2.17.26 School Board Work Session

001Boom. It's 5:30. We're uh going to get started. Um so, welcome all to the board of directors meeting this uh this work session um February 17th, 2026. uh our uh mission statement motivating and preparing all students to reach their greatest potential. Welcome to the public press patrons and patrons of the district. Um we'll start with attendance. Um uh Mrs. Free please. >> Chair Lacatur >> present. >> Vice Chair Miltonberger >> present. >> Director Plet >> present. >> Director Cole >> present. Director Habberly >> present. >> Director Postgate >> present. >> Director Pimlot. >> We're expecting her to join us. And we also have here at the table uh Cece, uh Andy, Jennifer, and Chuck. Um we will go ahead and uh move right on to the pledge of allegiance. And Tom, would you lead that

002for us? >> Uh sure. Thanks. Excellent. Thanks for letting me put you on the spot like that. Okay. Um before we get going, we need to approve uh the agenda. Uh so uh down to 1.5. Superintendent, please. >> Okay. Agenda work session. Approve agenda item 021726-1.5. Uh board of directors has requested to hold a work session to discuss a limited number of topics. In keeping with the concept of work session, no formal action or resolution is on the agenda for tonight's meeting. Administration recommends approval of the agenda. Directors, any discussion on this item? Then a resolution is an order or a motion. Not a resolution, a motion. that >> it >> yeah it's on the back I can final page >> uh chair be resolved that the suslaw school board school district board of directors

003approve the agenda for this work session as presented resolution number 021726-1.5 approve agenda >> second >> resolution 02176-1.5 approve agenda motion made by director posgate seconded by director Hley any discussion on the motion Those in favor? >> Okay. Um, so as I'm looking through this and uh, um, uh, thank you for sending this over with with kind of preemptive succinct responses. Um uh an idea that I had earlier today and I'm I'm truly looking for feedback right now is to start each we've got ABC down through however is I would like to read the question and read the the the brief answer and then have the discussion for any any followup that the that that the provided in advance answer doesn't doesn't clarify for us very >> is that is That sound Did that make

004sense? >> Yeah. >> Just just as a start to each one. I'm not saying we're going A I'm reading each B I'm reading each. This is this just gets us into into the topic. >> Gets it all. >> I think that I think that makes sense. It provides us with our questions. The the it gives us a a clear framework both sides as it were and then we can move on. >> Great. Not necessar sorry not move on then we can discuss obviously >> and then move on. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, if that's the if that's the case, um that means I had at least one good idea today. Well, excuse me. We've yet to see if it's a good idea. So far, it's only an idea. Okay. A curriculum samples with the limited

005availability of hours at SVC. So, this is our question. Uh with the limited availability of hours at the SVCS office, um why was the district review location provided with a different set of materials? answer. We have the We have the same complete binders with complete summary and crosswalk information at both locations. See the attached summary that is available at both locations and on our website which includes links to all the curriculum. We have stated our office hours and that we would be available by appointment for interested parties. There was also an article on the front page of Susla News that provided the same information. Uh we can't have all the physical books available at both places. We are very open to the public reviewing our curriculum. So, uh, directors, there's there's our our direct question

006and here's the direct answer. Do we have any any followup for that? >> Yeah, >> please. Uh, we can't have all the physical books available at both places. Is there a reason why >> we have one set of everything and it's boxes and boxes? So, we were just trying to be as make it as simple as possible by having binders that include all the links to all the curriculum, which we assume most people would use. Um, but obviously we are also available to having the actual physical books. I I feel like that the easiest way to resolve any of this stuff is to just have the same stuff at both places. Um, if if that's if that's uh financially unviable, I'm I'm sure there's some way that we could work around that. Is there not

007>> well >> is there not a reason why if you only have one set I think why it couldn't be here for the for the review because I I believe the I'm very new to this but I believe the intent of the curriculum review is to provide the the entire breadth of the materials available to the public um in a place that is easily accessible um with the making an appointment is is an additional step um an additional responsibility someone would have to do to access the material. s um for me as a parent who's uh I I I feel like this is a more central location to get to. I don't even know if everybody knows where your office is. Um and I I think that it would be a lot more accessible if

008we provided as many materials here as possible during the curriculum period. And then of course you're free to bring them back. The um the contract does say that we'll be at both places. It is in the contract that they will be on display for 30 days at both places. All all of the curriculum books. >> Does it say all the curriculum books in the >> So >> I can look up the contract. >> Well, it doesn't say that there will be a differential representation. It would have been easy just to have like links or another set of books. >> Well, the links are there. That's why >> again we when we do this again because you've you've reviewed our curriculum uh before we have a physical set of books and we also have links on

009the website plus we have um laptop setup so people can access it digitally in the room. If you'd asked we could have helped you with setting that up. It would have been easy. >> And it does say all it's on page on page two. Yes. On page two. Do you want me? >> Yeah. No, it's about middle of the page. Uh, Jennifer, go ahead. >> Page. Don't read. Okay. Curriculum will be purchased and or adopted through the approved Oregon Department of Education process. The SUS Law School District and WCA offices will serve as a site of public examination for the required 30-day public review period prior to adoption of curriculum. All class contact curriculum will satisfy the division 22 requirements for that topical area or include supplemental materials or satisfy any missing standards as noted

010in the review of the curriculum. Uh when I read all um class content curriculum will satisfy the division 22 requirements. I thought that's what our crosswalks were doing was showing where all the division 22 requirements were met. So that's where that that's where our understanding was with that. Okay. So, resolution to to this one then is is >> Yeah, we'll turn >> the public review process is complete. the last day was Friday and >> but if we're but if we're saying that we didn't that we weren't or some of us weren't happy with the materials that were offered here as opposed to there is there any reason why we couldn't extend that period to have those materials here for people to access as well >> bring the 10 boxes you want the 10 boxes here

011>> if I mean if that's what is required is if is that what you have at your office >> we agree we'll we'll bring all the boxes over here >> I would thank you >> not a problem can Okay. Well, real quick, when you say 10 boxes, you're saying you've got 50 textbooks of each textbook? >> Well, >> what's it what's in the what's in the boxes? >> Great. That's great. Great question. Right. I'll have to I there are textbooks. There are teachers manuals. There's all the different grades and all the different subjects. But we can we can do that. >> Yeah, we'll bring them. >> Yeah. I when I saw the class content curriculum will satisfy all class content curriculum will satisfy the division 22 requirements I thought that was showing the crosswalks where

012all those division 22 requirements were met. That's how I would have read that. So >> okay. And then also the the links and the information that are in the binders here and and at your office >> that that is that would direct you to all of those books, >> but we just don't have a physical copy of the books here nor there. >> There are some there are some there >> still in your boxes >> and some here. Yeah. And yeah, >> we have some out >> Yep. >> We have some out on the counters and then we have several still in boxes. and whatever folks want to see, that's what we've been able to show them is tell us what you want to see and we're happy to do that. >> Tom, >> can

013I um offer my opinion? Um as a charter school um you are I think by design uh presenting yourself as an alternative, as something different. And I think to me your curriculum is your thesis statement. This is this is what we're presenting that's different. So, what I would love to see is you proudly showing off your display of every I did come in twice um to look through as much as I could and um yeah, I'd want to see the rest. And >> yeah, we're happy to do it. I mean, it's yeah, I would thought that was just simpler to have the links and have less volume of stuff that people had to wait through, but that's no problem. >> Some of us are not super great at technology. Sorry. >> Can I just summarize?

014Um, so all of the required materials have been available to the public for the required period of time, but we're going to extend that period of time and and bring then the hard copies over here. So there would be an additional source. >> Mhm. >> Okay. >> And just as a note, uh, no one has come during our office hours or made appointments at our office. So >> thank you. >> Sure. Okay. And thank you for that synopsis. Appreciate it. >> Any other any other questions, concerns on on A? Boom. Okay. Uh B, the proposed SEAL curriculum. Uh so we got a couple of bullet points here. How does how does this crossrock with state standards when the excuse me, how does this crosswalk with state standards when the publisher explicitly states that it is

015a faith ba faith-based curriculum? Second bullet point. How will this faith-based curriculum be approached in a religiously neutral manner when it is adopted by a K12 school? Uh, I will not read the entirety, presuming we've all read this. Um, I will not read the letter from the from Megan that last name. I'm not going to try it. Um, but I'll I'll read the the first part here. It says, "Our SEAL curriculum, Frenzy, has a public school-based curriculum track and a faith-based curriculum track. We are using the public school curriculum track. Here's an explanation from the publisher and that Megan her name um >> Makerites. >> I believe you. >> Okay. >> Because I can't prove otherwise. >> One of my people. [laughter] >> There you go. >> Yes. So So what this letter does and

016and for those in YouTube land and in in the gallery here, it's it's behind me. Um and and uh uh Debbie will scroll through it, but it it points out that this frenzy, they do have a faith-based track and a non-faith-based track uh suitable for public schools, and that is the one that is being adopted. So, directors, questions on that one? >> No, from the people that came in that had a question about it, I just don't think it was clear that there was two tracks in that handout. [clears throat] That's all. >> Yeah. So don't is is is frenzy one of those ones that I think so can I go is that >> the crosswalk is over there and I think there's one of the books. >> Yeah. >> Well Tom is gathering that

017for himself. Any other any other thoughts on this one? >> Tom as you're looking for that. Are you good to move on to the other or is that going to >> because it's online. It's online curriculum that we'll be downloading. Yeah, that's the same thing that Star Office. >> So, with your thumbming through that, are you good to move on from this one? >> Can I ask a quick question, >> please? >> So, so the there is no textbook associated with that. Everything the kids will be doing is online, correct? >> Well, they'll be we'll be downloading it and printing it. It's not not going to be online. >> So, it's not something that'll be on display when you bring all your books over here. No. Okay. I just want to clarify. It's the same

018format as the Great Body Shop Health and there is a physical version you can print or download. >> Okay. >> That's they can do that. That's not a big deal. I mean, >> thank um one of the question uh one of the questions that's been on my mind uh is in your mission statement. It says um that you're promoting virtuous living. Is that where your frenzy fits in? Is that what that what that book is aimed at? Um, >> it'll be a piece of that. Our virtues are going to be taught throughout all of our curriculum. And they're an identified set of uh virtues that the board has identified that they want to work to instill throughout all of our curriculum and in all of our different means with our students and our teachers. >>

019Okay. Um, do you h >> Yeah, I've got I can pull them up. >> Yeah. Do you have it? >> I don't have it right in front of me. They've been in our meeting. They're on our website. I can pull up the website. They're on the front page, homepage of our website. perseverance, respect, courage, integrity, gratitude, curiosity, and self-control. >> Thank you. >> Good to move on, Tom. Um, okay. So just just to restate, so we have this we have a piece of curriculum that is a secular version of a company that made a religious curriculum and this is a component of your virtuous living. Is that correct? >> It's a social social emotional learning requirement curricul curriculum that meets the state standards for social and emotional learning. >> Thank you. >> Uhhuh. >> Okay.

020On to C1. uh structure the school week and school year. Uh there's been discussion in the charter board meetings and on social media about a potential 4-day week. [clears throat] With a 4-day week, the general workday will be at least an hour longer than during a traditional 5-day week. This means that district employee staff will be working outside of their regular hours. Will WCA be providing compensation for district staff for the extra time outside of their regular working hours? answer. We will be having a 4-day instructional week, which we informed the superintendent of after our board meeting voted on it. It sounds like SU Law is considering it now, too. Regardless of SUS law ends up with a four or five day week, we do not expect district staff to work extra time outside of

021their regular working hours. We will accommodate and be flexible with the current schedules of Saius law staff. Any questions on that one? These aren't even like runon sentences. This is fantastic. I >> I have a question for Andy of just um what what do you foresee as that uh as the issues that might be involved with that? >> So again, like a 4 day week has primarily like a 9-h hour workday to accommodate. And so again, like a lot of IEP meetings are before or after school and that and again depending on when they start their day, it's going to be outside of our regular hours. And I I don't know. I think employees in every uh group again if it's outside your regular hours, they're asking for a little more scratch. And so I

022was before I was asking the question preemptively before they came to me and said, "Hey, I had to attend a meeting at the charter school at 7 a.m. You owe me for an hour." >> Yeah. >> Hey, Tom, cut your mic, please, just in case. >> Okay, any other questions on that one? And thank you for your answer. Okay, the All right, so C2, transportation of students. Looking at the prospective students, there are currently 11 students with regular transportation plans with the district. There are also two students that may require transportation as part of their IEP. City planning addresses the impacts on vehicle travel on and around the property, not the requirement of public charter school to provide transportation in OS 338 by charter schools. 338145 responsibility for student transportation services. costs. One, the public

023charter school shall be responsible for providing transportation to students who reside within [clears throat] the school district and who attend the public charter school. The public charter school may negotiate with a school district for the provision of transportation to students attending the public charter school. Bullet point one, will the charter school be contracting for transportation with a third party? Bullet point two, will the charter school be employing their own drivers and fleet vehicles? Bullet point three. Will the charter school be directly reimbursing parents for transportation to school? Answer. The intent to enroll information should not be used in this public form. It was agreed upon by the superintendent. Oop, I probably should have read that first. That this information would only be used by superintendent for budgeting purposes. We are not doing our planning based

024on this in Is this the answer to this question? >> Yeah, it is initially. There's more. >> Okay. Um on this information, but instead it will be based on enrollment after the lottery. Um we cite the contract. I'm going to cheat and not read all of that. We'll come back and highlight it if we need to. >> Um, after consulting with our legal counsel, it is our understanding that we are abiding by our contract and the law. Our contract states that quote, "Students may ride with parents or if space is available, existing school bus routes." End quote. The superintendent stated that the existing bus routes would not be sufficient and that new routes would have to be created and we would be charged accordingly. Therefore, the district school bus provision isn't required based on this

025language. as soon as we have our one-on-one meetings with families and understand their needs, we will ensure that everyone can get to school. So that the next point is D. So now discussion on C2. Um I would ask you go back to your lawyer again and clarify that. >> Um so because in Oregon statute shall is mandatory. It's not optional. Um the OS 338 uses shall and may. Uh again, if there was that if they were the same, it would be the the entire uh intent would be uh completely I've lost the word uh scrambled I guess. Um again like under the underording law a district charge school has a statute obligation to ensure student transportation. I mean the statute uses mandatory lane shell the method is discretionary but not providing. And so again, like

026if students rode the bus without extending or changing the route, I guess my question would be how how would they get from the elementary drop off point to your point to your location? I mean, that's the we have a district supplemental transportation plan. Every kid gets from their home to a school if they want. And so again, like trying to reconfigure this as a extension of route, it's basically every single route, an extra 610 of a mile, one loop out from 27th and back, 1.2 miles per day. And so, uh, yeah, it it's a cheaper way to do it than figuring it as a function of the average. Um, yeah, I think the function of the average is like $18,000, but I think I've got it configured down to eight um,000 again because it's we're

027adding roughly across the course of the year, we're adding 2,800 miles and making that loop for eight buses. I'm just making sure kids can get there. Otherwise, somehow they've got to get from where where it is on an existing route to the other location. We're not configuring them as part of the average. that would be higher than just the extension of route. >> Moren, >> the other thing to look at too is if you are using our buses in any way and you're on 4 day week and we're on five day weeks, [clears throat] the bus times are going to be different. So that would be could be an issue as well. >> Yeah, we we are not planning on using the school district buses. We did reconfirm this with our attorney. I sent him

028this exact statement just to verify that what he and I had discussed was written correctly and he said yes. And as also from a standard practice, we've spoken like I've talked about a lot with a lot of other charter schools around the state and very few are providing busing or other transportation. It's typically in the for most parents or car pooling or things like that that that they figure out. So, we definitely our concern is for making sure kids can get to school as we are complete our enrollment period and we do one-on- ones with families, which we plan on doing right away. And if there are specific needs that are shown or said or come to light in those meetings, we will particular bus stop to our school, then we will cross that bridge

029when we need to. We're not going to leave people hanging. >> Yeah. And so I'm going to do my best Diana impersonation and try to try to put this all into a nutshell. So, because we don't know how the lottery is going to play out, the actual transportation needs right now aren't known. Correct. >> Until that that lottery happens and we know where they each are. >> Mhm. >> You know, they all might come from from uh 35th Street and that's your whole that's your whole school and boom, easy, >> right? >> That's not going to happen. No, >> don't don't be that hopeful. >> I'm quoting you on that. No, I'm not. I'm not. No. >> What is the timeline for the lottery? Are you are you sure you guys will have time to

030plan after you do the lottery uh for your transportation needs if you end >> comfortable with it? Yeah. >> Okay. When when do you guys plan on doing that? I hear >> the lottery scheduled for Monday, March 9th. It's possible we might extend it because we haven't we're in closing on our building now, which is exciting. Um but we haven't closed completely. So we can't have an open house quite yet till we've closed and we're just now announcing our instructional principles. So I think there have you know there people want to know those things. So at this point though um it is Monday March 9th is the scheduled lottery date. >> Thank you. Thank you Tom. Um so to to reiterate this this answer that you provided. >> Uh you're you won't be working with

031the district on busing. Sorry, I wouldn't say that we wouldn't be working with the district on busing. Right now, our plan is we don't believe that's going to be necessary. >> Okay. >> And until we see what the actual needs and requirements are, I don't think we can fully answer that. Our intent is we don't think we're going to need that. But just as Jennifer said, if we find uh through the process and sitting down and talking with parents that there's a need uh then we'll certainly address that. And obviously the school district is one option of that. There may be others as well. >> And you guys are looking to have up to 150 kids this year. >> Our maximum [clears throat] capacity for this year would be 156. >> 156. >> Mhm. And

032there's no existing structure to relieve families of the burden of getting their kids to your school. >> We we don't know that there is any burden. And at the point where we know that there's a burden, we're happy to sit down and address that. But I can't say that there's any burden. Of the of the folks that I've talked with as they've enrolled, I haven't seen any at this point that said that they need transportation. But if kids need transportation, we'll address the issue. And one way we might do that is to contract with the district. Another way is there are private bus companies as well. And we're talking with various other charter schools to see the ones that do provide transportation, and that's a very few, but the ones that do, how do they

033do it, so we can learn from that. One of the contracts I looked at this week regarding transportation specifically said families will carpool. So, and not that that's always the answer, but it certainly could be. And and that's the bonus of being in a charter school where there's flexibility and how you meet people's needs and troubleshoot things. So, uh our lang our contract doesn't say um car pulling, but it does say may ride with parents. So, we certainly could consider that um also. So the oh the I know the other point I wanted to make was we are starting with K through three. So typically that is less of a bus riding age range you know for the first year because people tend to put their smaller kids on buses less but again we can't

034say for sure until we've talked to actual families. >> So the plan is to improvise. I like improvising. Great. Okay. >> I I'd put that a little different. I would say the plan is is that we will assess the needs as we sit down and talk with the parents and we'll have a plan in action if we find that there's a need. >> Great. So I think we're in agreement. I'm just saying it a little differently. Directors, anything else uh regarding C2? Okay. On to D. Um as per contract, the charter school is a district sponsored charter school. Uh this should be the framework for all operational discussion. Some school operation items have been presented as the charter school is a district sponsored charter but at other times the charter school addresses some topics as

035as if it were a residential district school, a community charter school and at other times as a nonprofit entity for consistency. The singular framework of a district sponsored charter school would avoid any ambiguity and be consistent with the contract language. Maintaining a nonprofit company status is a requirement of OS 338 to operate a public charter school. It is not a designation separate from being a district sponsored charter school. Answer: WCA WCA is a nonprofit organization organized under Oregon law that is sponsored by the SCA school district with Oregon's public charter school law to operate a school. We are a district sponsored charter school which makes us a public charter school and as such we are also a nonprofit. Charter schools are unique. Um, OS 338.015 states, quote, "It is the intent of this chapter that

036new types of schools called public charter schools be created as a legitimate avenue for parents, educators, and community members to take responsibil responsible risks to create new, innovative, and more flexible ways of educating children within the public school system." End quote. So to me, this this just looks like as we as in emails and whatever else, we just kind of like the um the financing bit that we had, we were using two terms interchangeably. It looks like we're using two or three terms here interchangeably. Unless I'm misunderstanding this, we just need to be using the term because they have WCA has to be a nonprofit. That's that's OS 338. >> That's correct. And but it doesn't make sense. This is okay analogy. Anytime I see a a building contractor when it says license, bonded, and

037insured, I'm like that's redundant because you can't have a license unless you're bonded and insured. And so to me is, am I understanding this correctly that we just need to say that that as we all refer to uh WCA and SVCS that it is a district sponsored charter school that that is the terminology that we use? Is that this is that the answer to D here? >> Yeah, it is. uh simply because a community charter school is a board specifically ran by this board. Again, like Reedport operates their high school as a community charter >> that's run directly by their board. It's not >> they changed that to the whole district, didn't they? >> Uh their K6, their traditional elementary. >> Okay. Okay. So that's all again it's just um it's a design and again

038community charters again kind of they operate without in essence they're a district without a boundary >> because they don't have another >> Mike >> right >> because there's not another district that's sponsoring them they are >> no they are their entity yeah that's all >> I'm not aware that we've ever used that we're a community charter school the confusion may come from we're a member of the Oregon uh coalition of community charter schools. So that may be where the but I >> and there's an email with city planning that that impacts the requirement for transportation and it doesn't because you're a district sponsored charter school. That's all. >> So in other words, the district sponsored charter school is the same as the public charter school. >> Yes. But it is not a community charter school.

039>> And we're not but we're not using community. We're using >> no >> district sponsored. It's not the same because there can be charter schools that are not sponsored directly by a district. So, but but in this instance, it is >> because this is an an Oregon public charter school, right? >> Because the only other would be a state sponsored charter school that operates within a district. They they weren't granted license by their local district. They were sponsored by the Department of Education. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, there was like three of those left and they're trying to to change that. So there's three that are grandfathered is what we've heard. But but that's correct. >> Yeah. Okay. So let's continue to use district sponsored charter school, >> right? And >> or andor a public uh

040charter school because we are required in certain legal documents to identify that. >> Okay. >> Yeah, that that's not a problem. As long as we get away from >> community charter, which makes it looks like a run by this board, that's fine. >> Yeah. >> Okay. E, other other available funds as stated in the contract. What are the charter schools plans for? Bullet point A or bullet point one, title one building plan, and necessary data collection. Bullet point two, student investment account, charter addendum to district's OD unified application. Bullet point three, early literacy account, charter specific plan to supplement OD unified application, daily reading intervention strategies to supplement regular instruction, remedial reading instruction, and grade level interim assessments to achieve on-time third grade reading proficiency. The district has previously provided materials to the charter school

041to begin these processes. Uh before the district can submit any updates to grant applications, data collection and base plans need to be set by the charter school. Fourth uh fourth bullet uh what progress has been made towards these matters? Answer, we don't have an institutional ID nor do we have uh enrolled students yet. According to our research, the work related to these funds cannot be done until we understand our specific student population. We do look forward to this process and working with the district to put together these plans. Any further comments on D? Andy, >> do you have all the materials that have been previously sent about those accounts? in the emails sent to people prior to me, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yes. And then we've also kind of brought in some other um help

042too. But in our email today from Kristen Kelly, she just clarified at the OD that um the early literacy SIA grants will be developed in the next year for the 2729 bianium with applications likely being due in March of 2027 and funding beginning in September 2077. So, we've got some time, but but I do appreciate keeping us on track there. >> Yeah. And again, you don't need an institutional ID for a lot of these to get some of the data collected and that would be part of your enrollment process. >> Yeah. >> Um Yeah. And that's again with talking with OD probably again because this bianium is coming to a close and so we could probably file something in October to see if there's any rollover but I I doubt it since especially since they

043contracted those accounts this year and the only the only vision I have in my head when it's talking about all that funding stuff is like that big boulder scene from Indiana Jones >> coming at you. It's like, "Okay, here here it comes." Like, you got to you got to figure it out. >> That is correct. >> Yeah. >> Right, Cece? How many times you been run over by that boulder? Been caught yet? [laughter] >> Several. >> Okay, it's good. >> There you go. >> I used to be 6'4 and this is a result of funding. >> There you go. There you go. Okay. Uh, directors, ready to move on to F? All good. Um, F, communication protocols. Um, this one, let me see if makes sense to read. Yep, it doesn't. Um, there is an

044agreed upon communication protocol that has been in place since October 2024. If those directives are going to be modified, those changes will will stem from a school board level discussion overview of current communication protocols. There should be no private meetings outside of the public view. The SUSLA board uh bullet point two, the SULA board had stated that there would be no private meetings or calls with the superintendent without a SULA school district board member present. Bullet point three. All communication between members of the district and SVCS WCA should be shared through regular communication channels, exchanges by text message or using private emails, public meeting public document requirements. The content of any general communication about the charter school or the contract related to the district sponsored charter school, proper language there, should be shared with all

045other board members. Each board member should have the same information. SSD board operating agreement. um answer attached to the minutes from the October 24 meeting um work session referred to the items in those minutes are reflected differently than presented here. Um Debbie, I think one of those things that you had, let me double check that. Can you bring up those minutes from that from that meeting, please? Thank you. Okay, so I guess Lord's open to whoever turns their mic on first on this one. Excellent. That was quick. Good job. Oh, wait. Where'd it go? Oh man, see that says [clears throat] it started at 503. I wasn't doing my job. >> This is just to because the the answer here makes reference to to these to these minutes. maybe. >> Um the >> Yes. I

046don't know because I can't see the agenda anymore. >> Yeah. So, um well, let me just I'll Jennifer, if you don't mind, I'll go to you. Um well, and let's go let's go bullet point by bullet point. Um there should be no private meetings outside of the public view. We all agree that that is that that holds true. >> Bullet point one that we should be following that or that it has been followed both. >> Okay. Then I need to address an email that we received. Um on January 21st uh there was an email that was sent from Miss Wagner to um specifically to the the seven of us, Chuck Trent and K King. and it was in regards to Andy and Andy and Debbie were not included in this email and I I I'm

047concerned that that does violate um hang on. Give me give me that's going to I think that fits better under a different bullet point. >> Okay. >> Um because this bullet point is specifically about public meetings that that me, you, Josh, and Diana did not go to lunch today and discuss this meeting in advance. That's what we're talking about. >> Okay. Um, but by communicating directly with the seven of us without including Andy or Debbie, I I have concerns about that potentially forming a public meeting, but we can discuss further later. That's fine. I think what we're getting to is we got to again there's a continuum of this October 24th from March of 2025 >> where again when Miss Wagner comes on she's taking over the duties of Larry Martindale who is the designated

048point of contact this I would think that the same communication protocols would apply even if the personnel changed at SVCS that's all >> yeah and that is what we discussed in in was that I forget when it was um yeah that yeah so that and that email that you're referencing was before our last work work session when when Jennifer when you said I'll be that that point of contact >> I believe that email >> was it like >> oh I believe that email was after the last work session uh the what was the date on that again >> January 21st wasn't our work session like >> the 29th >> it was the 29th Okay. So, it was >> wait the one with the full board where we were just discussing the contract >> was the

04920th >> Yeah. >> of January. >> Yes. >> Of this year. >> The work session, the email wasn't, but the work session I think is what they're saying. >> Yeah. The work session was the 29th. >> Gosh, am I that out of it? >> Time flies. >> 29th was a special meeting. >> Yeah. >> The meeting before the special meeting. No, the Yeah, the the communication protocol was discussed at a prior work session. >> Like October. >> Yeah, that was a while ago. >> October 25. We've had a couple discussions about that. >> Yeah, October 22nd, I believe. >> Okay. >> What was the topic of that email? >> Um, I can read it if we would like. Do we want me to read it? >> Well, just or just just the subject line. I

050just was making knowing which one. >> Um, the subject. I'm sorry. I'm kind of bad at Gmail. I believe it's forward comments for withdrawn application. >> I think it was the email that you sent to that that was sent um in in regards to some of the comments back and forth between OD um Michael Wilfong. >> This is about uh public comments made at city council, Florence City Council >> um regarding transportation. public comments made by >> our superintendent and one additional person. And obviously I I love communication. I think communication is great, but I I am concerned about how this was done emailing the seven of us and not Andy and Debbie. Um especially having Andy be part of the the the subject of the email. >> Okay. >> So, am I am am

051I misunderstanding? When someone wants to contact the entire board, should it not go to Debbie first and then move out to the rest of us or to Andy first and then move out to the rest of us? >> Typically the protocols been it comes to me and I distribute to the board. But if it goes to Debbie since she's the record keeper for the board, again, she's the eighth on all of my board level communications. >> But so in general, like if someone wants to send Adrien Plet, the board member, an email, that's fine. You send me the email, that's okay. But if it's something that's information that every board member needs, it needs to come from a central source. >> Right. >> Okay. >> And specifically in this instance, u we do have a

052complaint policy. And if you have a complaint about Andy, we have a policy that you need to follow. And I I do think it's it's inappropriate to be contacting the seven of us um in that regard without including Andy in this conversation. It feels um like talking Janice back. >> So I have two questions. one, you refer to this October 16th, 2024 agreement as being kind of the guiding principles. And so I just wanted to read the two that are applicable on this. The other two are not. The SAS Valley Charter School is to limit email communications to the superintendent for technical assistance and not substantive production work to be completed by SVCS. That was the workload element there. When requesting information via email, the SVS board members is to include all parties from the

053SVCS board. This will allow Superintendent Ruscoak to reply all to the email and will assure all SVS board members have the same information. The reply all response will avoid multiple emails on the same topic and individual address of each SVCS board member. So that uh is not necessarily applicable to what we're talking about because that's talking about relating to our board. >> Yeah. And then the other communication item that's being referenced that I'm not sure is applicable to this is directors requested that if superintendent Griscoyak meets with Flurry Martenddale or another SVCS board member that a SAS school district board member also be present. Executive assistant Debbie Free will also be present at the meeting. So those really were the only two items that were referenced and discussed I think in this um this work

054session that keeps getting referenced as the communication tool. Are we I now I'm confused because I I I I'm curious. Is that the same work session where we talked about sending uh text messages to folks asking questions about uh about enrollment when those questions are supposed to go through the office? I So I think we're talking about two different meetings here. >> Well, in the communication protocols number uh letter F on this agenda, it says there's an agreed upon communication protocol that has been in place since October of 2024. So that's what I'm referring to here. So my concerns are not in this instance are not specifically about that agreement. They're actually about public meeting laws and um just frankly good uh communication and and uh good practice of working cooperatively. So if you have

055a I'm asking you if you have a if you have a concern about our employee, >> it's not appropriate for you to just email that to us. There's a there's a proper protocol for that. >> Understood. Andy, did you draft this these particular bullet points? Maybe you could speak to each one so we have a better understanding of the concern for each. >> Um, yeah. Again, I compiled them from our because we've had three meetings where communication protocols come up and I know there was kind of a rush trying to get into the me uh the meeting of January 29th. Um, and again to avoid any sort of misinterpretation or misattribution of private meetings, that's why there was be a third person present. Um, again, I I know there's a rush. Um, I can't remember

056because I was gone into conference, but my office staff let me know that Mrs. Wagner came by the office to talk to me on either the 26th or the 27th. Again, if you want to change the protocols, that's fine. Um, but again, I wouldn't be a meeting I could have with the protocols the way they are without a board member present. >> Was that the only one you wanted to highlight? >> Um, again, uh, again, we go back and forth with, um, >> that's what's behind your screen. >> Those are the minutes from that meeting. >> Oh, these are minutes from the meeting. These are Debbie's general summary. Um, again, we're just supposed to do everything through regular public channels so that way there isn't anything that's lost by text message or that's all. Yeah.

057Okay. So, directors, any any other than saying let's continue with our our communication protocols here. Um, any other points to bring up per these four four bullet points? Okay. Check like check marks. [clears throat] Um, G. What is a current employment screening company being used? There has been commentary online that the service of one company has been discontinued. This has implications for the district's liability and compliance with EEOC guidelines for [clears throat] public employers. The district has the legal responsibility to investigate all civil rights or equal employment related complaints as the district is authorizing sponsors uh is authorizing sponsors or sponsor of the charter school answer. We use red balloon for screening for administrators with with the questions that the SVCS board provided. These questions are attached. They are a non-religious organization. They were utilized

058because of our classical education model and their experience with classical education. The questions and process is outlined in our minutes from the SVCS November 25 special board meeting. We wanted to use a thirdparty screening company to ensure impartiality and professionalism. After they provided their screening, their services were complete. As for liability, the district bears no liability. OS 38381557. The sponsor members of the governing board of the sponsor acting in their official capacities and employees of a sponsor acting in their official capacities are immune from civil liability with respect to all activities related to a public charter school within the scope of their duties or employment. And just a quick note, this is one of those instances where public charter school is the proper term as opposed to district sponsored charter school. So, directors, questions on

059this one, further questions and clarifications on this one. >> So, um there was a candidate that withdrew that contacted you, Dr. Barry Divine, and you're aware of his objections. Okay. Um knowing his objections, would you call the screening company impartial? So his objection was he claimed that Red Balloon was, if I remember the words right, neonazi >> uh fascist. >> No, we have this email that again. Yeah, we have an email communication. >> Read it. >> Let me pull it up. Uh, turn your mic on. >> I will read it. Let me pull it up. Well, again, it's the it's not necessarily the questions that SVCS submitted to Red Balloon. It's what Red Balloon has said about how they screen people and how they can work around EEOC guidelines to get quote unquote the right

060people. >> Okay. >> And not complain about EEOC related matters. >> All right. Should we should I read this? Okay. And he All right. Dear Superintendent Griscoyak, as superintendent of the district responsible for the charter issued to Whitmore Academy, you should be aware of the following. I want to share my concerns with you and citations for these concerns. I have provided links below. I recently applied for the instructional principal position at Whitmore Academy, the new Suslaw District Charter School. Whitmore COO Jennifer Wagner told me that Red Balloon would be pre-screening all candidates. Red balloon is a well-known explicitly Christian Christian nationalist anti-science and anti-gay/trans employment services agency. And yet the Whitmore website and Facebook clearly state no religious or political affiliation. I'm concerned that the contradiction between Whitmore's state mission and Red Balloon's state mission

061will deceive Florence/ Central Oregon coast families. Because of these concerns, I asked Wagner about Whitmore's contract with an openly Christian nationalist organization. She expressed no concerns. I then sent her citations for the company's extreme Christian nationalist objectives. She replied that politics have no place in the classroom, that Whitmore is a non-religious school, and that neither she nor the board knew about Red Balloon's Christian nationalist mission. [snorts] I expressed my serious shock that either Whitmore hadn't done their due diligence in selecting Red Balloon or they were aligned with Red Balloons ideology. I expressed my serious concerns that Whitmore are using Red Balloon as a means to de deceive Oregon families by employing open only religious and politically like-minded candidates. I immediately removed my name from consideration as I do not want to play a role in

062deceiving a community that I hold dear. Red Balloon's employee screening process is explicitly as clearly and repeatedly articulated by the CEO and CPO anti-science, anti-gay/trans, and anti-EOC protections. They proudly state that they train their screeners to circumvent EEOC regulations during the interview process. Red Balloon's executives proudly articulate the strategy. By using Red Balloon, all Whitmore employees will be pre-selected according to Christian nationalist ideology, which contradicts their own messaging. As the granter of this charter, you should be aware of Whitmore's deceptive practices that lie in the contradiction between the school's messaging of inclusivity and the hiring of an anti-inclusive employees. Dr. Barry Divine and he's also included links from the listed PE employee um CEO and of Red Balloon. Yeah, those links are those links are where he formed his opinion. >> Sure. >> Or from

063where he formed his opinion. Y >> that's correct. And he was forming his opinion >> based on what the CEO said. >> So when we've go through and have gone through and talked with several other organizations that have placed um candidates through Red Balloon, we've not seen or heard any of those things. His opinion is his opinion. We completely disagree in here. You've all gotten the screening questions that we determined. We deter meaning SBCS board determined who the candidates were and we asked them to basically go through these to make sure that we didn't have any bias. Part of that is because Jennifer is related to the board president. We wanted to make sure that there was absolutely no bias in the way that we evaluated the employees and that's why we asked for a

064third party. So I disagree with his statements. He's entitled to his opinion, but I I haven't seen anything that I believe is substantiates that. So the questions are the questions. So and I'd also like to read your non-discrimination policy. The district prohibits prohibits discrimination harassment on any basis protected by law including but not limited to an individual's perceived or racial or actual race, color, religion, sex, sexual inter orientation, etc. So let me be clear, make sure I understand. Are you saying that we should never use a faith-based organization or or anybody that says they're a Christian? Because that issue is that you let me speak. I let you speak. So, let me >> Yeah, you asked a question and I wasn't through with the question. I just trying to understand. That's all. >> Um, >>

065okay. I I'm sorry, but I I would just like to read from their own documentation, from Red Balloon's own documentation. Okay. Can I can I can I say what? So, are you are you looking at the employee bill of rights? >> Yes, I am. >> So, did you guys read the employee bill of rights on their their website? They have this >> before you before you hired. >> Yes, we did. >> Okay. >> Go ahead. >> Um, yeah. So, okay. This is the introduction to their employee bill of rights. America's work environment is changing faster than ever these days and not necessarily in a good way. Woke corporations are so busy virtue signaling that they have that they have forgotten to respect and support a significant segment of the workforce. As a result, millions of

066employees are stuck in frustrating jobs at leftist companies where their personal values are ridiculed, opposing values are crammed down their throats, and they no longer find joy or fulfillment in their work. I have heard and shared many of their stories. I have even experienced these experienced these circumstances themselves. I honestly don't think I need to read the second paragraph because that in itself is pretty self-explanatory about the way that they feel about wokeness, which I'm not even sure why this kind of organization has a place in education when they're when they're stating stuff like this in their own in their own documentation. I I have more to read um on page nine. Um so they this is instructions for employees and this is section three employee right. You have the right to speak up in

067the workplace especially in areas of conscience. The last paragraph of this section. So how can you champion free speech in the workplace? Use your voice. If HR sends out a survey what you think if someone asks about your weekend. Tell them how much you enjoyed church. Decline to share your pronouns and decline to celebrate Pride week. In spled display instead display the symbols and slogans that represent your values. And when you have an idea or complaint to share, communicate it honestly and respectfully. That's honestly and respectfully is great. Um I don't know why they needed two anti- pride statements. Um section five, you have a right to decide what goes into your own body. God has given each of us a body. So you previously said this is not religious. Um, >> uh, and then

068let me get to these some of these screenshots I took so I don't have to flip through some. >> Um, >> I think you've made your point, but I I believe that you interrupted Chuck and he was so >> So I I would go back again to your non-discrimination policy that basically says that you don't discriminate based on religion. and I go back to show me any one of those questions that that was done during the the screening process. Barry did not go through the screening process. And so his opinions are his opinions. Your opinions are your opinions. This is the fact. So if there's anything in here discriminatory, please bring that up. But there's nothing in here. You've all seen this. We've been very vocal right from the very beginning. We've never hid this.

069It's been in our board meetings. It's been in special board meetings. We're not hiding anything. So, [clears throat] >> I don't think we're accusing you of hiding anything. I I because obviously we we knew when you started using Red Balloon, we had all of that information. I think the problem is is that you're using a service that is antithetical to to good public schools, like to good public schooling. They they literally talk in their own documentation about getting rid of of of wokeness. I hate using that word of wokeness. Like what? Why does that have any place? Why does that type of politics have any place at a school? That's my question. >> Okay. You just made exactly the point what it talks about with woke and when we had that conversation with him. That's

070keeping politics out of the school. That's their definition of woke and I agree with that. We do not want to have politics in the school. >> I I just wanted to clarify. I've been a little foggy over here. So, are you currently using this organization? Have you not used them? In what capacity are they at this point in time? >> We we've finished the screening of the three candidates that we provided to them. They had no say so on the candidates that we provided. All they did was do the screening that we don't have any reason to to use them any further. >> You'll be hiring teachers and other other [clears throat] positions within your >> school. Will you be using them for that? >> No. No. We've talked with several other charter schools. They've

071given us resources that we can go to and and and again, this this type of candidate was a very different candidate than what a teacher would be. So, no, we're not going to use them for and I I can't foresee us using them in the future as well. So, all we were trying to do was make sure that there was no bias. And again, their definition, the conversation we have with them, what does woke mean? >> Keeping politics out of the school. You can't discriminate your policy. If they say that they're are faith-based or their Christian views, you can't discriminate against them. >> Just a minute. Andy, >> no. I my only concern is that there is a liability issue because the district has sponsored the charter school and the company and again woke I

072don't care about but it says that they know to work how to work around EEOC guidelines. Is there a better company to screen people that would be compliant with EEOC guidelines because that takes the liability off of the district as the sponsoring entity. If you were to continue down that way and there were a civil rights complaint the with a known liability that comes back to the district. That's all. >> So there is no liability and that's in RS 3381157. But I agree with you now that we've seen this all play out, we wouldn't use them again. But again, I want to be really clear about this. If there's in any way saying that that we can't use a vendor that publicly or privately says that they're faith-based, then that's a problem. So, >> it's

073lucky that no one on this board is saying that. >> Okay. Well, that's the way that it sure sounds. >> Well, for me, it's it's not about faith at all. I go I go to church. I have a degree from a Christian college. It's about what you're saying and what you're doing. And that's exactly what Dr. Barry's email was about because you're saying you want to get politics out of school and then you're hiring this company that begins their mission statement with talking about getting rid of leftists. >> So I >> Okay. >> So we just agree to disagree about what the the comment is. You're in Let me finish. I'll let you speak as well. So I hear your point. I disagree with your point, but we're not going to use them again. Okay.

074And now that this has been brought up, we're just simply not going to use him again. >> Right. But you already have a candidate who dropped out because of using them. >> So he applied after it was already closed. So we decided we would go ahead and take a look at it and that's the conversation we had. But he applied well after the close of that. And if he would have wanted to go through the screening process, we'd have been happy to do that. And again, here's the screening process. No, I'll be sitting here still. Yeah. Okay. >> I need my microphone on. So, my comment about G wasn't even heard. Dang. [clears throat] Okay. >> So, H. Document distribution and respectful meeting procedures. Any documents that SVCS wishes to share with the board electronically

075must all be sent to the executive secretary for the board as Mrs. Free is the recordkeeper for all schoolboard correspondents. Uh bullet point one. At the end of the January 14, 2026 meeting, the input of the district staff that uh uh excuse me, at the end of the January 14, 2026 meeting, uh the input of the district staff that set up and coordinate the technical aspects of board meetings was were referred to as quote stupid. Bullet point two. During the work session of January 29, 26 uh 2026, the documents being distributed by SVCS were requested by executive secretary to the board. This request was dismissed with uh you can get them later. Quote unquote. Uh bullet point three. Any documents that SVCS wishes to share during a board meeting or work session need to be

076submitted to the executive secretary for the board no later than noon on the on the day of the meeting. Um I'm going to throw in my own little asterk here. Um this one as far as that January 29 meeting. Um, this one I'll put this one directly on my shoulders um because uh Jennifer had papers and I requested they be passed out to everybody. So, not having them in advance, I'll I'll take the heat for that one. Um, and then and then this one was already adhered to because because what we're reading right now is something that was sent in um earlier. So, uh so now moving on to bullet point five. without the documents being provided in advance. One, documents cannot be produced to be viewed by the public at a meeting. Two, documents

077cannot be projected to be viewed during a meeting. Uh, three, an adequate number of documents cannot be produced for all meeting participants. Um, uh, next one, discussion of documents that are not in the hands of everyone makes tracking any action more difficult for those in the meeting and those online. Without providing documents in advance of the meeting, the task of keeping an accurate record of the meeting is much more difficult. Uh, can SVCS provide meeting materials prior to any work session or meeting to ensure proper distribution and recordkeeping? Uh, real quick, I want to address those last few bullet points as well. Um, and because I took the heat for up there down here, that's um, like you were on Zoom and so I tried to read, but still once I read and then everybody

078starts talking, you can't remember what I read. So, I did my best there to to keep everything up and and you know, made made Debbie's life hell. So, so sorry Debbie. Okay. Um, so back to this question. Can SVCS provide me meeting materials prior to any work session or meeting to ensure proper distribution and recordkeeping? I'm going to answer that one for them because yes, because you did. Um, but oh look, yes, we can certainly send documents in advance. Please note the documents we provided at the special ed work session we thought had already been provided to the SDS board addendum since those were documents produced by the SEO school district and were the items being discussed. The copies we brought uh with us were for reference and we were glad that we had the

079copies on hand for both boards to review so that we could proceed with a discussion. Uh what would the discussion have been without those documents? All documents were sent electronically after the meeting that night to the board secretary and director Plet. Go. So any other than we've stated it and it happened today, any further discussion on on this one? Okay. And well, and to one of the points in in in your answer here is I had seen those prior. I just didn't I just didn't have my iPad or my phone out to to bring them up. And so the the copies um were were that any anything going once, going twice? Nothing. >> Only thing I'd add is just we were I'd had them for us to be able to use as a board and

080so we were just trying to be helpful in handing them out. We weren't trying to circumvent any kind of process. So, >> well, and the process breaker was me. So, PASS THEM OUT. LET'S GO. >> OKAY. Um I instructional principal/head of schools for WCA. Bullet point one. Status status of employment for an instructional principal of head of schools at WCA. Question mark. Two. Status of teachers licensed or charter registered for WCA. Question mark. Happy to announce and introduce our new our new instructional principal Tuesday night. Is that this Tuesday night? We we have begun interviews for teachers. >> Jay, no. Yeah. >> So, as we move from our development phase to operations, we are expanding our leadership team. I was hired as the executive director and received my charter school registry administrator license from TSBC.

081And we have now hired our new instructional principal. And I am happy to introduce her for the first time tonight publicly. I didn't even announce it at Rotary today because I wanted to be able to share it with you first. So, we have with us Angelina McKenzie. Angelina McKenzie has a bachelor's degree in liberal studies from Sonoma State University, a master's in educational leadership from California State University, East Bay, and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Southern California. Dr. Mr. McKenzie has worked as an elementary school teacher, a physical education teacher, a middle school assistant principal, a virtual academy assistant principal, a district coordinator, and an elementary school principal. She has al also owned a farming business, and a publishing company. Her educational focus is on ensuring that all students enjoy learning

082and develop strong work ethics to achieve their dreams. She enjoys playing golf, walking on the beach, and hiking with her husband, cooking farm to fork style meals, helping others, and spending time with friends and family. Angelina's husband, John, continues to practice and teach law, specializing in contract and environmental law. And so, it is my pleasure to introduce Dr. Angelina McKenzie, the new instructional principal of Whitmore Classical Academy. Thank you, Jennifer, for the introduction and um good evening um superintendent board members. I am very honored and excited to join the school district as your first um instructional principal at your charter school. So, I'm looking forward to working with all of the students in the Saius law school district and I know you're going to be proud of us. So, >> okay. All right. So, my

083brain is really informal. Are we to call you Dr. McKenzie? Are we to call you Angel? What? What am I to call you? >> You can call me Angelina. That's fine. >> Okay. Angelina. Principal Angelina. Principal McKenzie. Just >> usually in the past when I'm working in a school, the students would call me Dr. McKenzie. However, if staff members, other people, they, you know, call me by my first name or go, "Hey, you. I need you. I need help." >> Okay. I I'm probably going to mix it up just because I won't be able to remember. >> That's okay. So, hey you. >> Yeah. Yes, [laughter] ma ma'am. >> Yeah, >> that will work. >> A a pleasure. I'm really excited um to work with all of you and um Yeah. So, thank you. And

084then thank you. >> Good to meet you and stick it in your eye. Rotary. >> Um, you said I heard that you like uh golf and hiking and those are two things that are really great in Florence. So, I hope you have a great time here. >> Oh, I love it. I was on the beach. I walked the beach this morning in between the rain and snowstorm. >> What a day, huh? >> I was hoping for snow on the beach. That would have been fun. >> Thank you so much. >> Great. >> Thank you. Okay. Um, moving on to J. Uh, Hillsdale affiliation. SBCS has been instructed to end all affiliation with Hillsdale on multiple occasions going back to 2024. Yet, they have continued to use organizations Red Balloon and used materials curriculum published by

085affiliated with Hillsdale. Um, additionally, Whitmore Academy has again been listed on the Hillsdale College website. According to an email forwarded to us by Chair King, Hillsdale consider curriculum schools quote unquote affiliate well quote affiliated unquote schools. Uh question for SVCS. When will there be an official termination of or of affiliation with Hillsdale College? Answer. We are using Hillsdale's scope and sequence and have access to their online teaching library as a Hillsdale curriculum school. This is the extent of it. This has been understood all along. We were asked to provide written communication to the uh SILA school district making it clear we would not pursue becoming a Hillsdale member school and we did that. All the curriculum including the Hillsdale published literacy essentials is publicly available and of course is non sectarian. We can use all

086or parts of their recommended scope and sequence and recommended curriculum without any strings attached. Hillsdale Public K12 charter schools are operating all over the country without risk to federal funding. WCA is obligated to and will respect the US Constitution and Oregon Constitution requirement constitution requirements regarding the free practice of religion and religious tolerance. WCA will not teach a religious faith, will maintain separation of church and state and will not tolerate any discrimination against staff, students or vendors on the basis of religion. Uh yes, that's the end of that one. There's Max also Mike. >> There's also a question at the end of that as well. Oh, isn't that O JK? Oh, no. Oh, yes. Yes. Okay. Question for uh SSD97J for my fellow board members. Are we willing to risk susless federal funding? Um, sorry,

087Adrian, I saw that as O is the next one, but J doesn't come after or O doesn't come after J. Question for SSD 97J. For my fellow board members, are you willing to risk ZUSA's federal funding by continuing to be be in contract with SVCS if they continue affiliation with Hillsdale? Bullet point, why did SVCS choose to use a candidate screening and hiring firm affiliate with Hillsdale? Uh, answer to that second question, we ask why Red Balloon has a Hillsdale reference on their website. They did one project for Hillsdale College in 2023 and use their logo as a marketing tool. Uh, next bullet point. What is the status of any of Was it? >> That's the >> Oh, then K. Thank you. K is arguably connected, but yeah, we can we'll get to there next.

088>> I've read too much already. >> So, director's questions and comments on those on those questions and answers. Uh, did you guys cancel your license agreement with Hillsdale? because I I have I I just I have this email that that's uh presumably from Yes. from uh Jean Judge at Hillsdale to to K with a couple other people copied. >> Ordinarily, we list any school that has signed a curriculum license as a curriculum school on our website, which I which I guess they mean you've signed a curriculum license. Yeah. Uh while for the moment we've removed your school from the website, uh if it's this board's preference going forward, we'd likely need to terminate the curriculum agreement until the board was ready to have its association with Hillsdale advertised. >> So, um I noticed you're still

089on the website >> and they they did ask if you would like to do that. What did you what was your guys's answer for that? I didn't see that. I didn't see the response email from >> the res the um they were basically going to remove our lensure which is our access to that scope and sequence and to their library if we were not a Hillsdale curriculum school. So we are we are a Hillsdale curriculum school. So we have access to their scope and sequence and their library >> which we determined previously that the scope and sequence >> was acceptable >> with the not the bridging with the crosswalks of frenzy and other meet or standards that that scope and sequence is is a >> is a proper proper meeting of Oregon curriculum. >> The

090the condition set by Hillsdale is not something that we discussed. the framework was supposed to be free and used and and and coming out of those early meetings there would have been no other relationship beyond that. So again, as long as it stays at the curriculum level and doesn't go to the affiliate level, there should be no issue, >> which we did send, you'd ask us to send that in writing that we would not pursue becoming a member school because people can go >> from curriculum to member and we've made that clear >> a different level of service >> and we're not. >> I don't I don't know that I can agree. I'm sorry, Andy, but um this is an agreement. You have a license. You've paid money for their curriculum. We got the receipt.

091And I mean, Hillsdale calls it an affiliation. This representative in this email calls being a curricula curriculum school an affiliation. And the our contract states that you cannot be affiliated with any religious organizations. It's in the contract. It's not discrimination. That's the contract. And in addition, I was going back and reviewing previous schoolboard meetings. And in 2024, our the district lawyer laid out um just how easy it could be for us to start losing funding if we knowingly enter into contract with a group that is affiliated with an affili with a religious or or political organization. And it goes beyond this email. Um we've got red balloon has the Hillsdale logo on them. We're going to talk about the Society for Classical Learning has their logo on it. I've heard you talk about Treasure Valley

092School has the Hillsdale logo on on it. Uh we've got gosh um CRLA. Um you you've been playing uh promotional videos from this school in California and they have the Hillsdale logo on their website. >> They're a Hillsdale curriculum school, >> right? >> They use same scope. They use scope and sequence and they have access to the library, nothing more. and they're in Orange County and are not having any legality or liability issues. I I that's not what the news articles I read today said, but that's um that's another >> Am I kind of maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying, but like is it just that this doesn't quite pass the common sense test where like you tell someone, okay, well, you've bought curriculum from them um or you've you've bought a scope from them,

093they say that you're associated with them, so common sense says that this is an affiliation. I that's that's how I see this is like everything I see common sense tells me that you guys are affiliated with this organization. >> If if you were going to enter into a relationship with someone and they had like a problematic ex and you said we're if we're going to get together you have to break things off with your ex those are the terms that's the boundary and then you check their phone and they've been texting and they're oh they're going to their friend's house but it's a mutual friend and they're both going to be there like you can put the pieces together. I >> I disagree, but my my understanding is that, and correct me if I'm wrong,

094>> my understanding is that Susa Valley Charter School has purchased a uh nonfacebased curriculum from Hillsdale. And with that purchased, they are they receive a license to access the information to their library. They've already stated very clearly that they are not pursuing member status with Hillsdale. And so I don't I don't understand what the what if there's any issues here at all. I did want to clarify one thing. We did not the only curriculum that's published by Hillsdale is the literacy essentials. So that's the grammar reading curriculum and um the rest and and it's publicly available to anyone. You don't have to be a member school or a curriculum school or anything. So all the curriculum we've purchased is publicly available curriculum. >> It's available to anyone to look at, but clearly to to teach

095it, you have to have a license and an agreement and you have to be listed on their website. That's is that not what this email says? >> No. The scope and sequence that is provided by Hillsdale is a sample of how the curriculum could be suggested curriculum can be taught based on their research methods and that just how it's taught throughout the day. How it's different things are incorporated throughout the different curriculums to to get all the things taught in a school week in a school year and have certain standards met with regard to academic standards. But it's not um anything beyond that. And you're not required to do to use it all. You're not required to use any any of it. Um, but there's obviously the reason we're wanting to use it is because

096it's been proven to be effective and researched and it's and it's showing successfully in schools around the country, public charter schools around the country. >> I'm I'm assuming that that curriculum will be on display when you bring it. >> Sure. Yeah. >> So, we'll see the Hillsdale curriculum. >> Absolutely. Yeah. >> And the links are already there. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Yeah. I just have to agree with Andy. I think that they're using a a tool from this and I understand affiliation is a subjective term. So there's going to be some people that will take this one way and some that will take it another. If they're using a tool from this organization, they're not implementing it in a a religious-based aspect, which would be the basis for uh an objection to an affiliation with

097a religious organization. I feel that as long as it's staying within that scope and sequence, as discussed before, that that's the same issue that we've talked about before, it seems like we're just going backwards again over the same thing. It's not to me it's not religion. It's specifically Hillsdale and it's not to me it's not subjective because it's in the words of Hillsdale here until you're ready to advertise your affiliation. So I don't know what's up for debate either because Hillsdale considers it an affiliation and our contract clearly states they cannot be affiliated with Hillsdale. when you guys I watched the video where you guys approved this and it was very clear they cannot be affiliated with Hillsdale. That was the stipulation on passing the charter. >> Well, again, it's not Hillsdale specifically. It was

098any private it but it was any private entity outside of the state. OS allows for u again membership for curriculum with public universities in the state of Oregon and excludes those from outside. So again, as long as we're, again, we said the framework, as long as it's not beyond the framework, I think we're okay. Anything else on this one, Tom? Have you ever taken a Hillsdale online course? >> I haven't taken a Hillsdale course. No, I'm very familiar with Baptist schools. My father taught in a Baptist Christian school. My wife went to a Baptist school. Hillsdale is also a Baptist school. If you go to if if uh CBU, California Baptist University plays against the University of Oregon, you will hear my the song that my dad wrote, the fight song for CBU. >> Um

099so I'm Yeah, I it's just >> I think the point Brian might be trying to make is is they're not just like a church school. They have a lot of civics, you know, a lot of constitutional American governmentbased stuff. That's it's pretty interesting. >> Check it out. Yeah, >> I I have gone on their website and >> I'm gonna have to disagree with you. Hillsdale is very political. I I saw more about Donald Trump than about >> I didn't say that they weren't political. I I didn't make that claim. I'm I'm simply recommending some of their online courses because they're very informative and you can learn a lot. >> Um okay. Society for Classical Learning affiliation. Uh first bullet point, what is the status of any affiliation with the Society for Classical Learning? Uh, bullet

100point two. What contract or agreement with the Society for Classical Learning is available for review by the SAULA board of directors? Answer. We had to pay a membership fee of $300 to Society for Classical Learning to post our job opening for our head of school. There was no contract. Uh, all we did was fill out that we were a public charter school, proper use, whether or not we had any students when we were going to open. Excuse me. Whether or not we had any students when we were going to open, and our contact information. We never got any inquiries from our job posting on their site. So we removed our job posting. You can see on their website uh public classical charter schools advertise on there. So directors is that answer sufficient to those two

101questions? >> There was initially a mislabeling on that site and it has been corrected. It's no longer listed as a startup Christian public school. So that's been corrected. It's just listed as a classical learning school. >> And you should all have that correction from the person that put put it up there inaccurately. She I think I forwarded that. Did I not? >> I don't know if I have it, but I checked the website and I >> Yeah, that was an intern. That was their >> internal public school. Yeah. >> Yeah. That was an intern that incorrectly marked that and so we corrected it. >> And can I ask um so you had this job listed on Red Balloon and you had it listed on the Society for Class Classical Learning. What other sites or organizations

102did you use? >> We had it on was it KO KOSA OSA? >> Yeah. KOSA job board. >> Kosa Job through us. Yeah. >> And on our website and on uh the Oregon Community Charter School Coalition, which doesn't just serve community charter schools, they also serve um district sponsored charter schools. So >> nice. >> Yeah. Just to clarify, because I know that's where that got confusing was that they're called the Oregon Coalition of Community Charter Schools. I heard Dr. McKenzie just now. She said she found it on Craigslist. >> I will say I actually heard through a person in my neighborhood and I heard about that when I was up for Labor Day weekend >> and so it was through word of word of mouth and I looked into it. I looked into the Hillsdale

103um because I did not know anything about Hillsdale and when I looked at the K12 education I was so excited because teaching the way I used to teach back in the you know when I started late 80s and 90s before whole language took over and the computers have taken it taken over in the classrooms so I am really excited to go back to teaching the traditional way so everyone's using this classical word and it's confusing people but it really is traditional and I would love to spend some time with you and share with you what we'll be doing so >> I was just thinking we should get coffee or something cuz I want to I want to get to know you more. [laughter] >> Okay. You just you were just in your neighborhood and somebody

104>> That's crazy. >> Yeah. >> Stars align sometimes, huh? >> Okay. Um so, are we ready to move on from K to L? And yes, in case y'all saw that, I had to look at what comes before L. Um >> I just um you know I in October I asked you if you were contracting with any religious organizations and this website for Society for Classical Learning is explicitly religious. Join the thriving community of classical Christian schools and you so and you told me no and I've been trying through this whole process to to operate in good faith and and give everyone my best intentions but please just be honest with me and I that would really mean a lot to me. So >> I said that to you, you and I. >> I I we

105were at this meeting. I in this room I asked you if you had been contracting with any other religious organizations and you told me no. And this is a religious organization that you've given money to to list the job on your website. >> Okay. I think I looked at it as a classical learning website, Society for Classical Learning. Um >> you should look at the homepage that the very first >> but but they they list job postings. There's different kinds of classical education schools. There are private class, there's public class school, and so we were listed as a public class school because it's a particular kind of learning that that was why we were on there. >> I I understand, but I do have to agree with Adrian. It's very explicitly stated on this website

106that they are religious that that it doesn't it >> they don't advertise their non-religious anything on clearly religious and they they've got the Hillsdale logo again. And so just >> well when I came on board it was already we already had our posting on there and so I knew we were on society for classical learning but I actually didn't see it that way. I guess I didn't know that that was how it was perceived. >> Thank you. >> L social and civil rights concerns. Some public discourse on social media has indicated that many supporters of the charter school believe it to believe it will be a place free from quote woke liberal agenda end quote. in particular, a place away from LGBTQ influence. Bullet point one, are the are the supporters correct in assuming a

107specific social agenda? Bullet point two, will people of the LGBTQ community be safe at WCA? Will all families of any political leaning be welcome at WCA? Bullet point four, can you explain how concerns raised both raised both named individuals and anonymous community members in social media have been addressed? Answer. We have been consistent in our communication that we are a public charter school open to all students. Classical education strives to keep the politics of the day out of the classroom. All students and their families will be welcomed, served well, served well and loved. Our non-discrimination policy, Susa Valley Charter School, does not tolerate the harassment of or discrimination against applicants, employees, students, parents, or vendors relating to an individual's race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy, genetic information, marital status, service member status,

108or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law. Again, we will follow all federal and state laws. I you can see how we'd be worried after reading Red Balloons uh Red Balloons uh employee bill of rights. So yeah, speak to that for us, please. I'd like to just I'd like to just hear about what your guys' strategies will be um dealing with kids who might be part of these communities that are listed here under L. >> Well, one, we certainly wouldn't ask them. So they >> I don't particularly think most of the time you have to ask. I I don't I don't think >> I I I don't even know how to respond to that. All I can say is that and and I've been spent eight years with the Boys and Girls

109Club. Many of you know me from there and we've had kids of all these different categories protected classes. I've loved every single one of them. and this board and our instructional principle will love every single one of them. I I I don't see the labels. I just don't. So, we will follow all state and federal law and every one of those kids will be valued. And you can quote me on that and you hold me to that. Okay. Good. >> Any other comments on uh on L here? >> Yeah, sure. I I um I I mean I I know we've been asked to address social media in certain instances and supporters, many supporters of the charter school speak up very boldly about this woke liberal stuff, this LGBT stuff, and about what what they think

110that your school is going to look like. And Again, I want to operate in good faith here. I want to know that my I mean, my kids are too young for any of this now, but they might be someday, and I I love them, and I I want to know they're safe in any school in the district. Um, can you can you convince me that they will be? Cuz a lot of people are saying they won't. I'm I'm just not sure what you want me to say other than we've been consistent in saying we're open to all students. We're going to serve all students. We're going to work really hard on traditional education, which just means back to the basics, really focusing on math and reading and and the core essentials. And that is our

111that's what we're going to be doing. I I love kids. I cannot wait to have kids filling our building. I've loved my kids. I've loved my kids' friends. And um I don't know what else I can say to you other than we've been consistent in saying that we're open and we're willing and wanting not just willing wanting to serve all students that are interested in being served by our school and in contributing to the service of SAW school district students as a whole because we really do feel like we're part of the district as far as meeting the needs of SAW school district students. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I don't really think it's fair to ask uh you know, Jennifer and Chuck to speak to what other people have said on social media and how

112that is going to dictate how they govern and run their school. And you know, I'll just leave it at that. So I I think the question may be more of an operational piece when it comes down to student discipline because I have had to suspend and or expel students for discriminating against gay students for minority students or students because of their religious beliefs. And is that the question you're asking? Or again, when someone discriminates against a student for being Jewish or being Christian or being gay, will they be disciplined at WCA? Is that the question you need to have answered? >> I think that's more my question. >> Tom's question. Oh, >> I think that's more my question than Tom's question. I think Tom's question is speaking more towards community values, whereas I'm I'm more

113interested in strategies and and and what will happen. So I guess they're saying, "Are you going to discriminate and break the law?" >> Well, yes. So >> the the thing that's worrisome, and I think you would all acknowledge this as well. So anybody can put anything up on social media and often times is taken as truth. I can tell you that it's not truth. >> Thank you. >> And so that's what I want. I want you to tell these people that they're wrong, that kids are going to be safe in your school, that employees are safe. >> It's not their job to police what's said about their school's going to be. >> I'm not asking them to police it. I'm asking them to address it. >> If once they address it, it's going to be

114non-stop. They can't address it because >> not through everything comes through social media. Just like >> I'm not asking them to address it on social media. I'm giving them a platform. That's why we're here. We're we're to talk to the community on a platform and tell and answer these questions that people are saying. I'm asking I'm saying it to your face rather than beside behind your back. Thank you. Okay. There are people that are saying this. >> We're say something. That's what I'm saying. >> We're in violent agreement. >> So, we completely agree with you and again, children will be safe. uh our discipline policies was um crafted with OSBA as as well as all of our other policies which mirror pretty much what sus law does as well. But again, we're not going to

115tolerate any discrimination for any protected class. And again, I have a a long track record and there's probably at least a dozen people in this room right now that can can testify that that is the the case. Every child deserves to be treated with dignity and every child deserves to be loved. Every child should have equal opportunity. So, we are not going to tolerate in any way, shape or form discrimination. that just isn't gonna happen. >> If I can do one more thing, um offer some feedback. Uh it's not it's not just students, it's also parents and it's also employees. And the reason why I wrote all this out about Red Balloon is because if you want if you want to say that you are welcoming to all types of staff members, please look into

116I will leave I will leave Red Balloon in the past. We found someone awesome. That's great. Um TBD on our coffee. Well, preliminary looks awesome. Um, when you are looking, my ask, my recommendation is when you are looking to hire staff, please be more discerning and you have already said this, I will acknowledge it because the company Red Balloon, if I was looking for a job and I saw at least five instances of anti-LGBT writing in their documentation, I would not feel safe to work there. So please um take that into into consideration going forward. >> I absolutely hear you. >> Thank you. >> Directors, anything else on L. >> M facility status? Uh bullet point one of two. What is the status of the building remodel? When do you anticipate the building will be

117quote movein ready? Uh answer. We are in the closing period on our building. The loan is fully approved. remodel is set to begin with the plan to be movein ready just before school starts in the fall. It is an it is ambitious but achievable according to the professionals we are working with. So, director, does that answer both these questions for us or do you have follow-ups? >> Uh, please. >> Do you guys have a plan if construction gets pushed farther than opening? >> We're working on that right now. We've identified an organization uh at least one for sure uh that we would be able to work with and have temporary classroom and we've been engaging them all along even before we entered into this because it was looking pretty slim trying to find any commercial

118property that would fit us. So we will have a plan in place and we've been talking about this all along. Uh, as it stands right now, um, the builder that we're using, Gerting Builders, has done 55 school projects, well known across the state, well respected across the state. And the other thing that's really working for us is that all the work's inside except the roof. We're going to replace the roof. Uh but other than that uh and it looks like all the preliminary schedules that we've seen looks like it's going to be 20 weeks and so but we will have we will have an alternative if something happens that we just can't foresee. >> Okay. Any other questions on uh M? Okay. Uh N expenditures to address uh to address requests questions by the charter

119school. These are the qu these are questions for the superintendent. Um, what is the approximate amount the district has spent on the charter school in the last month? Uh, please include lawyer fees and staff time. Also, can you give us an approximate average spent each month since the beginning of the school year? Andy, do you have guesstimates for that or >> uh Well, yeah, I have estimates, not guesstimates. Uh, so last month, roughly 18 hours uh of staff labor, about $1,900. Uh January billing for legal services was $2,765. Uh looking at the records from the fiscal year, there's about 130 staff hours for an approximate cost of $13,650. And in this fiscal year, u billing for legal services has been $19,873. Uh that breaks down to for again for staff time roughly about 19 hours

120per month from July through now. But again, this is my time and some of Debbiey's, but not and I don't have CC. I don't have Chris because they've had to do some other tasks related. So again, call it 1920 hours a month. What my hope is that now that you guys have a an administrator that Andy won't have to do so much with this. Okay. Thank you. Directors, any other questions or comments on on N? Okay. Well, this next one's 3.0 and an adjournment, but I'm not going to smack that yet. Um, thank you everybody for your time. Uh, for those questions that got submitted earlier. What? >> Oh, Tom. >> May I have a moment for board communications? >> Um, it's not on the agenda. >> I know >> it will be nice. >>

121What is it in regard to >> Is it in regard to what was on the agenda? >> Yeah, that didn't sound very sure. >> No, I Diana, what says you? Thumbs up or thumbs down? I will do like from from Gladiator. I want to apologize for being a little heated and Okay, thank you. >> That's that's appropriate. I um I take this the safety of students very seriously, so I'm sorry that I got a little passionate. Um I do really want to make this work. I want to make that really clear. Um I think that this there are students in Florence that feel like they need another option and I think that if we make this work um it minimizes the impact in a way of the district because the district will still get 10%

122Um, and looking at alternatives where you would be partnering with OD or being private, we would get none of that money. Um, but for it to work, we kind of have to have somebody to be the bad guy and and ask these questions. And I I' I'm doing my best to try and follow the uh board operating agreement and and do like I said, say it say it to your face so that we can get these things hammered out. So, I appreciate you guys being here. And that's all. So, these are these are interesting times that we all live in and we've all had experiences that we bring to the table. Some of them good, some of them bad. So, no reason to apologize and thank you for being upfront and and giving exactly what

123you think and how you feel and giving us a chance to respond to that. And we are absolutely in agreement about making sure that kids are safe and that we make sure that we uh we give them a opportunity for a great future. >> Okay. All right. Well, thank you all for your time and keep up the