YCS Board meeting 5.22.2025

001and the meeting factor are are made available to our dis 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 Frank has been excused. Okay. Um going to go to the audience portion of our agenda. um distinguished leadership award. Yes, we have a couple awards that um I'd like to present tonight. So, I'll head over uh to the podium. So, the first one uh is for a group of people. Um I'd like uh Dr. for Lisa Cado Smith to come on up. Jennifer Carowart, Shannon Powell, Dee Buckingham, and Terry Malone. Um, they don't enjoy the spotlight. However, um, we're going to ask them

002to come up. So, leadership in public education is both deeply rewarding and undeniably challenging. It demands vision, resilience, and unwavering commitment to students, especially in times of adversity. It's with profound gratitude and admiration that I recognize Dr. Lisa Cadero Smith, Jennifer Carer, Shannon Powell, Dee Buckingham, and Terry Malone as our distinguished leadership award recipients. Together, this extraordinary team embodies the spirit of students first in every decision they make uh while consistently collaborating with staff, families, and community stakeholders to shape datainformed programs and systems. From the moment I stepped into the role of superintendent, this team has served as my guiding compass. Dr. Lisa Cado Smith's strategic oversight of curriculum and instruction has ensured that academic rigor and equity go handin hand always with the student experience at the center. Jennifer Caroware's fiscal stewardship has enabled

003us to navigate budget shortfalls without sacrificing many essential services. Innovating innovating creative approaches to funding that protect classroom outcomes as much as possible. Shannon Powell's leadership and student support has shown bright during our most difficult moments, ensuring that every child, especially those facing barriers, receives the resources and encouragement they need to thrive. Ed Buckingham human resources expertise has been critical in recruiting and retaining talent, fostering a culture of collaboration, trust, and professional growth for our entire staff aisle, all while navigating some of the most challenging times we have seen in Yelm Community Schools. and Terry Malone's masterful transition to the leading of operational logistics has pro provided much needed support for all of our district operations and a forwardthinking vision for the future of our district. Together they have faced some of the greatest challenges

004we've ever encountered. State funding cuts, loss of levy funds, unprecedented health and safety concerns, shifting enrollment, and the rising demand for social emotional resources. Thrilled they have shown up with a positive attitude for all other students to do the hard work. Often behind the scenes so that our students needs remain at the forefront. They have not shied away from criticism. Rather, they have leaned into difficult conversations, honoring opposing viewpoints, seeking compromise when appropriate, and always returning to what is best for children. At every turn, they have remembered that leadership is not a solo endeavor. A leader, no matter how determined, can easily falter if they try to go it alone. Likewise, a vision can crumble when a leader assembles the wrong people. Over the past two years, I've witnessed firsthand how having the right team

005makes all the difference. Dr. Lisa Cadero Smith, Jennifer, Shannon, Dee, and Terry have each contributed unique perspectives and strengths, and together they have formed a winning combination. Their collaborative spirit has inspired others to step up, build consensus, and innovate with confidence. for their steadfast commitment to our students, their collaborative work with families and community partners, and their exemplary support of district goals under the most trying circumstances. It's my honor to present this distinguished leadership award. Any leader would be wise to surround themselves with individuals of this caliber. Dr. Cado Smith, Jennifer Carow, Shannon Powell, Dei Buckingham, and Terry Malone. You exemplify what it means to lead with compassion, courage, and excellence. We celebrate you today and every day for the extraordinary impact you have on our district, our staff, and above all our students. So,

006thank you. [Applause] [Laughter] you. Thank you. And you guys are going to have to go for a picture. Yeah. I was going to say, who's going to take a picture? [Laughter] Give him funny ears. around would like to shake your hands. Yes. You know the drill. All right. While they are shaking hands, I'll have uh the last award recipient come up. Uh I saw him here, Jonathan Mayor. [Music] So, I appreciate uh Jonathan coming in. Actually, he was uh scheduled to not be at work, but I said either you can come tonight or it'll just be about you in uh in June. So, he chose to come tonight. Um you guys hear a lot about um Jonathan, our team. Um well, maybe not as much specifically about Jonathan, but the team who uh are all

007here um which is pretty cool. But I want to share a little bit about why um Jonathan is being honored. Jonard May Jonathan Maynard exemplifies the very essence of servant leadership. From the moment he arrived in our district, Jonathan has prioritized the needs of his team above all else. Always encouraging, listening, and consistently reminding each staff member how invaluable they are. His steadfast commitment to providing the resources, training, and emotional support his team need has fostered a customer- centered mindset throughout information services. Every ticket, every request, every question is approached with genuine care and determination to resolve issues swiftly and effectively. Jonathan's can do attitude is truly contagious. When a district-wide technology roll out required late nights and weekend testing, he was the first to say, "Let's figure it out." Inspiring his entire team to

008tackle complex problems with confidence rather than hesitation. His unwavering belief in his team's ability has translated into faster response times, smoother system deployments, and more than a few cost-saving innovations that benefit students and staff alike. More than once, Jonathan has made personal sacrifices, shuffling his own schedule, covering extra shifts, or reallocating budget resources to ensure his employees have everything they need to succeed. Whenever a crisis arises in technology, and it does frequently, a network outage, critical software glitch, or lastminute equipment requests, Jonathan steps forward as his team's fiercest fiercest advocate, briefing district leaders on projected timelines, communicating transparently with end users, and rallying IT staff around a single shared priority, keeping students and educators connected and supported. It's not just technical aptitude that sets Jonathan apart. It's his genuine care for people. He knows each

009member of his department by name, asks about their families, and takes moments big and small to say thank you or I appreciate what you do. Because of him, information services isn't behind the scenes function. It's a visible force for empowerment and innovation. Parents, teachers, and students alike have recognized the shift. Technology is no longer a barrier but a reliable partner in teaching and learning. We are immensely fortunate to have Jonathan Maynard leading our information services team and servant leader spirit, relentless support of staff and unwavering focus on customer service have elevated the entire district's capacity to serve students. It is with great pride and deep gratitude that we present Jonathan Maynard with this distinguished leadership award and honor befitting someone whose leadership is not only transformational but also grounded in compassion, sacrifice, and a genuine

010desire to uplift everyone around him. Congratulations. [Applause] Oh my god. Shake your hand. You're not getting out of it. Sorry. You know, I heard [Laughter] it. Okay. All right. Uh, superintendent's comments. Uh, because of the length of our agenda, we've got a lot to cover. I'll just save mine until the very end. Okay. All right. Are there any community comments? Yes, we have three signed up. Uh, one for an agenda item and then two for non-aggenda items. Okay. All righty. Um, we can start with want to start with agenda items. Okay. All right. for the agenda items. All right. Community comments that are related to an agenda item on the posted agenda we will be given um at the time the agenda item is to be discussed. All right. So, uh Tasha Johnson is here

011to talk about uh agenda items E F and G. So, do you want to talk about it now or do you want to wait till we get to that? It's up to you. Um, we've got a lengthy agenda. So, do you have a preference, Dasha? Want to go now? You want to make your comment? Okay. All right. Uh, please understand that the board will not engage in discussion for policy uh 1400. The board values and supports the opportunity for the community members to share ideas. Comments on agenda items will be limited to five minutes for speaker and 20 minutes for topic. Um, any comments directed at 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

012be presented in a respectful manner following property quorum. Disruption of the meeting can result in the meeting being recessed. And so the uh items that you are going to make comments on are resolution 06-24-25, resolution 07-24-25 and resolution 08-24-25 Johnson. I teach at Y High School um community member. My kids go to school. I'm also the Y co-president. Um I just actually have an ask. Um it's frustrating when the board packet isn't published until after the meeting. And so when things like this are discussed, me as the audience in the community, we don't know exactly what's being passed. Um because oftent times it's just a quick, you know, introduction of of the title and then all in favor and whatnot. And so um if you plan on um addressing these and discussing them specifically, then

013this is a preemptive thank you for doing that. Um, and if you're not planning on doing that in in full transparency for our community, I would like to ask that you consider to do so, please. Thank you. All right. And we have two for non-aggenda topic items. Okay. for community comments that are separate from items on the posted agenda. Please understand that the board will not engage in discussion per policy 1400. The board values and supports the opportunity for community members to share ideas. However, for non-aggendetta items, the board will not take action but may refer the issue to administration for further investigation. Comments on non-aggenda non-aggenda items will be limited to three minutes per speaker and 15 minutes for topic. Any comments directed at performance of school personnel will not be allowed. Comments that

014are 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. Okay, first comment. All right, we have uh Adrien uh is that right, Adrien uh to speak around uniform, dress code, and cell phones. Yes. Do I come here? Sure. Okay. So, I've been um a substitute teacher in the Elm School District since 1995. I I did have some period of time when my children were small and I didn't work, but I have been around a very very long time and I have seen the decline of the um dress code. And so I just pulled up a few things on my phone about

015um dress codes, how if it were enforced or if we had a uniform, how it would encourage students to attend school and to participate in activities that help them to be recognized by their class level rather than their economic status, reducing unfair treatment. Um, it can help create a safe and welcoming environment, encouraging attendance and limiting unfair discrimination. It's very distracting to be around children or students that are immodestly dressed in particular and I'm trying to go around and help them and you know I'm standing there trying to help them with math or whatever it is and I it's all out there and it's just not appropriate and I think it's very distracting for anybody in that thing and I don't think it's helping them in in the future to be professional as you know

016when they enter the workforce because we're all going to be entering all of them will probably be entering the workforce also cell phone use I'm I I frequently come to the high school and it used to be that five people might be off task the rest of the class were engaged it's the opposite now because everyone's on their phone I asked them respectfully put your phone away they choose not to it's out of my hands But if we had a really strong cell phone policy, lock them up, don't bring them to school, whatever it is. I I understand it's very important. We're all connected and we there are times when it's appropriate, like at lunchtime, but also you should be talking to your peers and not just be on your phone all the time. It's

017important for that interaction. But I just feel like those two issues are really hot buttons. And it it's just it's very hard to see children, you know, not engaging in school because they're on their cell phones doing who knows what, playing video games or anyway, I just feel really strongly about those two issues. So, thank you. Thank you. All right. And then we have uh Kay Anderson talking about special education. First of all, I want to thank Chris and Shannon for the exponential job they've done on sped, especially at the downfalls of losing the levy and having issues with, you know, funding for our special education students. They have done a phenomenal job and I am not I'm more than grateful for what they've done. I I want to put that out there, but um

018usually you guys see me when there's an issue within the district, I'm sure. And I'm a local advocate. I'm also a parent of a student with several students that have been here. Two that are which one of them is out of district currently in Witchah. He's our Heart Springs student. He's doing phenomenal. Um, but I'm also a local advocate for CLK12. Um, I've been an advocate with our district since 2016 and I've seen things e and flow and grow and shift. Um, the reason I became an advocate was probably not the best of circumstances. Recently, I've been to a specific school several times, South Worth Elementary, and there's a trend that seems to be a little bit troubling as special education there, and it's documented in some cases where IEPs are not followed. Um, I

019was just recently at a manifestation hearing in regards to this. Um there is there needs to be more done with our special education students there. Um number one is the way that we speak to them there. I know that educators get frustrated especially with behavioral students fully aware of this but the way that we speak to our students becomes their inner voice. That's how parenting happens too. And when students are spoken to saying I I actually don't want to quote what what has been said to me. I will I'll state that to the superintendent later on. But I'm astounded and I was very angry about it. I encourage people to understand that regardless all kids are general education kids regardless. Some of them just need extra help to be able to access their education. The

020way we speak to them, it it follows them throughout their life. And I encourage to speak to some of these parents and see what's really happening. Thank you. Thank you, Kate. Okay. All right, that's it. Comment. All right. Uh, school board minutes. I move we approve. Second. Any discussion? Those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. New business. Um, individual contracts. I move the approval. Second. Any discussion? Well, I notice on that down here, number five, siphons supplemental contract, there's nothing listed. Does that mean there's none? Um, none for this board meeting? No. Okay. Yeah, you're correct. Okay. Okay. Aside from that, um, but one of the reasons we, uh, wait as long as we can before the board meeting is to capture as many of the personnel, uh, report items for you. So, um, we'll

021have more obviously next month, but um, again, uh, this is the time of year where you will see resignation, retirements, change in placement, um, all of those pieces happening. Okay. Those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. All right. Acceptance of gifts. I move we approve. Any discussion? I think just to call out again, I feel like we do this every board meeting acknowledging the generosity of um folks from our community, but you can see the the various groups that benefiting from uh the donations. powerlifting um bikes uh for elementary schools. Um Sure Clean did a pretty cool thing. Provided car wash um tickets for all the teachers across the district for teacher appreciation. Uh FFA uh I am always amazed at how much the alumni supports um our students. And then of course the choir

022trip and then um unified prom is actually coming up um May 30th and um we'll we'll talk more about that later but um once again pretty pretty generous. Okay, those in favor I opposed. Motion carries out of district travel. Well, I move we approve. Second. Any discussion? Uh, I think Fast Pitch surprised some people and had a great uh finish to the regular season leading up to state. They're actually playing tomorrow, uh, I believe at 11:00 a.m. And then they would potentially have, um, even two more games tomorrow depending upon what happens. But, um, they are playing the number one seed. Um but um they've been playing very well and so pretty cool that they are uh they left uh today to head over and we'll find out how they do at 11:00. Okay, all

023those in favor opposed. Motion carries. All right. Um this is going to be interesting. We have a cell phone policy update. Yeah, I'll just um introduce it and then I'm going to turn it over to um some of our students. As you know, we've been working on a policy uh around cell phone use at schools. And uh one of the things that I shared with you um was our desire to make sure that this is um studentled, that we have student voice in the policy. And by the time we're done, I think this may be our first policy that is um more or less written by our students. Uh and I'm very proud of them. They've been engaging in conversation and after our last meeting um I turned the draft over uh to Lucy and

024others. And so I asked um if they'd be willing to just share with you where we are, give you some um information on kind of the why behind it, uh where we're headed, and the hope is that we would be able to um at the the June board meeting at the end of the month, um be ready for a first reading for this policy for next year. So with that, I'm going to turn over to Lucy. All right. So we have five uh school members here today. Um, so first we're going to have Ava and Shane talk a little bit about their personal experience with phones and why it's an issue. Then me and Jackson are going to tell you guys a little bit about the policy itself and then H's going to finish us

025off with where we're where we want to go with the policy. I'm Shane Kan. Um, my personal experience with phones, especially in high school, is they're everywhere, right? In any class I'm in, any doesn't matter the rigor of the course or anything like that, students are on their phones. Um I'm not myself included. I'm not going to admit it without fault. Um but I think it's important that a classroom is phone free simply because learning is so important because kids and students are the future of the country and their education matters, right? Um and I have certain teachers where they have a strict no phone policy where if it's seen, they take it from you and their class runs very smoothly and it's very learning focused. And then I have some teachers where um they're

026very it's up to the student. If they want to compromise their learning by being on their phone, that's up to them. If they want to keep it away and focus and more power to them. But I think the bottom line is that a strict no phone policy will definitely like benefit everybody because in classes where there's no phones out at all, I feel like I learn more and I'm more apt to participate in school. So, my name is Ava Swan and I would say that gradually throughout my years in the high school, the phone experience has gotten way worse in the classrooms. And this year, I know teachers have been saying that we're preparing for next year. The phone policy will be implemented. So they're trying to tone down on the use of phones, but

027nobody really does anything in particular except a couple teachers will take your phone, but a lot of them it's more like a threat to say you'll take it or you need to put it away, but nobody really does anything. And it really impacts the learning of myself and I do use my phone too in class, but people around us, it can be distracting to have other people getting called out to put their phone away and just the use of in classroom is just getting out of hand. I think phones really just shouldn't belong in the classroom unless it's for like an emergency. But just being able to have them is just enabling people to get more distracted and not pay attention to school. Thank you. Yeah. I just want to give some background on what

028uh Chris Woods brought up to us in our first meeting when he said that he wanted us to give our ideas. One of the first things that me, Shane, and Ava spoke about is a certain teacher that had a great phone policy. She's an English teacher. Her name is Miss Fleming. And I spoke with her today, and her classroom is run really smoothly. There is almost no phone use. I will say I'll see one or two every so often, but rarely are there phones in her class. And I spoke to her today in class about how she got it to be so like smooth. and she said her method is consistency at the start of the school year. She cracks down and she has some students drop her class in the first couple weeks because

029of how strict it is, but she has a a system in place in which if you are on your phone, she will take it, but she has a charger in the front. So, it's not really a lose-lose. And I often I'm often on task in her class compared to other classes. there's less kids that are just wasting time not paying attention when she's lecturing. It's all eyes up at the front and everyone is really like learning in her class. So yeah, that's my piece. So a common theme amongst what all of them said was that when we go from class to class, the policy is different. And I think as a students, it's really hard to be in our on our phone in one class and then not on our phone in the other class.

030So something that as a student said is that we wanted the policy to be the same for at least everyone in the same building. So we want the high school to have the same policy and both the middle schools to have the same policy and etc. Um so one thing you'll see in the policy is that it's generalized or it's very specific to we want to define exactly what is misuse because that term can just be thrown out there as oh this is misuse what is that? So we wanted to answer that question plain and simple for people and then also we wanted the structure of what happens when a misuse is found like what happens when a student's on their phone. We wanted that clear and simple. What's the what's the consequences? Uh so

031those are some things you'll see in the policy as well as just us like what we want. I think that's a big thing is that from from coming from the students you know it's an issue and you know like if we're saying that we want consequences then we should probably have consequences. Um, the last thing that I want to add is that we really want this phone policy, if it is accepted, um, to be rolled out by students because when a student hears from another student, it's just that much more impactful. And so, I think it's really great that Mr. Woods has allowed us to be a part of that because really in the end for us, we know what's going to be the most impactful to us. And so I think that we're on

032track to make a really great cell phone policy that's going to help all students, including even us. Um, and we think it would be really important for us to roll it out and really to introduce it to all the students. What uh questions do you have for the students? Um, there's obviously a whole lot more, but um, I have one because I I know that when you guys talked about doing this, you also said that you wanted this policy to be for the staff also. Did you put a part in there for the staff? Uh, we kind of talked about that, but we also said that beyond it just being a policy at the district level, we wanted students to be involved with the conversation with their principles and having that written as as school

033policy as well. Um, and then just really push out to the staff like this is the consequences for students that they're all on the same page and just to make it nice and easy for them because it's hard for teachers to come up with their own policy and then see that one of their peers isn't doing the same. So that's kind of something that we said is that we also want it to be the same like for the teachers like that makes it easy for them to follow. Um, and yeah, that is something we said is that if we shouldn't be doing it then we wouldn't want our teachers to it too. But I don't know if we have much say in that. So, do you feel that uh if you implement this in middle

034school, it will carry on into high school a lot easier? That's definitely a big point we brought up is um especially seniors and juniors, we kind of talked about a little bit how there is some there's ways that phones can be useful. And we also thought it was a little important to teach students how to use their phone appropriately and also just having them take control of their own education. Uh because when you go to college, your professor is not going to tell you to get off your phone. If you're on your phone, you're on your phone. If you don't show up to class, don't show up to class. Uh, so it's something we kind of talked about, but we thought that like you said, yeah, implementing it like really strong, especially in the elementary

035and middle schools and the lowerassmen would really help the upper classman to already have like some habits. Uh, so hopefully they won't break them as much. So, when is this policy going to be ready for us to read? We're hopeful that we'll have it for first reading in June at the um, remember our first board meeting is the awards night. So, it's actually the the second board meeting in June. We would have the first reading for you and um again that would be presented by the students. I think um a couple things I'll add. Um a lot of what um I guess started this conversation is a lot around social emotional mental health. um the book The Anxious Generation, Ava wrote a paper that I was fortunate enough to read about um that exact topic.

036Um and just a lot of conversation with the students. I met with um leadership from both middle schools and have had several meetings with the high school students and um it's pretty pretty amazing when you sit and talk with them to hear their perspective about um whether they think it's an issue and what we should be doing about it. And so, uh, I'm very proud of them, um, for having this conversation, for tackling this. And, um, I think it's also something that they know that we'll revisit, um, each year to say, is there anything we need to adjust or modify? The other thing that we're trying to do in this is take away um, the responsibility from the teachers having to babysit this. So creating a policy districtwide, it's no longer about a teacher enforcing

037or implementing in their class but not in another. It's a district policy. And so then we teachers don't have to police this. They don't have time to do that, nor do they want to. Um nor do teachers want to collect phones. Uh so that was the other idea behind this is that a policy then gives us something to fall back on and um the teachers don't have to fight it. Um they just report it. And so again, I'm very proud of the students for the work they've done. And I think um I think you'll like the first draft um when we bring it to you. And if there are any changes you think we need to make, obviously that'll be a time to make recommendations. Okay. Looking forward to it. I'd like to thank everyone.

038Yeah. Will the seniors come back and vote on this? Absolutely. I'm sure every single one of them will. Yep. Lucy's guaranteed it. Okay. Um All right. Resolution 06-24-25. Inter fund transfer. I move we approve. I second. Or I'm not going to do that, Bill. Sorry. I will second. Somebody Any discussion, please? As a matter of fact, there's going to be a lot of discussion. So, um, thanks for pointing that out, Tasha. These are, um, there's a lot to these and so, um, we can take them individually, but at the same time, the first two are connected, okay? Um, E and F. So, uh, between Jennifer and I, we're going to try to explain them. Then we'll specifically make a you've got a motion on the table for E, but we'll probably be talking about both.

039So, can we have two motions on the table? No, we'll just do one at a time. So, first of all, I left my cell phone back there with D so that I wasn't distracted. Um so I'll go ahead and talk about so there's two um transfers a transfer and a loan that I'm going to talk about um sort of together because first of all the county treasur requires a board adopted resolution in order for us to move money from one fund to another. So this is really providing the mechanism in order to do that. Um if you recall I just gave a introduction at the last board meeting. Um so I'll recap some of that since a lot of people weren't here weren't there. And so first of all the inner fund transfer um the

040district had previous previously authorized um property tax collections that were not collected and mostly due to exemptions. And I've talked about this before back in November when we were certifying our levy, our bond levy, but it's been a while. though um they are referred to as administrative refunds and we're authorized to collect them under any current tax levy we have. So we had $253,000 that were previously authorized levy collections under our EPNO levies um that were not collected due to the exemptions I mentioned. So they the department of revenue had a ruling recently that said that we can only certify administrative refunds under a current levy. So we had to certify our EPO authorized levy collections under our bond levy. So this resolution is a tool for us to get the money out of the

041debt service fund that it was collected in and put it back in the general fund that it was um authorized in. Um, so this is a tool to follow the department of revenues rules basically. Um, so are there any questions about this? Jennifer, do you want to share a little bit about typically a district may not right certify and collect these dollars? Yes, thank you. So, for the past several years, um we have decided to not collect on administrative refunds from previously authorized levies um to help our taxpayers. Um we didn't want to assess more than was necessary. We have the authority to though and when we did not pass our EPO levy, we could no longer afford to not collect on those previously authorized levies that weren't collected. So, that's when we chose to

042move forward to collect those. um pretty much all districts across the state are taking that stance this this past year because a lot of districts even though they may not be in binding conditions and have a negative fund balance a lot of them are heading in that direction. So um it it so yeah so it's so it it doesn't sit anywhere. It's not collected yet. So but we have the authority the the authority sits there. So these administrative refunds um are are calculated by the counties by Pierce County and Thirstston County. So they calculate for us how much we're authorized to collect from previous levies. They did not assess these levies um previous levies until this past year. So this isn't like we've gone back and collected all the ones we decided not to. We

043decided not to collect past collections and this is just the last year's authority to collect admin refunds. So we're only going back one calendar a year for as far as the county calculates. They calculate every year and send us a notice on how much we can collect. we're only collecting what they calculated last year and informed us of. And typically a district will well in the past uh most districts have not collected these dollars um to help taxpayers. Um, and as Jennifer said, given our situation and given the situation of many districts across the state, um, majority of them are now collecting it, uh, because they are trying to get every single dollar they possibly can. Uh, and I believe in the future you're probably going to continue to see that, but um, it has

044traditionally been practice that districts would not. Will this show up on taxpayers tax It already has. It already has. Yes. A separate line item on their under their bond levy. But it has not ever been collected. I think we used to several years ago, but for the last few years, we have not. So, this is just going to move the money. We're just doing one resolution is going to take the m money from one place. This looks so sketchy to me because of the Department of Revenue ruling. Yeah. Yeah. The ruling doesn't make any sense. The attorney said that they they they came up with this ruling. Um they didn't exactly agree with it, but they the Department of Revenue didn't follow by saying that the funds had to be used for the purposes of

045the of the fund it was deposited into, which meant that we didn't need it for bond debt service payments. we didn't include it in our bond debt service pay debt service payment schedule. So they're unneeded in the fund that they're collected in. So we're putting them back in the fund they were earned in. Does that help? Yes, it does it. But it's like leave it to them to confuse the issue. Yeah, exactly. So moving on to resolution 072425. This one again is a transfer of funds from one fund to another. Um but this one is a loan. So the funds will be transferred if needed and then they will be transferred back when we have more money to repay that loan. So we are really borrowing money from our capital projects fund to go into

046our general fund in the event we may not need it but in the event that we do not have enough funds at the end of June to make payroll on June 30th. Um so fund balance projections show that we are um going to be less than zero cash. Um we're going to be in the negative at the end of June. But some of that is determined on the timing of the revenues rece we receive on the timing of grant claims and the timing of the federal department paying us our grants that we have through them directly. Um the timing of different revenue sources of local revenue. Um, for example, when when families pay their lunch accounts, they might pay more people might pay in one month than another. So depending on all that, there is

047a chance that we won't need it, but we we need to have this resolution to give us the flexibility in case we do. So this resolution is um, as you know, our aortionment fluctuates um, every month. That's why that chart I give you, every month the fund balance goes up and down quite a bit. Um that is because our aortionment rates that we receive fluctuate between 5 and 12 a.5% of our total state aortionment in any given year. So they fluctuate each month. And the thought behind May and June being two of the lowest months is that districts collect property taxes in April. So the state says, well, they're going to have excess revenue in April, so we don't need to give them their higher portion payments until July and August. So that April property

048tax collection gets us through June. Well, we don't have that this year. We don't have a tax collection to it. We don't have that revenue. And so our payments in in May and June will be five and 6% whereas our payments for a portionment in July and August are 10 and 12%. So we will be able to pay this loan back likely within a month if we need it. So, there was another um bill that was passed the legislature um substitute Senate Senate Bill 5412 just this session and it allows districts in binding conditions to borrow funds from the capital projects fund with zero interest if you pay it back within a year. So, we do not have to pay any interest on this loan. Um regardless of the amount we borrow, um I indicated

049in the resolution 1.5 a.5 million. It's likely we would not need that much. Very likely. But it's just there in case something happens because our our fund balance is based on projections as you know. And I think I think I mentioned the subst bill. So we we plan on paying this back by the end of August. Um we may be able to pay it back if we borrow it in July, but um at the latest um end of August. I got two questions. How far in the red do your projections show us going? I knew you were going to ask that. Um, so my projections, if if expenditures and revenues came in as I'm projecting them to in the exact months, um, I'm projecting us to be um close to a half million. Yeah. So,

050that can be more or less, of course. And I've already included the um transfer of the 253,000 in our projection. So that's already included in those numbers. Um we are getting um an additional payment which I've included in that projection also, but we are getting an additional payment of $50 per student. Um it was kind of a surprise. the legislature um indicated that since there was money left over in aortionment payments across the whole state um they were going to to leave that money with OSPI and allowed them to pay it out to districts and so they came up with $50 per student would across the state would give enough money. So it's about $265,000 in additional revenue for us in June. They'll pay that out in June. So does approving this resolution mean that

051you're moving the half million over or just give you the authority to move it over? Yes, giving us authority. The county treasur requires a resolution to transfer any money. So, it might come to middle of June and I'm looking at the projections and I contact the county and submit a transmitt saying I think we need to transfer $500,000 or or borrow $500,000. So, I would we submit the transmitt and then they see this resolution and say, oh yeah, the board gave us authority to do that up to one and a half million. Couple key pieces to this is in the past we would get charged interest. Um as Jennifer said the new legislation that we believe and have heard it is largely in part due to a district up north um that they passed this

052resolution that allows districts in binding conditions to borrow without penalty without uh interest to be able to pay it back within one year. um more districts are going to be um in this uh position and actually some districts already have um earlier this year but it gives us the authority to do it if we need to and um and then pay it back. The other thing that's interesting is um the gap between aortionment like Jennifer said um we don't get taxes that would usually bridge that gap between um the springtime when it's very lean. um we don't have that now and so um we're living essentially paycheck to paycheck so to speak um from our aortionment from the state and uh so we're um cutting pretty tight but um this is just safety in case

053we need to do it. So you need to take um each one separately and currently um E has been um first and second. So you need to take that one first. So um one of you answered all my questions. So um but the one that I was going to a um ask you about um so we meet you know with our group of friends on the binding conditions is the the little surprise um money that they just kind of talked about. Um is that in there? because they said there was like, "Oh, yeah, by the way, there's some extra money there for it because and at the time they told us that on the on the last Zoom call for mining conditions, um most districts didn't know about it." Yeah. They were just starting to

054let districts know. So, it was a surprise to a lot of people. A good surprise, right? $265,000 helps us a lot. So, and you're talking about the $50 per student. Yeah, that was it. Yeah. and it doesn't we don't get it for running start students um or or AL students. That was a rule that they added in at the end and so they were able to keep some of the additional funds. Yeah, that was a nice little surprise. Did every school district get $50 or did some get more and some? I believe it's $4967 and we're just rounding up to 50. Nope. Every district got the same amount. I was assuming Seattle was going to get more. N this time. It was kind of a a little surprise they threw out there. Oh, by the

055way. Okay, so we have a resolution on the table. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. All right. Resolution 07-24-25 and that's the interfun loan. I move we approve. I second. Is there any more discussion? Okay. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. All right. Um you can get your cell phone now. Resolution 08-24-25 delegating authority to WIAA be approved. I second. Any discussion? Uh this is the annual school board resolution form uh with WIA that delegates authority um for governing um through WIA. It's a requirement in order for us to participate as a WIA uh school district. And um the resolution is something that all districts have to pass um in order to participate. And so we do this every year. And so you guys uh see this you have to indicate

056public school, private, charter, tribal and then um essentially as a board um delegating that authority to WIA govern. Okay. Those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. All right. Vouchers and payroll. I move be approved. Any discussion? I already did vouchers from the board member before the meeting and I recommend for approval. Okay. All right. Those in favor? I I opposed. Motion carries. All right. Facilities report. I move we approve. Any discussion? a lot going on. Uh Terry's going to share a little bit about um these and others uh around the district. So the items that you have on your agenda are um projects that we have been completed and are asking for your approval. Uh you can see there's a number of things related to uh facility repairs and replacements, fencing. You'll see the fencing

057one for South Worth was the park in the bus zone where we had the grass and the bus zone together. We finally were able to put that in uh during the spring break area time frame. And then we had a number of items that came up in our inspection over spring break around our alarm panels and fire or security. So, a few of those repairs were made. And then you also see the very large one with the emergency power outage repair from YMS that happened back in the winter. Uh so that's finally come through that we are putting out there. So I do recommend these for your approval and then I can share with you some of the work that the staff are doing. What is the pack video overflow upgrade? So there was a

058there's a connection that goes from the uh performing arts center so that you can if that is filled you can see and hear everything out into the commons. Oh, so that it just there was a connection that they had to repair. Okay. Well, just a couple of things uh that are you don't always see and the people that are working and so just wanted to kind of give a little spotlight to our transportation uh dispatchers and and routing. Uh you've got Kimmy and Scott and Alana there who are fielding all the calls and all the questions and helping uh parents connect to where their students are on. And then um we just kind of wanted to point out that right now we are down to one mechanic and uh we have one that is out

059right now uh through a August and uh he is he is carrying the load. uh one of our our assistant director has been stepping in as he was a former mechanic and has been helping out uh during emergencies. But uh they are they are keeping it together and just wanted to give a little shout out to all of them as they are are supporting our drivers and all of our parents and students. uh on the other side of the transportation office, we are working on that uh learning uh training center that will be used for the entire district, but also as a staff room for all of our bus drivers as they have a lot of split shifts and midshifts and they come and go throughout the day. And so just some construction that's going

060on. This is scheduled to be completed June 9th. Uh today we were looking at some items that may have extended that and we were able to keep it on target and keep it going uh through June 9th. And so there's uh really the original flooring that they've just kind of uh sealed and so it has some very unique patterns because of the building that it is. Uh and this back wall will be where we have two monitors where they can um we can have teaching and learning happening uh for various uh programs not only for transportation for others. And so the this summer we will do a lot of the training but uh for the operational staff that come back. These this is the backside will be a little bit more of a kitchen space.

061So again, they have that break room and and they again arrive between 5:15 and 5:45 to start their shifts and some don't leave until 6:00 or 6:30. So it gives them an opportunity to to stay in here uh and and kind of have a congregational area. And they will expand the bathrooms and you don't know how critical this is. We only have two bathrooms over there and an a can on the outside. And so now inside there are four stalls uh on each side for men and women. And so that will really allow them to be prepared to go out um before they drive and not stand in line for the bathroom as you guys probably understand. Is this all inside the old western farmers building? Yep. And so right that was where we used

062to have all of our delivery warehouse. And so that has kind of taken this has taken a portion of that. And in front of the of this is still some of our warehouse and our storage where we um like the some of the bus materials and things that we do are stored in there. And if we have a large delivery that we have to take, we can still take it into that warehouse. Yeah. Because it looks way different than what it was. It does 50 years ago. And then we've got some other people doing some great work out here that don't get seen very often and they are protecting our grounds. Uh these two right here teamed up and we have some um poisonous hemlock that before it goes to seed and spreads. Uh they

063were taking care of that and so they uh put on all their hazardous materials and took care of it and then our grounds people across our district are doing their darnest to keep up with this weather. We get some good sun and then we get some good rain and that creates a lot of grass. So um they're working really hard but we also have a different way that we're protecting our grounds. Um, Mil Pond has been very protective of a um, endangered or protected bird and uh, so they're called the kill deer and we have numerous times found uh, people have reported them and so we've gone and tried to protect them and we want to bring attention to this because the students, the staff, the administration at Mil Pond have really been very passionate

064about this uh, to protect them and sometimes the community doesn't realize uh, what this means. And so when you see these cordoned off areas, please stay away. There is a reason probably for your safety or the safety of something else. In this case, it was some young birds. And um sadly, they all did not make it. Uh I know. And I say that because we want people to be very respectful of these areas because there is a reason. We have Okay, wait. We have them at our house every year. Yeah. And they come back generally to the same area. Uh we are working on a permit. It may not really help us, but it's a process um that if it did become an issue, we may be able to relocate them, but we have to

065really work on that. But we are going down that road just to uh because it is becoming an increasing number in our playground areas. And that's really it. Just wanted to give you some spotlight of some people who don't get seen. Okay. Any comments, questions? Okay. All right. Those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. All right. Financial report. You're up again. I Cell phone's back. There's still So, I don't really have any um additional comments to the financial report you were providing packet. um unless you have questions. Um but I did want to talk about our audit report. So our um Chris has been talking to you about our annual audit ongoing. Um you guys were involved in the entrance and exit conferences. Um but the report was just issued today and so I just wanted

066to kind of summarize what they found and what they looked at. Um, so they audit our financial statements and what that entails is looking at all of our internal controls that surround the thousands and thousands of transactions we process every month, whether it's cash receipts or expenditures or payroll um just any of our systems that are placed to um roll up into our financial statements. They look they look at a lot of documentation. They select samples of all those transactions and um that resulted in them um issuing an audit a clean audit opinion which means that they're saying our financial statements are fairly presented. They did not find any material weaknesses in any of our um processes. So that was good news. Um they also looked at our um they they do an audit of

067our federal programs every year and they kind of cycle through different programs and they're usually our largest ones like sped and child nutrition and title one. So this year they looked at our special ed program. Um the federal government issues a kind of it's kind of a a checklist for auditors on what they're supposed to look for and it's pretty pretty extensive. Um they look at compliance with all the regulations and rules surrounding a special ed program. Um and they found no issues with any of those those um requirements. Um and they so I want to talk about um a finding that we did receive. We haven't had a finding since I think for the last eight or nine years. Um, but we received a finding that was out of our control was because we're

068in binding conditions. Any district in the state that's in binding conditions receives an automatic finding. And so what we have to do is provide a corrective action plan um indicate what we're doing to improve our financial position. um and they appear to be happy with the direction we're going with the cuts we made for this year and the additional cuts we're looking at. Um and so they will review this again in their next audit to see where we're at again and determine if another finding is is um is necessary. Um if we're still in binding conditions, it will be. If we're not, then they can reconsider. So, but they did not say that we were a going concern. That's an audit term. we didn't have to report in our notes to financials that we were

069agoing concern, meaning we may not exist in the future. And I think it's important to stress that there is nothing you can do um when you are in binding conditions, there is nothing you can do about uh preventing a finding. Um since you are in binding conditions, that automatically results in a finding. And so um as you know, we meet with OSPI and the ESD quarterly. you guys um two of you regularly attend those meetings. So we have regular communication with them. Um there will be I think many other districts um joining the current I think it's eight now. Um it was six I believe it was eight and then there's another 20ish. Um we'll find out more here now that the governor has signed the budget which I'll talk more about um at the

070end of our meeting. But um I think it's just important to highlight that there is absolutely nothing you can do about it um when you're in binding conditions. Thank you for that clarification. Now this report will be put on the website for everyone. It'll be posted to our website. Oh, it's already there. Debbiey's way ahead of me always. So yeah, it just was issued today and she already has it on our website for all to Well, so I thought it was um interesting that um so you have to follow you have to follow generally accepted accounting principles gap. So if you deviate from those a little they let you deviate from those and so I asked so if you're going to be allowed to deviate for th from those then they write those up in

071the report said if they're going to let you deviate from those then why do they write you up? So that's why one of my questions. So, so in Washington state, every every district in the state has that issue. Um because we don't have what's called a general fixed asset account group. Um we are considered a OBOa district, meaning other comprehensive basis of accounting. So rather than GAP, we're under OBOA. There are about five districts in the state that do report in accordance with GAP. And those are our largest districts because they're looking for a GFO um GFOA certification because it looks good on their resume. Um we have about 30 to 40 districts that are on a cash basis because they they strictly report everything as when the cash is received and when it's not.

072They don't do any acrruels where we are under the acrruel um process. We report things when earned and when paid. guys have any other questions? Because I thought that was just silly. If you're going to let they say it's an adverse opinion, that sounds like a really bad thing, but it's like the majority of districts in the state have that same thing in their audience. I know. And I was like, okay, then why mention it? If you're going to let a district do that, then why even mention it? Yeah. Something we did and it's not a bad thing. It just sounds bad. I'm just accounting an accounting person and I'm like, wait a minute here. Nope. Good question. Guys, have any other questions for her? Should we let her go get her cell phone? I

073don't need it. I can put it away for a while. You know, my kids are the ones calling me. Okay. Thank you. All right. Student enrollment. Um I think nothing new here. We typically see uh trend down at the end of the year in the spring and um that's pretty normal. And um we're going to see um a lower starting point beginning of next year. Um as I've talked with you a lot and you've probably seen on social media um the number of transfers that we've denied um for next year our out of district transfers. Um people are not happy. But um given the situation we're in, we need to protect our classes and not overcrowd them with students out of our district. And um as a matter of fact, I have five appeals that

074I have to um work through with um OSPI and the Office of Administrative Hearings because um even um community members outside of our school district have an appeal process. So, I will be spending a chunk of my time um in for families that are uh that didn't like our decision. These are families that do not live in Yelm uh school district. They live outside and they are appealing our decision and we said no. Um and so I'll be spending a large amount of my time unfortunately um having to defend our decisions. Okay. All right. Now, we are going to go to a um very important section of the board meeting and that is an interview for students on the governing board and we're very excited about this. So, where shall we start? So uh what

075we'll do is is you have um 10 questions in front of you. I have shared those with you before. Uh we revised them brief a little bit last year. And so the way it works is we'll call them up one at a time and uh you'll have an opportunity to um choose any of these questions. If we have time and you want to also allow u maybe a senior um ask a question or two um we could do that as well. We have five that we're interviewing. Uh I believe that there were 11 applicants at the high school. They ran a process at the high school and made a selection of five for you to consider. We'll interview all of them and then we'll go into executive de session and make a decision um as

076to which ones you will select for uh board positions for next year. So um if you guys are ready, I'll just call based on the order in your packet. So, we'll start with Ally. And just so the audience knows, um, you all have their application materials. You've, uh, had a chance to look through those ahead of time. And now it's your opportunity to ask, uh, a question. Okay. Who wants to start? Me. Do you um out of these 10 questions um and we're going to let the seniors partake. So there's four of us and two seniors two seniors here. Do you want me to give them a specific question? The two seniors. Yeah. So are my question is are we going to ask all 10 of these questions? Okay. Got it. you each choose one

077and we'll let the seniors each choose one and then from there if you need a follow-up um you are certainly able to ask a followup to a question you ask if you want more information um but it's a chance for you to get to know each of these excellent applicants okay um I will ask what do you plan to gain from this experience how will it assist you in your postgraduation plan. And can I put a IE in there? Um, do you are you familiar with the amount of time that it takes to be on the on the student rep? Okay. I plan to gain better leadership skills and communicating skills. I want to be able to give speeches more effectively, whether right on the spot or prepared, and just fluently give those speeches. I

078plan to be a surgeon, and you have to be able to give orders under a high pressure scenarios and good or bad food all the time. So, I want to start now and gain those skills. All right. Please describe characteristics you possess that qualify you to serve as student representative on the board. I am a very empathetic person and I'm a great listener and I think that helps a lot because you have to be able to listen to students viewpoints and relay that to the board and you have to understand the board's viewpoints and be able to just be the bridge between the students and the board. Um, what are the structures or avenues at your school that would allow you to communicate your actions and participation on the school board? I know we were

079just talking about cell phones, but everyone has social media, so everyone would be able to see what we put out there. And we could also put posters all around the school giving our input on what decisions have to make on the board. Okay. My question will be how have you connected with or helped other classmates andor community people. I like to play piano for retirement homes a lot. Mostly to keep the elderly engaged in the community because I feel like sometimes they can be forgotten about at retirement homes and I like to keep them thinking that they're still involved and engaged in this community. So how will you represent the views of a wide range of students? I have many friends that have many different viewpoints and even from my own and I like to

080listen to each of those viewpoints and gain an understanding of all the different students at the high school and so I would come here and express those viewpoints to the board. Okay. Um what experiences have you had your education, community involvement or life that will help you engage with students during this school year? I was JV team captain all my basketball last season, so I had to step up and be the role model for all the kids on my team. Right now, we are hosting open gyms for the middle schoolers. And I have to be able to slow down and effectively lead them, give them the skills that they will need for high school. And I think that applies here because you have to be a good leader with the defense that the students have.

081Ally, what would you like to add or is there anything else you'd like to share um with the board about yourself and why you're applying? I want to apply because I really want to gain more communicating skills and I think you should pick me because I will be able to give you the viewpoints that other students have and I'm a great listener and I really want to be that bridge between students and the board so that they understand the board's decisions and the board understands the students input and opinions. Awesome. Thank you. Great job. [Applause] All right. Is it Lena? Lena, I apologize. Lena, you're up next. All right. Start with me again. Sure. Um, I guess I'll ask you the same question. What do you plan to gain from this experience and how will

082it assist you in your post-graduation plan? And do you have the amount of time it takes to commit to rep? First of all, yes, I do have the amount of time it takes to commit to the the school board. I made sure that when I filled out my application, I wanted to make sure I would be able to give the time necessary to attend these very, very important meetings. I hope to gain from this experience valuable leadership skills that I can take with me into my future career. I want to be a veterinarian, but in if that changes in the future, I can take these skills that I learned here into any career I want and I choose and I will carry them with me throughout my whole life. I also hope to gain the

083experience of being able to hear different sides of an argument and being able to come to a decision and an agreement. Lena, what do you plan to gain from this experience and how will it help you in your postgraduation? [Music] Yeah, number three. My fault. Name one to three areas. You got me for once, Jeff. Name one to three areas of improvement needed for students in our district. How might you influence change in these areas as a member of the board? One of the biggest areas of improvement I've noticed at school, and it's been talked about a lot at this meeting actually, is the use of cell phones in classrooms. I have noticed I've I'm a sophomore. I've been in high school for two years, but even in middle school, I've noticed kids, they are

084constantly on their phones and um there's they're not really paying attention to teachers and what's being taught. And it really it really hurts honestly and I wish it was different. And I've noticed a lot of students their grades have declined a lot because they're distracted with their phones and they would rather be on their phones. And so if I could influence this change, I would try to I would probably make some kind of educational I would say video that we could show during class that students would watch and be engaged in. For example, in our tornado time, which we have every Wednesday, that's like our home room meeting. That is when we normally watch those videos of like what's going on in our school, how we can what month it is like we're celebrating. And

085I'm very interested in those videos and I'm sure that if we were to create something like that that students would be interested in it. How might you handle a situation where a student disagrees with a decision and wants to talk to you about it? I will hear them out on what they have to say because everything is valid and I will I want them to know that they can come talk to me and that I'm not going to think it's a dumb or stupid question because it's not and I will communicate that to the board. Hey, uh what are the topics that interest you that you feel would be of benefit to the students of the school district? I'm interested in drama club, archery club, and epa. Those are the extracurriculars I've been involved in

086after school. And I have gained a lot of leadership experiences and communication skills because it is very hard to stand in front of a lot of people, especially when like you're performing like in drama club. But I have learned to be confident in what I have to say because I my opinion does matter and everyone else's opinion matters too. And it's really awesome to see the community grow and yeah, how have you connected with or helped your classmates and or community? So lately, I've been connecting with my peers and my friends on academic related things because it's the end of the year. There's finals coming up, there's deadlines, and everyone that I've talked to is just very stressed, including myself. And I've just I've tried to help as many people as I can feel more

087calm about what's to come. I've tried to help them plan out What do you have to get done now in order to get this done? What can you get done right now? What can you get done tomorrow so you can get a set? Uh, what are topics that interest you that you feel would benefit the students of the district? I question. Never mind. I'm not alone. You just did that. Uh we'll try what are structures or avenues at your school that would allow you to communicate your actions in participation on the school board would be a good one that I could go to like attend the ASC meetings and communicate what has been going on at the school board as well as I think the morning announcements because everybody listens to them in the morning

088and so that would be be a good that would be a good avenue to go down because everyone who's attentive in the morning and wants to do things. All right, Lena, anything else that you want to share or um information about why you want to be on the board? I really want to be a part of the board because I want to make a difference in my community and I want to show students that their voice can be heard and that they do matter without the feeling of judgment or like like I said earlier like it's a dumb question because it's it's not and I really want students to feel heard and seen for who they are. Thank you. Great job, Lena. All right, Rebecca. Rebecca, what do you plan to gain from this experience

089and how will it assist you in your postgraduation plan? And again are you aware of the time commitment? So yes, I am aware of the time equipment and I'm um very like I will I will sorry I understand the time and I going to put my best opportunity to hear those and then um for what I plan to gain from this experience is not only communication skills but um responsibility uh reliability and For postgrad, I for me myself, it's very important that I have things that I do within the community, within my school that will give me opportunities and openings and connections for things to put on like my resume for college or for things in future careers. So, if I have something like really good, I'm working with my community, I'm working with the

090school, then I'm going to like go to put this on my resume, then they can see what kind of person that that I am and how what um kind of personality I have. Rebecca, characteristics that qualify you to serve. Um, I think I'm a very confident person. Um, I'm responsible. Um, I'm very empathetic and caring. And, um, I think that to be a person on the school board having a personality and traits like that is good. Okay. How might you handle a situation where a student disagrees with a board decision and wants to talk to you about it? Um, if someone were to come to tell me that there was something that they disagreed with, I think I would hear them out and I would let them know what kind of point of view and

091how we came to that decision at if it was like a meeting like this and where the the decision came from and I would I would tell them what the other opposing thoughts are and what that those opinions are and why we why that specific decision was made and I would take it very like open-mindedly and take open their questions. So if they had something that was like very important then I could bring it to the school board. Thank you. Yeah. What experiences have you had in your education, community involvement or life that will help you engage students during your school year? Um, I've done a couple things like in academics like into my classes like in my English classes like writing skills have helped me also with speaking skills and like how I can

092say what I'm trying to say and also some extracurricular things like FBA, the future business leaders of America. I've had a lot of opportunities there to um give me some kind of things to build on to help me be a better like speaker and talk to people and not people. What do you hope to accomplish as a student representative? Um, I hope to accomplish um a a really firm bridge between students and the school board and um have a students perspective on things. So when a decision gets made or when something's talked about like how similar we had to the phones like when Mr. Woods came to ASB meetings, we had like more of what the students are feeling and so it might not just be like what um like a parent or teacher thing

093of the decision. we have student voices being heard and I hope to accomplish um a way for students to know that they have they do have a voice and um something that can be like acknowledged within the school community and in like the school school board. Name one to three areas of improvement needed for students in our district. How might you influence change in these areas as a member of board? Um, another one that has already been talked about quite a lot is the phones. I think that is something that could definitely be improved. And another one I think is one that kind of stuck out to me was casual bullying and things that is just like picking on or it's like you might not point it out because you think it's oh, this person's

094just teasing me. And then some teachers, they don't do anything about it. they think it's just kids being silly or annoying, but I think when it kind of it does get to a point. And then another thing I think um is sports because this year I know that there's this been a few sports that kind of the the like attendance or people trying out has like went down and I think putting more spotlight on sports. All right, Rebecca, anything you want to add or share? Um I think I just want to say that uh another thing that I also wanted to talk about is how I think as someone who I've my sister's a senior right now so I'm very close with my sister and I'm close with her friends and I've noticed that a

095lot of seniors they take the it's even just their whole senior year but especially the end of the year they're getting tired and they're getting like like tired of school and tired of everything. And I think that it's made me kind of notice the mental health state of students and especially seniors. And I think that's something that um we can like work on to make sure that the senior students are making sure that they have opportunities and things that they can get help with. But not even just the seniors, but all students as a whole that they have access to mental health help. Great job. All right, Kelly. Hi, Kelly. Okay. What do you plan to gain from this experience? How will it assist you in your post-graduation plan? And are you aware of the

096time commitment? Yes, ma'am. I'm aware of the time commitment and I'm fully ready to commit to that. And I really hope to have more problem solving skills cuz I know as a board runner, you need to have problem solving skills cuz there will be challenges and you're going to need to test yourself and like challenge yourself in ways you maybe didn't think you could. Um, and I feel like this directly correlates I want to be a nurse. Um, and I feel like you need problems out of girls and you need to be able to think on your feet and you need to be able to think fast and challenge yourself. Thank you. What do you hope to accomplish as a student rep? Um, I hope to [Music] accomplish I want to be able to make

097sure that a lot of the students have voices and are heard. Um, because I know that that is a big problem. A lot of people feel like they have no say in what is going on in their school district and I want to make sure that they have the resources available to have their voice into the matter and say what they think is correct. Okay. How might you handle a situation where a student disagrees with a decision and wants to talk to you about it? First have to think that it is okay to have different opinions. It's good to have different opinions. Um, and I would listen to them and I wouldn't want to make it seem like I'm disregarding them. I want to listen to them fully, open-mindedly and empathetically. And then I would

098tell them why the board made that decision and why they all agree that it was best for the school district. And if they still have questions, I would maybe tell them to come to the next meeting. And if they have decisions that and problems they feel are wrong and needed to be right, they can have their voice heard. And yeah, hey, how will you represent a broad voice of students? Um, well, oh, sorry. Um, I would I like to talk I think the best way that is talking to people. You know, I know a lot of people have a big social media platform and that's one big way to communicate with people, but I think talking to people in real life is the best way to, you know, get my opinions or the board's opinions

099and then their opinions and then kind of bring that into the conversation like I've been saying. What are topics that interest you that you feel would benefit the students of the district? Um, I think everybody has different things that interest them. Um, for me it's sports medicine. I love sports medicine, but you know, some people think other things are fun and Yeah. And so I would want to make more clubs definitely student le and there can be more I don't know like fun that people think and make them want to come to school every day instead of dreading school every day like I know a lot of students do. How have you connected with or helped your classmates and or community lately? Um well since the beginning of this year I've been tutoring this one

100student and um I've managed to get their GPA from a 1.0 I know but to a 2.0 and which has been such a big achievement especially in their academic career. At the very beginning I know they were very stressed out about school. They didn't think they could do very well. But towards the end they're getting all of their grades up and like I could not be more proud of them. And I think that's one of the biggest ways I've helped students lately. All right. Anything you want to add or share? Um, well, I just want to tell you guys that I applied because I want to make a change in the school. I want to make a good change and yeah, that's why I think you guys should be. Thank you so much. Great job,

101Kelly. All right, your turn. Okay. What do you plan to gain from this experience? What will it assist you in your postgraduation plan? And are you aware of the time commitment? Um, I am aware of the time commitment and I'm completely ready to give my time to the school board because I think it can help make a difference. Uh, I plan to gain, of course, there's leadership skills and whatnot, but I want to gain the ability to give back to my fellow students. And I know that this position, uh, of course, you guys can actually make a difference in the Well, of course I can, but there's a big different. Sorry guys, I'm really nervous if you can't tell. Um but yeah, I hope to make a difference and just give back to my community.

102And postgraduation, uh as all these people have mentioned, you gain tons of skills, tons of leadership skills, and it correlates to any job. And I'd like to go into the medical field, but I feel like if maybe in two years if I don't want the medical field, uh I do think this could correlate into any field. Thank you. Can you give me a couple characteristics you possess that qualify you to serve as super on the board? I think that I have good leadership. Uh I'm an ASB and I'm it's my I'm going on my third year of being class vice president and so I believe I have good leadership. Uh I love to hear other people's opinions. So empathy I think. And yeah, uh I think those will definitely help me in this position. Okay.

103How might you handle a situation where a student disagrees with a board decision and wants to talk to you about it? Um, if a student feels that they disagree with a board decision, I'd welcome their opinion and I', for starters hear their side of the opinion, make sure they know that their opinion is valid. And then I'd give the reason the board made the decision because I'm sure that the board has a good decision or good reasoning to make any decision. And if they still feel that they're they have a better option, I'd invite them. I'd give them a pathway to take it up higher to you guys and then come and work with them to work so they can voice their opinion. Hey sir, uh what are topics that interest you that you feel

104would benefit the students of the district? Um topics that interest me is definitely sports. I love football. Uh for about a couple years ago, my dad just retired from the army and I was moving around from New York to Virginia, all over the place. And when I got to Y is when my dad finally retired. And I was able to get involved in my community. And one of those were sports. And it just I love it. Uh it helps me be involved in the classroom because of course you have to have good grades to play sports. It gets me involved with my community because not only do you play um within your school, but recently my coach has been having us volunteer at like um old homes and whatnot and helping out. Uh about a

105month ago, we did a bunch of yard work for one here in town and yeah, it it's improved my mental health and just love sports. I feel like every student can definitely benefit from sports. How will you represent the views of a wide range of students? Um, I believe that I could represent the wide or a wide range of views from students. Uh, I'm in ASB, um, National Honor Society, I play football. Uh, so a lot of people are familiar with me, especially in my class. And not only that, I constantly make it known that students can come to talk to me if they have uh any suggestions and they do a lot for ASB if they have a spirit day suggestion or anything like that, they'll come to me and I'll take it up

106with uh my class officers and hopefully if they have any topics. In one of three areas of improvement of improvement needed for students in our district, how might you influence change in these areas as a member of the board? Um so one thing that I think needs improvement is that communication as all these people have mentioned uh communication of course every student needs to feel as if their voice is heard and constantly people come to me asking giving suggestions and they want me to say something when they can totally say something and although they're scared I encourage them to say it because it's usually happen most of the time it's Great. And uh yeah, uh another improvement I think could be made that everyone's brought up is phone usage. Phones are definitely you guys have

107a good reason for uh getting rid of them. There's a lot of them in the classroom and I do believe that because they're definitely messing with kids education. All right, Aiden, anything you want to add or share? Um, I think that I can make a good board rep, but anyone here could. I've heard all their uh answers to these questions and they all sound like they're great um applicants. So, yeah. Uh, whatever choice you guys make tonight, it'll be the right one. Thank you. Thanks, great job. [Applause] Okay. Oh my word. Okay. The board will now meet in executive session to evaluate the qualifications. No. Nope. Just select. Huh? Just select the wrong Oh, I'm at the right. You're not there yet. Yes, I'm at the right. That's what Debbie gave me. Oh, okay. Go

108ahead. Yes, you guys. I'm sorry. Debbie and I have it all squared away. We're going to go to evaluate the qualification of candidates for appointment to school board rep. The board will be in executive session until 7:55 task. Yes. 7:55. It's right here. I have it. And then we will return. All right, it is now 7:55 and we're coming back into regular session and we're going to have the selection of students on the governing board. All right, before our uh board president uh announces the selection, um I just want to say thank you to to each of you for being here. It is a big deal. Um, and I know we had 11 applicants and then it was narrowed down. Um, I don't think you realize how big of a deal it is that you

109put in the time and energy to be here and to present and ask question or answer questions in front of us. And so, um, I want to say thank you for that ahead of time. And to those who aren't selected, um I still would like to um have you involved and um as part of our uh group when we meet because I I spend a fair amount of time meeting with students um because that's pretty important to us um as a team here. So I just want to say thank you um for being here. We really appreciate you. And it also um makes me very excited about the future. um all we hear is is negative and so to hear from you guys and um uh what a bright future that we have in front

110of us um that is uh pretty cool for us. So thank you. Okay, without further ado. Okay, all of them holding their breath. I know it just Okay, I'm gonna do it. Sorry. I know I don't like this because we appreciate all all of you, Rebecca, Callie, and Aiden. So, do you uh one of you needs to make a motion uh for all three? I move um that we make a motion to um have Rebecca, Kelly, and Aiden for the 2526 school board reps. Is that okay? Perfect. Is there any discussion? I The kids are all great. Yeah, it's a really tough decision. Yeah. I Those of you that applied and didn't get selected, don't stop being involved. Don't stop trying. Life's full of different doors that close, but they close for a reason because

111there's another door opening. So, don't be discouraged. You guys all did awesome, and it was not an easy decision. So, thank you for trying so hard and getting to this point. You got really bright future ahead of you. Stay involved because your student body needs you. Yes. Come keep coming to board meetings and keep sharing your voice because you know what? We're listening and we need to hear you. You're very important because you are 100% of our future. Students, anything you want to add? Yeah. Okay. I really want the microphone. I really like this thing. Is it on? Push button. Push button. Now you're on. Now it's on. Oh, wow. Okay. So, first of all, it's kind of loud. So, you all did amazing, as they've stated, and I remember when I was in your

112place last year. Um, not this exact spot, but you know what I mean. And, um, yeah, I was sweating. So, when you guys were up there, I was sweating for you. You know, I I know what it's like. Don't worry. And yeah, you all did great. Really, I could name a whole list of amazing things that you guys have said and done. Um, it was a very hard decision, but I'm proud of all of you, and I can't wait to get to know our new board members. Um, yeah, you guys did awesome. Thank you so much for coming and putting yourself out there like this. Uh, I really appreciate it and I know that it will benefit you in the future if you continue to do stuff like this. It really does pay off. So,

113thank you. Um, congrats to all of you. It's a really hard thing to get up here in front of everyone and just like put your mind out there into all these questions and you did it. It's it's over. It was like five minutes of your life. Um but congrats to all of you. It it's a really great accomplishment to be up here and to those of you that didn't make it. Still amazing job and stay committed to what you believe in and what you want to do first. Yeah. Um has been kind of covered by these two already, but amazing job. It does come out here and talk in front of I love you. Very scary. So, I know where you've been, but for those who work, I think it's really important to remember that

114we do have a lot of different students and type of students in our school. That said, I do and I think that it's very important to get a lot of different range and variety of ideas and view points. So, that's something I value and it's helped me with the board because I'm involved in a lot of different things. It put me in their shoes to know a lot of different view points. So, I say remember that. That's probably one of the most important things. Um, and for those who didn't make it, honestly, keep striving. Um, said there's going to be a lot of different opportunities for you guys and yeah like they all said last year the three of these guys went to the walls and they have like everyone here so easier um when

115it keeps you stressed don't worry I was just talking about policy and I've talked a lot of times so it's easier but it definitely but yeah congrats and all of It's an accomplishment just to make it here. It is an accomplishment just to get the slip that you were nominated for. It's not something that you just go and sign up for. It's something your teachers have been nominating for which I think that's really cool that you guys give yourself a pat on the back for that. Um and then obviously this past week or this past year hasn't looked quite the same and as students we have a lot of questions and there's something that there's something that I've learned in leadership positions is ask questions. That doesn't necessarily mean that you need to sit here

116on the board and ask everyone a question, but talk to Mr. Talk to Mr. Just keep asking questions. I'll keep it short and sweet, but you guys all did a really great job and like Okay. All right. So, all right, let's take a vote. All those in favor? I I opposed. Motion carries. All right. Welcome aboard. Okay. Board comments. state. Um, I appreciate all the concerns about um, the cell phone policy and I thought it was great that someone came in and talked about it and we had already really we're really putting that plan into place already and I think that we're going to be able to put together a really good policy that's going to benefit all students. Um, also congratulations to Fast Pitch on making it to state and also rest in peace

117to the birds. Yeah. Oh yeah, like Hannah said, the mil pon birds. That was kind of sad. That might that might have been my low meeting. Congrats for making it to state. And yeah, I'm really proud of all the work that we've done with the cell phone call. So just so you guys know, there's five of them that I brought with me. I told them yesterday at the ASB meeting and then we had a group chat and we sent maybe 10 texts before we came here. So we were very prepared. They just they did a great job. Uh so very proud of them and everyone who's just had a say in it. I think there's no bad ideas and everyone who said it like he truly has been students ideas I guess. So yeah, I'm

118really proud of that. And then unified crime like Mr. Wood said is coming up and I get the opportunity to help out with that. But it's really cool and someone talk about special needs and I'm working with special needs students and I think that's a very under reppresented um portion of our students. So I thought it was cool. I think it's great that we get to honor our special needs kids and with day of champions coming up. Really excited for all that stuff. Yeah. And then student voice. Um we talked about our gap plan. Yeah, we know what the word gap is on ASBA. We talked about our gap plan recently. Um and then also we were just looking at some information and something that us students saw was like a lot of athletes like

119just weren't paying their fees and we were like okay so that's not really fair. Um, so something that we kind of talked about is we want to make sure that our coaches are really holding our athletes accountable to paying their fees. Um, and then another idea that a student had, which we're not really sure if this would work, um, but we were curious if we can make the cost to play sports or the cost for activities lower for freshmen so it's easier for them to get involved and then if they decide to stick with the sport or the club or whatever, they the fees may increase. That's something that we've heard a lot this year is that freshmen don't want to try out for a sport that they're probably going to get cut from and

120still have to pay a large fee to play. I do like that a lot of us came together and made up that policy. um the distinguished uh leadership award. I think that was a good group honestly. Um not trying to favor anyone but Shannon Pal um I can definitely say that he has helped me a lot. So because I think that it was truly deserved. um special education. My mom works with special education. She's a teacher at Belmont um for that classroom. And I think I don't know her when that was talked about the special. Um I think what she had to say about how you speak to your students, it sticks with them. I mean, it really does. uh I can mention numerous amount of times where I got um praise for something and

121it encouraged me to do better. So the way we do speak to our students I think is very um I think that you've had fun is going to be amazing. I went my sophomore year um and it was a night to remember. Everyone was getting down and they were having fun. So I think that was crazy awesome. And then um the experience I'm really excited for. I call it for a year and it is something that just makes me feel warm inside. So I really look forward to that. Um I think that is all I have repeated here. I really like that. just teachers attention and like I actually was in the classroom the other day and I was walking through and they were all rehearsing some dances which was the sweetest thing to watch

122but to new board members and also I don't like going last because then I don't sound original but um yeah basically what they all said I want to continue the RIP Mil Pond Birds chain that's very very sad almost tear up um but yeah this is a very long meeting my eyes are starting to get a little droopy But as I like to say, exhaustion and productivity go hand in hand, so it cancels out. Um, but he's my kind of gal right there. Um, and yeah, so a lot of the stuff we talked about today, um, super awesome. Uh, special education is something that I don't have personal ties to, but I super passionate about. And um yeah, as Sam said, um last year actually, hi Sam. Last year, actually in my interview, I spoke

123a little bit about how you speak to students, especially at a very young age, will resound and stay with them as they grow up and that will affect their educational journey. Um so I really uh resonated with that. Um, and it's just super cool how much we get done at these meetings. And like I realized as I was sitting here like, yeah, this is not something that a lot of people can tune in on. Um, and I'm very very lucky to be here and I'm so excited for our newly appointed board members uh to join in on the fun. Uh, it is a lot of fun. Start preparing for game night. Oh, yeah. Going down. I think you're gonna be with Mr. Woods on that one, right? Don't worry, I'm in. Um, yeah, like congratulations.

124You guys, I already said this, but you all did incredible. Um, stay just the way you are. Of course, grow. Um, but keep that ambition and that determination and it will get you very, very far. Thank you so much. Okay. I'd like to thank all the all the recipients of the leadership awards. Congratulations to our new student reps. Everybody that applied for it. You were great. Um looking forward champions here in a few days. Um and I'd like to thank especially thank all the kids who work on this cell phone policy because I know my grandson is probably the greatest. So that's all I've got. No, I'm not going to skip you. I want to start by saying congrats to the cabinet and to Jonathan. You guys put in a lot of time and I

125know when you're on salary, it's not a 40hour week. So, we appreciate all you do and it's nice to see you guys get get the award. Cell phone policy. Good work. I mean, to see you all take take that bull by the horns and get it here. I'm excited to read it and to get change pushed. I mean, that's what it takes. It takes it takes peers getting together and making a change. It doesn't take a bunch of us talking policies for y'all. So, congrats. I've seen you guys get up there and speak. You guys have come a long ways. So, really appreciate that. And once again, those that interviewed for the board, you all did amazing. So, please, those two that didn't get selected, keep your head up because life is full of opportunities

126and you guys are already picking them up at what sophomores. So, just keep fighting. Well, this has been one of the best, you know, schoolboard meetings in a long time and it's because of all of you um students and we appreciate all that, you know, you do for us and we listen to you and we thank you for being a part of the board and hearing us and working with us. And um also the um cabinet that was those that was great. Made me even tear up a little bit. And Jonathan that was they welld deserved. And um that's it. Um okay. So I'm going to just ditto all the way around. Um also our students got back from the choir trip in New York um which our community saved and promoted them and they

127went had a great time. Um also um there was band concerts this week. There was band concert last night and for the first time in several years they were able to get both middle school 8th grade bands together with the high school and I'm telling you that stage was full and they sounded phenomenal. So I'm looking forward to the to the band. I mean they always the bands always sound great but boy when both those eighth grade schools go up to the high school it's going to be great. And then of course strategic planning that's ongoing. So that's been hear the conversations going on with that. So all right, I'll keep it brief. Um it's been a long night and you still have to decide if you're um going to bring me back or not.

128Um so state budget was adopted by the governor. Um no change. Um so uh here in the next uh couple days we should get a lot of clarity and um and we should know pretty close to what it's going to look like for us next year. Not much different than what we've shared with you. There was speculation that the governor might veto um the budget and send it back for special session. That did not happen. Um, I think a lot of concern about the budget that was adopted. Um, not just from public school districts, all 295 across the state, but I I think citizens as well, especially as you talk about taxes and it will have a a direct impact on us and what we choose to do around the levy um because we are

129going to see an increase in taxes in our state and that impacts our community. So, more to come on that, but um just wanted you to know that uh that was adopted and so um no change. So, we'll get clarity on all of it here in the next few days. Um Kaylee ran uh the mile yesterday, barely uh missed the school record. Um she's running the two-mile tomorrow at 420. Um running the 3200 and um she is ranked in the top eight. um shooting for the top six to go on to state. Yep. So, I think that's that's pretty cool. Have a brownie. Yeah. Take a few. Um yes, the juniors um that were selected uh um Mrs. Woods and I um will have uh you all over for dinner and game night. And next

130year, the juniors are on my team. Um I've won two years in a row. Um so, no pressure. Um, but I do expect winners and so, um, well, we're going to be practicing for the next seniors this year. So, is this like a switch every year? Yeah. Yeah. I'll take the juniors next year and you guys can be with Mrs. Woods. Um, wow. Wow. Okay. Um, and aside from that, again, I want to say thank you to all of you for being here. And I was serious about um all of you being involved um as we move forward. Um I will be continuing to come to you guys to help with policy um to help with procedure, to help us um to make good decisions. So um we're going to need all of your voices.

131And um I think this tonight is a is a picture of of why we're here is for the students. And that is the most important part of our work. And um I believe this is our last meeting for seniors. Um want to say thank you to you guys. Um you guys have been uh phenomenal and it's been a lot of fun having you here and getting to know you guys. Um and your personalities. Um nobody more competitive than you two. Um and I got to see that firsthand. But um wanted to say thank you. Um, and appreciate you guys. We will miss you. Um, and hope that you come back and um and visit. So, graduation. Yeah. Please don't stress me out. I want to see him at graduation. He'll be there. Okay. They'll be

132there. They're on track. Okay. They're on track. [Music] question before we end the meeting. Before the end of the meeting, can I grab my phone real fast? My senior assassin is here. So, well, we don't have a policy that you can't have. No, I'm so sorry. The meeting is not adjourned. We're just going to executive session. Oh, Samantha. I'm sorry. I didn't do this. I know. Yeah. Sorry. There's something I forgot to say real fast. Um just that the current policy is just like no phones, but there's nothing additional to that. And us as students, we have looked at that and teachers look at that and they're just like, "What does that mean?" you know, like just there's no phones, but everyone just kind of wanted a clear what to do when there is a

133misuse, so on and so forth. So, [Music] okay. All right. The board will now meet in executive session to review the performance of a public employee. The board will be in executive session until 850. Okay, I'd like to call the board meeting back into session. Um, All right. Do I have a motion to accept the superintendent's contract? I move we approve. I second. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. All right. Okay. All right. The next board meeting is June 5th at 6 PM. It's district awards night at the Yum High School.