9/23/2025 FGSD School Board Meeting

001All right. It's September 23rd, 2025 for school district board of directors meeting is called to order at 5:32 p.m. We'll start with roll call of board members present. Alzano >> here. >> Kate Grandowski >> here. Wax >> here. >> Via Andrade >> here. >> Christy Cocky I am here. And Risa Franco currently not here but on her way. And we will pause to acknowledge when she arrives for the record. All right. So we'd like to ask everybody to please stand. I pledge to the flag of Americace for all. >> All right. I'm looking for approval for tonight's agenda. >> Madam Chair, so move. >> Second. It's been moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I. I. >> I. >> Opposed. All right. And we're going to start first with our student representative report as

002we always do with Maya. And we will actually pause just one moment to welcome Resa. Resa Franco. Everyone you haven't met her coming in from the class. Welcome. [Music] All right, Lisa is on the dies at this point. Welcome, Resa. We're just up to student rep report with Maya. Go ahead. Perfect. Okay, I'll start. Um, good afternoon. Uh, I'll head to the highlights really quickly. Um, ASB's home was announced month and we're starting to uh prepare for a parade and other community events. Uh, Latinos and Action has also kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month um with planning activities like spirit weeks, activities by staff and more. Of course, our voice actor did really good this week and we took a victory on Friday was the football team. Um, Maria performed during game just recently. Did very

003well. And all positive comments from today's staff. >> All right. And for board report tonight, I've actually asked Dr. West if she would share just a little bit before our board report. Then as board members, we actually have events that we attended as well that we'll be sharing. And then we'll we'll pitch it back to her for superintendent report um later in the So Dr. West. Great. Thank you. Um I wanted to start because I'm sure that many of you here want to speak about the social media posts. Um I want to acknowledge that there's a lot of strong feelings in the community. I think between the board members and myself and the administrative team at Neil Armstrong Middle School, we've heard those perspectives loud and clear and there are different perspectives in our community

004about how to respond to this situation. At this time, our educator remains on administrative leave while we conduct our investigation. This means he's not present in the school while we conduct our review process. I also want to be clear that as a licensed educator, he has rights to due process. Many of our community has contacted our district office to share their views regarding the social media post and I thank those of you who did so respectfully. I recognize again the wide range of viewpoints and I need to state publicly that personnel decisions are guided policy, contractual obligations and the rights afforded under Oregon employment law. When our investigation is complete, we will communicate the outcome with our community. Until then, we ask for your patience and trust as we follow through with our process. Finally,

005I want to reiterate what we've said multiple times from the beginning of this situation. We remain unwavering in our commitment to our students and ensuring that their education continues without any pressure. With that, I'll turn it back to you. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, we do have a couple comments from directors tonight. I'm going to start with Director Truax. >> Thank you and thank you for the comments, Dr. West. This month, 238 years ago, our country adopted the Constitution. Following that, Elizabeth William Powell asked one of the gentlemen present, "Well, doctor, what have you got? A republic or a monarchy?" The gentleman, Benjamin Franklin, replied, "A republic, if we can keep it." Realizing that the document may have some shortcomings, the framers allowed for it to be moderated or amended. Four years later, it answered

006some growing concerns. Congress allowed for the adoption of 10 such amendments which have come to be known as the Bill of Rights. The first amendment is as follows and I quote, "Congress shall make no law rejecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the right to people to peaceibly assemble and to petition the government for a redress agreement." Close quote. Those 45 words pretty much cover the right to free speech, the right to assemble, the right to worship, the right to not worship, the right to ask our government to enact, modify or nullify laws. Such is the practice of this thing we call democracy. And this in part is what makes democracy so messy. When I was mayor, I had the

007occurrence of a person standing at our flag pole with a sign saying, "Bring the troops home and bring them home." effing now. I got more than one phone call, considerably more than one phone call, asking no, demanding that I do something about it. a reply that is obnoxious and as ownorous as I found that signed and its craziology might be, I felt was covered under the mantle of the first amendment. There were people angry with my supposed inaction, but I felt I had acted. I had upheld the right to protest, right to free speech, and the right to peaceibly assemble it. Two years before that I had occasion to engage in debate with a dear friend of mine Ray Johnson may be familiar to a number of you in the audience. Case had come before

008the Supreme Court Texas v Johnson. Johnson was accused of breaking a Texas law that prohibited the burning of the American flag. Rey was adamantly in support of that law, lamenting the fact that someone would be so defiant as to burn that symbol of the country he, Ray, had served in the Korean War. I was equally supportive of Johnson's First Amendment right to peaceibly petition the government for a redress of grievances, a right I swore to defend when I took the same oath Ray did. The court ruled that as long as the flag was Johnson's personal property, he was allowed to use it as he pleased. And here's the rest of the story. Rey and I remained fast and dear friends. We played golf. We taught at Forest Grove High School together. We broke bread. We

009worshiped together. For his biatitudes were my beatitude. And yes, we had more disagreements over a variety of subjects, especially his love of the Oregon Ducks and my infatuation with the Huskies. The key here is that our differences, and there were many, did not get in the way of our incredible, dear, and powerful friendship. We are in a difficult time. Name calling solves nothing. Rex solve nothing. On the night Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968, Robert F. Kennedy suspended his campaign for president to talk of a deeper subject. Addressing a crowd in Indianapolis, he told them of the shooting and then said, quote, "What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is wisdom, love, compassion toward

010one another, and a feeling of justice towards those who still suffer within our country. And he closed with this. Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago to tame the savagess of man and to make gentle the life of this world. So let us work together where ourselves, our neighbors, and most importantly our children and our students to tame the savages savagess of man and make gentle the life of this little Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Director Truax. I'm going to take a little bit of that and speak locally for just a minute and then we'll we'll commit to a few other events that have been happening um to do with students in our schools this week. Uh as Pete mentioned, working together is the way that we

011all build trust and reach solutions no matter the situation. I have full confidence that this district, this board, our staff, parents, and students have shown a way to do that time and time again. And these past weeks have have been and will be no different. With regards to the recent events in the district, I am thankful for the immediate communication sent out by our superintendent. This communication acknowledged what had happened, shared our district beliefs, but it was careful not to jump ahead and make statements that interfered with the information gathering that always occurs in situations like these. That is exactly what any school board would expect to see. The next day, as additional information had been gathered, a second piece of communication was shared with our community about the process, what was in place, and

012also it stated that the next update would come when the investigation was concluded. This also helps our community know what to expect with regards to next steps. Some people were demanding additional information or for us to make conclusions that simply can't be made as a board without due process. suggestions from the community of how we should or shouldn't handle things don't and won't change how we legally and procedurally will consistently operate when they come up. That is important for everybody to know going forward. As the board chair, I really appreciated those who reached out directly with questions, who called or emailed to ask for additional clarification on the process or just offered support, understanding that this was an incredibly challenging situation for our whole community. This is an example of communicating in a productive and

013respectful way. And personally, this is just me. I will continue to encourage everyone to reach out directly first before posting and commenting online in forums where rumors and emotions tend to take over. When our conversations happen in person and not online, the outcomes are even better, especially where there are differences of opinion. It is that kind of in-person respectful engagement that is actually referenced tonight and I believe action item number five. Let's just make sure I'm I'm sure on that. Yes. Ironically, action number five tonight and hopefully you're here for that. The board has talked this year about how to increase engagement. Schoolboard meetings and city council meetings are not town halls. They are business meetings that we have that the public can watch and we receive information throughout the week and throughout doing our

014work that is volunteer to help inform how we need to communicate with the community. But we also know that this community as across the nation people are seeking ways to come together and have real conversations where we can talk back and forth, we can share information and we can all figure out how we're doing this together. Um, tonight we're going to talk about that in action items number five. And just know that this board has been having those conversations since the summer when we had our retreat about how to engage more thoughtfully, frequently, and in a genuine way with our community. But in the meantime, know that this board fully understands the process, the laws, and the steps that need to be taken no matter what situation will arise. I hope that after this meeting,

015those of you tuning in are here for the very first time will continue to watch and participate in the work we do and that with that kind of energy and continue to volunteer your time in our schools. That is the kind of involvement that's helpful. We will be consistent, focus on students and proud of the work we do. And finally, I did want to publicly thank especially the front office staff in our schools, our teachers, parents, and students who remain focused while we were all trying to figure this out together. Um, and I do want to call out our a call out. That's a positive thing. Our executive assistant Bethany, who's assistant to the both the board and the superintendent, for her professionalism, her care for this community, and her ability to really share information

016in a way that's respectful and accurate and trustworthy. So, thank you for that. Um, so I'm going to pivot just for a minute because typically in board report, we would also be sharing what had been going on in the district. And I've talked about our purpose statement. We did finally find a date in November. Senators Weber, Soulman, and Rep. Mlan. We've actually encouraged them to come visit our schools together as a team and visit regionally with our schools. The superintendents are starting to work together to see what that will look like. They were all able to find a time where they can come together and visit schools together. And we'll share a little bit more of that when we get closer. And I do also want to thank the board members who attended both the

017market booth and the cornroast booth. And thank you to David Warner, our communications specialist, for being there and setting those up and also participating. Those are examples of how the board is committing to be in the community. While we were there, I mean, we all heard different conversations, but I heard from parents that had questions about dual language track and math track in high school. We heard from people about um possibility of start time changes. We had someone that suggested that we might consider staggering back to school lights. So, we had a lot of good feedback from parents and the community at those. But my favorite was that I heard different families, but a kindergartener, two fourth graders, and a high schooler. And the question I always ask is, you know, what is your what's

018your favorite part so far of school? For the kinder, he just super quietly said, "I have friends. I made friends." And it was so cute. For the fourth graders, they said their very favorite classes were science and um her brother's favorite class was writing. And for the junior, he talked about how challenging his AP social studies class was right now, but actually how he was just embracing the challenge. He was he had a really full schedule as a junior. Mayor Maya will probably talk about that too. juniors and seniors, but really um great to hear that our juniors are feeling challenged in their coursework. So, it was a it was a great experience. And then I know a couple other directors, I don't know if you want to add anything to that. Um that was

019all I was going to talk about during board report tonight, but I do know you also attended a few of those events. >> Hello again. Apologize for being late. So, sorry. Um yeah, the corn roast was great. I had a great time listening to some kiddos u and talking to them about their experience in class and again just reiterating they were really happy about making friends and seeing their friends again after a long summer. Um and so that was great to see and yeah it was it was great and I'm looking forward to more opportunities to speak to students in the school district and speak to parents as well and just to be there and answer any questions we can. I actually made it out uh for not as long as you ladies were there

020for, but um I was able to engage in conversation with some parents and some grandparents. Um I think the beautiful thing about being out there was actually seeing the community come together and I was expecting for other conversations to take place and it was totally the opposite that I that I was expecting. It was a grandparent who moved who wanted to volunteer and wanted to, you know, put her skill sets into a school district and help out. It was uh students just super happy. Didn't even think about what was going on, you know, and and everything else with the adults. They were just engaging, having fun, um, and enjoying the time the time out there. So, I'm hoping to definitely have some more experiences like that, be out there and hear from parents. You know,

021the concerns are super welcomed as well. It is good to have good conversations about that as well. I'm a parent myself, a high schooler. So, engaging in those conversations are important to me as a parent and as a community member and as an employment. >> So, anything else to add from anyone? Oh, I would just like to say that I had the opportunity to be at Chalk Art and I missed the the corn roast, apologies, but uh had the opportunity to help set up and also talk with a number of people that were working on their incredible designs uh on on the streets of Forest Grove. that particular celebration in Israel. Uh had the soft spot in my heart for it because my wife worked on it for so many years as a member of

022the board for Valley Art Association and uh it was very dear to her. She missed it this year. Uh hopefully that's uh that breaks the street and that's all that it does. Um then I also attended the home opening football game. Um, unfortunately for, uh, the Vikings, uh, Central High School showed up and showed up in space, but we made up for it by meeting with Kay last Friday night. So, uh, go Vikings. And I think that's that's about it, >> right? Thank you, board. We're gonna Oh, hey, did you want to add anything? I didn't not that I didn't forget you were on Zoom. totally attached to song. >> Um I I'm sorry, but I haven't been able to attend anything. So I was very busy in May and June helping to pack up

023and then um in August unpack the library for Cornelius. So um and then I've been traveling and um now taking care of my husband. But um I'm just so glad that we have the board we have and that we have such um a variety of people and skill set that we can really reach out to the community which is a a really important engagement for our uh board because we really want to connect with Cornelius and Forest Grove families. So um I really appreciate this board and I thank you all for attending the things that you attended. >> Thank you Kate. All right, we're gonna toss it back to Dr. West to complete superintendent report and then we'll move on from there. Thank you. I'll add just a little bit more. Um, I also was

024at the farmers market and the corn roast and really appreciated people who stopped by just to share what's on your mind, ask questions. That was a great opportunity to even see some incredible work, see some incredible vendors, taste good and also talk with the community. So that was a joy and I could look for more opportunities like that to have district personnel off about. And then I want to highlight three things that I saw last week in our classrooms. Um I want to start at the high school. I I dropped into the AVID classroom at the high school and it is still early in the school year and relationships are still forming. And what I appreciate about this visit to the AVID classroom is that the educator was working with the kids. He had the

025kids up. He had them in pairs. He required them to talk to each other to have conversations to learn a little bit about each other and do some problem solving with each other in those early stages of learning how to work with a classroom. Um, and then when they went back to their seats, I watched, you know, they're partnered up and we go on the classroom, but then they go back to their seats and we see this volunteer says, "All right, you can go back to their seats." They sprint back to their seats. But what was fun about watching this particular group of high school students is that even after they got back to their seats and they started to move on to what they were learning, they were checking in with their classmates. So

026that early work to build relationships and give classmates that maybe they hadn't done a lot of work before um was starting to knit um those relationships that will see them through their high school experience. So that was really exciting to see. And then at Tom Call Upper Elementary School, I had an opportunity to stop in a classroom during their language arts lesson and students were learning about the brain. And what was tremendous fun about that is they had a diagram out of the human brain and they were labeling parts of the brain and color coding. But the conversation among students was so rich as they were wrestling with words like cortex and cereabella and hippocampus and trying to remember what do these parts do and the struggle for them was real but they were fully

027engaged in it. And that's the kind of learning that will end up staying. So they really have to struggle through that. And the educator was doing a great job of letting them struggle and not just see that. And that's the kind of structured rigor that we hope to see in our classrooms. And then finally, I want to talk about scissors. So I stopped in at one of our elementary schools, kindergarten classroom, and at Harvey Clark Elementary School. I walked in and the kids had scissors and they had glue. And for any of us that have worked with 5-year-olds, that could be a dangerous combination. >> Seniors high school. >> It can be. Yes. Um, so these kindergarteners were doing their cutouts. They were sequencing. Now sequencing to those of us who have been doing it

028for a while, it's automatic. when you're five, this is a really important skill from the first, second, third, and fourth. And they were cutting out parts and they were gluing. And as I sat down with a table of kindergarteners who asked them what they would do and what they would want, they were talking about the sequence, but more so they were talking about the fact that the purple when they look at it in the stick, but then when they put it on the paper and they actually glue it, there's clear. They were fascinated by that. Um, and they did a great job of not getting blue together or cutting it together. So, I was really impressed with the structure that teacher had already established in that classroom. Um, again, sequencing doesn't seem like a big

029deal, but when you're five, that is a very advanced, rigorous skill to learn. So, being in those classrooms these this past week, I was really excited to see that this early in the school year, we're already advancing. some of those skills. And to our educators, I just want to thank you for getting right at it, working with our kids that way. That's it. >> All right. I do know Horse Grove Education Association is on our action items. Is there additional comment that you'd like to use with your reserved time? >> No, there is not. Okay. Thank you. >> And then we're going to move on to unscheduled public appearance. I'm gonna start by reading our standard script before public comment. And after that, I want to share just a few reminders about process and expectations.

030I think this may be on on the agenda as well. >> Okay. Sorry, I didn't. Um, the board appreciates community members sharing information during public comments. Public comments can be made in person or through Zoom by submitting the designated form on the web page. Public comments will be limited to three minutes as as the designate. Well, so my address here, as is the protocol for board meetings, board members will not comment or respond to questions. Public criticism or complaints about school district personnel are not allowed. I wanted to make a few clarifiers. I mentioned earlier that meetings like this are not town halls or where we can have indepth deep discussions and I think sometimes that's how people would like to use that time and we are looking for different ways that we can be

031accessible to that. Public comment is always welcome in writing at any time. You can use the form on our website, email me directly or contact the district office whenever you have questions. Written comments become part of the public record just like the ones made here tonight. But speaking at these meetings is an additional courtesy. Not everyone will have their name drawn. So I encourage you to submit your full comments in writing if you are not called to speak. For tonight's comments in particular, if someone calls for consequences for a specific staff member tied to an active investigation, I will pause them with the gavl and I will move on to the next person. We can't allow that during public comment. What we can hear is input about district policy, state or federal guidelines, or personal

032experiences and impact. If a comment starts moving towards a specific person or investigation, I will gabble again. If I have to gabble twice, we'll close public comment totally for the evening and ask for those submissions to be sent in written. If your prepared comments do not meet those expectations tonight, but your name is called, you can just withdraw your name and submit those comments online. We will draw speakers randomly with priority for district residents. Each person will have three minutes. I won't shorten that time tonight since many of you have prepared full remarks for the three minutes and anything additional can also be submitted in writing. During comments, the board listens quietly and respectfully and we expect the same from the audience. Please refrain from clapping, cheering, booing, or any kind of other audible reaction,

033snapping, uh, comments. I mean, there's lot there are lots of options there. But I do want to say that if we do hear responses, I will gabble once. If if it happens again, even if it is a single person clapping, I will gabble a second time and again close public comment for the day. This standard helps us model respectful discourse, especially important with student leader leaders like this wonderful person right here who are in the room learning how public meetings work. But don't worry, there are times during our meeting just right at during the action items where there is applause and that those are things that we do like celebrations if you've watched our meetings before where we spotlight certain people, events, clubs in the district and also when we reach very exciting conclusions like

034perhaps a contract with our union tonight. So that is when applause and we will see reactions from the audience. But during public comment, we'd like people just to listen respectfully to the person commenting. The board will not comment. They will quietly go back to their seat. Bethany will call the next person. So, I just want to be really clear with that. Um I we're getting a vibe, but we're not there. >> So, all right. With that, I think we're ready to begin. >> We have Kelly Jones up here. >> Yeah. And I think I the microphone should be on but you can move it closer to and if you could place your affiliation in the district and then the father. >> Okay. My name is Kelly Jones. Uh I'm a parent of two former students

035in the district and I'm currently a resident of the district. Um, so I'm here tonight to speak not about any individual, but about important policies that govern the conduct of our school staff, particularly in the realm of social media and public expression. The school district staff handbook clearly recognizes that educators have the right to participate in public affairs and express personal views. This is an important protection in free society and one which aligns with values of open discussion and tolerance. However, the handbook and district policies also set important boundaries on all controversial issues. For example, staff members must clearly state that their views are personal and not those of the district. More importantly, whether on or off duty, staff must always treat students, fellow employees, and the public with respect, especially in communications through social

036media so as to prevent any substantial disruption within our schools. And we can imagine the types of disruption that this is trying to prevent. Uh you know bad attention from media outlets across the state. Uh angry or fearful community members barging school switchboard or or board meetings with concerns. Uh but the most disruptive thing is instilling a sense of clear of fear and concern among students that could be disruptive to their learning. So, uh, I want to emphasize the critical nature of these policies, uh, in protecting our students. Our schools should be safe places where every child can feel secure, respected, and free from fear, regardless of that individual's beliefs, backgrounds, or values. when any statement, public expression or post by a member of a staff celebrates or condones violence based on someone's beliefs that

037threatens the safety and well-being of our students uh and the very environment that we strive to maintain. So you can imagine a student who might hold uh deeply religious beliefs or who supports the constitutional rights of others including second amendment rights. And uh for that student to learn that a trusted adult in their school community had rejoiced in violence. Um we can see how that can be disruptive and how might that might affect a student. And even if the student doesn't uh openly express this disrupt uh uh disruption, the emotional and psychological impact is still there. And this can lead to a chilling effect where students feel unsafe or unsupported. And that's unacceptable. So I think it's essential that our school policies clearly prohibit and address conduct by staff on social media platforms that undermines

038the respectful, safe, and inclusive environments of our schools. If current policies are insufficient to address these actions and incidents effectively, I urge the board to review and strengthen them. And furthermore, when staff is found to have violated these policies and disrupted our schools, uh they must be removed promptly and permanently. >> Thank you, Amy. state first and last affiliation with the district in the topic, please. >> Sure. My name is Amy Patton and I'm a parent. Um I have a former Forest Grove High School student and very grateful for his time at Forest Grove High School and I also have a younger son in the district who is unable to attend the district due to a disability unfortunately. Um what was that? >> Can you hear me? Okay. >> Sorry. Pull that a little bit

039closer. How's >> that? Is that better? Can you hear me or is it on? just get really close. How's that? Okay. Anyway, my name is Amy Patton and I'm a parent in the district. And um what I just wanted to address really simply um first of all, thank you school board for your service to our community. Um, and I just wanted you to know that I personally called the superintendent last week just to discuss concerns that I had as a parent. Um, like I said, I have a child with disability and there were some things that were concerning to me last week. Didn't get a response. Um I do um work with a group of parents that you know we we do try to pay attention to what's going on with the school districts and

040several of them emailed and called and we didn't get any response. So that's just what I want to talk about was that um you know as parents we really want to build bridges with the new superintendent and we felt that this would have been such a great time to do that and that wasn't acknowledged. We didn't get any no emails saying hey we got your email no calls back saying we got your phone call nothing. So um just want to acknowledge that as parents you know we want to work with you guys and we want to build bridges but we have to get responses. Um and your predecessor Parker we may not have agreed every time on things but he was always willing to call us back. I got a phone call back from him

041anytime an email back from him. um he was willing to meet with us and so it was just disappointing. There was I'd say about 30 40 parents that I spoke to individually that didn't get responses. So just wanted to put that out there and let that know that you know we want to work with you guys. We want to have a dialogue. But to be completely ignored really spoke a lot of volumes and was concerning. So thank you Sandra, >> Sandra, >> please state your first and last name, your affiliation with the strength and your topic. Okay. I'm Sandra Landis. I live in Forest Grove. And uh what else did you want me to say? >> And your topic? >> Oh, my topic is um I'm here representing the US Constitution. Dear Board of Education

042members and fellow citizens, two of my daughters attended school in the Forest Grove and two of my grandchildren graduated from Forest Grove High School. After years as a student and clinical instru instructor at Pacific University, I've retired here in the Grove. I'm extremely concerned about the Forest Grove educator who has been put on leave and his teaching duties stopped because he post a personal opinion on his personal Facebook during his personal time. asked if you if you refrain from referring to a specific situation under investigation and participator. >> On Monday, September 22nd, 2025, the lead story written by Stephanie Saul in the New York Times was the firing of educators over Kirk comments follows a familiar playbook. Conservative efforts to call out and punish educators over liberal ideas have grown for years, led in part

043by Charlie Kirk himself. I had never heard of Charlie Kirk and his campus group, Turning Point USA, until his tragic death. I believe in nonviolence. I've never owned a gun. Now, I understand that Kirk used the First Amendment to sue institutions who tried to block his organizations from their campuses. Kirk was known for making racist, anti-semitic, and sexist statements. The First Amendment guaranteed his right to say these things. The same New York Times article explained that the ACLU has condemned the firing of educators because doing so infringes the First Amendment rights. Public institutions like Forestro School District are bound to uphold the First Amendment. And I believe that's all I'm allowed to say, but I appreciate you listening. >> Thank you, >> Melinda. >> Oh, good evening. >> Good evening. My name is Melinda Wenszel

044and I'm here as the mayor of Forest Grove to give a city update. Let me start my timer. So, first of all, I'd like to welcome our new board members. Thank you and thank you to the whole board for choosing to volunteer to serve our community. Um, we do difficult things and the fact that you chose to spend your time to represent students means a whole lot to us. So, I'm here because you also did us a solid by changing your board meetings to Tuesday nights so there could be more engagement between the city of Forest Grove and the school district. So, I wanted to come and give you a quick update about some exciting things that are going on in the Grove. So, the city council and the community of Forest Grove just finished

045our long-term strategic plan called the 2040 plan with the vision of being rooted in connection and growing with purpose. Um, we have four we have action items, visions, values. They focus on the economy, community growth, healthy and active community, and community connections. I'm really really excited about this because we had a huge amount of community engagement. 2,000 surveys. We went to the cornrows October Fest. Um we worked with partners in our Spanish speaking communities with um we just had a huge turnout. And so we really feel like this plan is rooted in community um and it's going to be intentional in the actions we take to move force grow forward. So I wanted I have a minute and a half. So specifically, there's a couple of overlaps I feel the city and the school district

046have that we can work together with. So one of the things uh the council's been working on a lot right now and actually our parks and recck director has been working the hardest is a cost recovery program for recreation. We our last two meetings we've talked about rental fees, nonprofit youth sports, uh how we share facilities, you know, and we're really really lucky in Forest Grove was like a year ago, two years ago, the voters of Forest Grove passed the school district bond which allowed us to upgrade some facilities, right? We have a new turf field, Neil Armstrong. We also had a replacement levy within the city. Um and we built a recreation program. So, one of the things that came as the consensus at last night's work session was we asked staff to look

047at a reciprocal agreement with the force grow school district and I wanted to give you all a heads up because that would be a policy question of you know a reciprocal agreement or shared use. So, for example, the swim team, the Forest Grove High School swim team uses aquatic center. Is there um capacity then for the city to use some gym space for like drop in basketball in the winter or something like that? But that's a policy decision. So I wanted to give you a heads up so when director Lane calls you, you know that that's why. Uh also communication is another way we can overlap I think and work together. But I'm out of time. So thank you very much and thank you for this opportunity. >> Thank you. Oh, okay. Okay. All right.

048Thank you everyone and great job in the audience and we uh we're going to move on. I was going to comment to the just at the mayor's comments that we can one of the things we can do is look at not using public comment time for the city update and we occasionally will do that as well when the board is able to update to the city. So talk about that. Thank you for that update. Um all right we are on to the consent agenda. The consent agenda is made up of routine non-controversial items to be voted on under one motion. Are there any items within the consent agenda that a board member or the superintendent wishes to discuss separately? Seeing none, I will entertain a motion to approve consent agenda. Motion to approve the consent

049agenda. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Thank you, Kate. All right, we're going to move on to presentations. Before presentations, I do want to give people in the audience a chance, just a brief chance in case you weren't planning to stay for the whole meeting to be able to get up and move or if you need to go to the clear events, this would be a good time to do so. But we're going to continue on, but sometimes there's an awkwardness where people don't know when they can skate out. You can actually go at any time. Thank you. All right, we are going to start with action item number one. FTEA and FTSP licensed employee agreements. Oh, and presentations first. Back it up. 202425 integrated programs annual report. Dr. West eventually I

050was going to not hit my mark. >> Oh, it's all good. Okay. >> Thank you. This will be quick. This is an annual requirement um that is written into statute regarding the student success act. A portion of the student success act pays for several grants that school districts benefit from. Um those grants in combination are known as the integrator programs and we are required to annotate quarterly monitoring reports to the department of education but annually to bring some information related to that into the boardroom. So, this presentation meets that requirement, but it is also an update for the board and those who are watching and listening um on some of the things that we've been doing over the course of the past year with these different grant monies. So, to start us off um I

051want to orient you to this very busy slide provided by the Department of Education. Um what you see here on this slide is that the integrated grants are intended to address four different large areas of need within our schools. Well-rounded education, advancing equity, um engaging the community and then enga and strengthening district systems so that we operate effectively. So grant monies can be used for those four different purposes. Within each grant, there are there's greater specificity about those purposes. So for example, the student investment account, which is one of the grants in the integrated plan, can be used specifically to address student mental health needs. Um there are a total of six grants that are combined to make this integrated program and we are on a two-year cycle with these grants. Every two in the

052years every bianium essentially we go through a process with the department of education of updating our goals, updating our longitudinal growth targets and ensuring that we are on track for the growth that the department is expected to see. The program itself extends well beyond two years. We have goals written out right now to fiscal year 2029. The work to update those goals was paused temporarily during the last legislative session while the accountability bill was relieved through the two houses. Uh, as some of you know, two additional uh growth metrics were added to what school districts are held accountable to early attendance and then eighth grade math. So, the department right now is working on updating their rules, their processes to account or the updates through the accountability bill. And once they're done, we'll come back

053and refresh our goals and our targets and we'll bring that into the boardroom and that's ready. I already covered this. Um, specific to what we report to the state, there are a few questions that we're asked specifically to address. This first question right here is to reflect on the plan and its implementation. Um, again, this plan has been in place for a few years now. It's updated regularly, but to look at those goals that we set, the outcomes and the strategies, and then ask ourselves questions on how we're doing. Um the narrative itself is actually much larger than what you see here. It's pretty long. Um but these are some highlights from that narrative. Um over the course of the last year, authentic community partnerships that has been strengthened especially with migrant families and many

054thanks to our curriculum and instruction team for working on that. We've also seen some early success from shifting our engagement strategy from district-wide events where we invite people to come to us to smaller events where we go where our community is and we engage directly with our community. So we have seen some success there. We've advanced instructional coherent through consistent practices. We are still working on this. Last year we talked a lot about the journey of graduate attributes. This year we've introduced our instructional framework. There's learning to do around that but those two different frameworks work in conjunction with each other and will provide consistency across classrooms across schools. Um I mentioned a couple of times last year that the greatest variance and outcomes from for students is not from one school to another. It's

055typically between each classroom within a school. And so these are some of the things that we are doing to ensure that from a district level, what we put out is consistent, coherent, and supported so that we can support our educators and improving their practice. And then we're building momentum towards achieving those long-term um growth targets that we have set through the Department of Education. Third grade reading was a struggle for us last year. I suspect that when we get the state um results this year, we probably will not have made much progress there, but we have seen quite a bit of progress in our other longitudinal performance growth targets, good progress in our graduation outcomes, nth grade on track, progress with attendance. So, we're seeing some early indications that many of the efforts that are

056underway are working. The second question we're asked to address are what are the barriers And again, the much longer narrative was sent to the Department of Education, but what I have here is that one of the barriers to utilizing these funds and implementing the plan is that we still have excessive and fragmented grant reporting requirements. Um, an example for the board is just this report, the four quarterly updates plus the annual update that we need to provide. consumes in total somewhere around four and a half five days of work if you add it all together. Um that's time for an individual who is not focused on their other work. The state accountability metrics continue to be in English only and for our district where we value multilingualism as an asset that continues to be problematic.

057So that third grade reading metric that I mentioned before, it is something that we care about, we focus on and it is my position that it is not a valid measurement of the work that is being done in our classroom since we are educating a significant number more than a third of our students in Spanish throughout their school day. Third question is related specifically to the metric rates um that we created regarding the longitudinal performance growth targets and if we're actually progressing towards those. Um last year we brought into the board group several reports related to our benchmarks and you see with this first bullet point here we're making progress. We implemented new literacy math curricula science curricula. We have benchmark assessments that are telling us if they're moving forward. We're still in the early

058stages of NTSS alignment, but we're seeing some progress there. Those things together with the support of again our curriculum and instruction team, our TOSAs, we're starting to see growth student body. One thing to note about growth is that many of our students, even though they are growing a year or more in these benchmark assessments, they have further than that to go to reach the state goal. So, it may still be a couple of years before we catch up with the growth metrics that we're seeing. Again, we're affirming multilingualism as an asset. We're going to continue to promote dualingual dual language instruction in our schools, in our classrooms. And then we've improved secondary outcomes. And again, I mentioned graduation rates and nth grade on track. Um, and we've done that through summer bridge programs. There's great

059success teams at the high school. They work really hard with our ninth graders to ensure they start on track. and we are doing a better job of using standards to plan lessons and make sure that our assessments are aligned to those standards. All of these things, we still have work to do. We're not done, but we're seeing some early indications that these efforts are working for us. What questions may I answer for you? It's almost like trying to a fire over his face. I can get all of the and organize my thoughts down knowledge. >> All right. Well, you know how to find >> I do. Has there been acknowledgement of the administrative time that this takes? I know that was a conversation that's been we've been having at the state level and if so,

060has there been an adjustment to um the >> expectation? Is there acknowledgement? Yes. In fact, in the accountability bill that passed in the last session, one of the mandates for the Department of Education is that they consolidate grants and consolidate reporting. That is really easy to write into a bill. It is really hard to do a practice. So, the department is working on that. It will probably be another year or two before we realize the benefits of that work, but the department is they're aware and they're working on it. Um, second part of the question. >> Well, no, but now this is the second part question. Is is are is KOSA giving the department ideas of where they could see that happening >> uh regularly? Yeah. As is OSBA. What my understanding is is the

061department has actually contracted with a third party who has done this work in other states where they have taken the many different grants that a state department of education work with and consolidating them under one reporting structure under um one grant process and the company that they're working with has seen some pretty good success with that. So there's some cautious optimism out there that this may be the thing that takes 108 different grants and actually wrangles them into an easier process and an easier reporting system. >> I did I finally found a question. Could we go back to the slide that has a discussion about English only and the testing or Yeah. Um, are we are we alone in that or are there other school districts that have also figured out that that's probably not

062the best way to run a railroad if we're dealing with bilingual students and bilingual teachers in the bilingual curriculum. >> We are not alone in that. There are other districts, other voices that are raising this same concern. So we do have partners. Unfortunately, that third grade metric is an English reading test and the state at this time either doesn't have the capacity or doesn't have the inclination at this time to look for a Spanish measure. Um so what we do is what you saw last year where we will bring our own internal benchmark assessment data into the boardroom because we do measure student growth in Spanish language acquisition and Spanish literacy acquisition. Um what we know through decades and decades of research is that if we develop the students literacy in that first language Spanish

063for many of our students they will be able to transfer that successfully to English. It takes more time. It takes on average 5 to seven years for a student to develop academic proficiency in language. And if you think about that, if our kindergarteners start with us as five-year-olds and we test them only four years later in English, it is highly unlikely that they will be proficient on that English assess method. Um, so we're not getting a ton of support from the state in this right now. Although they do acknowledge that it's a problem, we are instead focusing on their attention on where are our primary students at in their Spanish development based on our own internal benchmarks. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. Okay. Other questions? Anybody? All right. Thank you, Dr. West. We now

064are going to move to action items. Number one, Forest Grove Education Association of Forest Grove School District license employee agreement with Serena Fitz, our bargaining chair, and Sarah Hanland, our director of human services in the field. Welcome. Good evening, Chair Cocky, Vice Chair Lozano, and board of directors. I am Sarah Hamlin, director of human resources. >> Uh, and I am Serena Fitz. I'm the bargaining chair for the Forest Grove Education Association, and I'm uh your ELD, TOSA. We are here this evening to bring forward the Forest Grove School District and Forest Grove Educational Association licensed educator agreement for approval. Um we are going to begin by um with Sabrina sharing a little bit about the bargaining process. So we um began meeting in February, midFebruary, and we were thankfully able to finish uh at the

065end of June, which is great so that we can start this year um with our new contract. We met almost every other Thursday as a full team, which is really a big commitment um because in addition in order to be ready to meet, the individual teams had to meet outside of that. Um it is a victory, right, that we got it done um in the spring and I'm very glad that we can move forward um together with that. The association voted at the end of August very strongly in favor of this contract um and we are here today for approval. So this bargain was definitely a collaborative process. Um we certainly both brought things to the table, but one of the things we looked at were pronouns. Um I do believe superintendent came with the

066pronoun he on a significant number of items and so um Dr. West helped us correct that they are now neutral. Um and other terms like educator rather than teacher because many of our educators are specialists or not necessarily in a classroom but they are certainly educators. Um we also wanted to make sure that our contract reflects our equity work which is so important here. Um and so we had that lens when we read it through too. Again, we both brought things to the table which we started with. Um, and definitely had healthy discussions. Um, we were able to talk through a lot of things. Certainly, some things landed in the contract because that is their where they belong. Um, and other things did not because sometimes they may live at the district level or they

067might live in the building level or it might just be a discussion that we need to follow up on. Um, and so I do appreciate that we were able to work through where honoring that yes, this is an issue and where does it live? How do we where do we deal with this to support educators? >> So we agreed that the discussion that happens during this process is helpful for both parties to more fully understand each other's perspectives. So it was good discussion. Now we're going to move on to some priorities and successes. Um so we are not going to read the whole contract for you. You have that. It is lengthy. You're welcome. Um but we do have just um we wanted to highlight just a few things. Uh I came in late winter

068with our FGA bargaining platform. This platform was a result of priorities that came from surveys um discussions with members. I will share with you that 95% of our licensed educators are members of the Forest Grove Education Association. So this contract represents 95% um of your licensed employees. Um and they did participate in voting for this um and speaking for it. So, our first um bullet point there was uh compensation that helps recruit and retain, I would add, highquality educators to our district. Um that's not just salary, that's also health insurance. We also talked about things like continuing education, uh stipens for our bilingual staff, for our special educators, for a number of other groups. Um and even to extra duty levels, um looking at that extra duty schedule and who's being compensated at what level.

069Uh the next point there is class size, case load that support student success. I will say that we would love some stronger declarations from the district about case load and class size. Um we did not reach agreement on numbers um and writing those down. Um but through this process, we did agree to clarify language on a committee uh to keep an eye on those numbers. Um and to establish a menu of possible supports, possible relief that might come in places with higher numbers. Um, and I just want to add to class size has been really important to this movement in the past. Um, and I sincerely hope that you guys stay actively engaged. Um, and really looking at those numbers um, and what that means um, and where those numbers are happening to support teachers.

070Uh, the next bullet point is workload planning time and paid leave. We spent a lot of time on this one. Um, we had many discussions about many many things in the contract. Um, just a couple of examples um, for everybody. we merged our personal and emergency days. Um that emergency day was kind of strange and people weren't sure how to use it. Um it's now much more clear um for educators at the elementary level. Um previously we had a weekly total but it wasn't allocated and it's now um at least 30 minutes of prep every student contact day for that total so that if you're with students you get a prep. Um and we also looked at breaks for specialists when they teach four or more sessions. Um in secondary we talked about uh covering

071classes for other teachers. Uh we looked to at the extra duty schedule. Um we particularly moved some arts and music positions up much higher on the extra duty schedule. Um which again is just a measure of our values and our priorities and speaks very strongly to the people who were moved. Um the special ed social emotional ELD supports. Um, we are always looking for how to support educators that work with our most complex kiddos. Um, many of those roles come with extra paperwork, extra planning time. Um, and so we specifically talked about the 504 intake process. Um, dual language teachers who are providing instruction in two languages. Um, and there's, you know, there's always room to do more for all of those educators in the future. The last bullet point then is safe learning environments.

072And again, this is a place where we spent a lot of time having a lot of really great discussions. Um, we have educators who don't feel safe right now and they wanted to speak up and they wanted to share their stories. Um, and I do appreciate they they do feel heard and they do feel seen. I think that those conversations were really robust. Um, and really led to some good discussions about what educators are truly experiencing and what they need. Uh we landed on improving some district-wide systems, some building level expectations, and then really looking at kids to see across schools. Um it shouldn't matter who your supervisor is in order to feel safe. Um and everyone deserves that when they come to work. So I believe that we stuck to those. Um we we

073put our energy into the places where our um members asked us to. And I'm really proud of where we landed. I'm proud of the process. Um I appreciate the back and forth. um we don't always agree, but I think that we know how to have hard conversations um and land in a good place. So, um we do feel seen and we do feel heard um and we hope that you approve this contract. And I will just add on to that on the safe learning environments, we've already started working with our administrators to help them understand the updates in the contract so that we're moving that work forward even before this agreement was approved. So, okay. Okay. So, the district had a couple of priorities that were expressed from the outset. Um, preserving relationships and remaining

074constructive throughout the process. Additionally, we wanted a three-year agreement with the licensed educators um given the economic uncertainty with federal funding and the potential reductions to the state's bienium budget. The three-year agreement um additionally gives educators the stability or I'm sorry, it gives the district stability and budgeting over that time frame. um so we know what to expect financially and can plan for that in advance. Um and then in addition to that, it provides clear compensation increases for educators who are currently on staff and a competitive salary package that we can use to recruit future staff. Um another important piece for the educators and the district was a good benefit plan option where staff are not required to contribute much toward that premium. Um and there was discussion, the committee did go back and forth

075on balancing um the funds that we have available uh putting them toward either salary or benefits and um and that back and forth happened in order to find the right balance there um in total compensation. We appreciate uh chairpy's contribution in those discussions um and and throughout the whole process. So, and here you see our increases over the next few years and we want to say thank you to those who participated in the process. We started out with the timeline and the fact that this is a commitment from the staff members who participate and we want to recognize that and and we appreciate everybody's service who participated um including Mark Everett who's a previous board member and chair coty. So, do you have anything to add? >> Well, I was going to ask for questions,

076but I Yes, this is my first time going through bargaining on that on this side. And I I've said this multiple times in public, but Serena, compliments to your and Elizabeth's leadership and actually the leadership from the members of FPA at the table. your uh both of your communication skills in particular. I think this round group were noticed and appreciated in multiple ways. The district team is just I mean I I kind of filled in for Mark and then Mark actually I really filled in for Mark. So I got to really experience the whole thing. But watching the district team, Eileen, crunching amazing amount of numbers, like Olympic style number crunching in a million different ways and and communicating back and forth and working as a team to get to where we I really do

077think we we there was some there's trust and I know a lot of that we've talked about that being built with Sarah and previous leadership, but you can you could feel it and that comes in handy when you really are getting into crunch time with un, you know, unreliable predictions from what we're going to be funded with, but knowing that we we do value the work that our educators do and how can we just all come to that right right place. So, I just it was really great to watch for all of those reasons, but appreciate the leadership and just the the good vibes in a in a contract, you know, contract negotiations. I don't know if people would describe this as good vibes, but it felt like it's about as good vibes as you

078could get in tense situations. I think that's what we're trying to build as this community as well, doing hard things together and getting to a place that benefits everybody. So, thank you and thank you Sarah for new director of HR for presenting tonight as well and kind of dropping in. And um I'm going to ask the board if they have any questions or comments about the process. I know that a couple of our board members are new to the board, but if anybody has any questions or comments. I have a question. Uh I think I just wanted to know more about the bilingual statements and kind of how is there a measure to know whether uh educator is proficient and what does that measure look like? So, in the contract before this one, um we

079introduced it. Other districts around us um do it, but we um we determined that Spanish and English really are the two primary languages that we teach in. So, we do have a test. I believe it's a state um statewide test. >> It's a stamp. >> A stamp. Thank you. >> Yeah, it's a nationally recognized assessment. >> Um and so, educators may choose to take it or not. Um, and we offer that now once a year to both instructional assistants and um, so licensing classified staff may take it. Um, if they pass uh, they just have to take it one time um, and they have a stipend added to their salary. >> Yeah, that's that we administer on site. >> We also do allow if they pass two of the four sections, I believe they're allowed

080to retake the two sections again. However, um when we first introduced it, lots of people took it and I believe everyone passed first time. Our educators are bilingual and um they teach it, they do it, they live this. Um yeah. >> Um and I think I had a question over the when you weren't able to reach a grade on class sizes and numbers and kind of what that procedure looks like if you guys agree to kind of monitor those numbers and kind of how that looks. >> Uh we propose numbers, very hard capped numbers. um the district, you know, brought to the discussion that that those are right there are consequences to those those hard numbers. Um and so we played out that just that didn't seem feasible. Um that doesn't mean we don't care,

081right? That doesn't mean we don't watch them certainly, but there are challenges associated with creating hard numbers and putting them in a contract. So um instead, we have a committee um which will be convened to look at probably this coming up here soon um to look at real numbers, right? We've got projected then we've got real numbers and then there's a menu within the contract of possible supports um for educators who find themselves in split classrooms right where they're teaching multiple grade levels at an elementary or um maybe large classes. >> Director Brando, if I could add to that, we uh the first month of school is a little volatile in terms of enrollment. Kids are coming, kids are going. So we typically let things settle in September before we start taking a hard look

082at what are our class sizes across the district. So that process is just getting underway. The contract specifies that by the middle of October we have our first conversation with the association around those class sizes. So, we'll read that and then to to maybe as Serena laid out, we'll have an opportunity to ask questions about any of our class sizes that may seem off. Um, one thing to point out is that so far as the enrollment is settling, we are more than 100 students under our objections at the elementary level. um we are making up a portion of that at the high school level, but again those numbers are still a little bit in flux. So we'll bring those into the boardroom here soon once we feel like more settled. >> And I would add

083to just that the association leaders meet with u human resources um and often Dr. West is there and we regularly do talk about class size at those meetings as well. So this isn't the only time that that happens. >> Great. Thank you, >> Director Trucks. >> Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Couple of things. Um, I sat in that chair for a number of years as a bargain for the education association. So, I appreciate the work you you did and the work you do for our educators, both of you. Um I am particularly pleased with the extra duty the attention to the extra duty contracts that you you had in this. Uh in the past we just basically said it'll be a very small percentage of the base pay that that a teacher get. and

084we never really discuss the importance of those extra duty jobs. Um, and I I use this an awful lot and forgive me if it's if it's old news. The University of Minnesota came out with a study a number of years ago uh that talked about connectedness and that a student comes to school for a variety of reasons. Student comes to school because they have an infatuation with algebra. God help. Um, student comes to school because they have a fascination with William Shakespeare. A student comes to school because they like to play football. Student comes to school because they like to sing. Student comes to school because they like working with chalk and with other art media. student does all of those things to show up school because they're connected one way or another and they

085will do what they love and they will put up with the rest and they will become a well-rounded student. They will graduate, move on and do all sorts of great things like become a school board member. Um, and that sometimes we saw stuff. We had a tendency sort of just said, "Okay, you're going to be the football coach or you're going to be the ninth grade drama coach. You're going to do those things and uh an extra 250 bucks a month to show up in the paycheck." And that was it. We didn't pay attention as much as we should have to the importance of that connection that a student gets whether it's with a teacher or a subject or an extra activity or with the janitor for God's sake. Those those things uh brought the

086kid to school. So that that's one thing and I'm I'm going way too long here and I apologize. The other one is that this is another indictment of our outmoded tax system in the state of Florida. How are we going to pay for education that is so damn important when we have measures like five and 47 that restrict the amount of money we can raise in property taxes and then put put the onus on state income taxes. And the state pays the majority of the freight. And when the state pays the majority of the freight, unfortunately, the state makes the majority of the decision. And if it's a local education, it ought to be local education. And with that comes the responsibility to pay for that local education. And I know that's a word that

087nobody likes to hear, but your hard work on this points out that our our system is not meeting the needs and is falling further and further behind than discernment. And I would just add u with our extra duty schedule, we in the last bargain also developed a job description so that people report what they do, how many kids they serve, how many hours outside the day. And so that also helps us place them on that schedule so that it is also isn't just um based on vibes um or feelings, right? That we really do measure um what it takes to do that particular role and how many kids it serves. Um which is how we were able to look at some of our music and arts programs um because they certainly serve a lot of

088our students. Thank you. >> Other comments? Director Franco with another question. >> Um you had mentioned continued education. How what does that look like and is that offered to all educators or all staff? >> We have a pool of money um that educators are able to use to pay for conferences or um credits, university credits, continuing education credits. Um and we have been looking at that system. how much have we been using? We've used it up. Last year it was used up by the end of December. Um and so we did make that pool a little bit deeper. Um so that educators are able to tap into it more. Um and then we look to the value of that, how much people need um and try to make sure that it's meeting the majority of

089the needs. >> And how does that process affect like which educator gets to go to continue education course? >> Yeah, everyone has access to it equally. There's no rotation or anything. um when you sign up or commit to something, you put in send an email um and hold that reserve that money um and you are reimbursed once those credits have been completed or the course has been completed and you can submit um your transcripts. Uh educators also have building site council monies. Um so even if the district money is not available or it runs out that they also can use their building money. Um and each building has its own process for that. But certainly um we have resources to help us do continuing education. >> And this might be like a complex I don't

090know. I'm just connecting things with memory. How does the continued education at all impact kind of like um how much they're going to earn? Like I Yeah. Like what does that look like? Yeah, definitely. Yeah, our salary schedule is credits is years of experience and credits. >> I had Sorry, I was like looking at this afternoon and I was like, I don't know that. >> Yes. Yeah, exactly. That's um you move as you earn more credits, you can move over and um make more money. Certainly. Yes. And it's also required to keep our lensure um that we earn credits over time. So, we are supporting and we want our educators to keep learning, right, and growing and going back to school and being up on, you know, all the things they want to study. Um,

091it also allows them to to specialize, right? Like I'm in the English lang English development department that requires a specialization which is just extra classes and certifications. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, Dr. W. >> Um, yes. First, are there any other questions before I make a final? >> Okay. I just wanted to say thank you. This is not my first bargain and much has already been said by Christie regarding how collaborative it was. But I want to add to that by saying I felt like at no time did either the association or the district let go of curiosity. I think we continued to remain in conversation because we were committed to understanding each other. As you said, we didn't always reach agreement on the different topics that we were tackling, but I think we were

092committed to remain in conversation until we really understood and tried to reach the best agreement that we could. And I thank you for that. That's not always the experience during a bargain. That's really special and unique to this district. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Before >> I would like Yes. I'd like to add one thing. Um I want to say to everybody um thank you on on negotiations. Historically from I think from the 1990s on um the the district and the um associations classified and certified have worked uh respectfully with each other and I really feel that it's a it's a very wonderful model going forward from what we've done historically. So again, thank you. I know things are really challenging because of not having enough money and our wish list is many, but um

093everyone coming to the table in a respectful manner and and doing as best as we can with the limited money we have. Um I really appreciate everyone's efforts. Thank you. >> Thank you, Kate. And a procedural thing about motions, but prior to that, I did want to use this opportunity to to address one thing that I've heard tonight. A couple of our board members and myself, I used to be included in this, when asking questions or wanting to engage in a little dialogue, would preface it by apologizing. Now, surprisingly, I heard director Truax actually apologize for going long. That might be a first, so I'm marking that down. But I do want to encourage us to break that habit. And that's one of the conversations we had when I was on LLC with the women's

094caucus. We found a lot of people interjecting into a conversation and then feeling bad that it was that was going long. And I think this this night is a special night for a couple different reasons. But I think this is the only time this board gets to sit here and have conversations together. So for anyone who may still be watching, we literally just have this time twice twice a month or even sometimes once a month where we can hear what everybody else thinks and we do have the luxury of a little extra time occasionally to have a deeper discussion. So we we just want to we want to encourage that and I want to you know we want to encourage a culture where we're we want that deep discussion when we can have it knowing

095I know the cabinet's like oh gez you know it's not going to be every every board meeting that it's like this but when it can be I think it's valuable it's helpful for us and I appreciate people giving us the leeway to do so and Serena for your explanations. Also, Bethany reminded us that for motions for the new for the new board members, we do need to read the motion exactly as it is, including every single number. I don't think you need to say dash, but 2025 to 2028. So, I will entertain a motion at this point, fully read with all of the bells and whistles for action item one. Motion to approve the proposed three-year FGA and FGSC licensed employee agreement be effective the school years of 2025 through 2028. >> All second. >>

096It's been motioned and seconded. Do we have any discussion? Seeing none, hearing none, I think I will do a roll call vote for this one. All in favor as I call your name. Um, yay or nay. Alzano, >> hey. >> Franco, >> yes. >> Trux, >> yes. >> Christy Kaki is a yes. And Kate Gruseski, >> yes. >> Thank you. All right, we are official and assisting a [Music] >> Thank you all. Thank you. >> Thank you. Item number two, overnight filter request with Dr. List. >> Thank you. We have an overnight field um trip request from the high school's wrestling team. This is a trip that they took annually and they help get that. It's pretty amazing to me and they are heading to Napa Idaho. They will be paying for this primarily through

097fundraising. So they will do little field trip and they'll be gone for the first date. of the upcoming years question please Dr. Yeah, I was so when I was looking at this, I was a little bit confused or not confused. I guess they're raising their own money. So, what is our role in? >> Yeah, that's a great question. We have a policy that requires any field trip where students leave the state of Oregon to have the word approval. If it's a field trip within the state of the city, the one state you need that requires your approval. So you're not approving any expenditures on behalf of the district, but you are approving the opportunity for the students to travel outside of Oregon for the chair. >> Yeah, >> they are representing Port Bicycles in the

098>> 100%. Madam Chair, I move to approve Forest Grove High School wrestling team's request to attend the Raleigh Lane Wrestling Tournament in Nampa, Idaho from January 1st through January 4th, 2026. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> All right, motion passes. And item number three, budget development calendar. Good evening. Thank you. Um, tonight we have the um, fiscal year 2627 budget process calendar for approval. Uh, the calendar in the packet is similar to last year. There's no major changes. Um, there's two preliminary budget meetings in February and in April and then three official budget committee meetings in May with the final adoption June the 9th. Questions? Motion to approve the proposed 2026 to 2027 budget development calendar as presented. >> Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I

099motion passes. Number four, budget committee vacancies. The second thing we have tonight is to um declare the budget committee vacancies. We'll do three different things. Um declare the budget committee vacancies, approve the timeline and process, and appoint two members to participate in the interview committee. Uh we do have three positions open. We have a one-year position, which is Mr. Truax's vacancy. Um so a position to fill the remainder of his firm. Then we have a one three-year position and then we have the alternate position open for the 27 26 27th budget year. Um in this the process the three-year or the process the proposed news publishing and the application are all pretty consistent with what we have done in the past. I did want to note that there is one change. One of the budget

100committee vacancies must be an equity advisory committee member. So that is noted in the timeline and process and we have also added a check box in the application so that you know who is on that committee does apply questions. >> Actually I have a question maybe for that motion of three. Do we have that is to a point for the interviews, right? >> So that's a great question. >> Okay. So maybe let's run through and then we'll get to >> Okay. All right. Okay. We'll move on with motion number one. >> Madam Chair, I move to declare three budget committee vacancies. First, the one-year position for the remainder of Detroit's term, a one three-year position, and one alternate position. >> Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> All right. Motion passes.

101Motion number two. Motion to approve the timeline and process for the 2026 2027 budget. Second discussion all in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion passes. And for the third motion, were there two board members who would be interested on sitting on the candidate hearing committee where you actually did the interviews. last year. Kate, do you want to speak to that? >> Um, I think we did some on the Zoom last year. >> Yeah, Belle and Belle and I did it last year. >> It's it's pretty simple. You just read the the applications and then you um uh pick out, you know, depending on how many people we have, we we interview them and then we um bring them our top three or top four before the board. Um it depends on how many people

102apply. >> Do we have interest from the board on who might want to be first? Okay. >> Anyone else who is interested? >> I I'll do it again. I'm I'm fine with doing it again. >> All right. I I will entertain a motion for those appointments. >> Madam Chair, I move to appoint right and Kate Granduski candidate interviews and recommend appointments. Yes, I know. Any discussion? I will just say thank you both. Uh, all in favor say I. >> Change your mind. >> All right. I think motion passes. Kate, was that an I? Sorry. >> Yes, it was an I. >> Okay. All right. Thank you, Director Clude. Okay. We are on to action five, the schoolboard purpose statement. On September 9th, 2025, the board reviewed the draft purpose statement. All members had the opportunity

103to provide feedback and the statement has been adjusted accordingly. The purpose statement clarifies the board's role in supporting the successful implementation of the district's strategic plan and superintendent goals. Um, prior to the motion, I will ask this board to between now and at some point in the fall to uh to be announced when we do have a work session that looks at those two commitments, advocacy, engagement, that prior to that, each board member does some thinking and maybe some list making of ideas that you each have around what that could look like. And then potentially when we have a work session to talk about that, we are coming to the table with ideas already. And we'll also have a discussion in leadership, I'm sure, as well. You'll see that in the leadership notes. Any questions?

104Motion to approve and adopt the revised purpose statements and board commitments as presented. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> All right. question passes. Uh first read is there for estimating but not need to read or journey and no do >> yeah we don't need to spend a lot of time on this uh based on the conversation that we had during the work session sorry board retreat I said sorry oh my gosh I know we board retreat during the summertime I have brought forward some proposed goals there was some conversation around making some changes including something that I pointed out where we wanted to narrow down very specific question of panorama related to teacher student relationships part of what I focus on for this year. So I made those changes to the

105goals as per our conversation. Um included with that is also a proposed timeline for some work sessions. You heard our chair mentioned that we want to work around some other topics as well. So we'll look at combining those for our next steps and then the additional piece that's included is a proposed pipeline for how this flows throughout the year. The timeline includes those work sessions, but it also includes executive sessions when the board would get together to discuss my evaluation, an opportunity for me to visit with the board during executive session to reflect. So you'll then final deadline to have the evaluation. So you'll see those dates of that post. Thank you.