001[Music] good evening I'd like to call today's uh meeting of the board of directors to order would y'all please rise for the flag salute I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic Tacoma Public Schools acknowledges that we are on the traditional ancestral and historical lands of the PIP tribe of Indians we honor with gratitude the land itself and the PIP tribe this acknowledgement serves as a first step in honoring our nearest tribal neighbors and partners who have inhabited this region since time in Memorial and to whom we give thanks for allowing us passage to their lands we shall intentionally create inclusive and respectful Partnerships that honor indigenous cultures histories identities and sociopolitical realities General Council Ben we call the RO yes president stroer here vice president MCC
002here director keing here we have a quorum um also like to recognize our student refu here this evening we have Amilia Constantine good evening uh director Leon here there it is yes and director bonbright has an excuse absence this evening not I move to adopt the agenda second agenda's been moving seconded question comments about it all those in favor I all right none opposed moving on to agenda item number six recognition of staff students and Community item 6.1 whole child Champion recognitions Mr President board of directors I tell you I need this one this week um and my heart is just filled with the room today because we have this wonderful honor uh to honor some really amazing people that are Relentless about their support to keep every kid safe engaged supported healthy and challenged
003that is very complex heart tugging work and so it is with great pleasure I the superintendent on behalf of the director of whole child recommends that the board of directors approve the recognition of the selected Tacoma hold child Champions at the January 23rd 2025 board meeting I move to adopt second mve to seconded all those in favor I any oppose i' hope not passes is my pleasure to introduce uh director Laura Allen director of whole child and Laura has a whole team of here uh to help support and you know I just uh want to also say is as we recognize these amazing folks out there there were and Laura will get uh into a little more of the details about the process uh we are so fortunate to have these folks and so many
004caring adults inside the Tacoma Public Schools and the partners in there so with that Laura take us off and let's celebrate thank you good evening uh distinguished board thank you for this opportunity I'm Laura Allen director of whole child and I'm with the whole child team tonight and on behalf of our whole team tonight is it's our joy to celebrate hold child month and with our whole child Champions now this year we received a record number of nominations hundreds of students of staff and of families nominated they just reached out to share Praise of the staff throughout Tacoma Public Schools and this evening we will highlight a few Stellar Representatives while the Champions here tonight received just gobs and gobs of great praise I'm only going to read a snippet from what was written about
005them and um with that what do you say we have some fun Micah arnberg CTE teacher cab [Applause] Cafe before I share about m I just want to say for those listening the cab Cafe is an opportunity for high school students who are receiving special education services to learn career and life skills by Running a Restaurant uh business so a staff member nominated Micah to say Micah embodies the heart and spirit of a whole child Champion bringing compassion Grace and inspiring growth mindset to everything she does through her instructional leadership of cab Cafe Micah not only teaches students critical skills but models the importance and value of serving others with kindness and respect creating a culture of care that radiates throughout our building as an educator she is world class with added commitment to our
006youth through Special Olympics coaching in fact she just uh came from a basketball game she uplifts every athlete encouraging them to push beyond their limits while fostering inclusion and Bel longing Micah steadfast belief in the potential of every student inspires them to grow with confidence with empathy and purpose leaving a lasting impact on their lives we are continuously in awe of Micah as an educator as a human as an advocate and an absolute Champion for every whole [Applause] child Joseph Brooks teacher and Coach Wayne Wright [Applause] intermediate one student wrote Mr Brooks makes me feel welcomed I never feel out of place he shows he cares anytime I have a problem or I'm having a bad day Mr Brooks goes above and beyond to make sure I'm okay he's not just a teacher to us
007students he's someone we trust and a parent shared Mr Brooks provid provides a safe space for all students he advocates for those who feel they have no voice he cares about the mind body and spirit of the Young Generation of kids he stands up for the ones who need it most Mr Brooks is a real life superhero and I want to add one last comment because this student heard about Mr Brooks receiving this today and is in the audience came here to support and he wanted you to know that Mr Brooks will always listen and you can always talk to him he a trusted adult for many kids thank you for giving him this award he deserves [Applause] [Music] it the Megan Clark Family Support leison berie [Music] [Applause] El a staff member said Megan
008is a a very bright spot at Bernie she offers compassion and shows kindness to every member of Bernie Elementary family our students looked up to her for guidance when their day is not going well they just need Miss Clark to greet them to know and make them feel that they can turn their day around and make it better another staff member added there likely Aren't Enough words in my vocabulary to accurately describe the many ways Megan Clark creates a predictable and safe environment at Bernie she leads our walking school bus Which ensures kids get to school on time and safely Megan goes to unbelievable lengths with laser target focus in mind access she's all about providing access for our students and our family she has been a champion in the heart of this community for
00910 years [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Myra Cortez English and ethnic studies teacher at Lincoln High [Applause] School Myra has been a strong advocate for ethnic studies course and thrilled that she has and we're thrilled she has taken that on this year Myra is a Lincoln graduate serving the community where she grew up and has a real passion for Equity outcomes for all Lincoln students she puts a lot of time into the lesson plans to ensure all students are represented students are able to create things that represent themselves and their culture with her classes another staff member added Myra consistently models teaching practices that allow each and every student to be pushed to their full potential from the moment they walk in her room students experience a sense of belonging and safety Myra is generous in opening
010her door and sharing her practice with other Educators throughout our school school and [Music] [Applause] District javana Johnson preschool teacher burill Elementary a caregiver uh wanted you to know that she said we've noticed a marked improvement in our son who is now better equipped to identify his emotions and Express them rather than have emotional outbursts the take a break space is something we love that was provided for students in the class and we have adopted that at home we appreciate the routine provided for the children and that she's helping them understand various emotions and that they're all okay and how to express them positively Miss Johnson is also the most bubbly infectious and kind-hearted teacher I've ever had the pleasure of meeting and a staff member added Miss Johnson has created a classroom environment that
011is warm and welcoming the students are happy to come to school and learn Miss Johnson has implemented different types of community Circle activities to support learning how to recognize and regulate emotions build relationships with peers and have empathy for [Applause] others Sammy mancia restorative coach Stuart Middle [Applause] School a staff member said she is a relationship Builder she has helped the Stewart Middle School Community to reimagine and push their thinking forward when it comes to restorative practices she has helped youth refine the tools they have within their toolboxes and has helped lower exclusionary discipline within the Stewart community Through restorative conversations and circles another staff member added as a restor supportive coach at our school she invests her time daily in fostering meaningful connections with students and guiding them through moments of reflection and restoration
012Samy's commitment to building and helping restore relationships has made her a vital part of our school her efforts go beyond helping students navigate conflicts she creates a culture where everyone feels supported and valued she is oneof a kind and our school Community is better because of her presence [Applause] Melissa Porter school counselor Bose Elementary [Applause] School Melissa Porter uh this is from a student now we don't usually have elementary students right in but um they said Melissa Porter is a champion for making sure that students feel like they belong this is because she has made a huge impact on students including me who felt like they didn't belong when she worked at Washington Elementary she helped me feel included I still sometimes check in with her because she's such an amazing person she also puts
013herself in the student shoes so she can fully understand what the student feels and sees and a staff member added Missy is the Exemplar of a whole child Champion not only does she support all students but she also supports staff in supporting students she is intentional with her words and actions to be kind caring supportive focusing on Solutions and how to make things work for students she is a leader for social emotional learning for adults and kids Bose is lucky to have [Applause] her Jessica Stellar Stella instructional facilitator science and math Institute as we call Sammy Jessica always leads by example this is from a staff member she willingly shows up to support youth family and staff on all fronts whether academically emotionally or socially since joining Sammy she has done a fantastic job of
014showing up as her authentic self to reflect the opportunity for students and staff to do the same she helps Champion wraparound Services through mtss to serve and support Sami students and families as staff as well Jess always is willing to have the tough conversation in her advocation for Sami students and families she is a willing change agent who embodies the whole child way as another staff member added Jess is an outstanding leader who collaborates thoughtfully and elevates the conversation she makes our team better she is passionate about Equity belonging and restorative practices she leads by her example and the brilliant ideas she shares it is an honor to work with her and learn from her [Music] [Applause] yeah Carrie vadex teacher Stadium High School a staff member said Carrie is very kid- centered not only
015is she a culinary teacher Carrie goes above and beyond to help students develop life and work skills to be their best selves in the world this next one is from a student I want you to appreciate how extraordinarily well written this is Chef vadex is a person who always is always encouraging community in the two years I I had her class she encouraged Community circles through discussions and plenty of group work over the years class grows extremely close this is due to her rule that each week students sit next to someone new until they' sat with everyone and her providing a safe space to Branch out of your comfort zone she maintains this en environment through mutual respect with her students and a continuous effort to keep improving she is committed not only to teaching
016culinary skills but also empathy fairness and critical thinking it is evident through her daily actions and the tenacity which she approaches every situation and that is why I believe she deserves to be a whole child champion [Music] [Applause] Porsha Williams cheer coach and adviser boss High [Applause] School one student shared she makes me feel like I belong I never felt like I belonged or was wanted on a team and she changed that for me she makes me feel like I add something to our team she encourages me and the rest of us cheerleaders and Hypes us up she pushes us to do our best and let lets us know she believes in us and a parent wanted to share that coach Porsche provides a safe environment for my child to practice cheer she encourages the
017students and pushes them to do their best in a positive way I know my child is safe with the coach my child never felt like she would belong in any cheer team in any school until meeting coach Porsha who gave her a chance and believed in her now my daughter radiates confidence feels like she has somewhere to belong and has found a sport she loves and [Music] [Applause] dominates Aaron Wilson teacher Bryant [Music] [Applause] monori a staff member shared Mr Wilson creates space for student voice listens attentively and finds ways to genuinely apply student inspiration in class including developing a student run newspaper for Upper Elementary a student wrote in to say he elects regular student council that allows students to put Power in the hand of students by allowing them to choose the candidates
018and allowing them to express ideas and decisions about class during Circle he allows students to weigh in on topics and rules and allow students to express beliefs about real world politics and their own wisdom and I'll wrap up uh a parent Guardian shared Mr Wilson has helped my unique child to shine this year I have been extremely ill for months and he has shown her compassion he comes up with Innovative and fun teaching strategies all the time and makes learning a pleasure for our child [Applause] a child that is safe healthy challenged engaged and supported is a whole child and it takes all of us me and you and you and you and everybody in this city of Tacoma to wrap around kids every single day and help them grow as whole children so uh
019Mr President I'd like to uh do a couple quick little things uh I'd like to introduce you to a few folks board of directors audiences uh we got a chance to meet Miss Laura Allen there's a whole child team right and the whole child team and folks may say well what does the whole child team do they do awful lot right and so uh without going into a lot of details Christy can you wave your hand Ronnie Gordon Jimmy Greer Audrey Wilson Teresa did I see you Kate Fraser in Ni space um and these folks help us and everyone in our buildings continue to try to be their best and they're not alone uh but it's not lost on me that we couldn't have nights like tonight where we are able to pause and recognize
020amazing people without you so thank you I would like to bring all of the whole child Champions up and take a picture with our whole child Department the board of directors and so it'll be a very big audience up on the stage I know Mark is he's ready he's already ready Ready's always ready we're gonna gather you and then I'm gonna say one more thing so if we get all the whole child Champions and the staff and the directors up we'll get organized and we'll get a picture here in that space okay oh yeah oh oh yeah Dr Garcia okay okay okay okay here we go it's s before we take the picture before you get in your poses before you get into pictures and get in your poses if you could take a moment
021I know I got you I got you you can do this just look out in the crowd here because there are some people here for [Applause] you so on the count of three we're going to take a picture with Mark and then we're going to do a second one when we say whole child and all this is about you getting more squat time okay on the count of three mark one two three smile all right and one two three hold child child thank you all [Applause] good job thank you yeah I think we should let's do one more recognition then we'll take a break if want ladies and gentlemen we're going to move forward to uh item 6. too so I'm I'm proud that y'all are here but I do want to give the board
022of directors an opportunity to say some kind words to our whole child Champion so if y'all if y'all don't want to leave too quick if you ain't got you know food on the stove I would ask that you just wait a quick second and we need to do the clap and receive these oh they hear me no no no they hear me go ahead uh vice president okay so I was going to make some comments about all the wonderful whole child Champions and so I'll just start off with um javana D I want to see you with my eyes Okay so a lot of people don't know when I was elected um to serve on the Schoolboard back in 2021 I was working as a parah in her classroom um so she is a special
023needs Advocate and Champion for youth she and her best friend Lisha who's here too see I already cried you don't get to cry um they run our place and they're really changing the world for our special needs students in Pierce County they've been recognized multiple multiple times but I just want to start by saying thank you for allowing me to learn from you from to grow with you and she was the first and maybe the only person to celebrate me she was in the room when I got sworn in so I just really want to take this time to like really thank you for all the work that you've done I got a second person because I just like making shout outs but first of all as a whole child Champion everyone in our district
024is doing their job every single day from the janitors to the office coordinators the secretaries the bus drivers everybody like that but Megan Clark who I'm also looking at um she indoctrinated me into the Bernie All-Star family she coined me in Allstar for life I really want to thank you for opening your doors to me back in 2018 you brought my program in you advocated for me just like she does for her students every single day so I just really want to hush the room and let y'all know that we at the school board we really appreciate all the work that you do so I know there might be other board members who want to make comments about this Monumental day I've never seen so many people show up for this type of award so
025shout out to y'all for building Community because everyone here in in the room was here because of the work that you do so thank you to you all and I just want to add a little bit more um there are so many remarkable people um I do want to join the cheer squad if that's option I'm I'm ready I'm 100% I'll be there like tomorrow I don't know when practices but I'll be there um and I also want to um acknowledge I mean Med Clark man you are a giant um and um Missy Porter I don't know where you think you're going ma'am M no ma'am um I just want to acknowledge um Missy Porter and I have done work for students in this district for I don't even know how many years like long
026long long time long before I sat up here um and we actually got to be a whole group of people that welcomed Laura Allen into the district when she joined um on behalf of making our classrooms and our school cultures safe and inclusive for all students um and Porter like you don't we go I know I'm I'm not I'm not I got it um we go deep and I have unbelievable respect for you and the way that you are with children I mean come on if you haven't been in a reading circle with Missy Porter you are missing out so thank you so much for everything you give and I also want to acknowledge Aaron Wilson I have been in his classroom um more than once and seeing how you create community and respect within
027your students um and I just um you you embody the things about monor and about Bryant um that are the best parts of it so thank you so much for your dedication and everything you give so um anybody else thank you again for um really meeting these students where they are and elevating them respecting them at every phase that they're in so um I think that's the most important thing that um is that the root and the base of what education is all about and without going too deep or saying too much I'll just say that we need whole child Champions now more than ever so uh we we need folks who are going to show up for our babies and and really stand t knows down behind their safety so um I appreciate all
028of you as well as some of the ones who were nominated and maybe not recognize tonight y'all do good work and it's the work we need so thank you I just want to say thank you to you all and then I just would ask if you have an extra two or three minutes there's another group that is amazing folks and they're just going to get a little bit of recognition if you could just stick around great if you can't I understand but it'll be very short so with that I'd like to introduce Dr Forest Greek to recognize a few other amazing team members on our team great thank you so much Dr Garcia uh this month's whole educator recognition as far as substitutes and uh when we think of substitutes many of you may not
029know this uh but we have substitutes across the district filling a lot of different positions uh these are the hard numbers out there right now and I will speak from the heart a little bit here right now which is I think when I came to Tacoma Public Schools I came as a substitute like that was my first gig here and I remember two main things one I was exhausted at the end of the day and number two um nothing gets you ready to be a substitute like I gone through my program and done all my the right things and everything and I just had to roll with whatever came to me sometimes there were great plan sometimes there wasn't sometimes you just didn't know what was coming at you but what I learned from that
030experience is that uh you really get to know how to connect with kids on deep level and be able to connect with them in ways that many folks don't and so I just want to get a shout out to a lot of our substitute teachers out there and our bus drivers our principals our education uh educational sport Specialists bus monitors bus drivers nutrition services office professionals and capital security officers they all have substitutes for working in the ranks and uh we need them more than ever and they're doing some amazing work I'm going to recognize a few folks out there um and I'll just a little bit quickly but I want to recognize folks that from across the board these are not not teachers but but uh bus drivers again Nutri Services across the board
031and these are amazing folks and I'm hoping that some of them are able to be here or at least some of them or if you've ever subbed we'd love to have you stand up and just be recognized anybody really there we go I know that uh and I just want to Echo force and I know people want to leave the amazing work our substitutes forest and back at we had a little event called Co forest and I were Co substitutes at Hilltop Heritage for a dedicated period of time and uh uh we uh we survived right in those days in there because we weren't prepared in that skills in in that space and these people are highly skilled they have great amazing relationships and they keep not only our kids going but our staff's going
032in those critical times so big shout out to our subs and with that thank you so much for staying for that little brief moment thank you [Applause] okay can we go that are we done that was it we can't leave oh we're not done that was fun so as folks start to transition out we'll slide to the next uh agenda item which is item eight staff report to the board and there is not one or there is one item seven is superintendent report oh I skipped my bad it's it's okay Amilia it's all on you um for my school I'm representing soda and there's not been much going on for the month of January because we have our mini term which is what we've been doing all month um and I'm lucky enough to get
033it to take classes at one of our sister schools uh Sammy and that's been really fun my mini term's been really great uh it's like being able to like work with kids and I really like doing that that's like my favorite thing um and we get to like take them around the zoo and we get to take them around to like Owen's Beach and stuff and so that's really fun I've got to like progress my leadership skills which has been really fun um and then this month we normally have Martin Luther King showcase at Sammy or not Sammy soda um on one of our Wednesdays but we don't have any Wednesdays at our home schools so we're not doing that this year but we do have our multiculture showcase coming up which um it's where
034all of our student unions at our school collaborate um not just with people in the clubs but just people who have a culture that they want to showcase and like make a presence of themselves and that's something I'm really excited about because my school is talented as it is but like to be able to see people like um showcase like what they know and like what their home is is like I'm really excited for that um but other than that there's not much going on because of we're not all at our schools right now but that's like our main thing that's going on right now which is a lot not much that sound like a good little bit Mr President um uh a few things and Mark and Kevin I'm gonna put you on the
035spot I sent you an email I don't know if you're able to uh click into that email just now and if you could just hold it if you're not able to No Worries but if you are able to bring it up at the end i' of my comments I'd like you to bring it up yep no worries you can please hold though um a few things uh I think um it's not lost on any of us uh it's been a very tough week across our nation um so I've asked general counsel to uh talk to you folks and our community about some of the executive orders that have been put out uh at the federal level and what are the implications for us here in Tacoma we're not going to speak about all the executive
036orders that have been put out uh we're not uh making statements about uh the value one way or the other but we want to make sure that our families our kids and our staffs understand their rights inside of Tacoma right now okay so I'm turn it over there and then I'll have some additional comments at the end yes thank you Josh so a very brief update um and I know this is a matter that's important to all of you uh in the last week we've received as staff at the district and I know you all have also received inquiries uh from parents from students members of our community around around these recent Federal Executive Orders um in general these inquiries tend to coales around two issues uh the first being concerns for our undocumented students
037and their families the second being concerns around lgbtq plus youth in particular trans students that attend our schools um through superintendent Garcia and Deputy superintendent Nolan and our chief comm's officer Tanisha jumper and her team's leadership we wanted to let you know that we have begun and we have plans to continue to push out really thoughtful Communications um and resources for our families that really reaffirm two things uh and these things are both in the spirit of whole child as we've just been talking about um the first being this board's commitment that you've made multiple times in policy and in other spaces uh to serve every student that walks through a Tacoma School District classroom door regardless of their personal family circumstances so these communications and resources have gone out and will continue to go
038out and second around the legal protections that exist for uh the students of concern we're talking about that are established by state law independent of what the federal system is going to do um so these these resources and these communications have gone out we have a plan for them to continue to go out and that you'll hear more from us in the coming weeks about what specifically has gone on gone out and then questions that we receive back to you so I'm going to get into some of the very specific pieces that um some families May in there and just answer some questions and um General Council will interrupt me if I have gone too far sure um we are legally required to serve every student that shows to our doors if they are documented
039or undocumented we will continue to do so that has not changed uh we are uh required to provide directory information about students so what does that mean is um my name for example uh that is directory information does Josh Garcia go to school here yes no that is directory information every parent is has the right to remove their child from directory information they would contact their school and they would remove them from directory information and then we do not provide that we are not allowed to provide home addresses we're not allowed to do that we're not allowed to provide uh citizenship unless there is a subpoena but we do we can't do that that is against the law and that law has not changed so no matter what the executive or those those are still
040in place in that space uh in Washington state there are multiple ways for students to identify their gender Beyond two that law has not changed and so our students are able to identify and self- select their gender including non-binary that has not changed in Washington State and they can currently do that each school has the ability and a process for gender care support plans those are still in place and will continue to be in place that is what the law in Washington state says we have met with our principles to reaffirm those we are not breaking any laws those are the laws in Washington state and our jobs as employees are to hold the constitution of Washington state we are the employees of Washington State and we will continue to do so we have met
041with office managers to make sure that they feel in a safe place to deliver those messages and office staff and had those to try to help folks understand that you're still in a safe place to continue to take care of kids we have been in close contact with Tacoma Police Department and the sensitivity because we want Tacoma Police Department on our campuses because we partner with them but that is also a sensitive place they are not immigration officers but it can cause a sense of potential fear and we have talked about how we handle the difference between a potential criminal investigation versus an immigration issue and we are continuing those relationships and they have delivered those messages to their staff so that when they come on campuses we have a language between the two of
042us which could be as simple as you know I don't know about this do you mind if I call and get some help before we move to a next action step as Malik said is there will continue to be guidance we will continue to provide resources none of this is enough that's not lost on us either we don't have all the answers but we will continue to provide information in real time we will not respond to every narrative we do not have the the capacity and the resources to provide responses to every news outlet but as the laws change we if they change in Washington state we will address those accordingly at that time we will continue to be active in our state legislation through the legislative process that is not new that is something
043we are always doing in that space we will examine our own policies and regulations to make sure that they if there is a need to being updated to make sure that they are clear in the context as you know sometimes policy and regulations may need to be updated because the language is a little bit old to make it more clear and we are committed to doing those things president stroer and myself sent a message out to staff uh another message went out on behalf of the board and the staff through president stroer and myself to the community to try to share the intent of what is happened to date so I will pause I want to give you that as just an update if there has questions or comments to that and then I have
044just a few more updates um could you just talk a little bit about um the guidance that was released from OPI as well this morning you want me to or you do either way I'll share and then add anything you think might per yeah so uh OPI released uh guidance brand new came out today was published today uh that do does a really good job documenting action steps that the state recommends for each of the 295 school districts related to really specific issues around immigration Um this can be anything from releasing student information and the privacy rules that apply if you have to release information it has to do with the school and School District's response um if different law enforcement officials come to the school it has to do with uh really as an
045operating manual for would say administrators in k12 and then for family members who have worries about what does this mean for me and my family and my student uh it's a resource that's publicly available on the wp website it's open to everybody to read and look at and I would say that if we had Community or parents or students or staff that had a lot of questions about like specifically like what's the guidance we should be looking at it's a pretty good resource to be able to look at and know the lay of the land my only caveat there is and around language and maybe I'm interpreting it is the actions aren't necessarily new so the publication has been updated and it is very uh it is very relevant and the legal interpretations of what
046is is not new and I want just continue to Echo that because um we the Washington state laws have not changed and we need to remember that in this space and so the guidance that has been uh released and updated in that for school folks on hand to hand this is still reflected to the the current the laws that are currently in place and have been in place prior to this Administration that true can I add one more piece to this specific um in the directive from Homeland Security that was released I believe on Tuesday um the some of the language changes which there's a difference between language changes and actually the CH changing of a law so I want to make that distinction but one of the significant changes in the directive from Homeland
047Security was that sensitive areas are no longer um uh protected areas and the definition of sensitive areas are um churches hospitals and schools um so I think that it's really important and and in the directive um and the executive order it also alludes to law enforcement that they that the um New Federal Administration is trusting that law local law enforcement or law enforcement will use common sense and there is no shared definition of Common Sense from one Community to another so I think that that's extremely important um because we're relying on individuals and even though we are elected to a nonpartisan um body no one I believe is actually nonpartisan um and so I think that um that's a really important distinction for folks to understand um and it is yet to be seen how
048that will be implemented um but that is a um significant change to um at least the language um and again that whether or not that changes the law those are two different um pieces that I just wanted to surface I think that's important for us to recognize and I really appreciate your distinction in that space and so as we continue to unpack language we have to go back to what does the law say and provide guidance in the space of that um and so um we will continue to do that right and that is not new and unique to any Administration right uh in and so um what is uh I think unique is is the shift that has happened so fast in this space and there's a lot of discrepancy in that those terminology
049pieces so uh we are working obviously we're close with general counsel um director keing is part of our legislative uh group uh we meet meet regularly with DC folks to try to gather interpretations make sure that we understand the federal interpretation of the law as well as the local and then we have state folks that we work with too and so there's a broad team that is constantly working we are small but I think we're in there and then we're constantly working with our local state associations like the uh Washington State Association of school administrators and they're calibrating we have meetings in those in there so lots more to come uh and none of this is to minimize that we have arrived it's only to say this is where we are today um and I
050just want to um thank you for all of that and I also just want to acknowledge the executive order on uh gender identity and I think that what's really important to understand is the intention actually I would I would say and I don't this is where I won't be nonpartisan about it um um the intention is to create chaos and fear and confusion um and um put put people in a reactive place um rather than um really being able to delineate between what laws are changed or not changed through executive orders um and the new federal Administration has for some time made it very apparent and clear that they have every intention to terrorize uh trans people and the trans community and they are doing exactly that um and at the same time that executive
051order is not founded in science not it's there's a lot of contradictory um aspects and pieces to it and if you read the the full language of it um the they are determining that um uh at conception someone's gender is determined um which is completely unscientific because if that's the case then everyone is female um precisely so I think that um I I know there are a lot of people um around the state and around the country that are really working on clarifying these executive orders and what impacts they do and don't have um and for those who are um feeling really threatened and frightened by both executive orders um I know that there um people are really good people are trying to figure out what is it what does it actually mean um and
052there's a lot of rhetoric um and it's intended to get people to comply um and to keep them in fear so I um I appreciate greatly that um I get to serve um with people and work with people within the district who are deeply dedicated to the safety and protection of all of our students um and that I I don't have to explain or no one up here has to explain why undocumented students are important and why their safety is um necessary as well as every other student along with transgender and non-binary and gender expansive students as well so I just um I appreciate the report and um the information so thank you very much um I will try to stay brief um so in the work that we do as board directors we work
053with um other governmental agencies and we work across the state with other um board members and so I've been reached out to by folks in King Pierce in snow homish County um in those Three Counties there are multiple boards that have current vacancies um some due to the fact that people have stepped down after um the election in November um I understand that there will be a lot of confusion and frustration with board members um as we work to navigate the many changes that will be happening um I will say that in 2020 I was one of those Rebel rousing um commenters on Facebook um because I didn't understand everything that was happening and I didn't know how to have my voice heard and I think here in Tacoma we tried really really hard to
054be responsive um I do like to read this email from the dis it's Bor b o b o a r r d tacoma. k12.wa.us I only have to say that because as these changes come about and you're saying I don't know what's happening what's happening at my kids school the principal's not responding to me the office staff didn't know how to answer my question um I didn't hear back from superintendent Garcia contact the board and we will do our best to try to help staff mitigate these issues as well um from our policy perspective and then also just know that this work takes a heavy toll on board members and board directors I know that there's going to be a lot of fr I know that my inbox is going to be full for the
055next 4 years and I look forward to meeting that challenge I'm committed to serving our students every single student every single day there are so many of us in the district that really believe in that um and I do understand um one of the members who Ste down she did step down due to her immigration status um right and so these things are really impacting people at a deep level and that's someone who advocates for kids every day and so when I'm hearing stories like this I want to be mindful and remind folks that some of us like myself I'm fortunate to have not so not so difficult immigration status to navigate I'm also unfortunate to be a a member of the black um American society my my community has been targeted as Dei it's
056not Dei for me to be black and just live and exist here and serve and support my students I I know that there's going to be a lot of things hurled our way and I know that it's going to be very difficult for people of marginalized backgrounds to continue to serve to continue to listen continue to be empathetic but I know that I'm committed to doing that work I know sitting here with these people here including our student reps there are some things that we just all believe in um and so I just really want to highlight that there are board vacancies around the state of Washington due to some things that are happening nationally and um when that got brought to my attention I want to highlight that in this conversation too um so
057this work is really hard it's really meaningful and I'm really grateful to serve with all of you so I'm going to shift topics that's good that's and one I'm G to do one connected topic I want to thank uh Community member Antonio mmore and I would like to thank uh board member uh president uh Corey Stroger uh for leading a conversation with our Gig Harbor uh colleagues from Gig Harbor High School in Lincoln Abes over uh racist comments in the athletic field and how to move forward and restore and it was got a lot of positive feedback and that doesn't happen uh unless uh kids are willing to come to the conversation adults are making sure that that's kids understand that you need to come to this conversation it takes courage on both sides it
058takes courage to say I did something wrong uh it takes courage to to to stand with somebody that has harmed you and Fa that and it takes courage to stay in that space and it takes courage and skill to be in that space with people and and facilitate that so I want to thank them and then on the final note I just received uh this message so gentlemen if you could bring this up um because I think oh can we click the X yes this is from about an hour ago these are hot middle schoolers on the ski slopes in partnership with metrop Parks Tacoma and dedicated uh uh um dedicated is not the right word what is the word that I'm looking for when you uh allow somebody you donated all the gear is
059donated for the kids there's a bus that is provided um I remember when my parents moved me up from California they took me up and uh my brother and one of the first places we went was to snow kwami pass and our Levis I think they were actually Sears tough skins to be in a space and uh it was cold and wet it was not a memorable time and that made have drove me to wrestling and so when I see kids like this up on the slopes and getting that and a lot of adults so I just want to give a big shout out to metrop Parks Tacoma I want to give a big shout out to hunt Middle School uh the Thunder because it takes a lot of work I want to give a
060shout out to our general counsel who helps us mitigate risks and work through those things and I I think those Smiles are you know that's what we were trying to create in all these conversations so every kid gets to that smile and it may not be through skiing but that safe space so I will end my comments on that note I I just want to clarify because I know it's brand new for everybody but is it now Parks Tac Tacoma thank you is it Parks did I get it right Parks Tacoma it's Parks Tacoma okay we're all practicing everybody it's brand new we learned about a week ago I'm still stuck all right well we're going to move forward uh to what I believe is item number eight staff report to the board there is
061none uh and then item number nine members of the public wishing to address the board before I read all of this stuff do we have any blue cards yes President we have two tonight let me get to read uh public comment guidelines school board members encourage public participation your civil input is appreciated board members will not respond to your comments during the meeting the superintendent or designate will follow up with you after the meeting if action is needed instead of speaking at a meeting you may also send an email to the board at board tacoma. K12 wa. us please contact the board office in advance of the meeting for disability accommodations under board policy 1430 for public comment the board president May terminate an individual's comments when the allotted time has passed and may interrupt
062a speaker to require the same standard of Civility that the board imposes on itself examples of uncivil comments include comments that are lious lious or slanderous under a legal standard are unwarranted and unwarranted invasion of privacy are obscene or indecent pursuant to the Federal Communications act or any rule or regulation of the Federal Communications Commission violate School District policy or procedure related to the harassment intimidation bullying and or discrimination Insight an unlawful act on school premises or violate a lawful School regulation or create a material and substantial disruption of of the orderly operation of the board meeting the board as a whole has the final decision in determining the appropriateness of all such rulings and can maintain order by removing those who are disrupted however the board recognizes the distinction between uncivil discourse which it
063will not tolerate and comments about the Board District Andor staff that are negative yet still civil in nature the board will exercise its authority to maintain order in a cont a Content neutral manner two ways to uh comment you can do the general councel will call your name when it's your turn to address the school board please speak into the microphone you may have up to 3 minutes to share your comments or if there are a large number of speakers time may be limited at the president's discretion option number two is written comment which is pretty self-explanatory you can write to the board at that email I mentioned earlier and we will um make sure we review your comments General Council I'll pass it to you yes our first Speaker tonight is Keith Michael Estrada
064[Music] good evening everyone Keith Michael I thank you board superintendent I want to take this opportunity to address you concerning the protection of our student as you were discussing earlier in regards to those who may be in fear especially because of their status due to their migration status that is um I come from California I'm I'm new here to Washington and I've seen communities be afraid when we have patrols come to our neighborhoods and I know that we're further away from the southern border here in Washington but I am also familiar with the Northwest Detention Center as well and I know that the Legacy that it that it has and the the terror that it contains as well is not a positive one and I know that Tacoma and the district has a large migrant
065community that it serves every day right and so the statement that was put out by the board and the superintendent yesterday to the staff and today to the community I think in relation to the executive orders that were put out I think was lacking and I think it should be reflected upon that yes this is new but the election was two months ago we saw this coming also this is not a new political figure this is an exam that we had the answer key to this happened over four years ago and it's happening again we can have policies and procedures that explicitly state that we will not cooperate with Federal authorities right now we have policies that state we will cooperate with law enforcement we do not have policies that state that we will not
066cooperate with Federal authorities so will we leave it up then to teachers to be the ones to protect students and be the ones to obstruct Federal authorities to protect those students and then who would the district stand with with their teachers and their staff or with immigrant and custom immigrant Immigration and Customs Enforcement thank you thank you our next speaker this evening is Sophia aarup good evening my name is Sophia aarup and I come before you as an active Community member resident of the city an immigrant a parent of a Tacoma Public School student a PTA member and a Deaconess in the United Methodist Church a lay order of persons called to vocations of Love Justice and service I'm here because I care for my neighbors and the Safety and Security of those who now
067fear for their lives these neighbors are students and families of students here in our Tacoma Public Schools I understand that one of the Strategic goals for the district goal four is health and safety in this goal the plan states that we and I say we because I believe that as members of this community who support you all in the staff of our schools we must play an active role in creating and maintaining healthy and safe learning environments that then promote excellent academic achievement but when students and staff are anxious because of the unveiled threats from our federal Administration coupled with the absence of messaging or proactive messaging about commitments to the safety and wellbeing of our students and families Beyond General statements that point to existing um laws and legislation it leaves me wondering what
068the district's plan is to ensure to the extent they are able to continue supporting this goal of health and safety that appear to be more reactive we have seen from cities and districts across the country they proactive and explicit communication and support to assure that communities that we have rights not to collaborate with ice and that they will prioritize the safety and wellness of students and the communities and families who support them though an email communication was just sent out this evening it still didn't name the explicit threats to safety respect and rights for all students and I believe that if we can anticipate the thing and name the thing we can maybe address the thing I want to know that our student um that our district is thoughtful is strategic and intentional in the
069ways that they're lining supports for Learners and staff who come to school unable to focus because they fear deportation or deportation of those they love and want to believe that staff are trained to respond in ways that are culturally sustaining and attend to social emotional needs I want to believe that we will not be distracted by the fear mongering and terrorism by way of executive order I want to see that our district is unequivocally clear about our unwavering support and commitment to healthy learning environments for all and I Believe in Us I believe believe in our communities to show up for one another I believe that together we can activate a radical imagining for thriving that we know is possible regardless of status assume status in other protected classes whether through board policy procedure or
070practice such as what colleagues in neighborhoods School boards and districts have already done to explicitly address limiting immigration enforcement in schools and so I look forward to our Collective work together to keep us all safe and well thank you and and that concludes public comment for this evening moving forward to agenda item number 10 which is a consent agenda second it's been movement seconded all those in favor I I it's only four of us I didn't hear anybody oppos passes uh we're moving on to item number 11 policy matters uh 11.1 second reading of policy 2255 Alternative Learning Experience programs the general Council recommends the board of directors adopt the revised proposal of policy 2255 uh just real quick at the very beginning of December the first Thursday in uh the first Thursday in January
071sorry uh we had the equity policy review team take a look at this policy uh a quick summary of their suggested changes that are reflected in the red lines um in that first purpose statement they wanted to make clear that students in our district to choose to do Al as a option to reach graduation they wanted to make sure we had some language in there making clear for families and parents that they would have access to uh the very same graduation requirements under board policy and then commencement activities as well uh so after the equity P review team we met with Sean Martin one of the principles uh over um to and um got the specifics and and wrote it in there um and then the rest of the red lines you see are from
072the original policy 2255 on Al so it's got both the red lines from the original and then the red lines from the feedback from the equity policy review team uh and uh because this is a second reading we would ask the board to take a vote on the passage of the policy I move to adopt item 11.1 second it's been moving in seconded any questions comments all those in favor all not oppos we'll move to item number 12 M financial report the district's monthly financial report will be presented Here Comes car car's coming on behalf of Roslin and the team tonight to give our monthly Financial update okay good evening yes I'm Ki campen director of strategic Financial operations sharing this tonight and this is for a year to date through December uh the December
073financials uh you saw on the consent agenda have been posted out there for yourselves and the public just as a reminder our district funds we have six different buckets of money which might be looked at as six different checkbooks and um for example we recently had the $650 million bond that was approved that money goes into the capital and Technology Levy fund that cannot be used for daily operations um the financial I'll be talking about today are for the the general funds which are for uh daily operations so this is the four-year adopted budget which uh you adopted and and approved recently and just kind of a highlight again of what's in that that budget our uh this four-year one shows us with at the very bottom there a fund balance impact of a positive
074amount rebuilding our general fund um uh balance or fund balance Reserve so the uh this takes in some optim IC Revenue assumptions throughout that entire four years which now of course we're not sure what the impacts will be from uh different choices that have made up there as well as our legislators who will be meeting in the near future to talk about budgets for the state so just kind of you've seen this before but just kind of highlight that uh the next uh slide here shows our uh budget for this year for the 2425 fiscal year and then where we are year-to date through December in the financials that are published out there uh one thing to highlight is that it's four months into the year and someone might make the Assumption you do the
075math and say well that's onethird of the way through the year we should have onethird of our revenues in and onethird of our expenses done that's not quite how the school district Works um with that especially on the revenue side of it the first one you notice is the local taxes and through December about half of the local taxes have been received and that's from uh basically property taxes collected in October and April so twice a year that happens so the timing of the revenues that we receive don't always match the expenditures that we have as well uh basic education um for the funding the prototypical uh model and then the categoricals which include such extra things as lap Title One mckin vento multilingual learn learning special education earning learning Transportation nutrition services uh and
076those do not have a very linear way that they're funded uh throughout the year many of them are actually kind of based on lagging indicators so like our transportation um funds that we received this year are based on numbers from last year uh so as it changes it doesn't always keep up with what's actually going on in the in the school district uh down below our expenditures and again uh it's actually fairly close um we're about a third of the way through the year and there's about 2third of the budget left um for us for this year so I want to pause a little bit about car used to example of transportation and just unpack that so uh we get the revenue from last year but the expenditures were last year right so we're getting
077expenditures now for the population we have and having to pay those bills but we don't get the revenue associated with that for a year from now yeah an example of how that does impact us is with our special education students we have about 10% more special education students using our transportation services this year based on a revenue that was calculated last year uh so you can see how that's kind of problematic as we go on uh so some of the ongoing challenges we have are just as I mentioned and as our superintendent discussed uh as as well the funding model used by the state they're not always consistent we don't always have a clear understanding of how some of those are calculated and many of them are are kind of lagging uh TimeWise uh we
078also have inflation and other escalated costs that continue um in our district we pay a competitive wage which we want to do it's part of what the district does um uh benefit costs continue increase and in nutrition services an example food costs continue to increase but the amount that we get re reimbursed per Meals by the state doesn't increase to keep up with that on the legislative uh side of it this is pretty critical for us as as we go forward as well as other uh school districts too on what our state will do to address uh Transportation costs with mckin vento students and so forth um we've done our best as you know from last year to try to um kind of make more efficient routes uh to save some money uh in our
079cost for that which we're doing but the funding model is um is very key to this special education as we see in here the cost per student far exceeds the state's allocation more students are funded but at the same low rate and costs aren't fully covered uh the basic education prototypical model again that model only covers 66% of the costs allocated to the districts and then limits on local Levy taxes or Levy uh collections which we'll have more coming up on that in the in the future on the mitigation efforts that we're continuing to do the same things we've shared with you in the past um the budget team something that is fairly new the budget team meets with every program manager and department manager or most program managers and department managers at least monthly
080and many weekly so that we can monitor those um costs and revenues uh throughout throughout each week and throughout the month so it's a very proactive partnership uh working within our district and that leans leads us to some lean efficiency practices again finding ways to work smarter not harder um with the revenues that we do have for the programs and departments that we have available um let's see I'll jump down to uh you know we are proactively seeking legislative assistance for a full funding of necessary programming I think our voice has been heard your voice is being heard too and we hope there's a positive impact on that especially as we go out for that four-year budget um a lot of that is still you know not decided on yet and concerning the upcoming budget
081so we have our budget model which uh mirrors what the state does where one year it's a full cycle uh budget and then the next year it's more of a review and kind of a refinement of that so this coming year we'll be we'll be starting that in the next couple of months where we'll do a full budget um analysis and include many people in that um as you can see on the budgeting right priorities to the right there that cycle um that's the process that we use it's been well done in the past the community enjoys it I believe that those in our district enjoy being a part of that as well it gives a voice to people on on the priorities that we do want to be funding so it starts with identifying
082the funding determining our priorities identifying the results that we're looking for looking at those proposals uh ranking and reviewing those with all the multiple um ideas that come through and then approving or denying those proposals and it goes back back into the what the budget ends up being um those contributors are uh these the board uh superintendent and their cabinet team department managers and program managers who again are part of that weekly or monthly review of budgets so they're uh intimately involved in those uh community outreach which includes U one that's added on this year will be the uh budget committee so if somebody wants to get involved from the community they can they can volunteer to be a part of that committee um we teach them about budgeting we teach them about the different
083accounts that are here we ask them to take a look at what we have and help to make decisions on where we should focus our efforts and then the budget team who puts in an enormous amount of hours um I like the kid that they only work half days meaning 12 hours a day uh they put a lot of time and effort into our budget each year and that's what I have for today any questions I just was curious I know there's a lot of uh talk around the state um budget shortfall and I know we also our new governor Ferguson his proposed final budget has not been released and there's a lot of um there's a lot of scarcity discussion I know through the legislature and just curious for the Public's understanding like and
084I know we don't know until the legislature determines at the end of legisl session but I think um I'm just curious about how we um how the team would anticipate like what's going to come out um and the impacts of say if there are like 6% cuts across the board like educ like I just am wondering a lot about like how these impacts to budget potential budget cuts might impact us and that may be not there may not be an answer right now and just more like worry that I have as I think about as I think about budgets unfortunately too much yeah and I would say you know our budget team U they do the best estimate they can kind of a a high potential and a low potential based on the best information
085that we have and then as we get more information we can get that to kind of fine-tune of what that forecast might look like for for funding but um you're right right there's a lot of unknowns and until we hear exactly you know even like with the governor's proposed budget we know that that doesn't end up being what the final budget is for the state um but it's a good indicator uh as we go along as well youant do you have anything else you'd like to add to that yeah I think just going back to some of the other educational serieses it really depends where the money is right there's in that slide around the different buckets sometimes States uh federal government can make invest m in certain areas uh but it's uh you know
086Rosen uses green dollars red dollars right in some of those previous examples of and the costs associated with it go up as well and so there's unintentional consequences and and you know it's difficult to not live in the future and worry about it it it so my answer to you is it's going to be extremely tight um you know from all the signaling of the state's shortfall all the competing interest uh the amount of money that is uh projected to be needed to solve the state's education needs and the gaps I don't anticipate that they will all be met I think we continue to uh try to be as conservative as possible I think we've seen that we are in a very dangerous place with our fund balance uh we are not alone in that
087space um and I think we can't we have to keep on monitoring influencing um focusing in on the big three right and the big three are Material supplies and operation costs funding in special education and funding in transportation those are our biggest gaps and if we can fund those now increased dollars doesn't mean increased expenditures that is a very important note right and I hear that amongst folks is well put more special education money into provide we have to close the gaps of what we currently have that is the challenging piece to this and that's not unique to Tacoma so you can see the number of districts and binding conditions the number of folks that are focused in on those that it is a challenging piece and so I would just uh caution you from
088uh predicting too much um and we know that this is a long legislative cycle and I also just add the aspect that the state has to generate revenue and the amount of Revenue that the state has to generate um doesn't like it's very difficult the legislators that I've spoken to like the state doesn't necessarily have the ability to generate the level of Revenue that is needed to fill some of these gaps um and the funding shortfalls so and in my opinion and I know this is not a a board opinion this we cannot ask our taxpayers at the local school district level to generate that by increasing our levies and the reason that is is yes it's another tax and there's another tax at the state level but the vulnerability if we don't pass those
089is catastrophic and so as those conversations in the community are they're happening or you're talking to your state legislators is that is not a viable answer to pass that opportunity on to individual school districts to hope that they can raise the money for basic education opportunities and I'll remind all of us that we were required to only spend those dollars on enrichment activities a number of years ago by the legislator and the McClary decision and that has magically just kind of drifted away and also there are a number of districts that can't pass levies and bonds and so it's not even an equitable uh model to begin with um when you look at a Statewide when you look at it Statewide so thank you thank you any other questions we're good we move on to
090item number 13 curriculum and instruction item 13.1 approval of interlocal agreement number td-25 009 between Federal W school district and Tacoma School District number 10 from October 31st 2024 through August 31st 2025 the deputy superintendent on behalf of the director of student programs recommends that the board of directors approve interlocal agreement number TSD 25009 between Federal Way school district and Tacoma School District number 10 in the amount of $1,287 7 from October 31st 2024 to August 31st 2025 I move 13.1 second it's been moved in second any questions oh good all those in favor I any opposed all right pass passes it 13.2 approval of the interlocal agreement number TSD d258 between Federal Way school district and Tacoma School District number 10 why does that look like the exact same thing um from October 31st
0912024 to August 31st 2025 just to answer that question why they do look like the exact same thing different amounts uh the interlocs uh in essence uh we we uh work with our interlocal in this case it's Federal Way we have students who are actual Federal wayte students who attend private schools within our school district so when the students uh require a need that's under title one we pay that pay for that need in this one case it's St Pats and the other case it's sound Christian School we pay it then we get reimbursed by Federal Way so with that said 13.2 the Deputy superintendent on behalf of the director of student programs recommends that the board of directors approve interlocal agreement number TSD 25008 between Federal Way school district and Tacoma School District number
09210 in the amount of $3,429 34 from October 31st 2024 to August 31st 2025 I move to adopt item 14.2 13.2 14.2 13 wait sorry y'all I I scrolled way down third uh I move to adopt item 13.2 correction second it's been moved and seconded any questions comments all those in favor I any opposed and I do remember that now uh moving on to item 14 business matters item 14.1 approval of contract number TSD d24 d248 between Washington Patriot construction and Tacoma School District number 10 from December 20th 2024 through October 8th 2025 the chief op opting officer on behalf of the executive director director of planning and construction recommends that the board of directors approve contract number TSD 24- 248 between Washington Patriot construction and Tacoma School distri District number 10 for Phase One
093Design buil and preconstruction services for the multif facility theater Lightning upgrades project for an estimated total of $58,900 24 to October 8th 2025 I have a motion I move to adopt item 14.1 second it's been moved and seconded any questions or comments or anything like that all right all those in favor I any opposed here and none passes item 14.2 approv it to purchase playground equipment at L Elementary School from landscape structures for the low Elementary replacement project the chief operating officer on behalf of the the executive director of planning and construction recommends that the board of directors approve the purchase of playground equipment between landscape structures in Tacoma School District number 10 for the low Elementary replacement project an amount of .3 approval of contract number TSD d2424 amendment number one between Washington Patriot
094construction company in Tacoma School District number 10 from February 27th 2024 through December 31st 2026 the chief operating officer on behalf of the executive director of planning construction recommends that the board of directors approve contract number TSD d24 d024 amendment number one between Washington Patriot construction company and Tacoma School District number 10 for the Jenny Reid Elementary school modernization project in the amount of 12,211 6665 for the estimated total of $1,757 339 excluding sales tax from February 27th 2024 to December 31st 2026 I me 14.3 second it's been moved been seconded any questions or comments all those in favor say I hi any oppose hearing none it passes uh moving on to item 14.4 approval of bid acceptance between stagecraft Industries Inc in Tacoma School District number 10 the chief operating officer on behalf of
095the executive director of planning construction who recommends a board of directors accept the bid between stagecraft Industries Inc and Tacoma School District number 10 for the stage rigging replacement project at false High School in the amount of 377 ,500 excluding sales tax I move 14.4 second moving in seconded any questions or comments I do have a question well actually it's more for the public um Chris could you just explain what stage rigging means yes it's the uh Ste it's the steel structure that goes around the stage where you can hang hang light lights or curtains or other performance materials than I had to look it up so thank you so much all right uh no questions or one question uh we have a motion it's been moved in second all right all those in favor
096say I I any oppos hearing none it passes thanks Chris moving on to item number 15 which is other business 15.1 adoption of resolution number 2154 fixed asset writeoffs for 2021 through 2023 the director of strategic Financial operations on behalf of the Chief Financial Officer recommends that the board of directors adopt resolution number 215 4 for the write off of the assets identified as missing on the 2021 through 2023 inventories I move 15.1 second it's been moved in second General council benro is in a resolution so we the roll call vote absolutely president stroer how do you vote I vice president MC how do you vote I director Leon how do you vote I director keing how do you vote I the resolution passes 4 Z thank you moving on to item 15.2 ratification of
097the 2024 through 2027 collected bargaining agreement between Tacoma School District number 10 and the membership of the building and construction trades Council AF clo thank you the director of Labor Relations and whole educator support on behalf of the assistant superintendent of Human Resources recommends that the board of directors ratify the collective baring agreement between Tacoma School District number 10 and the membership of the building and construction trades Council AFL clo Mr President just a couple uh thank you I would like to thank uh Forest uh and I'd like to thank Mr Jared Ross uh who's in the crowd with us tonight representing our building and trades uh this is a long process negotiations are hard it takes strong individuals to come to the table to continue to find out ways to be honest and fair
098um and U representing uh I think a common good and at the same time also representing individual interests in there and it has to be that way and we recognize that and I think forest and Jared uh demonstrated all the way through this long process a commitment to saying uh these are shared team members uh we have to do what's right there's not endless resources but we still have to do what's right uh I appreciate Mr Ross's leadership he's a very strong individual uh he knows uh he knows the market he knows the industry he knows what's right for the employees of that he represents that and he's also does it in a respectful manner in an honest and up for up manner uh sometimes you don't want to hear that but it's there and
099he is always willing to come to the table and Forest always meets him there and so I am very grateful for the two of them in their partnership to help us get to this place and I hope that you uh will also uh appreciate them by your uh approval I mve to adopt item 15.2 second it's been mov to Second it we have another roll call vote uh we don't have to but historically we have done a roll call vote for the ratification of cba's so if you'd like to we can proceed with the roll call vote please okay president stroer how do you vote I vice president how do you vote I director King how do you vote I director Leon how do you vote I okay CBA between the district and the trades
100at Alf CIO uh passes 4 Z thank you thank you appreciate it all right we're moving on now to uh item 16 board comments and reports I see y already did Rock papes in your heads so whoever wants to go first G I'll keep lying real short tonight which I typically don't do um I think it's a new year it's a new day the commitment Remains the Same I'm very excited about um the continuation of the 2024 25 school year I've got a lot of school visits coming up um from now through spring break so I'm really looking forward to those continued Partnerships with principles and building staff allowing me to come in and see what these schools are all about um other than that it's cold outside if you can donate socks and underwear
101to your local um shelters and um yeah it's just a lot so times are heavy but I really appreciate again I'll say it twice today I really appreciate serving with you all I love being part of this board or part of this Tacoma Community so uh thank you all for the opportunity as always next yeah um I want to thank some of the students at mounta high school that joined a board ad advisory Council for the school-based health center there um in order to have the school based Health Center function and even uh higher capacities to serve all the students and their needs there some of them are from the health class so really appreciate that um their membership and leadership in that work it really is an a super model for for helping kids
102um with their health and their academics to be able to see a physician or a nurse practitioner PA in the schools to help them uh stay healthier um I know we have one at Lincoln now also so we're excited to have him at two high schools and hopefully at some point we'll be able to have him at um more high schools so thanks for those students doing that and people working around school based Health Centers thank you uh um I won't say a whole lot if you plan to say something about the listing session um sure but I'll say a little bit so last Thursday we were here um and we had the honor of doing holding a listening session with the Tacoma special education PTA um and I want to give a really big
103shout out um to the um PTA leadership on um really coming together to help um hold a dialogue um on a really personal and um sometimes very challenging topic um for our student of um for our students with IEPs um and and so I just um I felt that it was a really productive conversation and I just am really grateful um and it's um been a goal since I um joined the board um well I'm in my sixth year now that's crazy um but um so it's been something that I've really wanted to be able to to do as um as a board member so I'm really grateful for that partnership um and um the openness and willingness to um build and strengthen those Partnerships and relationships um the other main thing that I've been
104doing I know that there's other but I um in my head think it's January 39th so um it feels like it's been a six-month week and it's Thursday um I have been um so for those that may not be aware I do share the Washington State School Directors Association Federal relations Network committee um which I know is a mouthful we also call Fr FRN um and we're paring preparing for our annual trip to um DC um which I feel is now my uh home away from home I've been there every month for the last several months um and we are um going there for the national Schoolboard Association conference and most importantly the day on the hill which for us as the Statewide coalition of Schoolboard directors is really a couple days meeting with Federal
105delegations from um or Congressional leaders from around the state we do um we have uh coordinators for the committee that we work to um meet with as many congressional leaders as possible um we are also continuing our um meeting and relationships with the Federal Communications Commission the USDA Department of Education um and um My Hope which is something since I became chair well actually in my time for 5 years being um a member of FRN been wanting us as a state to meet with the Department of Labor so we're um fingers crossed hoping that that will happen um so we'll be traveling uh on the 2nd of February and um most of us will come back on the 5th um so that there's a lot of coordination and work that goes into um just organizing
106first of all organizing board directors is really hard um we don't always play well in the sandbox together and we represent a lot of really different um communities uh geographically regionally and also sizewise so um one of the things that I have always found um really valuable about my my participation in this um work um Statewide is um you know as always you know I represent um the board and Tacoma Public Schools um but in this capacity we really are advocating for all Washington State students um and so it gives me it has given me the opportunity to learn um for example about um impact Aid and those um tribal um and milit and districts tribal um districts and also districts um in and around military bases that their funding models are are different um
107and there um there isn't stability in some several of their um uh one of our one of my colleagues in yaka in the Yakama Valley um they you know deeply rely on impact Aid um and live in a really rural area um and um just within the last six months their um Community actually got um internet cable to the homes in 2024 um so there's a lot of really different challenges around the state um in meeting the needs of our students so I'm always very grateful to learn um from other board colleagues and work alongside them and Advocate um again for all Washington students um and I think that's it president treasure I forgot something of course okay wait but this one's great I actually was looking at Emilia and then I remember pres or
108former president Bon BR director Bon Brite is not here today and I went to my first JM meeting and let me tell you it's early in the morning and I don't do early in the morning but I did it for her I did it for for JM I did it for us and I learned a lot about the ways that JM is working to continue aligning the municipal um governmental agencies all around the city of Tacoma there were staff from different agencies um Executives from different agencies and then also there's a new chair new Vice chair all that's really great but all I have to say is that um I like that uh director of whole child Lauren Allen she's been around to a bunch of different groups um like the Pierce County Council and
109the city council so telling folks about the work and letting them sign on and into our whole child um so that was really awesome to hear that um a lot of different agencies around the city are working towards adopting some of that shared language and the models that we've put together here at Tacoma and that was talked about at JM as well um also they gave us a pat on the back for our Mar times Skill Center groundbreaking and but it was very overwhelming and 8:00 in the morning so I would say I don't remember a lot but I know that um board director brownb is not here tonight so I will lift up jmck in herstead she'd be proud she's so proud she'd be very proud and I actually also forgot something I did
110I no I'll make it quick I promise sorry um so one of the other things I wanted to say is that within the legislature um last year the legislature um had made a commitment to um revisiting the parental rights initiative that they passed and so legislative session started on January 13th um and I did get to end um all of the opening day um uh swearing in and other um ceremonial aspects um in both the Senate chamber and the house chamber which was um always really fascinating um and so um both the house and the Senate have different amendments um to help clarify the language and um some of the aspects that you know um I had testified in the hearing last legislative session on behalf of the district in terms of concerns we had
111um and the need for clarification on specifically around um mental health and Reporting and what does that mean because some of the there's a lot of language that EXT is really vague and very difficult to interpret in how it would be implemented so um the legislature uh in both Chambers is working to they're working to um create clarification so um it is a long session so it could be quite some time before um both Chambers come to an agreement on whatever between you know um moving um uh different bills between um each um chamber so but um to the legislator's commitment they are um they are actively um working to help um clarify um the the um aspects the of the initiative that we're concerning or of confusion um uh that I know that we
112wait in on so I just want to acknowledge our legislative um uh partners for taking that up and um continuing that commitment um because it's not um it's not an easy thing to do so I just wanted to add that too appreciate it uh I'll bring this home here I spent time on on baseball fields in classrooms in opposing gyms uh in council chambers I think I was all over the city since our last board meeting which is like okay here we go uh so uh I went to with with Laura Allen to the County council meeting to accept the whole child Proclamation it's actually in my car I probably should get it to one of y'all um on the 15th I went to uh the ribbon cutting ceremony for Aaron pointer field which is
113the home of the stadium Tigers baseball field um so our Stadium tigers and our our Stadium Tiger baseball and fast pitch teams now have a place to call home um how dare us do right by young people um the 17th I went to to uh Lincoln High School and as superintendent Garcia mentioned earlier held a conversation with members of the geig harbor Sports community and the Lincoln Sports community and when I tell you that that that saying what is it the children are our future like in the room that day our the children is are right now as well as our future like the conversation and the activities was majority student Le before we could even jump into what we had planned um they were already having conversations um they were doing uh Team Building
114exercises that they had learned from their uh respective ASB um the the young man who who uh was the center of attention if you will uh was present and took ownership of his actions um which really shined the light on like what does accountability really look like I'm here on um different Turf and I am admitting to wrongdoing in a room full of people who were hurt um and it was a example I think for for the students in the room but also adults like sometimes you got to own your stuff and and that young man did that so I was really proud uh to be in the room shout out to Antonio mmore as well as Josh Chambers for uh accompanying me and creating the space and allowing students to do what they what
115they do best um and then on the 20th I went to uh Lincoln versus Annie Wright on MLK day so it was busy um but I love it wouldn't traded for anything and here we are at a board meeting and I'm getting ready to move forward to uh item number 17 unless you have something else I've got a I I've got a quick announcement that I would love to share because there's an opportunity for voices to be heard on Monday our strategic plan survey will be open for student staff and Community to provide their input into our next strategic plan there will be social media reminders email reminders Robo calls so this is not the only time you will hear about it but it is a great opportunity for individuals to put forth their voice
116on what they would like to see and inside of our next strategic plan under your leadership uh things move in real time I was uh given a reminder uh under supports on the wayup site uh there is a new section called immigrant students rights and resources and we have been working behind the scenes with the Pug sound estd on a website all districts inside uh and it has a large plethora of resources um for families uh it articulates what students rights are it provides uh translation to many of the materials that are on the site um in there so it also gives uh resources for Legal Services uh that are available inside the the region as well so um it's once again under and we'll make sure that we communicate to folks but broadly but
117under the supports section of the Tacoma Public Schools website there is a new bar it talks about supports for immigrants students and families important to know so please keep your eyes peeled for those Communications and use it use the resource please general counsel you guys something are you good no good okay for sure I'm already looking for the I'm already looking for the website I didn't want to skip over you he's always good you good all right uh item number 17 is the announcement of next regular board meetings the day before Val Valentine's Day February 13th 2025 6 p.m. we'll have a business meeting February 20th 2025 we will have a study session at 6 p.m. and then February the 27th we will have another board business meeting here with that item number 18 just
118meeting is adjourned [Music] n [Music]