001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Recording in progress. One man. All the things I forget. I would like to call to order the March 11th, 2026 regular meeting of the Centennial School District Board of Directors. And we are going to start with the uh approval of the meeting agenda with one um move. And right after we are going to do our approval of minutes. So, after number three, board members, would you list 5.1 the Pal Butte Elementary School report. So, that they will be able to talk to us immediately. All right. So, that's what you're voting on in terms of the agenda. All those in favor of the modified agenda, indicate by saying I and raise your hand. I. Any opposed? All right. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. And then, um board members, we have
002um area called introduction of guests, but we also have um a proclamation recognition for tonight as well. So, what I would like to do is introduce our music in our schools monthly recognition. And board members, we are all going to participate in this particular process. So, if you would um pull that up together, please. So, Music in Our Schools Month. Whereas March has been officially designated by the National Association for Music Education as Music in Our Schools Month, encouraging communities across the nation to on music education and Whereas music education is part of a well-rounded education for every student, bringing joy and belonging to participants and whereas the purpose of this proclamation is to raise awareness of the lasting positive impact of music education on the academic, personal, and professional growth of our students. And
003Whereas music education shapes the way our students understand themselves and the world around them, allowing for deep engagement with learning. And whereas Music in Our Schools Month reminds us that school is where all children should have access to music. And Whereas music educators, students, and staff throughout Centennial School District demonstrate the importance of quality music education programs to the lives of young people. Whereas the Centennial School Board joins our music students, educators, and communities in celebrating the power of music education. Now, therefore, we, the Centennial School Board, do hereby proclaim March as Music in Our Schools Month and encourage all citizens to celebrate and acknowledge every day, but especially in March, that music education is an essential part of every student's well-rounded education. Music in our schools month. You did good. Thank you so much.
004I appreciate it. All right. Um also under our introduction of guests, um Superintendent Owens, would you like to take that on for us? I would. Hot seat. I don't have a tag team on this reading and I've got a lot of words, so I'm on my own here. Whereas Whereas Whereas I'm pleased to introduce Dr. Alexa Pierce as the next principal of Centennial High School effective January or till January effective July 1st. Um Alexa brings more than 25 years of experience leading, teaching, and learning at the school, district, and state levels with a focus on strengthening teams, advancing instructional practice, and building trusting relationships and partnerships. Alexa currently serves as assistant superintendent of the Office of Teaching, Learning, and Assessment at the Oregon Department of Education. In this role, she leads statewide teaching and learning
005strategies across Oregon's 197 school districts, supporting early and adolescent literacy, multi-multilingual learners, summer learning, digital learning, federal programs, high-quality instructional materials, and academic standards. Alexa, you can correct me on any of this when I'm done. Alexa codeveloped the early literacy and adolescent literacy frameworks, integrating research, stakeholder input, and implementation guidance. She additionally supported ODE's equity initiatives, including statewide implementation of access to linguistic inclusion, Oregon's inclusive social science standards, and transformative SEL standards. Prior to her current role, Alexa served for 5 years as ODE's director of standards and instructional support, leading statewide adoption of content standards, and instructional materials, as well as supporting implementation of programs statewide, such as comprehensive school counseling, accelerated learning, TAG, alternative education, and STEM and STEAM. In addition to her work at the state level, Alexa has extensive administrative experience in
006school and district level positions including principal of Metropolitan Learning Center K-12 in Portland Public Schools, assistant principal at Clackamas High School, and Sunnyside Environmental School K-8 and associate director of teaching and learning for the North Clackamas School District. This new position marks a return to Centennial High School for Alexa where she previously served as an English teacher, English Department Chair, and Instructional Coach. She is honored and excited to be rejoining the Centennial community in her new role. She holds a BA in English Language Arts from Michigan State University, a Master of Arts in Teaching Deaf and Hard of Hearing from Lewis and Clark College, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the Univer- University of Oregon. As a leader, she strives to build trusting and inclusive relationships with students, staff, families, and partners, and approaches
007leadership with curiosity and a strong commitment to academic excellence. Uh Alexa is currently working with Principal Miller, um CHS, and community to for a smooth transition. And we welcome Dr. Pearson back to Centennial School District as she embarks on this new leadership journey at Centennial High School. Did I leave anything for you? >> so. I feel like there's like a this is my life kind of Oh. Is your mic Is your mic okay? Don't shout to me. Okay. Um Thank you. Well, first of all, thank you for the warm welcome. I am thrilled to be back at Centennial. Uh we were just talking beforehand when I was in the interview process, um one of the folks who had known me before uh said to me um what you the hardest Centennial of what you left
008is all is still here. It's what makes Centennial special and I always thought when I left Centennial that I would return someday. And so when this opportunity presented itself I saw it once. It was during the middle of legislative session and I was kind of really deep into my role there and all that I thought oh gosh it just tugged at my heart. I thought all right Centennial and then it came up again this year and I just I couldn't resist and I was so excited to have the opportunity to apply. A rigorous process and really excited to be making this shift back to I always joke around that high schools are my natural habitat. I've been in K-12. I love K-12. I like the littles. I like the bigs but I really do like
009high school. So I'm so I was just there this evening. I bought my first little bit of swag. Should have worn my scarf. But I'm thrilled to be back and just so thank you. I feel I feel very honored to be here. I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you board members. No no questions. We won't really hear right away. Well welcome though and you you have an impressive background and I I think I speak for everybody that we're really looking forward to what you bring to the district bring back to the district and everything that you've learned along the way. Congratulations and welcome again. Thank you. You are going to fill an an interesting role, a unique role and a pretty special role and I knew who you were before I did a lot
010of work with ODE so I'm particularly excited to see your return and to have you work alongside for a little while just to kind of get the vibe and the feel. The high school is a a unique situation at Centennial. Centennial is unique so I'm I'm just excited that you bring a lot to that table and are willing to do a lot of that work so thank you. I know. I have I mean much to say other than welcome back and excited to see what next year looks like. Welcome back. Have a great time. Thank you. >> Let us know if we can support. Thank you. I'm very grateful to you Mary Miller who's been meeting with me on Sundays so we can be transition planning and trying to pop into the high school whenever
011I can. So it's been a really nice so far nice partnership and transition and just really looking forward to that. Thank you. Welcome. Now we get back to things like approval of minutes board members. So exciting. I know. So you have had the minutes of February 25th in front of you with in board book. Do I have a motion to accept the approval of minutes as >> to approve and accept the minutes as presented. I'll second. It's been moved and seconded to accept the minutes of February 25th. All those in favor indicate by saying I and raising your hand. I. Any opposed? Well done team. So Pal Butte. Hey, you're up. Um Superintendent Owens. Would you like to do an introduction or do you want Principal Austin to be just all on his own? >>
012I've got I've got it. He He might need a minute to get his tech set up. So >> I'll do uh So I'm pleased to introduce this evening. We've got Jared Austin and Diane Regis from Pal Butte Elementary School. As you know during our reports that we've had the schools do, we've been trying to really intentionally focus and feature on our Roadmap 27 focus areas. And so each time that you see a school report you'll see a little bit of a different bend on our strategic plan. And this time Pal Butte will be featuring preschool. So as you can see on the screen there, the littlest so excited for this report. I believe that there are some preschool staff here that Jared and Diane will introduce and I'll go ahead and turn it over to
013them to take it away. Just make sure your green light is on your microphone. Yeah, we're good. We got the green light. Uh thanks for having us here tonight. >> All right. Uh we >> me to move closer? Mike head. Okay, I can move closer for you. Uh yeah, so we get to bring all the cuteness tonight. We've got the preschool presentation and we've got some awesome preschool staff with us and we'll take a second to introduce them. So we have our two licensed preschool teachers in the house with us here, Miss Sarah and Miss Abby. Thank you. And then of course our early learning administrator, Kendra, in the back back there as well supporting this. So it takes a team and they've been a wonderful team as we've moved along this. So we get
014to share with you all the awesomeness that is preschool in Centennial, which is exciting in itself, right? Uh so puppy preschool, our littlest coyotes. So tying this into Roadmap 27, this ties right into uh building a strong foundation pre-K through third grade. And I added a little parentheses in there because the wording on the goal there said each student K through third grade, but I added the pre-K cuz it's important, too. Uh pre-K through third grade will develop foundational academic skills and social emotional learning skills necessary for future success. So that's what we're doing, right? We're bringing kids in early, getting them used to our schools and our school district, and hopefully setting them up for lots of success throughout their time in Centennial. Also ties into our school improvement plan. So we have three
015big areas of our school improvement plan. We have a goal around literacy. Uh our students are learning early literacy very early on and some of them as young as 3 years old when they're in our preschool class, which we're hoping is going to pay big dividends as they step into kindergarten. I'll talk a little bit more about some of our data pre- having preschool in our building when we get into the presentation. Attendance. Interesting fact, our preschoolers have an 83% regular attendance rate. It's the highest of any grade in our building. Our average is about 2/3, so we have about 67% of our students that are regular attenders, but in preschool we have 83% right now that are regular attenders. So, they're coming to school often, which is great. Hopefully setting the trend, you know,
016um norm for continuing to come to school throughout their educational experience. And then social emotional learning, being in the school that many of them are going to go to, being around peers, being in a classroom environment, getting to experience things like field trips and assemblies and all the greatness that happens in schools early on is going to pay huge dividends for them as they transition into kindergarten in the coming years. All right, a little bit of history for you guys about preschool and Pal Butte in particular. So, we partnered with a program called Ready, Set, Go. Some of you are probably familiar with that for many years before we had a Centennial preschool. And so, we had about eight school years of Ready, Set, Go there. That program was great. We loved that partnership. It
017was awesome. It was a couple of days a week and it required family attendance as well with the students. So, it was limiting to our families. And so, you could only attend if you had an adult with you. It was 2 days a week. It was for a couple of hours a day. It was really limiting and so, in '23-'24, Kendra was at one of our meetings and she said, "We're looking at a couple of schools for preschool." And I said, "Us, please." Cuz I know that this is a need. I've talked to our families. I Let's get them in. Let's get this opportunity for our families in Pal Butte. Let's take this on." And so, last year we were the first and only Centennial preschool. We've now expanded to three different sites, but last
018year we had two classrooms. We served 30 students ages 3 to 5, 15 in a class. Uh and then this year we're doing the same. We have 30 students again ages 3 to 5. Last year we had a quite a wide range of schools that we were serving cuz we're the only one in the district. It prioritized students across the district. And so, we only had maybe about a quarter of our students that were Pal Butte as their home school. This year we have much higher percent. I'd say at least 2/3 or so of our students are going to be attending Pal Butte. So, they're actually in their home school, which is great. And as we expand, we'll get even a greater percentage of students that at Pal Butte that would be their home school.
019Um been a great opportunity so far to get them in early, get them experiencing schools in Centennial and welcome them. It's been well received and a really awesome opportunity. We have a huge waitlist. So, if we have opportunity to expand, we may be looking to do so in the future. We have probably 30 to 50 kids at any given time on the wait list, so almost what we have in the program on the wait list. And so, the need is there. The families are showing us that they want it, and we're having no problem getting kids in and getting them attending school. All right, the why. And so, I brought some data along with this just to kind of paint the picture of where we were at pre kind of preschool. We're in the early
020years here and sharing a little bit about hopefully where it's going to take us. So, last fall when we did our initial DIBELS assessment, which is a literacy assessment we do with all kindergartners when they come in the door, uh we only had about 7% of our kindergarten students that were at benchmark. And so, at Pal Butte, 7% out of our 60-some-odd kindergartners uh were ready with what we had would consider benchmark in kindergarten. This year, we had a slightly higher percentage. We had 11% that were at benchmark to start the year. The exciting piece This is a really small sample size, but really exciting piece here is we had three students who attended preschool last year in their classes that attended Pal Butte this year. And so, we were able to watch them a
021little bit, and two of those three students were some of our students who achieved at benchmark. So, already big signs of like, "Hey, this is paying early dividends." We're hoping to see more this year as we have more students transitioning cuz we've got a larger number that are going to keep at Pal Butte after this year, but early signs were really exciting that, "Hey, this is paying dividends to us already. We're seeing these kids coming in more ready." And talking to teachers, they said, "Those three students are ready academically. They can sit at a carpet already. They know where to go in the building. They've been to PE before. They've been to music before. They When I walk in the room, they're like, "Mr. Austin!" They give me a hug because they met me in
022preschool, you know?" And so, that advantage of the comfort of going on there. Uh other big part of the why, and we're already speaking to it a little bit here, is just familiarity, right? Getting used to myself, getting used to Diane and seeing her there, getting seeing our familiar teachers as they walk by to kindergarten the first day. If you've ever been to a school on the first day of kindergarten, Melissa, you know this. Tears are not uncommon. They're a regular place, right? I used to Yes. Yes. For for parents and for students. And so, the comfort for both is there. I used to teach sixth grade at Pal Butte before. I was the principal, and I used to walk in. The first thing I'd say to my sixth graders every year is like you
023all walk by that kindergarten. Thank you for not being kindergartens and crying the first day. It's good to see you all. You know, and they'd laugh. So, yeah, it's all it's a big transition, right? Meeting them first time ever out in the public. We're able to do that earlier for them now and create that comfort, which is only going to allow for more success. All right, I'm going to pass it over to Diane to talk about the what. So, she can tell you a little bit about the what's going on in preschool here. Just a little bit. Uh Pal View preschoolers attend daily preschool during the same school hours as the rest of our elementary students. Yippee. They have an opportunity to participate in uh daily in literacy, math, art, science, exploration, social emotional learning
024all day long, and school events. Social emotional learning is an all day thing. It's not a They do it every day. Um and uh school events such as field trips, assemblies, school-wide fun, and you know, at first we were like nervous. Are they going to be able to do this? How are they going to do it in the assembly? It's so big. There's a lot of kids. They did great. So, kudos to them. And I will stop talking and let let us play a video so that I can show you more. Yeah. >> Same old rule. Hey. You're right. You like it or So bad. What did I do? >> So, hopefully you enjoyed all the cuteness there. Uh before we move on, we wanted to give a big shout out to our preschool team
025that's here. So. It doesn't happen without them and the four educational assistants we have supporting the classroom as well that they're in all amazing. They've welcomed these kids in and done an amazing job with uh supporting them. And we wanted to uh leave time for any questions you might have about preschool or puberty in general. Okay, we'll go around um starting with you. Director Harden. Uh nice job. It's exciting to, you know, see it actually happening and not just on the report like on the kind of seeing board work inside. A couple of questions I have are the what regarding the waitlist. So, how do you determine who is part of the program and who is waitlisted? Is it So, I'll try to answer and Kendra you got my back if I don't answer it
026perfectly. So No, this is a great Kendra question cuz she's the one who tells us which kids get to come in. So, I'll let her come on up and join us. So Good evening everyone. My name is Kendra Hughes. Preschool for all manages our attendance and all families go through the family application process so they manage the waitlist. So, as children move in and out of our program if there's an opening they will place this child in the program. And then what kind of hurdles are preventing us from handling all the children that need? Preschool for all. And space. And space. Right. And then we don't have two more classrooms to open up to fit 30 more kids in and so that is a challenge for us. So, this year we're going to Park Lane
027and Pleasant Valley. So, that's going to bring 60 more and 180 children in the fall. Yeah. Great. Yeah. Director Lane. Oh goodness. Well, Pal Bute first of all all my children went through so special place in my heart. Okay. They're doing fine by the way. But young adults are hard. Okay. My only question is what number of children will be staying at Pal Bute for the following year based on preschool attendance. And thank you preschool teachers as a kindergarten and first grade teachers sitting in this chair right here. Wow. Thanks. It's absolutely fabulous and um, it is just so exciting to see him so excited about everything and it does make a huge difference when their comfort level is is so high. So, thank you for all of that. But, I am definitely curious as
028to how many of those kiddos are going to be staying in Pal View. Yeah, so when Kendra and I were counting in the fall looking across all the preschools in the district, we had 33 Pal View kids enrolled in all the preschools. Um, in our building this year yeah. >> have 17 Pal View children in preschool and 13 of them will graduate and go into kinder across all the schools. >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay, what a wonderful um, little bunch of sprouts to start some lovely plants there. And then as the other classrooms follow up, as the other classrooms open at various other schools, is a preschool all in you um, committed to shuffling those children to the school that will be their home school um, and continue to plant those little seedlings? >> Yeah, so
029my hope this year is to move um, all of our children that are not in their home school, but are second year preschoolers next year to their home schools. I've already been connecting with families um, for but there is relationships with teachers now, so they're like, "No, I want them to stay with their teacher." Which we will do. Um, we have limited attendance in for the family application that's opening April 1st to uh, school attendance area, but Butler Creek can go anywhere because we're not opening a classroom in Butler Creek or two classrooms there. Follow up. Follow up. Um, so sorry. But, I'm so Well, my world. Um, I understand the teacher relationship and also the idea is then that's a K5 relationship which is a lot longer. So, in the future as children are
030signing up for this program, is the idea and the intent as more classrooms open up regardless of where they start to encourage that movement to where your neighborhood plants would be. >> Yes. Sure. We've had a couple opportunities this >> year where spots have opened up and we've had kids at other schools where we've been able to offer and we've actually had one transition from another school over to Pal Butte because it is the home school and we had family there and so it was helpful for the family to get all their kids in one location and also helpful like you said long-term. And so we did have another one that we offered to that declined because they preferred to be where they were at for the year, but they could move over again like
031Kinder was saying at the beginning of next school year. And so And then I think trying to explain what you were saying, as we open up more sites, the priority registration will be for Pal Butte kids at our Pal Butte preschools. And so right now the priority registration is just Centennial, but it will become more finite as we open up more sites. Fantastic. Thank you. No more follow-ups. And I'll just last thing, so it was a transportation issue, so it is a little um nugget for families if they do move to their home school, they are eligible for transportation. So some families Yeah, our kids that are Pal Butte students ride the buses. I mean, they ride with the other kids. We have special harnesses they get on the buses and so they get the
032experience at all. I'm going to follow up from Director Stanley. Uh just a quick question because you said that each school and this this makes a hundred total sense that each school you'll you'll be prioritizing Pal Butte kids for Pal Butte, but you mentioned Butler Creek. They can apply anywhere, so will Butler Creek be similarly prioritized as at at the other schools for um for placement at Pal Butte? Oh, no, no. They'll They can go anywhere. Usually Butler Creek families will choose um Uh Pleasant Valley. >> Meadows right here or Pal Butte just because of distance. Yeah. Um I appreciate the thoughtfulness with which you're approaching um tr- potential transfer of students from from year one to year two. Uh my only The question that I had before I wanted to follow up from Director
033Stanley was uh I saw in the presentation a mention of field trips and I'm really curious what kind of field trips some of our preschoolers are getting to go on. Ooh. Kids want to talk a little bit. You want to go for it. Yeah, we were there. Yeah, so I think last year was pretty memorable going to Microphones. We got to get them the live streamers, you know. I can say so loud. Um I think last year was very memorable going to OMSI because they had a dinosaur exhibit. There was Jurassic Park with LEGOs. So there was a lot of steam activities. It was very interactive. Um yeah, a lot about yeah, animals, biology. There were there were a lot of it. Yeah, amazing things happening there and then we went to the zoo. It
034was a lot of fun. It was like down downpouring rain, but they all loved it. We talked about the weather and the the elephants including the zoo. Yeah, and they had the little baby elephant. So yeah, they did really well with just getting used to being on the bus, going to different places, like big places where we kind of talked like you have to stay as a group, you have to stay with your adults that you know. We also went to the pumpkin patch. I mean it's a lot of like real life experiences that are so essential for learning just those regular life skills that we need to be successful in life. And so I think that having those experiences early on has just been really enriching and powerful for the kids. Thank you. >>
035This year we were confirmed I just confirmed OMSI in April and we'll go to the zoo. Oh, excuse me. OMSI in April will go and then we'll go to the zoo in May. We did as the teachers said we went to the pumpkin patch in October and we had more than 50 families attend as chaperones. So. It was a wonderful turnout. That sounds really really exciting for them. Wow, thank you so much for the presentation and the information on preschool. That's that's definitely great. We're my wife and I are big believers in early education. I have a a son who's a first grader and I have a daughter who will be a kindergartner this fall and she's um we're going to try to take advantage of Champion Summer Camp program so that she can get
036used to the building and and things like that because she'll have that uh she'll have the month of August after she turns five to be able to do that. And so um completely agree with the approach and how we're doing it and how, you know, get them in early, keep them in, right? And just and just start that, you know, their belief in education um as early as we can. So, it's just it's great to see it in practice and it's great to hear the the results and and it's working, right? That's the biggest That's the great takeaway, right? Is that it's working and we're expanding and we're going to replicate it and we're going to change, you know, things for the better. So, it's it's it's heartwarming to see it happening and um I'm
037grateful to you all for your your report again tonight. Thank you. I have just some three-year-olds in my former life uh my mother ran a daycare center, uh Margaret Indian Coalition group. And our three-year-olds by noon were just like, you know, rub their back and go to sleep. And you were mentioning this is all day for the three-year-olds. How How does that work? They do have nap time. Oh, I feel much better now. I was like Oh my goodness. >> Rest time. I yeah, rest time. Not every kid takes a nap, but it's offered. Okay. They have individual cots and yep. Yeah, right now we're approaching more children or not because, you know, like the five-year-olds are kind of like >> Right. Okay. I well, yeah, the adults would like naps sometimes. Okay, thank you.
038That was just my It was like I remember 3-year-olds and they were just little tired beings. So, that's great to hear that they are still fully engaged and enjoying their time there. Superintendent Owens, would you like to bring it home? I'm just uh I I've gone into the preschool classrooms and it's just amazing to see all of the kinesthetic and the hands-on that's happening in the classrooms um and the intentional design that goes into the lessons. So, I know it's a full day of school for the kids, but I know for the teachers it's a lot more than that because of all the preparation that's going into it. So, kudos to the staff that is doing the instruction um as well as Kendra who's done a lot of work um behind the scenes and in
039front of the scenes, too, to try to get all of this programming stood up not only at Powell Butte, but across the district, as well. Um I was meeting with the Gresham mayor yesterday and we were talking. He mentioned his fact. Hopefully, I don't butcher it, but apparently, the city of Gresham has the highest rate of K or um of uh 0 to 5-year-olds across the country. Um and so, there's a lot of need that is existing. So, we were having conversation about capacity in the schools and it's limited by the building space, but what are other opportunities for us to be able to provide access because at Powell Butte, for example, there's 30 seats, but there's more than 30 kindergarteners in any given year. So, there's a delta between um the amount of seats
040available for preschool um and the amount of demand that there is, but at the same time, we're making positive inroads and that's a good thing. So. Thank you for the Thank you for the report. It was a great Yeah, thank you all. And I just want to say it doesn't happen without the collaboration of Kendra and the teachers. And they've been awesome. So. Yeah. And if you will just pause, if you'd like to take you are more than welcome to stay, but if you would like to wander home after a long day, this is a good time to just escape out, if you will. So, board members, um we're going to move into our public forum piece, and I'm going to be um reading our normal and customary public forum and forum statement, and then
041for those of you who are here in person or online, I'm going to try to organize it a little bit, so that um we can do our in-person people, but we may have to do some identification process, so bear with me as I try to figure all that out. And everybody got to There they go. Time to go home. All right, here we go. During the public forum section of the agenda, individuals are welcome to share constructive feedback on district operations and programs. The purpose of this agenda item is for you to inform us of your views. By board policy, the board will not hear comments regarding any district staff member, and the use of appropriate respectful language is expected. Board members will not respond to public comment, and will refer matters of operations and
042programming to the superintendent. This portion of the meeting will be limited to a total of 30 minutes, so your statements should be concise, and will be limited to 3 minutes. Your time will be monitored by the board executive assistant. Speaking order will be based on the date and time we received the request, and I am modifying that just because it's easier to keep a group of in-person and group of online people, so I'm do I'm bear with me on that modification, please. Um if there are three or more individuals requesting to speak on the same topic, we'll ask their responses be consolidated. So, you're going to please address your remarks to me as your board chair, not to specific board members, nor to the public. Thank you, and when you do speak, would you please
043state your name and the spelling if that's necessary, and your association with the Centennial School District. Oh, thank you for bearing with me on that. Um I have is uh Cassidy Rogers here in person or online? So, you're in person. Thank you. I'm going to write this in here. And um Alexa, I'm not sure how to say that name. Um >> Cher Shields, she's online. Oh, she's online? She's >> She's online. Perfect. Thank you so much. And Drew is in person. Um Alexander Grant is online or we don't see? Okay. And um Heath Curry, online or in person? Is he No. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. So, um Cassidy, you were on the first on the list and you're here. Could you come on up, please? And Missy will try to keep us informed
044about the 3 minutes as well. Thanks. My name is Cassidy Rogers. It's spelled c a s s i d y r o g e r s. I'm a parent of a profoundly disabled student in the district. I was here last month, too. Um I'm back again to remind the district of their obligation to provide proper support and placements for disabled students in the district. The music teacher who spoke before me last month shared that she was facing challenges in her classroom because there are not enough placements and support. Then I followed with the same issue, but as a parent. This shows that this isn't just a frustrated parent. It's something educators and parents are both seeing across the district. After the last meeting, I posted the video of my public comment online. It ended up
045getting 35,000 views. More important than those views were the messages that followed. Parents from across our community reached out to me sharing stories just like ours. Students needing services but not being able to access the right placement, families struggling to get support, and teachers trying while stretched too thin. When concerns like these are raised, the responses is often that there is no typical or perfect placement or that staff is doing their best. I want to say clearly that I believe that. I believe that our teachers and staff care deeply and are working incredibly hard. But doing our best can't be the standard that we settle for. If you boarded a plane and a pilot came on the intercom and said, "Good evening, everyone. I'll do my best to land this plane." That would make most
046of you pretty uneasy. Most of you would exit the plane and choose safer travel. Not because we doubt the pilot's effort, but because the safe landing depends on more than effort. They depend on the right systems, training, staffing, and support behind the pilot. Our special education system works the same way. Teachers can't create placements that don't exist. Staff can't provide support that isn't funded or staffed. So, when both educators and families are raising the same concern, that's not frustration. It's a warning on your dashboard. I'm asking the board to do the right thing and work towards building a system where doing our best is supported by the resources students actually need. Because every student deserves more than good intentions. They deserve a system designed to help them succeed. Lastly, I want to point out that
047the district has said that placements are too expensive. Tonight, whenever I lay down in bed, I'll think about my son's future and I'll think about how much he's worth to me. Tonight, when all of you lay in bed, I want you to do the same about the students that you serve. What price are you willing to pay for them to be safe and educated? Thank you. And Drew. >> Hello. Hello. Uh Drew Rosa, d r e w r o s a, uh Centennial Education Association uh president. Uh I am here to give my board report. Um good evening, chair, board members, and superintendent. First, I want to acknowledge an important milestone for our district. After a long year of bargaining, the Centennial Association and the district are in the process of finalizing a new collective
048bargaining agreement. Um this represents meaningful progress for our educators and more importantly our students. Stronger class size protections, improved compensation to retain educators, and clearer working conditions um all contribute to stronger learning environments across Centennial schools. The outcome did not happen in isolation. It was made possible through the work of our bargaining teams, the engagement of our membership, and the support of our parents, community members, and local leaders who advocated for our classrooms. I also want to recognize the engagement we've seen from our state legislators, including representative Ricky Wat- or Ricky Ruiz, and representative Lamar Wise, who have both reached out and expressed interest in visiting our schools and hearing directly from educators. That kind of connection between classrooms and policy makers is incredibly important. Now that we are nearing the finish line on our
049contract, our attention must turn to the larger challenge facing districts across Oregon. Adequate and stable state funding for public education. Recently, representative Ricky Ruiz formally requested that the state explore using education stability fund to create a grant-style program for districts that have exhausted all their reserves, but still fa- face financial shortfalls. That kind of leadership is encouraging and shows recognition in the pressures of districts like Centennial face. But emergency funding cannot be the long-term solution. Bonds and levies can help with facilities and occasionally fill gaps, but they should not be the primary way we sustain our school systems. Our communities are already asked to do a great deal. The larger issue is ensuring the state meets its responsibility to adequately fund public education. Districts like Centennial serve a high percentage of multilingual learners and historically
050underserved students. These students deserve the resources necessary to thrive. Smaller class sizes, stable staffing, and strong academic supports. As we look ahead to the next legislative long session and the upcoming biennium, this is an opportunity for collaboration. We should begin thinking about how we work together with educators, families, and state legislators to communicate the realities our schools face and advocate for the funding our students deserve. CEA has again formally requested the return of our standing board report and we have yet to hear back. While we appreciate the positive steps toward collaboration that we have seen, the absence of that report sends a concerning message about transparency. Without it, the voice of the educators remains largely a one-way talking point during public comment rather than a true conversation with the board. We The work we do
051in this next year will be critical. The decisions made in Salem during the next biennium will shape what is possible in our classroom for years to come. CE CEA stands ready to work with the board, the district, our legislators, and our community to ensure Centennial students receive the investment they deserve. We ask for your cooperation in this. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we're going to move to our online comment. And uh uh uh uh Missy, can I ask you to organize her? Yep, I'm bringing her over. Okay, thank you. Hello. We can see you. Can we hear you? Let's see. Can you hear me now? Yes, we can. Thank you. >> Okay, perfect. >> Would you like to introduce yourself, please? Would you like to introduce yourself, please? Yes, hi. My name is Lexa Olivera,
052l e x a h o l i v e i r a. I'm a parent of two boys at Meadows Elementary and active volunteer and a member of our PTO. Um my commitment to this district goes beyond just being a parent. I am on the ground supporting our teachers and families, which is why I'm here tonight. I'm requesting that the district transition its school photography contract away from Lifetouch for the 2026-2027 school year in favor of local high security alternatives. While family costs are a factor, my primary concern is student safety and data trust. Lifetouch is owned by Apollo Global Management, a firm whose former leadership has been extensively documented in the Epstein files for long-standing financial ties to Jeffrey Epstein. I want to be clear, I'm not here to litigate corporate history. However, when
053thousands of documents link a parent company's former CEO to a known sex trafficking operation, this company is under the corporate umbrella and has access to our children's Excuse me, sorry. I'm a little nervous. Um to our children's high resolution images, names, and school locations, it creates a profound level of distrust for many in our community. Trust is the foundation of our relationship with the district, and that trust is compromised when student data is tied to a corporate with this history. We believe the districts should prioritize our children's privacy over vendor convenience. I want to offer a solution rather than just a concern. We do not have to compromise on quality or or administrative ease to fix this. We have several Oregon-owned business businesses that specialize in higher volume school photography. These companies provide the exact
054same technical services, including yearbook data and student IDs, but with better transparency and local accountability. Vendors like Portrait Masters and J 2 Studios are based right here in the Portland metro area. They offer view before you buy models and secure data that's local storage, keeping our students' information out of global private equity databases. Since I am testifying virtually, I can email a resource sheet to the board immediately following this meeting. I'm asking the board to direct the administration to review these local Oregon vendors for the next school year's contracts and require proof of data deletion from our current vendor to ensure our students' images are are permanently purged from their servers upon contract termination. I want to acknowledge how much work I see the board putting into building a safe environment for our kids on
055a daily basis, and I do appreciate your hard work. But as parents and educators, we also teach our children that that their digital footprint is permanent and that they may they must be guarded with their information and what they post on the internet as it is forever. As a district, we have a responsibility to model the same caution for our children. By switching to a local partner, we can support our local economy and protect our children's privacy at the same time. I really appreciate being able to address you all tonight. Thank you for your time and putting our families' peace of mind and our children's safety first. Thank you. All right, that concludes our public forum section. So, back to our agenda, board members. Uh the student representative report is not happening this evening, and
056so we are moving to the superintendent report. So, Superintendent Owens. I came up faster than I was anticipating. All right, greetings, Board of Directors. It is my pleasure and privilege to share with you this update about happenings in our school district. For this month's district office display board, Pal Butte Elementary is highlighting the school's preschool program and the ways early learning experiences connect to the district's uh profile of a Centennial graduate. So, it's connected, obviously, with the report that you just had. Uh the display shows how preschool students engage in hands-on learning that encourages them to think flexibly, gather information through their senses, build connections with others, and respond with curiosity and wonder. Examples include collaborative building and design activities, shape and pattern exploration through games and art, early writing experiences, and science-based investigations, such
057as observing worms in their environment. These classroom experiences help students develop persistence, communication skills, and early literacy while fostering the habits and mindsets that will support their learning in the years ahead. Earlier today, the district convened the fourth of five profile of a Centennial Graduate Pilot Leader Work Sessions, continuing the year-long series bringing together teacher leaders and administrators from across the district to advance pilot actions aligned to profile of a Centennial Graduate learning progressions. This session focused on instructional practices and driving questions that support purposeful learning. Participants also continued collaborative planning connected to the academically prepared competency, aligning pilot instruction to critical standards and profile of a graduate proficiencies. In addition, pilot leaders continued preparations for the spring student summit, where students will publicly showcase their learning and growth through pilot aligned projects. The final
058work session in the series scheduled for April 29th with a culminating student summit planned for May 19th. More details about that to come. Last Thursday, the district held the first meeting of the Facilities Advisory Committee at Park Lane Elementary. Following a school tour led by Principal Diana Mitchell that included the new gym space, recently renovated classrooms funded through the Classroom Improvement Fund, as well as other classroom, restroom, common areas, committee members began their orientation to the long-range facilities planning process. During the meeting, participants, including Director Newman and Vice Chair Morin, reviewed initial information related to facility conditions, capacity, and the planning timeline and began discussing key considerations that will help inform the development of a long-range facilities recommendation. The committee will continue meeting this spring with additional sessions planned for fall 2026 as the planning
059process progresses. Last Wednesday, the district and OSEA partnered to host the annual classified appreciation event at Powell Butte Elementary School. Powell Butte's getting a lot of love this evening. To recognize and celebrate the contributions of our classified staff who serve essential roles across the district in support of students, families, and daily school operations. The gathering included opportunities for staff connection and appreciation along with Hawaiian local food provided by um Bula at CHS, one of our staff members. Um student performances and other activities. Classified staff support every aspect of our system from student services to transportation to nutrition services, facilities, and front office operations, and their collective efforts help maintain safe, welcoming, and effective learning environments across our schools. Thank you to directors Lynn Stanley and Solawetzky for attending the event and helping to recognize many
060contributions of our classified staff, and director Stanley even took to the microphone to serenade our classified staff with a karaoke performance or two. Photos, as you can see, are included with the report. Um as I mentioned, over the past week I joined fellow area superintendents in two meetings with local mayors to discuss shared priorities affecting our school communities, including district budget conditions, integration immigration enforcement impacts on students and families, and regional partnerships that support students and families. Last week I joined Portland area superintendents in a virtual meeting with uh Mayor Keith Wilson of Portland um to discuss issues pertaining to their budgets and immigration enforcement, and it also included updates from school districts and an overview of the city's uh Portland's developing budget process. Um yesterday I met with Gresham Mayor Travis Stovall along with
061his chief of staff Larry Morgan and Gresham Barlow Superintendent Tracy Klinger to discuss local and regional education priorities. Topics included like I mentioned budget conditions and otherwise, but we also talked about federal and state funding impacts including the discussion of the Movi program in which the state recently approved $1.9 million in additional state funding. And we discussed ways that the city and school districts can partner to best leverage those resources in support of students and families. Movi's one of the only programs in the state that actually came out ahead with the legislative session. So it's nice to see that there's some local resources, there's some programming that is showing some efficacy. And as Mr. Rosa shared in his update, I wanted to share that the district and Centennial Education Association have reached a tentative agreement
062pending ratification on a successor collective bargaining agreement. Next steps include ratification by CEA membership and the ECBC followed by the presentation to the school board for consideration and approval. With that, I invite any questions or comments you might have and that concludes my superintendent's report. Director Harden. No questions. Thanks for the report. Director Lynn. No questions, thanks. Director Waring. Thank you. Superintendent Hollands, do we have a tentative timeline on the ratification? Tentative timeline on ratification, good question. Next, I can give you some next steps and then you can tell me what you think or Mr. Rosa, if you want to come up and help collaborate on this. We are looking at a redlined contract right now on the district end that we need to provide over to CEA. They need to then share um information
063with their membership. I'm not sure what order you guys will take in terms of ECBC or your membership. Yeah, I can I can answer that. >> will bring it back to uh the board. I would say April is what we're aiming for. The last thing I'll say before Drew steps in is that um our because of the way that the proposals were traded back and forth, we have kind of a running start on that. Usually, what happens after bargaining is you're taking concepts and transitioning those concepts into contract language. That process takes a little bit what of a while and that process, I think, has been short-circuited just by the method that was used this time. So, I think that will be pretty efficient. What would you add? Yeah, I I I agree with all
064of that. Um we are asking for that piece to get back to us. We needed an MOU um for the ratification. We are bringing it to ECBC on Tuesday. Uh putting it out to members. Uh we've already met with uh a short session or short group a small group um with ECBC. Uh and they've already approved everything. So, they we have we foresee no issues as long as that MOU is and we got we I think we are working on that today. Um so, as long as that MOU is cleared up and we have it by Tuesday, we can bring it to our ECBC members. And once that's ratified through them, we send it out um the next day. So, the 17th, the lucky 17th is when we are getting it ratified uh through ECBC
065and then we send it out to members to have it ratified um through through spring break to get it back to you guys for your April board meeting. ECBC, East Kelly Bargaining Council. Correct. Just for those that need it. Thanks, Drew. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Director Newman? Uh no questions. Thanks for the clarification. Um I'm excited to hear that. I understand. The only question I have is what will it take to get you on the mic? That's all. That's the only question I have. Everything else fabulous. Thank you so much. It might need to be a duet. Tempting. Don't tempt her. >> Oh. Too late. So sorry. Shucks. All right. Thank you, uh Superintendent Owens, for your report. I appreciate that. Uh board members, looking at the time, we do have
066an executive session scheduled for this evening, so I think we, if you don't mind, uh we might be able to just power through. Uh so, I would entertain a motion to approve the confirmation items as listed. >> So moved. Do I have a second? Seconded. I have a motion and a second for the confirmation items to be approved as listed. All those in favor indicate by saying aye and raising your hand. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Board action items, um old business, the only thing I would ask as chair, I would love to have some reports from our Superintendent Policy Committees as to their progress. Um any other old business that's not listed, Superintendent Owens? Okay. Thank you. Director Shield. Oh, sorry. I I would just like to say that I'm going to ask
067Director Newman to schedule the one that the three of us are on. Um currently with my PPS status and things that I am dealing with at this point in time, he has graciously offered to organize that in lieu of me. Just I think that would get things just a little bit more. Thank you. Appreciate that. >> Yeah, I greatly appreciate it. Thank you. >> Thank you. I And I just wanted it noted. >> Yeah, no, that's perfect. Thank you so much. New business. Um the Superintendent Owens, um the chair doesn't have anything on this list. You're good? We're good. All right. >> I have things. Ooh, I have future agenda items, but this is not But uh yeah, I was going to say yeah. Yes, that. That's my my preference. So, now, Superintendent Owens, um
068future agenda items and the directors. Uh next month we have in April our Pleasant Valley report, so it'll be exciting to see what they have to feature. Um we have a proclamation for Arab American Heritage Month. We also have uh Roadmap 27 second trimester update along with Excellence Targets. We have the CEA contract approval that we talked about, hopefully that's ready uh then, and perhaps a policy or maybe two. Thank you. Directors. Anything? I'm just kind of looking around the room. I have three. Um I also would like to revisit a CEA board report, um particularly as things continue forward. Um very passionately like to hear what our educators are doing. So, I'd like to discuss that as well as things are ratified bringing that back. Um I would also like to bring forward, Director
069Lynn and I talked about this at our last board coffee, um moving our meetings to Tuesdays. Um so, if we could start that conversation for the following year, not this year, I recognize, but sometimes things move at a different pace than I move, so looking at moving that to a different date. And I'd actually like to bring forward the Mountain View Repertory Theater um collaboration that will be happening um through the summer at the high school as well. Just a little bit of a report on that. Thank you. Anything else? Seeing nothing. Um any good of the order? Before we ask for adjournment, Director Harden? I got some for good of the order. I want to acknowledge and thank uh Chris Montgomery who announces uh the soccer games, the basketball games, and possibly many other
070activities that happen uh at Centennial High School. I also want to thank and acknowledge um the other staff that participates in those events at the high school with athletics. Um not Karen Walden, Karen Written. There's, you know, lots of uh security and staff that are at those events uh making them happen. And of course, uh Dante Gauch. So, I just want to take a moment to acknowledge and thank them for their service. Thank you. Thank you. Any other good of the order, directors? All right. We are adjourning the regular session. Remember, don't be leaving me. We have an executive session. But, we will take a break. All right. 7:31, adjourned. And uh let's be back here at 7:40-ish.