001Hello, I'm Dr. Michael Smith, superintendent of the Westerore Schools, and welcome to this month's board recap. This recap will provide a summary of our May 2025 meetings. We start with highlights from our May 5th meeting, which was actually two parts as we swore in new board members and held a reorganizational meeting. During the May 5th regular meeting in those who make a difference, we bid farewell to this year's student board representatives Andrea Masias Gonzalez and Isa Sto who graduated from Westerora High School over the weekend. We also extended our sincere appreciation to longtime board member Mrs. Valerie Brown Dystra as she concluded her service on the board of education. Mrs. Mrs. Dyster served on the board of education for 12 years and her leadership and dedication will sincerely be missed. An action out of close
002session, the board followed a process to fill the vacancy left by Mr. Thomas St. Jules. After screening and interviewing candidates, the board voted to appoint Mrs. Megan Jones to serve out the remainder of the two years of the unexpired term. In information, Mrs. Zanna Gonzalez, director of community affairs, provided the community affairs update. The end of the school year comes with lots of excitement and events. She highlighted the events of this past weekend as we celebrated graduates at Hope Wall and also West High. As we look ahead, we have middle school promotion nights, field days, and other end of the year highlights which can all be found on the website. After the adjournment of the regular meeting, we moved on to our reorganization meeting. We swore in two incumbents who were reelected, Mr. Rich Karns
003and Mrs. Julie Stone, and then also one newly elected member, Miss Erica Garcia, and finally our newly votedin member, Mrs. Megan Jones. All were then seated. The board then went through their reorganization process. Through a call for nominations, Mr. Rich Karns was nominated and unchallenged for board president. Mrs. Melody Sapperston was nominated and unchallenged for board vice president and Mrs. Joy Anker was nominated and unchallenged for board secretary. Finally, Mr. Ira Lean was nominated and unchallenged to serve as the IASB governing board representative. Now, on to the May 19th, 2025 meeting. The meeting began with the administration of the oath of office to our two new student board representatives, Miss Natalie Guerrero and Mr. Dexter McWills, who will serve during the 2025 2026 school year. In those who make a difference, Mrs. Gonzalez introduced several
004West High student groups who have qualified for state and national championships in various sports and events throughout the school year. Mr. Jason Buckley, athletic director, presented the athletes. Mr. Victor Anderson and Mr. Scott Schultz presented students placing in the state and national competitions for fine arts and music. And finally, Mrs. Laura Edwards, department administrator for CTE, presented those students placing in state and national competitions for career and technical education. The boardroom was full with some amazing students and their families. In consent, the board introduced the newly approved administrators, Miss Crystal D'vorak, who will begin next year as principal of McCclary Elementary School. Mr. Pete Lyndon will begin next school year as the assistant principal of Fern Elementary while Lindseay Pilmer will serve as the assistant principal of Goodwin Elementary. Information, Dr. Sarah Wedell, assistant director
005of elementary curriculum and instruction presented the recommendation for the social science curriculum resource. A committee of teachers, building staff, and district administrators gathered to vet several social science resources, and the recommendation was to select inquiry journeys to begin using next school year. The material is on display at the district office and Dr. Wedell will be back in June to present again before approval. Mr. Ryan Abrahamson, our director of finance, presented the third quarter treasures report. The district is trending on budget and we continue to monitor the impact of the esser dollars being spent. That wraps up our board meeting recap for May 2025. Thank you and we'll see you next time. [Music]