001Tuesday, December 9th. We'll begin with the >> pledge of allegiance. There's the flag back there. >> Ready? Begin. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> We're going to begin by doing our appointment of board directors and oath of office. >> All right, we'll go in order of our district position. So, position two is Natalie Shazad. Raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I, Natalie Shazad. I, Natalie Shad, >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support >> the Constitution of the United States >> and the state of Washington >> and the laws of the state of Washington >> and the laws in the state of Washington >> and I will
002faithfully discharge >> the duties of the office >> of the West Valley School District number 208 >> of the West Valley School District number 208 >> director position number two >> to the best of my ability. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. [applause] >> All right, position three. Right hand and repeat after me. Get out of the way of the camera here. [laughter] >> Sorry. I, Haley Larson, >> I, Haley Larson, >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support >> the Constitution of the United States >> and the State of Washington >> and the laws of the State of Washington >> and I will faithfully discharge >> the duties of the office >> of the West Valley School District number 208 >> of the West Valley School District number 208 >> director Position number three.
003>> To the best of my ability. >> to the very best of my ability. >> Congratulations. [applause] >> We're going to move on to the election of officers. Beginning with the president. I'd like to nominate Steve Holcott as president. >> Would anybody like to sec I' I'd second that motion. And um I app I think I I know your your heart and that you don't want to step into that role and I think uh Steve has quite a bit of experience not just this term but also 20 years ago. So uh yeah I would second that motion. >> Excellent. >> Do we go through each one and then take a vote? >> I would take uh the president first. >> Okay. All in favor of Steve Walcott as president, please say I. >> I. All
004those opposed, same sign. The motion carries. 5-0. >> All right. And then number two was vice president, although you are right in the middle of a two-year term. So, >> yeah. So, I it's not really voting on >> Yeah. Just continue that. [laughter] >> And then number three, Steve, did you want to uh address that? >> Uh, sure. I guess I'm taking the g. [laughter] Um, so there is an open position. I was legislative rep for the last couple years and I won't be doing that as the president. So, um, we need a nomination for a legislative rep or or a volunteer. >> Please nominate James Keert. >> Are there any other nominations? >> Okay. Um, all in favor of James Kart being the ledge rep, signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed? Same
005sign. >> Okay. We have our slate of officers. Dr. Finch, is there any changes to Oh, first of all, before I go, I wrote my own notes. Just now, as the new president, I would like officially welcome the new board members, and I'm so glad we have new board members here. I appreciate you guys being here. So, um, as you get started, I just want to encourage you to read through, um, not not that you have more to read after just what we just got inundated with, and this is all good stuff, but you might want to read the board of director policies, uh, at least a few of them in the in the policy. You can get that online. That tells you a lot of what our responsibilities are. So, I would encourage you
006to do that. Um, Dr. Finch, are there any changes to the agenda? >> No changes. >> Any communications? by no communications that response to public comment is a placeholder. >> Okay. Um we're excited to be at a Tanum Valley Elementary and uh Principal Nick, you are on. And can I ask you something for the new board members and for me? >> Anything in your presentation that is an acronym or an initial say what it is. >> Oh yeah. [laughter] Okay. like I probably won't even >> if you know um yeah I might not even notice that there's an acronym adding to my list in [laughter] >> Yeah. Um okay so what what I wanted to present on tonight was was just brought up. Um and first I'm really grateful to these six teachers that we
007have back here. Um no like schools don't typically love to present to the board but teachers really hate it. So the fact you're willing to [laughter] be here um they're they're amazing. They're they're really amazing and they represent everything I'm about to talk to. So, I really wanted them here. So, um so what what I want to talk about tonight. So, you mentioned this uh superintendent from Darington. >> Oh. >> That uh >> board member. >> Oh, sorry. Board member. Yeah, board member from Darington. and he um he gave me a call and he said um hey so actually I had a little bit of um warning because he left a message and and the message just said there's a there's a board member from Darington that uh wants to know how your school's doing
008so amazing and I was like oh great I got to think about it just for a little bit before I called him back and he started by explaining this um where the educ where the research comes from it's called the education consumers website And really uh they they actually have tons of data, but one thing in particular that's very important to them is this graph that shows the Washington state schools how they perform um [clears throat] poverty versus performance. >> And so as you move to the right, this is, you know, up to 100% free and reduced lunch. Um and as you move up and down, uh this is how student uh schools perform on uh SanT testing in ELA. And the reason why he wanted to hear from our school is he looked at
009these three or four outliers right here. Uh because these these stand out for a certain reason. Um we we talked about >> and this is grade three English language arts. >> Yep. Grade three English language arts. >> Thank you. >> Um [clears throat] our grade three and four scores over the last three or four years all stand out in this kind of trend. >> Um and uh in fact, let me see if I can Okay. Um, we talked about this at a staff meeting, uh, I think last year. Uh, the research on the effect of socioeconomic is is actually pretty easy to find. Like it typically the the higher the free and reduced lunch rate, the lower performance goes. Um, both on a schoolwide level and like within a household, it's uh it's a great
010thing when you see a kid that comes from poverty achieve really high. It gets us all excited and to be honest with you, I think it's the driving force in all of education. If you're going to get better, you have to get better with what you got. You don't get to choose who comes to your school, you know. Um though I will say we would choose the kids that we have. We're super lucky. Um okay, so what this sees though, as you see this downward tread line right here, um this is what you would expect. This is statistically uh accurate across the whole nation. as freedom reduce lunch gets higher scores go lower. So these schools up here uh which were one of them is a school that that is showing a significant outperformance of
011where our socioeconomic is. So uh he asked me the question what are you guys doing uh to make this happen? And I thought that's a really cool thing to think about because if you can't define what you're doing, you're kind of just getting lucky, you know. And so, um, I I thought for I had a couple hours. So, I thought throughout the morning and then I called him back and I wrote some notes and then I I said, "I'll send the notes off to me. You send me the website because I want to see this graph." And I sent them off to him and I CCed Peter. And then Peter actually added, "Uh, lest we forget, the district supports a lot of great things, too." And so, I put that in here, too. Well, then
012later I asked the instructional leadership team. I said, I'm going to present this to our school board and I would like for you guys to identify what do you feel we're doing that makes um that is making an impact. And I'm happy to say that our lists were almost identical. There's just a couple things that weren't on my list and it'll kind of make sense why, but uh those things and then I think with Peter's addition, the couple things that I forgot uh we can we we're kind of all on the same page. So, I want to go through those things and I'm going to try to go quick because I'm the only thing standing between a fast forward presentation and a long one. [laughter] So, I'm going to try to go quick and then
013I've asked them to present just kind of their just brief viewpoint on what is it that we do in a couple of these areas. So, um oh I wanted to uh this quote I thought was really cool. One of our teachers when I asked this question said this and I thought this perfectly defines uh who we are at a town. He said, "I think when we teach our students, we have an understanding about their socio socioeconomic status, but we don't treat or label them as such. When we teach, we expect every student has the potential to rise to the expectations and we truly believe that they can achieve it." I know that is a is sometimes just a phrase, but as teachers, we believe it deep down that they can achieve it. >> It's really
014really true. Um, our vision statement is expect success, which was developed by our our instructional leadership team. Um, and I think actually it was Alexandria that came up with it. Uh, Mrs. Vulkar. Uh, and so all the teachers have this, but it's a belief that it doesn't matter who you are, what you're coming with, we know that you can achieve and we're going to expect you to. And the best classrooms, you feel that. You walk in and you're like, "Oh, yeah, that teacher thinks every kid's going to pass the state test." So, um, so, uh, okay. So, let me just quickly go through. So, first of all, we really do have an amazing staff. Um, Peter pointed out in his email, there's very low turnover at TANM. In fact, um, uh, I can't remember the
015last teacher that we brought into the building. It's been a while. Um, we we only are really losing teachers through retirement and we're sad to see him go, but um, I mean eventually you can't teach anymore. [laughter] Um, I think that's reason number one. Like I would say it and when I called this guy, I said I first I want to tell you I can't replicate. We have a really really strong staff and we have some that are >> I call it my Mount Rushmore teacher and some of them are in this room but as you as you do this long enough you look back and you're like these are some of the best teachers I've ever seen and and there's a number of those here. >> Um the high expectations for all students. This
016is a culture where kids are loved and they love school. Um like kids just come in the building all smiles and Mrs. Button's going to talk about relationships later but uh kids really really uh love being here. Um, okay. Teacher clarity is something that we've focused on. Fortunately, I think we've had a little bit of a head start. We've been working on it. We're getting better at it, but uh, we've been at this for a few years, and I think our teacher clarity is really strong. But that will tie in, um, the collective efficacy. If you're familiar with John Hattie, John Hattie looks at the principle, the the characteristics of schools that um, make students outperform just what a normal classroom would do. Um, they improve beyond like a year's expected growth. One of the
017most important things is uh collective teacher efficacy. So that means are teachers planning together? Are they looking at assessments? Are they looking at student work? Uh it's a huge part of what we do here and it's built in through our schedule that we have PLC time and common plan. So our teachers work very well together. Um we've prioritized student engagement. Teachers not just talking but like kids are actively participating do the heavy lifting. Um we have a whole grade intervention model. So students that are pulled out in a rap lap and resource are not pulled out at any other time. No, they never miss core time. Our schedule does not well for the most part does not allow them to miss core time. Um we have great instructional coaching. We'll hear from that in a
018bit. Um our teachers are uh in their collective efficacy are reaching out to the coach to have her be a part of um them their growth. Uh these are the two that I didn't put but a couple of the teachers said there's great support for student behaviors between like our counselor or SEAL like every discipline uh teachers can teach because kids can be supported and then we have great e support and we have we have a really good uh e para okay I'm not going to go into all this but I thought this was interesting um these these were the teaching things like the actual pedigogy things and I wasn't expecting this but I got some really cool just little things and it's in your your report. You can relate later later. But um this
019to me represents like when you pull around at uh I accidentally said 6 or 7 in an assembly. [laughter] The whole student body went crazy. But when you pull around at 6 or 7 at night and you like see a couple cars here like these are the teachers that are like um and the and and there's some that just they uh they just pour everything into like uh the most amazing teaching and responding to to scores. Um, okay. And then this is what Peter added just the um the badgebook part. Um, I added we have a guaranteed viable curriculum. Some districts don't still. That's very important. Um, our intervention tools, Imagine Learning, I Ready, Reflex, we find to be really strong and effective. Uh, badgebook, great early learning partnerships. We have Epic here. Uh, we
020love Epic. I think they are top-notch. Like when we see them in the hall, we all feel like, how do you get preschools to act like that? But they're really good. We work well with them. Um, and then multi-tiered system support including a focus on high quality tier one instruction for both academics and social emotion learning. All right, so that's like that's that's all I had to say. And now I've asked these teachers to just speak a little bit on these points. Um, it's not a coincidence they're speaking about what they're speaking their strengths that I I see in them. Like I'd love to hear you talk about this. So uh, in order we're just going to hear from a couple minutes from each one of them. >> Well, you probably should. [laughter] I'm Julie
021Copeland. I'm the instructional coach here to TANAM. Um, I've been here for about 12 years as an instructional coach and I also uh run and manage the learning assistance program, our reading intervention program. And as far as instructional coaching goes, we we've really been hitting that hard the last fiveish years. And um I mean there's a lot of components to it, but I think what's a big part of what's made it successful is the teachers willingness and uh want to grow themselves professionally. I think, you know, to have a growth mindset, it all starts there. Um and so yes, I've had teachers come to me with a problem of practice. I don't know everything. Um, and it's kind of nice when I don't know the answer to their problems because we can really collaborate and
022problem solve. Um, we have a really neat thing that we've really been doing the last couple years. I mean, I go into classrooms and kind of I've asked teachers all last year, can I come in and like hang out for a week during your core and see what it looks like? And I got to pretty much all grade levels at that point. And I saw really great things. And it's one thing for me to go to a PLC or a collaboration meeting with a group of teachers and say all the great things that I saw, but the other thing we've been able to do is um work it to where they can go and do a learning walk, whether it's with someone on their team that we just did that last last week with a
023first grade team or uh cross grade level. I've taken teachers to different buildings. um you know are the instructional coaches in the district. We have a pretty strong network. We're all pretty tight. And so if one of us has a need or we know a teacher has a need, hey who's really great at uh writing instruction and we kind of uh figure out who we can go see for a good model for that. Um so I think just that that willingness to come to be vulnerable, you know, that's hard sometimes, but we've seen a lot of growth. I've worked with third grade either individually or as a group for going on four years now and seen great things with that grade level. I mean that kind of shows in our in the data that Mr.
024Hartner just showed you as well. Um and then as far as uh tiered intervention was which is where my heart is um uh teaching kids to learn to read. Um, one thing I think we do really great here is, you know, we don't just we we do our screener, right? Our I Ready testing and we identify students who qualify for for reading assistance. Um, but it's not just a matter of, okay, well, you know, I have four paras in the room. All right, just go to go to a table and I just plop a direct instruction book in front of them and they do it. We really look at second and third data points. I analyze like what do what do these kids really need? Sometimes it's not easy to have perfect groups and that's
025that's always a challenge. But between myself in the lap room and Mrs. Hatfield in the resource room and the interventions that are going on or during the workshop time in the classrooms. You have four, five, six, seven, eight, nine intervention possible interventions going on that is very fluid that that students can move in and out of based on, you know, what the data or progress monitoring is showing us that they need. And I'm super proud of that that the kids are getting very specific instruction for them to help them grow. Um, so that's nice for you all. >> Thank you. >> You got your lanyard? >> Uh, I'm Sheridan Schold. So, and this is Alexandria Vulkar. And so, we are two of the third grade teachers here at Otanum. So, I get the pleasure of
026talking about backwards planning. And what that means to us is making sure we have a really deep understanding of our standards. Uh whether that be math, um reading, writing, speaking and listening, everything. Um and being able to align everything that we do in the classroom to those standards. So, like Mr. Harbin said, teacher clarity is a huge thing in our school right now and has been for a really long time, obviously. Um, and so that starts first at being able to create those strong learning targets and success criteria so that both we and the students know what they're expected to learn. And from those really strong goals in our mind and the students mind, we're able to create lessons and assessments that directly align to what we're teaching. And then with the uh lessons that
027we create and the activities that we create, we feel that one huge part of students being able to learn is them wanting to be at school. Um so we try to make super engaging activities and um some of those for us in third grade, we have a math menu that for every math lesson that we do, then they um get choices to like entre. They have to choose one of those two. And then from there, our sides um that is still the practice of whatever skill we're teaching, but it's a they can practice in ways that work better for their brain, whether it's walking around the room, um doing something hands-on, doing a worksheet. Um and then in literacy, we right now actually are um learning about plays and dramas. And so again, can be
028kind of boring for kids to just sit there and read. So last year we started our own readers theater in during Christmas and we're doing that again this year. So each third grade class has a play that they do and present for their for the other third graders and for their families to come and watch >> um them do a reader theater which really makes them a lot more invested in what they're learning about. >> Um and with them wanting to come to school then it's also the classroom community. We do circle time on Mondays where they get to talk about their high, low, and buffalo of what they did that weekend. And it really just sets them up for a successful week and it helps us to know as soon as they walk in
029like, "Oh, did you have a rough weekend? Did you have a super exciting weekend?" Um, and so just that classroom command community and the the fact that they want to be there. It's always nice when I hear a I get a message from a parent like my kid has a really sore upset tummy but they refused to stay home so I'm sending them call me, you know, I guess [laughter] if they need to go home. Um, which I love getting messages like that. So just all of that working together. Um count >> when I was talking I think his name was Randy when I well there said no when he called him he said what like what things should I be looking for when I walk [laughter] and I said you don't want to walk
030into a classroom and the only voice you hear is the teacher's voice and I thought specifically of these are some of the happiest classrooms you'll ever see in your life you walk in it's just all smiles and uh >> yeah happy classroom kids are learning >> I'm super excited to be here. [laughter] That's not true. But strong relationships are the foundation of an effective classroom. And there is a ton of research to to back that up. Um especially for students who are facing um challenges at home, trauma, different kinds of things um like that. They crave a sense of belonging and um just like a safe [snorts] place, I think. And um so it's really important especially for students like that. Um so Mr. Hartman asked me to talk about some things that I do
031to build relationships with my students. And um so I made a list because I knew that I would forget stuff when I stood up here. So um the first thing that we do and I think all the teachers in our building do this but each morning we're at our doors uh when the kids are coming in to greet them by name. And um I love this. My classroom is out here in the annex. So, a lot of kids get dropped off uh in the drop off line over here. So, I not only get to see my own students, but other students, former students, other kids. Um so, I just I love that. I love when they run up and they're so excited to be here and they hug. Um we have a lot of huggers
032and I teach kindergarten. [laughter] Um uh let's see. Uh every year within the first week or two of school, I try to send a note home, a postcard to the students um to tell them I'm so excited that they're in my class. I can't wait um you know to learn lots of things with them this year and they love that. Um they always bring it in and they're like you sent me this. You know they're they're always excited to get mail. Um another thing that I do is I tell them at the beginning of the year and I send a note home to their parents. Um if you invite me to a game or recital or a birthday party um I'll try to be there. And I love that. I think you can learn a
033lot by watching, you know, being with the family, watching them play sports. Um, last year I went to a couple birthday parties. Um, that just teaches you a lot about their families. And, you know, I think it also helps the parents get to know me. Kindergarten parents sometimes are a little scared to send their kids to school for the first time. And, um, so, I don't know, it just it's kind of puts you on another level and they they feel a little bit more comfortable. Um, we do a question of the day, kind of like the circle time thing. So, every day I'm asking them um, what did you do this weekend or have you ever done this this week or month? A lot of the questions about Christmas time. Have you ever gone ice
034skating? I have um, 16 kids in my class and like seven of them had never heard of that. So, then we pulled up a video and we were showing them, you know, what ice skating was and that was kind of a fun thing. Um, I love to give students nicknames and um, some kids love it, some don't. So, if they love it, then then we roll with it. Um, there are fourth graders around here who still see me and want me to call them if I call them by their real name, they're like, "What about my nickname?" And, you know, they want me to call them that. And I love that. Um, we try to follow really consistent routines. Um, but also throw some fun in there. So something I started I think last year
035um if they can get ready quickly at the end of the day to line up and go home. We do a 30 secondond dance party. We turn the lights off. We have a little disco ball and we have a great time. Um I want them to be sad they're going home so we got to end. Um and that leads me to also like every day is a fresh start. We have tough times sometimes at school. Uh but it doesn't matter what happened yesterday. Today's a new day. It's going to be great. Um, and so, um, let's see. We work hard in kindergarten, but we play hard, too. And I I guess my philosophy, and I always say this to parents, is you have a lot of more years of school. So, you know, we want
036them to want to be here. And I feel like at a tandem, we do a good job at Black. The kids, you know, they they love coming to school. And, you know, we we have a good time, but we also work hard and and that shows in the test scores. So, >> yes. >> What's your name? Just cuz I'm putting names. Carrie button first. >> Thank you. >> I'm Audrey Johnson. I teach fourth grade. Uh my teammates are Kyoki Piculi and Nick shared uh Mr. Puli's uh statement on the screen. I also work with Tara Nisler. We started here at Otana all together at the same time. Uh we were a brand new fourth grade team and our first set of fourth graders are graduating this year. >> Um so time has flown by and
037I'm super grateful to work with them. Uh Nick asked me or us to talk about collaboration and so I met with my team. We're really passionate about collaboration and we truly believe that we're stronger together. Um, and so I I talked to them about what they wanted me to include and I just wrote kind of a quick snapshot of how we feel about collaboration. Collaboration within our fourth grade team is a driving force behind student success. We meet regularly during our plan time or before or after school to align our lessons and activities to standards. Sheridan spoke about backwards planning and that's something that we do regularly as well. Um we do backwards planning starting at the assessment level to ensure that our curriculum and instruction matches what students are expected to know and do.
038We also check in with each other daily, sometimes formally, sometimes in passing because we've found that capitalizing on each other's strengths, sharing ideas, resources, and strategies in real time directly attributes to our students having a higher level learning experience. Our reflection is ongoing. Although we may backwards plan at the beginning of a unit, we circle back to discuss what's going well and what isn't. We constantly ask each other, "How did you teach it?" And we do this every single year. Our kids are different every year. They have different needs every year. And so even though we've been teaching together for a long time, we still are getting that constant feedback of what's working for you and your classroom. This is not working so well for me. Let me see what you're doing and try to
039do that in mine. We mirror each other's successes in our own classrooms. When challenges arise, we problem solve together. When success happens, we celebrate as a team. By continuously collaborating this closely, we stay committed to shared goals. We create a united front for student growth, and we expect and believe in success for all students. >> I um the the collaboration is is pretty awesome at this school there. Uh you see it all over the building. I asked fourth grade, I've never quite seen a team probably this much in sync, like the whole grade level team. >> Uh it's pretty amazing. Like even even like sometimes one of them will be like I need to go yell at Nick about something and they're like let's talk about it first. It's incredible collaboration. Like you will rarely
040see if you want to see like what should it look like? They they'll they'll actually start with like uh the end assessment and the standard and they're looking at their work and like wait why were you why was yours hired? I want to come watch what you did with your kids or whatever. It is phenomenal. And like I said I think we have multiple grade level teams that are that are like that. And um and they just perform so high when they do it. It's awesome. [clears throat] >> Alarms [laughter] every time Nick is trying to lead a meeting on Blake Start. All of our alarms for it. Well, mine is during that human. [laughter] >> Not really. Tony Paganelli. I teach second grade here at Otanum. And I'm one of those dinosaurs that has
041never left. I did my student teaching here and 26 late or this is my 26th year of teaching and 27 years ago I did my student teaching. >> Wow. >> So I've taught kindergarten, first grade and second grade and I found my love of second grade and I have the best team. Um I have Aaron Clipper and Deandra Turley and Deandra and I have the same exact brain. I can start a sentence and she will finish it. And we just bring Erin along. [laughter] And so he's like, "Uhhuh." And he adds in a little bit here and there and he's the quiet guy that just goes along with all of our craziness. So I'm here to talk about expectations for success. And so when the students come in, we first have this big conversation about
042the acronym what I need win. And it stands for what I need. So, as we sit down and talk about this, we talk about all of our differences. How some of us are really good readers, some of us are really good at math, some of us are good at sports, some of us are really good at singing, all of the different um areas that we can excel in. So, then when it comes to having that discussion, we talk about how you will see some students in our classroom working on something that's different from what you're working on. And that's because their what I need is different. And so when it comes to our time when kids leave for um learning assistance during our we call it win time um students are leaving all over the
043place and nobody even thinks about where they're going or why they're leaving and some kids are staying. So, it really takes away that stigmatism of or stigma of, oh, I'm not a good reader or I'm not good at math because they just think they're going to their special what I need and they don't know what level they're at. >> So, something else that I'm going to speak to is adjusting um all of our activities to fit their specific needs. So all of our students actually go through our same reading curriculum, whole group math curriculum, and then when it goes to practice time, that's when we get to differentiate. And I'm differentiating even down to students learning letters and sounds. And so, and then the varying end of that, I've had a student in the past
044that came in soaring already at the end of second grade level, and we just kept pushing and pushing and pushing, and I'm retaching myself third grade math and fourth grade math, and um she ended up skipping third grade because she was just one of those students that >> was excelling and thriving. So, when it comes to that expectation for success, I don't let the kids just stop here. and neither do my teammates. So, they come in, we meet them where they're at, and then we just start making them rise to the, you know, um, level that they need to be. And so, we always tell them second grade is that next step to third grade. I'm getting you ready to be successful in those third grade classrooms. And so, one way that we do that
045is just by we do a lot of um leveled reading in there. So once they do all those initial assessments, then I give them reading levels and it really holds them accountable for understanding their reading level and for them to choose books that meet their needs. And so they'll come up to me and they'll say, I took this book home and it's too hard. I said, "What do you need to do?" "Find a book that's better for me." And so they're really good about judging where they are and what their needs are and then coming and asking for help. So we always talk about with our math also that students will some need manipulatives and some don't. And then for those kids that are thriving, they say, "Oh, well, what happens? We have this program
046called reflex when we fill up our reflex pyramid." And I said, "Well, then we start teaching you all the foundation for multiplication and division." And they're like, "So they know that they never have a cap. They're going to keep learning and learning and learning." So, >> and one of our former students of >> Otana. [laughter] >> Yeah. Um, okay. I just want to end by saying I'm really grateful to the six of you. Um, so, uh, you know, America is the land of the free and anybody can accomplish anything. But statistics don't actually bear that out. It's very hard sometimes to outkick where you're supposed to be at. The only way that that happens, you have to have people that just believe that you can be more than what statistics say you'd be. Um, I'm
047so grateful that I get to lead a school of people that believe that. And uh, if you if you want to know when I say uh, it's not just by accident that we keep seeing these really high scores coming out of um, some of these classes, it's not by accident. It's by people that just believe like these kids, it doesn't matter where they come from. Like we've got kids that just get done with their goats in the morning and they come right into school uh to learn like high level math, you know, or whatever. So it it takes people believing this is a school that I I love to lead people that I love to lead. Um and so this is this is uh who we are. And if anybody ever asks you again like
048what's great about TANAM, I hope that you took away a little bit of [applause] >> so before I give it over to questions, I just wondered if anybody didn't hear that. So I was at the Wazda um meetings over in Seattle and Randy who I've met once or twice before from Darington. He we were talking also looks at my name tag and says you're from West Valley. He goes I got to talk to you and he's like I've [laughter] been talking to Nick and and he just was praising you guys. And I'm sitting there going, "Well, it's not me." So, [laughter] so, so, so I'm being proud for you guys, but um, thank you so much for all you do because it's fun as a board member to go over there and just have somebody
049come up to you and go, "These guys are doing it great." And I called them and I called your superintendent and I'm going, "Okay, this is good. This is awesome." [laughter] So, thanks so much. Any other questions or comments? >> Uh, yeah. Um, uh, man, I wrote down a whole bunch of things. Um, expect success growing relationships, team, knowing the student. Uh, one of the things that stuck out to me, Mrs. Button, I think, >> in [snorts] I don't think maybe even realize how big of a deal it is, but you said you go to the kids, uh, games >> for a parent, that's huge. >> So, >> I think it, [clears throat] this is dumb. I think it invites the parent to partner with the teacher because they want the success of their student.
050Yeah. >> Um and then I would the other question I would ask is um on that graph so who are the other two schools to the right of you that are we need to >> I don't remember one of them but Zilla >> we need to beat okay [laughter] >> I know [cough] >> I did have to I did check all all West Valley elementary schools are above the trend line. So [laughter] >> Zillow was one of them. >> Zillow was one. Yeah. If you it's education consumers. So if you go to that website you can pull up the graph. It's super navigable, navigable. >> There were so many wonderful things from this presentation. Thank you all so much. I heard collaboration success is everyone's and that was just a thorough through all the way
051that everyone spoke about. Anytime that there's a struggle or anytime that there's a success, it's everyone's and I think that that unity just shines through. I love the individuality. There's so much intentionality about how you're looking at every student and really focusing in on their individual needs. Sometimes we can get lost in the the classroom. We can think about all the things that the class needs, but I continually heard from the instructors today about how the individual matters and when the individual matters then um that student is going to succeed and and that's the line that I heard everyone can succeed. Uh the last one which is uh a testament to just the the amazing work that you guys are doing. Such a passionate teachers so loving to teach and then the willingness to pour
052their love into their students. Man, thank you guys so much. What a great school. >> Yeah, you guys, that was really awesome presentation for me. It's my first meeting. Um, and it was just I'm like in constant learning and I wanted to write Miss Button's name down because I was like, "Oh my gosh, this is like great stuff that you're doing and it's really cool that you're setting that foundation for the kindergarters. Like every kid should be that lucky." So awesome presentation, >> really like encouraging for me as a new board member. >> Yeah. I just want to say thank you. I mean, I know what you guys do is really hard and um you go above and beyond and it's it was really obvious. So, um, you know, I know it's not easy. It's
053fun to talk about all the success now, but I know there's been a lot of hard work that probably hasn't been always noticed. Um, so just thank you for that. And I I think what stood out to me along with what everything else is just that you make it really fun and make kids want to come. >> And that's really, you know, a big piece of the battle, right? >> Um, is to get the kids to school and happy and engaged. So, I think you guys are doing great. Keep keep doing it. >> Thanks. Mhm. >> All right. Well, yeah, welcome the two of you to the West Valley team. I um >> I uh the last thing I want to do is like let you see my faces, the faces success. So, I asked
054them to be here. So, I really am so grateful. Uh the these are if you ever want to just visit a classroom, like walk into these classrooms and just prepare. They're awesome, great teachers. The whole staff is like that, but they're the ones brave enough to come. [laughter] >> And you're welcome to stay for the whole meeting, but you're also welcome to >> [laughter] >> if you have things to do tomorrow. >> So, a couple years. >> You're welcome. >> Yeah. >> All right. Well, thank you. >> Um, >> we're going to open this time for public comment. Was there any signin sheet today? Okay. There's no signin sheet. Um, prior to me closing the public comment or reading the disclaimer. Is there anybody that would like to make a public comment? >> Okay. Hearing
055none, we will not have public comment. We'll move on to action items. Tonight we have three action items. Uh the first one is approval of the minutes and I will entertain a motion to approve the minutes. >> I'll make a motion to approve the minutes >> of November 24th. I'm sorry. >> Okay, there's a motion. Are there any questions? >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed by the same sign. Motion passed five to zero. Um the second action item is approval of travel requests. There's two travel requests. are both from the high school girls wrestling. One to Federal Way December 19th through 20 and one to Spokane January 2 and three. Uh we'll take that approval together unless someone wants to pull one out for some reason. So I would also entertain
056a motion to approve the two travel requests. >> Second. >> I don't think we need a second. Motion to tell me. Tell me what I need to hear. >> I will. Yeah. Motion to approve. I'm sorry. I said I'll make a motion. >> Okay. We have a motion to approve. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed by the same sign. Motion to approve 5 to zero. The uh third action item is approval of resolution excuse [clears throat] me 25-12-787. And that's an appointment of investment officer, auditing officer and signatory of warrant registers. And you in your packet got a board memo and and the resolution itself. So, I will also entertain a motion uh unless there's any questions to pass resolution 25-12-787. Dr. Finch, you have anything you want to say about that
057before we make that motion? >> Nope. It was all in the cover memo. >> Okay. Um, do I hear a motion to pass that resolution? >> I'll make a motion to pass resolution 12 uh 2512-787, appointment of investment officer. >> Okay. The motion is to pass resolution 2512787. All in favor say I. >> I >> opposed by the same sign. Motion passed 5 to zero. Are there any items arising? Hearing none. Um Dr. Finch, superintendent report. >> Yeah, superintendent report shared information about the bond and levy and we have the one-page handout. I've been using this uh in my presentations to staff. This is theformational handout and we'll have a mailer that will go out in January that is very similar to this. This isformational. This is not promotional. Uh this has been vetted by
058our legal team. And so this is my talking points during the school day. Um, our assistant superintendent, Ryan McDaniels, sent a email to all staff uh letting them know that we are in that election period and that staff cannot promote the levy during and the bond during the school day and that uh that it needs to beformational um information that we share with uh parents and and staff. And so I've been sharing this at all uh staff meetings, been uh giving this out to the buildings. This this isformational and can be used during the school day with talking points. And just a reminder that the bond is really a replacement bond because the um high school bond is going to be paid off in 2026. And so this allows us to have a new bond
059that would keep the tax rate at the similar uh in the future, similar to the current rate. The levy is a replacement levy from the levy that was passed in 2022. And so it's a four-year levy. So from 2022, that's a 4-year levy to 2026. So it's time for the replacement levy in 2026. Uh down at the bottom, it shows that the combined rate of the bond. So the bond rate would be $137 per thousand. That includes the Apple Valley Summit View projects still those bonds there through 2038. It includes the defeasance of 7.5 million that was left over from the Apple Valley Summit View project. So that lowered the tax rate. And then it has the new bond that would install security cameras at all schools, renovate Autanum Valley, update Mountain View, expand the
060middle school so that all grades 6 through eight are under the same roof, and also add an auditorium at middle school, and then refurbish the junior high for community and district use. So that's the $137 per,000 plus the levy rate of $150 per, thousand. That gets us to the $287 per thousand. And then on the handout, it does show that that is a very favorable comparison to our neighboring school districts. And then also, I appreciate that one of the committee members said to make sure that we put in on the handout that for every dollar that is spent for the bond, West Valley will receive from the state nearly 50 cents on the dollar. So, we get quite a bit of matching funds funds from the state for the bond. And then we also get
061local effort assistance for the levy. and the tax rate is going to be maintained similar to the current rate and it's very favorable to our neighboring districts. So, >> Dr. Finn, >> yes. >> Um, you mentioned [clears throat] about the teachers not not promoting it during the day during the school day, but they can promote it on their of their own valition outside of the >> Exactly. Yeah. outside of the contracted day and off school property, not using a school computer and such, but certainly after after the work hours. um they can >> promote and and engage in political activity outside of the school day. Yeah. >> And so uh just wanted to share that with you. Uh we got the hard copy here. Uh I'll also be sharing at our we have a lot
062of holiday concerts coming up next week and I'll be sharing that information. We'll have it at ball games uh coming up in December and January. And then also uh we have some good connections with community with our new board members. So maybe they can help me get out there to the community and and present as well. And um and then also there was a good suggestion this morning. I had uh we had a legislative breakfast and a good suggestion from James that we get some videos going. So I talked to field group this afternoon and we'll be we'll be able to do a video about the middle school, a video about Valley and overall comprehensive video about the bond and levy. And we're going to make them real short so that they're uh able just
063to get the message out real quick on social media and we'll get those done and have those ready to go in January. ballots will uh be mailed in January and then uh the deadline is Tuesday, February 10th for the vote. >> Is there any rules or restrictions on what we can do as schoolboard members promoting the levia bond? >> Yeah, that's a good question. And basically, you can't use school property to do that, but um you you can certainly um you can speak as a as a citizen and you can do that. Yeah. And Ryan, go ahead. the email that I sent to the the staff members, there's a link with some additional information. I'll send that out to the board. If you click on the link, it specifically talks about your different roles within
064the district and what you can and can't do. And so, I'll send that as well. You got to do a little clicking in there to to get down to it, but it'll say school board and it'll give some examples and and dos and don'ts and things of that nature. Great. >> Good question. >> Do we know when in January the ballots are going up? I believe it's a Friday around January 23rd around that date. >> Anything else? >> Any other questions for Dr. Finch? >> Okay. Any board reports or board development that the board would like to share? >> Okay, it is 7:48 and we are adjourned. And again, welcome to Haley and Natalie. Very good. Thank you. Thank you.