So almost 87,000 12th graders this uh past school year when we had um just over 71,000 kindergarteners. So what that means is we are graduating larger groups of students than we are bringing in in kindergarten. And uh as we look at some more of the data um that's a trend that is going to continue across the state. You can see where that started um to separate after the pandemic. Early in the pandemic, we saw a significant decrease of kindergarten students because kindergarten is not a state requirement. And so a lot of families during the pandemic elected to homeschool. And so, uh, after that, I think some families, uh, realized

042that, um, that homeschooling worked for them and, um, it worked well for them. And then, um, kind of what we saw also is just birth rates, um, mirroring, uh, what we were seeing in our schools and continuing to drop. So what that means also is your staffing model is built on um those kids that you've had and that are going out. And so what you can see is um we're losing uh large groups of high schoolers and not replacing them with the same number of elementary. The next slide um is 5-year-olds and 18 year olds in Washington state over time. And you can see again um if you look in that range from really 2025 to 2035 you see a big gap um that's what we just looked at the previous slide is the number

043of kindergarteners versus the number of seniors and they're saying that um those are not going to be u back to similar numbers of each other until we get you know past 2040 and beyond. But the other thing I would caution is that when you're making um predictions based on predictions, those are very soft numbers. So really what we can um really look at here is is the data from the past, but also looking up till uh 2030, we're going to continue to see um far fewer kindergarteners coming into school than we have seniors leaving school. And then the last one which is um no surprise birth rates um you look at the birth rates over time we're just seeing a steady decline um which also is going to translate into uh fewer students and um

044so schools districts across the state are having to adjust to this um in every district um even districts that um are projecting uh increases, they're very slight. Um not much at all. And where you used to be able to predict um per household like u maybe 1.8 children coming out of the house, um now it's less than one and a half. It's right around I think 1.2. Um so everything is changing as far as the landscape having to do with um enrollment. I want to go back to um Yelm in particular. Back to um slide number two um and just talk a little bit about keep going right here. Um talk a little bit about Yelm. So there was uh at two board meetings ago there was a claim that our enrollment is declining because

045of what we are teaching our kids. And one of the things we're going to talk about here in a minute is our comprehensive uh sexual health education. And the claim was the things that we're teaching our kids are causing them to leave our schools. when Yelm is a district that hasn't changed what they're teaching um since um these policies came into effect which I talked about the last board meeting um which were required by the state and as a matter of fact um our staff do not um like teaching this content area because it is so controversial and because um they're very uncomfortable teaching it because um a lot of families have a lot opinions about this content. And one of the things that we're doing is allowing folks to opt out to any of

046our instruction. Also really trying to be transparent about exactly what it is we're teaching and how. And we had very very few people opt out of um this content area last year. So um that was one of the arguments about enrollment. The other thing I'll say is we turned away almost all of our transfers. Um over 50 students were declined enrollment in our school district this year. And the reason being we had to cut our staff. If you recall a year ago this spring we cut a 100 positions across the district. That is not just teaching staff but pair educators classified positions across the district. So what that meant was we had fewer classrooms um for our students to be in. So uh we uh had to decline um transfers. People say, "Well, why wouldn't

047you take the transfers because it means more money?" Well, if they come in nice, neat buckets as far as grade level where you can add a teacher and solve that problem of overload, that's great. but typically they come across um a variety of grade levels and so adding one teacher doesn't solve that overload problem. And so we denied quite a few um students um on uh the transfer requests and are going to have to continue to do that. And we get quite a few uh requests from our neighboring district uh particularly out um uh Bethl School District, Clover Park in that area. And um we decided we're not going to overload our classrooms with with those students um from out of our district. It's not fair to our families that live here and not fair

048to our staff. Um we also uh know that we've seen a decline because of our failing levy. uh once uh you fail a levy and there starts to be conversations around the failing levy, uh people will go to other districts because they know there going to be fewer opportunities for their children in the district. And so we have seen a decline um since the failure of the first levy that we ran. Um, we also, just to be completely transparent, when we had um the situation with football um this last year and the coach left, we had players that left and went to other programs as well. And um in addition to that, um I've already touched on um the significant decrease at kindergarten u because of those birth rates. We'll continue to see a decrease

049there. So, um, in an effort to continue to be transparent about, um, our situation, um, the things that we're facing, um, enrollment will continue to be one of those things, um, that, um, that becomes a challenge and is going to require reduction of staffing year after year uh, as that goes down. Before I move on to the next topic, I want to pause and see if you have any questions. Did you look at any trends like nationwide or just the state as they or did you see like is it across the nation trends are going down as kindergarten or is it just a state of Washington issue? >> We just got the the state of Washington data. We recently had um a meeting with superintendent of public instruction. We have a monthly meeting. all 294

050uh superintendents in the district to have a zoom meeting and um they had done the the research on state. We have not looked at national um but based on what we are hearing is it similar trend across the nation but I don't have data for that >> I got to say this is very very interesting topic >> yes >> up a lot of the money water >> yeah and also I will say that um in talking with uh realtors in our area they've seen um a uh slowing down of the market here in Yelm. And again, um their conversations uh tell them that it also directly has to do with the the loss of levy. Um they see that and and um when people are pcsing in um in the military, that is information that

051they share with the families that are coming in that um Yelma has failed their levy. Therefore, they may not have the same opportunities for their students that a neighboring district might have. And also, if you're looking to purchase, um, think about resale value, uh, of your home because, uh, that will decline as well over time with the loss of a levy. Um, with that, I want to kind of segue into um, the comprehensive sexual health education curriculum. Um last spring um this was a topic of conversation. Um every year it is actually a topic of conversation. There are families that believe that we are not teaching enough in this area and then there are families that believe we are talking about too much and that it should be left um to the families at home.

052And so we try to do a very good job of just following the letter of the law and not doing uh more than what the le the letter of the law requires. And so one of the things that we committed to last spring was um doing a review of our curriculum um along with the standards and um taking a look at exactly what is being taught um in our schools. And so what I want to do tonight just briefly is um have Lisa share a little bit about what that process is going to look like here um later this fall and this winter as we um bring in some community members to um really kind of take a look at what we're doing and then make some decisions about um the the path forward. >>

053Thank you, Chris. As Chris said, we recognize that this is a very sensitive topic for our families and our families have always had the opportunity to opt out of this curriculum. It is the one curriculum that you can opt out of and that includes opting out in its entirety or opting out of portions of it. Um, parents also have the opportunity to review the curriculum ahead of time so they know exactly what they would be opting out of. That said, in the the past year, we had some parents who raised questions about the curriculum that we're teaching, and we have a process that we directed them to called a reconsideration of materials process, uh, which they chose to do. And what we will do now at this point is initiate a committee. Um our the

054complaint came forth at the middle school level, but we are actually going to do a comprehensive review across elementary, middle school, and high school. And so beginning next month, we'll engage the middle school process in uh January and February, we'll look at our high school curriculum. And then we'll actually be doing a full adoption uh a renewed adoption at elementary, which is fifth grade. um because that particular curriculum is cycling out. Um but I I would just simply say that this topic is important to us. We know it's important to our families and we will be including a committee that has uh administrators, teachers, and parents and community members who will help us uh look at the state standards uh look at the instructional materials and then make some recommendations um to all of you.

055So uh more to come. We will keep you updated on this topic. >> That's a good question. Yeah. Yeah. >> When we been here, when the policy first, you didn't have a lot of choice with curriculum. Is there more out there now that the committee will be able to look at as opposed to however many years this ago it came out? >> Yeah, there are other tools that we can look at. Uh, OSPI has a list of recommended tools and so we have other materials that we can look at. Ours uh the one we've used is called family life and sexual health. It's really one of the oldest ones around. Just give some perspective. This is year 34 for me and when I was a teacher I taught this curriculum. It has changed over time

056as state laws have changed. Um but the the particular curriculum we use is is one of the oldest uh in in existence. Um but yes there is the opportunity to look at other materials to teach this topic. >> Thanks. >> So the other thing is that when we when our families are allowed to opt out of all of it or part of it, we provide a place for those students to go whereas other districts make families come and pick them up. That is correct. We have never asked families to come and pick children up. We always provide an alternate space and alternate lessons. Um because again, I think respectfully we understand that that this is an area where parents have rights. Um it gets into people's family values in some very sincere and important ways.

057And um we've always valued that. And I think as Chris said, uh, traditionally we've had very few optouts. Um, but we have had more discussion about it in the last couple of years for sure, right? Which is f I mean, I'm okay with that, but I want people to know that that we aren't going to make you come and pick your kids up and take them home and then bring them back. No, we're going to provide a place and we actually really don't like doing this. >> Well, right. It's challenging. These are sensitive topics and I think as Chris said, you know, at times uh this is challenging for our teachers and our teachers really their instructions are to teach the materials kind of to the letter of the law because we need to make

058sure that people don't embellish or teach something that's not in the curriculum. When we hold our curriculum nights and we notify parents, we are really committing to them that this is what we are going to teach. And so um so yeah, it's you know it's it is a sensitive topic and and I think it's uh timely to revisit it. I appreciate that it's coming up and we are genuinely putting together a sincere process that will engage our community um in this uh curriculum area. Yeah. >> And I think the last thing is I'll I'll remind you of our um previous board meeting when I went through the policies and um how some policies are required and are tied to funding, >> right? >> Um and this happens to be one of those and if a

059district does not follow the law, um you run the risk of jeopardizing funding for your district. superintendent can lose uh their certification. Um there can be other consequences as well. And so um you know we take this very seriously. We also um take very seriously what our community uh believes um we should be and not be um teaching in schools. And so, um, it's a fine line and unfortunately you will never, um, get it completely right because there will always be people that that disagree. And so, um, districts are put in a a challenging spot, um, to try to navigate this. And so, um, we're going to do that with, uh, a very open process, having people come in, take a look at it, um, help us with making the decisions, and then, um, will

060always and continue to offer an opt out for families and, uh, a place for their student to be during those lessons. Um, so we'll continue uh conversation and we'll talk with you more about the timeline um as we move forward. But just wanted uh to remind you tonight that that process is coming that we committed to um uh last spring. >> When we finalize this, do we have to send it to the OSBI to them to say this is what we're going to do? >> They don't determine the curriculum. Um all they determine is the standards. um the state standards and then the policy and around this particular content area. Um so policy and standards are what they determine the vehicle you use to get there, meaning the curriculum. That's up to the district and

061you don't they do have some that they say they endorse or approve, but a district could also create their own curriculum as long as you're meeting the standards and the policy. Okay. All right. You have anything else? >> I don't. Okay. Don't. I'll save it till the end. >> Okay. >> That was enough for now. >> All right. Are there any community comments? >> Uh, we have one. We have Heather Hadfield speaking on the levy. >> Okay. So, >> oh, >> um, yes. And let me see. Uh, this is a non-aggenda item. >> Let's see. It's not >> It's not on the agenda. So, >> I'll talk fast. >> So, for fine. We have a process. >> I We have a process. I don't want to violate that process. Um, for community comments that are

062separate from items on the posted agenda, please understand the board will not engage in discussion per policy uh 1400. The board values and supports the opportunity for community members to share ideas. However, for non-aggenda items, the board will not take action, but may refer the issue to the administration for further investigation or research. Comments on non-aggenda items will be limited to three minutes per speaker and 15 minutes per topic. Any comments directed at the performance of school personnel will not be allowed. Comments that are inappropriate to an open public meeting will be immediately stopped by the board president. Community comments need to be presented in a respectful manner following proper decorum. disruption of the meeting beyond the open comment period can result in the meeting being recessed. And something I just kind of wanted to

063um add is um we have contact information for Heather at the on the community sign up. >> Okay. Yep. >> All right. Thank you. >> Yep. Yep. >> Okay. Go. >> Yes. My name is Heather Hadfield and I am a teacher. I've been a teacher for 38 years, mostly as an independent contractor where parents were my own are my only boss. Um, last month I asked three questions and Frank and Casey responded um to the gender ideology policy. Um I had a question on parents rights and education and then I had one on the declining um enrollment and that concern that that is and I know that OSPI last month said that it was because of declining birth rate and I got online and I have to research it more because I saw the 2019

064was a a boom year and so I got to I have to look into that a little bit more. So that was then confusing why we had a decline for kindergarteners last year because that's when they would have been five. So, I had to look into that more. So, I apologize. Um, and then, um, I know Superintendent Woods, you've talked about that that it has to be a better communication because what you're hearing from parents is react reaction and it tends to be negative. So, I took that and I've been as a teacher working with families and then I'm a volunteer in the community and in my neighborhood. I've been talking to families because teaching is super important. kids are really important to me and I want the best for them. And so I created

065a list from what the parents said on what families want for Yelm community schools, what they think would be good. Um, high academics and I know you guys was great to listen to everything that um, Superintendent Wood said today because there were some questions that were answered for sure, but then conflicting things what I'm hearing from parents. So this is just what parents said. They want high academics. They want IEPs being fully supported by all staff and administration. No gender inclusive policy. Schools calling home when there is a concern. Respect family values. Support parents in their parenting. Have classes that are not on computers. Have classroom atmospheres conducive to learning with administration backing teachers. when parents call with questions um they need to be answered and not be hung up angrily. Have classrooms fully open

066to parents at all times. Offer school clubs that include all. The prison club did not last year. Have zero tolerance for cyber bullying. Offer the class on sexual trafficking that OS OSPI offers. Have the specialist diagnose dyslexia. last meeting a community member said that as she talked to people the biggest she concern she found was trust and that's what came up again when parents were talking to me they they need you to trust them and so I think with that then with the levy needing to be passed and declining um enrollment and I work with kids that have pul families that have pulled their kids out because of not their kids are not being taken care of well in school. So that happens too. Um and uh so that trust really needs to be built

067back up and that there's a two-way street. If you can really show parents that you trust them, then they will trust you and um I think numbers would change. Um listening to the families is the best thing to do and I can hear that you're doing that. >> That's time. That's three minutes. Yeah, if you'd like to email that statement to us. >> I just like to hear your public comments and then I will get back to that parents and we can't get there for them. >> If you would like to email that uh comment to us and we can respond to it. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you. Um, school board minutes. >> I second. >> Any discussion? >> All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. New business, individual contracts.

068>> I move we approve. >> I second. >> Any discussion? No, no discussion here. Um just continuing to try to fill some positions. Um we'll be continuing to do that. Specialized positions are the most challenging and they will continue to be um throughout the course of the year, but uh we'll continue to try. >> Okay. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carried. Um acceptance of gifts. I move >> a second. >> Any discussion? like a nice one for FFA. All right. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. Um, Yelm Community Schools comprehensive plan for advanced academics 2025 2026. >> I move we approve. >> All right. Second. >> Any discussion? >> Yes. uh your call. Every year we bring this plan to you um to present for your approval and uh so Tracy

069uh who is the assistant principal of South Worth. >> Yes. >> And also uh helps oversee this program and also uh recently announced the uh assistant principal of the year in Washington state. So had to be >> since uh >> she wasn't here at our last board meeting when I shared that with you. Thought this is a great opportunity to congratulate her. >> Thank you. Thank you. So I I do wear two hats. I am an assistant principal at Southworth and I also help with um help lead the advanced academics um program here at Yelm. Um advanced academics is sometimes called gifted and talented or high cap in other districts. we choose to do um advanced academics here. Here we go. And so just to review, our program goals um are to ensure access to

070rigorous inclusive learning for all learners. And we're working on building some sustainable systems. Last year was really a building year and we're continuing to build this year. And I'll go into a little bit more about what those. So, um, our policy 2190, um, we do offer advanced academics in both English, language arts, and math. And we do that differently at different grade levels. So, at kindergarten through six, we have a response to intervention model. And what that means is the classroom teachers in our elementary schools are differentiating instruction for those students. So they are with their peers all day in the regular classrooms. The teacher might give them an extra project or something that goes a little deeper. Um so that is individualized in the classroom. Um for grades 7 through nine we have acceleration

071and honors classes and 10 through 12 we have both acceleration honors classes and we also have AP and we have running start. So we really have a wide variety of services we offer for our students at YM. We have 196 students in our program this year. Um you can see um our kindergarten starts it starts at zero. Any student can be referred to for advanced academics by a teacher, a parent or a community member. So anyone can be referred and we test kindergarten through 12th. Um, and you'll see in a minute, we do screening in second grade and fifth grade. You can kind of see the jump there between fifth and sixth grade. Um, we have found since we started screening our fifth graders, we're catching a lot more students. Um, which is great because

072we were only doing second grade, now we're doing fifth grade. So, we can we can really um make sure that we're including all students that could possibly qualify for this program. All right. So, um we have um our uh we have three priorities this year. The first one is to refine the identification process. This was something that we worked on a lot last year. Um both in referral that I was talking about before and this universal screening. We uh my partner Aaron Bayer and I we are going to go into um schools and test about 800 students every second grader and every fifth grader in the district and we are then we look at that and we go through this process. We are going to make sure that we do a better job of scheduling

073that this year. So that's action item number two. Um number three, we're going to use this cohort tracker. We developed it last year. We're refining it this year to make sure we're making sure that we are as inclusive as possible and making sure everyone has access to this screener for identification. Um, and then the last thing is simplify and standardize the eligibility. Um, making sure that everyone that everyone has the same opportunities and making sure that rubric is easily understood by everyone. Our second pro our second one are we did we skip two there we go enhancing program services um so programming is where we're really going to dig deep this year um we do have those services that I mentioned earlier um but we're also adding a little bit more for our teachers especially

074those teachers in the elementary schools who are doing that differentiation in the classroom there is no curriculum it is on the teacher future. So, what we're going to do is we're going to launch a resource every month that has um first of all a little professional development piece. Um just a little bit about how to work best with students um in that academics area. And also, we're going to give them a a hands-on lesson that they can use right away, that they can use with the whole class, they can use with those students. It's really up to them. they can modify it, but giving them that they can take and use right away. And that's something we're building this year. Um, we're also going to be building as we do that, we're going to be

075creating a enrichment menu. These aren't going away once we do it. We'll we'll be um keeping it online so that teachers can go back and access those um throughout the year and hopefully build for years to come. Um that other building capacity piece um is kind of integrated with what I already talked about. We're providing more of those professional development resources. Um we're also creating a log. So as we kind of build these things, these professional development and these worksheets and things, we're getting feedback. So we want to know is this helpful? Getting feedback from teachers, getting feedback from students, getting feedback from parents. What do we need to move? what's helpful, what's not, so that we can help build that capacity within our staff. We're also going to Oh, that's that's fine. Um, so

076that is the three. Yeah. Okay. So, the action item four was design a staff overview. So, there is a lot of confusion about what advanced academics is, what it isn't, how it's served. So, we're working on doing simplifying clear um communication about that as well. All right. And of course, we're really trying to align everything with our strategic plan this year. Um, advanced academics is really aligned with goal three, goal two, and goal three. Um, that standard aligned tier one instruction. Um, because our elementary students are in that classroom, we want to make sure that's really solid tier one instruction. And also that MTSS. Um, I like to talk about we have kind of a continuum for students who need support on one end of the tier one, but we also have students who need

077support on the other end of the tier one. So, we want to make sure that the lessons and the teachings are aligned and scaffolded to their needs, to their individual needs. And then at the end of the year, um, we are required by the state and also it's just best practice to have an annual review process. We want to again include as much feedback as we can from teachers, parents, and students to make sure that what we're doing is actually helpful and that we have kids growing in the ways that make sense and work for them. And I'm open for any questions and request for approval. Great. >> All right. Thank you very much. >> Okay. There any discussion? You have any questions? >> All right. Those in favor? >> Opposed? >> Motion carries. All

078right. Um, next item is Yon Community Schools multilingual learner plan for 2025 2026. >> I move we approve. >> I second. >> Any discussion? >> Aaron Bear is going to come up and share a little bit. And uh again, we also do this yearly um to give approval. and you got to see our numbers um that I showed earlier specifically to our English language learners and uh so turn it over to Aaron. >> So I'm Aaron Bear, coordinator of academic interventions in the office of student support and I am joined by Chelsea McFersonson, our 612 multilingual learner certificated specialist and Cypriano Garza, our K5 language specialist. And they're going to help me talk about this amazing program. So we're excited. >> Thank you. So just to quickly talk about what is the purpose and the

079vision of the ML program. It is ultimately to provide our students that are acquiring English as a second maybe a third language to ensure that they have equitable access to their core content and can acquire that while they're also acquiring English. And we want to make sure that we are providing a learning environment where all of the multilingual learners students feel seen, supported, empowered, and it's all through those inclusive practices at all of the tiers. We do have some celebrations. We were really excited. So, every year our multilingual learners have to take what's called the WEDA access assessment. It's the assessment to determine their English proficiency and how they're progressing. Last year, we had 44.2% of our students show appropriate progression towards English proficiency in the 2425 school year, which was an increase of 14.1%

080from the previous school year. And then we also had 10.1% of our students achieve English proficiency in the 2425 school year which was an increase of 5.6% from the previous year. So we saw a lot of growth. We were very excited about it and we just had to share. >> Let me hand it over to Chelsea. >> Okay. >> So hi, my name is Chelsea McFerson and I am as she said the 612 uh ML specialist. And what's really wonderful about the the celebration of that data is that it's been a continued trend over the past three years. So we're really proud of the work that we've achieved over the the past few years since I've been here. Okay. So I'm going to talk about our priorities and our plan. So priority number one is

081to expand on those tier one supports. So, we are hoping to develop a a toolkit uh to help educators have a a plethora of resources that they can use to embed into their classrooms to support core instruction. Um we are also going to expand on meeting with teachers so that we can collaborate with them co-plan with them and it's really a meeting of the content expert expert so the teacher in the classroom and the language expert coming together to come up with um with the goal of supporting those ML students so that they're successful in their instruction. And then our third action item to to meet this priority is that we are using teacher feedback to help develop professional development um trainings that are really focused and they provide targeted tier one strategies that can

082be integrated into the classroom hopefully the next day. So they come to our professional developments, they learn something about how to support those ML students in their classes and then the next day they can can utilize them. Yeah. So that's priority number one. Priority number two is that we are trying to support those long-term English learners as well as our newcomers. So, this really is both ends of the spectrum. So, we want to provide support for those new those are those that are new to English instruction as well as students that have been in the ML program for five years or longer. So, these are two groups of our ML learners that need that those additional uh layers of support. So, uh, the ways that we are working towards that goal are by looking at

083our building schedules, um, making improvements to those schedules and modifying our and updating our service models so that we can better serve the needs of our LTEL's and our um, newcomers. Our second action item is we have we kind of talked about how we are providing PDS for tier one supports for teachers, but we would also like to provide a more targeted professional development training that really looks at the specific needs of our um LTELs and newcomers as well. So because those needs are are very unique. And then the third action item is that we are designing a welcome kit um to provide for families when they register for their students. Um and this will really help to aid in the transition of our these new families that are coming to the district so that

084they have so that they feel like they're part of the YCS community. they know who the important people are in the building and they feel welcomed uh in that in that transition which can be which can be a really scary time for students and families but we're here to help them. >> Yes. Okay. Priority number three. Um our third priority is strengthening our monitoring of exited students. As Erin told you uh about our tremendous success exiting students from the ML program, but as I tell my students that uh at the high school, I teach an English language development class up at the high school and at first some of the students were really nervous. They're like, I don't want to do well on the WEDA test because that means I can't get help from you

085and I can't come to the portable. And so I I tell them, don't worry, you can't get rid of me. We're still going to continue to help and support you for the next two years. And so um we want to continue to support those those students and our goal is to strengthen that that system of monitoring those kids. Um so we want to make sure that we our action item number one is that we're monitoring them quarterly whether that is checking their grades, looking at the data, speaking with their teachers, seeing how they're doing um after they have exited ML services as well as collaborating with teachers to support that continued academic success. And then, you know, if it it comes that we realize through the data and through monitoring these students that we really

086these kids do need a little bit of extra love and support um then we can make a determination as to whether or not they should be reclassified um and placed back in ML services. My last item is family engagement. This is um a big goal of ours. We talked about the the welcome toolkit for our welcome packet for new families, but we want to continue to support um the families and make sure that they feel like they can be engaged and present in not only uh the events that we have, but also district and school events as well. Um and so we want to strengthen those resources for interpretation and translation so that those aren't barriers from for them to access these activities. and then gather feedback from the families um in ways that are

087are low barrier culturally responsive methods um so that we can get some ideas about or feedback from them about language access participation in ML services. So that is my section. I'm going to hand it over to Sabriano and he's going to talk about how our goal aligns with the YCS strategic plan. >> Hello everybody. My name is Garza. I'm a K5 and language specialist. Like said, I'm going to be talking about the goals we have and a strategic strategic plan that we have. So, I'm going be talking about the goals. The first one is uh Man, I'm nervous. I don't feel >> the first goal is attendance. So, the ML is to reduce barriers through multilingual communication, welcoming environments, and early identification of atrisisk students. The second goal uh second goal is tier one instruction

088uh is priorities embed weed standards and scaffolds into core instruction ensuring access to rigorous grade level content. Goal three is MTSS supports tiered ML services aligned with MTSS offering a target interventions and progress monitoring based on language and academic needs and uh go towards engagement and ownership of ML students co-develop language goals and engage in culturally relevant instruction that affirms identity and voices. Uh goal five is graduation and pathways. ML supports extend uh through secondary uh grades connecting students to postsecary options aligned with the strengths and aspirations. So going up to next slide which is uh belongings go safe uh talk about uh student belonging and connection the priorities to foster belonging through culturally responsive instruction affirming student identity especially for newcomers and heritage of speakers. The seventh goal is positive student behavior at ML

089is to promote exclusive environments with clear expectations, dignity uh centered practices and proactive engagement. Goal eight is student leadership recognition and voice. ML students are recognized for linguistic and cultural strengths and supported to lead express themselves and shape their school expressed through storytelling, advocacy and co-created goals. Lastly, I want to talk about the community. Goal nine is to elevate community voice. Ed. >> Yeah. EMO's priority is center family and community voice through multilingual outreach, co-lead initiatives and representation of diverse student stories in district communication. The 10th goal is to is strengthen strengthening uh communication. ML systems now use inclusive two-way tools that help build trust, improve u understanding and boost participation in school events and decisions. Goal 11 is to support family involvement. ML programming and cultiv ongoing partnerships through familyfriendly resources, goal setting support

090and culturally responsive engagement in academics and attendance. I'd like to say thank you. Sorry. Okay, >> that's what we have. Do you guys have any questions for us about the ML program? >> How many different languages do you guys have? >> Love that question. I knew it was coming. Uh, we have 17 different languages represented within the ML program alone. Spanish being our uh predominant. >> Um, but we do have we've had a few new ones come through. There was one that came through this year that I had to ask them. I said, I haven't heard of this language. But we have Garfuna. That was a new one that's come through a couple years ago. We have French, German, the other big one. Um, we have a couple marshales, Tagalague, Chuck, Simone. We have all

091kinds. Perundi was a new one that came through. That was the one that >> There we go. >> 17 within the ML program alone. >> Now, have you been doing all of this? This is really amazing. I know all that for us to, you know, it's been a long time coming to do that. Was >> that was awesome. >> And but you've been doing this for what? This is the second year to this extent with all the tools and all your breakdown or has it been? >> Yes. And >> okay, >> um we when the program really started to take off in our numbers and you kind of saw we went from 101 to 243 last year which was quite the spike. We realized that we had to sit down and reframe how we did

092the program. We used to operate under a small school model because we only had a few students and we only had a staff of three people and now we are at a staff of nine. So we have also grown in that due to the demands of it. The trend that we have noticed over the years is more and more newcomers are coming in with less and less English. And so that's caused us to have to shift what we're doing. And so we've tried to be more strategic about how are we incorporating those supports within the gened setting. How are we restructuring our ELD support for the students? as well as how are we trying to help our families re-engage with the communities because they also have some fear sometimes of if I don't speak English

093you know can I participate so it's we've been trying to build those systems over time and last year was one of the first years where we really saw it pay off due to that growth that we saw across the board which was really exciting so we have a lot of work to do but we've come a long way >> it's great because you know well so I work at the lumberyard here in town and we will have have um customers come in that don't speak English and they have to call someone. >> Yeah. >> And then we're on the cell the you know the guys are on the cell phone talking to them back and forth. So I'm like you guys can get family engagement and get the kids attending school because the attendance thing

094is huge. >> So I'm like okay great because we're going to get this engagement the kids in school and the families. And as Chelsea was saying, you know, we established the um English language development course at the high school. This year four now, year three, year four. Um establishment of that class was a game changer for us, especially at the high school. And as she was saying, we had quite a few students be like, well, I don't want to do well because then I have to leave this class. And we were we were like, that's really exciting, but we need you to do well. So >> it's like great. Well, when they the kids do get into high school, if they complete everything, do they get a foreign foreign language credit? >> Uh, so potentially,

095so you're talking about the seal of biiteracy. >> Yeah. >> Um, they have they could take the stamp test which would allow them to potentially get that seal of biiteracy depending on how they perform on it. And what we have found is most of our students do really well on it and can earn that seal. >> Yeah. scooters. Also, >> we did have one for a while who went through our ML program in the district and came back and worked in the program for a couple years. So, that was exciting. >> Yeah. >> Full circle. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Well, thank you. You did well, too. >> At least we didn't pass out. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Okay. All those in favor? >> I oppose. Motion carries. All right. Um,

096resolution 01-25-26, Capital Facilities Plan. >> I move we approve. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> I do not have a presentation for you on this one because I gave you a very large document to read. >> I know. Uh, no, I don't. I what we really did this year was update what what we've done every year, right? And so this is a plan that is called a five-year plan. We come to the board every year to do the resolution uh because we need to send it on to our uh city and uh county officials. So it's a a key part of it. A lot of it is just a a slight update and a and a change, maybe give a little new history uh as our community changes and our our schools change. So, a

097lot of it is very similar, but there's a couple of changes and highlights that um we talked about making sure we're a little bit more uh transparent or clear uh as people read through the document and it will be kind of a guiding document as we move through our boundary adjustments and some of other work that we're going to be doing this year. So, like I said, you saw some status. I threw some graphics in there just give you a little color, keep you going. Um, but we did uh the charts that were in there really talked about what our capacity in our classes were for uh permanent and then what our deficit is because we have temporary what they consider temporary um school housing uh for unhoused students and our portables. But we kind

098of flipped that around because we want to make sure that it still identifies that that's temporary and that's um an unhoused student. Uh but we wanted to show that capacity. uh we're looking at, you know, where do we maybe shift students and and how do we do that? It's going to really be dependent on how many seats we have in schools. So, that was one change you probably saw in there. Um and then we every year update the five-year project and the six-year budget for that. And so, uh you saw some things that completed. You'll see a little bit more when we do our small works. But, uh again, we try to look at the buildings. We look at the conditions of our building and identify which projects are most necessary. So, uh you can

099see over the course of the next five years what we hope to work towards um doing based on uh financial stability and the needs of our building. Uh and then a budget plan that goes along with that based on some estimates uh from our our regular vendors and people that we're working with. Um and then the last part of the program or the plan is our uh impact fees and the calculation. We uh do contract that out to make sure that the calculations reflective of the community and the growth plan. And so uh alls we did is review that to make sure that there was no reason for that to change. Um and so we have that. We did found one uh an error in the calculation and so we corrected that uh for our

100multi- family homes in Thirstston County and added at the bottom of the Pierce County. It was just a slight calculation here, but so that will move forward, but um the Pierce County while we project out what um the costs are and work with our our partner there, uh Pierce County puts a limit on what districts can um collect. And so they as a county have um set that and so that's now the added at the bottom. So while we as districts around all of Pierce County, uh there is no one that uh requests less than the maximum, uh most districts are much higher because it does cost more to build schools. Um but Pierce County puts a limit. So I added that in there this year to make sure that we knew even though we've

101requested because that's what it's going to cost um that's as much as that we get u when we receive our impact fees. So, I'm here to answer any questions and recommend for your approval. >> So, pictures help they bring things to life. >> But, all right. Well, thank you very much. >> Okay. Those in favor? >> Opposed? >> Motion carries. All right. the CTE program plan and Perkins grant. >> Approve. >> I second. >> Okay. I have presentation for you this time. >> All right. So, um we are always preparing tomorrow's leaders today as you know. Uh just give you a little bit of an overview where we're at, where we're going, and how our goals from this year uh looking forward. Again, CT presents a four-year plan. uh we have to provide that to

102our advisory committees to you and then we submit it to OSPI as part of the CTE program. And so a little bit of overview of where we're at in staff uh and our program just again we compare year-to-year. Uh there were some cuts um and some adjustments. We did lose a few staff members. Um my position got from a 0.5 to a 1.0 or a 0.1 and uh we added back in the instructional coach and workbased coordinator. It's really not an ad um so much as that she was doing the work site learning last year biology and careers in ed. So it's really the point4 coaching part um that assists with the curriculum components that I'm unable to um help support. So I do the administrative the budget and the planning and uh she's able

103to work with the teachers where I'm now stepped out of the classroom a little bit more. Um we uh did change in our um uh office professional but we still maintain that we did not uh hire our two pair of educators at this time. We are looking at uh the need and uh the numbers of students in our shop classes uh so that we can determine if uh there's a safety and an instructional support need for that. Uh having large class sizes in shops are um not always the safest. And so uh we will continue to monitor that and uh look at whether that's back. Uh last year we moved the career center specialist into CTE and have continued that. So uh we stay right on target in terms of our projection and uh based

104on our staffing and the course availability. Um in some of these shifts we continue to work on uh course the number of courses that we offer again giving students choice and uh equivalency to academic credits. uh we'll talk about some of the IRC which is your industry industry recognized credential our dual credits uh for college and uh again with our college in the high school program uh slightly stepping back uh we did lose a few of those courses um because the student the teachers were um offering college in the high school but we have um found a dual credit in the CTE vocational programs at community colleges to replace those so they don't lose the opportunity they just don't receive the college and the high school So the first alignment is to goal four. We're

105always learning more about um how we can address the work that we currently do and enhance it with our goals. And so we want to make sure that we our students are actively participating in their learning and demonstrating ownership for their academic process our progress. And so uh again this is where if you next slide please. Um we get to look at our Perkins data. And so each year, and I'll just remind you that we look at students who have completed two credits in a program area. That's what we call a concentrator. And so students who have really focused their instruction in a particular area. And then we look at uh the different uh criteria for our accountability, grad rate, ELA, math, science, non-traditional enrollment. So that might be gender uh enrollment based on um

106what we call employment balance right and uh then the IRC attainment the college credit and our workbased learning and we are in red have uh exceeded the state target and have continued to grow um except for in math and even there in our math um with the focuses that we've been working on we improved nine over 9%. Uh so we are doing really well and we do not have any plan uh required plan of improvement for this year. So we're really excited. But when we look at this we remind you that these are senior results. So last year's not last year's but the previous year's seniors because our data is two years behind. And most of the impact that was done was two years before that because prior to testing. So it really is a

107four to fiveyear plan of what we do today we see four years from now. uh and that's really what our data is reflecting. But uh so when we came out of COVID, we really started focusing on how do we support students and we're seeing that achievement as they graduate. Goal five focused again on learning. Uh all students will graduate and pursue meaningful post-secary pathways aligned to their strengths and interests. And uh here is where we really focus in on what are we going to do instructionally. And I just want to again you had a very large packet to read. We have a four-year plan. and you have the comprehensive local needs assessment. Um, but we are really focused uh this year on on seeking third credit of math for financial math construction and down the

108road manufacturing as we bring that program back. Uh we've already started working on the pacing guides and the alignment and uh we'll be presenting those uh to the office of student learning uh in the next month. And then the other area that uh is a very interesting um situation across the state allem extension school program does not generate funding for CTE. Okay. The state does not provide funding but they have a need for it. They have a need to um provide a a pathway which was goal five. um and also to obtain some pretty core instruction around career exploration, financial literacy. So last year we piloted um a um basically for the seniors who needed to have a graduation pathway and obtain some CT credit to make sure that they fulfilled their graduation requirements. Uh

109this year we have hired a point4 teacher uh that works at YES and is teaching a full pathway. So if students come in with zero CTE credits, they can still graduate um from YES with CTE and meet their graduation pathway if they don't meet it in one of the other six areas. Um and it is being it's already been extremely successful um from last spring all the way uh to now. So uh we will track some of that data and be able to bring more information to you as this year progresses, but we do not receive funding for that, but we use our funds to support that. And uh again a couple of those ways that we're really creating activities to um for that pathway for students is we have uh students came forward and

110wanted to support Miss Matthysse and her work in helping students connect to post-secary opportunities and education. So they have created the career ambassadors and they work with peers on how to fill out applications, how to research colleges, how to figure out which programs are best for them. And so we'll see how uh that student again student leadership and assistance comes into play. And then at YES, uh we are looking at how do we engage students back into the building and uh so they have their lunch and learn. And so you can see two pictures there from today. We had uh peak credit union came in and they will be doing monthly lunch and learns. They bring lunch and uh the students get to talk about financial or career and connected activities and we had 18

111students sign up and attend uh which is amazing um to have all those students step in there and be a part of it. Uh we will continue our our monthly uh CTE guest speaker series throughout the year. We do many of them, but we really do focus on that in February. And then we're going to add in um nobody knows much about this. I'll tell middle school and high school a little bit more later, but um we're going to design a toolbox um event where we bring middle school students to the high school and help them connect to the trades and kind of think about what some of those skills are that they can start thinking about and developing um that they may not be seeing right now because of some of the programs that

112we had to remove from the middle school. So, we're excited about that. And then we'll continue our on-site foods um so that students can explore those work um opportunities. Belonging is goal eight uh that we obviously focus on leadership, creativity, and recognition across their school life. Uh and so, no surprise, it's about student leadership organizations. This is where kids can feel connected. they can find a program that meets their academic goals and their um um personal um ideas. Again, you see the career ambassadors are new, but we also are adding life smarts and that will be at YES. And this is a program where students get to I would call it um life jeopardy or knowledge bowl. And so they get to take all these skills from financial literacy and how to just manage life

113uh and get to have kind of competitions and um kind of against each other if they want to go beyond. There is competitions locally and also um across the state and nationally. So we'll we'll see where that goes. But really we just want to engage kids in thinking about their future and uh finding leadership in in different ways. So, we will continue on our our leadership opportunities for kids. And then community CTE is all about engaging our industries and our parents um in because they're all employed. They all have something to give back. And so, we want to continue to connect our community uh with our programs. Those are our advisories and all of that. But we also have events where we're trying to help student well not only students but the parents K12 to

114engage in conversation early to help support their students as they come through um the system. So, uh, last year, you may remember, we started the winter advisory meeting along with the student demonstrations. And so, uh, we are going to expand that this year and, um, open that up to parents and students to come and watch the demonstrations, go through that program that some of you went through and our advisories after that. So, we're going to expand, uh, the time and the opportunity there uh, to invite families and community in to see what programs are there. And another um, uh goal within community is to cultivate meaningful ongoing family partnerships. And uh if you were able to attend the care night um the other uh last month, we had over 75 community partners and resources that

115were there and hundreds of kids and families. And if you recall, we also pull out and do a STEM night for K5 uh each year that has grown. This is our third time and they were up to 75 students while their families were touring and learning about the resources to help throughout their education and beyond. Uh they were in there doing STEM activities and thinking about how those connected to careers as a K5 student. So that's um one event we've already done this year. And our next event coming up is the financial learning in progress. This is Flip. And if you can see Flippy right there, he will be at the event um and uh helping our students and families start planning for their financial future. Uh and again, this is a great place where

116our community has stepped up. We have over 10 um community volunteers, uh organizations, businesses who will also help put on building credit workshops, uh how to apply for financial aid, uh investing in savings, how to get scholarships, uh K5 money activities for kids. So again, a STEM night on financial and u then we're also going to work on having an open lab so some of our families can get one-on-one support in how to start that FASA experience. And so because um we are a school that they really want to focus an increased number of FASA applications, uh we received a $1,000 grant uh to support engagement, which is what we're going to use for food and and some drink and snacks. Uh but all of the businesses OB, Washington State Employees Credit Union, Key Bank,

117um Peak and uh Oly Fed have all um stepped forward. And then we also have um Edward Jones uh Pam Ferris is um bringing forward again reasons and and opportunities for kids to come uh and get involved. So we're really excited about that focused on K12 and open to the public. So those are just some spotlights of the activities that we do, but um throughout the whole year, the intent is to engage families and parents uh in all of the activities that we that we provide. So um yeah, the big four-year plan, it was presented to the advisory in the spring, uh which was um given feedback and modified based on that. And then the comprehensive local needs assessment is what we do every year. Get feedback. And that's where the winter advisory is a

118key for us is that we get to seek feedback from parents, students, community members, and our advisory members to uh form um goals each year. And I'm here for your questions. Five pages back there was something about you should be able to answer this alignment with the Pierce County Consortium. Who is the Pierce County Consort? >> Pierce County Consortium. it called PC3 is uh three Pierce County colleges and they have a kind of a facilitator that we work with uh in order to align our classes with the college credit college classes and so they're kind of an intermediary that works with Bates Pierce College and um Clover Park and so that's where we have most of our college credit aligned to. We also work with Walaw Wala, um, Spokane Community College, South Puget Sound, um,

119and, uh, Centrellia. So, we have credits that can be obtained from all of those schools and then the students can earn their get their transcript after they graduate and take them wherever they want to go. >> Thank you. >> And that's all free to students. >> And Burger State doubled our U check this time, right? wish, >> but um our Perkins grant is around a $44,000. Um and it really does help support all those activities. Um making sure that we can offer those dual credit classes for the consortium fees that it allows us to purchase the exams for the industry certification. Some things that create to remove those barriers for students to have credentials when they walk out of school. >> But they program knows how wonderful we are, right? >> I sure hope they

120do. We so far that funding has stayed put. >> Yes. All right. >> Okay. All right. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries. All right. Vouchers and payroll. >> I hope we approve. >> I second. >> Any discussion? >> No. Debbie, >> I ran with DD. >> Took care of vouchers and payroll. Yep. Okay. All right. Those in favor >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. All right. The operations report. >> Any discussion? >> Well, I have a few things for you, but before you is the small works uh projects and just to kind of highlight those uh before you choose to uh approve that is uh Lake Taps construction uh playshed is complete. So, we have completed that and that will be finalizing it. And that was a covered play shed that was coming

121out of the bond. Uh that just took a little bit longer uh for Southworth. And then the boiler replacements we talked about that is now complete. Um and uh we will finish that up. But then you can see a lot of other work uh like I said that happened a month ago. Uh that uh is really focused on HVAC and um our refrigeration. Seeing a lot of that in our schools that are are being worked on. So, I do recommend those for your approval and then I can give you a little update on operations. Any questions about public works? >> Okay. >> All right. All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. >> All right. Just a couple of updates. Uh I know you like to hear about some of the things that

122are going on behind the scenes and so we'll start off with um I think it's uh is it facilities? Yeah. So, uh, last a couple, uh, meetings ago, we talked about some potential grants that we can apply for that helps out with our capital facilities plan. We did, uh, apply for the OSPI grant, uh, which was focused on air quality, um, indoor air quality, but it's really HVAC. That's really what it's focused on on, uh, the 400 building at the high school. So, we're still waiting on that. Uh, if you don't know, there is no um, air conditioning or system in there. And so this would be able to put um an air conditioning and um uh heating and and cooling system in that building. >> Yes, >> that's underneath the stadium. >> Okay. >>

123Yep. >> And then uh we're again working with ATS and uh Ellensburg solar. They have come out to evaluate our schools to determine if there is any uh opportunity where the solar grant that just came out. It came out and it's due uh November 4th. And so we've been working with them this week and uh McKenna Elementary is the prime target for that because it has the newest roof and it would last the longest and not have any impacts. And so if we receive this, there's zero dollars that come out of our pocket. It's 100% grant funded. Uh same with the OSPI grant and uh we save about the quote they um obviously the last 10 years they've been doing solar but it's about $10,000 in savings uh each year from that and obviously it'll

124uh continue to grow based on the savings is the increased rates of power and so you'll save more because cost of electricity is going up. So, um, those two things we're working on right now in facilities and in food service. There's yummy spaghetti and meatballs and salad there. Um, we processed and I only gave you the secondary numbers because all of our students at uh, elementary do eat free, but uh, those students still qualify, but I just wanted you to see that we had 150 1,153 secondary students who qualified for meal applications, but that's down about 240. Um, so we know that there are students and families who still need to turn in their meal applications. While they are being charged now, um, we want to make sure that they still know that they can

125fill in an application at any time. If they're, uh, financial status changes throughout the year, they can apply at any time. Um, we did have 384 families that did qualify last year that did not renew theirs for some reason. We've reached out to all of them to make sure that they know they can still apply if they feel that they had missed that deadline. um they are being charged right now but um again they if they qualify we can do that and then every week we do uh what's called a direct certification with DSHS to ensure that we capture every student that may qualify through other ways uh through the state and they don't have to complete an application and then just we remind families every Friday uh of their negative balance um so we

126can encourage people to stay current and this week is National Bus Safety Week. This is from South Worth. They provided this photo. I thought it was kind of cool. Um last last two weeks ago, uh we did um all of our safety inspection, you know, go through the safety procedures on buses. Um we have to do that within six weeks of school being in session and then two weeks later they have bus safety week. So, we get to talk about it twice. Uh but the good news of what we're going through is we just hired a new driver uh we with a CDL. We have one that we've been training who just passed and they will be finishing up some of their drives and they will be applying. We have another one who is uh

127testing in two weeks and will again go through that cycle and we have about five candidates right now that we're working with either as van assistants are working towards their CDL that have kind of come through the pipeline. So we are uh working really hard to recruit and continue to keep our bus cancellations down and our staffing full. So they're working really hard at that. Is all the testing done inhouse? >> So, no testing is done in-house. That is is through the department of licensing. We do all the training right now in house that we can. Um, it is an option that you can go outside, but we do have two trainers that are certified and we are a a testing training center. Um, so it's it's really that we prepare for testing. So, they

128go out and get their CDL permit from the state. We train, we prepare them, they go out and do their test, and once they pass their test, then we continue to monitor their driving. It would be like just, you know, giving somebody a really big vehicle and with a bunch of kids without any practice. So, we want to practice a little bit more with them before we put them on the road. >> Catch me up later. But that's what's been going on in operations. All right. Uh >> we already voted on that. >> That was just the that was just >> okay. And we don't have any financial report. >> Student enrollment. >> Yeah, you can see our updated numbers for October. both headcount and FTE both increased um as it usually does in October

129as we're able to count the students that we weren't counting the first four days. Um so that's uh good news. >> They showed up in October. >> Yes. And some are still coming. Yes, >> are still coming. >> Okay. All right. Board comments over to our illustrious student. >> Okay. Um well, first of all, I wanted to congratulate all the teachers and the PAR educators who were awarded tonight. Um because I know that a lot of teachers, especially at Yel High School and the elementary schools, um they spent a lot of their time after school and making students feel very welcomed and supported and cared for. Um so I just want to congratulate them. And then also on the public work slideshow um just definitely wanted to appreciate uh email about negative balance every Friday.

130I really appreciate that. I know last year that's not something that you guys did and um I remember I on my balance they didn't tell me. >> So I'm very thankful that you guys do that now. comments. >> Um, yeah, this time I prepared and took notes, but I did not prepare and make a pen. So, thanks Kylie and Sophie. Uh, talk about >> talk about uh I think it's amazing how we're finding all these good things because Yum, it sucks to say, but we're definitely going through a hardship learning. It's um I think it's awesome how we're bringing up our great teachers still and awarding them for all the great stuff they do and they definitely deserve it. >> And then all the good stuff like the multilingual program. I thought that was amazing.

131And the advanced academics one as well that's just awesome finding. And then another thing that I thought was awesome was the care night. I saw that. It was it's pretty crazy. It was super nice. Um and then and we have more plans to increase in financial. So yeah, I just love how we're staying positive. We're doing all these great things. >> Yeah. >> Um today was a very enthusiastic meeting. I feel like um I saw a lot of excitement and passion in our speakers um with our principles presenting their award-winning staff, our advanced academics plan, and our multilingual learners plan as well. I saw a lot of bright faces and very excited voices. So, that's always something wonderful to see at these meetings. Um, it's my favorite part, as Mr. Woods said. It's all of

132our favorite parts usually. Um, and a highlight of my day was seeing my old ASL teacher, Miss Fischer, before the meeting. >> Um, I was actually one of the students that helped start the, um, ASL club at the high school a couple years ago under Miss Fischer's guidance. So, it was really, really awesome to see her again. It kind of felt like a pop quiz because I like turned around and she started signing to me and my brain shortcircuited because I was trying to remember everything I learned two years ago, but thankfully it seems like I retained more than I thought. So, I was able to have a wonderful conversation with her and I was very happy to learn that she was getting recognized tonight for all of her hard work. So, go Miss Fish.

133>> Um, I thought that I had a couple things that the multilingual learner plan that was really cool to hear about. I didn't really know about that before. And then um one of my favorite parts was the extra instructional excellence, all the awards for the teachers. I saw a lot of my past teachers and my ASL teacher. I thought was like really cool. And um the career exploration that part was um really cool to see how much like stuff that we have. And um another thing was that me and my friend kind of like recently started the college career readiness club with Miss Matthysse and we're getting like some some traction with that. And so I thought that um like it's just like a lot of my career opportunities we have. And then um the

134advanced academics that was also how we have like stuff all the way from the elementaryaries to the high school level. I thought that was really awesome. Hey. Well, uh like to congratulate all the board recognition winners, uh hard work being done by those people. And I'd like to really say I love Chris's board comments in the first meeting. I think it gives the public a better insight on to what's going on or what do and then last Friday night that was probably the most exciting game >> failure failure. So, and don't know if it's been it's happened yet or not, but the city of Y putting on that civics 101 class, which I think would be very interesting to go through. So, >> he is. >> Oh, yeah. Again, uh this week, >> Frank, my

135turn. >> All right. I do want to thank the parent educator and educators. A thank you goes a big way a long ways. I love that the principles are able to recognize you. Every parent recognizes you guys. And I know there's 20 of you that were up here tonight. There's a hundred more in every school um that just needs to get a thank you every once in a while. I know the job's unthankful. I have a kindergartenner. I get it. Um you know, your booger wipers, your everything. It's crazy your guys' job what you do. My wife deals with it. I get it. Um, so just thank you for all of you and what you guys do. Um, and I get hounded a lot that the district isn't transparency enough or transparent enough, but I

136don't know any other district that's inviting parents to come along to review the sex ed curriculum, help us correct it. So, I do want to make that on the record that I don't know how more transparent we can be on that issue. Um, and I'll say it and I'll say it till I'm blue in the face is I went to a fifth grade one right after the curriculum was passed. you see all the outrage on social media. I was one of three parents out of 140 fifth graders. So, the way you get involved is you show up to meetings like that. And uh I just want to say thank you to Miss Schultz and congratulations on VP of the year. I was like there goes that vice principal. But you know, um you've gotten to

137know my son, I imagine. So you guys and I just love that the ML program or the CTE program or the advanced academics program of you guys just tying it all back to the strategic planning, the work that's gone into that and you guys are just aligning your goals to strategic planning. So, I thank you on all that >> and I agree with everything that has been said, but I'd like to make a suggestion that um Aiden we you we should use his comment, his statement as our motto. >> Which one? the one that's us with that we all should work together and what they the recognition say it Aiden you it was great >> you said it truthfully and that's how we're all feeling because we do have a great group of positive teachers

138staff and all of with all this negative stuff around here and you're like here look at all this stuff. >> Yes. >> Was very yes helping ladies. >> I think that should be our motto because it was from the heart and that's what we all feel and I I thank you for recognizing that as a student. >> Yeah, >> we recognize it. that's important at any time. So >> that's why we have a student board >> because we're like we're we see it but it's like >> thank yous. >> It means something. >> Yes. >> We see it. They live it. >> Yes. >> And we appreciate it. >> Yeah. Cuz we're sitting here going, "Oh, >> okay. So I should play away with it. We have to just We're just thinking it. Well, we're

139thinking a lot of stuff, but Anyways, um we are very grateful for all of uh our um award winners and um actually we're grateful for every staff member that works here at this district that stayed and um I c I can't thank you enough. I have a kindergartener and I have um an eighth grader. So, and that I know intimately and I have about 5,000 other kids in this district that I'm grateful that you guys have stayed. Oh, because every kid in this district is a kid that belongs to the five of us here and they're all important. So, thank you for staying here and helping us support them. And um I missed the stinking high school choir concert. I'm gonna have to start writing it on my work work calendar. So anyways, um anyways,

140we're going to look for the positive because I'm sick of the negative. It's overtaken and we're looking for the positive. >> Um I do uh a few things. Uh, also congratulations to our staff who are recognized tonight. Um, uh, that's always the fun part of our board meeting is getting to recognize staff. Uh, I want to say thank you to our administrative team, our student learning department. um they come before um these board meetings here at the district office and and we uh spend about an hour and a half um on training and uh working on components of our strategic plan and I just want to say thank you to them and and for being here tonight uh tonight's topic we were talking about tier one instruction and how do we um how do we

141improve and how do we stay consistent with our instruction. So, a big thank you to them and their commitment um to every student that um that we have in our buildings. Um also a thank you to our um administrators and the directors and those overseeing programs as you got to see tonight. Um a few of the presentations just the amount of time and energy that they put into our programs and how much they care about our programs. um that often goes unseen. Um the work that they do behind um the scenes and people often say um you know you should cut district office staff uh they don't do anything. Well, um, our staff do a tremendous amount of work and they make it possible for the work to be done in the buildings and so

142um, I just want to make sure that that is recognized um, how hard our team works um, every single day and um, they're an amazing amazing team and uh, the best that I've worked with. Um why ys cross country meet today was league um this afternoon um I saw some preliminary results but we'll get more on that and then uh uh got to their home meet um recently also got to the volleyball versus sum uh there was a king five story yesterday last night um Drew Mickelson came and um talked about the levy and spent some time in Mr. means uh middle school band class. So that was good. I have my monthly bus ride next week. Um so I'll give you a report after that. I um always enjoy my bus rides, getting to

143ride with the elementary kids and the secondary kids. They always ask who I am, why am I there? Um and then our conversations are a lot of fun. They're hilarious. Um I'll share more about that next meeting. thinking about I might try one time with you because I've never rode a bus as a student. >> It's an experience. >> It's It's fun and uh >> taking the challenge. >> I enjoy it. Uh last thing um tomorrow night and then next Tuesday we have um our elementaryaries and middle schools doing evening um fun events for their um students and for uh families for Halloween. Um so tomorrow night I think there's four maybe five buildings u doing events. Uh and then next Tuesday there's a couple more. So, um, plenty of candy to go around if

144you feel like stopping by. >> That's it. >> Okay. All right. Next board meeting is November 6th. It's a study session at the district office. 5:00. >> Yes. I'm 17. >> Okay. All right, we'll be there. Five o'clock meeting will journ. >> Thanks everybody. Thank you. >> I love you. I am.