001All right, welcome to the Central School Board District 13J Regular Board meeting for January 12th, 2026. Uh we'll call this meeting to order and we will begin with the flag salute. Melanie, can you lead us? Yep. 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. >> Begin with the adoption of the agenda. >> Yes. Good evening everyone. Uh we will start with some recognition from the floor for our MICF classroom uh grant enrichment program. We'll have communication from the floor. Then we'll move to two standing reports. One specific to some personnel rated related to um evaluations and uh probationary period as well as our uh monthly data reporting on attendance and discipline. I'll
002have a short superintendent update. We'll go into the board report consent agenda. We do have one business agenda item and then closing items, board comments, any item actions for future meeting and we do not have executive session this evening. >> So recognition. >> Yes. So joining us this evening is Monmouth Independent Community Foundation board chair and president Sabra Juel as well as board member Abby Fitz. They are here tonight to recognize our 202526 classroom enrichment grant award winners. With that, I will turn it over to them. >> Push it or is it Oh, there we go. All right. It is such a pleasure to be here with y'all tonight. I believe this is my third or fourth time getting to come and talk to y'all about one of our favorite things, which is classroom enrichment
003grants. You know, every year we try to encourage the teachers to apply for these grants. And this year we were excited to get goodness over $41,000 worth of applications. Now, this number was exciting, but it was also a little heartbreaking because at that time we only had about $15,000 to give. So, thankfully, I'm on a committee with a great person and we have a rubric, but we did go to our very kind and understanding board and say, "Please, may we have some more?" [laughter] And luckily they were able to give us about $8,000 more, which is why I'm here with a check for $23,000 tonight. And that is super exciting. >> Thanks. Yes. Now, $23,000 which helps fund 15 projects, which is going to serve over 2500 students in every school in the district. And
004so we couldn't be prouder of the educators to fill out this application and the work that they did. But I want this group and I hope the teachers listening to understand that we are even more committed to funding these in the future. We want to ensure that we're going after donors specifically for this fund. Being intentional about getting money for this fund because having to say no to your teachers is something I never want to do again. And because I believe in every project they were doing, we saw some applications that really knocked our socks off. and they covered STEM and literacy and the arts and the connective tissue between all of those things. So, in the future, we hope to come with better news, but we are even better news, but we the weight
005of what we couldn't fund was heavy. Um, but we are proud of what we could fund. And, uh, Abby, do you have anything to add? I think in reading through the applications, what really struck me the most was the ingenuity and the creativity of our educators to use literally like every penny that they get for the betterment of our students. It's an honor every year to read these applications and this year was no different. So, we're looking forward to lots of awesome years to come. >> And we have a big check and we hope to get a big photograph. So, >> may I gather everyone who's here for that photograph and we'll all get behind the check and uh Dr. QB if you'll come be our photographer. >> All right. >> I might have If
006you can't see the camera, the camera can't see you, y'all. >> All right, y'all. >> There we go. A couple here. One, two, three. One more. Good luck. >> Thank you. Thanks, I like big checks. [laughter] >> Awesome. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Understand we have some communication from the floor. >> Just going to to read the ground rules for communication. Welcome to the central school district board meeting. Comments from the community are entertained during time designated under communications and public comments. If you wish to speak to the board, please fill out a comment card and turn it into the board secretary or the board chair at the beginning of the meeting. Speakers comments in this forum are limited to three minutes, but the board welcomes additional information in writing. Personnel laws prohibit the
007board from hearing public complaints about an individual in an open meeting. All complaints must go through the board's approved processes outlined in board policy KL. This form may be found at our website or by calling the district office. Typically, a speaker's comment is taken under advisement to allow time for the board to review an issue. However, the board chair or other board members may ask a speaker for additional information or may convey to the speaker some information that addresses their comment. Please note on the speaker card if you would like to receive follow-up communication and if so, what avenue is preferred. Thank you for your attendance at this meeting and the central school board. >> So, Erin, why don't you come on up and join us at the table right there. Perfect. Um and one
008of our student advocates, Skylar, will be introduced in our group verse. >> Perfect. This work. Good evening, members of the board and superintendent. My name is Skyler Steves, and we are here at Central Student Advocacy Group. As students of Central High School, we place a heavy emphasis on our education, our safety, and the long-term health of our community. We are here to discuss the state of our school roofs. We want to be clear. Our goal is not to assign blame, but to highlight a shared challenge that requires a collaborative solution for the sake of our district's future. >> My name is Aaron. Uh this is Aron, Tia, and Jade. Um so first, we must recognize the incredible work of our district maintenance team. These professionals are performing complex and demanding work on the front lines
009of this issue. We see them daily in our halls, working tirelessly around both our school and our district to keep it running. However, structural deterioration is now outpacing the maintenance team's ability to provide temporary fixes. We are asking our staff to solve systemic problems with tactical band-aids. And as students, we believe they deserve a more sustainable strategy. Nana, you comment. Think you'd like to take your chair? The state of our spec facility, specifically in our newly built multi-million dollar auditorium, is becoming a matter of fiscal stewardship. In that space, rainwater is now flooding and jeopardizing electrical systems. The following of failure bond measure 27143 in 2024. We understand that funding is, to say the least, difficult to come by. However, a wait and see approach is no longer sustainable. Every dollar deferred on repairing our
010roof leaks will lead to compounding costs and repairs and property damage tomorrow. We are here to protect the community's investments in these buildings. >> We envision a learning environment where buckets in the hallways are a memory, not a sign of a rainy day. We ask that the district prioritize a transparent long-term facility strategy that aligns with our shared goal of student success. We want to work with you to increase community awareness and find a way forward that protects our students, our staff, and our community's resources. Let's ensure our facilities are are as strong as the education happening inside them. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Thank you. Very well. We will move on to our standing reports. >> Yeah. So, we are going to be uh begin joining us this evening is our
011director of human resources, Brian Flannry. um he is here to share with you or to share with the board about House Bill 2900 that went into effect on January 1st, 2026. You will uh give a little bit more detail specific to our probationary period for our licensed staff. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, Brian. Okay, I'm gonna wait till the slides come up there. Next slide, please. So, there was a new bill new new bill that passed recently and uh went into effect um as as effect this month and it affects the probationary period for some of our new newly hired staff or some of our currently employed staff as well. And so you'll see that reflected in the board report that uh the consent agenda that you see today. Um, as most of you already
012know, uh, the default probationary period for all of our licensed staff is 3 years. Um, what this bill does is it impacts staff that have achieved contract status, which um is defined in the in the bill as having been in a u meeting all the expectations of the probationary period and being offered a contract status in a uh fair dismissal district. Basically, what that means is any of the 198 districts in the state of Oregon, including uh in addition to that, the ESDs. So, if it's a private school situation or if it's out of the state of Oregon, it's not impacted by this bill. But if somebody has met their probationary period in one of those school districts previously, it shortens the period of probation uh from a three-year probation to 2-year probation. And so,
013um let's see if there's anything else. You can skip to the next slide. So what that plays out and you'll see that in uh the uh consent agenda like I said today is that we have a number of uh probationary one teachers. So P1 teachers who as of effective after this um [gasps] hopefully after this meeting you uh uh you approve it all today which would be really good for you to do um that they go from being a a P1 to a P2. The P2s go uh to a P3 status. And so they they'll be in their last year probationary for the sh uh uh and the P3s that we currently have would go to a contract status. Uh these changes are reflected like I said in the consent agenda. And then moving forward
014as we have new teachers we'll be evaluating and I I should have said this too. This is affecting every district in this in the state of Oregon. So we're not unique in any of this. I'm just making you aware of of this change. So moving forward, we will be uh evaluating and asking the question on um our application process of whether or not you've achieved contract status somewhere previously. We did a full review of uh anybody that would have been impacted and uh were able to contact and and confirm um the ones that should uh should have the status changed. And so all of those are on your consent agenda for tonight. And there uh was one new teacher that that we uh have just hired in the in the past month that was impacted
015and you'll see that also in the updated um consent agenda. Uh we literally just got that um in place at the end of last week. So that's why it's an updated agenda for you. Um again for new teacher hires who have not achieved contact status anywhere else um this does not affect them and they remain in and coming in as a P1 each year. Then next slide. Last thing you'll note is that um because of this change um on future uh consent agendas when we're telling you about a new hire that's a licensed hire, we've added a field that will designate whether or not they're coming in as a P1 status or a P2 status. And that again will be based on the criteria that was set out. So it's a relatively small change as
016far as um explaining it to you, but it it certainly means uh a lot to to the folks that that that's supportive of and just want to make sure that you're aware and see if you had any questions tonight. Does this mean >> a teacher who let's say has five years experience in another district >> comes here they don't go through a probationary period. >> No. Um what what it what what it means is that if they have five years and and I want to be clear they have five years in a fair dismissal district in Oregon and they've achieved contract status because there's some people uh let me give an example where that would not play out. Say somebody had five years but they took a break in between. So they they worked for
017say two years, they took a break, worked for another two years, took a break and work for another year. They may not this may not apply to them because they may have never moved past that probationary period. And that does happen. We have people that for various reasons leave and come back. But if somebody has been offered a contract status by an Oregon fair dismissal district, what that means for that person is when they come in, instead of being probationary year one, they become a probationary two. So they have two and three with us. So they still have a two-year probationary period, they just don't have a three-year. So it shortens it by one year. >> Thank you. >> Does that make sense? >> Yeah. Okay. >> Someone that didn't work out. [laughter] It's there's
018still a probation period for anybody that we we have that that comes comes in, but it's just shortened. Any other questions? >> Sant um just out of curiosity and excuse my ignorance after the 3 years on a teacher's contract, what changes what are the significant changes that happen after the 3 years? >> So, they're they're then given uh when they're given contract status, it's two-year contract. And what the some of the primary differences for any um and I I want to be clear, it's for any licensed individual. So it could be a teacher, it could be a school psychologist, a a counselor, anybody that is in a uh the licensed unit for us. >> And so uh and that but that is anyone who's in licensed unit, but it is not for administrators. I want
019to be clear about that, too. So administrators are not impacted by this. But for anybody that achieves that contract status, it gives a a level of uh for any district, I'm going to speak any Oregon district now, gives them additional um I would say protections is one way to to to look at this is that um when you're in a probationary period, uh the level for determining whether or not somebody is renewed or comes back there, it's a good faith sufficient reason of whether or not you retain an employee for any school district. That's the law. >> When you become a contract teacher, you have uh you have a further protection as far as the level of what uh a district would need to look at to determine whether or not they were not going
020to extend the the uh the contract to that individual the next year. And so in those cases, you're looking at things that are in TSPC outlines. um what are some of the reasons why you would not uh renew a teacher or not be um asking a teacher to re return for the the following year and so it gives a a level protection through that as far as in their their contract status. So for any teacher they want to reach that contract status so that they have that but >> that additional protection but even if they're in the probationary period they're still protected by their they're still part of their union. Is that correct? >> Absolutely. Okay. uh probationary teachers and and uh contract teachers are still protected by their contract and have all those things.
021It's just um the level of protection when it comes when there's either a performance issue or other issues that that might come up um that that's a difference for them. >> Okay, Brian, you want to talk a little bit just on evaluation, the difference just >> Yeah, thank you. There are there are differences with with that as well. Also with evaluation, um an evaluation is more extensive for probationary teachers. So when you're going through that probationary period of time, there are um and again I'll speak to all districts, not just ours, you're going to have um additional observations that are made and you're going to also have additional supports that are are given during that that period of time. If you're brand new teacher and um you have not u been a teacher anywhere else,
022you're gonna also have a mentor that's given to you during that that time. When you are a contract teacher, um the there's still evaluation processes in place. All the same standards are still being looked at for any licensed uh individual, but the um the the the frequency of when you're going to be formally evaluated on a on a a summitative basis, it's every other year typically. Sometimes it's not, but typically it's every other year than once you've reached contract status. Uh there are fewer observations possibly that will happen. depends on the individual circumstances and all those things, but you're going to have um a slightly different uh evaluation process and we can bring something at a future date kind of walk you through. I don't want to miss any of the components, but those are
023some of the the key differences, okay, between the two. A lot of people used to think of this as being uh and is the term that used to be used as tenure. >> Exactly. So, you know, you're I know we have at least one person here that's worked in works in a in a university setting. And so, um the the former term that was used also with teachers, the idea of tenure. So, you're kind of you want to work towards that tenure status because >> um well, one because you just want to have success, right? And that's the most important and when people are are successful working uh towards that success and that then they move on on to that. But it also again gives you that that level of protection what you're doing. Yeah,
024>> thank you. >> And same similar thing happens though too for administrators. You go through a probationary period and then you get to contract status too. Um just so I'll round that out is that that is not what happens with conf uh with with our confidential supervisory and classified they do not have the the same thing as far as uh probationary than into a contract status. There's they're just different. Any other questions? Okay, >> thanks Brian. >> And so you'll see quite a few names on there for for this uh and then as we go we'll we'll be um g gathering those each time and and placing them accordingly. So >> thank you all. >> Thank you >> data report. >> Yeah, I am excited again to share with you. We are um as Emily
025pulls up the report uh this is uh again our report's going to be focused on uh both attendance and discipline uh we are getting hopefully possibly in in uh February but again we've um Oregon Department of Ed hasn't really given us the window of when we'll get graduation rates. I have a general idea what we will be but I want to make sure that we have final numbers for that. So, we're hoping possibly at the February meeting, if not the February PLC, well, if we don't get in February, we are going to move it to March just because we want to make it um public and and be able to talk through those pieces. So, um those are our next ones that we'll be looking at graduation rates and then our first um we are
026close to ending first semester as we hit hit into February, middle of February, and we'll be able to bring you also our uh first semester of 9th grade on track uh for for the year. So, uh, we're here, uh, this evening to talk about two metrics. If you want to go to the next slide, uh, to give an update on our December long-term metrics, um, as we always do, as a reminder to the board and the community, what we continue to strive towards, here is our district mission uh, set forth. Next slide for me, please. Uh, again, we like to show this because it's a good one-pager. Uh the central school district has a strong strategic plan again focused on student growth and achievement, family engagement, community partnership and staff leadership and continuous improvement with
027clear longitudinal metrics which is what we call how we measure our progress. Uh again this document up there we call the strategic plan scorecard. So tonight, next slide for me. Thanks M. We are here to review the following metrics with the board. again regular attendance and discipline uh now September through uh December. So we are going to next slide for me start with our attendance. So the district continues to focus on monthly on our strategic goal of regular attendance. Again this is the overarching metric goal specific to that. Uh the next slide shows our regular attendance K12 for all students the last two years. On the left of the slide, you will see our current September through December regular attendance data in blue. You can see our December data is 66% and 12 percentage points
028up from the previous year. Uh which is great to see. Uh next slide. for our students with disabilities in December. We are seven percentage points higher than the previous year. Next slide. For me, for our students who are economically disadvantaged, we also see a 12 percentage point increase from the previous year for September for excuse me, for December, excuse me, September through December is what we're looking at there. Uh so again we have gains in all three um focal groups that we have as part of our uh strategic plan. Next slide. Again we're being very um I'm going to say methodical and very focused on our strategies and act action steps. So here you can see those uh that we have in place across the district focused on our regular attendance. We continue to establish
029welcoming environments. Uh we continued to develop strong classroom engagement strategies which I will tell you last Monday prior to kids coming back we had a professional learning day. Uh again K12 across the board and remember we have uh onboarded a new curriculum and instruction director. Uh so she worked with K5 and then our 612 we really went elementary secondary and did some fabulous professional learning and I got a lot of good feedback across uh the district from staff uh both classified and licensed of that learning that day. So again part of that was focused on just reminders about what good strong strong classroom engagement looks like. Again when you have strong classroom engagement less behaviors um etc that we uh have within the school. So, um, we're going to continue to focus on that. Um,
030but some really good successes as we came out of the, uh, winter break and then we can continue to have solid communication with families on the importance of attendance. So, a lot of really good things happening across the district as we continue to focus on that. Next, we're going to focus on discipline. The next slide is again our overarching goal specific to that. And again, as a reminder to the board, because we are looking back a little bit with this metric, uh, in the 21-22 school year, we had a total of 620 suspensions across the district. So again, we're trying to to decrease that. So again, next slide shows our discipline K12 for all students uh last year. So again, this is two years of data that we have in front of you. From the
031left side, you'll see our current September through December discipline data in blue. For December, we were 24 suspensions less than last year. That is a 24 percentage point decrease. And again, that's starting to trend towards what we are wanting to do from our strategic goal. Uh next slide is specific. This is our dis that December discipline for our male students. Again, that is September through December data. And again, our December trend data for male student suspensions decreased by 14 compared to last year. And that also is a 21% point decrease. So again, we want attendance to go up and discipline to go down. And we are seeing that across uh the district. >> These are actual numbers of suspensions. Correct. Correct. Okay. >> Correct. Yep. Those are the actual numbers and then we just do
032the the metrics for what the what the change is overall from the the previous year. So you have both number and percentage that we have hopefully decreased. So um again same as with our attendance for the 2526 school year. Here's our strategy and action steps in in place across the district uh focused on decreasing our suspensions. You can see some of these strategies again align with our attendance strategies. Right? We're doing a lot of uh collaboration in those that cross over. Uh I will say uh schools continue to teach and retach where necessary. I've shared with the board in the past as we come out of breaks. We actually spend the first week going through routines and expectations both at really K12. Again, students have been gone for two weeks. Um again, they're with families.
033They could be on vacations, a lot of late nights, maybe not getting as much sleep. So those types of things, just reminders to kids um about that. But then also just what does it look like walking to the lunchroom? What does it look like engaging in uh classroom uh engagement uh with our students? Again, how do you do independent work? What's it look like in a group? All of those are re um really rettaught throughout the first part of last week and even into this week um as we continue and move forward through the second part of the school year. And then again we continue with our uh social emotional learning again those the work that we're doing within the classrooms but also with our counselors our behavior support staff and then our school-based mental
034health associates. So again some of the key strategies that we're looking at from a discipline end. So again, another exciting month of increase in attendance and decrease in um suspensions. Again, that means we're moving in a positive direction with classroom engagement. Kids are then engaged and learning and so and we're not kicking students out. We're trying to meet them where they're at and and keep them in our school. So really great work by our um bo both by students and our staff and then our families especially at K5 of getting kids to school. Uh so really really good. We want to continue to see that attendance number go up. I'd like us to be hopefully as we finish the school year in the 70 75 that would be great. Um because our overall strategic goal
035is that 85% of our kids are coming 90% of the time uh throughout the school year. So that's really what we're focusing on. So questions for us. >> I had a question about the um attendance strategies. Um this I know we just started the postcards in October. >> We did. >> But when did we start the attendance tracking tools? I'm assuming that's also through parent square. >> Uh it's a little bit of that work. >> So there is a tool uh there's a toolkit that we get both from the WMA education service district and actually the Oregon Department of Education. So we really over in August went sort of through those toolkits and one of the things that there is in there for example is there is a monthly tracking where families can track attendance.
036You can put it on your fridge. You can work through that. They don't >> themselves. >> Correct. So, so we have our staff has and really principles in their communications are working with families to say, "Hey, if we're if you're struggling and our goal is because we do have uh work with families and build some support plans to say, hey, if your students coming 50% of the time, let's figure out and what can we do together to get them there 65% of the time. That's one extra day a week." So, you know, we do have plans that we put in place with parents, meet them, trying to meet them where they're at to to figure out ways to get uh students to school. Um, also we have again many schools are working with parents to
037to you know, how do how can you help? Does your neighbor do you have a neighbor that has a student? Do you walk? How do we support some of those strategies uh also from that? So just taking some of those tools from both of those organizations and then getting them out as much as we can to our community again and meeting parents what what works for them. Both are in English and Spanish. We've we've been very intentional about that uh to make sure that um both parents and students can track their attendance. Um and it's a fun way. It's a good fun activity. Um I I remember and many people probably did a form of that at times when you were in school. I I had a educator as a parent, so we did that
038all the time and tracking our attendance at school. So, it's just good habits and good tools to to support families. >> It seems like the postcard though, I mean, if it rolled out in October, we had big jumps in November, December. Like, have you gotten feedback about the postcards that lead you to believe? >> No, I think it's just a good tool. Um I again because it goes uh weekly on Fridays to families. I think sometimes it can be overw there's two pieces. Some families feel that to be overwhelming because again we're they're just trying to figure out strategies to get there. So that can feel intimidating at times. Um we in our conversations or more principles really um having to remind families that hey just think of it as a data point. It's not
039there to shame or blame. It's just a way to track if you're, you know, where you are. And so having that conversation to try and have that view different because it is again, it's just fact data. It's not there to blame because we all know that there are circumstances um in our communities where right now people may not feel safe to come to school or there could be other things that we're having to work through um with the family because everybody has different family dynamics and and we understand that. we're trying to um work with families that have barriers and say how can we help you or where can we help you get that barrier out of the way um from that perspective. So um but some people have enjoyed that to also help motivate
040their student to come to school. So but we haven't had a ton of feedback on that this year much more last year because last year was the first year that we rolled it out. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. other questions or thoughts? Okay. >> Oh, just a quick thought just being able to see this progress and it's not like a year of it, but just it's it's exciting um to see what we're able to do in a short amount of time. So, it gives me a lot of hope for the future. But I also just want to um commend uh teachers and staff and support staff that really um play such a huge role in the daily lives of our kids at all ages, especially right now um with so many stressors in our um
041in our community and everything that's going on. You know, the the bus driver saying good morning might be, you know, the one thing that that child looks forward to or the lunch lady asking them how their weekend was, whatever it was. Um, so thank you to all the staff and all the teachers who who engage intentionally with all of our kids. >> Thank you. Yep. They do an excellent job. >> Superintendent report. >> Yeah. So, I just want to give you an update uh on a a project that I made you aware of about a month and a half ago. Um, we've been approached by a community group about improvements they would like to see in our softball facilities. Uh this community group which has some connection to CYS has secured resources to make some
042major expans expansions including a year-round indoor storage facility on the Ash Creek campus. Um because Henry Hill there's been some conversations about potential long-term bigger projects to provide community uh recreation and gathering spaces. um we have had those conversation with them that it doesn't really make sense to be on this property at this at this time. Uh so they have developed um so we talked about just other sites in the district and if you go over to Ash Creek on the backside we have the playground we have the I call it the soccer field where our students are on and then we have all these fields over what would that be north on the north [snorts] side of the of the facility. So they have developed a layout for three softball fields and then that
043enclosed uh facility which fits on that grounds. Um again they would leave the area area we currently use for soccer games and then where our our obviously uh recess time for our uh Ash Creek students. Um so they would leave that uh facility currently as it is. Uh from that perspective, when we were approached with this, we actually um took it over to the administration at Ash Creek because obviously they get voice in that and we want to make sure it's not impeding on anything they're trying to do within um the grounds of Ash Creek. And they reviewed the layout and felt very confident that it wouldn't interfere with the educational programming or the extracurricular activities because we have middle school athletics there, we have high school athletics there. uh that upgrade actually would help
044some of those um opportunities there. So, uh again, so they've reviewed that uh we with that at the Ash Creek, we also then because it does in in fact impact athletics asked both of our athletic directors um our district leadership uh at the middle school and high school to review those plans as well as you all know Jason Clark helps support district athletics. Uh so the three of them reviewed it and they are very supportive of this as well. So having um these facilities uh which we would continue to uh be available for use by Ash Creek specifically and then the district in general um having them along 16th Street makes much more sense for accessibility. Um so the district is in the process and has a drafted uh memorandum of agreement uh which again
045we're working through that and have worked through that with our legal counsel to ensure the coordination planning permitting construction li any liability concerns um as well as uh documenting the uh ownership maintenance and use of the facility. So again we haven't really talked about this publicly. We want to talk about it publicly, answer any questions that you all may have. We are very close with a memorandum with them. Again, have have gotten some language just for clarity on liability and you know what happens if they money runs out, what happens to that property. So we so some of those things we've just been able to clarify and we'll continue to work with that group uh with that memorandum of agreement. So again, still our property, still we get first use, but really that memorandum is
046going to talk about after us, then they would have access to that. Um they'll maintain it. Um part of the memorandum is specific to that. We'll maintain our grounds, but that section particularly with the three fields. Uh they would continue to do the maintenance on that. And so again, that memorandum really talks through all of those pieces uh for this group. So again, we would like to continue to move forward, but wanted to just see if there's any questions from you all um that we maybe aren't thinking of as we continue down this uh road with this outside group. >> So you you said this um the group was part of CIS. >> Yes. >> Okay. Part but not BY. it. I I'll just and I'm going to be careful how I say this because
047I think the resource came from somebody else but it is connected to CYS. >> Okay. >> CIS is the partner. Yes. Organization. >> Correct. MOA will be with the CYS. >> Okay. >> And it's all natural surface. >> Yes. I I don't believe off the top of my head that it's any synthetic. It's all natural grass and dirt. >> And then will the field you mentioned softball fields, will they also be able to use it for little league baseball? >> Yes, I believe there's a combination of softball. I'm looking at CE because she's been working very closely with them. It's a combination of being able to use it for softball and then any type of little league to give us a few more fields for our uh younger I'm going to say K5 types of
048of groups. Um because right now really they have the fields right here. Sometimes they use mees as an option, but this would definitely give us uh the community more access. So and again that area that's a very large area on the back side of Ash Creek. It I appreciate uh cease thinking outside the box because we were really trying to say is there anywhere else in the district that we could do it? and um it's that we've got some space there to be able to do that without impeding what we're trying to do from a K5 educationally. >> Can you describe the enclosed structure a little bit? >> Yeah, it's it's it's really sort of storage uh facilities and then batting [snorts] cages. So, it's going to be a combination of being able to go
049in and have some sort of small batting cages, ability to store things, and then they talked a little bit potentially about uh concessions, and correct me if it wasn't there concessions in there as well, CeCe. Um, so they're potentially being able to do concessions as well. So, that would, as an example, anytime you do concessions, you're going to have to have a water line. So, those pieces would would also be a part of that. So they're running all the utilities, they're going to do the drainage, all that stuff. >> Yes. And all with their money. This is a great great opportunity for us and great for CIS. >> It's great for Yes. >> It's a great partnership between the two of us. >> Excellent. >> So, we're going to keep moving forward unless you all
050have any other concerns. We'll just keep moving forward and we'll >> update you on on where we go with with those pieces. So, thank you for that. >> Yeah, >> we feel re we feel really good about this. I think there's they've been very thoughtful in their approach. Um and um again, we need them. We've talked about this before from a facilities end with what we need in baseball and softball field. So, this will be a good addition to support the community. >> Move on to board report. Next regular board meeting is February 2nd at 6:30 p.m. There was no PLC in January. Um wanted a special board appreciation month discussion. We'll lead that. >> Yeah, I'll start and I'm going to do my best to get through this. So just if I paused, just
051hold on. Stay with me. Um, so each year in January, we show our appreciation to the board of directors of Central School District 13J. This year, we are celebrating the service of one of our board members. It is with a heavy heart that we acknowledge the passing of board member Steve Moer. Steve served the students, staff, and families of Central School District 13J for two and a half terms from 2011 to and 2023 to 2025. From the moment I met Steve, it was clear that his purpose for the school district was focused on our students and their success in the community and beyond. He had one of the kindest hearts and biggest hearts imaginable. His work in the Lions through the crab feed raised money for high school scholarships for our students. He and the
052Lions have put many glasses on our students eyes with the Lion Sight and Hearing Foundation. His service is unmatched. Excuse me. His service to this community is unmatched. I don't think there's a part of this community that he hasn't helped to support or develop for youth as well as adults. For example, his service to Scouting America and Meals on Wheels. At one point, Pulk County had the highest per capita Eagle Scouts in the country. Uh some of that is because of Steve's leadership and dedication to the scouts and youth in our community. and he never shied away from a hard or difficult conversation in the best interest of students. He was always open to being a thought partner and listener. He not only cared about the school district, but if you were in his circle,
053he truly cared about you. Staff in the district shared that they always loved his sense of humor and they felt that he cared not only for the students but the work that staff were doing to support students. He took the time to make personal connections. We spent some time reaching out to prior board members to share their reflection of the leadership and legacy of Director Moer. Here are what several of them shared with me. Previous board director and chair Don Wall shared about Steve's service. He remembered Steve's willingness to become the board chair and stated he stepped up to support that role. Don stated it was his turn, so to speak, and he did not shy away from that. He was always present at board conferences and learning the role that he took on. Previous
054board of director and vice chair Peggy Klein shared that Steve was solutionoriented. He always came to the table trying to find a solution to the problem. That is one of the things that she remembers most about him and that he always saw the good in everyone. Previous board of director and chair Steve Love shared the following. Steve and I served together on the central board for over eight years. Through that time, I grew to respect and admire Steve immensely for his servants heart. Steve was always out in the community and always worked hard to help improve the community that we lived in and do all that he could for our kids. I always looked forward to going to Lions events or any of our community events knowing that Steve would be there with a big
055smile on his face. He was a great asset to the school board and a great asset to me and I will really miss him. >> [clears throat] >> He set the bar for what it means to be involved in community and always brought an incredibly grounded perspective to our discussions about schools. He worked really hard. He worked really hard for the Lions, for the Boy Scouts, for the fire department, for the school district and our community. But you would never know it because he always had a smile on his face. I will miss you, Steve, but well done, my friend. Well done. As I close this reflection and celebration and turn it over to our current board for their reflection and celebration, I can't imagine [gasps and sighs] this world without him in it. He
056was a great leader as a board of director and had a heart of gold for our community. He was one of the most remarkable service leaders I have ever had the privilege of working with and this is a legacy that he will leave behind. >> Thank you. >> Well done. This time I'd like to open it up for comments from other board members who may wish to share their feelings and tribute. >> Am I on? >> No. >> Am I on now? >> No, it is. Yeah. >> It is. >> Um, you know, there are so many things to share about the people on literally this. I I I knew him as a filbert for a very long time. And um one of the most meaningful things to me and our family, I should say
057my family and I, my mother's listening to my grand [laughter] >> was the way he was so dedicated to the Boy Scouts. My nephew who who had some thinks started as a very young boy in Boy Scouts and Steve just kept pushing him along. Yeah, you need to go on this trip. I don't want him. It's going to be cold. You need to go on this camping trip. And it went on and on and on and the young boy blossomed. Now I'm crying. This I'm not sorry. Apparent apparently I am now in front of the whole community. um that boy blossom and he was a needle scout and he was at the service and just you know how do you say thanks to someone who never expected thanks? How do you do that? Thank you,
058Steve. So for me personally, I um I met Stephen Leanne um when I started as a district employee working at Independence Elementary and um I had worked as a substitute and got a permanent position as a bilingual classif classified um assistant and um it was really interesting because at that time I was all of 22 years old and um they handled the readathon at IE and it was really funny because you couldn't talk about Steve without talking about Leanne because they were always such a team and they were such a team to be reckoned with. like they had things in order. They had a plan and the kids needed to get in line and everybody get with their prize and how many books did you read and it was just whenever it was readathon time
059the kids the energy the vibe was just like they just put so much energy into and the the commitment to it. I I remember being a young educator at that time going, "Wow, don't these people have other things to do?" Like, they're always here and they were just volunteering, but I would literally be like, "Don't they have anywhere else they want to be? They're not even getting paid, you emotional. Um, so then here we are now and I was able to serve with him here on the board for a very short amount of time and but I'm very grateful and and I know um from living in this community um my entire life how huge the Moers have been in trying just to get the best for our kids um in an academic setting, in
060a social setting and and all of these things. I I ran into one of their daughters who was one of my students at um at her place of employment in um West Salem and I was like, "Oh my gosh." And she's like, "Yeah, I'm working here." And she just had that same glow and smile. And it's just so I mean his legacy lives on. It lives on in his children and it lives on in all of the people that he touched. So thank you, Steve, and thank you, Leanne. And we're thinking about you. I did not know Steve that well outside of working with him on the board, but the more I got to know him and the more I heard about the things that he has been involved with in this community, he's one
061of those people that I say when I grow up, I want to be like Steve. Yeah. and he he just he he reflects he's a he's a reflection of what he believed in and he led a life of service and I don't know that there's a bigger compliment you can pay and I think the way to say thank you is was reflected in all of those people that showed up to both of those memorial services. Those rooms were packed. Could have been a lot. Could have been a lot more. Um, so I do say thank you, Steve, and that this community ought to pay it forward and all that we do. So, thoughts [laughter] Moving on to the consent agenda. Then again, if there's something in the consent agenda we want to put pull out
062and put on board business, we can do so. Otherwise, I'll entertain a motion to approve it as as it's constituted. >> Approve cons. Moved by Jan. Looking for a second. >> I'll second. >> Seconded by Melanie. All those in favor, please raise your hand. It is unanimous. Consent agenda passes. [clears throat] Moving on to business agenda. Under our policy, we must uh unfortunately declare a vacancy on our board. Um, due to the recent passing of Director Steve Moer, the board needs to declare a vacancy. Per policy, the board may appoint someone to serve the remainder of Director Moer's term. The application will be posted on the website tomorrow, January 13, and remain open for 20 days. The board may interview applicants at the February 17th PLC. The new board member will be sworn in on
063February 17th. So, we're going to interview and choose on the same. You can I think what we've been uh reaching out obviously based on our policy and we had some discussion with OSBA um you all have the right let's say we only get one applicant you can at our next board meeting keep it open um so you all can make some of those decisions uh moving moving forward um in time frame that's sort of a guidance the policy wise but um in talking with them you You know, that was some of the questions we asked just to get clarity on uh based on our policy. >> Does does the applicant need to be um do they need to be um located in a certain zone, a certain area? >> So, I think we're just about
064to get to that. >> Yeah, go ahead, please. >> So, eligible board members must be a legally registered voter and a resident within the district for one year immediately preceding the appointment and a res a resident of zone one. >> Okay. If the eligible zone if an eligible zone resident cannot be found, the board shall appoint one of the eligible residents from the district. So outside of that, >> the appointee will serve until June 30th, 2027 unless they are elected in the May 2027 election. So there is a motion to declare a vacancy in zone one. We can answer any questions that we have. >> Yeah. And then again in the Friday report we put the application um we we got we received some really good guidance from uh the Oregon Schoolboard Association. So um
065there's some additional questions that we've added. Again, we've had to go through this one other time under my tenure here. Um so we've um again taken some of the guidance from OSBA. Um the application is a little bit more lengthy than prior, but I think there's some really good questions that will help you all make that decision. Um and again, I think it's a good question about if we do have a zone one. Um and again, they have to be eligible. We'll have to do as we get applications in, we will reach out to the county, we'll have to confirm addresses, we'll have to confirm voting and residency, right? All of those pieces. uh we will do um we could come back to you and say these two are not eligible. They've only been here
066six months, so they won't we won't be able to move through as an example with that process. So, some of that we'll do on the back side um before we um give you applications leading into I'm just going to say February or March meetings depending on um what that looks like. Uh, yes. Let me go to the I think it's on the application. So, hold on one second. I pulled it up. So, zone one is a portion of the city of independence north of Mammoth Street extended. So, I always think um again, here's Bonmouth. Again, the edge of of that zone is I'm going to say as you start into the S-curves. So, and then we've got Mammoth Street. Anything north of that. So, >> to about >> up to about Hoffmanish. Yeah. So, Marold,
067um anyone on Gun Club, anyone that's on within the city limits, Sea Street, but north, right? Not not south, north. Yep. Air park and to a degree before it gets into I think Susan's zone. Um >> yeah. So that's sort of the general in town zone where that's at. >> Correct. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Yep. Any questions? So there's a motion on the agenda. >> I move that we declare vaccines. >> Moved by Susan. >> All second. >> Seconded by Jan. All those in favor raise your hand. It's unanimous. Or to nothing. We have a vacancy in zone one and portional. Possing items, board comments. Um, the presentation by Aaron, is that is that your name? >> Okay, thank you for coming in and doing that. >> Great. Um, is it is itible to
068have especially as we coming up on budget >> budget stuff to have some sort of understanding of these repair projects and maybe a priority on so I if we can't attack them all at once even, you know, a big chunk of money and we have to nickel and dime it using whatever meager budget items we have. Um that at least we can identify the priorities articulated by facilities saying, "Hey, this this needs to be >> addressed." That way the budget committee can really >> um have that understanding as we as we enter into budget >> season >> and we can we can give you um an update on the amount of money or the area specifically where we can spend that again part of that money we've spent on the turf obviously we're going to
069replace that it's not replacing as fast as we would like just because there's not a lot of buildings and things going on right now. little bit of building but not um a ton of that. So, we can we can give you some projected numbers of what that would look like. I think the hard part and I'm gonna talk just and we can bring back um priorities from the facility plan and the work that was done by that committee so we can put that back in front of the board so you can just sort of see the key priorities across all five buildings. Um I think that's that's the that's the hard part about this. Um, you know, we've talked about air conditioning, right, with we've got three very warm buildings when it hits 90 degrees
070that don't cool down, as an example. Um, the high school roof is a concern uh that we continue to have and anytime we get rainy weather, it it's hard. Um, again, putting a new building with a old section of an old building and trying to keep the roof is a hard hard thing to do. And again, it is what it is and we'll we'll continue to work through that. But we'll definitely um pull together I would say the facility plan projected numbers of where we are of what money we could spend. Um but >> to be very honest the high I want to be and upfront high schools millions of dollars to fix that roof. It's not like a million dollar. It's a >> it was 4.5 and that was two years ago. >> So
071probably now it's closer to five five and a half. And I I don't know if we can break that down into smaller projects. >> Okay. >> As far as, you know, you mentioned the auditorium roof. We can only fix the auditorium this year, >> but if we're going to have to nickel >> Yeah. And and the I want to be clear, the auditorium is a little bit it's unique. Um and and maybe what we'll what my my thinking is is we'll bring Brian Weatherly to a PLC to talk through. Um, again, I I don't, as I say this, I do not want to throw prior people that worked on this under the bus. So, as I say this, please don't read into that. The the outside walls were done incorrectly. They didn't put on the
072right to keep rain out, right? So, there's just some project things that were not when the high school was done done correctly. We can't I mean again we are here and dealing with what what we can deal with and so I do think we can look at that type of project that is what we believe is causing some of the issues. It's not the roof at the high school. It's the sides. >> It's less than 20 years old. Right. >> That's what I was going to say. When was that when was that construction project completed? >> 2000 I'm going to look at Emily. 2009 started. So 200910 would have been when that the high school project would have completed which which that shouldn't happen in less than 20 years. >> That that should have lasted
073at least 30 to 40 before we saw any issues >> starting to again agree. But it is what it is and so we can yes we can start to put that together. eat the elephant one bite at a time. >> Yeah. >> Might be really small bites. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, we'll we'll get Brian and we'll find some time. Um whether that's February or March and whether we do that just in a regular board meeting or we do it one of our PLC's, we definitely can um bring back some of the key things and potentially have cost estimates and then where we are financially. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Yep. Any other comments, [clears throat] questions, discussions? >> I go ahead. Sorry. I do have a question. We have the short session coming up.
074Are there ways that OSBA or the districts would are encouraging us to lobby for uh particular funding measures or other things to >> So, I think that I want to have a little bit of that discussion possibly. Okay. in our February, March. The next forecast that will come out is the middle of February. Again, like the last forecast that we had in December that I've shared with you, um it was positive. We were up 300 million. But again, remember, right now we're looking at a deficit of 900. Well, at that point it was 900 million. Being 300 million up in the state budget, now we're only 600 million >> down. From a state budget perspective, um we we have had conversations. There is a rainy day fund specifically for education that has been used nine
075times prior to this. Last time it was used, we did it for we had uh used that program or that funding that is built by the legislature and has a backfill. So we use it, it's backfilled. um was used during COVID when originally um when COVID hit that rainy day fund was at 800,000. We use 4 excuse me 800 million. I keep doing that. 800 million. Um the uh we used 400 million during COVID. That rainy day fund is back up to 1.2 billion. So there is some conversation about do we use that fund again. There is you're going to start to hear there's more concern leading into the 2729 and 2931 bianiums where there is um potential billion dollar losses of this state just because of the way the HR1 falls and some of
076the things that will will take place with that. And again, as I share with you, do not read in. This is not politics. This is the math of what we're trying to do from a funding end and working with both sides of the aisles as we uh work through funding. So, I think some of those conversations I think we we can rep prioritize from the board what is important to you all. Um special education is still a large chunk. It is becoming 23 25% of our staff. yet we don't get any additional funding for that. Our high-cost disabilities continue to go up and we're just eating in our general ed fund. Yes, we use IDEIDA and some funding for that, but I still think that's potentially an avenue we can um advocate as well from
077that perspective. So, we can bring that back and have that conversation for sure. But again, those are a couple of areas that we're um talking about. >> Thank you. Did you get your question answer? All right. Very good. All right. Uh if you get a chance, uh review the items for actions at future meetings. Otherwise, if there are no objections, we will adjourn the meeting. Thank