001The May 13th, 2025 Force Grove School District Board of Directors meeting is called to order at 5:31 p.m. We'll start with roll call of board members present. Val here, Brad here, Mark here, Paula here. I am here and Kate is joining us shortly but not here at the moment. If we can all rise. I pledge allegiance 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. All right, I'm looking for a motion to approve tonight's agenda. So moved. Second. All in favor say I. I. I. All right. And we're up to student representative report. All right. So tonight some of the things going on in ASB right now. So election day has passed and we now have
002the official president and vice president for next year. Maya Andrade will be serving as president and Duna Sea as vice president for the next school year. So congratulations to them. Our improvement development committee is currently working on the solidarity project and filming a related video. They're also reaching out to Miss Kelly at NAS to coordinate further progress on this project. Um the schniter schnitzer care committee is preparing a speech for their upcoming GIA that they will be attending and that is where they will be presenting the awards for the money that they release that they'll be awarding the grants to. And then just some other things I would like to highlight. On May 2nd, Mariachi Talis won first place for the second year in a row at the Oregon Music Education Association. They will also
003be having their 10th year anniversary concert later this month on May 31st at 7:00 p.m. at the Patricia Research Center for the Arts in Beaverton. Um, the opening of the new FHS theater, Play Luna, will be this Friday at the High School Auditorium, and that's at 7 p.m. Other performances will be May 23rd at 7 p.m., May 17th, 18th, 24th, and 25th at 2 p.m. And then tickets can be purchased online. Um, I believe it's $10 for adults and five for students and children. Can you tell again who who's putting that on? The theater department or the uh just the theater uh just like a short one weekend thing. Yeah. Um, and so then also with that, the end of the year showcase for the Ballet Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Lapel Academy will be on
004June 13th and 14th at the high school's auditorium. That's at 7:00 p.m. And tickets are on sale for that as well already. Um, the girls flag football team will be having their home playoff game this Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the football stadium and they will be competing against Lake OCo. Um, and then one thing that came up today was House Bill 2251. Um we're all a little worried about the cell phones. Well, the few students who are educated on it because to be quite frank, there's a lot of students who aren't entirely educated on it. Um but those who are the the conversation being had right now at the high school is the worry for communication with family members. There are students who have to pick up family members from work, other siblings from
005other schools. So, we're a little worried about how it's going to look like for next year and how they're going to be able to communicate if there is a cell phone ban. Um, and then another thing going on in our community, um, I as well as other members of the Cornelius Youth Advisory Council went down to the state capital with Mayor Dolan and city manager Brandon and I was able to read a letter of support for the Cornelius Community and Recreation Center project. Um, so I just thought I'd highlight that. Cool. Um, all right, board reports tonight. Uh, buckle up everyone because there's a few there's a few things to share. There's been quite a bit going on the last couple weeks. I did want to start with a little bit of a highlight of
006a few things that uh I attended and some of us attended in the district. I don't know if you want to talk about softball, but I did get a chance to see uh my first softball game and it was against Gleno and so it was kind of I had been invited by someone from Gleno to come down and watch, but I wor my Force Grove shirt and sat with Val and Val. I don't do you want to talk a little bit about what's going on with softball as well like Thursday uh one or two to one and it was a really good game actually. Um and they are still doing good and rolling. They lost to Sherwood 01, but then they beat McMinnville the following night um 12-7. So that was an exciting game and
007they have a game Friday versus Liberty. I think that's actually senior night if anybody wants to come and check it out. Share them. All right. Thanks. Um, I did I was able to take my son and check out Dia de los Ninños on April 26th and it was as the doors open there was a huge waiting line to people to get in and as we went the previous year but I hadn't I hadn't brought Henry with me and it was just it's so well done and we were able to get in one game we did the Plinko game and Anthony from I think LIIA was was the student who was staffing that and he just did a great job sort of making some accommodations and being flexible with that but really fun vibe that as
008we walked in and within 5 minutes all the tables were filled with kids at the tables coloring and doing activities and I know Dr. West was coming in when I was leaving so he's probably going to share a few things. Uh I also was able to attend the unified play to be Hamlet which was a little bit different than the first unified play that I attended and I would say in there were just different students who were highlighted and the message was the same really about the importance of being yourself and the unique impact everybody has on our community. But it really allowed there were a couple moments in it that allowed a couple students to shine. I'm not sure that it was their they were supposed to be shining with all the other students,
009but they happened to find their own spotlight and actually that was one of my my favorite moments. And so they just do such a good job and um thanks to all the families and community who showed up to support. Um the CT advisory board meeting happened last week and I want to thank Adam Chris for the invite to that. He and Matt Nichols hosted um they really are like the counseling department. They're taking time to sort of analyze how the programs are going, how the partners are feeling, what suggestions they made. But they had a student from last year, Yasmin Alfaro. She graduated last year and was one of the first students that began working as a medical assistant with Virginia Garcia. She was there to be interviewed um by all the partners, just what
010parts of those um program were valuable, what now that she's in a job, would she wish that you know they could do to help her get into that. Um she's now starting nursing school and her classes are being reimbursed by Virginia Garcia. Uh one of the the lines that she said that was just the best line is she said it it's kind of amazing to her when she shows up at her job and she's like and I just graduated and I am like in a real adult job here. Like it's you know and it was just but she felt like she was prepared. She had seen many of the things they're they're doing they had either experienced or seen already. So she felt like she could kind of hit the ground with some level of
011confidence. And um other partners that were there in the meeting were OHSU, Providence Medical Centers, OD Representative Pact and Oregon National Guard and Virginia Garcia. One of the other points that was brought up by one of the partners is they're working in different districts with CTE programs. One of the things they're starting to notice is that kids are accessing CTE and some kids are accessing CTE and going then into the fields which for some of the partnerships is hopefully what they're wanting but they're also noticing something interesting that in some CTE programs kids are accessing the CTE courses in high school but then not doing anything with those tracks. And so there was a really good discussion about, you know, how how to create this program that can meet the needs of all kids, but
012also what are kids needing to be able to take that next step. So thought it was very powerful way to keep that conversation going. Um, and then the last the last piece I'm going to talk about is the legislative advocacy that we've been involved in. And that's the slide that is somewhere. Yeah, there it is. Um there's been so much happening with legislative advocacy. We have really I think as OSBA and LPC and this board have done a great job along with Dr. West to really collaborate and get information to the people that need it at the time they need it. Uh Senator Soulman, we were just on the phone prior to this meeting up at the dis about the cell phone bill and she has been great as other legislators have been calling around
013to really get information directly from school districts. So, Pal, when you're sharing your testimony, this was a bill that came up also at Lou Frederick's town hall. Questions from the community about and and Lou, Chair Frederick and many legislators are really trying to have that bill be allow more local control so that districts can really do what we've been doing, which is have clear policy. And there's really a a push from some districts and legislators to have it be more restrictive and prescriptive where you have to have a policy and then you have to have consequences. And we've been pretty clear in our expectation that drafting consequences in a bill in legislation for cell phones are really my opinion not the focus of where we should be headed with our time and our energy. And
014I think we see some conversations reflected in that. But the bigger bills that have caused quite a bit of conversation um came up at a couple different things. I I did want to mention I was able to attend the school funding town hall that was sponsored by the unions on April 23rd. I think I might have mentioned that. That was right before the last right after the last meeting. I think I was going to go the next night and it was filled with union members from all three unions. Forest Grove was there and represented in some of the conversations and it was just a really good opportunity for legislators to hear directly from from teachers and the main ask there they really were focused mostly on special education funding and that to fully fund special
015education it would require an additional 700 million. um we don't have an additional 700 million but they there were some different experiences shared by teachers that were very valuable in trying to show the need um at the we did attend a joint town hall with Senator Sullman Rat Sosa and Hi Fam and that was in Hillsboro Northwest Regional Board Chair Becky Timchuk was there and board member from Beaverton Melissa Potter and Washington County Commissioner Pam Tre and I were all at a table and all of the reps spoke about again, we don't have money. We don't have enough money to fund everything. And so now we're prioritizing. So at the end of that town hall, we asked a question. And our question was, we're hearing everyone say we don't have the funding. My question was,
016why are legislators continuing to vote yes on bills like the class size bill that's climate change bill 916 that will require funding? And that was a really interesting conversation to watch them respond to. I think Senator Sman did the best job of really explaining both sides of where people are thinking. But I think there were a couple aha moments from representatives to really think about the fact that yeah, you know, we're we're here saying there's no money. We're really starting to understand that we should be making that decision. And so I think we're starting to get some traction with that. I did want to read um I'm going to read this last testimony and then and then I'm going to hand it over to do Dr. West because I was able to read this to
017the education committee um as testimony and it was we felt like we just wanted to be very bold and blunt and all of our board has seen this letter already but I I feel like I really want to say it again at the board meeting because I think it gets at some things that just are finally being said across the state. So this was Senate Bill 916. On behalf of the Force School Board, we stand in strong opposition to Senate Bill 916. This bill is fiscally irresponsible, operationally unworkable, and educationally damaging. Simply put, it's bad policy, no matter your politics. Our board includes current and former educators, special education leaders, and labor advocates. We know what bargaining looks like. We know what it takes to keep a school running, and we know that this bill
018would dismantle the very foundation of that work. Senate Bill 916 forces public schools to pay unemployment during strikes, funds that would come directly out of the classroom. Forest Grove doesn't carry unemployment insurance. And that means if the strike happens, we pay out of pocket 350,000 per day. That's not just unsustainable, it's catastrophic. Within days, we'd be in financial crisis. And for what? To set up a brand new administrative process we don't have the staff to manage with no support from the state. It's an unfunded mandate dressed up as labor protection, and it completely ignores the reality of how public education is funded and staffed. This bill threatens the collaborative relationships we've worked years to build between our local union and district teams. It removes incentives to bargain efficiently and replaces them with a financial punishment
019for school districts, one that directly harms students. Lawmakers keep asking why student outcomes aren't improving. And here's your answer. You're draining school resources to pay for political wins. This isn't reform. It's recklessness. If passed, this bill would force us to choose between paying legal strike benefits or funding classrooms. That is a false and dangerous choice. Senate Bill 916 is not about what's best for kids. And if it's passed, our students will pay the price. We urge you to reject this bill. And I think the conversation has gotten real around this, the climate change bill, the class size bill, not because those aren't things that we value. We want people to be able to have strong labor relations. We want people to have class sizes that are reasonable, but we cannot support bills that are asking
020us to do more with no support. Um, there are lawmakers and legislators right now who have courageously come out and said we are voting no against these bills and I just want to applaud those that are doing that. Many of whom are are hearing from people pressure to maybe do otherwise and just standing firm on this is these are just some of these are just bad policy. Um, and just the climate change bill and then I'll switch over, but the climate change bill again, we currently our superintendents work together and in we were going to add board chairs. We had a limited amount of time to support um to send in a letter about the climate change bill. And our our point is that even the bill itself doesn't define where that climate change curriculum
021would would be taught. It doesn't define the classrooms, the subjects. So there's no way to know how we would we would pay for time to plan uh professional development time where in the curriculum that would go there's so many unanswered questions about it but this was a bill that was draft brought to the floor um at the request of teachers a couple teachers so I think you know we want to honor the fact that yes we all believe that we believe climate change is important to teach and it's already embedded in our curriculum But but this is not the way to be able to expand that. So just that's the framework of the conversations that are happening. You'll probably hear more about those particular bills in the next couple days and I just encourage people
022to try to when you hear that news article about it just try to read through that and again um have questions if you have them. We can all answer them. I really appreciate the students advocating and I think that's that is all. That was a lot. There's one there was one more. You know what? There's one more. There's one more little thing. I'm just gonna end with this because I can. There was Yeah, because I can. Um I did want to end and I wanted to recognize Christine Dab. She sends us the seal newsletter each week that goes out. In this newsletter, um student reward, she talked about a couple activities that classrooms do and student rewards are earned for smooth task transitions like quiet lineups, efficient material gathering, on task engagement. teachers induc uh
023introduced these prizes during community circle time reinforcing skills like turn taking, patience, and respect. So, one of the activities that she promoted in there was an activity. I'm just going to ask it's only 30 seconds and then and then we'll end with this. If there's someone on the board that would be interested in volunteering to try this activity, this is activity done at our elementary schools for students who have been really on task. since you've all just had to listen to my entire presentation there. And no pressure if there's no one here. There might be someone out in the audience. But anyone that's brave enough, you don't have to Paula. You you already have to endure being in class. Just to remind us all what it's like in class and a teacher needed to volunteer.
024Anyone? Anyone? Nose goes. Mark it. Mark. No. Okay. I do have Arturo said that we did not we we wanted to assume positive intent that someone would volunteer but just in case I did ask Arturo. Okay. Arturo doesn't know what this is either. I have no I have no clue. I have no clue what's going to happen. You have no clue. So this is just a this is just an activity to reward us all for being on task and just get our mind in a fun space. It's called the 30 seconds of a day activity. So, you have to think of an activity that you've done today and act it out. Act it out for 30 seconds without saying anything. If and the and then we're going to see if we can [Music] guess. You
025don't have to act for 30 seconds. It's just a think of a 30 second portion of your day and you're going to act out something that you did. I can't speak. No speaking. [Music] Any guesses? Any guesses? Was that it? Starbucks. Starbucks. Oh, it was Starbucks. Yeah. All right. Okay. Thank you, Arturo, for being brave. And actually, everyone doesn't know this, but he is kind of there is a reward for the person who's brave enough to do something crazy. And ironically, it's it's his coffee card. Well, I know that's I was like, that's funny. All right, so thank you to Christine for sharing those strategies that our elementary school kids are learning. And I'm going to turn it over to Dr. West. Perfect. For real. For real. No. And I'm not sure I have to
026follow that. So, I'm I'm just going to roll here. Um I do have a few things to share with the school board and with those watching tonight, including that you may need new batteries the next time we There we go. Okay. So, our monthly enrollment report. Um I bring this every month to the school board. This is the most current one as of the 1st of May. What I want to highlight for the board is that the last time you saw this, we were at minus 137. So, we're now at 155 below our projections. Um, that number has steadily increased as the year has progressed. As I said at the very beginning of the year and have reinforced each time we've put this in front of people, we are losing enrollment and sun school funding
027is driven by enrollment. We are expecting to receive less resources in the coming year. That coupled with the increasing costs that we've been experiencing and general underfunding at the state level means that we do have reductions that are coming. We spoke a little bit about that last week at our first budget meeting and we'll visit it again this coming Thursday for our second budget meeting. In terms of average class size though, you can see here that we are still within our goal for average class size and that is largely because enrollment is way down and we have not yet adjusted FTE to account for that enrollment variance. That is coming again. done as part of the conversations we've been having through the budget process. You can see it, oops, too far. You can see it
028broken down here by school and then by the different positions within our school as well. This is also in your board packet so you can spend some more time with it if you'd like. And then of course some questions either me or Director Clue. In terms of legislative updates, um I want to highlight a couple of things that Chair Cotkey has not yet highlighted. Um first you'll see that the PERS employment rate reduction was signed by the governor. Um this is good news for us because director actually included this assumption in our budget. So the fact that we're getting this helps a lot. We would have to adjust if we didn't. So good news and thanks to director Clinton herd team for thinking forward and anticipating this. That does help us. It reduces our first
029liability a little bit. So good news for us. Everything else is still in process and chair key spent some time talking about this. 916 is still in process. 3652 which is the class size bill still in process. These next six weeks are going to be a legislative whirlwind. Things will start to come to the floor rapidly. There will be a lot of jockeying for votes and trying to convince people to lean one way or another in an effort to try to bring closure to some of these things. So, I expect each time we come forward um between now and the end of the school year that there will be some updates associated with this. The other thing that could happen with some of these bills is that they may end up dying in committee and
030that that has happened regularly to education bills. We don't know which one of these that could happen to. Um there's some momentum behind many. For example, the increase in high-cost disability still has quite a bit of momentum behind it. That would be good news for us as well if it does pass. We know that the governor's budget at 11 36 billion is tied to the accountability bill that was put forth. So if one is passed, then the other will also pass. But those things will happen over the course of the next several weeks. Just a couple of the things that I want to highlight. Thank you to our student advisor for announcing the names of our ASB president and vice president for the next school year. Um, also want to point out that tomorrow night
031the Echo Shop band concert is taking place at NMS at 7 p.m. if anyone is interested in taking that in. And we have girls and boys tennis district events this weekend. Um, Lynfield 10:00 a.m. for girls tennis on the 15th and then at Sentry High School for the boys. Um, also starting at 10:00 a.m. each day. So, um, they've made some progress. So that's great. We have the NAMS orchestra concert coming up on May 20th. We have a fourth grade parent night for Tom Hall students that is on the 22nd of May. Lots of really good attendance there, at least in the past. So we expect similar attendance this time. And then just a reminder, please nobody come to school or work on the 26th of May. That is Memorial Day. That's it. Okay. We
032do not have a report from FGA tonight and any unscheduled public appearance? None. 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 a board member or the superintendent wishes to discuss separately? Seeing none, I move that we approve the consent agenda as presented. Second. Discussion. All in favor say I. I. Hi. Hi, Kate. Welcome. That was kind of shocking. I heard her zoom in a little bit earlier. Has she been on for a little bit? Yeah, I think so. Welcome. All right, action items. Uh, number one, the community alternative learning center name change. We welcome. Good, good evening. Um, thank you board first, for allowing me the opportunity to participate in that activity. Really appreciate that. Um, welcome. I
033have uh four items for you tonight. Um, the first two are um coming back to you from the meeting, our previous meeting. Um, the first one is the name change for Calp. Um, Tim Graham, who's principal is in the audience today and his team uh presented to you uh a proposal to um rename Cal to Walty Plains High School. And that was after going through a thorough process with students uh and staff. And so we're bringing that to you tonight for for consideration for approval. Do I have a motion to approve the name change of the community alternative learning center to Quality Plains High School? So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. I. All right. Motion passes. Congratulations. Thank you for all the work done on that and for your for
034the student work and all that you guys did for that. Very exciting. We look forward to the unveiling. Thank you. All right. The second uh action item is science adoption recommendation. Yes. Bringing back to you tonight um for uh consideration to approve is the science adoption. This past year, we brought a team together over 30 um FGSD educators, including teachers, to TOSAs, IAS, administrators, and reviewed curriculum uh aligned to OD rubrics and FGSD priorities. And the recommendation is to move forward with TWID science for K8 and McGraill Science for grades K 9 through 12. Do I have a motion to approve twin science for grades K8 and McGrath Hill Science for grades 9 through 12 with with a total cost of [Music] 1,129,835? So move. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. I. I.
035Motion passes. Pan contract. Yeah. The next two items are um surpassed the threshold of $50,000. So we need board approval. Um these are routine items that we bring to you. The first one is Pan Panorama, our Panorama contract. Panorama, if you recall, is our um is our district-wide platform that we use for as an early warning system using our 100% meetings. Really allows us to track SEAL uh academics and attendance uh in a proactive way. And so that contract is $70,600. And so we're bringing that to you tonight for approval for next school year. You have a motion to approve the 202526 renewal of Panorama for $7,600. So move. Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. I. All right. Motion passes. Thank you. Um, last but not least is last year as part
036of our local adoption, our ELD uh adoption, we purchased Flashlight 360 as a language development platform um to me measure benchmark progress on speaking and writing processes. And so we're bringing that to you tonight for renewal as well. Um we have received positive feedback within our system saying that this is providing a valuable tool to teachers and we want certainly want to keep that going um in the years to come. Do I have a motion to approve the 2526 renewal of Flashlight 360 for $79,600? Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. I. Passes. Thank you very much. Forest Grove School District phone service contract. We welcome technology manager enri. Thank you. Uh the action item before you is the uh new phone services contract for the school district. Uh we put out an
037RFP uh that we did not get any responses for. So we went out and uh sought proposals from different providers and we received proposals from Comcast, Ziply, and Zo. And the proposal that was determined to be in the best interest of the for the district uh came from Comcast. And with a new proposed contract term being for 3 years, uh the monthly recurring cost for the service will be $1,514, not including the taxes and fees. Um so the recommendation for the board is to award the new three-year phone services contract to Comcast for $1,514 monthly recurring cost excluding taxes and fees. Do I have a motion to award the new three-year phone service contract to Comcast from $1,514? Question. What is the MRC monthly recurring costs? Okay. So, it's only 1514 a month. Okay. Yeah.
038Yeah. It's a three-year contract. So, I just did the quick math, too. I have the same question. It just exceeds our $50,000. Okay. Yeah, I was wondering. We were looking at it like why? Yeah, it was just No, that's okay. A motion to award the new three-year phone services contract to Comcast for 1514 monthly recurring costs excluding taxes and fees for three-year period. So moved. Second. All in favor? I I I passes. Thank you. Um N's field lighting. Please welcome director of finance and operations I Hey, I also have two procurement items for you tonight. The first one is Neil Armstrong Middle School Field Lighting. This is utilizing the KCDA purchase agreement um and bond funds. It is also pending city approval for the lights. Um it's for $470,730. Do I have a motion to
039approve the purchase agreement with Musco Musco for the amount of $470,730 utilizing Holland funds pending fine final city approval? So moved. Second and excited about it. Excited about it and and I'm just going to say all in favor say I. I. I mean is that right? Yeah. Start. All right. You're good. Kate. Yes. All right. Motion passes. And the second one I have is the same exact thing except for Cornelius Elementary School also using the KCDA purchase agreement uh for $249,465. Why is there Why is it just cuz less lights at Cornelius than it? It's also under construction, so all the dirt's moving and it's not already in place field. So it's a lot cheaper when you're in construction. $200,000. Okay. Do I have a motion to approve the purchase agreement with Musco for the
040amount of $249,465 utilizing bond funds pending final city approval? Second. All in favor? [Music] Ied that uh there when it goes to the city, it would be great if we had some people come to submit testimony in support of doing the lights. Um, just because I I don't know if this is still true, but we had heard that some of the neighbors might not be excited about having lights at that place. So, if you know if a couple of us could go and speak and support or if any other community members who are going to be super excited that you know their kids will be able to play soccer at night and have a place close to home practice could go and advocate for that as well, then that would be great. Are those the
041upcoming city council meetings? The Cornelius one is the 27th. So, it's the same night as the board meeting. So it is, but it's going to be on that agenda on the 27th. It should be on that agenda for the 27th. And there's probably at 7. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then I'd have to get you the port. I don't have that right off the bat. Okay. I think they were more concerned the the impression I got was they were more concerned about the cordless and the Yeah. the alarm. And we could maybe submit a board letter as well. Yeah. The board. Yeah. Okay. To both of them would be great. Okay. Which houses are even well because it's back in that neighborhood. Yeah. But the school's in between the field and the right houses. My understanding
042is it's more about the city feel because it is right there on street perception of like how downtown's going to be. Yeah, I can see that. Okay. Good idea, Val. Um, all right. Superintendent evaluation. It's me, but it's going to I know, but we know what this is going to be. So, it's it's very controlled and just right here on the paper. So, um we are we do have a slide if that is still working because we wanted to take just a minute and review the process um the process that we went through this year um leading up until tonight's evaluation. It was different. It was new. We started in September 27th and did a work session with cabinet and the superintendent and school board where we determined goals, what supporting evidence and artifacts would
043be used and what would the process be. Um, and then we made sure that new process we were going to try was aligning with our dis uh district strategic plan. And so once we established what those articles would be, we heard in monthly superintendent reports Dr. West would refer back to multiple pieces of those three items that we were looking for with evidence and and comments there every month. Uh there was a quarterly benchmark assessment presentation to the board which included much of the data that also was part of those articles of evidence. January 14th um Dr. West provided a self-evaluation that was about a 100 pages long of a collection of data, evidence, work uh that she's been compiling that aligns with that evaluative process and that was talked about in the board meeting.
044And then uh we did have two executive sessions as a board and I I learned being on the board of part of the process is you know why certain things are at the board meeting and certain things when it comes to person evaluations are not at the board meeting but if you're a member of the public you might wonder that. So we just wanted to sort of show the process that we take and I feel like we really wanted to make sure we're as transparent as possible about the articles that we're evaluating. And then tonight we will conclude by reading our summary. So any anything to add about that? Okay. All right. So I'm going to read the summary. Uh this is Forest Grove School District superintendent summary for Dr. Suzion West May 13th, 2025.
045As we head into the remainder of this 202425 school year, the Forest Grove School Board of Directors has completed its annual evaluation of Superintendent Dr. Suzanne West. All board members participated fully in the process and had access to extensive evidence. Much of this evidence has been previously presented at public meeting during the mid self midyear self-evaluation. This evaluative process was redesigned in a fall work session in collaboration with board members, cabinet members, and Dr. West. In addition to the mid-year self-evaluation mentioned above, the board met in two executive sessions to complete the evaluation process and prepare the summary. The evaluation focused on three agreed upon areas of focus that align with our district's strategic plan. They include vision of leadership, culturally respons responsive instructional leadership, and organizational management. We believe Dr. West is effective in
046each area. One, visionary leadership. Dr. West consistently ties strategic planning, budgeting, and data informed decision-making to district goals. Her communication within the district and with our greatest greater Forest Grove School District community is clear, focused, and aligned with the vision of continuous improvement. Two, culturally responsive instructional leadership. Dr. West demonstrates strong instructional expertise, particularly in dual language education, and engages authentically with students and staff. Her work reflects a deep commitment to equity and growth. And three, organizational management. Dr. West has strengthened systems and defined areas for improved alignment, updated board policies, and streamlined operations and communications while maintaining fiscal responsibility. Her leadership and legislative advocacy has brought both visibility and influence to district priorities. In her first year, Dr. West has embraced the role with a deep commitment to students in the community. She has
047spent extensive time in our community and is building strong relationships across the district. She maintains a clear focus on ensuring every student has access to a quote choice-filled life unquote. In accordance with the terms of her contract, the board intends to engage in negotiations to extend the superintendent contract through June 30th, 2028. The board is committed to continuing this important partnership and ensuring stability and momentum for the district. We are thankful for her deep commitment to this work as we move forward in these uniquely challenging times. We appreciate the time, thoughtfulness, and thoroughess that everyone committed to this evaluative process and look forward to continued growth moving into next year. And so with that, I'd just like to thank everybody again for participating in this process of work in progress as we all work together.
048Has it been been something new and and along the way discuss like where we're headed next year? I don't know if anyone on the board would like to add anything. I well I mean I would just say um that I think Dr. West has done a remarkable job and that um you know it's it's just hard you know it's um it's sometimes difficult to see exactly what her job entails and it's there are so many moving parts um so many um uh sort of curve balls that come at her um in many many different ways. And so, um, it's a really difficult job. It's a challenging job and she's done a really, really good job. So, I would like to second what Mark said and just say that I'm very pleased with the direction she's
049leading our district in. Kate, um, I'd like to say thank you, Dr. West. It's been a a fun year with you and, um, I look forward to next year. Thank you. Because of course, I'll be brief. I don't love being the center of attention. So, I'll say that out loud, but then move on. Um, as I've said before, no superintendent works alone. Um, this work gets done with a great team like the individuals that you see sitting here. So, thank you to my team. Um, I believe truly that one of my most important roles is to create the conditions for the folks you see here to be successful because they're working hard to further education for our young people. I think that's also true for the school board. One of the most important roles for
050the school board is to create the conditions for the superintendent to be successful. And I think you've done that this year. I've said a few times how much I appreciate your support. Um, that's very sincere. I couldn't do this job well without the support of this award. So, thank you for that. Thank you. All right. And with that, I think this is it. present. Oh, what is it? I I know.